I currently own two sets of dominoes. Every time I reach over them to get to some of my other gaming supplies, I think, "Surely I could use these for some RPG-related purpose!" Well, today I woke up from a nap with just such an idea: using dominoes as combat rolls.
This mechanic would work best for a simple exchange-based combat system. Each player draws a domino, orients it horizontally, and then flips it face-up. Just like a Magic: The Gathering creature card, the value on the left side is the offensive attack modifier (power) and the value on the right is the defensive or armor modifier (toughness).
As a further option, each player can declare an offensive or defensive stance before flipping the domino over. If offensive, they rotate the domino so the higher of the two values is on the left/attack side. Similarly, for a defensive stance the larger value should be moved to the right. (Actually, this should perhaps be the standard procedure so as to avoid any questions about some players' flipping technique, since the pips on a domino can sometimes be felt while the domino is still face down.)
Of course, each domino end gives a +0 to +6 modifier. Or, at the expense of a little -3 math, a linear progression from -3 to +3 (including 0). Doubles could perhaps allow for some special effect--such as the option to use a certain feat or combat stunt.
I'm not quite sure where I want to use this mechanic yet, but I quite like it--especially for an exchange-based combat system where each character is supposed to "roll" only once per round/exchange. For melee combat, this works pretty well using a single die roll--the higher roll between two combatants deals damage to the lower. However, things can get a bit fuzzier with ranged combat, multiple combatants, or when you'd like the option of two combatants injuring each other in the same round. This domino approach still means only one "roll", but you conveniently get two values. Very slick! Can't wait to try it somewhere...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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3 comments:
Google is truly a god. I posted this entry, and then did a search to see if anyone else had any similar ideas. After only 6 minutes, this post was already the second hit for "using dominoes with role playing games". (The first was Wikipedia's entry on "Game".) Wow.
I hope this finds you well, in fact I hope it finds you at all. I have been working on card-based and domino-based combat systems for years now and made no real progress. I wonder whether you have persevered with this and if you have any new ideas to share. I am looking at a system based on Triominoes which are widely available and could give an extra dimension to the system, 3 values, maybe attack, defense and magic, which when played in certain ways build up an extra effect. My domino system is different from yours in that with mine, players have a hand of dominoes to play each round, and the opponents have some too, but maybe not as many as the players, especially for simple, or less powerful creatures. If you'd like to chat about anything, please contact me at bog042-magic@yahoo.co.uk. Cheers.
I did end up using this as part of the Zilch combat system: http://snarkdreams.com/personal/systems/zilch/combat.html I played this once or twice, but never finished building it. The characters were all represented by 4 playing cards (one card of each suit), and there's an optional Agony version of the game where you have 2 cards in suit to produce 8 different abilities.
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