Having the text appear above the tokens makes it easier to understand who is saying what, especially for secondary comments. I think I’ll make the text in the descriptions bigger however.
So I’ve been thinking about the combat system some more.
I want to have a system which is simple but not to the point where there’s no strategy involved.
I want to keep the numbers low as well without keeping the players in a situation where they’re constantly on the verge of death. And yet, I want tension to be there in battle and each wound to matter as opposed to certain injuries being insignificant like certain rpgs.
Since I’m using D6 I need to make sure to make the most out of it. One way to do this, is add more die in play. I don’t want this to get out of hand like in Shadowrun however.
Every die roll should count and lead to as few “empty” results as possible.
I also want battle sequences to be limited. An example of battle sequences:
1. Roll to hit
2. roll for defense
3. roll for damage
This is what I want to keep as limited as possible.
Another question which comes to mind is: how does equipment come into play? How does it affect battle?
Regarding Equipment:
I want restrict certain equipment to certain classes. For example, certain weapons will only be accessible to certain characters.
This being said, how do you make equipment matter than just for damage? If the only difference between a dagger and a sword is damage, equipment becomes secondary to the point where it could almost be removed entirely. I find that having every weapon have its own unique characteristics would make equipment management a lot more interesting.
The next question is: should I have a martial skill for each character which is influenced by the equipment they are using or simply limit the equipment to each character with predetermined characteristics?
Using only equipment simplifies and streamlines the game, which I like. It makes gaining a level less interesting however as the game would then be equipment focused as opposed to being focused on character.
So how do you make sure both are character and equipment are important? Limiting gear to certain classes does help to further focus on characters.
Stats:
So I already have health and energy as stats. I want to keep stats to a bare minimum. The more stats you have, the more stats need to come into play. Adding each attribute needs to be thoroughly considered. Only what is essential needs to be added into the game.
Here’s what I’m aiming for at the moment:
A skill which represents each character’s prowess in close combat. This would determine how likely they are going to hit and damage opponents. I’m thinking I’d stick to “combat” for this skill or change the nomenclature if you guys can think of something else.
Each combat represents a die being rolled in battle. This would mean the soldier would roll 3 die, the dwarf and the rogue 2 and the wizard 1. If I could, I’d have the dwarf better in combat than the rogue but he already has the highest health so I don’t want him to be overpowered.
Now the next question is: do I need a ranged attribute? I don’t picture every character being able to use ranged attacks. Should I have the wizard use the range attribute when trying to hit from long distance spells or should I have a single stat for magic which manages everything related to spells?
I think a ranger attribute could be interesting. The dwarf could use gunpowder firearms which the rogue would specialize in ranger weaponry like bows and crossbows. Perhaps the soldier could have access to a little bit of both (firearms and bows) without having access to the best of each category.
But then comes the wizard. It’d need to matter for the wizard to have a range attribute so perhaps certain spells could rely on that range attribute.
I think one last stat could be something which encompasses everything “mental”: willpower, intelligence, wit, wisdom, etc… That one stat you use when resisting spells and the like. I’m thinking of a light bulb but might be too close to the bolt used for energy.
So 5 attributes in total: health, energy, combat, ranged, psyche.
Combat:
I’m thinking of the following for combat in order to keep the number of sequences low and things simple.
1. Close combat requires both characters involved to roll their combat stats.
Ex: The soldier (3) attacks a goblin (2). Soldier rolls:
4,3,5 while the goblin rolls 2,3. They keep the highest score in their rolls: 5 for the soldier and 3 for the goblin.
2. We determine the difference between the loser/winner score: 5-3=2.
3. That score determines the amount of damage based on the weapon being used which has a damage stat.
Say the soldier has a broad sword with a Damage of 1 and the goblin has a dagger with a Damage of ½. In this case, the soldier would cause 2 damage because he overpowered the goblin by two. If the goblin had overpowered the soldier by 2, 1 damage would have been caused.
This doesn’t factor in armor yet.
I don’t like the idea of armor being everlasting. I think it should reduce damage as opposed to negate it entirely.
Let’s say the soldier has a breastplate with a defense of 3. I’m thinking the first time the soldier is wounded, the damage is reduced by 3 but its defense goes to down to 2.5. The time after, it would be 2, 1.5 etc… until the breastplate is completely ruined.
I know this is more about art but I like to post my thoughts here so I can hear about game design as well.
Thank you for reading!
EDIT: And a new take on the character sheet:
EDIT2: Rogue portrait:
Wizard (having a harder time with this one):
Second version:
Soldier:
