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Message: <blockquote data-quote="zakael19" data-source="post: 9759945" data-attributes="member: 7044099">Was reflecting on the design of this as I was driving in, having digested a fair bit of player and monster abilities from the DT Quick Start yesterday along with reading through the short form rulebook, and I think this might be one of the best links of mechanics and fiction in a combat-focused/tactical TTRPG Ive seen.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stamina as the resource as stressed in the design gives a different and cinematic fictional frame to things and largely avoids the ‘ole “meat points” argument. It’s that sort of very movie-like back and forth with people beating on each other and getting winded which shows up on screen until that final struggle ends the fight.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">As noted, Winded is really easy to give color to: “as your blows rain in, the orc reels back and you can see his defense is faltering as his lungs heave with exhaustion.”</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Degree of success play directly into this. Since you’re always attacking the adversary’s defenses with sword and spell, you’re always chipping away at their ability to keep fighting. A weak hit means they were able to shrug away the worst of your Action, but you’re still wearing them down. Being directly assaulted by a heroic fantasy protagonist isn’t going to just have no effect. A strong hit (T3) means that you get past their defenses to a degree and get a big outcome (send them flying, get through their mental defenses and leave them dazed or prone or whatever). Of course some enemy profiles have amazing abilities that tie back – sure you can charge this massive solo, but they might quite literally do that movie thing where their massive hand grabs your face and slams you into the dirt.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">All of this also means you can kinda just let the players narrate the fiction in a nice flow – they can describe what their character does, and how the tier outcome manifests (I think especially on a weak hit, why they weren’t more effective). Despite the clear keyword style presentation, when I was looking at abilities for both players and monsters, once I saw the Name -> trigger / action -> effects, a picture was forming in my mind of how exactly that might look at the table. And on a killing / disabling blow, you’ve got that nice simple transition into “I get fully past the defenses and end it” action cam moment as desired.</li> </ul>Related: I was genuinely delighted reading the Troubadour to see how they build Drama. Something dramatic happens within the rules of the game, the sort of stuff that makes the players at the table react? They get bonus Drama. Hecking brill.</blockquote>

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