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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ainamacar" data-source="post: 6010746" data-attributes="member: 70709">I agree with Chris_Nightwing that the current implementation doesn't quite meet what we would need for a generic combat system.  I also agree with Vikingkingq (an achievement in itself given the other thread <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />) that mix-and-match and more ways to combine the dice move toward such a more flexible system.I've been dabbling at a small alteration to the conceptualization of maneuvers that might enable such a system.  I'm not ready to make a big post on it yet, maybe in a few days, but the main idea is to make the actual die type used matter while keeping all the complexity of the maneuver system "opt-in".  My current thought is that small dice would power "efficient" maneuvers, while large dice would be used to power "sweeping" maneuvers.  (Not quite the right terms, but I hope the basic idea makes sense.)  Two characters with dice that average to more-or-less the same amount of damage (say 2d12 vs. 1d6+4d4) might have much different abilities and incentives for using various maneuvers.Now, one could always spend higher dice to get a maneuver that requires a lower one, in which case higher dice are extremely flexible.  (This is also to keep the system from getting too finicky by needing exactly the "right" die.)  However, when using "efficient" maneuvers these higher dice are inefficient:  If a maneuver requires spending 2d4 to activate a character could spend 2d12 to use it, but they are paying a higher opportunity cost (in terms of lost damage) than a character that can spend exactly 2d4.  The character concentrating on many lower damage dice doesn't get the ability to make the sweeping maneuvers at all, but he usually gives up the absolute minimum damage required for his maneuvers, and will have a lot more dice to play with for building combinations as well.Now, assume that fighters have some control over the dice they gain. One fighter might choose to use 2 handed weapons and emphasize gaining large dice to power his maneuvers, so he'd probably concentrate on "sweeping" maneuvers such as a whirlwind that attacks all adjacent creatures.  A different fighter might stick to daggers, and load up on d4s to concentrate on things like tumble.  There are lots of maneuvers this second fighter wouldn't really be able to use, but the ones he can he does better than the other fighter.  Another fighter might stick to a balance of both.  The main thing is to make sure that all these dice add up to basically the same average damage, so that if someone wants to play a simple fighter and just add damage every round then the exact type of dice don't really matter.In addition, it means that combinations of maneuvers could really start to look different from character to character.  A complex high-level combination might require 4d4 + d10 + 2d12 dice, and that sort of thing will probably be outside what is possible (or wise) unless the character is tailored to make such a thing possible.  Those dice average to 28.5 damage, but that combination is not possible for a 13d4 or a 5d12 fighter, even though the average damage for both of those sets of dice is 32.5.Such built-in differentiation might also support a larger set of generic  maneuvers anyone can use without stealing as much thunder from ones a character must specifically learn.  If they wanted to expand this idea past fighters (not the topic of this thread) there is increased ability to tailor the dice provided to the kinds of things those classes do best.  A rogue sneak attack might provide a bucket of d4s, so they can only be used on highly efficient maneuvers.  A barbarian/berserker might be getting d10s or d12s instead.  Hopefully that specificity would also be a contributing factor, among other measures, to keeping the fighter unique.Edit: Wanted to add that not every maneuver has to be as presented above.  Maneuvers that involve rolling the spent dice to determine the outcome of the maneuver (whether for damage or something else) could work just as they do now.</blockquote>

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