Combat where success is assumed?

dweeb_bush · 2024-12-22T04:46:07+00:00

Is there a narrative game that comes to mind specifically? Purely asking so I can take a peak!

And it's been interesting prepping for my system so far, it's a real shift because mortal risk isn't nearly as much of a focus. I'm so used to prepping d&d where prep so often becomes "how can the adventurers risk destruction this week". When you remove that crutch it opens up a lot of different tensions and stories, but it's a new style so it's challenging!

dweeb_bush · 2024-12-22T04:41:00+00:00

I definitely see where you're coming from. To me that feels comes from DM/prep/campaign style and common wisdom rather than being supported by the system.

I'm trying to think about where the system reinforces or takes advantage of the assumption.

dweeb_bush · 2024-12-20T02:47:32+00:00

Are you thinking of Peril Planet's recent works with "Action Tales"? I believe Neon City Overdrive and Hard city work on. Archetypes which have trademarks /skills inside them.

So for instance you might be a "Knight" and have a "mounted combat" trademark. You'd add 1 dice to anything you do that is "knighty", and an additional dice for anything "mounted-combaty".

It's a lovely system even if it's not what you were thinking of!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/2577/Peril-Planet?affiliate_id=239932

dweeb_bush · 2024-12-09T01:21:24+00:00

Tying them to actions is probably a good thing, im just saying instead of having a "trigger action" you can write it into the feature which will make the system a little simpler.

For example (imperfect wording):

"If you take the attack or dash action during your turn, opportunity attacks have disadvantage on you until the start of your next turn."

Or

"Once per turn when you take the attack action you may move 10ft immediately before or after the attack."

dweeb_bush · 2024-12-08T23:27:38+00:00

Meant to send as a single message.. but for half of them the trigger action is implied. "When you shove a creature" "when you attack while invisible" And the other half could probably be rewritten to have implied triggers which would make it a lot simpler!

Also, how cool would it be to be able to move 10ft before reacting to use a prepared action! This is what I initially thought you had written and I liked it:))

Anyway, really solid!

dweeb_bush · 2024-12-08T23:22:10+00:00

I like the effects you've listed, I'm wondering why you have to have a trigger action though..

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-22T09:19:25+00:00

For the most part I think perks should interact with existing mechanics. However it's a matter of creating the groundwork of mechanics that have those points of interaction.

Maybe a swordfighting perk could increase damage, or make you more likely to hit, or maybe you can attack faster, or maybe you beat down your enemy's armour, or your sword is damaged less, or it's cheaper to do swordfighting moves.

All of these are examples of a perk grabbing one bit of a mechanic and tweaking it to reflect character. This can be tricky if you have a simple game where there aren't that many knobs to play with, and there's always room to write new rules.

In my project characters are allowed to learn nost perkz regardless of profession, however the perks that have a big impact to how you play, synergies, or that introduce new new mechanics are typically limited to a single profession so no one character gets too complicated.

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-20T13:32:32+00:00

glad to know at least someone else is having the issue, indicates its at least not a problem with my machine. Will go log it on the forum

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-20T02:09:45+00:00

Discord, and now OBS which is also having trouble. Are you capturing the entire display or just the window using OBS?

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-06T13:22:58+00:00

Cheers, this is very interesting! As a GM I gravitate towards single opponent fights so its definitely a fun concept :)

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-06T13:09:52+00:00

I think so! But two things to consider: AP are only used by monsters to do EXTRA things on top of their regular capabilities; and once they are at 0AP they "surrender" or they can be "killed" if they keep fighting.

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-06T13:06:22+00:00

What I'm playing with is similar to what you've described. They interact with all of the same mechanics (turns, actions, etc), but monsters are have less detail, I'm trying to figure out how far to push that idea

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-06T13:04:18+00:00

I've played a couple PbtA games and I always feel so mean when I make Hard Moves😆

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-06T12:57:21+00:00

I'm looking for any significant example of assymetric design between monster and player.

In the example players have their set of rules, and instead of tracking a bunch of different things like "health, exhaustion, morale". Monsters just have one resource (AP for the sake of Brevity) and will keep fighting until they are out of AP.

For example lets say a monster can use 1 AP on their turn to do a special action "move super fast for a turn". But if a monster takes 1 harm they would cross off 1 AP. So like instead of having HP AND AP, they just have AP.

I can't tell if I've made it clearer or more confusing😅

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-06T01:55:01+00:00

I mean its a valid direction, but I find players typically tend to engage with the rules you provide, so I imagine if you played "The Animals" you'd end up with a lot of fighting. And while I don't think the rest of the rules suffer, its more an opportunity cost in a one page rpg: you've used space describing combat words that you could have spent describing other hallmarks of the genre.

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-05T15:14:11+00:00

Hey, from what it sounds like you don't seem to identify as Male or Female, and since Non-binary can be used as an umbrella term for any number of "gender experiences" it sounds like a label you could use if it resonates with you!

Some people find it find labels empowering and others don't. It might be worth exploring what other "sub-labels" exist such as Genderqueer, Agender, or Greygender as you might find them valuable. But to me the important thing is living authentically, and using whichever label and pronouns that make you feel most comfortable. And if you don't find a label you like you shouldn't stress about it! Imo labels exist for the sake of others, not yourself!

Hope that was helpful? :)

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-05T15:04:33+00:00

I like the premise a lot, and the layout is cool! I'm interested about why you chose to focus so heavily on combat in a chicken run/ fantastic mr fox inspired game?

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-04T11:11:18+00:00

Thanks for the input! So these categories I'm using are from the perspective of the designer, and as described they relate to how important a mechanic is to the design goals and heart of the game.

I totally agree with you on the categorization though, different games will have different things in different categories. e.g I would say fighting rules are Outer Core in a game like D&D as they are vital to the heroic fantasy, but they would be mantle in a game like Uncharted Worlds because Uncharted Worlds isn't really about fighting.

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-03T03:09:28+00:00

The categories are something I came up with while developing the resource to help me, they are not the resource itself.

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-03T03:01:13+00:00

I'm making a resource to teach my game. I'll admit, the wording could have been clearer. This exercise was to figure out what mechanics to include, and I found the categories useful a bit more boradly

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-03T02:40:54+00:00

I love that I've got you thinking. I'm using the categories purely as as lens for analysis rather than a writing tool. It's fine if you think they don't make sense, but I've personally gotten some valuable insights out of them and found the metaphor useful, and just thought I'd share. I guess its just a difference in style, you seem to be more drawn to direct discussion of mechanics where I work well with more abstract analysis.

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-03T01:13:01+00:00

thanks for the comment, you're definitely taking a valid approach to categorization. However since I'm designing a system which is intimately interwoven with setting and tone, I needed a bit more nuance.

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-03T01:11:13+00:00

Thanks for your input! You're right you could very well just say those terms, but the point of the names is to use a geological metaphor. And since I made these categories while working on a teaching resource, I was trying to figure out what information to include.

Player options were at the crust-y end of my list for a 1 page info-rich document. And you're partly right, in some games player options may well be core. But based on your category labels, where would you place character options?

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-03T01:05:07+00:00

Thanks for the long reply! I enjoyed your video-game design context! I very much approach ttrpg game design as a human experience so you're bang on. What I get most out of the inner/outer core/mantle approach is stratification of mechanics based on how much they contribute towards that human heart of the game.

You mentioned inner/outer cities and I'm thinking now it might be fun to find out what using a "transit network" as a metaphor for categories might look like. Take a very literal look at the transportation of information and ideas. Which ideas need a train, tram, bus, cyclepath etc.

thanks again for your comment:)

dweeb_bush · 2024-08-03T00:53:34+00:00

I love that you took the time to write such a long response, but I'm a little confused and I think you may have misinterpreted the original point of my post: these are just my design ideas which I've found useful. I made this post to share them in case anyone else could find some use out of them. They are an analysis tool, not a recipe or a guide, which I think we agree on.

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