|
 COMBAT
Combat is fast and realistic. Yeah,
both, really. Like rolegames always promise but never deliver.
The Combat Cycle
It sounds like any other RPG
on the surface. A cycle is ten phases, a phase roughly one second. PCs and
NPCs have X number of Actions they can take during one cycle. But that's
where the similarities stop. The AQ! combat cycle is based not only
how many Actions characters have, but also how long it takes them to
perform those Actions. So you don't have characters "going on" this phase
or that phase, but completing indicated Actions at the end of their Combat
Segments. For example, if you have five Actions, your first Action begins
at the start of the cycle and ends at the end of phase #2. The next Action
begins immediately and ends at the end of phase #4. Uneven numbers pose no
problems; three-Action characters completed Actions on 33.3, 66.6, and 10.
Everyone goes on 10—even someone with one action, because it takes your combat segment to do the Action
from start to finish.
Surprise and Initiative
There are other factors.
Characters have abilities to surprise opponents, and those with higher
Initiative Scores attack first if Actions are otherwise equal. So if two
combatants both complete Actions on phase #5, the one with the highest
Initiative goes first. That simple.
Great Options
There are options to
enhance the combat system.
Hit Location. This quickly resolves where a shot lands
merely by adding another set of dice when you roll to hit a target.
Armor Soak and Armor
Life. This reflects how much abuse a piece of armor can take before
losing a point of Armor Life. When Armor Life gets to
zero, it's useless.
Body Part
Damage. And how much abuse can one part of the body take before it's
useless—an arm is hacked off, a leg is crushed, a skull is fractured, an
internal organ is severely damaged? These things can happen through
regular abuse—not just when you've suffered a critical hit.
Rolegamer Democracy -
What's this?
Except for character
creation, combat was probably playtested more heavily than any other part of AQ!,
involving myriad ideas that were tried and abandoned before we found
something that worked—and kept all the things gamers told me they liked
over the years, while keeping it smooth, fast, and easy. The vast
majority of gamers wanted a simple, easy-to-use combat system, but most
wanted realism, too; yet most of them were resigned to the belief that to
get realism and depth, a combat system would have to be long, drawn out,
and bogged down, taking forever to resolve. There may be more
realistic combat systems, but you'll be hard pressed to
find one that is this realistic that runs as quickly and easily as this
one. Even incorporating the optional parts above, things still move pretty smoothly.
|
