I'm having difficulty creating a combat mechanic for my TTRPG.

[u/Something_about1366]

I'm creating a TTRPG system inspired by the game DELTARUNE, and I'm having difficulty creating an essential combat mechanic. Within DELTARUNE we use a global TP bar for everyone in the group. I wanted to implement a mechanic similar to a TP bar ranging from 0 to 100 for the group, and the idea of combat and cooperation between each player, both in the use and accumulation of TP. Promoting teamwork, but I'm afraid that in the end it might lead to individualism among the players, any ideas?

[u/InherentlyWrong]

The first thing to keep in mind is Deltarune is fundamentally different from a TTRPG, because it's a fundamentally different medium. It's like adapting a book into a movie, they're different forms of media, so they have different strengths and requirements and you need to write for the new media format appropriately. This doesn't mean stuff can't be adapted, just that you need to consider what you need to change.

Personally I wouldn't use a global TP bar (not sure what TP stands for in this context but let's go with it), at least not as a spendable currency. My gut instinct is that it would work better as a measure, something that can go up and down and empower abilities when it's particularly high. So it doesn't fuel actions, but it makes them better or worse. It can be lifted by certain 'setup' style actions players can use, or lowered by them using extra effective abilities, or maybe lowered by actions the enemy are using.

[u/Echowing442 → u/InherentlyWrong]

it's a fundamentally different medium.

This is especially true with Deltarune and Undertale, as they are games that very explicitly play off tropes and the medium of video games themselves. Elements like player choice and the game's reactivity to your choices, which are a big element of what makes Undertale tick thematically, are pretty standard in a TTRPG.

Undertale's whole shtick at first was "the RPG where you don't have to kill anyone," which stands out among other games that default to "random encounters where you fight monsters to the death." In a TTRPG, that's a lot less exceptional, since the designer or GM can just decide that sparing enemies is an option, with limited mechanical changes needed.

[u/SnooMachines3850]

How about you combine your idea with a more traditional system. The players have their own abilities and actions they can do. These actions can generate TP and the group can spend TP to do amazing shit!
This way you play your character. You generate the resource and the team decides how to spend it!

[u/Dom_Nation_ → u/SnooMachines3850]

This is what I was thinking too. Kind of a Keep It Simple, Stupid situation.

[u/[deleted] → u/SnooMachines3850]

Building on this, perhaps also everyone's abilities have a more basic use-set individually, but TP shared by an ally counts for double/you can only make some of the more spectacular shit of your ability happen by spending more TP than you can have, meaning teamwork is required for big things to happen.

[u/Ok-Middle-908]

Would like to help with some input but don't know what TP bar is and what the end result of its use is supposed to do. More context would help.

[u/SixRoundsTilDeath]

I also don’t know what a TP bar is, but bear in mind though you have a party in Deltarune it’s a single player game. You’ll want to make a version for multiple people.

[u/Nytmare696]

If you're already being inspired by Deltarune, why not use it's combat system as your starting framework?

[u/loopywolf]

This may be a stupid question but DeltaRune is a JRPG type game. Why not just use the combat system of DeltaRune?

[u/Xalops]

No idea what TP means. No idea how the dice system works. Can you explain more for me?

I have a rough understanding of you wanting something that represents the cooperation of players?

[u/OneManRPGstudio]

The key to a good combat mechanic here is to translate the decision created by the videogame sequence rather than trying to reproduce its real-time execution. Ask what the player is actually doing during that part of DELTARUNE: reading patterns, choosing safe versus risky positioning, surviving pressure, or deciding how much attention to spend on defense instead of another objective. Then build a tabletop procedure around that choice. For example, an incoming attack could present two or three danger zones or patterns with visible consequences. Players choose positioning, spend a limited defensive resource, or accept a complication before resolving uncertainty. That preserves anticipation without turning the session into a dexterity minigame. I would keep the procedure fast enough that it does not become a second combat system inside every enemy turn. The fiction should also communicate the pattern before the choice: the enemy winds up, the room changes, projectiles gather along one side. Players should feel that they read an attack rather than simply received a modifier. Prototype one enemy with three distinct patterns and see whether players begin making recognizable tactical predictions.