A new method for combat?

[Aaron Blain]

Your 4-point system is a turn down my favored path.

Regarding your confusion to our earlier suggestions : the simple answer is that the combatant's strengths and weaknesses are constantly changing throughout the combat, that each character can to a large degree redefine his strengths and weaknesses throughout the combat.

Pick a genre and I'll give you all the examples you want. I guess you haven't played Soul Calibur. Let's go with good old DnD. Suppose you are a well-rounded fighter. You have three magic items : a ring of +20 STR, a ring of +20 DEX and a ring of +20 WIS. You can wear only one at a time.

If you take off the ring of STR, and put on the ring of DEX, the archer will stop trying to shoot you and the fighter will come grapple you, but if you put on the ring of WIS the mage won't be able to beguile you. You can't do everything at once, so you've got to choose what looks best for the situation, and for what you want to accomplish. (And who can tell what the optimal next move is?)

The enemy fighter just took off his ring of STR and put on his ring of DEX, so our archer can't hit him anymore! Should I put on my ring of STR and strangle him, or put on my ring of WIS and charge the mage?

Ordinary DnD is static. Strengths and weaknesses are set in stone during the leveling process. You meet an enemy, assess his weakness, and kill him. No strategy there. Just multiple choice.

[Sovem]

Sorry I haven't responded; your example made what you were talking about a lot clearer to me, but now we're having a debate about what system to use. My co-creator (who also happens to be my wife) absolutely hates d20, and I can't make this game without her help. So now we're tossing some ideas around about a new system which I'll expound on here when we're done.

In the meantime, I like this idea of ever shifting advantages and disadvantages. Without getting into numbers and specifics, is there a way we can expound on that idea? Besides switching magic rings (which I know was just an example), how might the tide of advantage shift during a battle?

[Aaron Blain]

Yes, let's forget about mathematical specifics. Let's do.

Here's what I like to do : Just write a story where some heroes win an awesome battle. Why did they win instead of lose? What actions did they take, what did they pay attention to, what did they prioritize? Was it a simple matter of bringing a gun to a swordfight? Did they just get lucky? Or did they make hugely substantial choices in what could have just as easily been a crushing defeat? How did they work as a team? What opportunities did they seize? What could have happened to make them lose?

Now - don't you want your game to be EXACTLY LIKE THAT? Well why the hell can't it be! Think about how the two sides try to get the edge on one another, to make the most of their strengths and cover their weaknesses. How do they try to outguess one another ("I bet that archer's gonna wanna get up on that rock!") and how do they react to one another?

Don't even THINK about numbers or dice. Just think about what cool stuff you want to happen.