Orion wrote:I'll be posting the Innocent later today. Meanwhile, my first impressions of your example combat: I will say that all the mechanics feel very thematic and interesting, but I worry that there may be too many of them. If I want to attack some fool, there's 2 rolls guaranteed: an Attack roll and a Soak roll. That's the standard for dicepool games around here, such as After Sundown but in practice it looks like there will nearly always be at least one additional roll required to resolve a basic attack. Two people standing still trading blows and blocking will be making 1 Attack roll and 2 Block rolls per attack, or a total of 3 checks. Most of us who've played Shadowrun 4E found 3 rolls per attack to be a little much. Furthermore, movement in this system is effectively an additional attack roll, since it determines whether the attack you've already declared actually hits. So in the worst case scenario of charging someone who's kiting you, resolving a single basic attack actually look like Attack roll, Attack Roll, Dodge Roll, Soak Roll, Soak Roll. Which frankly seems a little excessive.
EDIT: Does a Nemesis deliberately get substandard arts? Question looks like it's low/high rather than medium/high. Also, if Rage arts that fail to do damage have no effect, how does Decay work? Anyway, my intuition tells me that everyone is going to want High damage on their first rage form. Against people trying to block, having a more reliable ability to produce the effect and well as doing more damage seems better than just possibly generating a bigger effect if lucky. Divide, Thrust, and Freeze all work well as coup-de-grace against an impaired enemy, but if players only start with one attack they'll want it to be as reliable as possible. I predict frequent requests for custom forms that invert those three.
EDIT: oh, I get it. Things with unlisted damage get "low" damage, not "no" damage. Same for Range, presumably?
Thanks for the comment! Let's see if I can cover all the points you made.
First of all, you're right. A basic attack will require at least two throws, possibly 3. If someone is targeted by a Rage Art and does not use Absorb, they still use they Hearts to 'soak' damage as you put it. Absorb Arts reduce or eliminate the damage dealt with Rage Arts, can can be effective against more than one attack, if their abilities go in that direction.
I did this because without the soak mechanic, Hearts vanish dangerously quickly; this seems to set it at a pretty reliable rate. It does, I admit, add more throws and thus take longer, but I'm hoping it makes up for it by being intuitive enough and keeping the pace right.
You also noticed that there are a lot of actions that can be done, and even movement requires a throw. This is to reflect that even trivial things in the real world require effort and concentration in the dream. This may make it appear like lots of things can happen in an instant, but the economy of actions (Pulse) requires one plan their actions so as not to leave themselves vulnerable in later instants.
The example you put does seem excessive, but it would happen more like this:
1 - Person A charging throws for his Shift Form, determines where he moves
2 - Person A and B both use Absorb Arts, determine effects and how much damage is reduced
3 - Person A and B both use Rage Arts, determine damage dealt, and effects if damage overcomes Negate.
4 - Roll Hearts against damage not Negated to determine how much is actually taken.
Person A would have spent 6 Pulse in this instant, while Person B has spent only 4. Five or six throws will have been made (six if Negate does not reduce the damage to 0) which has Person A and B performing 3 and 2 actions respectively.
I suppose what I'm trying to get at is I'm aware there are more throws than in some games, but I'm hoping that keeping things organized will prevent it from being a bog-down, and that the economy of actions will prevent people from constantly having to make five or six throws per turn.
Oh, and an addendum. Range is Low if not mentioned, meaning can only be used 1 step away. As most distances from the playing I've done so far has been small, generally Shift's purpose at getting your close enough to attack has worked pretty well, but I can see how it may be a complication in games that take place over larger distances. Perhaps I'll make a not to avoid doing that? It's something worth bearing in mind at least, thanks.
The difference between High and Low damage is only an average of 2 points, so while it's nice to have Medium of even High in damage, it isn't the end of the world if you do not. That being said, I also want to encourage people to make their own Forms once all the Arts are posted.
Really, make your own Doom Form that deals lots of damage and drains Pulse. The more creations, the merrier. Dreamers begin with Forms with High, Medium, Low, and Low assigned however they wish. They may learn others with something like Medium, Medium, Medium, Low, or literally any other combination eventually, if they look hard enough.
I am actually considering making Revelation based off the act of consciously learning Forms either by being exposed to them directly, or by doing nothing but observing them. The idea I bounced around was where they had to use a Disposition (and 1 Pulse) in the same manner that they would to affect the dream (with the same thresholds) and after doing that three separate times with the same Form, they would learn it, and gain Revelation in that Disposition.
Better than the current system? Yes/no?
