I have a game idea I intended to make as a video game, but with some recent modification, a board game adaptation might be possible. Now one of the problem was the combat system I intended to use which worked perfectly as a video game but not as a board game.
First there is the opportunity/situation roll that use dice with special faces (think bloodbowl) but I won't talk about them here.
Then there is the combat roll which consist in:
- Rolling X d10 (ma 10 dice) against a Target Number. The TN is determined using a chart containing a list of units vs a type of units. For example a tank could have
6d 7+ vs vehicle
3d 2+ vs helicopter
3d 4+ vs infantry
all displayed on a single line.
- The number of success equal the number of damage. Each unit has 2 armor value. For example the tank might have 3/7. If you get more success than the first value you damage the unit, or destroy the unit if already damaged. If you exceed 7 success, you instantly destroy the unit.
Now as you can see the system can work well because it consider the accuracy(TN), the string(NB Dice) of the weapons and the armor of the vehicle. But as a board game, that is way too many dices to roll, way too often with complex table lookup. Players only move 3 units per turn, but still, it can be pretty annoying to resolve as both players will make their roll.
This is where I came with the idea of digital roller as an app. The idea is that before a battle start, you will select which unit are fighting, select a terrain, then click roll to get the results. Much faster and convenient to resolve.
The problem with apps and board games is the synchronisation of information between both system. Here the only info I need to transfer is which units are fighting and the terrain.
I could possibly push it more by keeping track of ammunitions for various weapons and fuel, but that would demand much more synchronization between the app and the board game.
The other thing is if people really want to use dice, it should still be possible, it's just annoying.
Do you line the idea of a digital roller?
Else I don't see how I could compress the system to make sure Accuracy, power and armor is considered in the die roll.
I am color blind. For me, match 3 is the worst game ever.
Also if I do a different mini game app, I am dependent on that minigame and therefore require an app. With a dice roller, the game is playable with real dices.
There is the TN for the dice
There is the number of dice rolled
and there is an armor value to compare to
You need to roll more success than the armor value to damage a unit.
Health + damage = damaged
damaged + damage = destroyed
If you roll more success than the second armor value, it is destroyed no matter what.
My system could lead to impossibilities, like if an infantry only roll 2D to attack a tank but the tank has 3 armor, the infantry cannot possibly damage the tank.
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One thing I could do is precalculate the odds of X dice vs TN, but in that case I cannot have rules or abilities that modifies the TN or the number of dice. Of course, percentage as D10 is fine with me.