This topic contains 2 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by 
USPartySquadron 9 years, 7 months ago.
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Reading the update about the action system on the kickstarter page is what piqued my interest in this game.
My (long) comment (rant):
I am interested in better ways of creating tactical turn-based combat that reflects how people act in real time. The 3 levels of action system described in the above article seems to have plenty of advantages and interesting design opportunities over traditional action systems.However, one problem I see over and over again particularly in action point based systems are combats where the character with more action points are able to dance around the “slower” characters indefinitely, never taking damage. Fallout 1&2’s early creature fights are a good example of this: the best way to fight these enemies is to only attack once per turn, and the retreat, wash, rinse repeat. Your give an example from your new system, “A Shadowmaster character could turn invisible (Minor), shoot an opponent with surprise (Unique) and return to invisibility (Minor).” I know this may have been an early offhand example of how the system could ultimately work, but it still raises the issue of hit and run being an optimal strategy.
What am I saying here? It seems that your system of 3 levels of action types creates a ton of opportunities for great tactical features. I would like to see this system with abilities that reinforce combat roles, such as tanks/fighters having stances or other abilities that allow them to stay in the thick of fights.
Also, in order to counter such strategies as the above shadowmaster example, characters should have a way to defend themselves during the opponents turn, such as “overwatch”, in order to better represent a real time fight.I like what you guys are trying to do with the genre. Best of luck.
Mobility is just one of the obvious ways of using actions. We’ve set support spells as Standard actions, so even though there is a one spell per turn limit, a caster can still use their Unique for an attack. Same goes with healers, who can expend a Minor for a small heal or a Standard for a larger heal or one with more targets.
Attacks of Opportunity affect both sides. Most of the fastest moves allow enemies to attack when disengaging. And characters have the same benefit, either smacking enemies rushing in, or preventing them from maneuvering. Melee units often have Retaliate, a free counter-attack, giving them an interest in remaining engaged.
There is a provision for overwatch, reserving the attack until an enemy closes/appears. Bowmen have a Field of Fire, which lets them select an area to attack enemies moving through automatically. Great if the enemy’s movement is channeled. And there are a number of methods for channeling or slowing opponents, meaning a formal front line can be effective even with mobile enemies in an otherwise open area.
We try to avoid one style being optimum, including kiting.
Thank you for the response. It seems you have plenty of mechanics to address those concerns. PC RPGs with tactically deep combat are too few and far between these days.
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