Nope, it's not about solving the wars of the world with a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors (even though it would be nice if that was possible). Rather it's about me thinking more about what kind of conflict resolution system I want for my game War: The RPG (which I have written about in a couple of previous posts).
One trick that some games use is a variant of the old game Rock-Papers-Scissors. It has been used in roleplaying games before in one way or another (some Larps use it, and the game Dying Earth use a version of it). Now, in the original game, Rock always beats Scissors etc, but in an rpg one could for instance have different modifiers depending on the choices. Let's say you've got three types of attacks and three types of defences. If you are lucky and choose "Rock"-attack vs. "Scissors"-defence, you will get a bonus to your attack roll.
In addition to this you could plan your attacks (I think this is how they do it in Burning Wheels, and it's also how duels are played out in Castle Falkenstein), and for instance play out 3 (or something) cards at the same time, and then compare them step by step.
I think this would work well with a combat/ skirmish oriented roleplaying game for two reasons. First: It is quite common for a particular tactic to be more effeicient against some defences, while not as efficient against other.
Second: When the players have do several choices in advance, it simulates tactics and planning in a combat situation.
1 comment:
Hey Ulf,
The martial rock/paper/scissors method is a classic, essentially the most basic form of 'dissimilar assets'. I'd definitely say that's a good way to go for a rpg about warfare.
I can't remember where I first heard it, but I liked this arrangement:
Rock - Survivability and Defense
Paper - Information and Observation
Scissors - Destruction and Offense
And you can hook that up to your unit types, but also your actions - You can (rock!) hide in the trench, but you're not taking on the enemy. You can lay down some fire from your bunker (rock! scissors!) but maybe you're not as aware of the battlefield. You can scout the enemies positions (paper!) but you're vulnerable if he rolls out his cavalry. Etc.
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