[Celestial Warriors] Evolution of a Kunf Fu Game.

[scarik]

I'm new around here, and fairly surprised I haven't stumbled on here sooner.

Here's a link to my game, Celestial Warriors.

When I first thought of the idea I came up with something that ended up being akin to a game I'd never heard of called Final Stand. The resemblance is so eerie I've decided to list it and its creator (Tim Denee) in the credits even though I wasn't originally inspired by him there are many good ideas similar to my own there.

My basic system is each of you combat stats has a number of dice that you can use to perform maneuvers by expending some dice and making an opposed roll against the target. All dice refresh at the beginning of each combat round.

I'm having trouble fitting weaponry into the system, so far it all unarmed stuff, and I want to include weapons in some fashion that fits the over all theme. My problem is I don't just want to add bonuses for weapon use straight out. My system of Techniques might be able to handle it by allowing players to essentially buy weapon training slots that give them access to the basic actions available to each weapon. They could also buy advanced techniques with that weapon.

How weapon quality fits in is another serious headache. It feels more appropriate to me that Amanomurakumo would be a better thing to have than a $50 replica katana, but I'm not sure what space the system has for that.

PS - is this the right forum for this question?

[Vulpinoid]

I'm guessing that link should be...

http://www.inspiredpress.net/CW_beta_v_1_5_1.pdf

I had a little trouble trying to open the version you entered...

...by the way, Welcome to the Forge.

V

[Vulpinoid]

Now that I've opened it up, I see that you've got a pretty complex combat system.

Now I realise that the game is focused on "Martial Arts Combat", and I appreciate that as a gaming genre...but (you knew the but was coming), the skills seem to be an afterthought, and I'm wondering why the fights are occurring.

Have you considered any kind of plot system to explain why the fights happen? Even the cheesiest Hong Kong Martial arts flick has a basic storyline to explain why the fighting is necessary. Most martial arts RPGs have some kind of back story from the fighting arenas of "Streetfighter: the Storytelling Game" through to the metaphysical time-traveling complexity of "Feng Shui".

Or are you just leaving it in the hands of the GM to come up with a string of scenes where fights gradually get tougher until you reach the big boss?

I'm just asking, because it looks like you've put a good amount of work into the combat mechanics, but straight combat can make a game pretty boring after a while...no matter how good the system may be.

Just some ideas...

V 

[scarik]

There's apparently "" in that link for some reason, but I can't seem to edit it out.

Also thanks for the welcome.

When it comes to story reasons I just don't care at the moment, that's something for an 'ok, you know the rules, but what do you do in this game' chapter that will come once the game works. So far the playtests have been just us sitting around the table saying 'ok, what should we fight now' and whoever has the most Glory after each scene can add to the narrative.

I would like to develop that subsystem as well, but I didn't think of including it at first since there's lots of nitty gritty that still needs work. So far the most fun we've had is playing like a video game fighter tourney with the system. Notably Tekken style.

Also, you caught me, the skills are an afterthought. I don't have a system I really like for basic non-fighting resolutions, so I winged it to get back into the fighting which is what the game is really for. If you have any suggestions on skills I would welcome them as well. They need to integrate into the Glroy minigame somehow at the very least.

[chance.thirteen]

I want to chime in to say that I like the feel of the comparing of dice from a rolled pool .It reminds me of the feel of success counting methods, where the total dice represents competance, but each success may be for any reason. I really like that in theory both sides could generate successful comparisons, and it feels like you could resolve whole exchanges, or even whole battles with one set of rolls.

I could see a more complicated set of details using colored dice, for whatever factors matter most (like say skill, defensive gear/powers, offensive gear/powers, movement, focus/drive/morale and chance) just to spice up the narrative description of how the contenst goes. See, I think, the PIE thread, they used the same idea just to create ideas of how to describe the action.

[scarik]

I have a half-formed idea.

The point of non-combat senses in Kung-fu movies is to rest a bit, develop the characters and brag. So in Celestial Warriors the main thing should be ways to gain Stamina, Chi or Glory.

Currently I have the 'Moment of Awe' which allows you to gain Chi in a skill test, but the same system could work to let Swagger increase Glory or Discipline to gain Stamina.

Since Chi and Glory are better point for point than Stamina when you want to regain Stamina you make the same roll but add aditional points to your successes.

IE. Roll your  3 Swagger against TN 4 (as an example) each success gives 1 Glory, roll your 3 Discipline against TN and gain 1 Stamina for each success and automatically gain additional points equal to Discipline. In this case you'd gain between 3 and 6 Stamina back.

This is likely too good for Glory, but its a start.

[Vulpinoid]

That sounds like it's getting more interesting already.

Something it's made me think of is this idea...

I'm sure you've seen the scene in plenty of Kung Fu movies...

One warrior wins fight fairly often and they tell everyone about it...their glory increases really quickly because everyone hears the tales of their victories.

Another warrior is more humble, he wins more fights but makes a deliberate effort to prevent people from finding out how good he is...his glory increases very slowly.

They both meet each other in a contest, or maybe even in a dark alley.

Everyone expects the more glorious and well-known fighter to wipe the floor with his opponent, but the more humble fighter takes him out.

To cover this, I'd have glory being a type of reputation that has both positive and negative effects. The more glory you've got, the more people want to prove themselves by taking you on...the less glory you've got, the more you can focus on other things like improving your skills.

Just an idea...

V

[scarik]

Neat idea, but I don't think it will work for me.

The problem here is that Glory is the only arbiter of advancement in Celestial Warriors. The assumption being that greatness is impossible to hide. I feel it fits the genre. When a nameless man appears to challenge the corrupt regime everyone can feel the stranger's power.

At least that's my story. ^^

[scarik]

I've now got an idea inspired by shounen anime.

Some Techniques are so powerful they cost Glory to use.

I don't know quite how to price it, only that Glory is better than Chi in terms of its worth.