Help with RPG combat systems

[TheOnlySolitaire]

Hello Factpilers old and new,

I am currently putting together a role-playing game system, to be played like D&D (the imagine it in your mind, GM'd version), without using the very clunky, user unfriendly D&D system itself.
I have pretty much everything that needs doing done by this point, I just have several approaches for the general combat mechanics and am not sure which system is best. Which consequently, is why I need YOU, if you have the time of course, to offer opinions and insights onto the two approaches I have below, or suggestions for any improvements I could add or use instead.

The game itself is set in a cyber punk world, so firearms will need to be taken into account and will feature heavily, but as this is of course taking place in a dense urban setting, mêlée combat still needs to be relevant (but I'm happy for it to be difficult to be successful with).

The problem I am running into, is as this will obviously need to be a turn based system, which is better at being fair while remaining fluid and FUN:

1) a turn based system, akin to XCom or Jagged Alliance (even Chess to an extent). In other words, Player 1 moves and fires etc, then Player 2 moves and fires etc. NOTE with this system I have a flexible Initiative system in place that allows players to challenge who goes first every other round (ie every 2nd turn players can challenge who goes first, with certain stats impacting this roll-off)

or

2) a simultaneous system akin to Frozen Synapse, where both players decide their turns then are resolved at the same time.


NOTE:
This game is complex as it is now, so it is important for me to try to find a system that is simple to moderately complex, and most importantly fairly balanced - ie trying to avoid the first turn bias - as this would upset the player who loses out, and is fundamentally hard to be immersed in, because who the hell stands inactive while a dangerous opponent you are trying to kill steps out of cover and shoots you? No-one, so why should a player be forced into that situation?

But, while simultaneous turn based systems negate this problem, they do still occasionally result in weird and logically improbably mistakes, on top of this they tend to boil the game-play down to binary tactical choices, which will get boring quickly.



So Factpilers, I am requesting your insight, experience and suggestions; you will find them welcome here.
Systems stolen or influenced by video games or even board games are welcome, as are the expected roleplaying systems such as D&D.

And before someone mentions it, I have tried GURPS, which was interesting, but still too clunky and well, too much like D&D for what I am trying to achieve with my game.

Thank you for reading.
TheOnlySolitaire

[Draco]

i played a turn-based steam punked DnD-like game. it had guns and the like and it needed a 'range' measured in inches. it was good.

Turn based, i believe, is the only way it could go about it, too many problems with the mechanics that could happen in that.

This is a dice game, correct?

[TheOnlySolitaire]

Thanks for the reply Draco,

Yeah it's a dice game, although DnD is a bit heavy and complicated for most of the player base, so I have a 2D6 system with simple stats, and a means to roll for decisions I hadn't thought of, but I'm not afraid to do GM-ing and intervene if the dice are getting too easy or too harsh.

This game is going to work a bit like Neptune's Pride in that any player can work with whoever they want, but there is nothing to punish or stop backstabbing, in fact I'm kind of encouraging it - an dof course each player has a different objective that conflicts with the others. In that light, being players will at some point go head to head, do you have any suggestions for stopping it becoming a game of exploit the turn base system as some turn based games devolve to when it gets competitive?


Also, was the game you played a tabletop game?
I do have a system of range, not in inches because I'm having to use a skype equivalent of MS paint to make battlegrounds that each player sees and can draw on too, but the systems used for guns are probably similar.

[Draco]

it's a dice game using figurines, so yeah its a tabletop. Pretty cool. basically spells had a radius, guns had a range and ammunition as well as a need for loading (single shot rifles). that kind of thing.

it's nearly impossible to stop an exploit of turn based games i think. Because people always measure the distance needed to reach/shoot an enemy and also reaching their range.
i know i do that in turn-based games. There's not too much to do except maybe give the opposition a chance to counter attack or dodge attacks so it's fairer than just getting juuuust out of range of another player and then forcing them to close in or they just stand off.

[TheOnlySolitaire]

Okay thanks, yeah I came to the same conclusion you have, and in fact when I played tabletops in the past I worked out range in my head, although I tried not to exploit things out of hand, was just hoping someone else had a solution or found a system that had.. I'll try work in a dodge/block/reaction mechanic, hopefully that will fix it. Thanks

[Diglett]

Diglett dig.

[Draco]

yeah, sorry. maybe there is a solution, i just don't know it.

[addseo1115]

Thanks for the info
บาคาร่าออนไลน์

[bardian97]

Okay thanks, yeah I came to the same conclusion you have, and in fact when I played tabletops in the past I worked out range in my head, although I tried not to exploit things out of hand, was just hoping someone else had a solution or found a system that had.. I'll try work in a dodge/block/reaction mechanic, hopefully that will fix it. Thanks

D&D 5e is a fantastic RPG system that utilizes the reaction mechanic very well. The only change I'd make to it (a homebrew rule I play with) is rather than making the reaction cap 1 per round, it's x per round wher x = (number of PC combatants/number of DM controlled combatants)+1 rounded down. You also can't get more reactions than your current level or dexterity modifier.

So if I'm fighting 3,000 orcs and I'm a level 6 fighter with +3 to dexterity, I'd get 3 reactions per round (capped off because of dexterity).

If I'm a Level 4 ranger with +5 to dexterity I'd get 4 reactions per round (capped off because of level).