Fiction First: Martial Exploits

[LostSoul]

Here's my big question: do you think I will be able to achieve my goals with this house rule? Do you think it will make players will pay attention to the details of the game world?

I do see some problems (how do monsters react? length of combat?). Any others?

editation: Once I get this hammered out, I think I'll be able to proceed on the other aspects. I have an idea of what I want to do for spells and prayers, but right now I'm thinking about skills.

 

[Starfox]

Here's my big question: do you think I will be able to achieve my goals with this house rule? Do you think it will make players will pay attention to the details of the game world?

The answer depends entirely on your group, and you know them much better than anyone here. Try it out and see what they think.

 

[Alex319]

I too would be interested in seeing how this plays out.

Another possible complication: it seems like a lot to keep track of every round in a battle with several PCs and several monsters. "Okay, the orc on the left has his sheld arm out of position from the fighter's attack; the orc on the right is clutching his leg from when the ranger shot him..." After all, one of the chief complaints about 4e combat was lots of tracking of short duration effects; it seems like this system basically adds a whole lot more short duration effects, that you're making up every round.

 

[LostSoul]

That's a good point, Alex, something I wonder about.

 

[Alex319]

That's a good point, Alex, something I wonder about.

Given that it seems like all the little details and short-term effects are the whole point of the new system (if I'm understanding you correctly) I'm not sure how easy this problem will be to solve.

Here's one idea that might have some merit, and also solve some of the other problems:

- Go back to the regular encounter/daily system. However, you also include a new system of "status cards."

- Print up a whole bunch of "status cards" that reflect different "little details" that you want to keep track of. Each of these is a status that a player or character can have, like "stumbling" or "out of balance" or something like that. There could be both positive and negative status cards.

- There are ways you can give status cards to opponents or get positive ones for yourself. For example a monster might have a power that says "draw a negative status card from the deck and give it to the target on a hit". Then you can narrate the result depending on what card you draw.

- The cards can all have different effects. In the example of "bringing your shield arm to bear," you would have a status card that said "you can't bring your shield arm to bear" and listed on its effects would be "the Tide of Iron power cannot be used." Or maybe certain status cards give bonuses if an opponent uses a certain power on you, so you would want to pay attention to the status cards to determine when the best time to use the powers is.

 

[LostSoul]

That is something I considered - having a list of details that the DM picks from based on the description of the action. Having cards would make it easy to remember.

Another benefit to that system is that you could strongly influence the "feel" of martial combat. If all the details are swashbuckling ones, you'd be more likely to have swashbuckling combat.

edit: What I'm actually hoping is that the details grab the attention of the players enough so that no one at the table has to wonder about how the orc is holding his axe - over his head with his chest exposed, flat in front of him to parry but unable to make any quick attacks, or whatever. As DM I might lose some details, but since they matter to the players, they should be able to keep track of them.

Another thing I don't want to do is tie any mechanics to these details, even if they are on cards. Maybe sometimes you can use Tide of Iron when your shield arm is pinned. I have no idea how, but I don't want to rule it out.

 

[aurance]

Combat is actually quite systematic and repetitive. As an aggregate over many fights, lots of same things happen over and over with some peculiar new things thrown in there from time to time. If you have a sword, you generally try to cut the other guy with it, and that takes up most of your time. Stuff like swinging from chandeliers, disarming, tripping, throwing dust in someone's eyes etc. doesn't happen as much as you might see in movies.

My suggestion would be to keep the standard 4e powers as is, but expand / create a "stunt" system if you want the special narratives to have a bigger impact on combat. I would recommend against introducing a narrative requirement for every action, or for even most actions.

 

[LostSoul]

My suggestion would be to keep the standard 4e powers as is, but expand / create a "stunt" system if you want the special narratives to have a bigger impact on combat. I would recommend against introducing a narrative requirement for every action, or for even most actions.

4E already has a simple, easy to use "stunt" system that never gets used because players don't think in terms of the fiction. I want to force players to think about what's happening in the game world (and not just the battle grid or the powers in their hand), and I'm trying to do that by giving the details of the game world an effect on resolution.