Can any anons point me towards a game that has an actually fun combat system? I'm looking for a combat system that could be a game in and of itself if it was expanded upon, no roleplaying needed to make it fun and engaging. The combat of The Riddle of Steel looks super interesting, but I'm wondering if there are others. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, modern superhero fiction, it doesn't really matter, just so long as it's fun and mechanically deeper than a puddle. Bonus points if each player controls a single combatant and there's no GM role.
Anyway, now that the e-begging is out of the way, how do you guys feel about combat systems for a ttrpg? Do you care if they're deep or shallow? Do you even use them or do you just narratively describe what happens? Personally, I feel like having a well constructed ruleset for what a PC's doing and sticking to it makes the action feel more "real". Sometimes its appropriate to just let the high level warrior character narratively wade through a goblin horde, but they seem like pretty rare instances to me.
> I'm not looking for a wargame before you mention them...
Fourth edition
Seconded. D&D 4e has a damn good combat system, and excellent lore. Too bad the tards at WotC decided to promote Forgotten Realms again and then sabotaged the game before the developers could print more base-setting lore like the Nentir Vale Gazetteer.
I've heard 4e was pretty tactical. I'll give it look
WEG Star Wars 1e
Thanks I'll give it a read. Here's a link I found to the rules if anyone else is interested
http://www.starwarstimeline.net/Westendgames.htm
>>I'm not looking for a wargame before you mention them...
genuinely, why the frick not when that's an easy solution to your problem? mechwarrior with battletech integration is the most fun combat I've ever played
I'm not looking for a game with armies or groups of warriors. I'm looking for small scale things with like 5 people at most in a fight
>anon doesn't know what skirmish wargames are
the scale for Mechwarrior (the ttrpg) is quite small, you'd have say 4 PCs with 4 mechs, against an equivalent number of (or slightly more) enemy mechs/vehicles
if you use full battletech wargame rules for mech battles (instead of the mechwarrior-proprietary rules) it's pretty fun, deep and relatively slow paced, as long as the GM has a hex map and players have the necessary dice and record sheets ready
Nordic Weasel's skirmish games, start with Five Parsecs from Home or Five Leagues from the Boderland depending on if you want fantasy or sci-fi.
Skirmish wargames and gurps.
Started running LANCER about a month ago and my players enjoy the combat a lot so far. Still getting to grips with it, but it took a good bit of inspiration from 4E a long with the dice mechanics of SOTDL with a lot of mech mechanics on top. Very deep PC customization with lots of room to set yourself up however you want. Enemies all have unique abilities that can be mixed and matched if the GM desires and there is an emphasis on "sitreps" AKA combat objectives that aren't just kill everyone. Oh and all the player facing rules are totally free.
Something with good combat but no dndesque please? I love dnd but need a break.
Is this rpg about King Arthur any good?
>this rpg about King Arthur
I guess you mean Pendragon?
If you are a DnDrone, you are going to have a horribe time with it, since it's radically different both in terms of design, but also how it's played and what are your goals.
If you just want to have combat-heavy game that isn't DnD, but still can be grasped by brain aflicted by double D, you can give either WFRP (2 or 4e) or 2d20 (preferably Conan) a shot. I won't recommend the shadow of the poop lord, because it's just DnD with spikes and leather, so hardly breaking the mold
Oh, and Barbs of Lemuria is decent for what it is, too.
>Hey guys, what's some game with good [X]
>It's [digit] ed of DnD
At this point I can't tell if this is gaslighting-based bait, or genuine moronation
Is it true that d&d really had sex with your crush in front of you while the whole school laughed at you?
IT WAS ME BARRY! I SPAMMED THE THREAD WITH D&D POSTS WHEN YOU ASKED FOR AN RPG WITH A GOOD COMBAT SYSTEM!
Wouldn't Nordheim qualify for this?
(I've never played it so I can be wrong).
You are indeed wrong
BW has kind of a bizarre but interesting conflict system where you script your moves 3-5 actions ahead of time and then reveal them one by one. Actions have different rock paper scissors-like interactions so you need to try to predict your opponent and strike at the opportune times. It is very detailed and deadly. Fights often end after the first decent hit as the struck combatant hesitates due to pain allowing the combatant to strike them unopposed meaning they hesitate more. Armor is very strong against most weapons, meaning unless you have a hammer you will need to get into hands distance and try to wrestle the armor-plated knight down. Which is made difficult because of the weapon-length system. On approach you roll a vs Speed test with bonuses as appropriate for longer weapons, etc. and the winner gains bonuses if their weapon length differs from their opponent with more bonuses the larger the difference (if same length there is no roll). So if you are really fast with a dagger there is a chance you can get up in a spearman's face where his spear will suck but he could give you an equivalent disadvantage if he keeps you at spear length. After all the actions go off you get a chance to flee or try to take/keep the right distance for your weapon and then you pick your next set of actions.
It's very unique and a b***h to learn, and is also only intended for essentially boss fights. 95% of the time you resolve fights with one roll using the basic rules. Having said all that it allows you to get a climactic boss fight, and takes up a short amount of time (once everyone has learned it) for how dramatic and impactful they can be. Wounds can take weeks/months to heal so it is not a system for pulpy action-movie combat. If you want to fight it has to be something worth risking a lot for.
Burning Wheel is BW by the way. Sorry about that.
GURPS
I've never actually played it but the system in Street Fighter RPG has always intrigued me. It's a bit like the Burning Wheel system mentioned upthread in that you simultaneously blind pick your maneuvers, but it also uses a grid and lets you custom build your own combat techniques.
My personal conclusion, though, is that you're best off using something like GURPS and having each player control multiple characters. Single-character play simply don't present enough of a decision space to make things tactically interesting.
prowlers and paragons
Savage Worlds could be fun you can get the rules for the Showdown for free: https://peginc.com/product/savage-worlds-showdown-2/