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InD_ImaginE

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Pathfinder: Wrath
Do any of you, o venerable gamers, know of enjoyable systems (pen & paper or vidya) which involve turn based melee combat wherein the player must make meaningful decisions in the midst of combat? i.e. The outcome is based in part on player skill rather than stats. Preferably, single PC combat, not squad or army based.

I know a real life game that do this. Rock Paper Scissors!

Jokes aside I don't think what you are asking makes any sense. Let say its a 1 on 1 with both parties having equal status.

Then the player skill you are saying is about action taken during battle, maybe positioning maybe actual combat actions (shield bash, low attack, parry, etc). How those system interacts are the "skill" of the player in decision making. But what then? If enemies telegraph their action somehow it just becomes testing how the player process the cues into what enemies are going to do into what action you should do (think Suikoden duel system I guess? which is pretty much rock paper scissors). If the enemies don't telegraph their action the it is just rng fest, like rock paper scissors (due to status being equal for all actors in the game).

Age of Decadence.

No, really. AoD and Dungeon Rats combat are I dunno, maybe 70% stats. You can't compensate bad builds with player skills.
 

JarlFrank

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Underrail (single character, no companions)

Temple of Elemental Evil (with a party of up to 6 chars)

Knights of the Chalice (party of 4)

Silent Storm (with a party but *can* try to solo)

Jagged Alliance 2 (with a squad of mercs)

Divinity: Original Sin (you can have a party of 2 but you can also play a lone wolf character)
 

JarlFrank

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Jokes aside I don't think what you are asking makes any sense. Let say its a 1 on 1 with both parties having equal status.

I think Underrail fits the bill pretty well.

You play a single character, but you have plenty of tools at your disposal.

You can lay mines, throw grenades, use guns or crossbows or melee. Lots of tools means player skill (the ability to make sound tactical decisions) plays a role in the success of combat.

I don't think OP asked for literally 1v1 games, just for games where you control a single char vs a variety of enemies rather than a party of 2-8 chars.
 

Egosphere

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Underrail (single character, no companions)

Temple of Elemental Evil (with a party of up to 6 chars)

Knights of the Chalice (party of 4)

Silent Storm (with a party but *can* try to solo)

Jagged Alliance 2 (with a squad of mercs)

Divinity: Original Sin (you can have a party of 2 but you can also play a lone wolf character)

You can forget about UR, SS and JA2 if you're looking for melee. Far too much guns and/or magic in each one.
 

Egosphere

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I'd recommend Battle Brothers, although it does have a squad/party. It's (mostly) melee, turn based, a lot of the outcome depends on your decisions and not just the stats of your weapons etc. But it also has a lot of stats that need to be managed, so that might be a deal-breaker.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
So what OP is looking for is turn based combat system that focuses on characters stances and such during melee combat?

Upcoming Tale of Ronin should have some of that, if mock-up screens can be believed.
C2HnAhIXcAEHooz.jpg

Another attempt for that kind of combat, that comes to my mind, is ancient Knights of Legend.
 
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Codex Year of the Donut
I'd recommend Battle Brothers, although it does have a squad/party. It's (mostly) melee, turn based, a lot of the outcome depends on your decisions and not just the stats of your weapons etc. But it also has a lot of stats that need to be managed, so that might be a deal-breaker.
battle brothers is a rng simulator with a 2D gui
 

mondblut

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Do any of you, o venerable gamers, know of enjoyable systems (pen & paper or vidya) which involve turn based melee combat wherein the player must make meaningful decisions in the midst of combat?
82892-pool-of-radiance-amiga-screenshot-on-the-battlefield.png


Pool of Radiance and the rest of the Gold Box games. +M

Goldbox games hardly require meaningful decisions in combat. It can be expressed in simple code:

If Fireball>0 then cast fireball
elseif Sleep>0 and level <7 then cast sleep
else rest
 
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Codex Year of the Donut
Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2 on Tactician(lots of added abilities + greatly improved AI compared to lower difficulties) are probably the only turn based RPGs I can think of where I had to adjust my playstyle and come up with strategies for fights.
 

udm

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Well most of the posters ITT have mentioned vidya already, so I'll talk about my choices for PnP RPGs.

I'm not a fan of D&D 5e as IMO it doesn't do narrative play well, and as a tactical game, there are better choices out there. I prefer 2e or even OD&D. Another old school game I like is Dragon Warriors, but good luck getting anyone to GM such games for you. Most will flock to 5e.

My personal favourite non-old-school systems are Savage Worlds, Blades in the Dark and 13th Age (only talking about games I've played, though I do own many more like GURPS 4e which is a codex favourite). Savage Worlds is pretty popular and it's very adaptable to different genres. I've even experimented dungeon crawls with it and it's worked well.

Blades in the Dark is the first game to make me feel like I'm playing a tabletop FPS. It's also quite popular at the moment, especially with hipster groups.

13th Age I enjoy the most of all the D&D derivatives because it features fast-paced ARPG-style combat while still being able to weave in interesting narratives. The game is a bit dead atm as the publishing company seems to be focusing more on its other games like Night's Black Agents (a game with seemingly good mechanics) and gender politics (which is a damn shame).
 

Bruma Hobo

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Goldbox games hardly require meaningful decisions in combat. It can be expressed in simple code:

If Fireball>0 then cast fireball
elseif Sleep>0 and level <7 then cast sleep
else rest
Then why do people like them? What's left of these tacticool games after you take out all meaningful decision making from them, other than mindless grind?

Do you endorse anti-rest spamming mechanics? Because that would definitely make gameplay more decision-heavy and engaging, but it would also go against the whole letting the player play the way he wants philosophy (muh "let me decide how challenging my game is by controlling how much do I rest").

:balance:
 

mondblut

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Then why do people like them?

Because AD&D. It was never about muh brainiac tactics.

What's left of these tacticool games after you take out all meaningful decision making from them, other than mindless grind?

Mindless grind is also good, says Wizardry.

Do you endorse anti-rest spamming mechanics?

No. I am rather fond of coming into every battle at full preparation level. And I'd rather rest for days than guzzle decalitres of red and blue liquids (hey, that's unrealistic, where is the peeing mechanic?!)
 

HarveyBirdman

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I've said on several occasions that I don't play RPGs. My background is in tabletop wargaming and I came to Codex to play 4X multiplayer. In Games Workshop tabletop, combat occurs in turns but it is largely a straightforward matter of comparing stats and rolling dice. The strategy lies in maneuvering and appropriate application of force. However, Codex talks a lot about turn based combat.

Do any of you, o venerable gamers, know of enjoyable systems (pen & paper or vidya) which involve turn based melee combat wherein the player must make meaningful decisions in the midst of combat? i.e. The outcome is based in part on player skill rather than stats. Preferably, single PC combat, not squad or army based.

Thanks.
Jagged Alliance 2, but it isn't single PC.
 

laclongquan

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... I don't play RPGs. My background is in tabletop wargaming and I came to Codex to play 4X multiplayer. In Games Workshop tabletop, combat occurs in turns but it is largely a straightforward matter of comparing stats and rolling dice. The strategy lies in maneuvering and appropriate application of force. However, Codex talks a lot about turn based combat.

Do any of you, o venerable gamers, know of enjoyable systems (pen & paper or vidya) which involve turn based melee combat wherein the player must make meaningful decisions in the midst of combat? i.e. The outcome is based in part on player skill rather than stats. Preferably, single PC combat, not squad or army based.

Thanks
.
For rpg players, your question is a silly one. Every RPG combat fight consist of meaningful decisions. even hack and slash action rpg like diablo, or real time combat in VTM Bloodlines.

Limit of "melee combat" reduce the scope somewhat but most of fantasy subgenre has melee, and much of Science Fiction subgenre also pay attention to melee portion. Refer to Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, or Fallout series, or Baldur's Gate series or etc...

Even the limit of player skill doesnt help you that much, even though most of Codexers really suck in tactical combat. Take Fallout 2, the Metzger gang wipe up operation for example. Even though PC stat may not look like they can stand against Metzger gang at the odds of 15:1. With careful application of embed ticking TNT onto enemies before hand, locking the doors in the gang house, and initiate combat with the remaining few, you still can win playing solo. That's entirely player skill and not (mostly) PC stat. And if you play with more followers, the difficulty reduce significantly.

Your question is a silly one, but we must forgive you silly ass, for you have not played RPG. Still, ignorance is no excuse to be spare from ridiculity.
 
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Grimwulf

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