Rules and Variations

The ultimate goal of a battle debate is not to win- rather, it is to have fun engaging in a lengthy debate with one's friends or family. However, fun is maximized when you are also winning. To provide structure to the debate, a set of rules and common variations has been put together for convenience. This page will be split into three sections: How to Play, Agreements, and Variations.

How to Play
This game can be played with any number of people, so long as a real conversation can be had with that number of people. You may also have teams of multiple people, or any other relation that you decide between players. Players take turns picking fictional characters to add to their team. A standard team will consist of one army, two elite groups, and three heroes, but this may be changed so long as each player has the same structure for their teams. Each character may only be picked once. If one player picks a hero, that hero is off-limits to anyone else. If another player picks an elite group that includes a previously chosen hero, they have the team without that particular hero. The way to win is simply to convince your opponent(s) that your team would beat their team in a fight. Obviously, there are a fair number of factors that could influence the outcome of a battle, so it is important to agree beforehand on certain factors.

Agreements
While players must agree on all the rules and variations, there are certain aspects that cannot have all the potential options listed, and the players must decide for themselves each round. Such agreements will be listed here, as well as (as much as possible) some common choices or examples within that agreement.

Battleground
This can be as vague or as specific as desired, but a general setting will be very useful in the debate. Some common battlefields are...
 * Forest
 * City
 * Plains

Equipment
How much equipment a character is allowed to carry may affect the outcome of the debate, and should be agreed upon ahead of time.
 * No equipment
 * Only equipment that the character regularly uses in their story
 * Any equipment desired
 * Only small additions like a pair of gloves, etc.
 * Equipment that is standard issue against your opponent's characters

Language
Communicating may be a burden for your teams. It should be determined what language they speak.
 * The native language of the player in charge of that team
 * Whatever language(s) they speak in their own stories
 * Whichever language the majority of your characters speak

Spoiler characters
Not all players may have seen, read, played, or otherwise experienced all the same stories as eachother. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, it should be decided what types of characters are allowed.
 * No characters from stories other players haven't experienced.
 * Characters may be chosen from aforementioned stories, if the other player doesn't care about spoilers for that story.
 * Characters may be chosen from aforementioned stories, but may only use abilities revealed in the first three chapters/episodes/minutes.

Motivation/loyalty
How much do your characters care about fighting and winning? Can they be turned? Are they willing to sacrifice their lives? These should be determined ahead of time.
 * Entirely motivated to fight, and entirely loyal
 * Entirely motivated and loyal, unless it directly conflicts with a major aspect of their character
 * Can be turned or convinced not to fight under the right circumstances
 * Are loyal to the player's side of the fight, but may clash with other characters in their own team under the right circumstances

Sources allowed
How much research can you do during the debate into strengths, weaknesses, and abilities, both of your characters and other players'? What sources can you use?
 * No research during the debate- everything must be from memory.
 * Research is allowed, but only from canon sources.
 * Research is allowed from any source, including theorists, as long as they can back up their case.

Prep time
How much time do teams have to prepare? Can they set up a base? Traps? Strategies? Or are they simply thrown onto the field?
 * No prep time
 * Can make plans, but don't have time for physical fortifications
 * Can set up a base, traps, or whatever else they please

Knowledge
How much do your characters know? Do they know everything the player knows, or are there limits?
 * Characters know what their player knows
 * Characters have basic information about the opposing team and the battleground
 * Characters have deep information about the opposing team and the battleground
 * Characters know nothing outside of their shows, and must learn as the battle goes on.

Variations
Some rules are simply made to be toggled on or off as you please for that particular round. Some common ones are listed here.
 * No immortal/essentially immortal characters

Why?: It breaks the game. This is one of the most common variations.
 * No DC characters

Why?: Too many conflicting sources to find valid information. Even if you pinned down a specific version of a character somehow, most DC characters are vastly overpowered to the point where they would break the game. This is another common variation.
 * No characters with [trait]

Why?: This would typically be used to weed out overpowered characters, but could also be used for other purposes.
 * All characters must have [trait]

Why?: This may allow for themed battles among a certain type of character.
 * One selection per story

Why?: If each story can only have one hero/group/army chosen from it, it increases the number of stories in the battle and can make things more fun, interesting, and/or complicated.
 * Players pick their opponent's teams

Why?: Instead of battling with powerful teams, who would win if you have insanely weak teams? Or, if you want a challenge, give an ideal team to someone else and try to beat it. If you pick this option, you may want to set rules about what can be chosen.
 * One death ends the battle

Why?: It's easy to rely on a single powerhouse character and sacrifice the weaker ones when necessary. This makes it so that you must use all your characters evenly, and protect the weaker ones from being targeted.