AWW: Battle Balance
Sep. 13th, 2013 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinIt seems like the conventional wisdom in RPG design these days is that the ideal balance for combat should be a statistical dead heat. I understand the thinking there... this is the definition of a fair fight. In theory--and in practice, when the game offers players varied tactics and the GM isn't simply trying to squash them by using a likely equal or greater level of system mastery--this makes a battle something that players can win or lose on their own actions. More often, though, it leads to one of two things: swingy, overly random battles or long-drawn out slogs.
That's why AWW specifically avoids aiming for this situation. Fight scenes are classified on a scale of four difficulties, with "evenly matched" being a fifth option listed separately with a reminder that it should be the least common situation.
Steamroller battles are ones that are the heroes' battles to lose. They are designed for the heroes to win. The risks in a steamroller battle are that if you are sloppy, unlucky, or cocky, you might get injured before you win, or that the battle occupies you long enough for someone to slip away. Steamroller battles often occur as part of a "hero spot" near the beginning of an adventure. When you arrive in a new town and find the henchmen of the villain harassing the local villagers and you send them running with their tails between their legs, that's a steamroller battle.
Normal battles are ones that favor the heroes, but are challenging enough that the risk of injury is real and the danger of running on autopilot is high. This is the "normal" difficulty level because the usual outcome of a fight is that the heroes win.
Challenge battles are ones that are slanted against the heroes in some fashion. Often this involves specific advantages that the other side has or specific hazards that afflict the heroes... not just a statistical discrepancy between the sides, but something that can be taken away mid-battle to re-tilt the playing field. Challenge battles usually require more teamwork and/or more use of special tactics than normal battles.
Stomp battles are battles designed to stomp the heroes into the ground. They might still win, but they aren't likely to all be standing at the end of the fight. (Remember, though, defeat doesn't equal death.) Stomp battles require heroes to pull out all the stops to win.
Part of the design is that players will always know what type of battle they're in. "Fake outs" are allowed (the battle starts out a steamroller and then suddenly becomes a challenge), but the shift should be made explicit and this should be a rare trick, employed for dramatic effect rather than to simply mess with people.
Any level of battle can be potentially skipped or circumvented, depending on the story. A single Influence Check or Defeat Check might take the wind out of all the potential antagonists for a steamroller battle. A stomp battle that's not the final battle might be designed with circumventing it as the primary goal and actually fighting it being plan b. Finding a way to downgrade a stomp battle into a challenge can also form the basis for the quest portion of an denture; fighting a powerful fire demon might be a stomp battle, but if you can stab it with the Heart of Ice then it loses several key abilities and becomes a mere challenge.
No level of battle is meant to be a completely foregone conclusion. Part of adventure planning is to define win and loss consequences for each fight. "Boss battles" are always challenge or stomp battles, but the last battle in an adventure isn't always the hardest one... getting past the villain's giant pet monster might be a stomp battle, while the villain only presents a challenge.
Usually the consequences of losing the final battle is effectively failing the adventure, but sometimes it only means that the villain escapes. For instance, if the goal is to disrupt a dangerous ritual, just showing up might accomplish that, or it might be something you can do in the course of the fight (destroy needed components, delay it past a crucial point, et cetera).
That's why AWW specifically avoids aiming for this situation. Fight scenes are classified on a scale of four difficulties, with "evenly matched" being a fifth option listed separately with a reminder that it should be the least common situation.
Steamroller battles are ones that are the heroes' battles to lose. They are designed for the heroes to win. The risks in a steamroller battle are that if you are sloppy, unlucky, or cocky, you might get injured before you win, or that the battle occupies you long enough for someone to slip away. Steamroller battles often occur as part of a "hero spot" near the beginning of an adventure. When you arrive in a new town and find the henchmen of the villain harassing the local villagers and you send them running with their tails between their legs, that's a steamroller battle.
Normal battles are ones that favor the heroes, but are challenging enough that the risk of injury is real and the danger of running on autopilot is high. This is the "normal" difficulty level because the usual outcome of a fight is that the heroes win.
Challenge battles are ones that are slanted against the heroes in some fashion. Often this involves specific advantages that the other side has or specific hazards that afflict the heroes... not just a statistical discrepancy between the sides, but something that can be taken away mid-battle to re-tilt the playing field. Challenge battles usually require more teamwork and/or more use of special tactics than normal battles.
Stomp battles are battles designed to stomp the heroes into the ground. They might still win, but they aren't likely to all be standing at the end of the fight. (Remember, though, defeat doesn't equal death.) Stomp battles require heroes to pull out all the stops to win.
Part of the design is that players will always know what type of battle they're in. "Fake outs" are allowed (the battle starts out a steamroller and then suddenly becomes a challenge), but the shift should be made explicit and this should be a rare trick, employed for dramatic effect rather than to simply mess with people.
Any level of battle can be potentially skipped or circumvented, depending on the story. A single Influence Check or Defeat Check might take the wind out of all the potential antagonists for a steamroller battle. A stomp battle that's not the final battle might be designed with circumventing it as the primary goal and actually fighting it being plan b. Finding a way to downgrade a stomp battle into a challenge can also form the basis for the quest portion of an denture; fighting a powerful fire demon might be a stomp battle, but if you can stab it with the Heart of Ice then it loses several key abilities and becomes a mere challenge.
No level of battle is meant to be a completely foregone conclusion. Part of adventure planning is to define win and loss consequences for each fight. "Boss battles" are always challenge or stomp battles, but the last battle in an adventure isn't always the hardest one... getting past the villain's giant pet monster might be a stomp battle, while the villain only presents a challenge.
Usually the consequences of losing the final battle is effectively failing the adventure, but sometimes it only means that the villain escapes. For instance, if the goal is to disrupt a dangerous ritual, just showing up might accomplish that, or it might be something you can do in the course of the fight (destroy needed components, delay it past a crucial point, et cetera).