Dice Combat
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
This is a work in progress, and more information will be posted as it develops. Feel free to post any comments, suggestions, or criticisms you may have on this article's Discussion page.
Contents |
The Reason for Dice Combat
The Dice Combat system is a project designed to fill a void in City of Heroes, which does not provide a fair combat-resolution system between two characters. Player-vs.-Player combat is inherently stacked in one character's favor in many situations, where one player may have a billion-inf PvP build and the other does not. Since these attributes do not necessarily represent the characters' capabilities in terms of roleplay, CoH's PvP system is not a universal answer to this need. Another alternative many players rely on is text-fighting. However, text-fighting is only viable when both players collaborate and agree to fight fairly. While this, like PvP, certainly has its place, a character can only lose in text-fighting if he chooses to admit defeat, making text-fighting a godmodder or an unskilled player a highly unsatisfying occurrence.
This system aims to provide a third option - a dice-based combat option utilizing the /e dice emote. Ideally, the completed system will be fun, fair, easy-to-understand, and unambiguous as to which player wins, and which player loses.
The Concept
Dice Combat is, at its core, an abstract system. It is designed to cover any combat, whether it be a nonlethal fist-fight, a mental battle between two psychics, or a no-holds-barred duel to the death. As such, its concepts are vague and nonspecific. These are intended to be filled in through roleplay and player creativity. For example, a player's "hit points" don't need to represent physical injuries, and could be anything from morale to endurance to powered-armor-battery-life. What matters is that when a player runs out of them, he or she loses the conflict.
Rules
At the beginning of a conflict, each participating character has ten hit points. Like most things in this system, these hit points can represent many things, from the amount of mana available left to power a mystical shield, to simple injuries, to even level of exhaustion until a character becomes too tired to keep dodging.
When a player runs out of hit points, he loses.
To begin a conflict, each combatant rolls a die using the /e dice emote. The highest result goes first, the second highest goes second, and so on. In the case of a tie, re-roll (all bonuses or penalties which apply to a roll also apply to all of its re-rolls). This turn order remains consistent until the battle ends.
Actions
Normal Actions
On each player's turn, they select one action from the list below:
- Melee Attack (Select one character you are in Close Combat with. You and that character roll a die. If you win the roll, they lose two hit points. If you lose the roll, you lose one hit point. In the case of a tie, neither player loses any hit points.)
- Ranged Attack (You may not select this action if you are in Close Combat with any character. Select any character. You and that character roll a die. If you win the roll, they lose one hit point. On a tie or if you lose, no one takes damage.)
- AoE Attack (Select one character (if you are in Close Combat, you must select a character in Close Combat with you). You, that character, and every other character in Close Combat with that character each roll a die. You take a -1 penalty to your roll if you are not also in Close Combat with those characters. Each character who rolls lower than you loses 1 hit point. Until the beginning of your next turn, you take a -1 penalty to all rolls. On your next turn, you may not use an AoE Attack.)
- Charge (You may not select this action if you are in Close Combat with any character. Select one character. That character chooses whether to dodge, or stand their ground. If they choose to dodge, you and that character each roll a die. If you win, you enter Close Combat with that character. You may then take the Melee Attack action, attacking that character, with a -1 penalty to your roll. If they stand their ground, the charge automatically succeeds, but you do not gain the free attack.)
- Retreat (You may not select this action unless you are in Close Combat with one or more characters. You roll a die, and each character you are in Close Combat with may choose to roll a die. If your roll is equal to or higher than ALL other rolls, you are no longer in Close Combat with any characters.)
- Build Up (Choose one action from this list. If you select that action on your next turn, the first die you roll on your next turn receives a +2 bonus.)
- Guard (Until the start of your next turn, you receive a +1 bonus on all rolls. If you have not lost a roll by the beginning of your next turn, you receive a +1 bonus to the first roll you make on your next turn.)
- Debuff (Select one character. You and that character roll a die. If you win the roll, that character is in the 'Debuffed' state for their next X turns, where X is the difference between your roll and theirs. While 'Debuffed' that character receives a -1 penalty when rolling on their turn.)
- Lockdown (Select one character. You and that character roll a die. If you win the roll, that character is in the 'Locked Down' state for their next X turns, where X is the difference between your roll and theirs. At the beginning of that character's turn, if they are 'Locked Down' they must roll a die. If they receive a 3 or lower, they cannot take any action that turn.)
- Recover (Roll a die. If your roll was a 3 or better, you gain 1 hit point. Use of this action cannot bring your hit point total higher than your starting amount of hit points.)
More options may be added later.
Special Actions
The following special actions may be taken even when it is not your turn.
- Take a Blow: If another character you are in Close Combat with would lose a hit point due to another player's attack, you may choose to automatically step in front of the blow, and use yourself as a human shield. If you do, you lose three hit points, but the original victim of the attack takes none. Even an attack which would normally cause the victim to lose two hit points causes you to lose three hit points.
- This comes in handy for team battles, if one character wants to protect another at all costs.
Combat Mechanics
The mechanical properties of how various aspects of combat function are described here.
- Rolling: When you and another character each roll a die, one character is determined to be the "attacker" and all other characters are determined to be a "defender." In the case of a tied roll, the defender wins unless otherwise stated.
- A character may always opt to not roll a die. If he does, he automatically is considered to lose the roll. This can come in handy if a player is being charged by an enemy, but wants to be in Close Combat with him, or a similar result.
- Bonuses/Penalties: Bonuses and penalties can alter the result of a die roll.
- When you receive a bonus to a die roll, treat the die roll as though it were X more than it actually is, where X is the value of your bonus. For example, if you roll a 5, and you have a +2 bonus, you are treated as though you rolled a 7.
- Conversely, when you receive a penalty to a die roll, treat the die roll as though it were X less than it actually is, where X is the value of your bonus. For example, if you rolled a 1, and you have a -2 penalty, you are treated as though you rolled a negative 1.
- Close Combat: Battles using the Dice Combat system make use of a state called "Close Combat" to determine which characters are engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and which are standing at range. If you are in Close Combat with a character, you are automatically also in Close Combat with each character that character is in Close Combat with.
- For example, if Speed Girl is currently engaged in Close Combat with Guard Dog, and Symbiotic Suit succeeds in entering Close Combat with her, Symbiotic Suit is now also in Close Combat with Guard Dog.
Roleplay guidelines
The following are several guidelines which should be used to incorporate Dice Combat into the regular roleplay of a scene.
"Immunities"
There is no place in this system for players who posit that their character should be "immune" to the attacks of their opponent, due to some metahuman power to shrug off all damage, move faster than light to dodge blows, or become intangible and untouchable. You are perfectly free to describe "dodging" or "resisting" an attack via one of these methods, but if you are participating in combat using this system, you must subject yourself to the possibility of being defeated. If you feel that your opponent's character is literally unable to harm yours due to a colossal difference in power levels, you should not be using Dice Combat to resolve the conflict, since there is no battle to be had. If the other player disagrees, both of you must resolve your differences in opinion before any conflict can begin. Perhaps the supposedly weak MA/WP scrapper possesses a one-shot item which can temporarily disable your immunity, or uses powers you'd normally be immune to to strike at your allies, prompting you to surrender to protect them (or, to flee the battle by racing to rescue said allies). Creativity is required even more in the Dice Combat system than in text-fighting.
Differences in relative power
While it's certainly true that superheroes with the power to destroy entire planets rub shoulders with normal humans who just have some martial arts training under their belt, these distinctions have no place in a Dice Combat system. The time and place to resolve such power differences is outside the scope of Dice Combat, and should be roleplayed around, rather than brought up in a statistical, dice-based game.
Furthermore, comic books have a long history of producing unlikely winners in "crossover" comic books, such as when Wolverine (a mutant with sharp claws and the ability to heal quickly) defeated Lobo (an immortal creature with strength comparable to Superman, and a limitless healing factor which is even capable of growing entirely new clones of Lobo, each with the same powers) in a DC vs. Marvel crossover comic. The Dice Combat system follows this precedent when dealing with beings with vastly different power levels, accepting that it is a game, not a simulation.
Winning a conflict
The winner of a conflict resolved via this system does not choose what happens to their opponent when they are defeated. "Victory" and "defeat" come in many forms, and winning a Dice Combat match only guarantees a "victory." For example, the loser might escape, injured, to nurse their wounds, or he might be flung off a cliff, to splash down into the water below, with people above saying "No one could survive that!" This is up to the loser, but it's always clear who was the "winner," even if he doesn't rip off his opponent's head with a savage battle cry or riddle his body with bullets.
