If you want to make tactical decisions you need to able to answer questions like "can I reach that orc in one move or not" and in TotM a new player is almost never going to able to answer that question without asking, not unless the answer is already obvious.
13th Age will solve all of your problems. It's got the best TotM system for D&D-based games and it's available for free through 13th Age's SRD: https://www.13thagesrd.com/combat-rules/If you’ve not read the Roshambo approach to TotM combat, do it, it’s cool and puts a lot of new options back in front of players. http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...he-Mind-combat-(updated-again-to-version-1-2)
The Roshambo guide reads to me like it could be a nearly-direct rip-off of the 13th Age TotM system. The author doesn't seem concerned with acknowledging the tremendous influence of 13th Age in their guide and that doesn't seem right to me. I'd avoid it and just use 13th Age's system.
Personally I like complex battlefields sometimes (maybe a lot), and I don't see a lot of value of being dogmatic about narrative style, so I go with the sketches when I think it's necessary.
You can't claim that Volanin somehow innovated on the already-existing TotM system from 13th Age while also admitting that you don't understand the 13th Age TotM system. That makes no sense.Huh, I checked out your link and my eyes rolled back in my head with all the detail. While Volanin has admitted to being inspired by some of the approaches described there, there's nothing like the simple Roshambo core mechanic to connect the main actions. I think he's added quite a lot with that innovation.
You can't claim that Volanin somehow innovated on the already-existing TotM system from 13th Age while also admitting that you don't understand the 13th Age TotM system. That makes no sense.
When I first read the relevant bits of 13A, they didn't look particularly unique or innovative, either. I'm sure I've seen similar mechanics and techniques used long since, back to the 90s (hilariously, an RPG spoof, HoL, stands out in my memory as having some of the same TotM-facilitating tricks), if not in the early days of the hobby.The Roshambo guide reads to me like it could be a nearly-direct rip-off of the 13th Age TotM system. The author doesn't seem concerned with acknowledging the tremendous influence of 13th Age in their guide and that doesn't seem right to me. I'd avoid it and just use 13th Age's system.
I've got a copy of HoL and I know what you're aiming at.When I first read the relevant bits of 13A, they didn't look particularly unique or innovative, either. I'm sure I've seen similar mechanics and techniques used long since, back to the 90s (hilariously, an RPG spoof, HoL, stands out in my memory as having some of the same TotM-facilitating tricks), if not in the early days of the hobby.
But I must say [that the 1992 video game was] not the inspiration for this system (although I can definitely see some similarities). This system proposed here grew more organically, from the necessities at the RPG table, and eventually cleaned up and coded in this small ruleset for a clearer reference; and also to gather more ideas from feedback, that would improve the gameplay at my table!