FreakyCheeseMan
2010-05-13, 02:31 PM
So, I'm trying to design an HP-less combat system for a game world I'm developing. Here's what I have so far.
Critical hits are basically the only way to finish a fight, but you can't get one just by rolling a twenty- you have to make a called critical strike, but you can only do that under certain circumstances (i.e., when there's a hole in your opponent's defense).
To represent this, each combatant gets an Attack and Defense stat, sometimes with modifiers that only apply towards specific enemies. If your attack beats your opponent's defense, you can try for a critical strike; otherwise, you have to use other options to try to lower your opponent's defense or up your own attack. "Standard" attacks can do two things- inflict a non-critical wound, which lowers their defense by one until healed, or "Stagger" them, which reduces their defense until they can recover- and Stagger stacks, so if you hit them repeatedly, you can pile on the penalties. Other ways to beat defense include flanking, surprise attacks, enchanted weapons and certain spell effects.
Example:
Badass McBaddington with attack 10 attacks Gobliney the Goblin with defense 2; Badass's superior skill lets him blow through Gobliney's defenses and go for a critical at once, possibly with bonuses for the 8-point difference.
Roguey McBackstabber with attack 3 wants to kill Unaware McFlatFoot with defense 6. Roguey sneaks up behind her opponent, giving her +2 for a surprise attack and another + 2 for backstab, bringing her attack up to 6, letting her attempt the killing blow.
Fighter McEvenlyMatched with attack 3 and defense 6 attacks Warrior McWorthyFoe with attack 4 and defense 5. Fighter strikes Warrior and staggers him, lowering his defense to four; Warrior recoveres and strikes back, but misses. Fighter then attacks again, this time inflicting a wound, and using his Adrenaline Rush power to increase her attack to 4 in exchange for a future penalty. Warrior strikes again and misses, Mage McSupport casts a Force Shove spell on Warrior to stagger him, lowering his defense to 3, and Fighter goes in for the kill.
I'm thinking that weapon stats would now reflect their ability to inflict wounds or stagger an opponent; it would, for instance, be difficult to stagger an opponent with a dagger, or to wound a plate-clad opponent with a quarterstaff. To represent this, weapons (modified by user feats) have a "Wound" and "Stagger" stat, which, if an attack connects, is compared to "Absorption" and "Steadyness" stats of the defender and their armor; if the weapon can't break through, that type of damage is not done.
I'm also planning to include the concept of a "Readied Defense" similiar to a stance- it means you try to do something with your defense, taking a penalty and making it more likely you get hit, but with possible advantages as well.
Example:
Badass McBaddington returns to fight FighterMcDoomedpants (she changed her name when she got married). Fighter has trained lots to bring her defense to 14, and also invested in a spiffy set of plate mail with Aborption 6; this is bad news for Badass, who's stuck with a dagger with Wound 2 and no stagger at all.
On his first turn, Badass attacks, but his knife glances harmlessly off of Fighter's armor, and the attack is ineffective. Fighter returns the attack, but Badass used Disarm as a redied defense, knocking Fighter's weapon from her hands and lowering her defense by two. Badass then makes an unarmed attack (Unarmed attacks have high stagger), knocking Fighter backwards; Fighter attempt to recover but fails, Badass makes a trip attempt and succeeds, knocking Fighter prone and giving her a wonderful -4 to defense, lowering her total defense to 8 and allowing Badass to attempt to work his dagger into a chink in her armor.
I'm wondering A: What everyone thinks of this system, B: If it's too slow/complicated, and C: If anyone has any ideas to keep both combatants in a fight from continuing to stagger eachother, which would just be silly. Maybe deny attacks to staggered enemies? Or say that a succesful attack makes you automatically recover from being staggered?
Critical hits are basically the only way to finish a fight, but you can't get one just by rolling a twenty- you have to make a called critical strike, but you can only do that under certain circumstances (i.e., when there's a hole in your opponent's defense).
To represent this, each combatant gets an Attack and Defense stat, sometimes with modifiers that only apply towards specific enemies. If your attack beats your opponent's defense, you can try for a critical strike; otherwise, you have to use other options to try to lower your opponent's defense or up your own attack. "Standard" attacks can do two things- inflict a non-critical wound, which lowers their defense by one until healed, or "Stagger" them, which reduces their defense until they can recover- and Stagger stacks, so if you hit them repeatedly, you can pile on the penalties. Other ways to beat defense include flanking, surprise attacks, enchanted weapons and certain spell effects.
Example:
Badass McBaddington with attack 10 attacks Gobliney the Goblin with defense 2; Badass's superior skill lets him blow through Gobliney's defenses and go for a critical at once, possibly with bonuses for the 8-point difference.
Roguey McBackstabber with attack 3 wants to kill Unaware McFlatFoot with defense 6. Roguey sneaks up behind her opponent, giving her +2 for a surprise attack and another + 2 for backstab, bringing her attack up to 6, letting her attempt the killing blow.
Fighter McEvenlyMatched with attack 3 and defense 6 attacks Warrior McWorthyFoe with attack 4 and defense 5. Fighter strikes Warrior and staggers him, lowering his defense to four; Warrior recoveres and strikes back, but misses. Fighter then attacks again, this time inflicting a wound, and using his Adrenaline Rush power to increase her attack to 4 in exchange for a future penalty. Warrior strikes again and misses, Mage McSupport casts a Force Shove spell on Warrior to stagger him, lowering his defense to 3, and Fighter goes in for the kill.
I'm thinking that weapon stats would now reflect their ability to inflict wounds or stagger an opponent; it would, for instance, be difficult to stagger an opponent with a dagger, or to wound a plate-clad opponent with a quarterstaff. To represent this, weapons (modified by user feats) have a "Wound" and "Stagger" stat, which, if an attack connects, is compared to "Absorption" and "Steadyness" stats of the defender and their armor; if the weapon can't break through, that type of damage is not done.
I'm also planning to include the concept of a "Readied Defense" similiar to a stance- it means you try to do something with your defense, taking a penalty and making it more likely you get hit, but with possible advantages as well.
Example:
Badass McBaddington returns to fight FighterMcDoomedpants (she changed her name when she got married). Fighter has trained lots to bring her defense to 14, and also invested in a spiffy set of plate mail with Aborption 6; this is bad news for Badass, who's stuck with a dagger with Wound 2 and no stagger at all.
On his first turn, Badass attacks, but his knife glances harmlessly off of Fighter's armor, and the attack is ineffective. Fighter returns the attack, but Badass used Disarm as a redied defense, knocking Fighter's weapon from her hands and lowering her defense by two. Badass then makes an unarmed attack (Unarmed attacks have high stagger), knocking Fighter backwards; Fighter attempt to recover but fails, Badass makes a trip attempt and succeeds, knocking Fighter prone and giving her a wonderful -4 to defense, lowering her total defense to 8 and allowing Badass to attempt to work his dagger into a chink in her armor.
I'm wondering A: What everyone thinks of this system, B: If it's too slow/complicated, and C: If anyone has any ideas to keep both combatants in a fight from continuing to stagger eachother, which would just be silly. Maybe deny attacks to staggered enemies? Or say that a succesful attack makes you automatically recover from being staggered?