valadil
2013-10-07, 08:19 PM
I've been trying to come up with a combat system that's a bit more interesting out of the box than what you get with D&D. I'd like there to be choices every round, for characters of all skills, not just those who bought all the maneuvers.
I think what I've come up with might be too clunky though. I've been stuck on this point because I can't decide if I have to rewrite the combat system or if it's a good idea and I should keep it.
That I'm posting this at all indicates that, yeah, it's probably slow. I'm interested in any ideas that will speed it up. I'm open to dropping some of the overhead if that's the only way to speed things up, but I'm hesitant to do that without a playtest.
Anyway, here's what I've got.
First off, there's no basic damage attack. You're either going to attack a limb or do a maneuver like a trip or disarm. Since you don't have a default swing for damage attack, this imposes an extra decision on the player.
Next, there's a pseudo status effect for whether two combatants are engaged. This means they've got their swords raised and they're facing each other. It's easier to defend yourself against someone you've engaged. But your attention is limited, so if three people jump you you won't be able to engage them all at once.
There's also advantage, which is going to tie into reach in a moment. Consider sword vs spear. At first, the spear guy has an advantage since he has a chance to hit the sword guy right away. But once the sword guy moves past the tip of the spear, into spear guy's guard, he has an advantage.
Finally reach. Each weapon has a reach stat. The difference between your reach and your opponent's reach will be the numerical bonus provided by advantage. My goal is to make this stat something the player's can vary. Brawling and grappling will provided long weapon wielders with some close quarters attacks. Some weapons will have different stances for manipulating their reach as well.
After that, it's an opposed skill check and degree of success determines damage.
So compared to D&D that adds a decision, two status effects, a little arithmetic, and the possibility of more decisions to manipulate that arithmetic. Each of those changes seems reasonable on their own, but together they seem like too much.
I think what I've come up with might be too clunky though. I've been stuck on this point because I can't decide if I have to rewrite the combat system or if it's a good idea and I should keep it.
That I'm posting this at all indicates that, yeah, it's probably slow. I'm interested in any ideas that will speed it up. I'm open to dropping some of the overhead if that's the only way to speed things up, but I'm hesitant to do that without a playtest.
Anyway, here's what I've got.
First off, there's no basic damage attack. You're either going to attack a limb or do a maneuver like a trip or disarm. Since you don't have a default swing for damage attack, this imposes an extra decision on the player.
Next, there's a pseudo status effect for whether two combatants are engaged. This means they've got their swords raised and they're facing each other. It's easier to defend yourself against someone you've engaged. But your attention is limited, so if three people jump you you won't be able to engage them all at once.
There's also advantage, which is going to tie into reach in a moment. Consider sword vs spear. At first, the spear guy has an advantage since he has a chance to hit the sword guy right away. But once the sword guy moves past the tip of the spear, into spear guy's guard, he has an advantage.
Finally reach. Each weapon has a reach stat. The difference between your reach and your opponent's reach will be the numerical bonus provided by advantage. My goal is to make this stat something the player's can vary. Brawling and grappling will provided long weapon wielders with some close quarters attacks. Some weapons will have different stances for manipulating their reach as well.
After that, it's an opposed skill check and degree of success determines damage.
So compared to D&D that adds a decision, two status effects, a little arithmetic, and the possibility of more decisions to manipulate that arithmetic. Each of those changes seems reasonable on their own, but together they seem like too much.