So, as some of you might know, I'm currently designing a table top RPG. Just to get a few ideas for it, I'll comb you guys. If you had the choices between using an Axe, Bludgeons, Ranged Weapons (thrown/bows), Spear, Shield, and Sword, what would you expect from each choice?
Further, if you had the choice between combat magics "Animus", "Energy", and "Entropy", what would you expect from those?
Edit; I already have the combat magics (Somatics) figured out. That is, what they do in general.
Animus; Life energy (healing/siphoning), Chi (Chakras/Martial Arts)
All of the non-ranged weapons come in a two-handed and one handed form, except shields, but shields are obviously different in functionality. Axes I'm considering be the damage dealers, simply dealing raw damage or making dealing damage somehow easier. Bludgeons stun and daze, whatever that might mean, Ranged weapons like bows are probably going to pin and allow for maneuverability, Spears are going to do the same, except melee, but I haven't really thought up a niche for swords. Swords tend to be versatile and just plain good weapons, but I don't want to make them simply better than the other choices, for obvious reasons.
So, as you can see, my system is already fairly well developed. I'm mostly looking for things to add to the existing functionality. Weapons and Somatics showcase their unique properties primarily through special maneuvers/techniques/whatever, not through basic attacks. Basic attacks are relatively similar.
Well, starting with magic, I'd expect "Animus" to involve controlling / summoning creatures and elementals. "Energy" sounds like it would involve fireballs and lightning, possibly healing? And "Entropy" might be your death magic, killing things slowly.
I'm not sure what you mean for the weapons though. They're all fairly straightforward in their uses, so you'll have to be more specific.
So, as some of you might know, I'm currently designing a table top RPG. Just to get a few ideas for it, I'll comb you guys. If you had the choices between using an Axe, Bludgeons, Ranged Weapons (thrown/bows), Spear, Shield, and Sword, what would you expect from each choice?
Further, if you had the choice between combat magics "Animus", "Energy", and "Entropy", what would you expect from those?
I'd choose the bow because it allows me to strike in silence and from a distance, usually with lethal results-- even against heavy armor (e.g., Agincourt). I would expect Animus to be a more spiritual type of energy related to nature that would involve summoning your own "life energy" and that of animals. Energy, on the other hand, gives me the sense that the spells draw power from the user's environment and would leave open the possibility of "ion cannon" type power attacks. Finally, entropy makes me think of reducing someone or something to nothingness by lowering their temperature to absolute zero; obviously, the path to absolute zero temperature and rest energy could provide many lower-level spells than this ludicrously overpowered tool. You could reduce them to a Bose-Einstein condensate, release all the strong force energy inside them (which amounts to making them into a living nuclear bomb, and, considering that an average human weighs 70kg, that means a BIG BADDA-BOOM!) or even just freeze them solid.
In choosing my class, I'd be an entropy mage with a longbow as my ranged weapon and a poisoned dirk as my tool of last resort. My combat style would hinge on letting others tank damage, persuade, gather supplies, and heal while I acted as the ultimate Glass Cannon for when that Orc wouldn't listen to reason, money, swords, axes, mauls, ballistas, or catapaults. My limitation would be that my "Reductionem ad Nihium" spell could only be learned after putting every single one of my levels into Black Magic, would critically wound me (i.e., not "Medic! I need some help getting up over here!" but "I'M BLEEDING OUT IN TWO TURNS! GET ME A MEDIC!"), and would take me back a level in Black Magic so that it could only be used once per story. My other spells would work more along the lines of freezing and limited chemical decay that would act like Reductionem ad Nihilum, but on a smaller scale and with lower HP punishments.
No, but I think everyone understands how each functions. Bows are for attacking from a distance, axes are hack and chop, swords are slash and stab, etc. If this is what you were actually asking though, I'd also be beating things over the head with a quarterstaff, breaking bones but not skin, stabbing from a distance with a spear (like against mounted knights and such), shield used for deflecting attacks and the occasional smack in the face.
It has also been my dream to, in any setting, wield a big stick as my only, albeit extremely effective, weapon.
No, but I think everyone understands how each functions. Bows are for attacking from a distance, axes are hack and chop, swords are slash and stab, etc. If this is what you were actually asking though, I'd also be beating things over the head with a quarterstaff, breaking bones but not skin, stabbing from a distance with a spear (like against mounted knights and such), shield used for deflecting attacks and the occasional smack in the face.
Have different weapons have different effective ranges. A knife for example will only work if your enemy is right in your face, while a spear could be useful from several feet away, but not so much at close range. Depending on how complicated you want your system to be trying to keep your target within a certain distance would be an interesting combat mechanic.
Slashing with a sword is very different from stabbing with the same sword; slashing may have potential to chop off limbs but isn't terribly effective against plate armor. Stabbing with it on the other hand won't break any major bones but is much better at penetrating armor, and hitting vital organs which can swiftly incapacitate an enemy. But that also depends very much on the sword itself. Curved blades are designed specifically for slashing more than anything else, while a rapier is ideal for stabs.
No, I'm going for simple mechanics. I want the difference between weapon types to be most noticeable while using special maneuvers and abilities, similar to special spells with combat magic, except you spent your points on a weapon instead of spells.
Why don't you make some special abilities for the weapons. Spear, for example, could attack from two tiles away. If the attack is successful the opponent cannot advance into attack range if they have sword or dagger. Things like that. And say the enemy do get within range. Such as one tile. The spearman should suffer an attack penalty.
Why don't you make some special abilities for the weapons. Spear, for example, could attack from two tiles away. If the attack is successful the opponent cannot advance into attack range if they have sword or dagger. Things like that. And say the enemy do get within range. Such as one tile. The spearman should suffer an attack penalty.
That kind of is the plan. Through using a particular weapon, you can learn maneuvers for use with that weapon, and the weapon's special properties are manifest in their use.
I'm also avoiding imposing penalties except due to "debuffing" or where otherwise necessary.
Off the top of my head, using some RPG games as a guide.
Axe - overpowering/frenzy attack - receive extra attack on turn
Sword - riposte/parry - chance to return an enemy attack with a guaranteed hit (roll for each unit with a sword, a 6 means the enemy attack is directed back at them and is a guaranteed hit)
Spear - initiative - always attacks first in combat with non-spear units
Bludgeon (assuming hammer/mace) - bonus damage\armor piercing ability based on unit strength
Bow - ordnance type attack, firing 'blind' over obstacles at decreased accuracy
Thrown knives/axes - can be used on the move at decreased accuracy, so say you go into close combat with an enemy, you get to have 2 turns of attacks, one that was used while charging at them where the enemy can't fight back unless they also have a ranged weapon, then in melee as well where they fight back
Shield - chance to block attacks before taking armor rolls, maybe even having the option of adding a shove attack instead of a normal weapon - stuns enemy or something
Animus - summons
Entropy - debuffs and disabling abilities
Energy - burst damage/DoT abilities
Maybe you could go into detail and combine certain magics. Like if you combine a certain Entropy with a certain Animus skill, you summon a creature or a ward/totem that lowers attack accuracy or damage of nearby enemies. Make it last a certain amount of time, then opponents have to decide whether to destroy it, bear with it for that time or move their units away.
Or maybe do it with weapons. So an Animus weapon deals extra damage to summoned units (OR has a chance at summoning a unit from a slain enemy), Entropy weapons apply debuffs on hit, or even protect from debuffs, Energy weapons add damage effects or maybe shields against certain damages.
I think you could go into a lot of detail, using certain abilities or builds to counter another type of enemy etc.
So, as some of you might know, I'm currently designing a table top RPG. Just to get a few ideas for it, I'll comb you guys. If you had the choices between using an Axe, Bludgeons, Ranged Weapons (thrown/bows), Spear, Shield, and Sword, what would you expect from each choice?
Further, if you had the choice between combat magics "Animus", "Energy", and "Entropy", what would you expect from those?
axe - slow but brutal against unarmored or lightly armored foes, also able to shatter shields, poor damage against heavy armor, okay damage against medium armor
sword - fast and good damage against unarmored or lightly armored foes, poor damage against medium or heavy armor
spear - fast at distance and able to keep foes at distance but if a foe gets inside the spear is worthless unless you can disengage and get distance, good damage against all armor
shield - protection, particularly from bows, but have to stop to use it
bludgeons - very slow but brutal against heavy armored foes and unarmored foes, against medium or lightly armored foes it has poor damage
bows - range attack with good damage against all but heavy armor
magic in general - demoralize to enemies unless they have a magic wielder too, including players (so they would want some magic if for no reason other than to be demoralized)
Animus - animate stuff with non-lethal effects: roots snare, corpses rise to be fodder (unless the foe just ignores them and lets them at their back), earth that sucks at feet
Energy - zapper fast small direct damage
Entropy - slow decent group damage and terrifying but makes you an obvious and very hateable target and you won't be able to defend yourself while using it
So, as some of you might know, I'm currently designing a table top RPG. Just to get a few ideas for it, I'll comb you guys. If you had the choices between using an Axe, Bludgeons, Ranged Weapons (thrown/bows), Spear, Shield, and Sword, what would you expect from each choice?
Further, if you had the choice between combat magics "Animus", "Energy", and "Entropy", what would you expect from those?
Reach, an interesting difference between swords and axes is that you can thrust with a sword, whereas one wouldn't use an axe at full arm's length (you'd likely drop it) and when fighting other weapon wielding opponents reach is very important as it concerns who you can attack, as who can attack you.
Penetration, a pikes, bobkin arrows, and certain daggers are especially good at penetrating armour, making them very useful against armoured opponents, though they tend to do less damage than normal broader weapons on unarmoured opponents, indeed on something like a skeleton the penetration score would likely go against the damage value.
Momentum, weapons like axes, maces, hammers and especially flails are easier to build up momentum with, resulting in heavier blows, increasing the probability of staggering an opponent or causing concussive damage which is effectively armour penetrating.
Bleed, some weapons like spiked maces, serrated blades, those wiggly daggers, etc, are liable to create the sort of wounds that bleed a lot, though generally this sort of weapon design either makes it fragile, unwieldily, or unable to penetrate.
Poison, some weapons have grooves in which poison can be applied, some other weapons are themselves toxic, such as silver to a werewolf, blessed steel to the undead, iron to the fay, etc.
Ergonomics, how easily a weapon can be handled, whether it requires one or two hands to wield, the probability of dropping it, and how it affects one's movement, for example one wouldn't run through the forest with a bow that has its string strung, it'll catch on everything, likewise swimming with a battle axe in hand is no easy feat, nor is climbing with one hand, hence the cliche of pirates being literally armed to the teeth, the mouth is a great place to store a dagger for quick access when you're climbing up rigging.
More to the point of what you asked, an axe is a sharp hammer so I'd expect it to be good in terms of momentum, penetration and perhaps bleed, but with poor reach for its size/weight and poor ergonomically.
Bludgeons, I'm thinking hammers, maces, even short hammers like Thor's, all of which have great momentum, but terrible penetration, poor ergonomics and poor reach, especially for weight.
Ranged weapons depend upon the ammunition used, obviously bows fire further than thrown weapons and one would expect crossbows to fire further still or have some other gimmick (rotating mini-crossbows for ambushes, special flintlock crossbows that shoot mini Molotov-cocktails, giant artillery crossbows that get pulled around on wheels, etc) the primary advantage of thrown weapons is speed and the increased size/weight of ammunition.
Spears involve two fighting styles, at range the thrust and parry style (that's meant to keep your opponent back) which only works well on single opponents, and up close the more defensive staff fighting techniques which work on multiple opponents but can't easily be done in narrow hallways and so forth.
Shields assist with blocking, duh, maybe you can bash with them too.
Swords are the jack of all trades tool, decent at everything but particularly good at nothing either, you can thrust and slash with a sword, block with a sword, parry with a sword, etc, so it's the must have weapon if you don't know what you're fighting, whereas if you do you'll probably want something more specialised.
In terms of magic, Animus sounds psychological to me, maybe split it into Animus and Anima, the disciplines of affecting your own mind and the minds of others, which could also psychosomatically affect things like healing, stamina/mana regeneration, various resistances, reaction speed, etc.
Energy, hmm well fireballs bore the fuck out of me so what if energy is like the bending in the avatar series? Instead of bending specific forms of matter an energy user can repurpose environmental energy, a calm lake isn't very useful but a raging torrent can grant immense power, sunshine can be focused into heating a specific area, more easily at midday on an open field in the hottest days of summer, as long as there's something to fuel it fire can be fed and used, but only while the fuel lasts, you get the idea.
Entropy, have you played a game called "Singularity"? In it there's a time manipulation device that can be used to either send things backwards or forwards through time, which sorta makes sense, relativity and positions of observation and all, anyway what if entropy is the ability to manipulate time like that? Sending someone forward in time doesn't send them forward in life, they just get older, likewise sending someone back can make them younger (at the expense of their memories, so an entropy user can be immortal but they'll never remember anything more than their physically "experienced" lifespan, so those who do make themselves immortal become dangerously dependent upon written notes to keep themselves informed of what's going on in then world that's progressing around them, so in effect they're not so much immortal as throwing their younger selves forward in time).
Anyway in combat entropy can be used to close wounds if you get to it in time (the entropy user has to touch the things they chromatically manipulate) and used to age an opponent, though that could also make them more powerful (an entropy user aged by another spends a long time in stasis, meditating, observing time flow, by the time they come out the "victim" may suddenly be a powerful entropy user themselves) so it's better to attack things that age poorly, like delicate equipment, clothes, ropes, food, armour strapping, or a more devious entropy user may use their torch like a flash bang grenade (hours of light released in a moment), to speed up their own movements, slow down their opponent, make a chestnut grow into a tree, etc, it all depends upon how powerful they are.
If we are talking about ranged weapons have you considered a sling? It's better than a bow in every-way (range availability of ammunition power in some cases good at shattering armor ect...) but it requires a lot of skill.
So maybe something along the lines of... More range but a high drop in hit %? Good at shattering overall armor but not good at inflicting damage on first hit but weakening the armor over all for secondary hits? (if you don't want a sling you could apply the same idea to bow vs cross bow)
Bending, as per Avatar, was mentioned. Actually, all martial magics (Somatics) are similar to bending. All three Somatics manipulate the energy you have access to. Energy manipulates and focuses/condenses the energy you have and the energy around you, Entropics is essentially the opposite, pilfering the energy from your environment and absorbing attacks, good for both defense and offense, whereas Animus is the utility of the inner energies, or life force. They require very specific bodily movements in order to manipulate, resembling bending. It's a purely coincidental resemblance, but one that makes it easy to imagine, since people already know what bending is.
Also, for those who haven't, check the edit on my original post.
Also, this game's mechanical focus is on simplicity. types of armor is probably not going to matter. Armor use is also a skill, which armor you're wearing being irrelevant, purely fluff. So long as you do have armor on, attacks are made at your armor skill as a defense against melee attacks, and ranged attacks attack your evasion.
The most complicated part of the game is actually debuffs and status effects, but their complexity is reduced by allowing only one to function at a time (whichever is the most potent).
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