The Business: Do You Really Want To Roll Your Own? (Part Two)

(Following from yesterday's post.)

Still here, Anon? Okay, here we go.

The Cornerstone Question

What is the fundamental unit of gameplay for your product?

In AD&D1e, that's the Combat Round. It lasts for one minute of time. There is a set procedure to its execution, and a presumption that it is two contending parties acting as such to (violently) resolve a conflict- not a group of individuals acting on their own initative (literally).

Everything about how a man works in AD&D1e is done with this Combat Round in mind, and scales up from there, because AD&D1e is a wargame and that design logic delivers viable (if not excellent) product far more reliably than any other.

But you're different. You want something that feels closer to what you're familiar with. You go with six seconds.

That means that a man has enough to do one complex action--meaning complex motor skills, such as an athletic feat (including combat)--and move a short distance.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

Try again, Anon. Dancey and company did that over 20 years ago.

"What? Really?"

That was not the only one. Before that, Rolemaster/MERP did something like that- and then overcomplicated the execution like everything else Iron Crown ever did.

"So, what about?"

I'll spare you, Anon. Every iteration and variation has been tried. Most are found wanting, some severely so, but others are Good Enough. Here, let me put one before you that you may not know about.

"From 1990?"

It almost works, and you get a chance to fix its one flaw. Go with it.

"Okay, so we're doing six second turns then?"

Yes. Now, what can a man do in about six seconds of time?

"Uh, a lot, I guess. He can run, jump, do a dodge roll like a Souls-like game, and maybe get in a swing or a shot or something."

Good, good. Start brainstorming that. You have the benefit of the Internet, so you can go watch a lot of short video clips- stick to those done by real people doing real things, because film and TV is intended to exaggerate and can throw off your comprehension of what is believable.

"Like some MMA fight clips?"

Yeah, that's a good start. Boxing, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Judo- all good starting points. That's bare-handed combat, which is the core action of adventuring. Anon, what would you do to measure a fighter's physicality?

"Um, how strong, tough, and fast he is? How good his conditioning is, I guess."

See that product? Go look at the character sheet. Considered and sorted, including separating out learned skill and acumen from raw ability.

"Wow, that's similiar to everything else, isn't it?"

It is. Now, Anon, how would you handle resolving, for example, a grappling contest.

"I'd have both sides add up skills and stats and add that to a roll of two dice, higher rolling winning."

Okay, then what? You have a lot of variation on that idea already. What comes of that roll matters, so what it is?

"I haven't thought about that."

You're not alone. Most haven't, which is why you get a lot of drek out there, and why the working products tend to be familiar- like cars of the same class and price range.

"So, how about a guy can do one thing like that and move about 10 yards per turn? Oh, that's been done too already?"

Yes, anon. Many, many, many times by now.

Are you sure you want to continue?

"There's got to be something that hasn't been done yet, right?"

I'll take that as a "yes." Come back tomorrow.