... AA hugging circle (we don't do coins).
Complex damage is good, but I'd just make sure it doesn't slow down combat more than it has to. WT is my favorite hit locations system in that regard.
and the design mandates for rewriting the Cthulhutech RPG, which is my group’s Palladium.
Attack success is automatic unless prevented. Defender rolls to evade. On success the Defender avoids damage. On a failure the Defender can opt to change what is struck within narrative reason ("I hold my arm up to protect my head"). On 1 the attacker gets a clear shot.
Non-vital areas (arm, leg) are skin(1), muscle(2), bone(4), muscle(2), skin(1).
Vital areas (torso, head) are skin(1), muscle(2), bone(4), vitals (1), bone(4), muscle(2), skin(1).
What is the ultimate goal of a campaign? It is to break up Vanguard legally? To get the financial due the players are owed? Or to inflict a more personally crafted revenge?
If the defender can dodge on 7-10 and change the area struck on 2-6 it seems like combat would devolve into "which of my limbs is the least damaged? I block with that one!"
I see your point. Perhaps raising the success threshold to an 8 and allowing redistribution of damage on a 5-7? Or 6-7? That's more or less a 30% static evasion with 20-30% chance of redirecting the damage.
I don't know if I want to look into using FATE Core like TO or wade into the eldritch bog of custom game mechanics, but I do know more or less what kind of gameplay I want from my system: the players will be working together to defeat singular, much more powerful enemies than them.We're independently approaching the same mechanical concept. High five for Team overwhelming odds!
In addition, the players will die. Probably a lot. When they do they roll up new semi-random characters and continue with minimal penalty (You lose a certain amount of experience but not so much that you're useless to a veteran party depending on what 'tier' you're in) but they have to be careful not to experience an abundance of deaths or they will fail their assigned task/mission/operation as their master or whoever decides to avoid the sunken cost fallacy and just fires the survivors.I would encourage group experience penalties. Turn it into a pool, so they don't have to immediately spend it. Say they've collectively gained 95 experience. As a group, they can collectively decide to spend 70 points to promote their planner, let's call him "Naleb", to the Monarch's right hand man. They split the remaining 25 points five ways and each buy 5 points of upgraded gear. Or maybe they take that 95 points and spend 15 on perfecting the Kobold-a-pault and use the other 80 to evolve their boss to his final form. Those adventurers are going to be surprised when they have to deal with the combined force of flying Kobolds and Mega-Cheney.
Big flaws? Thoughts? Condemnations for stealing other people's ideas?
Randy and Steve are two shirtless men in jeans. They are fighting with knives. Knives possess no special weapon characteristics and are a +0 weapon.
Randy arbitrarily goes first. He attacks Steve’s stomach (a vital area).
Steve rolls an 8 and defends by thrusting his stomach back and retreating. Steve attacks Randy’s extended right hand (a non-vital area).
Randy rolls a 2 and fails to defend so Steve’s attack lands true. Steve rolls 8 for damage. Randy’s skin, muscle, and bone are pierced by the attack, breaking the bones in his right hand. Randy drops his knife due to the damage to his hand. Randy will bleed for 9 after his next action (layers pierced squared).
Randy bleeds for 9 (91 left) and grabs his dropped knife in his left hand.
Steve presses his attack and attacks Randy’s left elbow. Randy rolls a 2 and fails to defend. Steve rolls a 4 for damage, piercing Randy’s skin and muscle but not the bone. This wound will bleed for 4. Randy may continue to use his left arm.
Randy bleeds for 13 (9+4) (78 left) Randy tries to end the fight quickly and strikes for Steve’s heart. Steve rolls an 8 to defend and evades by ducking under the attack.
Steve, while ducked, slashes at Randy’s right thigh. Randy rolls a 9 and evades by quickly circling to his left (putting him on Randy’s right side).
Randy bleeds for 13 (65 left) Randy swings his left handed stab to try and hit Steve’s lung from behind. Steve rolls a 6 to defend and his able to deflect but not evade. He opts to turn and take the attack to his right upper arm. Randy rolls an 8 for damage piercing Steve’s skin, muscle and bone. Steve drops his knife. Steve’s wound will bleed for 9.
Steve bleeds for 9 (91 left). Steve turns and grabs his knife with his left hand, rising to a standing position.
Randy bleeds for 13 (52 left). Randy attacks the same wound on Steve’s right arm. Steve rolls a 1 to defend and isn’t quick enough to move. Randy rolls an 8 for damage by passing the skin and muscle to pierce bone, muscle and skin, penetrating Steve’s entire right arm. Steve’s wound is ‘upgraded’; he will bleed for 25.
Steve bleeds for 25 (66 left). Steve attacks Randy’s head. Randy rolls a 4 to defend, deflecting the attack slightly, choosing to take the attack on his right shoulder. Steve rolls a 4 on damage, piercing skin and muscle. Randy will bleed for 4.
Randy bleeds for 17 (9+4+4)(35 left). He is under 50% blood and now takes a -1 to all rolls. Randy doesn’t attack and compresses his right hand with his knee to try and slow the bleeding. He rolls a 5 -1 for a 4, minor success. He reduces the degree by 1 (lowering bleed from 9 to 4).
Steve bleeds for 25 (41 left). Steve cannot stop his wound as he lacks anything to stop the bleeding and can’t compress the site without dropping his knife. He goes for Randy’s right shoulder. Randy gets a 7-1 for a 6, a high deflection. He uses his left hand to push the stab down into his right upper arm. Steve rolls 5-1 for 4 damage, piercing skin and muscle.
Randy bleeds for 16 (19 left). He is now under 25 and takes another -1 (-2 total). Hoping to outlast the hemorrhaging Steve he drops his knife and grabs his newest wound. He rolls a 7-2 for a 5. Another minor success; the wound is decreased a degree.
Steve bleeds for 25 (16 left). Lightheaded, Steve relents and drops his knife, attempting to put pressure on his arm. He rolls an 8-2 for a 6, minor success. The wound is reduced by 1 degree.
Randy bleeds for 13 (6 left). Randy tries to stop his shoulder. He rolls a 1 with a penalty and critically fails, reopening his upper arm wound as a struggles.
Steve bleeds for 16 (0 left). Steve collapses to the ground.
Randy bleeds for 16 (0 left). Randy also collapses to the ground.
Somebody in the crowd bet that Randy would win but also be dead. That person is now very happy.
The bleeding out mechanics seem interesting. It's rare for a game to get stuff like that right and still be fun. It seems you're on the same track.
So, Tadanori Oyama's bleed out system has reminded me of a set of alternative, fan-made critical hit tables for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd ed. ...