RPG Card Game Combat Resolution
Oh, I have an idea for a card-game combat resolution systems. It uses an idea from the Exalted Power Combat, called "windows of opprotunity", and some ideas from the Dominion card game.
The goal is to have a quick-running action sequence, ideally over very quickly, represented in quick card play. If you can do all the stats and figuring out before play, build that all into the deck, that should accomplish a very fast action sequence, right?
And, theoretically, this should remove the player no less than rolling a bunch of dice. At least, that's the hope.
(The idea in Exalted's combat system was that your initiative roll partially repesents that that's when you see your chance to strike, so it's bad to delay (the old system had a problem with the "race to 0" initiative, as it was advantageous to attack last, because your enemy's defense would be depleted by then). That's all aside, I guess, but the important thing is that, on your initiative, you see your chance to do certain things.)
I imagine this would use a nonstandard deck ideally, but it could probably work with a standard deck. The idea is to turn combat into a sort of quick-paced card game with a narrative attached to it.
You draw a number of cards, with a larger number of cards representing combat advantage or training. All the cards coorespond to different actions, like "Attack", "Recover", "Disadvantage to Opponent", or "Gain Advantage". You could have "Defense" cards, but your defense cards could just be any cards you don't use (or a combination, unsure about that). You might also have cards where you "Use the Terrain" that give a bonus to any other action you're doing (sort of a wild card).
The goal of the game is to reduce your opponent's hand to zero cards for a single round. If you do that, it means they're unable to keep fighting, and you've got them.
Every turn, a player discards their hand, and draws a number of cards equal to their Refresh rate, minus any damage they've sustained. This represents seeing those windows of opprotunity, lessed by the taxing of resources that injury puts on the fighter. From there, it's basically a matching game. Everyone draws a hand, and starts fighting, until someone drops to a refresh of 0 for a round.
You can play one kind of card per turn, but you can play as many of that card as you like during your turn. So, you could play one Attack, or three Attacks, which would represent a much more focused effort on that character's part. You might play those cards against one opponent, or several opponents, depending on the situation.
An attack card played against an opponent deals a damage, by reducing their Refresh.
An Attack card can be negated by a Defense card, as a reaction-type play (so, out of turn order).
A Recover reduces the damage you have taken, or it can be played on an ally to do the same for them.
A Disadvantage Opponent reduces an opponents Refresh by 2 per play for their next turn only. Subject to Defense cards, naturally. (Effectively, this is double Damage, but recovers on it's own).
An Advantage causes you, or an Ally you play this on, to gain 2 Refresh, for their next turn only.
Use the Terrain is a sort of wild-card, that can be used as if it were any other card.
I imagine that GM's would run several opponents at once as a single mega-hand.
Possible (Edit: Manditory): Instead of combat ability being represented by a player's hand size, their abilities might be presented in what cards go into their deck. So, a character with 3 ranks in First Aid might get 3 Recover cards, and a character with 2 Athletics might get 2 Disadvantage Opponent cards. This way, their combat options would represent their abilities, but they'd be equally able to act as someone who's a combat monster.
Possible: Instead of reducing Refresh, taking damage might involve putting a Damage card into your deck. When you draw them, you basically can't do anything with them. This would accomplish much the same thing as Refresh, but means you don't have to track a seperate trait in a secondary location, and so should be simpler.
I think this idea could definitely work, with tweaking and refinement and playtesting.
The key, here, would be to build this game, and then build a game system around it.
Challenge: Build a non-combat resolution that can use the same deck, so you're not using dice for one thing, and cards for another. Perhaps play on the matching idea.
The goal is to have a quick-running action sequence, ideally over very quickly, represented in quick card play. If you can do all the stats and figuring out before play, build that all into the deck, that should accomplish a very fast action sequence, right?
And, theoretically, this should remove the player no less than rolling a bunch of dice. At least, that's the hope.
(The idea in Exalted's combat system was that your initiative roll partially repesents that that's when you see your chance to strike, so it's bad to delay (the old system had a problem with the "race to 0" initiative, as it was advantageous to attack last, because your enemy's defense would be depleted by then). That's all aside, I guess, but the important thing is that, on your initiative, you see your chance to do certain things.)
I imagine this would use a nonstandard deck ideally, but it could probably work with a standard deck. The idea is to turn combat into a sort of quick-paced card game with a narrative attached to it.
You draw a number of cards, with a larger number of cards representing combat advantage or training. All the cards coorespond to different actions, like "Attack", "Recover", "Disadvantage to Opponent", or "Gain Advantage". You could have "Defense" cards, but your defense cards could just be any cards you don't use (or a combination, unsure about that). You might also have cards where you "Use the Terrain" that give a bonus to any other action you're doing (sort of a wild card).
The goal of the game is to reduce your opponent's hand to zero cards for a single round. If you do that, it means they're unable to keep fighting, and you've got them.
Every turn, a player discards their hand, and draws a number of cards equal to their Refresh rate, minus any damage they've sustained. This represents seeing those windows of opprotunity, lessed by the taxing of resources that injury puts on the fighter. From there, it's basically a matching game. Everyone draws a hand, and starts fighting, until someone drops to a refresh of 0 for a round.
You can play one kind of card per turn, but you can play as many of that card as you like during your turn. So, you could play one Attack, or three Attacks, which would represent a much more focused effort on that character's part. You might play those cards against one opponent, or several opponents, depending on the situation.
An attack card played against an opponent deals a damage, by reducing their Refresh.
An Attack card can be negated by a Defense card, as a reaction-type play (so, out of turn order).
A Recover reduces the damage you have taken, or it can be played on an ally to do the same for them.
A Disadvantage Opponent reduces an opponents Refresh by 2 per play for their next turn only. Subject to Defense cards, naturally. (Effectively, this is double Damage, but recovers on it's own).
An Advantage causes you, or an Ally you play this on, to gain 2 Refresh, for their next turn only.
Use the Terrain is a sort of wild-card, that can be used as if it were any other card.
I imagine that GM's would run several opponents at once as a single mega-hand.
Possible (Edit: Manditory): Instead of combat ability being represented by a player's hand size, their abilities might be presented in what cards go into their deck. So, a character with 3 ranks in First Aid might get 3 Recover cards, and a character with 2 Athletics might get 2 Disadvantage Opponent cards. This way, their combat options would represent their abilities, but they'd be equally able to act as someone who's a combat monster.
Possible: Instead of reducing Refresh, taking damage might involve putting a Damage card into your deck. When you draw them, you basically can't do anything with them. This would accomplish much the same thing as Refresh, but means you don't have to track a seperate trait in a secondary location, and so should be simpler.
I think this idea could definitely work, with tweaking and refinement and playtesting.
The key, here, would be to build this game, and then build a game system around it.
Challenge: Build a non-combat resolution that can use the same deck, so you're not using dice for one thing, and cards for another. Perhaps play on the matching idea.