For fans of Street Fighter, King of Fighters, etc. [playtesting]

[drkrash]

[drkrash]

Stupid links broken.  Sorry.  Try again.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AekXA69sPgglZGNqcTg0djNfMHFtcDJ3ZDk&hl=en

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AekXA69sPgglZGNqcTg0djNfMWRnM2Z6Y2Zx&hl=en

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AukXA69sPggldGppeHhVODFYZ0FfcFhzUWJuNmFSWnc&hl=en

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AukXA69sPggldFRodzBOSDk4RmxacmZFSENsN2I5YkE&hl=en

[otspiii]

I like this concept a lot, but there are a few problems I have with it.

If I'm reading it correctly, I really don't like the initiative system.  A big part of fighting game strategy is based on mix-up and feels almost like a super-complicated game of RPS.  Your high-priority unsafe move will be effective if they attack, but leave you helpless if they block.  Going in for the grab will be effective if they block but leave you helpless if they attack.  Sweep beats high block, overhead beats low block, a speedy attack beats both sweep and overhead.  Quick attack beats slow attack, but if you have frame advantage or can convince your opponent to whiff slow attack becomes a lot more viable.  The way it seems set up now it's just taking turns hitting/trying to hit your opponent with a good move.  I think that forcing the players to declare actions for a turn simultaneously and then deciding which is effective based on speed/priority/range would capture the feel of a fighting game a lot better than a traditional initiative system.

There are a lot of variables at work at any given moment in a fighting game, but if your system is all about the fight you can afford for the rules to get a little complex.

[drkrash]

I think you're essentially reading it correctly, otspiii.

This is the 4th full incarnation of the rules.  Every other version was more complicated and more detailed...and, IMHO, none of them felt more like a fighting game than this one.  YMMV, of course!

A couple observations:

The rules for Hit Stun are very important (and maybe too easy to miss).  If you get hit, you lose your action.  This prevents traditional "I hit, now you hit" combat.  Maximizing the tactical use of Fighting Spirit for Initiative and Control, and then Defense when Initiative doesn't go your way, is a huge part of the experience.  But if you ignore that, then yeah, I suppose I can see it seeming like a more traditional initiative set up.

A design note I'd offer is the relationship between a TTRPG and a video game.  There ARE a lot of variables in a video game - so many that trying to work them all out in play is pretty dull.  It rapidly reaches a point where you just decide, "Let's skip this and turn on the Playstation."
So instead of dealing with all those variables, you handwave them aside and roll them into broader die rolls: Initiative determines how alert you are, while Control represents taking advantage of timing.  Random damage represents not just the standardized damage of that attack, but variables for counterattacks, as well as the occasional jab or medium that never formally gets resolved in combat.  Random time rolls take into account flurries of button mashing as well as long stretches of looking for opportunities.

That's my explanation anyway.  I invite you to try it out in actual play.  Maybe it still won't be to your taste.  In any case, thanks for looking at it and commenting on it!

Peace,
Christopher