The last few weeks we have not posted a blog but instead shared gameplay videos over on our facebook page. While most of those mechanics remain current, there has since been one significant revision.
Speed.
The core design philosophy of Aethermon has been to recreate the experience of the monster taming genre with the least complexity possible. This typically has meant removing mechanics that did not directly tie into the experience.
Speed was one of the earliest of these to go. Even the simplest iteration still required players to compare numbers that took up both physical and mental real estate.
These numbers were instead replaced by a simple rule. NPC’s go first, unless the player is “(q)uick”.
For balance purposes, some NPC’s got “(q)uick” moves of their own which overrode a player’s (q)uick move.
We then discovered that a (s)low moveset allowed us greater diversity in NPC opponents, giving players more interesting puzzles to solve. Which meant we’d need to give players (s)low moves for abilities that only work when acting second… then factor in contingencies for “before combat abilities”, (r)eact cards, and PvP encounters… This simple system quickly devolved into a flow chart with 15 cels!!!
To be fair, it was a very easy to follow flowchart that fit nicely on an a5 sheet – but it was not the elegant solution we were looking for.
Tune in next week for our revised initiative mechanics.
Keep on keeping on AetherRen