Aquatic and non-aquatic team-up mechanic

[Cadh20000]

No idea why but while I was laying ½ awake tossing and turning last night and this morning this was going through my head…

I’m thinking about a game mechanic where humans and mer-people team up, but the mers can only survive for a short while on dry land and the humans can only survive for a short while under water. Outside of battle if party members from the other environment are present a countdown for how long the air/water will last continues outside of battle and every action in battle costs air/water, if the air/water runs out the party members who need it will faint until you can get them back to their own environment.

When in battle the amount of air/water consumed by an action would vary according to the power/strength of that action so going all-out right from the start may take fewer moves but will cost more air/water per move and the player would have to balance that with how long they think it will take them to reach the other environment.

I imagine it would work best with a game world that is mostly islands or full of lakes and waterways so a person is never too far from land or water, but it could be tweaked.

What do you all think? Would it add to the challenge in a fun way or just frustrate?

 

[Andar]

Can be interesting if done correctly, and if your maps take a civilization like that into account.


It will probably require more balancing work because the balancing will now be affected by map structure (where to go water/land) instead of only looking at pure battlestats.

 

[Cadh20000]

Maybe add in items that upgrade how long you can remain in one environment, such as water or air tanks.
 

if your maps take a civilization like that into account.

 
I was thinking that the cities would be mostly along shorelines with canals and streets side by side and even large clear water pipes allowing the mer-folk to reach upper floors or pools in the town square so they and humans can participate alongside each other in large events. Think Abe Sapien from Hellboy, 2 legs, 2 arms, not 1 fish tail and 2 arms and therefore able to walk on their own feet rather than requiring a tank/cart or something to travel above the surface.
 

 
Of course, there is no guarantee that I'll ever make use of it, but maybe someone else would.