Skip to Content
 

Health points in combat arena game

3 replies [Last post]
jambojazz34
Offline
Joined: 05/29/2017

Hello, i'm designing a gladiatorial combat arena board game where you make victory points hitting other people and doing stuffs.
I want to avoid player elimination or other mechanics that cause frustration on the players. So reaching 0 hit points has no great impact on the gameplay: you "resurrect", start again with a little loss and a little boost.
But then i realized: dying is not really necessary, the same as the tracking of hit points. I hit you, i earn victory points and we cointinue fighting until the end of the game. Obviously the theme should allow a player to receive "infinite" hits without dying (e.g. some immortal god)

Now the question.
Is dealing with hit points helpful to the players, maybe used to see hit points in this kind of games?
In other words, if i take away hit points, will the player have a worst experience?

Tim Edwards
Offline
Joined: 07/30/2015
I think you can do without

I think you can do without hit points. However, if this is a game with more than 2 players it's not zero sum so you probably need to make it bad to GET hit as well as good to HIT. Maybe you lose victory points when you get hit?

I think your idea of resurrection with a boost is smart. It might work well with a rule that allows long-lasting fighters the ability to score at a higher rate than newly resurrected fighters. That way, successfully surviving gladiators will find themselves in with increasingly powerful (resurrected) rivals, but will get loads of credit for hanging on in there.

Maybe you every time you kill someone (or hit someone), you score double what you scored for the last. 1,2,4,8, etc...When you die and get resurrected, your scoring rate resets to 1.

That could work with or without hit points.

jambojazz34
Offline
Joined: 05/29/2017
Good ideas! The problem of

Good ideas!
The problem of loosing points when getting hit, though, is that one player (maybe who is winning) could be targeted by everyone and be easily dragged down (leader bashing).
The "long-lasting" player buff is a very cool idea, i need to test if is a good way to stop the buff with just one hit. It is also a good motivation for spreading damage.
Thank you!

wob
Offline
Joined: 06/09/2017
hi. i like tims

hi. i like tims suggestions.
losing points when hit could act as a catch up mechanic (as you say it will result in leader bashing but that can work well in this sort of chaotic fighting game)
bonus points per hit for staying alive sounds very good ,but it might be a pain to track, which is also the main problem with tims third option.
i agree you dont want people to be knocked out to early but you also dont want the game to drag (especially if last place has no chance of winning after a certain point)
my suggestion would be rounds- ie rounds 1-5 if you "die" you cannot score any extra points, or take hp from other players this round. however you can hinder other players and take away points from other players.
you could also have a final elimination round (maybe you get buffs depending on your score in previous rounds)
finally if you do decide to make it non-fatal i would incorporate that into the theme, kids with paintball or water pistols instead of guys with guns.

Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut