tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173632392733978892.post6817699842277936943..comments2024-03-20T00:11:06.022-07:00Comments on Game Design Fanatic: Balancing The Game To Encourage Genre Appropriate ActionsGame Design Fanatichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03071346689910755467noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173632392733978892.post-38129784498520603292010-01-06T09:45:44.363-08:002010-01-06T09:45:44.363-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173632392733978892.post-19205794072119945902010-01-04T15:32:02.735-08:002010-01-04T15:32:02.735-08:00Lots of interesting ideas in your post, Miguel, mo...Lots of interesting ideas in your post, Miguel, most of which are good food for discussion (but I don't have time). However, you first point doesn't make sense to me. Having a code of honor against killing an unarmed man would seem to strongly discourage disarming the opponent. All it does, relative to having no such rule, is penalize you for disarming the opponent by prohibiting you from finishing him off. Much better in this case to just attack normally and kill the foe while he is still armed, so there won't be any legal repercussions.Game Design Fanatichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03071346689910755467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173632392733978892.post-78554921160637664962010-01-04T14:03:34.019-08:002010-01-04T14:03:34.019-08:00Here's a roleplay way to encoruage disarming. ...Here's a roleplay way to encoruage disarming. Encourage a code of honor against killing an unarmed man. Back that up with laws defining this as murder. You'd have to let the players know about this upfront. 4e also has a built in answer to the "action trade" argument. For a minor action you can pick up the opponent's weapon - or kick it under a table - or step on it so it won't be easy to retreive. <br /><br />For a rules option to encourage all sorts of swashbucklery things - change action points. I'd still start everybody with one AP after an extended rest, but I'd change how they were used and accrued. I'd grant one third action point every time they did something "cool". This could just be in how they describe it, but I'd be pretty lenient. Most people who take any effort would get 1/3 every turn. But this is the minimum - the GM has the right to grant more for actions that are particularly stylish. This would encourage disarming and swinging and swashbucklery moves. I'd also remove the limit of one AP per encounter. To balance this, I'd have the bad guys getting more AP's. To go with 4e's lack of bookkeeping, I'd make it a recharge ability that starts expended and recharges on a 6 for significant foes, 5-6 for major villains.<br /><br />Further ideas to increase the errolflynnery - reduce armor use. Grant characters with heavy armor the ability to add Con to AC with light armor. I could also see removing certain classes to encourage swashbucklery play - Imaging no defenders. Or even an all-striker game. Each role encourages a certain type of play. Defenders and controllers tend to lock down the enemy. Without defenders, strikers need to be quick and clever, and leaders help to make party members do their best. With these two you'd have lots of flashy moves.Miguel Valdespinonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173632392733978892.post-82207130090675874482010-01-01T09:55:17.123-08:002010-01-01T09:55:17.123-08:00Thanks for the comments everyone! All 3 of your po...Thanks for the comments everyone! All 3 of your posts sound good to me. <br /><br />I like the idea of "Ords" fleeing when disarmed. And provoking an opportunity attack to pick up a weapon sounds like a good standard rule. It is interesting that if the opponent takes a full turn and provokes a normal attack by picking up the weapon, the break-even point of disarm vs. a regular attack is at 50% hit chance. That is, if your chance of disarming is better than 50%, you are better off disarming, and if it is less than 50%, you are better off attacking normally - assuming a static fight against a single foe with no time constraints.Game Design Fanatichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03071346689910755467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173632392733978892.post-62661083029528139412009-12-30T08:45:57.320-08:002009-12-30T08:45:57.320-08:00Good analysis. I've struggled both as a player...Good analysis. I've struggled both as a player and a GM with trying alternative actions that seem like they should grant good advantages, but in practice turn out to be less than optimal. In 4e, knocking an opponent prone has some benefits, but I've been in too many toe-to-toe slugfests where the opponent just stands up again. Their only loss being a move action they weren't using anyway.<br /><br />Part of getting players to think creatively is encouraging alternative action choices, so it's really important to find ways to make this stuff work without punishing the player for trying.Keith Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059044388944936192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173632392733978892.post-51261596018957888992009-12-30T05:25:26.015-08:002009-12-30T05:25:26.015-08:00We use the assumption/convention that picking up a...We use the assumption/convention that picking up a weapon provokes an attack of opportunity. <br /><br />As a GM I also use the convention that people who fight somewhat reluctantly (like normal guards) against clearly very capable foes need a moral test to even attempt to pick up their weapon. They were basicly defeated (disarmed) and can get out there without getting pierced, so picking up their weapons to have another swing... that would be determined chaps!<br /><br />(and they never pick up their weapons anyway, they draw something else, worst case a dagger. When standing in front of an armed chap who just disarmed you there is no picking up stuff from the floor without risking getting run through as you cant defend when picking up stuff from the floor.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173632392733978892.post-22052068903562138552009-12-30T03:00:58.043-08:002009-12-30T03:00:58.043-08:00Hmmm, here's two ideas for disarming:
* Disar...Hmmm, here's two ideas for disarming:<br /><br />* Disarming involves not just causing the weapon to fall, but actually "throwing" the weapon some number of hexes away, so that the defender would have to move in order to retrieve the weapon--something that in D&D provokes an attack of opportunity, and in other games is at least rather inconvenient.<br /><br />or alternately:<br /><br />* Picking up a disarmed weapon immediately provokes an additional attack. (Which is a rather "realistic" result.)<br /><br />-MaxMax Kanat-Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16115903771808915853noreply@blogger.com