In most fighting games you are less likely to do damage to a character farther away as they have more time to react and either block or dodge the attack. Some character's self-projecting attacks explicitly do MORE damage to nearby characters, like Ken and Ryu's hurricane kick that hits multiple times and thus is stronger versus an adjacent foe than one that is half way across the screen and will only take the last hit.
Maybe I'm super out of date with my fighting game knowledge, but I can't think of a single example of this type of move doing more damage if the range is greater. From my POV this just doesn't emulate the type of attack/game you are wanting to emulate.
I've been wanting to wade into this since it started, but haven't had the time.
I'm not going to tell you that "this is the way" or anything like that, but we did the same thing several years ago for a short-lived (but thoroughly enjoyed) "Pit Fighter" campaign, inspired by several popular fighting games.
Here are some things that worked for us:
"Ring outs."
Establish a maximum combat range. You don't have to establish an actual arena (though you certainly can, and we often did. Hence the title of the campaign), but you do need a range that any player moving beyond that range loses by default. This does most of the work of avoiding the "safe" player.
Martial maneuvers.
Build all powers as if they were martial maneuvers. That is to say analyze them closely and assign bonuses and penalties to OCV and DCV that apply each time that power is used. Don't be afraid to add "Open" on the really big ones. "Open" simply means that you are at a default 0 CV until your next Phase. This works best with an AOE: Cone" or "Line" type attack (and generally, you shouldn't allow other AOEs, as for a tight pit fight, they are really, really ugly) behind which the player can "hide" until his next action.
Generally, all ranged attacks should be assumed to land at the start of the attacking character's next Phase. This provides the best simulation of something like launching Terry's Power Wave (Dude, Terry is my _dude_! Excellent choice for an example if you wanted to goad me into joining. ). Technically, he's wide open while the animation scrolls (up to the halfway point of the screen, anyway), but he is still "protected" by hiding behind his ranged attack. To hit him, you have to get _around_ his attack, either over it or by moving to the side (which is why we found that "AOE: Narrow Cone" works as the idea model, power-wise, for most ranged attacks.) However, do _not_ use the "Oh, it's AOE, you have to target the hex at DCV 3" rule. Just ignore that, and target the player as if it were any other ranged attack.
Why?
For one, the CV adjustments for your opponent's (or your own) previous move are meaningless if you're both shooting hexes. And frankly, I never liked that part of the rule anyway. Seriously, though, you just won't get that mix-it-up frantic action feel if you're both knocking down DCV3 hexes.
More on ranged attacks:
As stated, they should be assumed by default to land 0-phase at the start of the attacker's next Phase, before anything else occurs. This is a 0-pt Limitation all ranged attacks are assumed to have. For an Advantage (we did +1, but you have to fit your group), you can build a ranged power that hits "normally." This works well for characters like Stryker from Ultimate MK3 (also called "spray cheese") who's attack is pretty much unavoidable unless you happen to already _be_ blocking. When you do allow this, however, I caution you to require at least an OCV penalty that lasts through the character's next Phase.
When purchased, all attacks-- ranged in particular-- should be defined as "Low / Sweep", "Mid / Torso," or "High / Head." For an additional Advantage (we did +1/2, but again-- you have to suit your group), an attack could _also_ be used as "anti-air." That is, it worked against leaping characters. Looking back, this might not be important; it depends on the flavor you want your game to have. Ranged Attacks, however, should be defined, as one of the most critical parts of the source-material feel is sliding under or leaping over a ranged attack.
Blocking:
We ended up using cards for this. Players who wanted to block turned over either their High Block card or their Low Block. They were Blocking until their next Phase. The cards were to discourage "oops; I meant..." sort of situations. However, if a player had not yet failed a Block, he could switch from High to Low or vice-versa on any Segment, even if he did not have a Phase (it kept him from being a complete sitting duck, and more closely modeled the source material). However, he could not stop Blocking until his next action Phase.
Blocking cost END. It cost the blocker 1/2 the END the attacker spent on his attack. This was a late addition, to encourage "mixing it up" and dodging around attacks. Honestly, you can make it cost whatever END you want; just make sure it costs something. The player could block as many attacks as his END could afford. As a side-effect of blocking, each successful attack that was blocked (yeah; you had to go ahead and roll to hit, just for this next part), forced 1/2" Knockback. (I guess under 6e, it would just be 1". Remember that Combos gave multiple hits. (more on combos in a bit). Additionally, a Blocking character _could_ Set and, depending on the situation, possibly even Brace (though rare) to get a bonus on a counter-attack when he came out of Block. However, he could not Brace if he had swapped from one Block position to another between Phases). A character who was Blocking gained +1 OCV per segment he was blocking-- _not_ to be used towards his Block (against which he was taking a penalty, but to launch a counter-attack immediately upon leaving Block. However, he had to be blocking for more than one of his consecutive Phases to get this bonus. Hard to do, and risky, but there was a pretty nice pay-off for managing. This also applied for Charge moves (more below).
Guard Crush:
So, to discourage too much "playing it safe," we implemented Ring Out, Block costs END, and Block moves you backwards. Every successful Block forced a -1 Penalty (in addition to the rulebook penalties) on the next Block Roll. Any Blocking Character who succeeded and then failed (had to be both. Starting with a fail meant you didn't block fast enough) had been Guard Crushed. Any Character who had been Guard Crushed was _not_ Stunned, but was immediately out of Block and was a zero CV until his next Phase. Any Set, Brace, or "Charge" (more in a moment) he had accumulated were gone.
Charge:
One of the popular and genre-appropriate limitations for attacks was "Charge." Essentially, this is simply the Limitation "Extra Time," bought by Segment. The move was "charged" by blocking (and you know-- Ford Focusing his Kia or something like that. ) a certain number of Phases before being able to use the attack. The Player would first define if it was simply a "Charge" move (any blocking would work. Think Blanka's Roll or Balrog's Turn-around punch or Honda's Hairpedo) or if it had to be a _specific_ charge: High Or Low, like Terry Bogard's Rising Tackle (Charge: Low Charge) or half the original line-up from Eternal Champions. The more Segment's required, the better the bonus. If it was a _specific_ charge, the bonus was a little bit higher. Once "fully charged," the Character had to either use the Power immediately or continue to Charge it. He could not take other actions and then use a previously-charged attack.
Countermoves:
As mentioned under Block, a Character could at any time come directly out of block with an OCV bonus on any counter-attack he wished to launch. Further, he could build a specific Countermove. The primary element in a Counter move was a 15-point Phase. Yes: He can raise his speed for 10 (oh, sorry; I use a much older edition than most people on this board; you may have to translate forward to apply this to 6e) and get an additional Phase every single Turn, that he can just hold. And you're right. And to be honest, I don't remember why we charged 15, but there was a good reason. (Forgive me; it's been like twenty years ago) At any rate, this power was available immediately, like any Held Action-- oh yeah; I remember-- because you could launch it in the middle of someone else's action. Very handy for Combo Breaking, and for Combos. Define the specific "countermove" attack or a tightly-grouped two-or-three attack multipower. Treat "countermove" as a 15-pt element to that power or multipower (control cost only). Add Skill levels as additional elements, if desired. Countermoves got expensive _really_ fast, and were quite popular with the "Charge" limitation (for obvious reasons) Using a Countermove did not affect any Held Action you may have accumulated over the course of the Turn.
To use a countermove, treat as a Block-- that is, it's an OCV-OCV contest. If you win, you successfully hit with your counter; enjoy.
Combos:
one of the things we had to do to really get the feel was get rid of that "an attack action ends your Phase" rule. This allowed for Combos. Any successful attack granted the attacker a +1 OCV his next attack against that opponent, so long as it was immediate-- i.e., chained as in a combo. Your Countermove "extra Phase" could be used to start a Combo, but you couldn't add it after a regular Phase (we allowed that at first, but it became too war-gamey with meticulous planning slowing things down). Held actions could also be used. It could get pretty ugly pretty fast: open with a half-phase countermove, use the second half for a strike, then two more on a held-action then two more on your actual Phase..... And of course, _no one_ wanted to commit simply because being successfully countermoved, or Blocked, or simply missing with any attack in the Combo left you Open (DCV 0 until your next Phase). If you had a Held Action, you could Abort it to Block, or lose it all together. Unless the countermove had a Juggle Element (expensive! Think Mortal Kombat Uppercut). If it had a Juggle Element, you just didn't have a Held Action anymore.
One thing to remember: Each successful attack in a combo suffered reduced damage. Each strike after the first lost 1/2 a DC, cumulative. This was to both keep players from dumping two hundred points into the Flawless Combo, and to more accurately simulate the source material.
Partly as balm for the reducing damage, and partly to make Combos viable, all Combo strikes after the second are 1/2 END for that Combo.
Now I have to move aside to say this:
Countermove vs combo:
One of the nastiest things in the Pit Fighter campaign (glorious though it was! ) was counter moving near the end of a long combo.
As noted, each successful attack in a combo granted a _cumulative_ +1 to the next attack, in addition to whatever OCV bonuses might be built into the individual maneuvers themselves (which were _not_ cumulative, but applied at the time of that strike). Let's just say that you're executing a ten-strike combo on an opponent and your on move 9, which means you're at +8 for your combo bonus and you're going into the Finisher, which you've built with a +4 OCV, giving you a total of +12 right now--
and you get countered. Somehow, you lose (as noted, Countermoves are usually pretty pricey, as most folks dump a lot of Skill Levels into them. They tend to have a lot of Limitations, too). You are now at the _lower_ of 0 DCV _or_ your current DCV minus your current OCV Bonus. Yes; a really long combo can really bite you if it gets screwed up.
This wasn't even so much about the source material as-- again-- a deterrent against building a twenty-six-hit Flawless Combo.
More on Combos:
To keep things interesting and cinematic, require that all successful hits automatically do 1/2" Knockback. Thus, you can get a 2-hit combo without too much trouble. You will need to add an element-- a movement element or a range element-- to get the next couple of hits. Remember that adding a movement element means that maneuver takes the full segment. Adding a Range element (like a weapon or an inch of Stretching) does not: you can still get two hits in the next segment (if you have one). However, your opponent will again be an inch away. With a movement Element, you're still adjacent. With a staff, you can't reach him any longer.
Elements for maneuvers:
Juggle: converts knock back or knock down into knock _up_. Great for keeping combos going, as the target _sort_ of moves away from you, but he's coming right back.
Opponent still moves back, but at 1/2 the distance the dice indicate, and will not land until the end of the next segment (keeping him closer to you, and at a disadvantage.
Combo: implies that this maneuver can be begun from a wide number of positions or stances, and thus can be flowed into from a previous maneuver. Short version: Any maneuver can start a combo. Any maneuver with this 1-point element can be used to keep the combo going.
Finisher: This maneuver can be used whenever you want, of course, but it works as the Combo Element above, _and_ does double-Knockback based on the full damage dice of the attack (in spite of the mandatory damage reduction).
There were a few more, but it's your game; spice it how you like.
Once thing that we _very_ quickly realized was important:
Have your players pre-map all their combos. ALL OF THEM! Put them on cards. When they are ready to play a combo, they must first drop that card, that play it as it reads.
We learned this by noticing just how quickly combos went to a pick-and-choose numbers-crunching, okay, I hit that time so I'm going to combo in another move. Oh; I hit again. Well I'll combo in another move-----"
You know: the "play it safe" thing that just flies all in the face of the feel of the source material.
There was so much more stuff.... We had talked once about possibly writing up an actual "Pit Figher" genre book, but that kind of energy just doesn't stay with you at my age....
Any way, I hope some of this helps, and I hope you have at least one-tenth as much fun with this as we did. Man that was an awesome game.
Hadoken: Blast 12d6 (60 Active Points); Increased by Range (8d6 @ 1-20m, 10d6 @ 21-40m, 12d6 @ 41+m; -1/4)
It's debatable if it's a limitation or not but I imagine in a martial arts themed campaign there's going to be a lot of up close combat so I would let it ride as a limitation.
You do realize that doing less damage up close and more at range … flies in the face of classical mechanics … wherein a hurled or fired missile has more time for gravity, wind, friction, etc. to act upon it and slow it the longer it's in the air… thereby reducing kinetic energy transfer (aka damage to target) at impact? I figured I'd ask, since you're basically proposing re-writing the laws of physics in your game … unless, of course, your Samurai Shodown takes place in the vacuum of space outside of any/all measurable forces of gravity.
Just a quick sanity check to make sure that's what you're after … before actually trying to tackle doing it. And, as a reminder, if the above is true for missiles, then you'll likely need to consider doing away with or adjusting gravity effects and the like for certain forms of movement, too -- unless consistency isn't important to the setting.
Sam On Maui reacted to bigbywolfe in Tying Movement and Range to a physical attack?
