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FREE ACTION BURST BATTLE SYSTEM (FAB/BS DISCUSSION)
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Craze
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CloseHey guys. Karsuman and I are making a game! It happens. The first part of developing that game is mastering the battle system, and since we are kind of taking Diablocide and making it even cooler, we would like some input on what sounds cool and what sounds aggravating/silly/worthless/etc. Please ask questions, make comments, tear ideas apart - that's why this topic exists.
A lot of this is coded already, but we're still coming up with the demo characters' skillsets, so we don't really have much to show yet. Once we get the first version of the system up, we'll have the chance to move a lot of this discussion to the game profile. For now, we don't have a game profile, so let's talk about the Free Action Burst Battle System (or, if you're a cool cat, the "FAB" or "FAB/BS").
Important: in this, I tried to explain why we made each choice. This is the Game Design & Theory forum, so let's tear apart some theory!
Overview
The FAB has three main components: Free Actions, Burst Points, and the Vanguard. The goal for the FAB is to create a battle system that has simple rules but many, many possibilities for tactical fun. A secondary goal is to allow for a feeling of flow and action; things are constantly moving, and the idea of synergy between characters is paramount. A major component of that synergy is the inclusion of Blitzers versus Nukers, as detailed in the Burst Points section.
Battles for the system are meant to be large affairs, usually four-six foes; in an actual game, there would be fewer battles than expected in most jRPGs. This is supported by the Vanguard having five slots, and the party being able to swap almost at will - at any given point, you will likely have more potential characters than there are foes.
Free Actions
You have five Actions to use each turn. It does not matter if anybody in the Vanguard has fallen, if anybody is paralyzed, or if you only have a single unit in the Vanguard: you have five Actions. The only way to lower that amount, outside of nasty and rare boss abilities, is to change characters in and out of the Vanguard (see the related section for information).
Actions are "free" in that anybody can use them. Each character has four skills, and as long as they are not in CD (Cooldown, see the Burst Points section) or you have enough BP (Burst Points), you can use them. Each character could use a single skill, or the Witch could use three skills and the Paladin two, or some other combination. The purpose of this is to promote a sense of flow; your Blitzers build BP, possibly spending an entire turn doing so, and then your Nukers expend it. Or, you could easily have your Warlock spend the first turn debuffing enemies as you see fit. The question is not "what single debuff does my Warlock use this turn," like most turn-based RPGs, but "how many times do I let my Warlock debuff this turn?" Similarly, how often does your Acolyte use Life Surge this turn - never, once, twice? Provided you have the BP, it could be cast up to five times.
Actions are not free at the same time. There are no basic attacks or zero-cost skills, and there are no items to use. Blitzers have skills on a cooldown, and every CD skill must wait at least one turn before it can be used again. (Most average at 1-2 turns.) Burst skills can be used repeatedly, but you must have built up the BP to use them. What this means is that, unless you work hard for it, you cannot have a single character dominate every turn. They'll get their time to shine, sure, but you can't put +500 ATK on your Gladiator and then have him mash Attack (this battle system doesn't even have stats, but that's a different topic).
Burst Points
Every time you deal direct damage, you earn a Burst Point.
Every time you get a critical hit or attack a foe's elemental weakness, you earn a Burst Point.
Every time you miss, you lose a Burst Point (you cannot inherently miss; the only way to do so is against enemies with evasion).
Every time you hit a elemental resistance, you lose a Burst Point (since you did deal damage, this evens out to +0 BP).
Every time you hit an elemental nullification or absorption, you lose two or three Burst Points respectively.
Enemy actions, except for specific abilities, have no bearing on your Burst Points.
There are three types of characters: Blitzers, Nukers and Hybrids. Blitzers have four cooldown skills and excel at multi-hit attacks, or abilities that earn BP in other ways. Nukers have four Burst skills, dealing large amounts of damage, healing or other effects in exchange for your built-up BP. Hybrids have two of each skill, making them versatile.
Burst Points are a party-wide resource, so anybody can add to or tap into them. Note that Burst skills do not build BP from direct damage - they can still earn/lose BP from missing, criticals, or elemental affinities. Blitzers cannot deal much damage, and Nukers cannot replenish their necessary supply of BP. FORCED PARTY SYNERGY AHOY
Vanguard
You have a bunch of dudes, of which five at a time can participate in battle. The game is over if those five units die. The other guys stand really far away, you know? For the purpose of the battle demo, there are twelve characters - four Blitzers, four Nukers, and four Hybrids.
When you use the Vanguard command to swap your party members, you cannot have already performed any Actions - as soon as a skill is used, your Vanguard is locked-in for the turn. In addition, you lose Actions if you swap more than one character!
When you swap one or zero characters into the Vanguard, you have 5 Actions that turn.
When you swap two characters into the Vanguard, you have 4 Actions.
When you swap three, four, or five characters, you have 3, 2, or 1 Action(s) to use that turn.
This is designed to encourage gradual shifts in your Vanguard, although allows you to do an OH SHIT shift if you must. If somebody is hurt, heal them or swap them out - that's your call. Be wise! Make the right decisions, or die trying! Of note: all healing abilities also revive fallen units. There are no revival abilities, because every heal allows for revival. In a game with so many characters, this only makes sense - an individual death isn't a big deal. Still, healing isn't dealing damage! Unless you're playing the Witch, who shares her drains with allies, but whatever.
Finally, I thought I'd shove the buff/debuff system in here: on top of more traditional ailments and enchantments (Sleep, Silence, Regen, etc.), buffs/debuffs have three tiers. If a skill grants an ally +2 Damage, it raises their Damage buff by two tiers. If the Damage counter was at -1, it would end at +1. Nifty! This is the only part of the system not coded yet, but I'm pretty sure I know how I'm going to go about it. The five buff/debuff counters are: Damage, Defense, Accuracy, Evasion, and Healing. Of note is that Acc/Eva buffs also affect ailment infliction/resistance. Maybe. This is one of the things that Karsuman and I are struggling with. The whole buff/debuff system is currently OH GOD DO WE REALLY WANT THIS, actually.
The best comments we could get on this are criticisms of choices/specific elements, and ideas for fun implementations. For example, a cool boss idea or a type of synergy between characters you think would be fun. Fun! Games are about fun!
Karsuman and I like fun. Perhaps we like fun too much, and try too hard to craft fun, resulting in a lack of releases. Damn.
A lot of this is coded already, but we're still coming up with the demo characters' skillsets, so we don't really have much to show yet. Once we get the first version of the system up, we'll have the chance to move a lot of this discussion to the game profile. For now, we don't have a game profile, so let's talk about the Free Action Burst Battle System (or, if you're a cool cat, the "FAB" or "FAB/BS").
Important: in this, I tried to explain why we made each choice. This is the Game Design & Theory forum, so let's tear apart some theory!
Overview
The FAB has three main components: Free Actions, Burst Points, and the Vanguard. The goal for the FAB is to create a battle system that has simple rules but many, many possibilities for tactical fun. A secondary goal is to allow for a feeling of flow and action; things are constantly moving, and the idea of synergy between characters is paramount. A major component of that synergy is the inclusion of Blitzers versus Nukers, as detailed in the Burst Points section.
Battles for the system are meant to be large affairs, usually four-six foes; in an actual game, there would be fewer battles than expected in most jRPGs. This is supported by the Vanguard having five slots, and the party being able to swap almost at will - at any given point, you will likely have more potential characters than there are foes.
Free Actions
You have five Actions to use each turn. It does not matter if anybody in the Vanguard has fallen, if anybody is paralyzed, or if you only have a single unit in the Vanguard: you have five Actions. The only way to lower that amount, outside of nasty and rare boss abilities, is to change characters in and out of the Vanguard (see the related section for information).
Actions are "free" in that anybody can use them. Each character has four skills, and as long as they are not in CD (Cooldown, see the Burst Points section) or you have enough BP (Burst Points), you can use them. Each character could use a single skill, or the Witch could use three skills and the Paladin two, or some other combination. The purpose of this is to promote a sense of flow; your Blitzers build BP, possibly spending an entire turn doing so, and then your Nukers expend it. Or, you could easily have your Warlock spend the first turn debuffing enemies as you see fit. The question is not "what single debuff does my Warlock use this turn," like most turn-based RPGs, but "how many times do I let my Warlock debuff this turn?" Similarly, how often does your Acolyte use Life Surge this turn - never, once, twice? Provided you have the BP, it could be cast up to five times.
Actions are not free at the same time. There are no basic attacks or zero-cost skills, and there are no items to use. Blitzers have skills on a cooldown, and every CD skill must wait at least one turn before it can be used again. (Most average at 1-2 turns.) Burst skills can be used repeatedly, but you must have built up the BP to use them. What this means is that, unless you work hard for it, you cannot have a single character dominate every turn. They'll get their time to shine, sure, but you can't put +500 ATK on your Gladiator and then have him mash Attack (this battle system doesn't even have stats, but that's a different topic).
Burst Points
Every time you deal direct damage, you earn a Burst Point.
Every time you get a critical hit or attack a foe's elemental weakness, you earn a Burst Point.
Every time you miss, you lose a Burst Point (you cannot inherently miss; the only way to do so is against enemies with evasion).
Every time you hit a elemental resistance, you lose a Burst Point (since you did deal damage, this evens out to +0 BP).
Every time you hit an elemental nullification or absorption, you lose two or three Burst Points respectively.
Enemy actions, except for specific abilities, have no bearing on your Burst Points.
There are three types of characters: Blitzers, Nukers and Hybrids. Blitzers have four cooldown skills and excel at multi-hit attacks, or abilities that earn BP in other ways. Nukers have four Burst skills, dealing large amounts of damage, healing or other effects in exchange for your built-up BP. Hybrids have two of each skill, making them versatile.
Burst Points are a party-wide resource, so anybody can add to or tap into them. Note that Burst skills do not build BP from direct damage - they can still earn/lose BP from missing, criticals, or elemental affinities. Blitzers cannot deal much damage, and Nukers cannot replenish their necessary supply of BP. FORCED PARTY SYNERGY AHOY
Vanguard
You have a bunch of dudes, of which five at a time can participate in battle. The game is over if those five units die. The other guys stand really far away, you know? For the purpose of the battle demo, there are twelve characters - four Blitzers, four Nukers, and four Hybrids.
When you use the Vanguard command to swap your party members, you cannot have already performed any Actions - as soon as a skill is used, your Vanguard is locked-in for the turn. In addition, you lose Actions if you swap more than one character!
When you swap one or zero characters into the Vanguard, you have 5 Actions that turn.
When you swap two characters into the Vanguard, you have 4 Actions.
When you swap three, four, or five characters, you have 3, 2, or 1 Action(s) to use that turn.
This is designed to encourage gradual shifts in your Vanguard, although allows you to do an OH SHIT shift if you must. If somebody is hurt, heal them or swap them out - that's your call. Be wise! Make the right decisions, or die trying! Of note: all healing abilities also revive fallen units. There are no revival abilities, because every heal allows for revival. In a game with so many characters, this only makes sense - an individual death isn't a big deal. Still, healing isn't dealing damage! Unless you're playing the Witch, who shares her drains with allies, but whatever.
Finally, I thought I'd shove the buff/debuff system in here: on top of more traditional ailments and enchantments (Sleep, Silence, Regen, etc.), buffs/debuffs have three tiers. If a skill grants an ally +2 Damage, it raises their Damage buff by two tiers. If the Damage counter was at -1, it would end at +1. Nifty! This is the only part of the system not coded yet, but I'm pretty sure I know how I'm going to go about it. The five buff/debuff counters are: Damage, Defense, Accuracy, Evasion, and Healing. Of note is that Acc/Eva buffs also affect ailment infliction/resistance. Maybe. This is one of the things that Karsuman and I are struggling with. The whole buff/debuff system is currently OH GOD DO WE REALLY WANT THIS, actually.
***
The best comments we could get on this are criticisms of choices/specific elements, and ideas for fun implementations. For example, a cool boss idea or a type of synergy between characters you think would be fun. Fun! Games are about fun!
Karsuman and I like fun. Perhaps we like fun too much, and try too hard to craft fun, resulting in a lack of releases. Damn.
The silly acronym was entirely an accident. I was coming up with dorky names for the battle system project folder, and wound up with "FABBS." It was... fabulous.
I get all inspiration from Dark Gaia.
I get all inspiration from Dark Gaia.
You have five Actions to use each turn. It does not matter if anybody in the Vanguard has fallen, if anybody is paralyzed, or if you only have a single unit in the Vanguard: you have five Actions. The only way to lower that amount, outside of nasty and rare boss abilities, is to change characters in and out of the Vanguard (see the related section for information).
Actions are "free" in that anybody can use them. Each character has four skills, and as long as they are not in CD (Cooldown, see the Burst Points section) or you have enough BP (Burst Points), you can use them. Each character could use a single skill, or the Witch could use three skills and the Paladin two, or some other combination. The purpose of this is to promote a sense of flow; your Blitzers build BP, possibly spending an entire turn doing so, and then your Nukers expend it. Or, you could easily have your Warlock spend the first turn debuffing enemies as you see fit. The question is not "what single debuff does my Warlock use this turn," like most turn-based RPGs, but "how many times do I let my Warlock debuff this turn?" Similarly, how often does your Acolyte use Life Surge this turn - never, once, twice? Provided you have the BP, it could be cast up to five times.
Actions are not free at the same time. There are no basic attacks or zero-cost skills, and there are no items to use. Blitzers have skills on a cooldown, and every CD skill must wait at least one turn before it can be used again. (Most average at 1-2 turns.) Burst skills can be used repeatedly, but you must have built up the BP to use them. What this means is that, unless you work hard for it, you cannot have a single character dominate every turn. They'll get their time to shine, sure, but you can't put +500 ATK on your Gladiator and then have him mash Attack (this battle system doesn't even have stats, but that's a different topic).
This sounds a lot like what I've been doing with my boss project entry, actually, although there are important differences. Namely that you can gain/lose turns based on status effects/number of units, and that you can't switch guys mid-battle, and that rage doesn't go into a communal pool (although turns or actions do). Your system is also cleaner and simpler, since you don't also include traditional MP cost abilities and limited use abilities on top of Rage costs and Cooldowns.
Sounds like a skeleton of YEM PTB with YEM Rage, which you'll customize from there, although I wouldn't want to presume as to how you're actually implementing this. Sounds pretty tricky.
Every time you deal direct damage, you earn a Burst Point.
Every time you get a critical hit or attack a foe's elemental weakness, you earn a Burst Point.
Every time you miss, you lose a Burst Point (you cannot inherently miss; the only way to do so is against enemies with evasion).
Every time you hit a elemental resistance, you lose a Burst Point (since you did deal damage, this evens out to +0 BP).
Every time you hit an elemental nullification or absorption, you lose two or three Burst Points respectively.
Enemy actions, except for specific abilities, have no bearing on your Burst Points.
There are three types of characters: Blitzers, Nukers and Hybrids. Blitzers have four cooldown skills and excel at multi-hit attacks, or abilities that earn BP in other ways. Nukers have four Burst skills, dealing large amounts of damage, healing or other effects in exchange for your built-up BP. Hybrids have two of each skill, making them versatile.
Burst Points are a party-wide resource, so anybody can add to or tap into them. Note that Burst skills do not build BP from direct damage - they can still earn/lose BP from missing, criticals, or elemental affinities. Blitzers cannot deal much damage, and Nukers cannot replenish their necessary supply of BP. FORCED PARTY SYNERGY AHOY
This sounds like you're taking some of the ruleset for turns in YEM PTB and applying it to Rage, which is really cool.
How many characters does your game have? If there are like, two to three characters per role, I feel that constraining characters to roles *CAN* have the effect of making each character feel less unique, individually, because it limits the degree to which two Blitzers can be differentiated.
Anyway, this looks like a solid mechanical base; if there is any bad game design inherent in your paper documentation, it's not so grossly obvious as to be visible here. Most likely I'd need to play the game to evaluate further.
The buff/debuff system sounds kind of wonky, but as in-depth feedback goes, that's probably not the best.
See, I thought that someone was giving away a free Action Burst Battle System.
By the way: is there any kind of in-game justification for why characters can't do some things every turn/at will? (Kind of like how 'mana' or 'stamina' is a thinly veiled explanation for how MP works.)
Edit:
I like it. Death is cheap and so are revives; most of my games take the opposite tact, but it's good to be thinking about this!
By the way: is there any kind of in-game justification for why characters can't do some things every turn/at will? (Kind of like how 'mana' or 'stamina' is a thinly veiled explanation for how MP works.)
Edit:
Of note: all healing abilities also revive fallen units. There are no revival abilities, because every heal allows for revival. In a game with so many characters, this only makes sense - an individual death isn't a big deal.
I like it. Death is cheap and so are revives; most of my games take the opposite tact, but it's good to be thinking about this!
Someone was giving away a free ejaculation, I see.
Well, I guess we have talked enough about the highly erotical and sexually arousing name of the topic.
Well, I guess we have talked enough about the highly erotical and sexually arousing name of the topic.
User was warned for this post
Max McGee
This sounds a lot like what I've been doing with my boss project entry, actually, although there are important differences. Namely that you can gain/lose turns based on status effects/number of units, and that you can't switch guys mid-battle, and that rage doesn't go into a communal pool (although turns or actions do). Your system is also cleaner and simpler, since you don't also include traditional MP cost abilities and limited use abilities on top of Rage costs and Cooldowns.
Clean and simple are some of the main tenets of this design, yeah. In the game this is a demo for, there actually WILL be MP; while her homunculi (slots 2-5) use CD/Burst, the Artificer (permanently in slot 1) has entirely "instant" actions that she spends personal Manna on. Her minions might have ways to increase her Manna, but they do not spend it, and she does not have CD/Burst actions.
For the sake of this battle demo, we're not doing that because we want people to be able to more easily learn and steal from this. I'm commenting everything that I code and design so that people can easily take snippets, or even build off of my work.
Max McGee
Sounds like a skeleton of YEM PTB with YEM Rage, which you'll customize from there, although I wouldn't want to presume as to how you're actually implementing this. Sounds pretty tricky.
Not really! I started coding, uh, Saturday I believe? I'm basically done except for buffs/debuffs, and making stuff pretty.
Max McGee
This sounds like you're taking some of the ruleset for turns in YEM PTB and applying it to Rage, which is really cool.
How many characters does your game have? If there are like, two to three characters per role, I feel that constraining characters to roles *CAN* have the effect of making each character feel less unique, individually, because it limits the degree to which two Blitzers can be differentiated.
Burst was done by hijacking the Rage system, yes. However, I coded my own system for the weakness/critical hits so that it'll be easier to edit them based on each character's traits ("I gain +2 BP when I hit a weakness").
As for the demo, it has twelve characters, four each of Blitzer/Nuker/Hybrid. The actual game will probably have the Artificer + nine automatons with less rigid setups, and maybe five skills each. We're not sure - we're coding and sharing this so that people can play it and give us feedback on what works and what doesn't, and then designing more from there.
Max McGee
The buff/debuff system sounds kind of wonky, but as in-depth feedback goes, that's probably not the best.
It does sound wonky. I'm not sold on it.
Nightowl
Someone was giving away a free ejaculation, I see.
Well, I guess we have talked enough about the highly erotical and sexually arousing name of the topic.
I... didn't get the erotic nature of the title, and I'm the kid in the ENG 272 class who always brings up the homoerotic subtext in literature (...and then we read Sherman Alexie).
Cozzer
0
I think the big hit-or-miss factor will be how much you'll be able to differentiate characters while still mantaining a theme for each one of them.
author=CrazeFor no apparent reason, the word "burst" may rarely remind me of ejaculation but free action combined with it just 100% brings it to the mind.
I... didn't get the erotic nature of the title, and I'm the kid in the ENG 272 class who always brings up the homoerotic subtext in literature (...and then we read Sherman Alexie).
User was warned for this post
I like everything except the losing the game if your main 5 characters die. I've ALWAYS hated that in every game with multiple party members who could logically pick up the fight and save their fallen comrades.
(This was one of the reasons Edifice was good)
I'm sure you can think of an alternative to this? Second/Third Vanguard can be chosen in the menu? They start with a HP/AP/BP/Whatever penalty when they're required to take the place of the first vanguard? Something?
(This was one of the reasons Edifice was good)
I'm sure you can think of an alternative to this? Second/Third Vanguard can be chosen in the menu? They start with a HP/AP/BP/Whatever penalty when they're required to take the place of the first vanguard? Something?
NewBlack
I like everything except the losing the game if your main 5 characters die. I've ALWAYS hated that in every game with multiple party members who could logically pick up the fight and save their fallen comrades.
(This was one of the reasons Edifice was good)
I'm sure you can think of an alternative to this? Second/Third Vanguard can be chosen in the menu? They start with a HP/AP/BP/Whatever penalty when they're required to take the place of the first vanguard? Something?
We just discussed this on AIM, but for other people's sake:
This is only in the battle demo. In the actual game we're turning this into later, the game is only over when the Artificer is down for three turns (the heroine, locked into the first slot). During that time, if you can get her back up, you keep going and the counter resets.
My initial impression is that this sounds fun and interesting! Coincidentally similar in superficial ways to a battle system I recently helped a friend figure out, but eh these things happen.
Once the initial "neat!!" impression wears off I might be able to coherently give useful feedback but who knows? I echo Max about thinking the buffs/debuffs as described in OP sound wonky; to me it just seems kinda shoved in for reasons I don't think I can articulate. For whatever reason it took me a few reads to really understand, on the first read I thought it was needlessly complex. This might be a symptom of me being dumb rather than a bad idea, but it's still some kind of feedback!
This is kind of a weird and stream of conscious thought, but have you thought about how you'd visually represent the damage counter(actually could I get a bit of clarification on what this is?)/the effects buffs and debuffs would have in general? I get this odd mental picture of colors andFAB rainbows and um I'm just going to stick a picture here.
I guess an overcomplicated way of saying "maybe add a colored icon next to a stat to show how it was currently affected?" But this is assuming that each character's stats are easily viewed during battle.
I think the idea of evasion stat affecting ailment resistance is nifty, for what it is worth! (same for acc affecting infliction)
Tying buffs/debuffs as a side-effect of some skills might be interesting, assuming you aren't already doing that. The first thing I thought of was something with a high damage output and no cooldown, but would lower your damage rating/tier/level/whatever you want to call it with each usage. Enemies that focused on a using a skill with similar but inverted effects (weak damage; rises as it is used HOW ORIGINAL) might also make for an interesting gimmick in a small dose? I dunno I am just typing words I will stop now.
Once the initial "neat!!" impression wears off I might be able to coherently give useful feedback but who knows? I echo Max about thinking the buffs/debuffs as described in OP sound wonky; to me it just seems kinda shoved in for reasons I don't think I can articulate. For whatever reason it took me a few reads to really understand, on the first read I thought it was needlessly complex. This might be a symptom of me being dumb rather than a bad idea, but it's still some kind of feedback!
This is kind of a weird and stream of conscious thought, but have you thought about how you'd visually represent the damage counter(actually could I get a bit of clarification on what this is?)/the effects buffs and debuffs would have in general? I get this odd mental picture of colors and
I guess an overcomplicated way of saying "maybe add a colored icon next to a stat to show how it was currently affected?" But this is assuming that each character's stats are easily viewed during battle.
I think the idea of evasion stat affecting ailment resistance is nifty, for what it is worth! (same for acc affecting infliction)
Tying buffs/debuffs as a side-effect of some skills might be interesting, assuming you aren't already doing that. The first thing I thought of was something with a high damage output and no cooldown, but would lower your damage rating/tier/level/whatever you want to call it with each usage. Enemies that focused on a using a skill with similar but inverted effects (weak damage; rises as it is used HOW ORIGINAL) might also make for an interesting gimmick in a small dose? I dunno I am just typing words I will stop now.
When I read this battle system. The first thing that came into my head is Rhyme's Lunatic Dream. Which is so similar in a lot of aspects with your plans and I f*cking love that game. It's my favorite from all of Rhyme's works. The ones that it doesn't have is the Vanguard but instead a Judge System but...
Considering the similarities, I'm guessing this battle system would be fun too because it shares common elements that made Lunatic Dream fun but this one has unique elements of its own.
Considering the similarities, I'm guessing this battle system would be fun too because it shares common elements that made Lunatic Dream fun but this one has unique elements of its own.
You were talking about bosses, any boss that "attacks" what could be any obvious (if anything can be obvious in your battle system..) system of : synergy or skill use or raising BPs or all three together and forces the player to invent something different, example : a boss particularly vicious with nukers, or lowering BPs when there are too many blitzers or whathever other well chosen condition, or lowers skill power when healing is used, do you get the idea? those are my favorite kind of bosses, or does that sound completely stupid?
Thorgrim103
55
I think this battle system seems awesome I'd love to be able to use sprite animations in my battles if possible. Plus with all the combat options this would really expand what the characters can do.
Avee
5794
The system seems fun and quite original, but the "content" is still overused (buffing, elementals...) Why not try to change these too?
Synergy could come in the form of special outcomes or more powerful/useful battle effects, when two or more characters link/combine specific actions or target the same foe.
For instance, the Brawler uses Slam Dunk to knock an enemy down on the ground, and the Thief's Steal success rate triples if he uses it right after the enemy's been hit.
Or more or less like in Chrono Trigger, linking two specific attack skills either combines to create a single more powerful attack or creates an extra third attack or status ailment.
Synergy could come in the form of special outcomes or more powerful/useful battle effects, when two or more characters link/combine specific actions or target the same foe.
For instance, the Brawler uses Slam Dunk to knock an enemy down on the ground, and the Thief's Steal success rate triples if he uses it right after the enemy's been hit.
Or more or less like in Chrono Trigger, linking two specific attack skills either combines to create a single more powerful attack or creates an extra third attack or status ailment.
Avee
The system seems fun and quite original, but the "content" is still overused (buffing, elementals...) Why not try to change these too?
Synergy could come in the form of special outcomes or more powerful/useful battle effects, when two or more characters link/combine specific actions or target the same foe.
For instance, the Brawler uses Slam Dunk to knock an enemy down on the ground, and the Thief's Steal success rate triples if he uses it right after the enemy's been hit.
Or more or less like in Chrono Trigger, linking two specific attack skills either combines to create a single more powerful attack or creates an extra third attack or status ailment.
We try to do this, just not with blatant "combos" or whatever; synergy between characters is seriously our #1 priority with skillsets. We prefer allowing more than just "these two skills match up" though; Karsuman and I try to to make a giant web of sticky skill goodness.
As for getting rid of buffs/debuffs... why? The display system itself is awkward, sure (maybe - it'd be like Persona 4, if you've played that).
PentagonBuddy, you are insane. Jus' sayin'. Also, we don't really have stats, but your idea does make sense. I was thinking of arrows (<<< for infantile punch, >>> for I WILL PUNCH YOU INTO OBLIVION), but... yeah.
When I say "we don't have stats" I mean "a character has an HP total and THAT'S IT." There are, like, numbers attached to a dude - inherent evasion, or an elemental resistance, or something - but not stats that grow and progress with XP. In the actual game, the Artificer's alchemist girlfriend will be able to take junk and fuse it into new power-ups for the summoned automata, but it will be more like the trait system in the... trait system topic.
