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kamikasei
2010-11-03, 10:28 AM
I'm tinkering around with a rules-light homebrew system (probably building off FUDGE) and thinking about how to handle special abilities not usable every turn. Ideally I'd like to have a system that encourages you to use "default" powers in order to activate the special ones, rather than just having everything on a timer. So I appeal to the Playground: how do various systems handle this issue? The solution would need to be adaptable to a rules-light framework, but doesn't have to come from one, so long as it's not innately bound up with detailed combat mechanics.

Kylarra
2010-11-03, 11:08 AM
One that I saw involved a "halo-collection" system, think the assassin of Diablo 2, where basic hits allowed you to accrue halos which could then be expended to power various other special abilities later.

dsmiles
2010-11-03, 11:15 AM
One that I saw involved a "halo-collection" system, think the assassin of Diablo 2, where basic hits allowed you to accrue halos which could then be expended to power various other special abilities later.

+1. This would encourage people to use both their basic attacks (not like 4e, basic attacks are almost a waste) and their special powers.

kamikasei
2010-11-03, 11:20 AM
That sounds interesting. Is it like "combo points" in WoW where all accrued went in to the same pool and could all power the same abilities, or do different types of "basic" moves set up different "advanced" moves?

dsmiles
2010-11-03, 11:22 AM
That sounds interesting. Is it like "combo points" in WoW where all accrued went in to the same pool and could all power the same abilities, or do different types of "basic" moves set up different "advanced" moves?

The latter for the Diablo 2 assassin, IIRC.

Duke of URL
2010-11-03, 11:32 AM
The "halo" concept sounds workable. A variant might be that special attacks are made possible through building combination of basic (and/or intermediate) attacks.

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Been a while since I played it, but Chrono Cross had an interesting system. If I recall, there were three "strengths" of general attacks you could use, which cost 1, 2, or 3 points of stamina (out of a maximum 7). Successful attacks provide bonuses on following attacks, the strong the attack, the higher the bonus. You could continue making attacks as long as you have a positive stamina. The number (and strengths) of successful attacks allows you to use a special attack (at the cost of dropping stamina into the negatives) equal to or less than the "points" you earned for successful attacks. Stamina is recovered as other characters act.

Kylarra
2010-11-03, 11:57 AM
The latter for the Diablo 2 assassin, IIRC.Yeah that's the way the D2 assassin worked. The particular one I was thinking of was more along the lines of the former though. IIRC, it would be something along the lines of if you have X halos, you may do Y, else Z; or expend X halos to add X to <atk/defense/dmg/something>.

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@OP
I think for your idea you may want something more along the lines of the assassin's abilities from D2 though, where you can create your own more powerful moves by stacking basic moves.

Eloel
2010-11-03, 12:54 PM
You could also check the DDO Monk for inspirations.

Normal hits get you Ki (1 each, modified by a couple things)
There are 6 basic strikes, fire/earth/air/water/light/dark, that each eat up some Ki (5, I think)
Different combos of 3 of those (like, fire/light/fire, in that order) lets you use different "finishers", using up more Ki (10, I think), like the aforemetioned fire/light/fire lets you cast a pseudo-heroism on the party for 1 minute. Light/light/light heals, fire/fire/fire casts Burning Hands, dark/dark/dark hurts (alot) etc.

There's also a X/day (per rest, in DDO terms), "meditate" ability that fills your Ki upto some point.

I can see something similar to that working good.

Master_Rahl22
2010-11-03, 02:07 PM
The D2 Assassin's mechanic was really fun. Different basic moves, claw attacks IIRC, built up different kinds of charges, max of 3. You then release all charges with a kick. You could build up a few health/mana leech charges and release them to get yourself to full, then build up 3xExtra damage, 3xFire Damage, 3xIce Damage and slow, etc and start a boss fight in style. :smallcool:

mint
2010-11-03, 02:23 PM
FF: Four Heroes of Light has a pretty neat system.

The combat resource is AP.
Each char has a pool of 5, its contents persistent throughout encounters. If you end an encounter with 3 AP, you start your next with 3 AP.

Every turn, a character gains 1 AP.
The "Basic Attack" option costs 1 AP. Special Skills or abilities cost more.

The basic magic, for example, costs 2 AP.
Everyone can use magic but casting classes reduce the AP cost by 1 AP.

Everyone also has the option of "Boost", which gives you an extra AP for your next turn, so you can build up your AP.

Then there are mechanics that let you build up your AP more quickly and so on.

It feels light-weight and pretty neat most of the time.
An obvious kink though is that you can finish all your encounters by boosting until everyone has full AP before landing the final blow.

valadil
2010-11-03, 03:07 PM
I'm working on a system in my spare time too. It's based on spending fate chips instead of rolling dice. Chips are acquired by resting. A good night's sleep earns a certain amount of chips. Each meal you eat during the day (up to 3) earns another amount of chips. I haven't quite worked out the numbers yet, but sleep plus breakfast should bring people almost up to full, but not quite.

I chose this mechanic because I like the flavor of it and it gives players enough control of when it happens.

Kylarra
2010-11-03, 03:13 PM
I'm working on a system in my spare time too. It's based on spending fate chips instead of rolling dice. Chips are acquired by resting. A good night's sleep earns a certain amount of chips. Each meal you eat during the day (up to 3) earns another amount of chips. I haven't quite worked out the numbers yet, but sleep plus breakfast should bring people almost up to full, but not quite.

I chose this mechanic because I like the flavor of it and it gives players enough control of when it happens.Your system is making me hungry for pringles. :smallbiggrin:

Master_Rahl22
2010-11-03, 07:29 PM
I played a fun game on Kongregate called Ge.ne.sis that's a turn based RPG. There's a shared pool of SP (skill points) and every character adds to the SP based on their Magic stat on their turn. Turn order is always the same based on Agility, and every character can delay their turn once. Since the Magic stat also determines how powerful spells are, you'll generally have one or two characters with a good Magic stat and the others without. If one of your physical attack characters is up and needs SP, you can delay and let your caster add their SP first.