Can't really explain this very well probably, but it's an idea i'm working on so some feedback, if any, is welcome.

I've been thinking about a pulp game i was working on ages ago. One of the ideas is to have a combat/damage system where characters - effectively - are invincible, but still suffer the ill effects of damage.

So i thought of the Threat Clock. This represents a predefined, on an encounter by encounter, basis period during which, if the Villain isn't defeated, will 'win', in some fasion. Perhaps he simply escapes, or maybe he launches his Doomsday Device.

What would happen is that instead of PCs taking numerical damage and being killed/removed from play (temporarily or otherwise), the Clock increases. Instead of being numerically injured, the character can receive conditions that affect how they act but won't kill them - no matter how much. So then you can have a character, like the Spirit for example, that can 'take a licking and keep on ticking', no matter how punch drunk.

Is there anything in this?

I like it for a pulp game. Would like it even better for a supers game. Also reminds me of Conan. So, are you basing it on a time lock? The hero has X number of rounds to defeat the villain. Or is it something more situational. The hero must accomplish X, Y, and Z in order to defeat the villain?

Pete

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;419902Can't really explain this very well probably, but it's an idea i'm working on so some feedback, if any, is welcome.

I've been thinking about a pulp game i was working on ages ago. One of the ideas is to have a combat/damage system where characters - effectively - are invincible, but still suffer the ill effects of damage.

So i thought of the Threat Clock. This represents a predefined, on an encounter by encounter, basis period during which, if the Villain isn't defeated, will 'win', in some fasion. Perhaps he simply escapes, or maybe he launches his Doomsday Device.

What would happen is that instead of PCs taking numerical damage and being killed/removed from play (temporarily or otherwise), the Clock increases. Instead of being numerically injured, the character can receive conditions that affect how they act but won't kill them - no matter how much. So then you can have a character, like the Spirit for example, that can 'take a licking and keep on ticking', no matter how punch drunk.

Is there anything in this?

John Harper's Danger Patrol now in playtest form does something like this, IIRC. You roll a dice pool which produces some number of successes and "dangers"; dangers increase the level of the character's "danger meter." Sliding up the danger meter gives you "power tokens" you can use to activate cool powers or take extra actions, but when opponents that the character faces hit him, the damage he takes is greater the higher his danger meter is.

It's similar but not identical to your idea, which sounds cool for pulp-flavored action.

Quote from: pspahn;419904I like it for a pulp game. Would like it even better for a supers game. Also reminds me of Conan. So, are you basing it on a time lock? The hero has X number of rounds to defeat the villain. Or is it something more situational. The hero must accomplish X, Y, and Z in order to defeat the villain?

Pete

Essentially that's what it amounts to, but in a more fluid way. So that the Clock increases in lieu of pc's taking damage. The latter would be too difficult to accomplish I think. Even then the biggest problem is figuring out the setting for the Clock, per encounter. It won't be the same each time.

I also envisage using something akin to aspects to represent the more narrative aspect of damage. As PC's don't die, they instead would get burdened down by conditions, such as 'gunshot' or 'battered' or 'on fire', or whatever. They accumulate them, and they might confer a greater advantage to the villain, but ultimately only insofar as it furthers the clock increase.

Quote from: Bill White;419913John Harper's Danger Patrol now in playtest form does something like this, IIRC. You roll a dice pool which produces some number of successes and "dangers"; dangers increase the level of the character's "danger meter." Sliding up the danger meter gives you "power tokens" you can use to activate cool powers or take extra actions, but when opponents that the character faces hit him, the damage he takes is greater the higher his danger meter is.

It's similar but not identical to your idea, which sounds cool for pulp-flavored action.

I've looked at that. It's a clever system, but it ultimately boils down to making dice rolls to score hits on a given threat. I like the root of the idea, but i think something else a bit more in depth.

Chill 3rd Edition (unpublished) has some ideas like this in their playtest beta.  If you can find it on the web, its worth a peek.   Essentially, each adventure was a race against the Terror and more the PCs dorked about or failed the further the Terror's plans would advance.  

Thus, you could even kill the Zombie Master, but not in time before he sends his zombies throughout New Orleans.

I think they should work in reverse for Horror*,Pulp and Superheroes. The villain starts off with all the cards in his hand, and slowly loses way to the heroes of the story.

The more the heroes work at opposing the villain, the more likely it becomes they win out and save the day. Mostly because the villain becomes frustrated with the slow minor defeats he faces and loses focus.



*Gaming Horror that is, literary horror stories often end up with the main character in terrible circumstances with no way out. Gaming horror is usually Scooby Do-esque way to solve the final problem and win out against the terror. I like Scooby Do, and it works better for gaming than some of the Lovecraftian Horror stories, where the protagonist is writing this down just before he dies.