#combat mechanics

[prima-materia-ttrpg]

Melee Combat or the Art of hitting people with sticks

Melee combat has been written, and the first playtest was two days ago. But will it blend? was it actually fun? And what does the combat look like anyway?

These questions and more answered below the "Read More" link!

There are a few things I wanted to take into account for melee combat. The first, as always, is mechanics that are fun to engage with. The second is whether or not they're intuitive and easy to understand. The third is whether they're cool to my own subjective view of coolness. Now, "Fun" and "Cool" are subjective terms that are largely useless, and "Understandable" is a given, so I have other terms that explain what I mean that I can use as a proper design philosophy when making and talking about the system. Combat should be:

Dynamic. Meaning the player should have a lot of choices, and those choices need to matter. Initiative order and terrain should be interesting to engage with and traverse, and players and enemies should be able to do things that change a lot of the variables on the battlefield to their favor.

Deadly. This doesn't mean that the player should always die of course, but it means that players should be constantly kept on their toes and things should have tangible consequences. The player and their character should feel like they're 3 steps away from death at all times during most 'normal' combats.

Preparation. "Combat should be preparation" doesn't make a whole lot of sense as a sentence, but it does as a design pillar. This means that players should be encouraged by the mechanics of the game to prepare for encounters, at the least donning armor which could be the difference between life and death for some characters. Other preparation includes setting up ambushes, making bombs, or giving existing equipment an edge by poisoning, sharpening, or otherwise taking care of weapons and armor.

As always, the first step to creating a new system for me is to do research to see what interesting things already exist. If the wheel has already been invented, I don't need to reinvent what works. Of course, there is always fine-tuning involved and systems become mixtures of different things I like that get chiseled at until they're perfect, but for research purposes knowing what's out there and what can work really well for your system is rather important. I looked into how various other systems handle combat in general, and initiative and turn order (if they didn't forego it entirely) to try and set up a base that works. Something instrumental in the design philosophy of the system was a video titled Intuitive TTRPG Combat by The Broken Blade on Youtube, which in my opinion said a lot of things that make sense.

The second step was, of course, actually creating the system. The first thing I really had to sus out was how the action economy works. I had been throwing a few things around in my head, but I decided that a turn would be made up of an action, a quick action, a free action, and movement. These can be done in any order, and movement can be split. Additionally, you can trade an Action for a Quick Action. This gives the player quite a bit of choice in what they can do without allowing them to do everything they may want to, I think. Actions are reserved for attacks, Quick Actions let you change weapons or use an item, and Free Actions can be used for things like yelling a sentence or activating a lever.

Of course, waiting around for your turn to finally come isn't fun, so I needed a way for players to interact with things when it wasn't their turn. Because you don't roll to hit with melee attacks, I wanted the player to be able to have an active role in mitigating damage to themselves. So, when you get attacked, you can Block or Dodge. Block comes from a stat on the weapon (or shield) that tells you how many Strength (or Dexterity) die to roll to mitigate damage, and Dodge is the same but it's based on the Dodge skill. I do want to add a bit more nuance to this later (and will definitely be adding reactions later, as per playtest feedback), but for now it's serviceable.

After this I wanted to focus more on the dynamic side of things, allowing different weapon and damage types, and the start of a tag system for weapons that changed their behavior. I didn't (and still don't) need it to be super complicated, but rather I want simple rules that can be used in interesting ways that interact with other systems. One such tag that interacts with the system in a fun way is the Versatile tag. A weapon that's versatile gives a range, the low number is how many hands you need to wield the weapon and the high number is the maximum number you can wield it with. This increases damage and blocking effectiveness, and is very funny when you have a four-armed creature wielding a Warhammer.

All of this (and some more) came together as the first draft of the weapons mechanics, which I then sent to a friend to check out. The very first thing I got back was, "How does turn order and initiative work?" I was so engrossed in the mechanics that were more interesting to me that I had forgotten to write how to actually run combat. So, I went back to try and make that functional and interesting. The system I wrote requires everyone to roll initiative and add them to a total. The side with the highest total initiative goes first, and the individual who rolled the highest on a side is the first person to go on that side. At the end of a player's turn, they pick who on their side will go when it is their side's turn again. Initiative is rolled every round, which I was fairly wary about because in other games Initiative is usually a slog for me trying to figure out turn order and making players wait a few minutes while the mood dies; but it worked well in the playtest I ran and didn't slow down things much at all. I will continue testing, of course.

And you can test too if you want! I've put the combat playtest and four pre-generated characters on the website, which you can find here.

If you got all the way down here, thanks for reading! Next week I'll talk about some of the history and lore of the Koura (with more art on the way 👀)

[fogaminghub]

https://www.fogaminghub.com/post/mastering-the-mechanic-walkthrough-in-star-wars-outlaws-your-ultimate-guide

🌌 Excited to upgrade your speeder in Star Wars Outlaws? Our Mechanic Walkthrough guide has everything you need! From finding Selo to snagging the Atmospheric Accelerator, we cover all the ins and outs of your next adventure. 💫

[luminachannel]

Vtuber Reviews: Alice Escaped on Steam!

Lovely background art. Cute character designs combined with a surprisingly fast paced tag team combat system that's over the top and anime in a satisfying way.

It's an Anime 2d Metroidvania focused on combat and a skill tree that unlocks new attack strings, movement options and tag and skill mechanics.

its only 15$, I recommend it! Check the video out.

[past-sz-fifteen-years-ago]

so after finding out that everyone in this gameworld apparently has a "sylladex" they can use to carry and store real objects in abstract form, which is wild enough, now it seems they've also all got "strife decks" they can use to specialize in fighting with a variety of items and tools, most of which are not usually categoried as weaponry. fascinated by the implications of combat mechanics for characters wielding plungers, spatulas, curling irons, vacuum cleaners, ice skates, staplers, and puppets alongside more conventional weapons.

'plungerkind' is on there twice; I wonder if we'll see anyone using one? I remember a plunger being a key inventory item in one of the 90s shareware games I can't help being reminded of, in which you had to flush yourself down a toilet in an office building to reach another world. there was also an unrelated quest in a city of literally butt-headed aliens.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: Remember the Batman Arkham Games?

Think any of the playable Guilty Gear StrIVe characters could perform well in the Combat (Fighting) and Predator (Stealth) Challenges?

I think most would do well at both while some would be good at one or the other depending on the fighter. I know Bedman? isn't exactly... stealthy.

This is actually somewhat of a tricky question to answer.

The easiest answer would be Raven, because he's the closest to Batman in the Guilty Gear Universe.

And, funnily enough, he's just as stealthy as Batman is. He evaded Sentinel Drones that monitored a Megadeth Class Gear in the Lightning the Argent Novel. Sentinel Drones are said to have cameras that read multiple spectrums of light and sound vibrations among other detection capabilities... so the fact Raven evaded their security system speaks volumes of what he can do in terms of Stealth.

Raven is also one of the oldest characters (aside Slayer and Izuna) in the Guilty Gear Series, so his fighting prowess is probably even higher than Batman's would be... because of how many years he's had to learn how to fight.

The Batman Arkham games took combat in a 1 versus mob setup, and while that works well in most situations for Batman, it doesn't necessarily illustrate the true techniques and capabilities a character can perform.

Ky Kiske is said to be able to fight legions of enemies at once with extreme proficiency, even compared to Sol Badguy who uses brute force... even Sol would get overwhelmed by a large enough enemy force over time... he's had to use his Gear Cell Body to get through scrapes compared to Ky's specialized training under Kliff Undersn.

This isn't exactly Dynasty Warriors (Musou), but Guilty Gear 2 Overture has illustrated a few situations that are similar to this kind of situational mob combat.

Speaking of Legions though, Dr. Paradigm's Gear Tribe might as well be a Legion Force on its own.

(Side Note: one of my favorite action games is a game by the name of Chaos Legion, for the PlayStation 2, you should look it up sometime).

[techdriveplay]

The Most Anticipated Action Games of 2024

As we leap into 2024, the gaming community is buzzing with excitement for the plethora of action-packed titles set to grace our screens. Following a year that set an incredibly high bar for video game releases, 2024 is shaping up to continue this trend, promising a diverse range of games that cater to every type of action enthusiast. From heart-pounding adventures to strategy-driven battles, the…

[jq37]

neme(sis)

Summary: The Rat Grinders actually fight the Bad Kids on the Hangman instead of just sending dragons and Adaine has to do some quick thinking.

"Adaine Abernant."

Adaine winced, clutching her head as Raulothim's Psychic Lance pierced her mind. It figured Oisin knew the spell. Raulothim was a dragon after all. She wondered if he learned it in class like her or if he'd come to school already familiar with the spell because of his dragon ancestor who was currently trying to swallow Gorgug, axe and all. She didn't wonder for too long though. There wasn't time.

"See what you can do with access to proper spell components?" Oisin called from the other side of the room, his tone mocking.

"That spell doesn't even have material components!" Adaine called back in spite of herself. Insulting her was one thing but getting basic spellcraft wrong while doing it? Unacceptable. She ignored his expression, smug from getting a rise out of her no doubt, and surveyed the battlefield. The Rat Grinders had caught them on their back foot. Things were going OK but they were playing defense. And no one was where they needed to be. Spellcasters too close to melee, fighters out of range. Only Gorgug was arguably in the right place but he was far too close to being dragon food for her liking. Fabian needed to be closer to the action, Riz needed cover, and she…

Adaine suppressed a smile, idea forming in her mind. She needed to be in punching distance.

"Scatter," she said, raising a hand. Five creatures: Gorgug, Riz, Fabian, Kristen…and Oisin.

Her party members didn't fight the spell, well used to the feeling of her magic working on them mid-battle and knowing that it never meant harm. As she moved them to more advantageous positions, she was hit with a flash of the future: Oisin resisting the spell. She reached out and nudged fate just a bit. Nearby, Ivy walked dangerously close to a breath weapon attack. Oisin startled, moved to grab her, and--pop. Suddenly, he was standing right next to Adaine who was already rearing her fist.

"Counterspell!" Oisin called, runes on his forearms glowing. The expression on his face was even more smug as the blue energy charging on her fist fizzled.

"Predictable," he said.

"Gullible," Adaine thought, halting her fist without following through on the punch and stomping her foot on the ground to activate the teleportation circle they were both now standing on. Because of course the boy with the empty house and unlimited funds would have a teleportation circle installed so he could have his friends over as often as possible. Teleportation via spell needed a willing creature but a Circle? That just needed proximity.

As the spell went off, she concentrated. The benefit of a teleportation circle was that it couldn't go wrong like a normal Teleport spell could. It wasn't supposed to anyway. But any magic could be tweaked if you pushed hard enough. She remembered winding up in the wrong room in the twisted version of Mordred inside Riz's briefcase and concentrated on that feeling. She was sure she was going to have a headache in the morning but that was more than a fair price. She wrenched control of the spell, just enough to force the circle to spit them out a little bit outside of the paired circle in Mordred. There was a flash of light and--forget having a headache tomorrow. Her head felt like it had been bashed in with a pickaxe the moment they landed on the floor of her bedroom. She didn't think she'd be able to get back up for a minute or two--she didn't even try. Oisin didn't seem to have that problem though. He got up and stood over her.

He smirked. "I thought the elven oracle was supposed to be more of a challenge. I knew we'd come out on top but I didn't think it'd be so easy." He raised his hands, readying a spell, but the sparks at his clawtips died as quickly as they were produced. He tried the spell again to the same result, too focused to notice the sudden subtle sheen to the patterns painted on her bedroom walls.

A Sending spell pinged in her mind. "Ten seconds, dear sister."

A smile played on Adaine's lips.

"What?" Oisin demanded.

"Just that you all have been so obsessed with being our nemeses this whole time. But that was never gonna happen with you and me. That position is already filled."

There was another flash of light and before it even cleared, Adaine felt the tingle of magic settling over her like a second skin. Her sister's abjurer's ward extending to cover her reflexively. Just beyond the ward, she could feel the temperature in the room start to drop--a side effect of the Cone of Cold that was about to erupt from Aelwyn's outstretched hands.

"You're familiar with my bitch of a sister, right?"

[dailyadventureprompts]

Homebrew Mechanic: Bumpercar Combat

I'm going to keep most of my reasoning behind developing this system below the cut but I think we can all agree that D&D's combat can be painfully static. I love fight scenes but after going down a combined stage combat/ videogame boss design rabbit hole I've realized that one of the primary elements is missing from D&D's combat system, namely: Movement

From a mechanical perspective, D&D combat needs movement to break up the monotony of non-spellcater characters throwing punches at eachother until one of them drops, to introduce increased risk and randomness without damage-spike abilities.

From a narrative perspective, D&D combat needs movement to introduce tension and to help put character into day to day fighting beyond just flavor text. Likewise, fights that give different opportunities for movement will feel different from one another, making them stand out in the party's mind.

So without further ado I present my fun new system, which will have your party and their enemies bouncing around the battlefield like a demolition derby:

Press the attack: If you attack a creature and your initial attack roll is higher than their constitution score, you can force them to shift 5 ft into any of the tree squares opposite from your position. You then move to occupy the space they did.  

Back to a Wall:  Walls and other substantial barriers grant attackers the benefits of flanking as if they were a threatening creature. 

Give Ground: If you are attacked in melee and the initial roll is lower than your dexterity score you may shift into any adjacent square, forcing the opponent to move into the space you previously occupied. If you are attacked at a range, you may still shift, but the attacker loses any cover bonuses they might have till the start of their next turn rather than moving. 

Tripping Hazard: If you force an opponent into a square that could be considered rough terrain ( such as if it was occupied by a chair, or down a slippery slope) the target drops prone. 

First things first I want to say that this system is largely inspired by the dynamic combat movement rules by raventear productions, which I found over on reddit. It's a great system but the more I thought about it the more I realized that introducing extra rolls into combat was adding extra bloat to combat, and so I needed to retool the system to ensure that the party weren't having to roll any more dice than they normally would. My goal with homebrew is always to add more options, not bloat.

Also, go check out@jillbearup over on youtube, her series breaking down cinematic fights was one of the main drivers behind wanting to find a homebrew system like this in the first place.

Finally, long hours spent watching @ohnoitstbskyen 's in depth bloodborne playthough got me thinking about the design of fights, and the right combination of enemies and environment can truly elevate the player(s) experience. I'm also working on my own bloodborne game which gave me a reason to finalize this system.

Now lets get on to why I wanted to build this system in the first place: D&D combat is at risk of being painfully slow and boring, as it's aged the depths to which it can be slow and/or boring have only increased. While part of that is up to the skill of players at the table, I largely chalk it up to the fact that the base system of combat isn't much changed from the days of old tabletop wargaming....characters and monsters control like army units, clashing up against one another till one side drops or some spellcaster drops an AoE ( artillery). That rigidity is fine when one person is controling a whole army of units, but I think every melee character has been in a position where they're slugging away with the same old attack while the wizards get to do cool shit.

The system sort of worked back In the early days when characters and monsters could only take a couple of hits before dropping, but as the editions progressed and everything got more complex what might have first been a quick life or death clash turned into a slugfest. Attacks of opportunity and rigid flanking rules specifically encouraged this slowdown, and 4th edition, the only attempt outside of the battemaster to really play with positioning crashed and burned mainly due to WotC's incompetence.

So how do I use this?

If you're having trouble thinking of why this system might be fun to implement, here's a few ideas:

It makes groupfights more dangerous, encouraging tactical thinking. Getting advantage reliably is the deciding factor in most d&d combats, with the tide turning in favour of whichever side has the most bodies. If combatants are shifting around with every missed hit then that advantage is more up for grabs

It puts increased focus on hazards and terrain features. Ledges, pits, pillars, walls, furniture, dungeon-clutter. Make no mistake that if you use this system and then design your combat arenas with some kind of terrain feature, it's GOING to be used. Where previously players and enemies alike had to chose between engaging with the arena for a potential benefit or doing raw damage reliably, here they'll be able to do both.

It gives non burst-damage melee characters a new way to play. Rolling a barbarian or fighter is supposed to come with a scene of empowerment which can be undercut one folks realize their super-strong orc berserker is being outclassed for damage by the shifty guy with the knife. Telling that player "Yeah, that person gets to roll more dice, but you get to bounce badguys off the walls like pinballs" is more than a consolation, it's what they signed up to do in the first place.

It adds drama to the fight. There's only so many ways a dm can describe enemies taking non-lethal sword hits that only take up a portion of their hp, and they're liable to run out of those long before the campaign is through. Part of what sells the importance of those hits and keeps players engaged between the first and the last is the feeling that they've had SOME kind of effect. Moving folks around is a middle ground between doing nothing and dropping a foe, changing the battlefield in a myriad of small ways that can build up to something meaningful.

Art

[spookygibberish]

I've sort of developed a strange relationship with the concept of "realism" in the things I make.

Something I was very into as like, an eleven year old (im not implying this was immature to be into, just that it was formative for me), was speculative biology specifically for dragons, and now, specifically in the case of dragons I find a lot of attempts to make them biologically plausible fully missing the appeal of dragons at all.

Thinking specifically about the supernatural elements of JoM and where the line is drawn. The dagnyds are made from the remains of godlike entities, and are not entirely earthly animals. They have a supernatural origin. It would be fully justified in giving them magic abilities or making magic an aspect of the setting, but have absolutely zero interest in doing so. It doesn't interest me. I think about shit like healing powers or glowy energy attacks and my reaction is just "what does this even add? Why do I need this? Does this make things more interesting?" And it simply doesn't. Healing is more interesting as a prolonged process, combat is more interesting with teeth and claws and metal and blood. These are options which are more realistic, closer to real life, but the realism isn't what makes them interesting: it's physicality.

When I design a creature for this world, I am not thinking about making it biologically plausible, and yet, I try to design things which look like they could 'move under their own power'. There is a sense of heft and mechanical "soundness" which I value more than realism, but often also aligns with looking 'realistic'.

I would say that it's better to serve a narrative than strive for absolute realism, but I don't actually write stories, although I do have ideas for them occasionally. I guess a version of this which is more relevant and applicable is that i prefer to strive for a particular vibe.

[ganondoodle]

you know, i talked about it before but i still, for a much more rare totk gameplay complaint-

i still cannot wrap my head around how it went all the way to the finished product to have 5 ghosts that love to glitch around and threaten your frame rate (espeically bad in combat) help in combat, 4 of which are MELEE fighters, AND have their abilities tied to their model forcing you to chase after them constantly if you want to use any of it AND ALSO give them collision so they can get knocked over cancelling their ability if it needs charging (RIJU!!), the one needing a long time to charge being not jsut one of the most useful and fun to use but then making that one also be one of tHE MELEE fighters meaning anytime you manage to catch her and activate it she instantly charges into battle and due to her being rather small and using short swords she basically sticks to the enemy like glue and keeps gettign knocked over, i swear yelling riju was my most spoken word in any type of combat in all my playtime

also how they teleport back and forth in and out of your arm the second you dare to look at a climable surface or are in one thats too small for them (even when you need them the most like yuno in one of those caves stuffed to the brim with destroyable rocks thatd take out all your swords if you did it by hand) or just .. randomly teleporting around but then can still get stuck on environmental collision until you cant even see them anymore (stares at sidon giving me a heart attack in the underground when he got caught on a light root until i was so far away he was barely visible and instead of teleporting he started to sprint at me with inhumane speed when i turned around making me frozen in shokc bc he turned dark in the distance for some reason making me think one of the creepy ghost soldiers was out to murder me, granted that was one of the best moments in the game for me, but also, imagine if they actually did that with one of the creepy ghost soldiers instead of it being a glitch??? another missed opportunity tbh)

how did that never come up during playtesting?? if they really were done somewhere in 2022 and spent the rest of the time with polish like they said how did that never come up?? i loved having the champ- sages around in their dungeons but the ghost version thingy wasnt really that optimal and id rather have their abilities be either integrated into your controls like in botw (tbh i find that really thoguhtful, to have your dead friends abilities they granted you inegrated into your basic controls as dynamically as they did) or in another ability wheel (like i did in my rewrite) with maybe mineru beign the only one you actually need around via summon since you can ride ... her

idk about anyone else but i only had them around bc i liked them walking around with me and was too lazy to constantly de and reactivate them but tbh i think it caused more annoyance to me than it brought anything interesting to it

[dykedvonte]

I like to think Benny got that gun from House when they all came to the strip and that House tried to make a big deal of it and what it meant with all its engravings and symbolism. But Benny being a wasteland we just saw if as another weapon.

He never really mentions it in canon, no attachments or acknowledgements to how good it is as a weapon. He just uses it because it’s the brand, a part of his image. Maria, despite carrying the visage of the women who carried/birthed the prophet, is merely used by a man to kill what can be considered the Mojave’s messiah.

[tabletopresources]

[reddit]

Check out Tabletop Gaming Resources for more art, tips, and tools for your game!

[fogaminghub]

https://www.fogaminghub.com/post/explore-return-to-etaern-in-visions-of-mana-chapter-1-adventure

🌙 Ready to explore the Return to Etaern in Visions of Mana? Our new blog post breaks down Chapter 1's exciting objective! Learn the best tips for grabbing weapons and equipping Morley for your journey. Check it out and get started on your adventure! 🎮✨

[spearxwind]

This is an unskippable cutscene (makes you look at my cool as fuck ship)

[quibbs126]

So apparently Pokémon Presents told us we’re getting a new Legends game based in Kalos, rather than anything about Gen 5 remakes

And you know honestly, I’m cool with that, I think I prefer that. Kalos got barely any attention even in its own generation, not even getting a rerelease/sequel, which all the generations before and even the one after it got (Gen 8 and 9 didn’t get that, but they got DLC which basically acts as an addition to the story, which still applies here). Not to mention we know Kalos has lore from ancient times, and we’re probably gonna see it now in this game, which is really cool

Like yeah, I’m pretty sure Kalos isn’t seen as one of the best regions, but it’s finally getting more attention from Game Freak, and I’m happy to see that

Also I think BDSP has shattered my faith in Pokémon remakes, so I’m kind of glad Gen 5 isn’t getting one. They’ll probably save it for Gen 10 if we’re being honest

Edit: wait I just looked at more info (I didn’t see the Presents, I had class, but I just saw the news), this might take place in a futuristic Kalos? I don’t really know, but just then take what I predict about it with a grain of salt