Sinister RPG is the newest in the line of games developed for Third Eye Games. For this one, you get to come along for the ride.
So, this week I’ve been working on possible ideas for Sinister’s combat engine. It’s already firmly set with the DGS covering the skills and attributes pretty darn well. But figuring out the exacts of what parts or combat I may want to take from the classic DGS or the the DGS-Lite, combined with what will need to be brand new, has been quite taxing.
Raichu Putting the Smack Down
The combat tracker (used in for API and Wu Xing) is the biggest thing to consider. It has worked very successfully in those two games to deliver really awesome strategic combat, which a game like Sinister with monster battles screams for. I’ve been thinking about creating a modified version, but am coming to the conclusion that this game may need something slight more freeform for it to really work. I’m not abandoning the idea of a modified Combat Tracker for the end result, but it is not in the plans at this stage.
Instead, I’m working on a action point pool, where each trainer gets a certain number of points to spend on their actions reactions throughout the Round. If they run out of points, that leaves their monster vulnerable to attacks that they cannot react to, so there’s going to be some strategy involved with how they spend their points. Also considering how the relationship with the monster and their current Rank will affect this pool. A lot of that will come out of playtesting to get numbers right, so spending too much time on that isn’t necessary.
The other thing that I’m realizing is that there will be a lot of work put into the different attacks and builds for each individual monster to ensure a truly different experience based on the monster you choose. I’m SO excited to be getting the grit of the system, even though I’m very much int he beginning stages.
Stay tuned for more Sinister goodness and feel free to chime in on your thoughts of what would make for a great combat system for Sinister.
Until next time.
I think action points are a great concept and really help trainers matter in combat. I think this could contribute to nonparallel fights, such as a person choosing to unload his points into a single big monster against another trainer using several smaller but quicker critters, hopefully with both sides being about evenly matched.
I have a couple mechanical ideas. First, it may be better to have a trainer’s relationship with a monster reduce the cost to monster’s actions rather than modify the action pool. I fee this would be more manageable as monsters are swapped into and out of combat. Also, having a default action for monsters they perform if not assigned any actions, such as a minor temporary buff to a particular stat, based on their nature or personality could be a nice way to have a mechanic evocative of the video games without being derivative.
1) Agreed there. Now that I think about it, I think the balance could work very well the way you suggested. Your Rank giving you more points, your relationship with your monster reduces cost. So, in essence, if you are a high ranked player with an awesome friendship with your monster, you’ll likely wipe the floor with someone who is just high ranking or just has a good relationship. Yes, this is shaping up well.
2) Default actions will likely be based off of their Monster Type (http://eloythesaint.com/2011/09/16/monster-types/), yes. Still figuring out exact examples, but its in the works.