doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
+thread because I don't have the energy to debate whether the following are good design goals or whatever. The thread assumes they are.
So, what I'm referring to is mechanically representing the back and forth chess game of dueling, whether it's European fencing, Tai Chi, Aikido, Eskrima, kickboxing, whatever. They all have similar elements, which are:
Strong vs soft attacks, quick attacks vs ones that require making a good opening, multiple avenues of skillful defense from dodging to blocking to deflection (parrying), counter-moves, feints, anticipation of opponent moves, importance of footwork and positioning and stance, muscle memory training to free your brain to play chess while your body fights, a certain degree of momentum and setting up the next move to set up the move after that, and probably some elements I'm blanking on.
Now, mechanically representing those things is not something DnD has ever been remotely good at without loading down characters with 100 distinct powers that either are at-will but aren't very strong (unless they're broken), or limited by an arbitrary limiter such as 1/encounter or 1/day per power, or X/day and you can spam the same one all you want with those uses.
Some mechanics I'm looking for
So…am I gonna have to build this from scratch or does anyone know a game that hits at least a solid plurality of these points and plays well?
So, what I'm referring to is mechanically representing the back and forth chess game of dueling, whether it's European fencing, Tai Chi, Aikido, Eskrima, kickboxing, whatever. They all have similar elements, which are:
Strong vs soft attacks, quick attacks vs ones that require making a good opening, multiple avenues of skillful defense from dodging to blocking to deflection (parrying), counter-moves, feints, anticipation of opponent moves, importance of footwork and positioning and stance, muscle memory training to free your brain to play chess while your body fights, a certain degree of momentum and setting up the next move to set up the move after that, and probably some elements I'm blanking on.
Now, mechanically representing those things is not something DnD has ever been remotely good at without loading down characters with 100 distinct powers that either are at-will but aren't very strong (unless they're broken), or limited by an arbitrary limiter such as 1/encounter or 1/day per power, or X/day and you can spam the same one all you want with those uses.
Some mechanics I'm looking for
- Active defense as the default.You cannot defend yourself passively, and normal defense is not hand waved as a passive mechanic
- Ability to party and even counter-parry, and riposte
- Different styles matter.
- You don’t use a later French sword for a Spanish Destreza style, you use a longer blade
- Different styles, stances, signature moves, make a difference, and there are trade offs for mastery vs versatility as one style may be better in rough terrain or against a larger opponent
- Different attacks are different. You don’t defend the same against a strong high attack vs a low quick attack, and you use the same in different situations.
- Momentum matters. When you are on the back foot you need to do soemthing to change that and then try to reverse it.
- An action to regain the initiative/position/whatever should be distinct, and also not a death spiral enabler
- It’s still a game. The players shouldn’t need to know who Agrippa is to become a master diestro and utilize his ideas. The mechanics shouldn’t rely on fighting knowledge, but should teach what the players need to know, and use game mechanics to model physical actions, panache, trickery, intimidation, etc.
So…am I gonna have to build this from scratch or does anyone know a game that hits at least a solid plurality of these points and plays well?
