Wakfu RPG Sketch

[Forty-Two]

After having a lively discord conversation with some people who insisted that diceless combat didn't exist/wasn't fun, I've decided to sketch out a system for the Wakfu universe. In part inspired from the ideas in www DOT giantitp DOT com/forums/showthread.php?225345-3-5-Wakfu-Homebrew-Project-Classes, I've tried to create something which captures a bit of the tactics from the MMO, while also simplifying mechanics for pen-and-paper play. This is mostly a mechanics-focused document, and there is not much flavor text. To give a bit of context, Iops are the BSFs of the Wakfu world, though with a bit of D&D's monk/barbarian/paladin thrown in. The primary Iop in the animated series is Pinpin/Sadlygrove/Dally/Percedal/Tristepin/Groovy (depending on the translation). Xelor are magic-users who are obsessed with time. The main xelor we meet in the main story is Nox, who is the primary villain. I've taken a bit of his invention mechanics as well. Keep in mind that nothing has been playtested, but I've tried to eyeball the damage/costs.

Available in pdf/LaTeX form at www DOT overleaf DOT com/read/hvtwbjpfphqs

Apologies for the lack of links. Forum restriction... (ugh)

[JNAProductions]

OOH! OOH! WAKFU!

I love this show! However, the link seems to be broken for me.

[Sariel Vailo]

Me and my bae loooove wakfuuuu im suuuuper interested To learn more.

[Forty-Two]

OOH! OOH! WAKFU!

I love this show! However, the link seems to be broken for me.

Did you replace the DOTs with periods?

[Forty-Two]

Noticed an infinite combo this morning (Infuse Wakfu+Tears in the Rain+Time Slow) and removed it by increasing the AP cost of Infuse Wakfu. Also removed the ability to generate infinite WP before a battle by restricting how Infusion points can be used.

[Lacuna Caster]

Noticed an infinite combo this morning (Infuse Wakfu+Tears in the Rain+Time Slow) and removed it by increasing the AP cost of Infuse Wakfu. Also removed the ability to generate infinite WP before a battle by restricting how Infusion points can be used.

I'll try and come back to this later, but could you maybe give an example for how combat might go?

[Forty-Two]

I'll try and come back to this later, but could you maybe give an example for how combat might go?

Sure. We'll look at a battle between Eris and Bonde, a LV 1 Xelor and Iop, respectively, and a Tofu and a Baby Tofu.

Eris has chosen to put his two free points into ST, and decided against removing any points to put elsewhere, leaving him with ST 2 DX 0 IQ 0 as his base attributes. From there he calculates the rest of his secondary characteristics:
HP 120 AP 6 MP 3 WP 5
Speed 0 Dodge 0 Lock 2 Block 0
MD 7 RD 5 SD 5
Since he is first level, he chooses three actions (as he does not have any passives available yet). He precalculates the normal, minicrit, and crit damage of each ability.

Ability	Normal Damage	Minicrit Damage	Crit Damage
Iop Instinct	2	N/A	N/A
Knockout Punch	12	13	14
Flurry of Blows	6/2	7/2	7/2

Bonde puts her two free points into IQ and additionally takes a point from DX to put into IQ. This leaves her with base attributes of ST 0 DX -1 IQ 3. Her secondary characteristics are
HP 100 AP 9 MP 2 WP 5
Speed 3 Dodge -1 Lock 0 Block 0
MD 5 RD 4 SD 8
Just like Eris, Bonde chooses three actions and computes their damage beforehand. Note that the damage listed for Summon Invention is for the invention's Explode action.

Ability	Normal Damage	Minicrit Damage	Crit Damage
Tick	N/A	N/A	N/A
Blink	N/A	N/A	N/A
Summon Invention	8	9	10

---

https://i.imgur.com/eskssSo.png

Our contestants meet on the field of battle. I'm rotating the tokens so that "up" is the direction they are facing. Because Bonde has the highest speed (3), she goes first. She has 9 AP, and first casts Tick, which increases the range of Blink by 2 to a total of 6, and leaves her with 7 AP. She then uses both of her MP to move towards the Tofus and Blinks behind them, leaving her with 4 AP and 0 MP. She then Summons two Inventions with her remaining 2 AP. She turns towards the Tofus and ends her turn.

https://i.imgur.com/FwXnVYn.png

Because her inventions have the same Speed (3) as she does, they act next. Each moves behind the two Tofus and Explodes, killing itself. Because the damage comes from behind the Tofus, they take minicrit damage instead of normal damage. It does not come from directly behind the Tofus, so it does not deal crit damage. Each Tofu takes two explosions worth of 9 damage, for 18 total.

https://i.imgur.com/dF6o0SS.png
https://i.imgur.com/sur0eqS.png

Eris has a speed of 0, which is faster than the Tofus, so he goes next. He decides to use Iop Instinct to become enraged for three turns, costing 4 AP and 1 WP, leaving him with 2 AP and 4 WP. He now adds 2 additional damage to all damage he deals, and all damage he takes is reduced by 10. He moves in front of the Tofus, but since he doesn't have enough AP to use Knockout Punch, he decides to use Flurry of Blows the Tofu. Since he hasn't used Flurry of Blows yet on that target this turn, he does 6 damage plus an additional 2 from Iop Instinct. He turns towards the Tofu and ends his turn.

https://i.imgur.com/Pi9gorY.png

Now the Tofus with speed -2 can take their turn. The Baby Tofu wins the dice roll and goes first. It is out of range of Bonde, and because the difference between its Dodge (0) and Eris's Lock (2) is 2, it would need to pay 3 MP and 1 AP if it wanted to move away from Eris. Deciding that the cost is too high, it Pecks Eris twice for 6 total damage, but this is reduced to 0 by Iop Instinct. This uses up all 4 of its AP. It then turns inward towards the Tofu and ends its turn.

https://i.imgur.com/hW417hw.png

The Tofu moves next. First it Lays an Egg, spawning another Baby Tofu. This costs 4 AP and 1 WP, leaving it with 2 AP and 1 WP. It then Pecks Eris once for 5 damage, which is reduced to 0 by Iop Instinct. It faces inward and ends its turn.

https://i.imgur.com/vOqX89v.png

The newly spawned Tofu spends 1 MP to move close enough to Bonde to Peck her twice, spending all of its AP. It then moves north and turns down, ending its turn.

https://i.imgur.com/3Q5cW48.png

Because everyone has moved, the round ends and it is Bonde's turn again. She Summons four Inventions for 8 AP. Because she has no way to spend her remaining 1 AP, she moves two spaces further back for 2 MP and ends her turn.

https://i.imgur.com/ycQllUJ.png

Each invention then moves up behind the Tofus and Explodes. Because the Tofus are facing inwards, each explosion only deals normal damage this time, for a total of 32 total damage to each Tofu. This kills the Baby Tofu.

https://i.imgur.com/unUOKgG.png
https://i.imgur.com/ah0hUVQ.png

Eris goes next. First, he moves one space up to partially flank the Tofu. Since his Dodge (0) and the Tofu's Lock (0) are equal, this costs 2 MP. Next, he uses Flurry of Blows to deal 9 damage (7 plus 2 from Iop Instinct) to the Tofu, leaving him with 4 AP. He then uses Knockout Punch. This deals 15 damage (13 plus 2 from Flurry of Blows and 2 from Iop Instinct). Because he is LV 1, he removes 1 AP from the Tofu for every 2 damage he dealt, for 8 total AP removed. The Tofu will be unable to make any actions requiring AP on its next turn, since it only had 6 AP to start with. He turns toward the Tofu and ends his turn.

https://i.imgur.com/dmSofRa.png

The Tofu moves next, but can take no actions. It can't move away either because its Dodge (0) is two less than Eris's Lock (2) it would cost 3 MP and 1 AP to move away. It turns upward and ends its turn.

https://i.imgur.com/1kCsFCV.png

The Baby Tofu moves 3 spaces closer to Bonde for 3 MP. It then Pecks her twice for 6 damage, and ends its turn.

https://i.imgur.com/bgba3ix.png

---

In the next round of combat, Bonde does 32 damage to the Baby Tofu, and Eris finishes off the Tofu, and starts walking towards the baby Tofu. The Baby Tofu does an additional 6 damage to Bonde, and is finished off the next turn, just before Eris's Iop Instinct would wear out.

---

Apologies for a minor continuity error. I forgot about the Block given by Iop Instinct, and some of the images show Eris as having taken damage.

This exercise has been pretty helpful in terms of balance. I think I will need to nerf SD-based actions, as IQ increases both SD and AP. Scaling the damage by 0.75 or so should do the trick.

[Lacuna Caster]

Now the Tofus with speed -2 can take their turn. The Baby Tofu wins the dice roll and goes first. It is out of range of Bonde, and because the difference between its Dodge (0) and Eris's Lock (2) is 2, it would need to pay 3 MP and 1 AP if it wanted to move away from Eris. Deciding that the cost is too high, it Pecks Eris twice for 6 total damage, but this is reduced to 0 by Iop Instinct. This uses up all 4 of its AP. It then turns inward towards the Tofu and ends its turn.

I don't have a great deal of experience with diceless systems, so maybe I'm missing something obvious, but why would the Tofus take actions that are doomed to be useless? Is this their only attack, or are they hoping to whittle down Eris' damage buffer, or are they just being role-played as not very observant?

Does the system have any particular role-playing aids in general? My Wakfu-fu is pretty weak, so I can't comment much on the characters' development, but the brief snippets of the cartoon I've watched do seem to involve a certain degree of interpersonal drama?

[Forty-Two]

I don't have a great deal of experience with diceless systems, so maybe I'm missing something obvious, but why would the Tofus take actions that are doomed to be useless? Is this their only attack, or are they hoping to whittle down Eris' damage buffer, or are they just being role-played as not very observant?

Because I forgot about the block until later and I didn't want to have to make new screenshots :P

Does the system have any particular role-playing aids in general? My Wakfu-fu is pretty weak, so I can't comment much on the characters' development, but the brief snippets of the cartoon I've watched do seem to involve a certain degree of interpersonal drama?

Nope, I mainly wanted to sketch out the combat for now, as as far as I can tell, most diceless systems are not very tactical. I slapped Microlite's skill system on top, but you could conceivably build in any sort of out-of-combat system you wanted.