[MUD-Dev] Boring Combat (was:Mass customization in MM***s)

[shren]

On Wed, 17 Jul 2002 Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com wrote:
> From: shren [mailto:shren at io.com]
 
>> There are some interesting possible ramifications of such a
>> system.  Probably the most interesting is that "power techniques"
>> may weed themselves out.  In the average MUD, players tend to
>> seek out and use to exclusion the most effective damage
>> techniques.  Under this system, a powerful but well-known
>> technique would be less effective than a good but obscure
>> technique.

> I like the idea and its something I've had in mind for a system
> too. I didn't think of having bonuses/advantages if the opponent
> knew/was using the form though, which is a nice idea. The forms I
> was envisaging also added abilities in combat such as ability to
> defend against multiple targets, or knock an opponent down etc.

The big thing that one gets out of having known forms cancel is that
you can probably dodge the whole "escalation" thing.  Hit points and
damage seem to spiral constantly upwards in most games, which
creates severe balance challenges.

Like this...  If you have a system where players have 100 hit
points, do 1d10 points of damage per level of sword skill, then
somewhere around swords skill 20 people are killing each other in
one hit.  So you make it so people get more hit points too.  Then
you have a similar escalation war with to hit and armor class.

Now say things cancel out, and a sword does a base 1d10 damage.  You
still have 100 hps.  You have the following skills:

  1 - Precise Slash (+1d10 damage)
  2 - Repressed Twitch Reflex (+3 AC)
  3 - Skilled Feint (+3 to hit)
  4 - Balanced Strike (+2 damage)

You don't need to escalate hitpoints.  Two players with all four of
the above levels will just be at the base 1d10 damage, +0 hit, +0
ac, and the escalation is gone.  Against a weaker opponent, (no
combat skills) they'll hit more, be missed more, and do 2d10+2
damage.

Something interesting that pops up is that suddenly it's useful to
have a few points here and there outside your primary
specialization.  Playing a game like Diablo 2, in the late game most
skills are less than useful unless you have 20 points in the skill.
With a system like this, a mage might pick up Precise Slash, even if
he never intends to fight hand to hand, because by and large it
takes 1d10 off the melee damage, which is probably a worthy use of a
"point".

> My only concern with your approach is how one maintains obscurity
> of technique in a large(ish) game. It tends to make me think of
> Asheron's Call's (urg too many 's) spell economy where everyone
> knew all the secrets after a couple of months.

Non-optimum techniques are obscure.  If there's a 5 step tree called
"Rali's Oblique Angle Fencing Techniques" that gives minor bonuses
compared to other trees, then few will learn it - but then also few
will know how to counter it.

> Perhaps forms could be something players crafted. Extrapolating,
> then one could consider the base components that forms are made up
> of when seeing if they counter each other. i.e. if you were using
> a self crafted for which gave you a 20% resist to knockdown
> (amongst other things - higher level forms could have more
> components), and they tried to use a form which gives a 20% bonus
> to knockdown, then they'd nullify.

Hmm, random thread convergence.  I don't really know how to go about
this, because you can't easily cancel techniques if people are just
making them up.

You could let everyone have thier very own technique, that got more
powerful the more people they taught it to (because they help
improve the technique).  If just one person knows it, it's a weak
technique that nobody will ever be able to counter.  If a few people
know it, it's a little more powerful.  If everyone knows it, it's
extrodinairily powerful and completely useless at the same time.
Such a system would be very exploitable by mule.

--
<a href="http://www.shren.net/.nail.html">
The client needs a tool built. He sends you a description of a nail...
</a>

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