In an open-world adventure game, combat happens. Making it interesting is the hard bit. I've got to the point where I can playtest my own planned gamebook, so now experimenting with combat options.
Continuing on from previous Gamebook Diaries.
Gamebook Combat
A few gamebooks, such as Heart of Ice and Nightshift, don't have combat. But traditional ones like Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf do. And open-world gamebooks such as Fabled Lands, Legendary Kingdoms and Steam Highwayman certainly do. VulcanVerse is an exception, treating combat as another skill check.
Combat is often a grinding affair where you whittle down Stamina / Wounds / Health. Either whoever gets the highest in an opposed roll (Fighting Fantasy) or taking turns to attempt to damage each other (Fabled Lands, Steam Highwayman)
Lone Wolf is more efficient, where both sides take a certain amount of damage depending on the random number and difference in skill levels.
A few gamebooks have more interesting combat options. The group dynamic of Legendary Kingdoms (usually 4 characters), Kick/Throw/Punch dynamic of Way of the Ninja, or decks of Clockwork City, where each round gives different options and each monster has a different deck of cards.
Making Each Roll Count
In many cases gamebook combat takes longer than it needs to, with slow progress. Each round simply hoping to roll better than the opposition. A fight against 4 opponents in Fighting Fantasy is not something to look forward to!
The worst offenders to these are when you make rolls that do nothing. Such as not hitting an opponent in Fabled Lands, or getting a draw in Fighting Fantasy. Often it's tempting to skip over the combat with an auto-win.
At least in Lone Wolf, each round someone takes damage, so the state of opponents is always different from one round to the next.
One of my objectives for writing open-world gamebooks is to make combat quick. For Badgerstone Briar I'm using Success with a Consequence. Like Lone Wolf, each round something happens. You harm your opponent, get harmed, or both sides take harm.
My current rules for a round of combat are...
- Miss... You have lost this round. Gain Shaken. If you already have Shaken, tick the next free slot on the Wounds track.
- Partial... You and your foe both score hits. Reduce your opponents Wounds by 1. Then, gain Shaken. If you already have Shaken, tick the next free slot on the Wounds track.
- Success... You score a hit on your opponent(s). Reduce your opponents Wounds by 1
Adding Combat Options
My other objective is to give some tactical options for the combat. Or at least some choices.
Legendary Kingdoms, Way of the Ninja and Endless Destinies - Clockwork City do this. The cost in Legendary Kingdoms and Clockwork City is making the combat a lot longer. In Clockwork City this is often fun, but in Legendary Kingdoms rolling dice pools of 10-20 d6s multiple times can get tedious.
In Fighting Fantasy you have a little agency with spending Luck points to increase or reduce damage. And sometimes you can Escape at the cost of 2 Stamina.
In some games you don't have any of these options, simply hoping the dice gods are in your favour!
Currently I'm trying to add tactical options / nuances without slowing down combat much with...
- Ranged Combat before the fight, such as throwing a dagger or loosing an arrow before Melee. If your character has been ambushed or there's a crowd it might not be an option. I'm also experimenting with a couple foes where you can choose entirely to engage in ranged combat.
- Option to Flee. While it's not heroic, that's not the flavour I'm going for. I'm adding the chance to run away at a potential cost from many combats.
- Option of Losing Companions. You can travel with up to two companions, and some of these can help in combat (not Jamie the Goat though). They can also take blows intended for you, giving you as the player the dilemma of potentially losing allies permanently.
- Re-Rolls. One character resource is currently Luck, which can be spent to re-roll dice results. It's a fairly limited resource but it gives another lever to play with.
- Changing Combat State. Often resource loss is linear, such as Stamina going down towards 0 in Fighting Fantasy or Endurance in Lone Wolf. I'm hoping to add a little more variation with a few bits
- The Shaken condition. This is what happens when the character first takes damage in the fight. It's similar to the Shaken condition from Savage Worlds RPG, or Hit-Protection from Into the Odd. You get it back at the end of the fight, so it's a temporary loss
- The Wounded Condition. The Wounds track is currently simple. A character can be Bruised and then becomes Wounded. At which point the combat becomes harder as they take a -1 die penalty to all rolls. So there's an incentive to run away or let a companion take the blow or to reroll before this happens
- In some fights become easier or harder partway through (normally adding or subtracting a die). Such as cutting down one of the two bandits, the briar beast is now severely wounded, or another two goblins join the fray after two rounds.
- Losing but Continuing On. Many gamebooks have perma-death (Fighting Fantasy, Fabled Lands without resurrection contract), but modern gamebooks often let you continue on at a cost. You gain Scars in VulcanVerse, Friends can help you out in Steam Highwayman and you pay a couple of coins in Clockwork City. There will usually be the option to continue on too in Badgerstone Briar.
I'm also planning on experimenting with a one-off use items, a couple of different weapon properties and different levels of armour. Considering spells similar to Legendary Kingdoms and trying out other gamebooks for any more ideas.
I've still got to figure out Shields!
A Sample Combat
A sample combat from the current version of Badgerstone Briar.
A few sneaks from the Inn challenge you. You vaguely remember insulting them while a little drunk.
COMBAT! This combat starts in Melee.
Add +1 die if you have a companion without Timid.
If you cause a wound you may run back inside to the inn, --> 22. If you cause 2 Wounds to the Sneaks, add +1 die for the rest of the fight.
SNEAKS - CHALLENGE +0d, WOUNDS 3
If you lose --> 118. If you win, you may take a mace, a long dagger and a cloak. --> 40
Finishing Up
I might do a follow-up in a future Gamebook Diaries.
What's the favourite combat system you've come across in Gamebooks?
