Frayed Knights 2 - Combat, Actions, and Readiness

Developer Rampant Coyote tells us about a few key points of the combat mechanics in Frayed Knights 2: The Khan of Wrath.

Frayed Knights 2 Combat, Actions, and Readiness

The last time I talked about the combat system in Frayed Knights 2: The Khan of Wrath (for now, I’m keeping the “2”), I was still a little bit abstract, because it was still in development. I’ve been living with the more-or-less complete system for about a year now, and it’s pretty integral to the rest of the systems. In the upcoming weeks, I want to talk about some of the other systems, but with so much based on how combat works, it’s important that I explain that one first.

In testing, it’s proven pretty easy once players figure it out, but it’s a bit of a leap. I think that’s mainly because it is so different from most other RPGs. I may need to change some of how it’s presented, but the system underneath may only change by a few details. But while the UI artwork is not final, I included pictures of the game in progress as examples to help explain things. Here are the key points about combat in Frayed Knights 2:

• It’s a turn based system. Still.
• There is no strict initiative order. Once a character is “ready” enough to act, you can choose an action for them at any time. But…
• Characters have three levels of readiness, which increase as they are left idle.
• The game alternates turns between the player party and the enemy party in phases. However, that’s all “under the hood.” You may end up with one party having characters go two (or more) times in a row, if nobody is ready to act on the other side.
• Higher levels of readiness grant access to more complex (often not always more powerful or more preferred) actions
• A character’s fatigue,  and “slow” and “haste” effects determine how quickly they increase in readiness
• Nobody can act twice in a single turn unless they have a haste effect
• The turn ends when everyone who can act that turn in both groups have acted.

So why do it this way? The biggest reason is that it allows more tactical play. For example, a “buff” or “debuff” is a lot more useful if cast at the very beginning of  combat than at the end. You may want to try and cast ‘silence’ on an enemy caster BEFORE they have a chance to hit you with their most powerful spell. Or you may want to use than wand of fireballs to clear out the low-level “riff raff” before they get a chance to attack.  It puts the flexibility for combat more in the hands of the player. [...]