Looking for RPG's with "different" combat.

[I_luv_magick]

I am looking for RPG's with innovative combat system, or wargame-like combat system, or just "different" combat from usual. Any genre/system is fine. Combat doesn't have to be fun/playable/flawless, I am interested in looking at different approaches to combat in RPG's. Thanks!

[Onix]

Take a look at Icar's hand to hand combat. Quite different. It would be awesome if rob were to extend the concept to other aspects of the game. (Strafe, duck, aim, cover, strafe)

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

Welcome to the site.

I should ask - what do you mean by different? Are you looking for speed, detail, unique maneuvers, ease of use or something else? Should you have something in mind, I can try to help you adjust your system to fit your game's theme.

If you are looking for a wealth of maneuvers and hand to hand styles, the martial arts games and are both excellent free games. Final Stand is more of a 1970s kung-foo movie feel and simply combines an archetype, a style, and a form to create a character (declaring you are a "mysterious stranger of the Iron Tiger school is about 1/3 of char-gen done). Thrash is more in depth, and is functionally based on fighting games like Streetfighter and Tekken - with a huge selection of martial arts, ways to combine moves, rage bars, and even special finishers.

Speaking of emulating styles, is the table top rpg of console based rpgs - the old turn based and menu driven games like Final Fantasy.

is another interesting case. It is d100 based, one roll determines both if you hit (over 100 or not), how hard, and where on the target the strike lands. (The last bit can be manipulated a bit depending on skill, and damage is location based as well as deadly). My own "Dead and Back" also has a one roll resolution that combines to hit and damage.

The is excruciatingly detailed in combat - its actually based on a late 90s computer game. As the linked review points out, there are a lot of weapons, and detailed stats for armor, as well as mods for range and perception (you are required to use a hex map for combat). If you're looking for a small scale wargame, its pretty close. (There is an actual Fallout styled wargame "Fallout Warfare" as well.)

is a cyberpunk RPG based on the game "Warrior, Rouge, and Mage". Combat isn't too unusual, but its notable for its two manual presentation. The cyberware, guns, and other toys are in a second booklet so one person can make a character while another shops for gear which speeds up everyone getting ready for the fight.

I hope you find what you're looking for.

[I_luv_magick]

@Onix Thanks for replying! It's very unusual, I've never seen something like that before. Looks fun to play and very balanced ( IMHO without buying combos it would be not that good, and initiative works great ).
@Chainsaw Aardvark Thanks for replying! That's a lot of RPG's to read through! I have not read through many RPG's and just want to get a general feeling of "how can you do it, and how far you can push it", to check out different styles and approaches. I usually have troubles with big combat rules( have never managed to read through JAGS for example ), but maybe I will like bigger rules more later. For now I want to find combat which I like the most. Like the idea of emulating console based RPG's, will definitely check it out.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

JAGs is a bit over complicated, so it probably wasn't a good place to start. Final Round is super simple, Wyred is average, and both are short enough to read through quickly. Exiles is longer and a litte unconventional - but not bad once you understand it and most of the text is world background. Fallout and Thrash are rather more complicated - especially the former, which was meant for a computer to do the calculations - as well as large documents.

Most combat systems tend to be an attribute plus skill plus die roll vs target number (to hit number, armor class, etc.) This can occasionally lead to problems with one stat becoming overly important - for example Reflexes in Cyberpunk 202 determines dodge, initiative, and to-hit. (Its even worse in Mekton, where that determines mecha piloting as well.)

Now that I think of it, (near the bottom of the page) an interesting game to read (though its in a bit of an odd format - its designed to be a printed booklet, not on screen). Most of the section dedicated to combat is about how to stage an assassination without giving the other guy a fair chance, since an actual confrontation is rather dangerous.

[Onix]

Just reading CA's comment on one attribute becoming overly important in combat and musing. It would be neat to have a game that's focused on a single genre like Mekton and have several interlocking attributes but make them unconventional. For example, have an attribute for Creativity, Style or Lateral Thinking that could be used to boost an attack but as a downside, if the rolls fall badly, could end up reducing the character's chance for success.

Translating this mechanic into narration would be fun for some, but others would not know how to make odd results make sense.

Just an idea.

[vulpinoid]

If you want something a bit different, have a look at my NaGa DeMon project.... It's not an RPG per se, but some might say it's arguably more of an RPG than 4th edition D&D.

I've devised the combat in it as a step along my eternal path of creating a real-time, but realistic analogue combat system. To those ends, it seems pretty good...not perfect but probably not like anything you've seen before.

As another option, I developed was for my game FUBAR, where everything is trait based and combat is resolved like any other skill or action. The emphasis is on how things impact the ongoing story...it's a free download ( or an ), so it couldn't hurt to have a look.

[Chris Johnstone]

It's quite old now, but The Riddle of Steel RPG caused a stir when it first appeared way back when. It was mostly geared for dueling between two people, if I recall right. There's a quick start rules available here:

http://www.driftwoodpublishing.com/support/

Also, I think Seven Seas has a combat system geared (fairly successfully) for swashbuckling, which makes it a bit different from the usual way of doing things.

It's been a while since I've had time to drop in here and read and reply to anything. It's nice to see conversations all still ticking along.

In terms of free games, Warrior & Wizard, The Guide to Aventure and Heroic Golden Turbulence look potentially interesting in terms of combat rules, though I haven't played them so I can't vouch for how playable they are.

https://docs.google.com/document/previe ... G24p05Fq24

http://ftp.funet.fi/pub/doc/games/rolep ... /TheGuide/

http://web.archive.org/web/199902090432 ... tindex.htm

Chris

[I_luv_magick]

Thanks everyone! That's a whole lot of games to read through!

[apness]

Toyed with the idea of a D&D Companion style 'War Machine' combat system. You pick a maneuver, your opponent picks one, and you cross reference in the middle to see the bonus/penalty each combatant gets. Certain creatures with low/no training would be limited to their options (hack, charge, wild slashing) whilst others might have feint, thrust, swap hands (e.g. Inigo Montoya "I... am not left-handed." then [Moves his sword to his right hand and gains an advantage]) and so on.

Different weapons would have different options, but the danger is descending deep into the madness that is Rolemaster. Or Chartmaster as known to many. Pages and pages of weapon vs weapon charts. Makes me blink and eyes glaze just thinking about it... Must be a way of simplifying things (half a dozen charts, weapon rating is a-f with a being a dagger, f being great axe or something equally massive and heavy).