Design Journal: Combining Signature Moves

While working on adding combat styles and signature moves to my combat system, I was trying to figure out how to allow players to combine moves in ways that make sense. An idea I landed on was to divide attacks into four categories: basic, speed, precision and power. Signature moves would tie to a category and moves that share a category can be combined or you can combine a basic move with a move from another category

Basic attacks would be based on modifying your base attack. Two weapon fighting would fall under basic attacks as would the tumbling archer signature move from the combat styles and signature moves design journal post.

Speed attacks would be about fitting in as much as possible into 1 action. Having multiple attacks would fall under this category.

Precision attacks would be about hitting the mark. Sharp shooter and improved aim would be precision attacks

Power attacks would be all about the damage. Power attack would be in this category.

I would have a base modifier that could be built on. For example, cleave would fall under basic. The base modifier would be a -2 mod for the first cleave and an additional -2 for every additional cleave attempt. Anybody can cleave using this modifier as long as they drop their first opponent. If someone wanted to specialize in cleave, they can have improved cleave as a signature move. Improved cleave gives them a bonus on their cleave attempt. Depending on character build, a player could use a precision move like flashing blade to reduce their damage to improve their attack or use power attack to improve their damage while reducing their attack.

I feel this setup opens up avenues while keeping things realistic.

Design Journal: Wound

I started with the usual system for damage with some minor tweaking due to lack of levels; subtract damage from your hit points, unconscious at x and dead at y. I later added a fatigue system to deal with spell failure and special abilities (kinda like mana but not restricted to magic).  I then added on a wound system. Hits that did a certain amount of damage caused a wound point, when you received a certain  number of wound points you got penalties to your rolls. I decided that this was way too much number crunching and slimmed things down.

I got rid of hit points because they were too abstract for my taste and didn't do anything that couldn't be done better/easier elsewhere. Any hit that does damage gives one point of fatigue, as does using special abilities and not sleeping properly. Fatigue represents physical and mental wear, when you receive a certain number of fatigue points you get penalties on your rolls. I took the penalties off of wound and made it so that you died when you accumulated a certain number of wound points. This is still a little too abstract and clunky for my taste.

I am changing fatigue so that every point of damage gives a point of fatigue instead of every successful hit, however I have not settled on a satisfying method for wound. There are some things I am considering. One is including hit locations. There would be 5 hit locations(head, torso, right and left arm, right and left leg) and each location can only take a certain number of wound before being irreparably damaged. Another idea is having escalating wounds. When you receive a wound, you have a certain number of rounds to tend to it or it becomes a serious wound and then a mortal one.