Badass Kung-Fu Demigods design journal pt 5

So, this one is a little bit stream-of-consciousness. We're getting into the tall grass here because while I don't have any grand new inspiration for these rules the changes I made previously will have some significant knock-on effects which will require tweaks and modifications throughout.  So we get to the part where I try out a lot of ideas that feel like they might work and see what fits into the gaps we've left.

One of the first things to consider is the idea of what you do during your turn in a Clash. The original three-action structure was built around the division of Fighting Styles and Backgrounds. If you wanted to leverage a social or mental ability in combat you would take an action like Psych-Out which would allow you to engage your foe in a way that they aren't necessarily buffed to hell against. 

However, the new Core Traits are universally applicable for combat. You can fight with Guts or Style or Heat or what-have-you. If your opponent wants to try and cut you in half with a lava axe and you want to try and hold them off by standing stock still and giving them a steely glare then you can go for it. In this situation, there's never a reason not to take an Attack action unless you're trying to do something outside of combat (like tackling an obstacle) and even that could theoretically be interpreted as an Attack against the Obstacle or GM. 

So why not just go with that? On your turn you make an attack. Whether it's an attack against an opponent or a security system or a giant wall of ice. If you succeed then you get a Strike, plus additional Strikes earned as normal. Like before the defender can earn Strikes but only the attacker gets a free Strike for basic success, preventing every defense from becoming a perfected counter-attack. 

So, with that our next concern is how Strikes can be spent and whether or not that needs to change. Let's look at some ideas...

*Damage: So, damage obviously remains unchanged. It's hard to get more straightforward than this. 

*Boost: So this is a little tricky. I originally increased the value of a Boost because I felt that 1-die was a pretty poor comparison to dealing another point of damage. Now, I can definitely say that just spending a strike to make a roll Boosted is probably too much...that's a big-ass bonus. But at the same time...the other option is damage: i.e. the way to actually end the fight. The bonus needs to be big for anything to be worth sacrificing one of the mandatory steps on the road to victory. A 1-die bonus is obviously a non-starter but a 2-die bonus is a little awkward and results in dice-creep as more and more dice get stacked into a roll. The meandering conclusion I'm coming to is that maybe I should handle it like spending your Spotlight: a Strike can be spend to add a generic 1-die bonus or to turn a roll under the umbrella of one of your Defining Traits into a Boosted roll. I like that it provides a big, but conditional, bonus and makes your Defining Traits a bit more important. 

*Declarations: These were messy to begin with so they probably needed to be codified a bit more. I'm probably going to narrow Declarations into more narrative changes and create more defined additional effects. Below are some things I'm thinking about. 

*Conditions: So, the original function of Declarations was intended to provide a means of restricting your opponent's options in combat: disarming a swordsman, pinning a speedy character to a wall with a spike, etc. Now the problem with this was kind of obvious: pick a Trait that can't be shut down like this. A kung-fu master can't be disarmed after all, and if you don't rely on speed or mobility then it's harder for opponents to restrict you. This was somewhat resolved with the division between Fighting Styles and Backgrounds. Since Fighting Styles were broader they couldn't really be "shut down" in the same way. However, that also made them a little bit toothless as they couldn't really have much of a meaningful effect on combat anymore.

So, with the creation of Core Traits as a consistent character element we have an opportunity to bring back some of the old ideas so I'm experimenting with the idea of Conditions: temporary, semi-freeform status effects. Conditions come in four types:

• Debilitating Conditions: effects that weaken, sicken or shock the body. This makes the victim's next Heat roll Busted. 
• Disrupting Conditions: effects that unbalance, throw off or confuse opponents. This makes the victim's next Style roll Busted. 
• Binding Conditions: effects that restrict movement or slow and hinder the target. This makes their next Impulse roll Busted. 
• Mental Conditions: Something that demoralizes or harms the willpower of the target. Makes the next Guts roll Busted.

The condition also creates a situation and maneuvers (i.e. free actions) cannot contradict the effect of the condition until it is removed either a Strike is spent to remove it or the opponent makes the Busted roll which automatically removes the condition.

Conditions may not seem like they last very long, but the intent is that a Busted roll is a big enough penalty that most characters will switch to a different Core Trait for combat and wait until they score a Strike in order to avoid it. So, if you've got a d8 Style and an opponent disarms you (a disruptive condition). Now another opponent is trying to punch you. You could accept a Busted roll on that defense and be immediately rid of the condition but against all but the weakest enemies that's going to put you in a dangerous situation and you'll likely end up with a point of damage or two (and maybe get another condition slapped on you). Or you could switch to your d6 Impulse Trait and fend off your opponent with 2d6 (average of 8.4) rather than 1d8 (avg of 5.1).

So conditions leave you with the choice of accepting a long-term but minor penalty (often forcing you to forgo beneficial trait synergy) or a major but one-shot penalty. This seems about right to me.

There may be more to declarations but I feel like figuring out conditions and Boosts is a good start here.