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goto124
2015-12-14, 10:00 AM
I'm more looking for stats, abilities, spells, and other mechanical or crunchy things instead of fluff, but I'm also not looking at any specific system. We'll also be focusing on combat at the moment, but I hope to get into survival (food, water, swimming, etc) and transportation at some point.

Does anyone have examples of a pair of characters (wife and husband, girlfriend and boyfriend, sister and brother, best friends, two halves of the same person - doesn't matter as long as they're two characters who're rather close to each other) whose mechanics support and mesh with each other very well, and each person covers for their partner's flaws?

I haven't been able to think of anything beyond very simple statements such as "tank and healer" or "tank and damager". Doesn't help that in (T)RPGs, everyone (even the NPCs) is controlled by a human and smart enough to attack the squishy damager instead of the beefy tank. I suppose the tank would be more of a controller...

But I still don't know how they would work, what abilities they would have, what tactics they would use, etc! I need ideas!

OldTrees1
2015-12-14, 10:31 AM
Bodyguard + Healer (requires something like 3e's Devoted Defender for great tanking for 1 charge)

Set them up + Knock them down (Example: BFC with Island of Blades + Fistful of D6s)

Switch! (Martial characters can nova + recharge. Switching back and forth to keep the most fit up front)

I raise 'em. You buff 'em. (Your typical Necromatic Bardic duo)

Mounted Combat

GorinichSerpant
2015-12-14, 11:41 AM
The escapist fantasy versions of me and my sibling would consist of Distraction and Misdirection + Stab in the Back during the confusion.

Knaight
2015-12-14, 11:54 AM
Archer and melee. Sniper and spotter. Pilot and engineer/mechanic. Pilot and gunner. Two specialist warriors, one specialized in dealing with groups of weaker combatants one with individual stronger combatants. Light striker and heavy grappler in a martial arts game. Mech and aerial recon. Fighter pilot and bomber pilot. Firearms specialist and explosives specialist.

MintyNinja
2015-12-14, 12:19 PM
A buddy and I had a pair of Gladiators that worked really well together in a D&D 5e game:

I was a Moon Druid, with all of the healing and combat shapes I could want.
He was a Halfling Fighter, with Mounted Combatant and Protector Fighting style.
Our common tactic would be for me to summon a Flame Sphere and the shift into a Dire Wolf, he'd then ride on my back with a lance and a shield.

This meant that if anyone attacked me, they'd have disadvantage (roll twice, take the worse) while each of us had advantage to attack adjacent enemies. It was really awesome crunch-wise, but then the GM got frustrated with the pace of the game and quit.

nedz
2015-12-14, 12:48 PM
It's hard to discuss Crunch without knowing the system.


Mount and Rider
Cleric and Templar (or Cleric and Fixer)
Master and Apprentice
Shieldwall specialists
Sith

Aran nu tasar
2015-12-14, 01:29 PM
The Iliad provides the example of Teucer and Ajax; an archer shooting from behind his brother's massive shield.

goto124
2015-12-14, 09:28 PM
This is the system (http://s9.therpsite.com/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=84). This explains the HP part of the system (http://s9.therpsite.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=2281).

Essentially, it's point-buy where everything from armor to abilities to spells (all are consider 'Advantages' in this system) is custom-made (stats are already there though), and the GM would decide the number of points your equipment and abilities ('Advantages') would cost. One can also take combat-exploitable flaws (called 'Disadvantages' here) to have more points to play with.

Dodging and damage reduction works by fiat. If Jarrel has 4 Fitnesse and Goren has 18 Agility, Jarrel should not be able to hit Goren at all. However, if J has 5 Fitnesse and G has 6 Agility, it's a toss-up as to when J hit or misses G. In this case, G sorta-arbitarily decides if the attacks hit him each time J attempts to attack G. It does have resemblence to free-form RP in this aspect.

The system also doesn't allow for anything with dice-rolling.

I don't know how tanking and protecting would work, unless I create abilities that explicitly state 'for the next 3 rounds, all attacks on Alice will affect Bob instead'. It's theater-of-the-mind with much less movement rules than 5e, which causes problems.

I doubt mount and rider really works in a world where speed isn't much of a concern, and everyone gets their turn anyway.

Stun them + hit them (Controller + Damager) may work wonderfully when dodging is decided by fiat unless your target is stunned. Thing is, there isn't much environment to control, so control is limited to stunning. Again, very little movement rules.

Also, dying is a pretty huge concern here. Might have to cater for healing and such.