Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Combating Combat - Building The Mechanics
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Combating Combat - Building The Mechanics
Episode 166 Streamed Live Tuesday November 21, 2023
Main Topic: Combating Combat -Things to consider as you design a combat system for a fantasy TTRPG.
What kinds of feel or experience do you want combat to give?
Frenetic, fog of war, cinematic/heroic action, gritty blood-n-bone combat, other?
Emulation vs. Simulation
Need to decide if BALANCE is important, and HOW to handle it
Complexity can often stall the game.
How “old-school” do you go? (all attacks do d6, weapon vs. armor,
speed factor, phases)
How should the offense and defense capabilities interact?
D&D: AC, attack roll, damage rolls vs HPS
Armor as DR, wounds vs vitality
Simplified comparison: combat skill vs defensive skill/opposed rolls.
Include a separate Dodge/Parry/Block/Evade mechanic?
How many actions does a character get per turn? And how does it affect combat
Movement: double moves, running, AOO’s, withdrawals
Attack: melee, range, spell, number of attacks,
Other types: speaking, opening a door, interacting with an object.
Do actions effect initiative order?
Character types and limitations if any in combat.
Armor and weapon limitations.
Combat skill limitations.
Who gets to be good at what?
Can wizards wear armor and cast spells?
Can warriors sneak around?
Spell disruption (OSR vs 3.X vs 13th age)
Fear of Magic dominance
How does the initiative system interact with combat?
Is it turn-based? Side initiative (OSR), individual (3.X,
Savage Worlds), # actions based on speed
(GURPS/Hackmaster/Shadowrun), He who starts the fight goes
first/free form, highest roll goes first then around the table in
clockwise order (horde Wars)
How important is it?
OTHER considerations:
Setting and Rules often feed into each other.
If the game is mainly about combat, then perhaps the combat system should be robust and detailed.
If the game is meant to be about the story that gets told around the
table, then maybe the system needs to be more fluid with interchangeable pieces to increase or decrease complexity in the
system.
Shameless Plug Time:
Shameless Plug Time:
If you would like to support our show, please like, subscribe, and share us where you are listening or viewing the show. We are on all the socials, video and podcast places as well.
Cash Support
PayPal: https://paypal.me/biggusgeekus
Streamlabs: https://streamlabs.com/biggusgeekus1/tip
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/biggusgeekus
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BiggusGeekus
On the Web:
Website: www.biggusgeekuspodcast.com
Email: [email protected]
Big Geek Emporium: https://biggeekemporium.com/
View all episodes
By Joe Hardin and Randy Nichols
3.7
1313 ratings
Episode 166 Streamed Live Tuesday November 21, 2023
Main Topic: Combating Combat -Things to consider as you design a combat system for a fantasy TTRPG.
What kinds of feel or experience do you want combat to give?
Frenetic, fog of war, cinematic/heroic action, gritty blood-n-bone combat, other?
Emulation vs. Simulation
Need to decide if BALANCE is important, and HOW to handle it
Complexity can often stall the game.
How “old-school” do you go? (all attacks do d6, weapon vs. armor,
speed factor, phases)
How should the offense and defense capabilities interact?
D&D: AC, attack roll, damage rolls vs HPS
Armor as DR, wounds vs vitality
Simplified comparison: combat skill vs defensive skill/opposed rolls.
Include a separate Dodge/Parry/Block/Evade mechanic?
How many actions does a character get per turn? And how does it affect combat
Movement: double moves, running, AOO’s, withdrawals
Attack: melee, range, spell, number of attacks,
Other types: speaking, opening a door, interacting with an object.
Do actions effect initiative order?
Character types and limitations if any in combat.
Armor and weapon limitations.
Combat skill limitations.
Who gets to be good at what?
Can wizards wear armor and cast spells?
Can warriors sneak around?
Spell disruption (OSR vs 3.X vs 13th age)
Fear of Magic dominance
How does the initiative system interact with combat?
Is it turn-based? Side initiative (OSR), individual (3.X,
Savage Worlds), # actions based on speed
(GURPS/Hackmaster/Shadowrun), He who starts the fight goes
first/free form, highest roll goes first then around the table in
clockwise order (horde Wars)
How important is it?
OTHER considerations:
Setting and Rules often feed into each other.
If the game is mainly about combat, then perhaps the combat system should be robust and detailed.
If the game is meant to be about the story that gets told around the
table, then maybe the system needs to be more fluid with interchangeable pieces to increase or decrease complexity in the
system.
Shameless Plug Time:
Shameless Plug Time:
If you would like to support our show, please like, subscribe, and share us where you are listening or viewing the show. We are on all the socials, video and podcast places as well.
Cash Support
PayPal: https://paypal.me/biggusgeekus
Streamlabs: https://streamlabs.com/biggusgeekus1/tip
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/biggusgeekus
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BiggusGeekus
On the Web:
Website: www.biggusgeekuspodcast.com
Email: [email protected]
Big Geek Emporium: https://biggeekemporium.com/