Melee Tactics

Like for example, IF you introduce a RPS-3 which means that BEYOND melee, you also have Ranged and Flight and create a relationship "Melee -> Ranged -> Flight -> Melee" means that you can have have other ways to defend and/or attack.

You can for example, change the attack "order". In my game "Archon: Circlet of the Heaves" (ARCH), players take turns assigning six (6) order tokens. This determines how the cards in play get resolved. But you could have a card with a mechanic like "Rush" which means you can pass before the next revealed card (in terms of order of resolution).

Or you can have a "Counter-strike" mechanic which means that instead of the opponent attacking YOU, you get to attack them again affecting the order of card resolution. And this can be a "Instant" or "Interrupt" ability/mechanic which can be played at any time.

You can have a bunch of "Keywords", I think I have thirty (30) of them in my reserves for mechanics that affect the battle. I'll give you a few of them and then you can be on your merry way to designing your OWN "Keywords":

#1 [Absorption ?]: This unit takes ? damage instead of another unit.

#8 [Dispel]: No spells may be used against this Unit.

#13 [Fear]: This unit cannot be directly blocked in combat.

#20 [Outcast]: If this Unit is exiled, the attacking Unit is also exiled.

#30 [Warsong ?]: When this Unit attacks, other attacking Units gain +?/+0 until end of turn.

Of course #30 is one of many ways of BOOSTING a card. When you start thinking in this manner... You'll see ... You will be able to define mechanics specific to your game. In my game (ARCH), Players have BOTH a Discard Pile which get "re-shuffled" and an Exile Pile which means that a card is "Removed from Play".

I know this might sound a bit "strange"!? Like WHY would I have "Keywords"??? Well you don't need to USE the keywords, they can be kept for yourself. Just state the tactics that are employed with the card in practice. Or you can have BOTH ("Keyword" and tactic). I am leaning towards BOTH for ARCH.

The basic idea is SIMPLE: take everything in your GAME and see how many options you have with the cards. The more COMPONENTS your game has (like a Hand, a Discard Pile, an Exile Pile, an RPS-3, etc.) the more you can design RULES for these components. And then the exciting part could be that after following the RULES, you can then design some "Keywords" that BREAK those rules.

For example: "You may only have a Hand of FIVE (5) cards." = RULE. Break it with something like: [Reinforce] "Draw +1 cards this turn." = BROKEN RULE...

When you start thinking this WAY. You'll see; you'll probably be able to define like 50 "Keywords"!!! The only thing is to remember either you use BOTH or the Tactic alone. NEVER just use the "Keyword" because this requires Memorization... And in a GAME, I have seen this in "EPIC: the card game", it's NOT FUN. Just using the "Keyword" is too HARD for players and it can spoil the enjoyment of the game BECAUSE of the memorization required by them ... That is only IF you don't state the Tactic itself.

Happy Designing ... I'm sure once you get into the PROPER mind-set... You'll be able to DEFINE a TON of game mechanics specific to YOUR game!

Cheers.

Note #1: I'll give you ONE additional ability ... Because it will FORCE you to think BEYOND +x attack and +x defense:

#24 [Slave Driver ?]: Opposing selected Unit in play loses -?/-? until this Unit is discarded or exiled.

In this case instead of a BONUS, it is a PENALTY. So the player who plays this Tactic DECIDES which of the opposing Units gets this PENALTY.

There are some games that allow players to opt for a specific "battle stance," where game modifiers are applied from round to round (or sometimes for the length of an entire encounter) depending on their attitude or relationship to their opponent.

"Berserker Rage" is a common form of this. A character/unit "flips the switch" and begins a series of reckless, savage attacks at a certain point in the fight and receives bonuses to damage, and most likely a penalty to defense. Another term to describe this in modern RPGs and squad games is "all-out attack."

On the flip-side, there's "defensive stance," which would provide immense bonuses to defensive capabilities, while penalties to attack were provided.

In the Palladium RPG (I think), there was an option to "pull your punches" during a fight, so as to soften-up an opponent instead of potentially killing them.

"Strike to subdue" is a similar tactic, introduced in the later years of AD&D (2nd edition) I think, with a similar result. They used phrases like, "strike with the flat of the blade" and "shield buffet" instead of attack.

I recall reading that in some cultures, there is a social reward for warriors who do a bit of show-boating (for lack of a better term) in battle. For example, there are accounts of Native American Indian warriors "counting coup," effectively slapping opponents with a stick in a non-lethal but noticeable manner, in an effort to gain honor in battle as opposed to kills. Shaming opponents can have just as debilitating effect: primarily a cultural construct, affecting morale and social status.

For a non-combat situation, you can allow "total focus" or something like that, providing some kind of bonus to succeed at a certain task (repair, spell-casting, lock-picking, etc.) while the character does nothing else: they do not attack, and do not defend themselves when attacked by others.

In all these cases, there were modifiers applied to various dice results, be it to-hit, damage, defense, etc. There might also be a lingering after-effect. For example when a berserker's assault is ended, there's some kind of "recovery" period where their attack and defense capabilities are reduced until they've recovered from their exertions.

Maybe a concept like this can help you determine some options to explore.

Sorry for the lateness of my reply. It takes me while to write stuff out.

Attack speed -  Could Some attacks are faster than others? Maybe a player get to play another attack, dodge, grapple, change stance card, or some other bonus if their attack is substainally faster.

Fatigue - Could attacks that are particularly damaging, cause the inflicting player to become fatigued? Then the player could recover by doing less damaging attacks. Of course there would be some penalty for becoming completely fatigued. Maybe you opponent gets a free attack.

Range - could you introduce the concept of range? Still in melee, but some attacks like grapple only work when you are closer to your opponent?

Draw pile/hand (of cards)/discard pile manipulation. - Since mostly more cards in hand is better for the player, and powerful cards in hand are also good for the player. There are a ton of ways to introduce card advantage into your game.

Feel free to disregard use or improve upon.
Good luck with your game.