Hi all,
I had another thread concerning this in the past, but it was only concerning one aspect of it. In that other thread, I was wondering whether or not the accuracy of a character should be separate from their evasion rate. Keep in mind, the combat in my game I am aiming for it to be similar to a turn based rpg, similar to like a mix between tabletop ones (that aren't too complex/crunchy), gamebooks, and video game jrpgs from ps2 time. I decided to keep accuracy separate from whatever governs evasion rate, but I'm not sure on whether it should be a stat that governs accuracy, the weapon/item/magic itself, or a mix of the two. I'm aiming toward a mix though, but I'm curious to know your thoughts on it.
Each stat in my game would range from 1-6 (1 lowest, 6 highest). Characters start with each stat between 1-3. You can raise a stat by up to +2 (e.g. a character with a starting stat of 1 in magic can only level it up to 3, to get it higher than that requires boosting through other means than levelling up) through "levelling " up during the game (more of a point buy system than traditional levelling up system but that's another topic...). to get to 6 in a stat you'd have to combine levelling with other things that boost your stat(s).
One stat I was thinking could be "Combat Skill" that would govern your accuracy with weapons. At certain stat levels of Combat Skill you'd get +1/+2/or+3 to accuracy. And then each weapon itself would have a "speed" or "accuracy" weapon that adds +1/+2/or +3 to accuracy. The total accuracy you then compare to opponent's evasion, and by comparing it that would give you a target number you'd have to roll equal to or higher than on 2d6.
It'd work the same way for Magic and Ranged Combat accuracy etc...
Thus, using that type of system would make it so that it's not only the lightness of a weapon but also the skill of the user that makes it accurate. However, that would also mean an unskilled and/or slow user could use something like a fast dagger or scimitar and be quite accurate...
A further idea for the system that came to my mind was that the type of evasion stat you are facing depends on whether you are using Melee, Ranged, or Magic...Melee would face opponent's Combat Skill unless they are dodging (in which case it's vs agility), Ranged is vs Agility, and Magic could be against Agility or Magic (depends on the type of spell).
So what I'm wondering about is, what makes the most sense thematically and mechanically? Should weapon accuracy be based entirely on stats, entirely on the weapon, or a mix of both somehow?
Larienna,
Well, personally I like the idea of stats giving derivative bonuses to things.
I do really like the idea of having minimum requirements for certain gear in the gear and I am considering doing something like that , but a problem I thought may arise from that is: why would a player raise their stat if it gives no benefit other than the possibility of maybe using a piece of gear that you might find?
With the modifier stacking stuff, I would simply limit the max amount of modifiers (from stats and/or gear and/or spells buffing the character) to a certain number.
If I use the derivative stats thing, I'd like each stat to affect somewhere between 2-3 things, some affect what happens on the board ("Overworld") whilst some things are only in regard to combat. The stats affect things passively, they don't give you active abilities that you use as actions.
So if stats range from 1-6 it'd be like this at each level of the stat:
1: Default
2: +minor bonus
3: +major bonus
4: +minor bonus
5: +major bonus
6: +minor bonus
or alternatively
1: Default
2: +minor bonus
3: +major bonus
4: +minor bonus
5: +minor bonus
6: +major bonus
Here's an example of how it'd work with the Scouting (aka "Exploratory" previously, still undecided about the name):
1: Overworld: 1d6 exploration dice and look at only top treasure when obtaining treasure, Combat: 1d6 Escape dice
2: Overworld: 1d6 exploration dice, 1 treasure card, Combat: 2d6 Escape dice
3: Overworld: 2d6 exploration dice, 1 treasure card, Combat: 2d6 escape dice
4: Overworld: 2d6 exploration dice, 2 treasure cards (draw one , choose one), Combat: 2d6 escape
5: Overworld: 3d6 exploration dice, 2 treasure cards, 2d6 escape
6: 3d6 exploration dice, 3 treasure cards (draw 3 choose one), 2d6 escape
So levelling the stats would, as currently envisioned (though subject to change of course): 1. improve related/derived abilities 2. fullfill minimum requirements for certain skills and gear & 3. Be used for quick checks in overworld events (e.g. boulder is falling at you, roll # of dice equal to your Scouting skill, each 6+ counts as a success, you need one success or you get hit).
"For example, maybe the Target Number is given by the weapon, but the nb of dice rolled is determined by the character stats (pick the best die)"
I'd like the target number in combat to be a comparison of sorts between the weapon's traits & the skill of the user vs the agility/evasiveness of the enemy.
"So in that case, a weak character can still use a weapon efficiently, but will be more prone to bad luck than the skilled character."
Could you explain what you mean by more by this? Like give an example perhaps?
"It also avoid modifier stacking you would not have thought, so more control on your game."
I do see what you're saying about modifiers being stacked too much and being hard to track everything...
The type of dice mechanics I like is where you get extra dice to roll and you're trying to reach a target number with the dice. Either 1. by trying to get an individual dice to get a certain #. or 2. by trying to reach a target number with the best dice out of the pool (e.g. needing to get a 10+, you roll 5 dice and then choose best two out of the pool and if the total is 10+ you hit)