Homebrew Ruleset--MKFIBTYKF

[DukeofDellot]

Alright, yesterday at work I had this idea... This idea for a Kung Fu themed, Play by Post centric, simple yet cinematic game that I'd like to post my beginning thoughts on before they get too stale. like most of my game ideas... oh, d12, if only you weren't so offensive...

Anyways, original concept came to me as a combination of GURPS Martial Arts, D&D 4e, and the Beer! Engine. Where you would declare several attacks per round, but the more attacks you declared, the harder each one would be... but certain attacks would depend on others or make others more powerful. Then I hit myself in the head with a wrench and realized that if I turned it around the other way, where each attack had a difficulty and you had a certain amount of "effort" you could put forth split into each attack of the "Combo"... and I really like the concept so far... It's just... hard to do much without outside opinions and testing and... well, I'm looking for the former to get the ball rolling.

So, I've got a basic idea of how combat would work... non-combat will have to take backseat for the time being...

Basically, you get a certain amount of... let's call them "Combat Dice"... they're a bunch of d6s that you can "dedicate" to attacks that build up your Combo.

Attacks and Combos Each attack has four elements, a Difficulty, a Dice Cap, a Damage rating, and an effect. To successfully perform an attack, you must roll a number equal to or greater than the difficulty on the dice you've dedicated to the attack (for example, "Trip" has a Difficulty of 10 so the values rolled on the dice must be equal to or greater than 10). You may not dedicate more dice than the Dice Cap to an individual attack ("Trip" has a cap of 3, so you may not dedicate more than three of your combat dice to it). If you succeed, you deal damage equal to the value given in the attack's description, and the effect takes place (though some attack's effects take place on a failed attack instead). You must declare all attacks in a Combo and how many dice are dedicated to each attack before rolling anything, and a failed attack ends your Combo prematurely, unless the specific attack's effect says otherwise.

Actually, that's what I'm showing off here... that mechanic, the "Combo System" as I've been calling it. I've actually been thinking about working out a class system with different styles (Swordsman, Assassin, and Sorcerer are the current lineup) and an advancement plot... but for now, I just want to see if the Combo System itself is even worth a pint.

Um... I've been putting notes together in a Works document... I guess I could put that up as well.

 

MKFIBTYKF My Kung Fu is Better than Your Kung Fu Basic Rules Each Character has three stats Health Determines how much damage it takes to defeat a character Power Determines Dice per Combo Speed Determines initiative If one character gets the jump on the other, he may ignore his Speed and attack first Setting up a Combo You must declare each attack and the number of dice devoted to each one. Roll the dice devoted to each attack in order A failed attack stops the combo prematurely, unless the specific attack failed says otherwise Any action in a combo counts as an “Attack” including Movement and failed attacks. Basic Attacks Jab Dif 5, Cap 1, Dam 1, Can continue Combo even on failure Strait Dif 8, Cap 3, Dam 3, No additional effects Finisher Dif 15, Cap 5, Dam 6, +2 Dam for each attack preceding it in the Combo Haymaker Dif 20, Cap 6, Dam 10, No additional Effects Special Attacks Feint Dif 5, Cap 1, Dam 0, Next attack is 5 easier (Min 3) and can continue Combo on failure Trip Dif 10, Cap 3, Dam 1, Further Attacks are 3 easier (Min Dif 3) Dizzy Dif 10, Cap 3, Dam 2, Further Attacks do +50% extra Dam (+1 Min Bonus) Paralyze Dif 25, Cap 7, Dam 0, Target Loses one combat die +1 per 2 degrees of success. Movement Redirect Dif 3, Cap 1, Dam 0, Further Attacks are directed to a different target Charge Dif 5, Cap 2, Dam 0, Closes distance and adds +50% Dam on next attack (+1 Min Bonus) Recede Dif 5, Cap 2, Dam 0, Puts distance between you and your target Focused Attack Focused Strike Dif 3*Power, Cap Power, Dam 2, +1 Dam per 3 degrees of Success

I've kinda been have a bit of fun declaring Combos and trying to roll them out. I haven't really figured out how stats will be determined, but right now Health of 30 and Power of 10 sounds like a decent start for new characters... though if I did come up with a progression system, I don't think I'd start them with quite as much Power.

I'm also toying with the idea that characters could invest "skill points" in making specific techniques easier to customize their characters... possibly including some non-combat skills to be available in the same vein.

But really, do I have something here? Or am I just lost?

[RonarsCorruption]

The system sounds stable, at first glance. My comments:

-the max dice thing seems a little superfluous. If the player wants to roll 2 dice for their jabs, they should be allowed, it only does one damage, after all.
-conversely, right now every character is exactly as 'strong' as any other. Right now waif child's jab is exactly as strong as bodybuilding black-belt's jab. As simplified as you have your stats now, you might have to expand them to a few more different stats, one of which is strength (or maybe focus or determination or something)
-You mention limits on the dice per combo. I'm assuming different classes will have different attacks. If they only have access to the same attack pool, any difference here will have an obscenely unbalancing effect. ie. Fighter Fred has a combo pool of 6, and jabs six times for six damage. Sorceror Steve has a combo pool of 3 and jabs three times for three damage. It'd become self-unbalancing. Either way, it'll require a lot of testing to get any balance right.

[DukeofDellot]

The dice cap was originally supposed to make room for the option for a player to spend "skill points" to lower the difficulty of each attack, so that the individual attack would be more accurate, but thinking about it, being able to dedicate fewer dice to an attack would be enough for many to go for it...

As for additional stats, I guess I'm overvaluing simplicity. At first, I thought characters that were "stronger" could just be "more skilled" instead, and just assume everyone's had super Martial Artist training, but as a Role-Playing system, I'd better not make assumptions like that. I'll try to work something in.

And for Classes, the defining feature would be their attack list. That would be the hardest part to balance. The Swordsman would have few special tricks that would mostly lack all the bells and whistles the others get, but every single attack would inflict decent damage on its own. The Assassin would have tons of nasty tricks, a kidney punch to daze them, a trip to make them easier to hit, some poison for hit and run tactics, ect. The Sorcerer would attack from a distance and would be able to lay an ice slick so as keep opponents away or even someone to the spot then assault them with fire and lightning... maybe even get an attack that hits an area.

This list here... was just a brainstorming thing... something to see if the system itself was even worth a lick. Maybe for a generic unarmed striker or something.

I'm not sure If the dice per combo would be different per class... actually, your combo size may just be this game's equivalent of your character level.

[RonarsCorruption]

the combo size/character level sounds like a really perfect balance there. perhaps combo size = 2xlevel? y'know, make it a little less wimpy at first level.

I think you've got a good core idea here. The question just becomes, do you have the determination to balance it when you have a bazillion things that need to be balaned?

[DukeofDellot]

That's a really good question... I'll get back to you on that. Maybe with a extended attack list.

[RonarsCorruption]

I'll be waiting. Then, maybe we can knock out a few test characters and beat one another up

[KithKunabi]

For the combo system: 2xlevel could end up being insanely high. What about 3+1/every other level? (Start out good at first, slowly build up.)
then again, I suppose the dice don't just equal extra attacks, but more success on the difficult attacks as well.
And having 'skill points', as you mentioned earlier, to lower the difficulty of your favorite attacks would be a good feature. Helps to distinguish styles.


I'd be highly interested in the play testing.

[DukeofDellot]

Okay, I've been thinking about it, and a weird discussion at work about T-bones, got me thinking, I've grown pretty attached to the d20, Dice + STR Mod method of damage calculation.

I wanted the strait specified number of damage to be a big thing, but what if you had a choice between doing a "Overhead Cleave" at 2d6 cutting damage vs an "Impaling Thrust" at 1d12 piercing damage.

Certain enemies might have resistances to certain types of attacks, for example:

A Sorcerer is staring down a Zombie who will be upon him on the next round, which take less damage from electricity (they're still cooked, but the "shock" to the system doesn't matter), take no cold damage but still take the side effects, or full damage from fire. Specializing in Ice Attacks, he lays down an Ice Slick under it (without doing its normal minor damage) and proceeds to chunk a couple of Fireballs towards it. On the next turn the clumsy Zombie slips on the ice, giving the Sorcerer a second chance to attack without harm.

Just a couple ideas...