[Intergalactic League of Brawlers] Combat Mechanic Revision

[MacLeod]

The thing posted before I was done! grrr!

So like I was sayin'...
The mechanical effects of each Ability/Engage Mode can have any candy coating you prefer. The real stickler is that Affinity has to match between Ability and Engage Mode... in addition, the type of Ki required is based on that Affinity. This further connects to the way you place your dice and the way you Power Up. The only in-game limiter for one's character concept is combat style; defensive, fast or offensive. Obviously every Brawler will have a little of all three but there will be a bit of a specialization in one of those.

[drkrash]

I apologize, as I may have not read all your examples thoroughly enough.  Let me explain and you can just tell me if I missed it or not.

Take this random ability as an example:

Flowing Transition
Roll a D10. You may choose to replace your Defense die with that result. Activate. 1 [Ki]

This is a water ability.  Will either of the other elements have a similar ability? In which case, my point was that you could just create a bunch of specific effects and ditch the flavor altogether.

But I suspect I'm missing something or not reading closely enough, and again, for that I apologize.

[MacLeod]

The other Affinities do have a similar ability. Replace Defense with Advantage for Wind and with Offense for Fire.
Those who have a Water Affinity are capable of shifting their defensive momentum... either by bolstering it or by weakening it to bolster something else. The other Affinities work the same way only they can only shift their specific Combat Category (Advantage, Offense).

The only actual flavor that is coloring Abilities is how they interact with the combat mechanics.
Water is Defensive/Caution, Wind is Advantage/Speed, Fire is Offensive/Aggression.

There is nothing in the rules that claim that using Flowing Transition means that you interact with the Water element. In fact, that could just be a martial art technique your Brawler has learned. Or, it may be your Power Sources way of converting momentum... say, a Witch who is adept at shifting her defensive momentum by whipping her blade-like hair around.

So, yeah... These are all just specific effects (ability to shift your defense, increase your offensive capabilities, apply special negative effects to an opponent, etc...) that the player adds flavor to.
As I said before... Something like Freeze doesn't actually mean you absolutely have to 'freeze' someone. What you must do is decide how your Power Source interacts with that Technique.

[MacLeod]

There exists three phases to every Clash (combat round)

1) Preparation Phase
This is where the three Combat Categories are generated. Dice are selected and rolled in order of Defense, Advantage then Offense. Each dice is both selected and rolled simultaneously by all parties involved.
2) Tactics Phase
This is where Actions come into play. The players alternate taking one Action until they decide they no longer wish to take Actions. Some Actions can only be performed once per Clash (such as the use of a specific Ability).
3) Attack Phase
This is where the result of the previous actions and dice rolls are calculated.

The main portion of the mechanical drive in this game is found in the Tactics Phase. Here a Player can perform one of the following Actions; Power Up, use Boost, activate Ability, Engage a Tech and attempt an Environmental Trick.
Five types of Actions. Five Techniques to Power Up. Five Abilities and five Engage Modes are available. Boost uses 1 Ki to boost one of the three Combat Categories so it can be used as many times as the Brawler has Ki. Environmental Trick can only be used once per Clash.

So I'm wondering... Given the vast number of actions possible, should I place a limit here? I don't want things to get out of control... and each Action is supposed to have colorful narration surrounding it.
For both balance and playability I'm not sure what limit I will end up with... but I'm thinking that I'll start with 3 Actions per Brawler per Clash.
Any comments, questions, criticisms, flame, suggestions...? Anything is welcome at this juncture. =)