Been a while. This isn't very interesting to me relative to the amount of focus necessary to update it in compliance with the rules, and the rules haven't really generated any interesting gameplay so far. Haven't seen any strategy emerge beyond shooting at the other guys.
Lets break down our team composition for a moment:
We have 2 snipers - they are both heavily built for single-shot headshots at long range. They are incentivized to only do a single attack pattern because of the 5-head-damage-autokill rule. They also are both vulnerable to close-in enemies. As a result it is unlikely for either of them to vary their attacks without being forced to do so.
Next we have Erin, who is mid-range, armored, and carrying the team's only medkit. As the primary medic she has to preserve herself, and because she has an all-rounder kit she can engage from long range with the snipers but if they get rushed by something she can then move to intercept and handle the now-close-range threat. This means she will ALSO be standing back and shooting up until the snipers get rushed. So thats 3/5 that are going to generally play from the rear.
Now however we get to our close-range fighters. We have the shotgunner, who just now charged ahead into an entirely different area, and we have our heavily injured meele-only guy with no armor, who, being heavily injured, has to just hide and self-treat for now.
So with the two close-range fighters being out of the fight, the remaining three are pretty much guarenteed to just stay back and pick off the remaining enemies one-by-one.
If you want to break up this combat loop, you need something to get in close on the long-range fighters. Examples include attack dogs, stealthy assassins, or an ogre with a meele weapon.
Now then, why arent other systems being utilized:
Stamina, resolve, and lucidity are all endurance stats. As players, they matter to us because we have to go through fight after fight, and they get gradually worn down. However, we don't have a good way to wear down the enemies endurace stats anywhere near as efficiently as simply targeting either the vitality stat or the headshot instant-kill is.
Okay, so we might not be able to use them against the enemy, but what about using them for ourselves? Is there any actions we could take that would benefit us in exchange for losing some long-term endurance?... eh, not really.
So... why would we interact with those stats needlessly? Answer: we wont.
So if you want more varied gameplay here's my suggestions:
1) more enemy variety. Variations on the "guys with guns" theme will all be handled the same way. Add in enemies that aggressively move in close on our long-range people. And add non-human threats as well. Mobile battlefield hazards that we have to periodically move to avoid would help too.
2) remove the headshot instant-kill or add enemies that ignore it. Its game-breakingly efficient and is basically the only option vs most enemies thus far considering it cuts the number of actions needed to put down an enemy in half or even lower. The guy with armor just now is a great case-in-point about why it's really the only way to go, and we can't do much ELSE because it's THAT good.
3) add ways to exhaust ourselves for temporary tactical gains. I know giving us more complex actions is the opposite of simplifying the system like you want, but we can't vary our actions and gameplay without the tools to do it. I suggest having a neutral eldritch entity that we can trade endurance-type stats to for battlefield effects.
4) the meele-only unarmored guy with eldritch knowledge needs some GM attention. Give him something to interact with that he's going to be better at than our more traditional individuals.
my vote is for the option that isn't to abandon the game.
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Topic: Vijiriwek: Drive them out, cleanse this infection. (Read 11440 times)