Blackbirds: Combat mechnics take two

[Jeffrey Miller]

After playtest and some back and forth with a professional poker player for insight into how card games are structured, I've revamped the combat resolution mechanics (originally outlined in this thread.)  My questions and goals are pretty much the same:

- Handling Time: Is this too cumbersome? is it too obstuse? I'm shooting for simple but flavorful, through the comparison and the idea of Series

- Flavor: Is there enough flavor in this to pull off a rollicking and rowdy game about Pirates, or should options be explored for other ways to inject energy and genre?

- Does the back and forth flow of player interaction (via a self-adjusting system of card interplay) work for anyone?  Does it get at some of the feeling of fencing, of swashbuckling sword-play?

- Terms:  Do the terms used make sense to people?

If anyone has other observations, of course, please feel free to contribute.  Some of the best feedback I've gotten has come from commentary outside the questions I'm asking.. :)

I should also note that this is not a final draft at all, but a draft ONLY.  Complaints about grammar aren't terribly appropriate, but if something isn't clear, let me know so I can either attempt to explain it to you, or flag it as a concept that needs careful attention.


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Each player in direct conflict draws 3 cards plus a number of cards equal to their ability, while everyone else draws only a number of cards equal to their ability. Players not involved in the action of the scene hold their cards secret;  players in opposition now play 1 card each, face-up. The winner of this has initiative, and plays a second card. The other player now plays either a card of equal or higher of the same color (riposte), or a lower or equal card of the opposite color (parry), or takes damage equal to the last card they played. Players then continue back and forth playing cards until they've played 5 cards each, or their hands run dry.

If you cannot play either a riposte or a parry, you have been hit, and take damage equal to the last card that you played.  Sequences of parries lead you towards less and less damage, while somewhat dangerous ripostes lead you towards injury.  If you cannot play a card because you've run out of cards, don't worry - you haven't been hit.  The combatants have simply broken and are taking up fresh stances, running for better footing, or otherwise pausing for breath.

As you and your opponent play cards, you can build up Series. These offer you bonuses in the next Bout, as shown on the chart below.  Series are assembled by matching your opponent's cards or by using their cards to create straights.  You and your opponent are creating Series by counting your own cards in sequence with your opponent's cards.  Both players can receive the bonus granted from the building of Series, but can only receive one bonus for the following Bout.

Example:  You and your opponent, Christine, both draw a total of 7 cards.  The open exchange, she plays a 7H and you play a 10C.  Christine now has to react to your 10C (as you won the opening exchange and have the initiative) and plays a 4 of Diamonds, and declares she's scrambling for cover behind the capstan.  You counter with a 4 of Hearts; you've now created the first Series of the Bout, a pair.  Christine smiles and plays a 4 of Spades, creating her own Series, 3-of-a-kind.  You grin foolishly, and lay down your own 4 of Spades, creating a 4-of-a-kind.  Christine lets out with a curse that would curl the tail feathers of a drunken parrot, and plays a 5 of Diamonds.  If she'd had a 4 of any suit, she'd have been able to continue the Series, and claimed a 5-of-a-kind.

Cards used to build Series must be counted sequentially.  If you play a 9, then your opponent plays an 8, then you play a second 9, those two 9's to NOT make a pair.  However, if you then play a 7 or a 10, you've created a 3-card straight.

Code Select Expand


Matches
Pair draw 1 extra card
3-of-a-kind draw 2 extra cards
4-of-a-kind draw 2 extra cards, opponent draws 1 less
5-of-a-kind draw 3 extra cards, opponent draws 1 less
6-of-a-kind draw 3 extra cards, opponent draws 2 less

Runs
Straight (3 cards) draw 2 extra cards
Straight (4 cards) draw 2 extra cards, opponent draws 1 less
Straight (5 cards) draw 3 extra cards, opponent draws 1 less
Straight (6 cards) draw 3 extra cards, opponent draws 2 less


(note: you can never draw fewer than 5 cards, regardless of how skillfully your opponent plays)

Once one player has been injured, or if both players have played all their cards, the exchange is over.  Again, being unable to respond because you have no cards left does NOT mean you have been hit and injured.

As with Quick Bouts, Jokers have some special effects.  Both will cause you to shuffle your deck before your next round of the Bout, and both automatically parry your opponent, counting as a "zero value" card for purposes of determining damage.  The exchange ends immediately upon playing a Joker of either color. In addition, a Red Joker (Baron Samedi) will give your opponent an extra card in the next bout, while the Black Joker (Mate Care-For) grants an additional card to you.

Discard all cards played and any left in your in your hand, and redraw.  The player with the higher Fightin' score can keep from discarding a number of cards equal to the difference between their and their opponent's Fightin' score.  This represents any dirty tricks, superior skills, or special maneuvers your superior skill gives you over your opponent.  When you refresh your hand, remember that you don't actually get any bonus cards;  you are simply carrying over cards from your previous hand.  Don't draw more than you're allowed!

Players who are not in direct conflict can, at any time, play a parry or riposte card on to benefit either side.  You have now seized narrative rights to describe how you intervene, either directly (swinging your cutlass into the frame to block a killing blow) or indirectly (grabbing a belaying pin and hurling it at your friend's opponent from behind.) The exchange is over at this point; refresh hands as normal.  Note that depending on how you choose to intercede, intervening may make you a direct participant in the scene, and thus a regular combatant.

'But Admiral', you ask, 'how do I handle multiple opponents?'  In the case of mooks, hired muscle, and random grogs, this is simple. Mobs of hapless henchmen and henchwomen have 5 point of Well Bein' for each member of the gang, and draw 2 cards plus one for every thug who is piling on.  

For combats involving "named" or "in color" characters, simply split your hand; divide your hand into 1 pile for each opponent, allocating at least one card to each stack.  Declare whom you're attacking with what stack, and play your cards as normal.  You can split your hand unevenly if you so desire, but if you can not respond to an opponent's attack the automatically hit you.  At the end of each Bout, combatants are allowed to keep whatever cards they have left over, but can only use those cards against the opponent that those cards were originally to be used against.

[Torrent]

I'm really glad to see this project is still going forward.  I'm sure I'll have more thoughts tomorrow after I digest it more, but here are my original thoughts.

Is Well Being still the 'hit points' mechanic?  if so, what scale of numbers are these.  I remember the rest of your stats are on the order of 2-6 right?  So if WellBeing is on the same scale getting hit by anything is deadly.  My guess is the scale is different from the line about Mooks having 5.

I do like the whole building Series thing, it reminds me of Cribbage.  

As for Flavor, I think this is really neat for pivotal battles, but the mook rules would need to be playtested some.  Was there any thought given to how the various Booty was going to integrate into this.  I still like the idea of the booty making the character, but I think there needs to be at least some way to perhaps 'spend' a booty for a bonus or something in combat.  

It might also work pretty good for a more verbal fight as well.  

I'm just trying to figure out the strategies in m head.  High cards are the agressive ones.  If you keep playing high cards, you force the opponent into defense, but you risk him playing something higher.  If that happens, your high cards become really fairly expensive parries.  Your danger is having high cards of the 'wrong' color.  Right?
On the other hand, having a bunch of low cards are really defensive, but you still risk having the 'wrong' color.  The leadout card dictates the 'color' of the bout and the starting point.  But parries alters that color?  Is that how it works?

Torrent

[Torrent]

Last thing for tonight...
What happened to the idea of Trumps.  Is that still part of the Quick Bout?  If so, does it play a part in the duel?

[Jeffrey Miller]

oops.. hit submit before I was finished ^_^

[Jeffrey Miller]

Torrent, thanks for the kind words!

Is Well Being still the 'hit points' mechanic?  if so, what scale of numbers are these.  I remember the rest of your stats are on the order of 2-6 right?  So if WellBeing is on the same scale getting hit by anything is deadly.  My guess is the scale is different from the line about Mooks having 5.

Ah! See, I knew I'd forget something!  In order to help engender a sense of risk, and to add a touch more granularity, "well bein'" shifts to your "drinkin'" (the "toughness" stat) times 10.  I'm only 95% on this, as it breaks the symmetry of the numbers by introducing a different scale, but it helps in this arena.

RE Cribbage, that's exactly where I got the idea.  I don't mention it, as I don't know how familiar most RPGers are with a game that I personally identify with my grandmother ^_^

As for Flavor, I think this is really neat for pivotal battles, but the mook rules would need to be playtested some.  Was there any thought given to how the various Booty was going to integrate into this.  I still like the idea of the booty making the character, but I think there needs to be at least some way to perhaps 'spend' a booty for a bonus or something in combat.  

The mook rules really need to get tested; I actually just cobbled them together to have somethign there when it comes up in the next playtest.

Booty - various bits of booty will give bonuses in combat, usually through extra cards or special effects.  FREX, the "mummified hand" grants the owner a single use per game of waving it in the face of an opponent, who then is forced to use their lowest ability score to detirmine their draw for the next turn.

Plunder Points (or Doubloons, as they've been tentatively renamed) can be spent to gain extra cards in a Bout.

It might also work pretty good for a more verbal fight as well.

I'm hoping this system will work for all sorts of extended conflicts, without getting into the oddness that I saw occur with other card resolutions which carry the suit/ability connection into resolution (fitting a verbal victory into a physical contest was odd)

I'm just trying to figure out the strategies in m head.  High cards are the agressive ones.  If you keep playing high cards, you force the opponent into defense, but you risk him playing something higher.  If that happens, your high cards become really fairly expensive parries.  Your danger is having high cards of the 'wrong' color.  Right?
On the other hand, having a bunch of low cards are really defensive, but you still risk having the 'wrong' color.  The leadout card dictates the 'color' of the bout and the starting point.  But parries alters that color?  Is that how it works?

Almost exactly.  Aggressive attacks open you up to skillful ripostes, leaving you wildly flailing around, trying to slowly get back to a defensive posture (or force your opponent to similarly over-commit to their counter.)

Careful defense won't likely result in your injuring you opponent, and eventually they /will/ hit you unless you take some amount of initiative;  no matter how good your defense, you simply can't turtle up.

-j-

[Jeffrey Miller]

Last thing for tonight...
What happened to the idea of Trumps.  Is that still part of the Quick Bout?  If so, does it play a part in the duel?

I've ditched it for now.  In this expanded mechanic, a trump suit ends up devaluing suits, and leads to a sense of "instant hit/instant kill" strategies.  Its not really a complete negative, but it didn't fit too well.  If Clubs are the Trump, its never a viable strategy to play anything other than Clubs, as even a 2 of Clubs will trump whatever you just played.

-jeffrey-

[John Harper]

Booty - various bits of booty will give bonuses in combat, usually through extra cards or special effects.  FREX, the "mummified hand" grants the owner a single use per game of waving it in the face of an opponent, who then is forced to use their lowest ability score to detirmine their draw for the next turn.

Yay! The mummified hand! I'm happy to see my sole contribution to Blackbirds still, er, rotting its way into the heart of the designer.

The new system looks swanky, Jeff. I like that you've changed the scale of Well Bein'... it feels right this way. I look forward to more playtesting.

[Matt Wilson]

Jeff:

Obviously I like it for all the ways it does what I wanted to do with PTA. :) In fact, damn you, I think it adds a few really nice features.

I think handling time might be a concern at the beginning, but I'm betting that players will get a lot of mileage out of a few seconds' worth of pondering. Get that all out of the way and let fly.

What this and PTA both have is: "okay, do I have a bunch of good numbers." That step goes quickly.

What you've got in addition to that is a quick survey of "are there any useful patterns," and that shouldn't take more than a moment.

The only question that might bog down play is just how important it will be to decide whether to play out the cards to get a special combo and risk taking a hit, versus just playing out good high cards. If that makes a monster difference, players might hem and haw about it enough that you'll need a timer. If the difference is minor but fun (which looks like the case), then the decisions will be more "aw, what the heck" and quick.

In play, the ability to add a lot of color when spending cards/dice removes any feel of there being handling time, in my experience. In fact, I think deciding what the story bit is going to be can pause the game a lot more than any points-based decision.

[Jeffrey Miller]

The only question that might bog down play is just how important it will be to decide whether to play out the cards to get a special combo and risk taking a hit, versus just playing out good high cards.

The thing that isn't immediately obvious to most peopleis that while high cards are useful in kicking the crud out of your opponent, the mid to lower value cards actually offer the most strategy, by balancing decent defence againts decent damage potential.  A good balance of color is actually slightly more important than actual card values on initial evaluation, which hopefully reduces handling time even more;  numbers don't matter until you're actually in play (at least, not as much.)

One thing that I really like about this is that its self-adjusting;  there is no "perfect" hand, nor is their a guaranteed loosing hand.  Like poker, any hand can be decent depending upon what your opponent plays.  Likewise, even if you have a decent hand, your play can improve an opponents otherwise weak hand, so watch out!

-jeffrey-