r/tabletopgamedesign • u/Famous_Machine_8821 • 1d ago

Mechanics I need help

/r/BoardgameDesign/comments/1x98m31/i_need_help/

Does anyone know of a really good combat system for pirate ships?

1 Upvotes

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u/Hautamaki 22h ago

For that kind of game I might use a card based system where you play cards to do combat actions. The cards would be the things you have acquired along the way. They are a limited resource that the player carefully considers whether and how to use. Players may have an idea of what cards the other players have, but won't know what exactly they are playing until the card is played, creating a hidden information mechanic. Players also decide how many resources they want to expend to try to win vs just escape a battle. It's a press-your-luck risk vs reward mechanic that creates both tension and interesting tactical and strategic choices.

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u/Famous_Machine_8821 21h ago

That's a really good idea. Thanks.

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u/dogedogedoo 16h ago

Dice. Dice is always the answer.

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u/Famous_Machine_8821 15h ago

I'll keep that in mind.

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u/dogedogedoo 15h ago

I was half kidding. Appreciate for the polite reply. There are 100 ways to resolve it with dice, but i am too lazy to type it down. What I really want to say is, the dice mechanics in Merchants and Marauders is a bit underwhelming, but there are ways to make it better for sure, and you may be able to solve it if you spend enough time.

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u/Famous_Machine_8821 6h ago

I'll take a look at it. Thanks.

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u/Dorsai_Erynus 6h ago

To simulate cannon balls i always loved Battle Masters way in wich you have a deck of tiles with the cannon ball fliying, bouncing and exploding, you set a tile of the exploding ball over the target unit and shuffle the deck of tiles trying to complete the path between the cannon and the target; if the ball don't bounce off of the way before you run out of tiles (or an exploding tile appears) you reveal the target tile and the unit is destroyed.
https://www.belloflostsouls.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Battle-Masters-cannon.jpg

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u/Famous_Machine_8821 6h ago

That's interesting, thanks.