Specialty weapons? [WIP]

[randolph]

Gonna go briefly (stop laughing!) into what Ced brought up about activation imbalance.

Right now, the gameplay runs like this, in terms of "turns":

Initiative order: Player A (3 frames) > Player B (4 frames) > Player C (4 frames, more systems):

1) Player A chooses to activate frame A1 instead of passing; A1 attacks frame C1.
2) C1 received an attack, so it activates; Player C finishes C1's turn by retaliating at A1.
> No new frames were activated by the attack (A1 already took a turn), so it returns to initiative order
3) Player A chooses to activate frame A2 instead of passing; A2 attacks frame B1.
4) B1 received an attack, so it activates; Player B finishes B1's turn by attacking frame A3.
5) A3 received an attack, so it activates; Player A finishes A3's turn by retaliating at B1.
> No new frames were activated by the attack (B1 already took a turn), so it returns to initiative order
> Player A has no more frames to activate (A1, A2, and A3 all had activations), so priority passes to Player B
6) Player B chooses to activate frame B2 instead of passing; B2 attacks frame A3.
> No new frames were activated by the attack (A3 already took a turn), so it returns to initiative order
7) Player B chooses to activate frame B3 instead of passing; B3 attacks frame A3.
> No new frames were activated by the attack (A3 already took a turn), so it returns to initiative order
etc...

If you have area effect weapons, it goes like this:
1) Player A chooses to activate frame A1 instead of passing; A1 attacks frames C1, C2, B1, and B4.
2) Frames C1, C2, B1, and B4 received attacks, so they activate because you need to roll their defense in order to resolve A1's single attack. Combat initiative branches, and we now need a rule to decide which of the four frames that were attacked gets to react first, which potentially impacts them attacking each other:
-> C1 attacks ? potentially activating someone else
-> C2 attacks ? potentially activating someone else
-> B1 attacks ? potentially activating someone else
-> B4 attacks ? potentially activating someone else
and ohgod where does it end whose turn is it anymore augh

[CrimsonKMR]

But you choose what the system is. Seeing as the game is meant to have visual cues, as long as you dont have a sword and say it's an artillery weapon system, you can have your Grenade Launcher as either DF or Artil.

Good sir, I will use my spear as an artillery weapon whether you like it or not!

I see your laser spear and raise you one lance

[SageThe13th]

But you choose what the system is. Seeing as the game is meant to have visual cues, as long as you dont have a sword and say it's an artillery weapon system, you can have your Grenade Launcher as either DF or Artil.

Good sir, I will use my spear as an artillery weapon whether you like it or not!

I see your laser spear and raise you one lance

The funny thing is the spear LFOT linked looks more like a lance and the lance CKMR linked looks more like a spear.

[randolph]

The funny thing is the spear LFOT linked looks more like a lance and the lance CKMR linked looks more like a spear.

So, what you're saying is, it aspears to be something else at first lance.

[LowestFormOfWit]

But you choose what the system is. Seeing as the game is meant to have visual cues, as long as you dont have a sword and say it's an artillery weapon system, you can have your Grenade Launcher as either DF or Artil.

Good sir, I will use my spear as an artillery weapon whether you like it or not!

I see your laser spear and raise you one lance

I see your Lance of Longinus and raise you a Longinus, with a spear.

AND ANOTHER WITH A LANCE.

Yes I also love EVA. Make no mistake.


Also:

The funny thing is the spear LFOT linked looks more like a lance and the lance CKMR linked looks more like a spear.

So, what you're saying is, it aspears to be something else at first lance.

Pun for shame! Also, who is LFOT?

[SageThe13th]

Also:

The funny thing is the spear LFOT linked looks more like a lance and the lance CKMR linked looks more like a spear.

So, what you're saying is, it aspears to be something else at first lance.

Pun for shame! Also, who is LFOT?

Oops.

[Ced23Ric]

Lowest Form of T ... *cough*

Freudian Slip much?

[Trokodile]

First off, sorry for necro, but there is some interesting discussion here... Particularly where randolph said

-> C1 attacks ? potentially activating someone else
-> C2 attacks ? potentially activating someone else
-> B1 attacks ? potentially activating someone else
-> B4 attacks ? potentially activating someone else
ohgod where does it end whose turn is it anymore augh

But I'm totally using that shotgun idea! It actually makes perfect sense, and as I've never had a true argument about whether or not something is in range (my usual opponents and I are too nice, often insisting to go with what benefits the other person more rather than ourself) I don't see the whole 1-3 unit thing being a problem.
Although I do have an idea for how to demonstrate "spread" on it rather than being range-based... What if the player rolls an extra after rolling damage? On a 1-5, it does damage equal to that rolled. On a 6-7, it does all previous damage (requiring at least 1 successful hit) plus one hit, and an 8 adds two hits. I would probably change the effective range from 1-3 units up to 1-4, to better reflect its realistic potential range. I think this is a more balanced way to go about the shotgun or other close-range projectile weapon rulings... In my head, it doesn't seem to potentially affect gameplay too much, especially based on our usual rolls... (The first round is always 5s and 6s, the next round is 1s and 3s, and then 2s and 5s, and it repeats) But, I'm hoping to get some insight from those of you who have more experience with the game and sets of house rules.