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View Full Version : Two Heartbreaker(tm) game mechanics



Yakk
2010-09-14, 08:43 PM
I'm playing around with some core resolution mechanics for a fantasy heartbreaker, and am looking for some feedback.

System Advantage
When you are at advantage relative to an opponent, you roll 2d20 and take the best. Possibly doubles (that succeed) also generate a critical success of some kind. When you are at a disadvantage relative to an opponent, you roll 2d20 and take the worst. If you are even with your opponent, you roll 1d20.

Modifiers may exist to these rolls, but such modifiers will be static and unchanging.

Having better quality equipment (masterwork, magical, artifact) pushes you towards advantage, flanking, surprise, etc.

The effect of this system is that situational modifiers don't occur. This reduces the math you do in combat -- all you do is count your advantages vs the opponents advantages, and if you have more you get to roll 2d20 and take the best.

Die Pool Attrition
A level X character rolls Xd20 per turn.

You then use these to attempt to attack and defend.

You defend by beating an attack die, or by passively defending against crappy rolls.

When your attack die beats your opponents defence, you then hit. You roll your damage die (or dice), possibly with bonuses.

The defender then consumes a "hit die", rolls it (possibly with bonuses), and sees if they beat your damage die. If they don't, they consume another "hit die", until they beat your damage roll. If they do so, the attack is soaked.

The defender can choose to "take a wound", doubling their current "hit die" total for the purpose of soaking. Wounds make you less effective, and take time to heal.

If the defender cannot beat your damage roll, the attack defeats you.

Spell casting/trick techniques might consist of having to accumulate X successes for a level X spell or trick, which is sort of neat in that high-level characters cast spells faster. An all-or-nothing spell would require the defender to defeat all X successes -- a partial resist spell allows the defender to defend against some successes and let others through.

The effect of this system is that a level 7 fighter is able to take on 7 level 1 fighters at once, even without additional boosts to your d20 rolls.

It is also nice in that a level 7 fighter vs a level 7 monster ends up being about as fast as a level 1 vs level 1.

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Do either of these systems stand out and say "wow, that looks cool"?

IcarusWings
2010-09-15, 10:15 AM
I like the Dice Pool attrition, and Advantage thing interests me. They seem like cool ideas.

Samurai Jill
2010-09-19, 09:09 AM
It's hard to say whether these would be a good idea or not without knowing more about the general aim of the system. I like the general dice pool system, though. Might give it some more thought.