[Realm] Combat Mechanics (very long)

[sayter]

     Well, I have a rough draft all typed up for how combat should be resolved in Realm. It has elements of numerous systems, yet is wholly different from any I know at this time. Primarily I am looking for feedback here, and perhaps some info on what I may have forgotten or should clarify in a better/different manner. This is a cut-n-paste from the .doc file, and is about 7 pages in length.

Combat in Realm

   With the players being the actors in charge of heroes and heroines destined to change the world, or merely stuggling to survive within it, it is almost certain that combat will occur at some point in a given session or campaign. It is an important narrative tool, as well as an exciting story element. The players do battle against hordes of foes, coming out on top, or engage deadly villains who dog them at every step. The possibilities are endless.
   It is up to the GM to take charge of combat, much as he creates and controls the story itself. Some groups might like an action-oriented campaign, while others may favour intrigue, horror or mystery. It is the task of the GM to know how much battle to include, without bogging down the game. Sometimes it makes sense to include minor combat regularly (once a session or more) and a major battle every few sessions, one that advances the storyline. For instance, fighting the minions of an evil Spark, and eventually having a chance at fighting the actual villain.
   The combat system is structed in a manner that it follows the style of martial arts epics, pulp fantasy and anime/wuxia. The players have complete control of every action they perform in combat, from moving around to leaping through the air and performing wild spin attacks with large weapons. This system has been dubbed the "Tempo System", for it works by building up momentum and unleashing devastating attacks or impossible defence.

Action Points (AP)

    All actions in combat use Action Points (AP). Each attack, movement, block and dodge requires the use of these AP. They can also be spent on initiative, and affecting the qualities of your attacks. Finally, special attacks tied into martial arts styles and abilities also use Ki, and AP.
   Action points can be regained, but only through particular actions. First, a player can describe their actions in detail and provide a very cinematic experience to the battle. Description of this sort (ie: "I perform a jump kick, followed by rebounding off the wall and deliver a knee to the back of his head",) will replenish AP based on the GMs decision. Typically, the amount will be 1 to 5 points per descriptor.
   This means, using the above example "I perform a jump kick/followed by rebounding off the wall/and deliver a knee to the back of his head" would be 3 descriptors, the GM would then decide how much each descriptor should be worth. Thus, in low-power campaigns, 3 AP could be awarded. In high-power action oriented games they stand to gain as much as 15 AP.
   Another method of regaining AP is through combat itself. If you succeed in your attack, you receive the difference between you and your opponents' rolls in AP. So if a player rolled 20 versus an opponent's 12, he would gain 8 AP for that attack.
   The final method of regaining AP is through the use of Fate Points (FP). A single fate point equals 10 AP. Characters in a bind or needing to execute a serious combo can therefore use these FP to make a difference. Only 1 FP can be spent per round, however. Fate Points are also limited and valuable for many other purposes and should be conserved...just in case.

AP are fashioned so that the more a character hits his foes, or avoids their strikes, the more charged up he becomes. If he is having bad luck, his AP will go low, until he can only defend himself until he gets a second wind by winning the defence rolls and building up his AP.

AP and Combat

   Combat works in the following fashion:
1.   Initiative- players roll initative, and add AP as desired to their result. Highest goes first, and the rest of the combatants go in order of their rolls.
2.   Description-players describe their actions, and factor in any AP bonuses they get for descriptors, and subtract AP spent on their actions from the Action pool.
3.   Resolution-rolls are made, modifiers applied, and results totalled. Damage is done where required. The turn then goes to the next attacker, in order of initiative.

The process repeats ad infinitum, until all AP are used or there is a lull in combat.
The players start combat with their default AP value. A combat round lasts until no player or NPC has AP to spend on further actions or if there is a Lull in the combat. Two opponents separating to size each other up or recouperate and regain a little energy, a staple of action movies, is an example of a Lull.
If a player opts for a Lull, he is pulling out of the fight. In the case of multiple characters, the combat goes on until all characters opt for a Lull. The player who pulled out of the fight cannot participate for 3 full rounds, as he is centering himself and preparing to hop back in. For climatic battles, a Lull can be an excellent way to make a scene more interesting (although this would almost never be used with Mooks.) When he does rejoin combat, however, he has his full AP point total to work with.
As stated earlier, AP is used for every action in combat. AP can get used up fast, but can also be conserved. It is all a matter of individual taste. Is a character going to charge into combat, screaming his lungs off while hacking like a berserker with his battle-axe? Or perhaps he is patient and cautious, making excellent strikes only where there is an opening and defending himself primarily? The player has total freedom in this regard. Combat is therefore exciting and strategic, without ruining the speed and of the resolution phase. See Combat Actions for a list of possible uses of AP.

Offence and Defence

Damage and defence are very important in combat, obviously. As one can probably assume, some weapons will cause far more pain than others and some armour is vastly superior to others. That said, there are advantages to lighter weapons and armour as well. Light weapons use less AP to attack, and light armour has less encumbrance than that of heavy armour.
Characters each have several combat values. They are Offence, Defence and Action (AP). Offence is used in every attack roll, defence is applied for every defence action and Action is used to fuel the individual's battle tactics.
   Offence is determined by adding the characters Body attribute plus their weapons Combat Value (CV). The related weapons skill is also applied to the total. Therefore, if Bob uses a Longsword with a CV of 4 and he has a Body rating of 7 and a Sword: Long skill of +3, his total Offence is 14.
   Defence works in a similar fashion. Defence is determined by adding the characters Brawn and Defence Value (DV) together, and adding any relevant skill to the total (Armor: Heavy, Parrying, Dodge, etc) for that particular action. As an example, Sue has a Brawn of 2, is wearign leather armor with a DV of 2, and has Armor: Light +2 as a skill. Her total Defence pool is a mere 6 points.

Attacking and Defending
   
   Every time a player attacks, they must first spend the AP required to actually attack with their weapon. A given attacks' cost in AP is equal to the weapons speed. Each attack must therefore spend that much AP for each swing of it in battle. While heavy weapons will do more damage, they will also exhaust AP at a far swifter rate. The knife fighter is less exhausted by the weight of the implements than a great-axe wielding barbarian. Certain types of combatants are therefore suited best to a particular style of fighting which maximises their expenditure of valuable AP.
Armour, on the other hand, has encumbrance as a factor. To the character, this affects their base AP total. The encumbrance of a suit of armour is subtracted from their base AP total, lowering the total available Action they have to use per round. For this reason, characters who wear heavy styles of armour should also have a hefty Body and Brawn attributes to compensate for the AP loss incurred by armour.
   For example, Sam has a defence rating of 20 and an action pool of 24. He is wearing heavy platemail with an Encumbrance of 6. This makes his total AP drop to 18. Tim opts to rely solely on his natural toughness, and wears no armor. He has a full action pool of 26, but his overall Defence is lower (15).
   Aptitudes, powers and abilities can all influence AP, Offence and Defence scores. It should be applied at the end of the resolution phase before comparing to the opponents score.

[sayter]

Initiative
   
   Initiative determines the order of combat, and which characters' hit first and in what order. A characters initiative is equal to their Body + Mind, plus 2d6 (and any relevant modifiers granted from powers and abilities.) They may opt to spend AP to increase the total value of their initiative and increase their chances of going first. When there are many opponents, this is especially useful because the first attack can set the pace of the entire battle.

Hitting the Target
Damage is first determined by checking if a hit is scored. Each combatant rolls 2d6, and adds their Offence or Defence (as needed) score to the total. If the attacker has a higher total on their final score, they hit. If the defending player has a higher score, they miss. They may spend AP to increase these totals with specials such as Accuracy and Defenive (Full)
Example: Bob and Doug face off in combat. Bob strikes first with his mace, and his Offence value is 21. Doug is defending against the blow, and his Defence value is 18. Doug also is using Defensive (Full) and gains +5 to his Defence pool for the round but as a result takes a -5 penalty to his Offence pool for the same duration (he is concentrated fully on defending himself). This brings Dougs Defence up to 23. Both combatants roll 2d6, and add to the total. Bob rolls an 11, and Doug rolls a measly 4. This brings Bobs total to 32, and Dougs total to 27, which means Bob wins by 5 points. These 5 points then are given to Bob as regained AP.

Bringing the Pain

If a hit is scored, a check to see if damage is inflicted must then be made. This is accomplished by comparing the Combat Rating (CR) of the weapon to the Defence Rating (DR) of the targets armour. If the CR of the weapon is greater than the DR of the armour, the hit penetrates the armour and can inflict damage. The CR and DR values can be modified with combat actions such as Piercing, adding to the total of any such rolls. Failure to penetrate the armour results in 1 point of Minor (bashing) damage, because they still at least hit their opponent.
   Damage is equal to the characters Body attribute + the weapons Combat Rating (CR), and it is influenced by the opponents Defence Rating (DR) score. The DR of the target is subtracted from the damage dealt, with the remainder of the damage getting through and harming the target. If, for example, Bob has a CR of 12 versus Tim's DR of 9 we can see there is a difference of 3 points. Thus, Bob does 3 damage to Tim.

Vitality and Death

   A characters Vitality is their guage of health. If they are reduced to no available Vitality, they fall in battle. Their base vitality is 8, with 2 levels each in Scratched and Bruised, 2 in Bloodied and one each in Maimed and Crippled. However, they do not have merely that to rely on for their health. They are also subject to a vitality bonus.
A given characters total vitality bonus is equal to Brawn x2 and adding any Aptitude or Ability modifiers to the total. This total can then be spent to increase the total Vitality of the character. For example:
   Bob has a Brawn of 8, but he is also a Dahk and recieves the Aptitude Toughness +2 at character creation. He also has selected the Facet Soldier +2 which the GM and players agreed upon as counting towards the total as well due to the tough training a solider must go through. His total is therefore 12. He can spend these health points on his Vitality, increasing the base value of 8, however he pleases. The costs of individual Vitality costs are as follows:

Vitality Level Costs:
   Scratched: 3 pts
   Bruised: 2 pts
   Bloodied: 2 pts
   Maimed: 1 pts
   Crippled: 1 pt

   They may spend these points in any of the following areas, until all bonus vitality is alloted. As the character increases in power, their Vitality may follow suit by spending Skillpoints (SP) as they develop their abilities into their Vitality.
   
   Whenever a character takes damage, they subtract it from their total Vitality until they have no more to lose. At that point, the character passes out, unable to remain standing any longer. Blood loss or shock are real dangers, and further damage after reaching unconciousness can kill a character.
   When they have taken a full compliment of a level of damage (for example, their Scratched damage is all used up) they then continue on to the next tier. Each tier incurs certain penalties on combat actions (except Scratched). These negative modifiers subtract from the total rolls for Offence and Defence, making injured combatants perform terribly due to their battered bodies.

The Risks of Battle

   In addition to regular attacks and defences, many different combat techniques can give a warrior an edge in combat. Martial Arts, Fencing and other such knowledge can grant new forms of attack that can produce various effects on your foe. Some of these include blood loss, dizziness, intimidation and extreme agony.
   To combat these brutal effects, a character relies entirely on his various resistance attributes. Brawn, Will, Morality and Essence are added to a roll of 2d6 and compared to the attackers Body, Mind, Self or Spirit attributes + the level of the technique they are using. The higher value wins, with the loser either being affected by the abilities effects, or the defender negating the attacks special qualities. If the effect is negated, they only take the damage of the attack.

Damage Types

   There are three types of damage: Minor, Brutal and Social. Each has a different application and meaning in the grand scheme of things. Minor damage is superficial, healing faster than Brutal and having minor effects in combat. The players can take a quantity of Minor damage equal to their Scratched Vitality level. Bare fists and other lesser hurts are counted as Minor damage. Minor damage heals at a rate of 1 per hour.
Brutal damage is that which is sustained from weapons, or skilled martial artists. All damage sustained in combat using weapons or martial styles do this sort of damage by default, unless they do not penetrate armor on a successful hit (in which case the target takes 1 level of Minor damage.) If they take their full complement of Vitality in damage, the character passes out and is capable of dying should things not go in their favor. Brutal damage heals at a rate of 1 per day.
Social damage is done only through social interaction. It is not capable of "killing" anyone physically, although it is quite able to ruin their reputations in an area until they can redeem themselves. Any time social combat is engaged, this sort of Vitality is used (see Social Combat.)

Multiple Actions

   Often, in battle, characters will want to perform multiple attacks or actions in a given turn. Rather than penalize the character for such maneuvers, they are rewarded in kind. Rather than increase the difficulty for each additional action, players regain AP from additional combat actions and cool descriptions of their numerous combat activities. As mentioned earlier, this can range from 1 to 5 AP per descriptor/action.
   It should be noted, however, that in order to perform many actions they must first spend the AP required in order to pull them off. If they fail a roll in these circumstances, they run the risk of being extremely drained afterwards and are vulnerable to attack.

Combat vs Mooks

The enemy are legion. While the sentient races have carved out civilizations for themselves, there is still an overwhelming amount of danger in the wilds. The native creatures breed more swiftly than normal, and there are vast warbands of nasty monsters roaming the wild expanses even within the Republic of Balo.
     But lets face it...the characters are the heroes of the story. They accomplish impossible feats, and can triumph against overwhelming odds. They are a narrative device, whose sole purpose is to advance the story. They are the center of it, after all. To simulate this, large numbers of enemies all use a single statistic for combat and health. Greater threats such as Chimera and monsters will be the focal point of any real combat. The lesser creatures exist essentially to make the characters look good and to die in droves.
   A mook-squad uses their Offence rating to determine if they hit, much like players. The difference, however, is that their Offence rating applies to every attacker in that group. The same applies with defence. Mook groups cannot spend AP to add qualities to their attack or defence in combat. Their damage is always equal to their Damage trait, and can only be modified if a critial hit is rolled.
   The mook itself counts as a single entity, even if it consists of a hundred individuals. The members of the mook have no health levels, so every hit scored reduces their numbers by one. While they count as a single combatant for rolls purposes, they can attack multiple opponents each turn (1 attack per opponent they face) until their numbers are reduced to prevent that from being possible. Thus, a 20-man mook could engage 3 player-characters (PCs) at the same time until they were reduced to less than 3 in number through casualties.
   Examples of Mooks are packs of bandits, swarms of giant ants or a horde of marauding savage beasts.

Social Combat

   Not all combat is deadly in a purely physical fashion. Sometimes the exchange of wits or words occurs, and this results in social combat. Where physical combat results in unconciousness or death to the loser and glory to the victor, social combat can tarnish reputations or create legendary status for oneself among a set of people. Debates and political action, or contests of musical prowess are all examples of where Social Combat could be required. If you do not wish to use this mechanic, that is acceptable, although it can add a lot to a game. It is all a matter of tastes, both of the GM and his players. Social resolutions can just as easily be relegated to a Skill + Attribute + 2d6 roll vs a set Difficulty.
   Social Combat uses a different sort of Vitality than physical combat. Social Vitality, like physical vitality, has a base of 8 points. This is modifed by adding Mind x2 or Self x2 (the player chooses which) to the total, and distributing the bonus points in the same manner as physical vitality. As players take social damage, each negative modifier affects their total dice rolls much as it works in physical combat. Should a player lose a social battle, the results are up to the GM. A character using Mind as his social modifier excels at mental challenges such as contests of will and thought, whereas a character that uses Self as their social modifier excels in more manipulative contests like seduction or performance.
   Some examples of where to use Social Combat are major plot conversations, political debates, bribery, and seduction. Social Combat should only be used when it furthers the plot or fits the scenario, because if it was used for every character interaction it would slow the game down immensely as well as invalidate the entire purpose of the mechanic.


Combat Actions Table (examples)

Action         AP Cost         Effect (round/instant/attack)

Initiative      As desired.         Add to initiative roll total.
Attack         As per Weapon's Speed   Attack the enemy
Defensive (Full)   6 AP            +5 Defence, -5 Offence (round)
Defensive (Partial)   2 AP            +2 Defence, -2 Offence (round)
Parry         2 AP/per         +1 to Parry (round)
Block         2 AP/per         +1 to Block (round)
Dodge         4 AP            Dodge 1 single attack (attack)
Leap         2 AP            Perform an acrobatic leap.
Charge         6 AP            +5 Offence, -5 Defence (round)
Power Strike      1 AP/per         +1 to CR of weapon (attack)
Accurate Strike   1 AP/per         +1 to hit (attack)
Piercing Strike      1 AP/per         +1 to CV of weapon (attack)
Just a Scratch!      1 AP/per         Restore Minor Vitality damage.

[sayter]

gah! that final table got botched ....heres a re-post of it

Combat Actions Table (examples)

Action         AP Cost         Effect (round/instant/attack)

Initiative      As desired.         Add to initiative roll total.
Attack         As per Weapon's Speed   Attack the enemy
Defensive (Full)   6 AP            +5 Defence, -5 Offence (round)
Defensive (Partial)   2 AP            +2 Defence, -2 Offence (round)
Parry         2 AP/per         +1 to Parry (round)
Block         2 AP/per         +1 to Block (round)
Dodge         4 AP            Dodge 1 single attack (attack)
Leap         2 AP            Perform an acrobatic leap.
Charge         6 AP            +5 Offence, -5 Defence (round)
Power Strike      1 AP/per         +1 to CR of weapon (attack)
Accurate Strike   1 AP/per         +1 to hit (attack)
Piercing Strike      1 AP/per         +1 to CV of weapon (attack)
Just a Scratch!      1 AP/per         Restore Minor Vitality damage.

[sayter]

One minor change in the above text: AP gained from Descriptors must be used in that combat turn to enhance the effect.

Also , the total value rewarded per descriptor is now 1 to 3, not 1 to 5.

[sayter]

no one has any thoughts? theres a rarity here :)

[nsruf]

Hello Chris,

well, you are asking people to read a lot;) I didn't get past the introduction, and I already encountered a problem:

With the players being the actors in charge of heroes and heroines destined to change the world, or merely stuggling to survive within it,
<snip>
It is up to the GM to take charge of combat, much as he creates and controls the story itself.

This looks like a case of "the impossible thing before breakfast" to me. Compare the Forge glossary:

"The GM is the author of the story and the players direct the actions of the protagonists." Widely repeated across many role-playing texts. Neither sub-clause in the sentence is possible in the presence of the other. See Narrativism: Story Now.

No offense intended, but you need to get your priorities straight before you get into the minutiae of rules design. So what is your game about? In particular, have you answered the "big three" questions?

1. What does the GM do?
2. What do the players do?
3. What do their characters do?

You have to decide what people are supposed to do with your game before working out the details of things like combat. Maybe the game would benefit from a detailed combat system, maybe a fairly light one is better, or it doesn't need one at all.

You won't get much advice about the feasibility of your rules unless you tell us first what you want them to do. And even then, it is probably better to look at individual mechanics and their purpose rather than the whole combat chapter at once.

[sayter]

Yea i guess thsoe two concepts contradict in a definite way. I suppose a clarification of that is in order. This is a part of the joy of Rough Drafts :)

I know quite fully well what GM does, what player does and what i want to achieve, as is stated in my other posts on Realm. Just when writing the combat mechanics concept down it was from my head and thus is the first concrete text for it :)

[Bill Masek]

Chris,

I like Action Points.  They are fun, they add a variety of strategic options and make combat more colorful.  Very nice.

You have a lot of rules here and no examples.  I have a couple of points which I am unclear on.

You mention that a player may make multiple actions and these actions cost extra action points.  So if I swing off a chandelier and stab someone I could get an extra 3 points (max) because swinging from chandeliers is cool.  I could use this to purchase Power Strike x3, effectively increasing my damage by 3.  If I succeed  in my roll, I only loose AP equal to the cost of the initial attack.  But if I fail I loose I loose an additional three points because I do not gain the 3 extra from my extra action.  Do I have this correct?

Say I have 24 AP.  An attack costs me 4 AP.  Can I make 6 attack and use all 24 points in the first action?  If I do, and give a really cool description for each, could I then spend the 18 points in 4 more actions?  And if those attacks were really cool, giving me an additional 12 (for a total of 14) could I make 3 more attacks?  This gives me 9 points (11 total) which I can convert to 2 attacks giving me 6 points (8 total) letting me make an additional 2 attacks giving me 6 points letting me take 1 more attack giving me 2 points allowing me to make one final attack.  This is assuming all of my description are really cool.  So, effectively, this would allow me to make 19 attacks in the first round.  Is this A:  Correct according to your rules and B:  What you want?

If this is how it works, then why would anyone make fewer then their total possible number of attacks each turn?  What advantage is there in spacing ones self out?  Will the person make multiple attack rolls?  Will the success of all attacks rest on one roll?

As of now there seems to be 3 rolls each round (assuming 1 attack).  You roll initiative, attack and special-effects (piercing, etc).  This strikes me as to many.

If I were you I would make initiative static, only modifiable through spending of AP.  Basically, if you are slow or wearing heavy armor, you will have to work harder to move faster.  You won't just happen to move faster then the quick unarmored guy.  This also cuts down on the number of rolls required.  Finally, it effectively creates a really cool bidding system.

You need attack rolls.

If I were you, I would make the special effects of attacks always succeed as long as the attack itself succeeds.  Status effect checks and 'saving throws' slow down the combat, add unnecessary roles and only serve in reducing the fun of an attack.  The only benefit they add is game balance, which you can easily achieve by increasing the AP cost of the cool special effects.

You have the beginnings of a cool combat system.

Best,
       Bill

[sayter]

allright lets see what I can clarify .

Firstly the number of attacks thing you mentioned. The "bonus" AP can ONLY be spent on effects, not to get extra attacks. You must describe the attack first, and inform what bonuses you initalyl want to apply to it. Then, IF your description is cool, you get the bonus AP which can then be used to beef up the attack a bit more or perhaps increase your defense in the event of an enemy counter attack. Perhaps the only exception here would be if a player rolled a critical hit (12 on 2d6). This might allow an extra bit of oomph to an attack , or an extra strike.

Now, you can make as many attacks as you like, but you must bear in mind that if you drain all your AP you are SCREWED in the next round. You will not be able to attack or get defense bonuses again, until you succeed a few times and built AP back up. This could prove to be a poor tactical choice. It really does boil down to the style of character and how they choose to fight. a brute with a war axe is going to be best suited to high damage over a short timeframe. Faster characters will pick away slowly, with the advantage being far more attacks.

As for the number of attack rolls....you may be right. This sort of thing cant be 100% certain until its tested in action. Additionally of note...I was thinking of makign initiative ONLY on the first round instead of every round. Seeing as once the battle starts it is essentialyl amss carnage until everyone against you is dead. With the way the combat works, pacing AP cost versus AP consumption, the initiative will basically automatically go to whoever has the highest AP left. The next round could see a totally different person in control of the action. In this way, it breaks the D&D staple of "90% of the time, our 10th level fighter goes first. No matter what."

As it is, armor already reduces the AP of the user. In some cases this will be a drastic change. The characters martial prowess and physical capability provide the basic score, and the AP provide the "preparedness" of the warrior. When you get someone with high armor, they may only have 12 to 18 AP. If they are wielding a huge 2 handed weapon you are looking at 8 AP per swing. If they want to modify the effects of that swing, they dont have many attacks before they need to defend. This is how I sought to balance the issue of movement vs protection.

The comment you made about special attacks...I can see the status effects working that way on most NPCs, although against major villains and PCs, I would allow a saving throw. No one likes having their character collapse into a coma without having a chance to see if they can avoid it.

As it stands, once a player gets the hang of the AP use combat should (hopefully) breeze by swiftly. Description, resolution, next combatant goes.

So:
Player: "I swing my sword at the Ogre's kneecap. I want to add +2 to armor piercing so i can get through his hide and make some owie!"
GM: Okay. So your sword uses 6 action, and the +2 uses another 4 AP. Thats 10 for the swing. Roll to hit.
(roll is made. player rolls a 15, GM rolls a 12 for defense. Player beats ogre by 3 points. Success, and +3 to his AP after the turn.)
GM : allright, you hit. Now check damage.
Player: "Allright, CR is 6, +2 for armor piercing."
GM: DR of the ogre is 4. Easily got through the armor.
Player: *checks CV of weapon and adds his Body attribute to the total, getting a 7. Ogre takes 7 damage, minus 3 for its DV of 3. Total dmg=4.*

This will obviously need extensive play testing to work out the fine details. But this seems a very workable and easy to manipulate system. Cant wait to play test (which I can hopefully start by mid january, febrary at the latest. Just need to finish some world data for the players sake first :)   )