Manala: Equinox War

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Summary

A deckbuilding MMO where cheating is legal. It's not an exploit you found, but the cards in your deck. Argue that their armor never covered that spot. Forget to deduct a hit point. Call the safety word on a strike you saw coming. The Frog of the North sees everything, says nothing and sends the bill later. Combat is a LARP field with a rulebook. Your gear is your deck: every piece of equipment on your body decides which cards you can play. Poison coats your blade before the fight. Potions are cards that spend the real item out of your bag. Every enemy draws its cards from the gear it is carrying: the sword beating you is the sword you are about to take off its corpse. No levels, no scaling, no big numbers. You have between 5HP and 20HP. 400 rooms, 23 regions, 5 classes, and a seasonal faction war between Light and Darkness.

Story

In the Northlands, two ancient forces have warred since the beginning: the Light and the Darkness. Neither has ever won. An ancient pact holds the balance, and by its terms only mortals may decide which side grows stronger in the year to come. You are one of the chosen. Each autumn equinox the elect warriors are called north, mustered to the battlefield by the Frog of the North, a colossal judge of iron and stone, older than humankind, whose heavy-lidded eyes see through every deception. Its altar stands at the ancient hillfort where both hosts come to hear its verdict. Swear to a camp - seafaring Vikings, cloistered brothers, mountain dwarves for the Light; orcs, shadow-elves, and lake-cursed zealots for the Darkness - and fight to tip the cycle. Death is no ending. When you fall, your soul crosses into Manala, the underworld, and the Innkeeper greets you at her threshold tavern before you return to the field. Fall in battle and the halls of Valhalla wait. From there you choose: back to war, or on to your own road.