Turn by Turn combat in PBEM games

[phoenix240]

Has anyone tried getting players to state their characters actions on a Turn by Turn basis instead of Phase by Phase? They could be a detailed as they wished with If/Then style statements if desired. Then the GM would run the turn asking questions if something comes up that he feel he can't adjucate with player input. This is something I was thinking of trying in my PBEM games. I don't think it would work very well in Face to Face (and combat speed hasn't been a major issue for me in that venue).

[psyber624]

Re: Turn by Turn combat in PBEM games

 

For HERO system I don't think that would work very well at all, and at the end of the day could easily result in a lot of frustrated players. You also GREATLY limit the power of certain actions, and increase the power of others (Using any maneuver that 1/2's your DCV, for instance, is far less of an issue if noone can immediately respond to that). At most running it Phase by Phase (everyone has to say what they are doing this phase, they don't get to wait till their Dex/Ego comes up to decide what to do) is as far as I would push it.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Turn by Turn combat in PBEM games

 

I think players would first need to write up a basic 'playbook' of their character's common reactions to situations. They would also need to define their general mode of fighting for that particular combat Turn (defensive, opportunistic, offensive). The latter is straight from the Amber Diceless RPG. Finally, the players would need to define their character's primary goal (capture badguy, protect innocent bystander, stop magufin, etc...).

 

Given enough input from the players the GM should be able to handle this. It's just going to be a lot different than the typical HERO combats. It could turn out extremely well. Just depends on how much work the GM is willing to put forth.

[Kirby]

Re: Turn by Turn combat in PBEM games

 

In a PBEM, it might actually not be that bad. I would just add that you would need to give the actions of the NPCs as well to the players. Depending on how quickly your players respond, you might have the slowest NPCs and PCs listed first, then move up.

 

Example: For whatever reason combat begins. Your PCs have DEXes of 21, 24 and 30. NPCs are 15, 15, 15, 23 and 27. You list what the DEX 15s are going to do, then PC 21 tells you what he'll do. Then DEX 24 gets to respond to both of those as well as DEX 23 NPCs. Then you decide on 27 NPC and DEX 30 gets to respond.

 

Of course, in a PBEM, that may be more "paperwork" than you want to deal with.

[phoenix240]

Re: Turn by Turn combat in PBEM games

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I should probably make a few pregen characters to test this out with.