ABS12: Combat Second test

All the changes from this page will be added to the master game page at A Basic System 12 (ABS12).

This is a replicated test of the same test performed in the post Combat first test; Variable damage?; Initiative. I am testing the features implemented since that last test, such as variable damage, to see if it has any effect on the gaming experience.

Getting ready to test a battle

The stats are now.

Fighter Stats

1PL Fighter

Fighter - sword, plate, +2 PL life, +2 rescue, +3 speed

To build the fighter, the current process is.
PL Life = PL + DL + PL Life bonus
1 + 1 + 2 = 4 PL Life

PL Speed = I'm not quite sure about the formula yet. It may be PL + DL + DL Bonus.
I assigned 4 speed.

Test

Battle of two fighters:

Fighter A; 1PL; 4PL life; 6PL defense; 4PL speed; 1d12/3 damage; 2 rescue

Fighter B; 1PL; 4PL life; 6PL defense; 4PL speed; 1d12/3 damage; 2 rescue

Turn 1

Fighter A attacks Fighter B. Attacker A rolls a 12 + 1 + 1 + (7/3) = 16 attack. Fighter B defends rolling a 9 + 1 + 1 + 6 = 16 defense. Tie goes to the defender. Attacker B successfully defends against the attack.

Fighter B now attacks Fighter A. Attacker B rolls a 4 + 1 + 1 + (8/3) = 9 attack. Fighter B defends rolling a 5 + 1 + 1 + 6 = 13 defense. Fighter B easily defends against the attack.

Already I notice that the nature of the combat is much different. No one has hit yet. Hopefully someone will, or else I may have to adjust the system.

Turn 2
Fighter A attacks Fighter B. Attacker A rolls a 9 + 1 + 1 + (6/3) = 13 attack. Fighter B defends rolling a 4 + 1 + 1 + 6 = 12 defense. Fighter A's blow of (6/3) damage penetrates causing the 2 damage. 4PL Life - 2 PL Damage = 2 PL Life.

Fighter B now has 2PL life remaining.

This is much different than the instant kill that happened last session. The combat is challenging and an advantage is given to the defender, in the case of the fighter.

Turn 3
Fighter A attacks Fighter B. Attacker A rolls a 1 + 1 + 1 + (9/3) = 6 attack. Fighter B doesn't need to roll a defense because 6 will equal the 6 defense will beat it without even rolling. I don't have any fumble rules yet. This most likely would be a fumble. I will say that Fighter a slips and falls to the ground.

Note to self: Automatic Success: An attacker/skill performer rolling a 1 is an automatic miss or fail. An attacker/skill performer rolling a 12 will hit or succeed unless the defender also rolls a 12, in which case the defender wins.

I want to also test the advantage combat roll now that the Fighter A has fallen down and at disadvantage. Fighter B is at advantage.

Fighter B attacks fallen Fighter A. Attacker B rolls a 1 and ll. At an advantage, 11 is higher. 11 + 1 + 1 + (10/3) = 16 attack. Fighter A attacks at a disadvantage rolling a 8 and 4. At a disadvantage, 4 is lower. 4 + 1 + 1 + 6 = 12. Fighter B's blow of (9/3) damage penetrates causing 3 points of damage. 4PL Life - 3PL Damage = 1 PL Life

Fighter A has 1 PL Life. Fighter B has 2 PL Life.

So far, the advantage and disadvantage roll seems to work. Fighter B would have defended the blow if it was  not at disadvantage and taken the first roll of 8.

Note to self: I don't have any rules for correcting disadvantage or standing up. For now, I will just say that correcting a fumble takes one full turn of no attack - in which they can also defend using a regular roll.

Turn 4
Fighter A gets up.

Fighter B attacks the now standing Fighter A. Attacker B rolls a 2 + 1 + 1 + (7/3) = 7 attack. Fighter A can defend regularly and rolls a 3 ... 3 + 6 will be over 7 so It's  a miss.

Turn 5
Fighter A attacks Fighter B. Attacker B rolls a 2 + 1 + 1  + (2/3) = 5 attack. Fighter B will automatically defend against the attack.

Note to self: If an attacker cannot exceed over the defense armor, the blow will miss automatically. The defender does not need to roll a defensive roll.

Fighter B attacks Fighter A. Fighter B rolls a 9 + 1 + 1 + (9/3) = 14 attack. Fighter A rolls a 2 + 1 + 1 + 6 = 10 defense. Fighter B's blow of (9/3) penetrates Fighter A's defense easily delivering the killing blow. I think because the blow was 4 over the defense, there should be some spectacular blow.

Note to self: If a combat blow 4 or more over the defense, the blow should be spectacularly cinematic. A cinematic blow would also have applied to the Fighter B hitting in turn 3, although it would not have cause death. This rule may be adjust in the future if 4 or more is too little. It may also be a bad decision when considering the other classes. I'll have to test them out and see if it creates too much of unbalance.

The sword pierces the fighter's chest through the heart burying the blade entirely through the fighter. The heart emerges, stuck on the end of the blade, still pulsing. 

Fighter B wins and earns 1 EP for killing a 1PL opponent.

End of Fight

Analysis

The variable damage has corrected the kill in one swing for the most part, unless the attacker gets very lucky.

This is a better combat than the last one.

I was also able to make a few rule notes to add to the game file: fumble, recovery, automatic miss, and spectacularly cinematic

Attack Speed

At some point I would like speed to affect how quickly a character attacks instead of just doing turn based actions. This would set up the ability to haste based on magic or potion as well - which would help the wizard. It's something to consider. I'm not just sure how one would be simple to implement.

Summary

The combat I think is better than the first trial. Some issues still need to be addressed or explained. I also have to test two different Descriptions to see how the system works balance wise.

A Basic System 12 (ABS12)
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