Is there demand for a “tactical” RPG akin to 4e?

[Lionblade]

And I will add that LANCER, ICON and Gubat Banwa all play on a grid (LANCER also works well on hexes) and all have different "powers" chosen at each level (and more mix-and-match modularity than 4e did). They're true successors to 4e and it always annoys me that people talk about them like they don't exist.

Two of the games I mentioned (LANCER and ICON) can be downloaded for free on itch.io right now! There is no barrier to reading them!

Massif Press - itch.io

I’ll have to check these out later. I am only just hearing about them from this thread!

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

I’ll have to check these out later. I am only just hearing about them from this thread!

My countryman, Youtuber Dragonkid11, has done videos covering all of the games I mentioned, check them out!

ICON

Gubat Banwa

LANCER

LANCER: Battlegroup

 

[aramis erak]

Newest edition of Twilight 2k has incredibly detailed combat. Savage World has miniature rules baked into it's DNA and is basically a RPG/skirmish miniatures game. Fragged Empire was created to feel like a FPS.

The only grid-based combat game with "powers" chosen at different levels is 4e. So if you're asking if people want more 4e, I think the real answer is "do you want to bring a new game to the market that's a retro-clone of 4e?"

10m hexes aren't "incredibly detailed"... there is no fine positioning, no facing, and while Hit Locations matter, it's 90% for armor application.
Nor is the 3-6 HP per character... with most weapons doing 2-3 points base, and +1 point per extra success.
It's gritty, but not detailed.

(It's the least detailed combat of the 2.5 editions of T2K I've run. Those being 1, 2.0, 2.2, and my current 4th campaign. TH2 just hit 53 XP total... I didn't realize how long I've been running it... it's averaging just under 5 per session.)

I'd put it as a good supertactical rather than tactical game. Tactics do matter, quite a bit. Cover matters. My roughly 3 months of play has covered a mere 11 days of character time.

Honestly, it's just a touch more detailed than Alien. (Alien zones run 3 to 30 m per zone, while T2K 4E tactical hexes are always 10m.) And it's basically the same detail level in Coriolis, too.

 

[aramis erak]

Absolutely. Tell me this example of play doesn't evoke the FFT battle grid...

View attachment 146349

Nope. Not at all. It evokes a D&D battle grid. TFT uses hexes.

 

[Aldarc]

Nope. Not at all. It evokes a D&D battle grid. TFT uses hexes.

We are talking about Final Fantasy Tactics - i.e., FFT and not whatever TFT is - and FFT used grid-based combat.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

and not whatever TFT is -

Totally Fungible Tokens??

 

[Aldarc]

Totally Fungible Tokens??

After a little digging, I think that they are talking about another game called Teamfight Tactics, which is a League of Legends spin-off game that does use a hex grid for the battle space. But that's still something different than Final Fantasy Tactics, which is what we have been referencing.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

And I will add that LANCER, ICON and Gubat Banwa all play on a grid (LANCER also works well on hexes) and all have different "powers" chosen at each level (and more mix-and-match modularity than 4e did). They're true successors to 4e and it always annoys me that people talk about them like they don't exist.

Two of the games I mentioned (LANCER and ICON) can be downloaded for free on itch.io right now! There is no barrier to reading them!

Massif Press - itch.io

Gubat Banwa looks absolutely goddamn fantastic. I'll check out icon as well. Lancer is extremely cool too.

 

[Aldarc]

Here is another game that cites 4e D&D and Final Fantasy Tactics as among its inspirations*: Fabula Ultima (TTJRPG). It's an Italian language game that is apparently working on an English version. It does have an English language Quick Start ("Start Game") and a scenario ("Load Game").

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Oooooh that's exciting, I'll definitely have to show my wife that, she's a huge FFT fan and loved the hell out of 4E (it's the only edition she felt the urge to DM for so far).