Attacking in Traditional Gaming

Hey Veeky Forums
What do you think is your favorite mechanics for attacking? Do you prefer the d&d style where its Stats+Levels or something where weapon skill ranks are involved? Would you rather throw one die and then add static or throw 8 and then add them together? Exploding Dice/Criticals? Opinions!

I prefer RuneQuest 6.

I prefer to keep it as stupidly simple as possible. A single throw, a successful hit does 1 damage, expanding crit range (On d20 say 16-19) that does 2 and maximum hit that does 3-4.

Describing attacks confers other benefits, such as changes in game status (unhorsing opponents, grappling the enemy to ground etc).

Stupid simple.

*high five*
I thought i was alone

yeah I really like the RQ6 book but I am having some major problems getting the go for running a Glorantha campaign. I really want a codified setting book I can drop down to get people going on it and not a bunch of mixed notes.

Fate's combat can be... interesting. The double-rolling for attack and defense helps the event feel a little less like you're smacking a target dummy and a little more like a creature prone to error. It also invites "shift" damage without needing a separate roll for the weapon (though adding weapon rules/stunts can be fun).

What this all means is you can play with (4) 3-sided dice but still have a very profound normal curve with (4d3-8) - (4d3-8).

I hate Glorantha but I love RQ, never saw the appeal of the setting at all. Way too many ducks and weird things for me.

Everybody prefers RuneQuest until they actually play RuneQuest.

>Describing attacks confers other benefits, such as changes in game status (unhorsing opponents, grappling the enemy to ground etc).
I like that. Status effects being dependant on roleplay and tactics.

I like my attacking to be resolved in mechanically the same way as any other contest in the system. And that said, I like my core mechanics to do something that produces a bell curve rather than linear probability. 2d10 is better than 1d20, and you can do more interesting things with a group of dice over a single die. Also combat should be a skill like any other and level-based character advancement systems are for chumps.