INPUT ON A WEAPONS AND ARMOR "SYSTEM"

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This is pretty much just ripped from my blog, by considering no-one took a look at it, I want to see what the community has to say about how I will be fleshing out this "system" in my game Chastitas: The Broken Land

Spoilers because this thing is massive.

I always like how Runescape pulled off the armor and weapons, of course this was way back, I have no idea how it operates now.

Armor helped the niche it was made for:
-Leather armor was easy to move around in, and thus was perfect for Archers, but it was bad for Warriors for obvious reasons. Mages also weren't good with it because magic doesn't like Leather and stuff for some reason.
-Heavy armors like Plate and Chain were obviously great for warriors. Melee was no problem, and arrows bounce off. However, it conducts magic, making mages a deadly adversary, therefore it makes it poor for mages. The difficulty of moving made it hard to use for Archers as well.
-Mage Armors such as cloth were perfect for mages because it was relatively inert or gave bonuses to magic. In this sense, it was also good for archers, but reduced protection, and was porr for Warriors for obvious reasons.

In just the armor sense, and essentially governing the effectiveness of weapons:
Melee beats Ranged/Ranged beats Magic/Magic beats Melee

This of course had exceptions:
If a Ranger could keep good distance he could kill a Warrior.
If a Warrior closed in on Mage, he could hack through him like butter.
If a Mage had enough skill, he could blast the Ranger with sheer Magical DPS

The emphasis here lies on IF and COULD

In this sense, I wanted to model my weapons and armor to give the players a more strategic choice for the Characters; Limited by the proficiencies of the Characters themselves. Obviously, little Vittoria the Healer won't be wearing Plate Armor, likewise you probably won't see Deven wearing Cloth Armor---However, I decided that if the character can wear it without problems, he can if you so desire.

Weapons are a different story though; These are quite strictly limited byt the proficiencies of the Character. Deven doesn't know how to use a bow; Kukyona isn't very good with a sword because of his age; Kenshi isn't the kind of guy to use gloves to kill things.

In any case, this is how I decided to set up armor:
Six Armor Types Three Armor Locations
-Cloth -Head
-Leather -Body
-Chain -Shield: Small, Large, Tower
-Scaled
-Plate
-Enchanted


Locational Protection
-Head- Slight Protection. Affects Luck and Max HP
-Body- Most Protection. Affects Agility and Hit Rate
-Shield- Slight Protection. Adverse affect to Agility based on size and Counterattack Rate/ Affects Evasion Rate

Armor Functionality
-Cloth: Minimal Defense, Agility/Hit Rate Bonus. Headwear increases Luck/Max HP significantly.Slight Evasion/Counter Bonus.
-Leather: Low-Mid Defense, No Agility Bonus; High Hit rate Bonus. Headwear raises luck slightly; Slightly more HP bonus than Cloth.
Slight Counter Bonus.
-Chain: Mid Defense, No Agility Bonus; Adverse Hit Rate Effect. Headwear does nothing to Luck; Counterattack Up. HP Bonus Minimal.
-Scaled: High-Mid Defense, Agility Penalty.No Hit Rate Penalty. Headwear is inert with slight HP Bonus.
-Plate: Highest Defense, Agility/Hit Rate Penalty. Headwear penalizes Luck; Moderate HP Bonus with HIGH defense. Evasion Penalty.
*** Mid, Low, Minimal, Inert, Penalty- Magic Defense Respectively.
*** Cloth/Leather has minimal bonuses to Attack and Magic.
*** Chain minimal Attack Bonus, No Magic Bonus
*** Scaled has slight magic penalty.
*** Plate Moderate Attack Bonus, Penalizes Magic

-Enchanted: Minimal Defense with Exceptions. No Hit Rate Bonuses, Agility Bonuses minimal. Headwear has Minimal Luck bonus, HP Bonus Minimal
MP Bonus is MASSIVE. Attack Penalty with High Magic Bonus. Moderate Counter Bonus. Evasion Penalty.

Shield Functionality
Small- Slight Defense/Magic Defense Bonus. Bonus to Agility at expense of Luck. Slight/Moderate Evasion/Counter Bonus. Slight Attack Bonus.
Large- Moderate Defense Bonus/ Slight Magic Defense Bonus. Slight HP Boost. Moderate/Slight Evasion/Counter Bonus.
Tower- Large Defense Bonus/ Magic Defense Penalty. Magic/Attack/Luck/Agility/Max MP Penalties. Large HP Bonus. Massive Evasion/Counter Bonus/Penalty


Weapons go like this:
12 Weapon Types:
-Clubs -Bows -Staves
-Axes -Swords -Katanas
-Knives -Polearms -Gloves
-Throwing Weapons -Guns -"The 13"

Weapon Functionality:
***Most weapons enjoy a chance to inflict "Bleeding" a state much like poison, just harsher.***

-Clubs aren't meant for killing, thus low damage BUT High chance to Stun. As a defensive weapon, these excel. Weighty, this equates to an agility
penalty.

-Bows are versatile weapons meant for killing a foe at long range. Thus, bows will have Agility Bonuses. They can be unwieldy, thus there is a defense penalty. Slight hit rate bonus.

-Staves = Magic. 'Nuff Said. Staffs in general are surprisingly adept as defensive weapons IRL.

-Axes are meant to maim and intimidate. This translates to a large damage rate with a good chance at inflicting bleeding. Their weight also means there's an agility penalty.

-Swords are your basic weapon. Enjoying moderate damage, their versatility gives a slight bonus to defense and agility.

-Katanas. These are MEANT to cut, bleeding rates are higher than most weapons, and they enjoy slightly higher damage rates than a sword. They are, however, difficult to defend with against large foes and weapons. This means a penalty to defense. Moderate agility bonus though, as Katanas are wonderful for misdirecting the opponent- Not all Katana fights are like in movies with men just staring at each other awkwardly.

-Knives are agile weapons for agile people. It takes skill to actually cut someone with it in battle. This translates to an agility bonus
and a luck/hit rate penalty. Obviously, they're not even as strong as a sword, but higher tier weapons do surpass blunt weapons.

-Polearms are wonderful defensive weapons, and skilled warriors can inflict some havoc with them. Unfortunately, their length and, often, weight
make them difficult to maneuver with. These guys will reduce your Evasion Rate, Agility, and Counter Rate.

-Gloves are weird, some have high bleeding chances, others have low. That's because some are metal or have spikes, whereas others are just good 'ol
cloth or Leather. In that sense, you wear two, and they're lightweight. That means you get two hits and an agility bonus. Martial Artists also have
some kickass defensive techniques, but are still pretty defenseless. Counter Rate Way Up, Defense Way Down. It's also really hard to miss a punch.

-Throwing Weapons have pretty average hitting power, but it varies by weapon. It's hard to defend with them effectively, mainly because you THROW THEM AT THE ENEMY. This means defense penalties. You also need a lot of skill to hit someone with them, this means luck/hit rate penalty. However, their disposability makes it easy to maneuver around the battlefield, so evasion and agility go up. Larger throwing weapons and explosives take a sizable hit to counter rates as well.

-Guns include both Firearms and Crossbows. Defense is pretty nil on these guys, but attack is MASSIVE. Most are heavy and/or slow to reload, and with guns you'll almost always be the last to get to hit the enemy, so that damage is worthless if you don't survive. Skill isn't really needed to hit things, so Hit Rate is wonderful along with the Luck Bonus. Smaller guns have Agility bonuses and vice versa. Counter is nil except on Semi-Auto/Auto weaponry. They're also great at breaking bones, inflicting bleeding, and intimidating the enemy.

-"The 13" are special weapons that tie in with the story on several occasions. These are pretty much just OP God Weapons. Each one is vastly
different, and some actually reduce your Attack skill drastically. In any case, only those selected by the Gods and Grim Angels/Descendants
of Grim Angels can use them.


Tell me what you guys think about that massive wall of text eh?
I'll also factor in luck into physical attacks to give it a bit more unpredictability.
There's not much to say. Everything here looks pretty straight-forward. My only concern is about the stat penalties. Unless the battle system requires the player to build a tank, it's hard to make sacrificing offensive stats for defensive ones appealing. After all, the best defensive is a good offense.
author=Antilurker77
There's not much to say. Everything here looks pretty straight-forward. My only concern is about the stat penalties. Unless the battle system requires the player to build a tank, it's hard to make sacrificing offensive stats for defensive ones appealing. After all, the best defensive is a good offense.


Quite a few of the enemies hit pretty hard, and most have a distinct elemental weakness, and then a distinct Magical or Physical weakness. Everyone can dish out sizable damage, but not everyone can take sizable damage. Because the party often finds itself at a numbers disadvantage, you'll be essentially forced to prioritize enemies, either by whittling away at the tanks, who dish sizable Physical damage on their own, or taking out the much faster magical opponents.
Think taking on that Airship Boss with Missles in...FFV or FFVI with slightly underleveled characters. You really have to prioritize the parts, (And spam healing and defensive spells), to survive.

Without proper defensive equipment, both on your offensive and defensive oriented characters, you WILL lose battles. Game Over Screen Galore.

In any case, I intended to avoid blatantly catering to those with an RPG play style much like my own in the older Final Fantasy's, I.E. "The Best Defense is a Good Offense." Allowing the player the choice of how he/she wishes to cut down their foes is precisely what I wish to accomplish, albeit one that isn't particularly emphasized.
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