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11 |
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12 |
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13 Elements |
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14 |
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15 |
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16 Elements of Tactics |
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17 |
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18 *by Brian Gleichman* |
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19 Nov 01,2002 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
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23 |
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24 Elements of Tactics |
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25 |
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26 As many know, RPGs had their beginnings in the miniature wargaming |
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27 hobby. The first systems were extensions of many of the same concepts |
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28 and were highly tactical games in their own right. |
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29 |
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30 The old wargame empires (SPI, Avalon Hill, etc) all but died and those |
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31 that survived to a noticeable extent (GW) did so by moving to extremely |
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32 simple rules in order to appeal to the widest possible user base. RPGs |
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33 (with the exception of D&D) followed the same course with "Story" and |
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34 simple mechanics becoming more and more commonplace and rules taking an |
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35 ever decreasing importance. Entire game lines became based on such |
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36 mechanically shoddy grounds as a core dice mechanic that increased your |
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37 fumble chances the more skilled your character became. It seemed that |
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38 few noticed and even fewer cared. It almost looks like the need for |
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39 solid, let alone tactical, game systems were a thing of the past. |
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40 |
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41 However much of that appearance is illusion. D&D always remained at the |
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42 top of the market and new games designs are once again returning to more |
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43 traditional styles at least in part. The interest in tactical games |
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44 actually is as strong as ever. |
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45 |
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46 A couple of the newest entries into "tactical rpgs" are Riddle of Steel |
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47 and Rune. Both games that market themselves in part on their combat |
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48 systems. A welcome change of pace for old timers like myself, but are |
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49 they actually tactical games? What does one look for? How can a system |
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50 design be optimize for it? How do we judge a system's suitability for |
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51 tactical play in an era where nearly everything the old wargame |
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52 designers learned has been forgotten? We need some standards, or at |
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53 least some concepts to used in our judgment. |
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54 |
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55 I'd like to take a stab at it by defining three major elements of |
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56 tactical game design, one characteristic, and one thing it is not- in |
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57 that order. |
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58 |
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59 // |
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60 |
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61 |
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62 /Element 1: Resource Management/ |
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63 |
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64 One of the bedrock concepts of tactical play is to make the most gain |
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65 with the least expenditure. After all, if you have unlimited resources |
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66 and no reason to avoid using them- you can do anything. Being able to do |
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67 anything without thought hardly makes for good tactical play. |
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68 |
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69 The exact nature of resources can vary greatly in rpg design. The number |
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70 of spells you can cast in a day. The amount of ammo you can carry. The |
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71 number of Hit Points you have and the number of healing potions you have |
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72 to restore them. At the most basic, there's the number of characters in |
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73 play and the number of actions each can take in a turn. |
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74 |
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75 D&D has always been a masterful example of a game design heavily built |
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76 on resource management- limited charges on items, limited number of |
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77 potions, only so many pre-selected spells per day, etc. D&D forces its |
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78 players to decide how to best spend resources at almost every turn. |
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79 |
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80 As a general rule, increasing the number and types of resources you need |
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81 to manage increases the tactical play of the game. |
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82 |
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83 // |
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84 |
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85 |
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86 /Element 2: Dissimilar Assets/ |
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87 |
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88 To study tactical battle one must study combine arms. And combine arms |
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89 is nothing but the use of Dissimilar Assets to achieve a goal. |
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90 |
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91 To use a modern warfare as a model: Artillery is powerful and long |
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92 ranged- but vulnerability to almost any attack. Armor combines |
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93 protection, firepower and mobility into one powerful package- but even |
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94 so encounters major problems in certain infantry defended terrain. |
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95 Infantry is slow and light on weapons- but can make maximum use of |
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96 terrain. Name an asset and you name both strength and weakness in a |
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97 single word. |
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98 |
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99 Combining Dissimilar Assets into a functional and dangerous whole takes |
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100 skill and knowledge. Failure to do so (like France's failure in WWII) |
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101 can be disastrous in the extreme. |
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102 |
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103 Early game designs had Dissimilar Assets as a core feature. D&D with its |
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104 classes- Wizards are very different than Fighters who in turn are used |
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105 differently than Clerics. Even later games still maintain this to some |
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106 extent. Vampire has its clans. Deadlands its gunslingers, hucksters, and |
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107 blessed. These games are designed such that each character becomes its |
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108 own niche, its own type of Dissimilar Asset that enhances tactical play |
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109 when viewed within its own group of player characters. |
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110 |
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111 Other games however consider such stark limits as unrealistic and seek |
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112 to reduce all the characters to common terms. Even D&D weakened its |
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113 class structure in its latest version although it still remains strong |
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114 enough to function as a tactical enhancement. |
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115 |
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116 As a system weakens character niche, it reduces tactical play. Universal |
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117 Resolution systems, lack of character differences, sole dominating |
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118 weapon selections, all these things can combine to create a tactically |
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119 bland experience where the answer to any problem is obvious and |
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120 unchanging. Even though such reduction is often done from the standpoint |
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121 of realism, a simple look at real world combat would show that it is in |
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122 fact a failure from even that perspective- there are no single dominate |
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123 weapon, no one solution to every threat, no single plan that ever |
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124 survives contact with a foe. |
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125 |
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126 // |
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127 |
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128 |
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129 /Element 3: Maneuver/ |
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130 |
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131 Managing resources is the bedrock of tactical play. Controlling |
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132 Dissimilar Assets each with their own resources is the first step to |
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133 being a tactician instead of an accountant. It is however with Maneuver |
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134 that one masters the subject. Sadly, it is in Maneuver that most rpg |
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135 design perform worse. |
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136 |
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137 At its most basic, Maneuver is getting the right resources into the |
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138 right position at the right time in order to maximize your chance of |
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139 success while protecting against the same from your opponent. |
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140 |
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141 Of course for Maneuver to matter, you have to be able to maneuver. Many |
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142 designs forgo the use of a map completely and either ignore movement or |
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143 abstract it out of the realm of character decision. In so doing, the |
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144 remove this element of tactics completely from their design. |
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145 |
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146 A design that focuses on tactical movement will likely include rules for |
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147 facing (and flank and rear attacks), multiple opponent rules, the |
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148 effects of range, the impact of terrain and other factors that can (when |
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149 properly used) allow a force to defeat unskillfully played opponents |
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150 with greater resources. |
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151 |
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152 // |
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153 |
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154 |
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155 /Characteristic: Pace of Decision/ |
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156 |
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157 The three elements above, added to the rule system in use determine |
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158 something I call "Pace of Decision". Pace of Decision is at its most |
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159 simple how fast can the player lose. It's a measure of the importance of |
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160 each individual decision and movement. |
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161 |
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162 While a number of factors determine a game's Pace of Decision, how |
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163 lethal a system is may be the most important. For example: D&D provides |
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164 Resource Management by having Hit Points. However these same Hit Points |
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165 reduce the game's Pace of Decision since they act as a buffer to bad |
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166 tactical choices. You can lose a few hit points by moving to an inferior |
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167 position, but it's easy enough to move again afterwards and use a |
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168 healing spell or potion and thus carry on the battle. In other games, |
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169 that single bad decision could result in a disabled or dead character. |
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170 Hence the Pace of Decision can be said to be Low (D&D like systems where |
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171 many hits are needed to kill) or High (one hit means a dead character). |
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172 |
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173 If Pace of Decision is too low, any tactical error of Maneuver or even |
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174 Dissimilar Asset can be forgiven since its impact is minor at best. The |
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175 winner is almost solely determined by who had the greater resources. On |
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176 the other hand if it is too high, the battle is over before it started |
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177 with initial deployment likely determining the winner. |
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178 |
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179 The ideal position between these two extremes is one of personal taste. |
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180 Indeed, what combination of the three elements above and how that works |
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181 with the system's resulting Pace of Decision is a question that can only |
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182 be answered by each individual. Everyone has his or her own tastes and |
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183 the possible range of answers here is immense. And this explains more |
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184 than anything else, why there is room for more tactical games. |
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185 |
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186 // |
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187 |
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188 |
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189 /A non-element/ |
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190 |
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191 Something this isn't a true Element of Tactics needs special note |
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192 because (all too sadly) it is what some people think of when you say the |
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193 words Tactical Play. |
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194 |
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195 Rock-Scissors-Paper (RSP) is not tactical game design. RSP design is the |
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196 use of options that have provided little or no in-game reason for the |
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197 selection of one over the other. |
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198 |
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199 Riddle of Steel for example requires players to drop either a red or |
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200 white die to determine if they are attacking or defending. |
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201 |
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202 Top Secret used a combat maneuver matrix (low kick vs. high block for |
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203 example) where the result mattered- but the player could only base his |
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204 decision upon what maneuver he (the player, not his character) thought |
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205 the opposing player (and again not his character), would select. |
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206 |
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207 There is a certain skill in using such mechanics, same as bluffing and |
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208 mind games are part of poker or chess. However this is playing at the |
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209 meta-game level and isn't really part of the game design itself. Chess |
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210 for example includes no rules for psyching out the other player, nor |
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211 does poker include mechanic rules determining when to bluff. |
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212 |
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213 In addition to that fact that this type of mechanic is playing at the |
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214 meta-game (using information not available to the character, such as |
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215 "Joe tends to drop red")- it often completely overshadows the real |
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216 game's tactical elements detailed above, thus reducing skill at the game |
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217 itself to a sideshow. |
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218 |
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219 The actual effect is to remove a key determing factor of play outside |
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220 the game. A worthwhile goal sometimes- but not something that should be |
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221 seen as tactical game design. |
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222 |
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223 // |
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224 |
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225 |
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226 /Tactical Elements in Combinaton/ |
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227 |
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228 Each of the three elements and one characteristic I noted above combine |
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229 to produce the final tactical favor of a game system. D&D has high |
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230 Resource Management and Dissimilar Assets together with rather low |
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231 Maneuver and Pace of Decision. A combination that produces a style and |
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232 result that is famous or infamous depending upon one's viewpoint. |
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233 |
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234 Age of Heroes on the other hand has very high Pace of Decision and |
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235 Maneuver, medium Dissimilar Assets, and comparatively low Resource |
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236 Management. As a result it plays very differently from D&D, so |
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237 differently that I've seen D&D players encountering it almost reduced to |
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238 a state of shock. |
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239 |
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240 Some games may do completely away with one or more elements. Others will |
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241 select completely different mixes. There are a huge number of possible |
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242 combinations, a fact that puts the lie to a common statement I've |
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243 encountered saying D&D has covered all that needs to be covered in |
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244 tactical rpgs. Indeed, it seems clear that the subject has barely been |
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245 scratched. |
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246 |
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247 // |
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248 |
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249 |
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250 /Finally, an Observation/ |
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251 |
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252 If one reads between the lines above, you'd find an interesting common |
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253 thought. The core of tactics is providing options (resources, different |
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254 assets, movement options)- but its framework is one of limits. |
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255 |
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256 A resource once spent is lost for an important period of time. A |
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257 dissimilar asset can't do everything. Requiring maneuver means that you |
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258 can't be everywhere. Etc. |
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259 |
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260 The heart of tactics is operating with limits to bring the best assets |
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261 and resources to bear at the correct point at the correct time. The |
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262 theme of tactics is overcoming limits. Consider that the next time you |
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263 look at a game that promises to let you do anything... |
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264 |
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265 |
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320 |
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321 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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322 |
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323 |
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324 Previous columns |
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325 |
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326 * Elements of Strategy </news+reviews/columns/elements11feb03.html> |
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327 by Brian Gleichman, 11feb03 |
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328 * Rationales for Mechanics (or the Case for Designer's Notes) |
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329 </news+reviews/columns/elements14jan03.html> by Brian Gleichman, |
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330 14jan03 |
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331 * Layers of Design </news+reviews/columns/elements11dec02.html> by |
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332 Brian Gleichman, 11dec02 |
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333 * Elements of Tactics </news+reviews/columns/elements01nov02.html> |
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334 by Brian Gleichman, 01nov02 |
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335 * Elements of Complexity |
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336 </news+reviews/columns/elements20sep02.html> by Brian Gleichman, |
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337 20sep02 |
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338 |
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339 |
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340 Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet |
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