Tuesday 17 February 2009

Another Rules Excerpt

So, I've been quiet for a while. Apologies. But Elements Eight continues to be written.

Mostly, I've been struggling with rules. Particularly combat. And I need some feedback, I think.

So I've attached an excerpt from the current rulebook. This contains attributes, skills and combat. If anyone feels like taking a look, I'd be very grateful. Unfortunately, this isn't a finished product, so apologies if it's difficult to figure out the rules (but please get back to me on what's hard to understand).

It's all based on attacks and defences. Some defences you can only use a limited number of times per round. If you're a lightly armoured fighter, you'll probably rely on more agile defences like Dodge and Avoid. If you're heavily armoured, you'll probably have Parry and Deflect.

The problem for lightly armoured fighters is that they can only use Dodge once per round, and if they are forced to use avoid (i.e. are attacked twice in one round) then they lose their attack.

Generally, this means that heavily armoured fighters do much better against multiple opponents.

It also opens up the possibility of catching a lightly armoured fighter with Counter Attack. Usually, you only get one attack per round, but Counter Attack allows you to attack a second time if you successfully Parried an attack.

There are no critical hits. Instead, there are Consequences. These are specific effects which can improve your circumstances. You have a certain amount of control over what Consequences come from attacking because the Consequence is defined by the weapon you are using.

Anyway, take a look at the attached excerpt if you have time, and any feedback is welcome. Click here to download it.