Last time, I described the basic mechanisms underlying my tactical game. To quickly reiterate: hex-based movement, each turn= one action (move, change weapons, use ability, regenerate hitpoints), six-sided action dice. This time, let’s look at some sample character cards and let two characters battle it out without using any abilities just yet. Hopefully this test will give me an idea of whether or not this game is likely to meet my objectives.
Before I get too far, I should explain how the dice work. I’m using six-sided dice configured like this:
- Sides 1-4 are weapons. Specifically: Pistol, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle. When attacking, you score a hit when you roll the weapon your character is holding.
- Side 5 is a generic “hit” that counts no matter what weapon you are holding.
- Side 6 is a “Regen” roll that restores a hitpoint to your physical or armor HP (physical HP first). For now, this counts every time a player rolls it, but I may change this to something like “only when your character is in cover” or something like that.
Players can also choose “Regeneration” as their action during a turn. They would roll their current attack dice and use every current weapon, hit, or regen result to restore a hitpoint.
A Character Card will look like this:
- Name
- Hitpoints: Armor/Physical
- Weapon 1: [Short Range]/[Long Range]
- Weapon 2: [Short Range]/[Long Range]
- Movement
- Native Ability 1
- Native Ability 2
First character will be Garrus, everyone’s favorite vindictive lawman/vigilante Turian. For the sake of this pre-alpha test, I’m ignoring the Native Abilities to see just how the gun combat works without them:
- Name: Garrus Vakarian
- HP: 4/6
- Assault Rifle: 5/3
- Sniper Rifle: 2/7
- 4 Hexes
Let’s pit Garrus against an enemy who counters his distance-based combat by getting up close and personal, someone from my favorite Mass Effect race: The Krogan. Grunt, grab your gear!
- Name: Grunt
- HP: 5/8
- Assault Rifle: 5/3
- Shotgun: 8/1
- 3 Hexes
Normally, I would put these two against each other on a field of battle with cover, kill zones and strategic choke points but I just want to see how well the dice mechanic and movement works. I’ll place them sixteen hexes apart and for now, set close range to three hexes, long range is anything more than that. We’ll start them both off holding their most logical long range weapons – the Sniper Rifle for Garrus, the Assault Rifle for Grunt. Grunt won the coin toss, he’ll go first. Let’s fight!
- Turn 1: Grunt moves three hexes forward (now thirteen away). Garrus fires his Rniper Rifle, rolling seven action dice and scoring two hits and two regen rolls, which do nothing since he’s at full health. Grunt’s HP is now 3/8.
- Turn 2: Grunt moves three hexes forward (now ten away). Garrus fires his Sniper Rifle, scoring three hits. Grunt’s HP is now 0/8
- Turn 3: Grunt moves three hexes forward (now seven away). Garrus fires his Sniper Rifle, scoring no hits this turn (it happens!). Grunt is still at 0/8.
- Turn 4: Grunt moves three hexes forward (now four away). Garrus fires his Sniper Rifle, scoring two hits. Grunt’s HP is now 0/6.
- Turn 5: Grunt moves three hexes forward (now only one space away, right in Garrus’ face). Garrus switches to his Assault Rifle.
- Turn 6: Grunt switches to his Shotgun. Garrus fires his Assault Rifle, scoring three hits. Grunt’s HP is now 0/3.
- Turn 7: Grunt takes a Regenerate roll, rolling his current attack dice but applying the hits as regen points for his physical and armor hitpoints. He rolls a generic hit, a regen, and two Shotgun hits, giving him a total of four HP to add to his current HP and bringing him to 0/7. Garrus fires his Assault Rifle, scoring three hits and taking Grunt’s HP to 0/4.
- Turn 7: Grunt opts for another regen roll, this time rolling enough cumulative hits for another four points, brining him to 0/8. Garrus fires his Assault Rifle, scoring only one hit this time, putting Grunt at 0/7.
- Turn 8: Grunt is tired of getting shot, so like any good Krogan, he’s going to put his Shotgun to good use. He fires, rolling 8 attack dice and scoring no hits but catching a regen point bringing his HP to 0/8. Garrus shoots, scoring three hits and taking Grunt to 0/5.
- Turn 9: Grunt fires his Shotgun, scoring three hits and taking Garrus’ HP to 1/6. Garrus fires, scoring one hit, taking Grunt to 0/4.
- Turn 10: Grunt fires, scoring two regen points and bringing his own HP to 0/6, as well as a hit against Garrus that fries his armor, putting his HP at 0/6 as well. Garrus fires, scoring one hit, taking Grunt to 0/5.
- Turn 11: Grunt fires, scoring two regen points (0/8 now) and two hits, putting Garrus at 0/4. Garrus fires back, scoring two regen points (0/6) and two hits against Grunt, taking him to 0/6.
- Turn 12: Grunt shoots, rolling two regens (0/8) and three hits, taking Garrus to 0/3. Garrus takes a regen roll, gaining only one regen point and taking him to 0/4.
- Turn 13: Grunt fires, rolling two regens (2/8) and scoring four points against Garrus, killing him and claiming victory for himself.
Winner: Grunt!
Lessons Learned:
- The regeneration roll is a lifesaver and should probably have some restriction attached to it. My instinct says that I should add a rule that a player can only roll for regeneration when they are in cover. I should nix its effect in combat or have it count as another hit.
- Timing was pretty good; the whole thing took about five minutes. It will take longer with actual pieces & dice, but the gun combat is simple enough that it shouldn’t drag down overall gameplay.
- The character with more hitpoints & stronger armor won the shootout, no surprise. This means that Abilities and tactical mechanics like cover are going to be very important, which is exactly what I’m aiming for.
Next time, I’ll explore abilities and other unique aspects of the characters themselves. Happy gaming until then!