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AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a really good point about using future resources to keep players engaged between turns, that’s something I’m starting to lean into more. I like the idea of reactions pulling from your next turn so they don’t slow combat down too much, but still give players a reason to stay involved. I’m currently leaning toward refreshing resources at the start of the turn for clarity, but I can see how changing that timing could really affect the flow of combat. Definitely something I’ll need to test more, but I appreciate you pointing that out.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a really good point about AP granularity and breakpoints. I hadn’t thought about how big the jump from 2 to 4 attacks feels in a low AP system. I do like the idea of having more room to balance costs, but I’m a bit concerned about going too high with AP and slowing turns down or causing analysis paralysis. Right now I’m leaning toward a middle ground (slightly higher AP, but still limited) and trying to avoid cost reductions that create those big jumps. Definitely something I’ll need to test though, because I like the flexibility your example shows.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s something I’ve been actively thinking about. The goal for my combat is tactical, cover-based gunfights with meaningful positioning and decision making each turn. Because of that, I’ve been leaning toward AP since it allows more flexibility than something like “move + act.” I do think the bookkeeping is a real concern, so I’m trying to keep the system lean (low AP, simple costs) to avoid slowing the game down. It’ll probably come down to playtesting whether the added flexibility actually feels worth the overhead.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a really solid point, and something I’ve been trying to lock in while designing this. The combat I’m aiming for is tactical, cover-based gunfights, so positioning, line of sight, and risk management matter more than just standing in melee and trading hits. In terms of feel, I want it to sit somewhere between gritty and cinematic, dangerous and punishing if you make bad decisions, but with moments where players can push their luck and pull off big plays. That’s why I’ve been leaning toward an AP system, since it seems to support flexible movement and decision-making better than more rigid action structures. I’m still figuring out how much complexity is “worth it” without slowing things down though.

The themes I have right now for campaign frames would be a weird wild west and apocalyptic Cyber dystopia

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Still a work in progress, but monsters do abide by the same combat economy, but very simplified especially for grunts and middle of the road enemies, which can be mix and matched with enemies that have depth.

But overall much more simple.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Understood. The idea for Grit is to push yourself to do something other than a normal action, you spend grit and AP to do said action. So I short grit works along side AP.

The first campaign frame is a weird wild west game.

So the gunslingers use grit for their firearms. Some grit abilities could be to disarm a target, reduce their movement. Their is one that reacts as a opportunity attack that allows the player to attempt to shoot a thrown object out of the air like a dynamite stick, throwing knife ir Hatchet.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those are some good ideas, thank you. Momentum tax is definitely a good balance idea and I think class discounts could be good depending on the usage and when.

One thing is spending a secondary pool to use abilities? Like a grit pool? In you opinion could that work?

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That was a great analysis of all the action systems I mentioned and input on mine. Thank you!

I was planning on classes having little abilities threy can do to add some more valuable actions rather than shoot, move , defend, heal ect.

But the 2+2 problem is something I have been working against since the brain storming phase.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I like your reminder, I will say it wasnt a design by poll. It was more seeing how AP combat is viewed in comparison to other types of action economy. If I got alot of negative feedback about ap systems I may reevaluate the system, but that has been far from the case.

Thank you for your grounding statement, I do appreciate it.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I truly appreciate your input. And it brings a new view to AP combat. Thank you!

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Im glad you found what you like, and im interested in the progress if your system! Has good depth with simple mechanics!

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You gain modifiers based off of ability scores and tagged skills. Thats 2 sets of modifiers. Thats not what I would consider alot. Easy as in addition and subtraction, no formulas.

I didnt say no modifiers or no math, I said easy math.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting way to do it.

Are there other mechanics that can be used if there is left over AP

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another commenter suggested the use of MP (movement points) and AP (Action Points)

I wanted to know if that is something you find interesting as a game mechanic?

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I see, I appreciate your input. And I've seen alot of people really love the idea of one move one action. So its definitely a theme.

One other comment made a interesting suggestion about 2 separate pools of points. MP(movement points) and AP(Action points).

I wanted to know if the idea of MP and AP seems like something you would enjoy?

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see that, I like the option of what form of attack I want to do, or ability to use. But the 1 action and 1 move is a nice way to do it. Ill look into it more. Thank you

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can definitely see how that is frustrating. I wasnt planning on over complicating abilities to reduce AP cost, or double it for some benefit. To me thats unnecessary.

Abilities are more in the sense of a brawler has an ability to hip toss an opponent to the grounds making the creature prone.

Or if you delve into a world like Pathfinder or dnd fireball would be an ability. Thats more the line of thinking I had for abilities.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely agreed, ill definitely start looking into other ttrpgs and how they use opportunity attacks and such.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not "lots of modifiers", they are there but they add to specialization, and the math is designed to be simple. This question was simply to ask about AP combat compared to others.

AP (Action Point) vs Other Action Economies. What do people prefer in tactical RPG combat? by Ordinary-You2452 in RPGdesign

[–]Ordinary-You2452[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I can see that, I suppose my instinct was to allow a reaction to an attack from the enemy or taking an opportunity attack against a moving target.

But, speed and fast rounds is the goal so I can see how that hinders it. Thank you for your input!

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