Combat Mechanic Ideas?

[LordOfPotatos]

What combat mechanics have you used/come up with/liked in RPGs?
I can't get enough despite already having way too many for one game.

Some of my favorites are CTB from FFX and 1-Mores from Persona, so I implemented both in my game. After weeks of messing around in notepad++.
I also like each element having a status effect attatched, which I first saw in tales of.
There's ailment technical damage from Persona 5.
And the Mix ability from FFX-2.

As for original mechanics I made a character that works around drawing cards from a tarot deck in battle, gaining abilities depending on what cards and combinations you have in your hand.

And many more I'll probably spread out into a cluple of games.

 

[Zerothedarklord]

particularly, I really enjoy ATB, and the Weapon Unleash mechanic from Golden Sun

 

[PoptartPresident]

You can derive whatever you'd like from these things I list, but you did ask for ideas! So here they go.
(Based off games I like a lot, and played).

-Omori's Rock-Paper-Scissors system. Where Happy beats Angry, Angry beats Sad, and Sad beats Happy. Yet at the same time, being Sad, Happy, or Angry gave you stat buffs/debuffs just for being that emotion. It was an extremely interesting mechanic that I wish I saw manipulated more in-game. I can't recall other games that've done a system like that. I'd love to see someone expand on something like that.

-Armor/Weapons that require usage of something else besides MP/TP.
For instance in the legend of Zelda Wind Waker, they have a unique invincible armor that uses rupees instead of magic bar. I thought it was a great way to use rupees since rupees weren't really that used. (You got an over-abundance of them). I'm not necessarily saying 'use money as a cost' but perhaps having more unique things that are needed to make something really good happen besides the generic MP/TP is always interesting in my eyes.

-Having party members that have unique attributes besides stats and movesets.
For instance...(and this is just an idea I think about sometimes). I wonder what it would be like to have a normal HP-based party member, but you also have another party member who doesn't have HP. Instead, they have "10 hits" where no matter how strong the hit is, 1 hit = 1 hit off their hit bar. While one hit could deal 200 HP of damage, it will still deal '1 hit' to this particular party member. Yet an enemy that deals 2-5 hits that deal 10 HP of damage each would wipe off 2-5 hits from that hitbar...yikes!
It could make for some very interesting gameplay and strategy for the game it's used in.

And not just that of course, but in general, just giving someone in the party really unique things that make them stand out, or strategy-changing. I think this idea of uniqueness was mostly inspired by Jeff from EarthBound. Since he has a decent attack at best, but his special skill is his IQ that allows him to fix really busted gadgets that only HE can use (slime generator, HP suckers, bazookas), etc...
I'm sure things like this definitely require more work in a core battle system, but I would love to see stuff like this more often in battle games. It's so easy to fall into the typical setup of 'tank, mage, healer, debuffer' etc.

 

[Matrien]

I really like when games have mechanics for upgrading the base stats of weapons and other gear so that they can be used throughout the game. This means I as a player do not have to stop using a piece of gear that has an effect I love just because its stats eventually become obsolete compared to items found later in the game. I also feel that it can potentially lead to more interesting gameplay choices by requiring developers to create more unique effects to differentiate each piece of equipment rather than simply ramping up the stats from one to another. A potential downside, however, is that some players will simply stick with early game items, upgrading them along the way, never actually trying any of the other options, especially if the mechanism for upgrading is seen as too expensive in player time and/or resources.

 

[LunarWingCloud]

Thanks to Yanfly's plugins I have devoted to an ATB system used in Final Fantasy IV-IX, as my earliest introduction to non-RPG turn based -ish games were Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, and Legend of Dragoon (which is flat turn based).

I have been mostly trying to make the most of the RTP assets for mechanics, like status ailments and debuffs, but the Yanfly plugins have given me more flexibility.

I have been incorporating what I can mostly on a case by case basis. I have skills that can target one unit or the whole party, I have some accessories planned that can boost certain elemental damage of the holder as well as cut damage taken from that element, bunch of other small things. One particular skill I am fond of is adapting Quick Hit from FFX where it is done nearly instantly and then sets the user's ATB gauge to nearly full afterwards

 

[Ami]

for me

• Attack > Melee (Without Stamina),With Weapons,Skills/Spells
• Support > Healing & Support Spells
• Guard (or the others)
• Item

that's what i got in my work

 

[ZombieKidzRule]

My absolute preference would be, if there is a way to do it:

• Evade/Dodge system based on reality (size, speed, agility, armor, etc.) I won't keep listing factors.
• Parry/Deflection system based on realistic factors.
• Guard/Defend/Protect system based on realistic factors.
• Penetration system based on realistic factors.
• Armor durability & repair system based on realistic factors.
• Weapon durability & repair system based on realistic factors.
• State/Status system based on realistic factors.
• Weakness system based on realistic factors.
• Spell system that allows casters to protect themselves like tank types.
• Range/Reach system based on realistic factors.

There are probably more, but they would all be focused on realism.

Of course many players would probably hate such a system because it would mean that combat would take a lot longer with more evading, dodging, parrying, deflecting, guarding, defending, protecting, non-penetration, damage armor/shield HP instead of character, etc.

And, personally, I would want to see that feedback in combat. I would want to know these things are happening, not just that I keep "missing" or something similar.

Your attack hits the dragon, but it doesn't penetrate its scales. Or your attack hits that guy in full plate mail, but you only damage his armor. Or, if you hit hard enough you damage the armor and do blunt force damage to his HP. Or that tiny animal is much harder to hit, but it also isn't going to very successful in biting your well armored fighter.

I think people who like deep, turn-based combat might like this, but it definitely wouldn't be for everyone.

EDIT: Oh, and I like Hiding in combat. That was something that a lot of older games had for thief based characters.

 

[Darkscape]

I am Currently planning to make a Survival Game, So I have an idea to base the Combat Mechanic around "Afflictions" that the Character cannot escape from. These Afflictions are caused by Natural Phenomena like a Heatwave, Thunderstorm, Heavy Rains or a Sandstorm. I also plan to incorporate Weather Phenomena in Battle.

My Plan so far is to let the Player adopt to these Natural Phenomena which cause these "Afflictions" and Gear up in a particular way to make the best out of the situation and survive. Ex : Wear Cloth Armor when you are Sun-Burnt during a Heatwave, Wear Non metallic armor during Thunderstorm to prevent being struck with Lightning, Wear Leather Armor when it Rains, Wear Robes while facing a Sandstorm.. etc. These Armor provide Conditional Benefits and Passive Abilities, Resistances or Unique Stat Buffs.

The Greatest challenge will no doubt be to make this Equipment system feel Beneficial, Fun and Easy to understand so that the Player makes decisions naturally, Without the need of Complex Tutorials.

 

[dennis_the_tennis]

I like class changing, like in FF3 or Bravely Default. I'm currently working on a game where the player can switch between nine different classes (each with 3 subclasses) on their 5 party members in any combination, and the goal is to craft the perfect strategy for each boss. The combat system itself isn't super unique, but the huge number of possible combinations gives the game a lot of depth even though the individual pieces are simple.

 

[SwordSkill]

I like class changing, like in FF3 or Bravely Default. I'm currently working on a game where the player can switch between nine different classes (each with 3 subclasses) on their 5 party members in any combination, and the goal is to craft the perfect strategy for each boss. The combat system itself isn't super unique, but the huge number of possible combinations gives the game a lot of depth even though the individual pieces are simple.

I'm thinking of implementing it in my game, since you already have the ability to change Skills at will, so it would make sense to be able to change for class (For stat changing reasons.)

As of now, I've both added Stat Distribution System and also have implemented Skill Orbs which give each character skills upon equipped.

 

[Kelithzon]

My absolute preference would be, if there is a way to do it:

• Evade/Dodge system based on reality (size, speed, agility, armor, etc.) I won't keep listing factors.
• Parry/Deflection system based on realistic factors.
• Guard/Defend/Protect system based on realistic factors.
• Penetration system based on realistic factors.
• Armor durability & repair system based on realistic factors.
• Weapon durability & repair system based on realistic factors.
• State/Status system based on realistic factors.
• Weakness system based on realistic factors.
• Spell system that allows casters to protect themselves like tank types.
• Range/Reach system based on realistic factors.

There are probably more, but they would all be focused on realism.

Of course many players would probably hate such a system because it would mean that combat would take a lot longer with more evading, dodging, parrying, deflecting, guarding, defending, protecting, non-penetration, damage armor/shield HP instead of character, etc.

And, personally, I would want to see that feedback in combat. I would want to know these things are happening, not just that I keep "missing" or something similar.

Your attack hits the dragon, but it doesn't penetrate its scales. Or your attack hits that guy in full plate mail, but you only damage his armor. Or, if you hit hard enough you damage the armor and do blunt force damage to his HP. Or that tiny animal is much harder to hit, but it also isn't going to very successful in biting your well armored fighter.

I think people who like deep, turn-based combat might like this, but it definitely wouldn't be for everyone.

EDIT: Oh, and I like Hiding in combat. That was something that a lot of older games had for thief based characters.

When I was reading the list of systems you made I thought I wouldn't like it, but the way you described it sounds like Dwarf Fortress's combat which is really cool imo, maybe you should look into it if you don't know about it.

 

[ZombieKidzRule]

When I was reading the list of systems you made I thought I wouldn't like it, but the way you described it sounds like Dwarf Fortress's combat which is really cool imo, maybe you should look into it if you don't know about it.

Thanks for that suggestion. I had ignored that on Steam because it only looked like a colony type sim and those aren't my favorite. I see mention to adventurer mode, but I wish you could actually see that as a preview video on steam. The list in the description seems interesting though.

 

[Kelithzon]

Thanks for that suggestion. I had ignored that on Steam because it only looked like a colony type sim and those aren't my favorite. I see mention to adventurer mode, but I wish you could actually see that as a preview video on steam. The list in the description seems interesting though.

The game isn't released on steam yet, you can download the free version on their site though, and yeah the adventure mode is the one with more focus on combat.

 

[Basileus]

I've been giving a lot of thought to combat mechanics for my next project. I want to make something relatively simple that still has some tactical depth. Here's some things I've been looking at:

Weapons
* I was able to make something like Dark Souls, where each weapon had a primary and secondary attack. A spear and a halberd would both have a short thrust as their primary attack, but the spear would have a charged thrust for more damage as its secondary while the halberd would have a wide sweep. I was able to make multiple versions of the basic Attack command which change with each weapon type as well as granting a new command after Attack that became the secondary basic hit and could have more special traits to make every weapon unique.
* I really like how Dragon Quest has enchanted items/equipment that can be used in battle to cast magic for free, like the Fire Claws in Dragon Quest 6. It added an extra hit of fire damage after your attack if you had them equipped, but it could also be used from the menu to cast a mid-level fireball spell. This meant that you could keep it even after its stats were no longer good enough, and that anyone could use it for the free spell even if they couldn't equip claws. This was great for making magic weapons/armor cool and more than just the next stat stick. A Sleep Staff might not have good attack, but being able to cast Sleep on all enemies for free (and infinite uses) makes it a great find no matter what your mage has equipped at the moment.

Skills
* Another thing I like in Dragon Quest is that many skills are tied to having specific weapons equipped, and you can change weapons as a free action in battle. If I get into a battle against a lot of weak enemies, I can switch to the hero's boomerang to hit every enemy on the field for decent damage. If the next battle is against one tough enemy, I can change to the hero's sword to deal extra damage to a single target. Changing weapons is like changing classes mid-battle and you might have to give up certain bonuses for using a specific weapon in order to access different abilities.
* I was able to make a kind of auto-combo skill that had some interesting options. I made some basic "Slash I", "Slash II", and "Slash III" skills as a test. The player started with Slash I, and using it would remove it from the player's skills and replace it with Slash II. Using that would remove Slash II and replace it with Slash III, but doing anything else would instead replace it with Slash I. Once the player had Slash III, it would be replaced with Slash I either way. I'm still toying with how to use it, but it lets me give the player powerful attacks that require a few turns to set up, and it's possible to create branching paths too.

Other
* I really want to make some kind of Perfect Guard/Perfect Dodge mechanic, but I'm not sure how that would work in a turn-based system. I like the idea of rewarding smart use of defense. Something like a timed reaction command might be too complicated though.
* Some kind of Stagger/Armor Break system might be good. I want the player to do more than just select their best nuke spell, and using skills to set up a burst turn can make for nice gameplay design. I just want to avoid forcing the player to do repetitive actions and/or dragging out fights longer than they need to be.
* A hit count system could be cool. Final Fantasy III had one, where the player's basic attack could hit more times as they gained agility for extra hits of damage. RPG Maker could probably add extra attacks based on a stat check to make another type of auto-combo system (like forcing a battle action to trigger a skill after the hit using common event checks or something). Making the total hit count matter could be interesting too, like by filling the limit bar based on the number of hits you did or adding points to a critical hit meter or something.
* Turn order manipulation would be a good way to spice up combat. Casting a simple spell might have no impact on when the character's next turn comes up, but casting a high level spell might delay their next turn. This would open up a lot of skill possibilities to reduce turn delay to your party and increase turn delay for the enemy. It would also create some risk-reward for using more powerful abilities so the answer isn't always to use your biggest nuke. It could probably combine with my auto-combo skills above to chain weak spells into stronger spells to avoid turn delay and maybe increase the damage for chaining spells this way.
* I like the idea of restoring the player's resources for playing well. Some of the newer Tales games are good at restoring stamina mid-combo for making smart decisions, like hitting an enemy's weakness or perfect dodging an attack. I also like how Dragon Quest has been adding more ways to recover MP so you don't need to avoid using magic anymore. Things like gaining some MP back when attacking with a staff/wand, gaining a little MP at the start of each turn, or gaining a lot of MP after a battle ends, etc. I want the player to still be able to run out of MP (or whatever alternate resource I use) if they don't use it well, but not be so strict that they just mash Attack and avoid using spells until a boss fight.

 

[Animebryan]

I definitely agree with adding status effects to elements, as there always seems to be an element that a status effect can relate to. Like this list:

• Fire: Burning (-x% HP per turn)
• Water: Wet (reduces Fire damage but increases Lightning/Thunder damage & Ice damage, immune to Burning, but more susceptible to paralysis & freezing, gets removed by Fire elemental attacks.)
• Ice: Frozen (Can't act for several turns. Physical attacks cause instant death. Removed by fire element.)
• Lightning/Thunder: Paralysis (Can't act for a few turns. Evade -1000%)
• Earth: Petrify/Stone (Can't act. Permanent unless cured. Considered dead)
• Wind: AGL Debuff/Slow (Reduced speed or x% chance to not act for a turn)
• Light/Holy: Blind (reduced accuracy)
• Dark: Curse/Instant Death

 

[ZombieKidzRule]

I definitely agree with adding status effects to elements, as there always seems to be an element that a status effect can relate to. Like this list:

• Fire: Burning (-x% HP per turn)
• Water: Wet (reduces Fire damage but increases Lightning/Thunder damage & Ice damage, immune to Burning, but more susceptible to paralysis & freezing, gets removed by Fire elemental attacks.)
• Ice: Frozen (Can't act for several turns. Physical attacks cause instant death. Removed by fire element.)
• Lightning/Thunder: Paralysis (Can't act for a few turns. Evade -1000%)
• Earth: Petrify/Stone (Can't act. Permanent unless cured. Considered dead)
• Wind: AGL Debuff/Slow (Reduced speed or x% chance to not act for a turn)
• Light/Holy: Blind (reduced accuracy)
• Dark: Curse/Instant Death

I definitely like this concept, as long as it is done in a fair, balanced way that seems reasonable. Although I very much dislike any instant death results since those have to go both ways in combat and I generally don't like instant death scenarios in games.

I would also hope that these effects aren't 100% every time someone is hit by an element type attack and that it is only a % chance of implementation or a chance for something like a saving throw.

For instance, burning would actually depend on how you were hit. A flaming sword or fireball that hits and quickly dissipates might not actually catch anything on fire or result in an ongoing burn. Whereas a pillar of flame or exploding fireball that engulfs a target for more than a few seconds is definitely more likely to result in burning. Just like it is more likely to damage equipment, thus the concept of items, weapons, armor, clothes, etc. having saving throws as well. Unless the lore say that your paper items are magically imbued with protection against fire.

The same is true with water attacks. There is a huge difference between getting hit with a water ball of moderate size that wets part of the target and getting hit with a geyser or typhoon that drenches the entire target.

The same with ice. Getting hit with an ice shard is different from a gale or ice beam. And so on and so forth.

I guess I am just saying that I think status effects from elements and even regular attacks (after all, a hard physical attack can also leave you stunned, dazed, slowed, whatever you want to call it) are a good addition, but I wouldn't want to see them 100% of the time for every successful hit. If that makes sense. Unless elemental type attacks were extremely rare and special. If everyone is walking around with the ability to use elemental attacks and they are 100% effect, I would probably dislike that quite a bit.

And the same could be said for my earlier post of things I like. For me, they all have to be balanced, fair, reasonable, and preferably logical.

But this is just my perspective.

This is a very cool thread. I like seeing these different ideas and perspectives!