Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Mechanic Highlight: Combat Overview

Ah, the ultimate conflict. Quick points:

* Turn-based
* Actions per turn based on speed and skill
* Momentum-centric
* Mortal Combat

Turns
Faeguard uses a turn-based combat system, as opposed to a real-time one. Turns allow the player to input attack and defense commands, a) when they are on offense, and b) when they are being attacked. Actions include things such as attack (duh), block, parry, dodge, counter, break, beat, equip item, use item, trace rune (my choice of magic system, no spells), target, order (your allies), and flee. This action list is not extensive.

Actions per Turn
For every attack or defense action, a character's ActionsTaken property increases. If it reaches or exceeds their ActionsAllowed property, they may not take any more actions within the current turn except dodge, block, or parry at penalty. The ActionsTaken property is calculated with the character's Speed and Skill attributes, modified by carrying capacity (Might-based), total body weight, and any wounds.

Momentum
A combatant is in one of two states: offensive or defensive. The job of an offensive combatant, or attacker, is to overcome the defensive measures of the defensive combatant, or defender. The job of the defender is to overcome the advantage of the attacker and take the offensive. These defensive measures are represented by the Guard property of the defender. When an attacker first begins his assault on a defender, the defender calculates a fresh Guard value. This value is based on several factors that will be discussed in an upcoming post. The attacker calculates a fresh Lead value, which represents the amount of advantage the attacker has over the defender, in terms of retaining the offensive. In both instances, Guard or Lead, the higher the value the better.

The attacker attempts to whittle down the defender's Guard to nothing. Each time he does this he gains momentum, possibly giving the defender a penalty to her defense actions (dodge, block, parry, etc.). The defender, on the other hand, attempts to raise her Guard until it catches the attacker's Lead. The defender "catches the lead" when Guard >= Guard + Lead. Each time she raises her Guard she gains momentum, possibly giving herself a bonus to defense actions. A bonus only occurs when her Guard is greater than what it started out as. A penalty only occurs when her Guard is less than what it started out as.

The further ahead a combatant is, offensive or defensive, the more likely they will continue to snowball towards their objective: hitting their opponent, or taking the offensive. If the defender "catches the lead" an Offensive Shift occurs. The attacker becomes the defender, the defender the attacker, and new Guard's and Lead's are calculated. If the attacker hits the defender, overcoming her Guard, then damage is tabulating against armor or body, a new Guard is set for the defender, and the attacker's Lead is increased.

Mortal Combat
Characters do not have hit points. They have body parts. And those body parts sustain wounds of different intensities. Combat in Faeguard is essentially mortal: whoever gets hit first is probably going to lose, unless it's a scratch.

Further, combat involving uneven sides is especially deadly to the underdogs. A two-on-one situation does not bode well for the one side, unless the lone combatant is far more skilled than his assailants. This is because one is attempting to retain the offensive. As soon as the lone combatant gains the offensive against one assailant, the other assailant attacks him and puts him back on the defensive. The only way to win is to damage your opponent. And since the only way to do that is to hold the offensive, when you're outnumbered it's a good idea to run away and bring back friends. Counter attacks and other special maneuvers have been coded, however, to aid the suicidal.

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