There are 3 main tactical elements:
Different attacks with pros and cons AoD-style
Cover (natural and energy shields) and gadgets
Grenades
The first two are self-explanatory, the third one is something new and hopefully exciting, so let's go over the design as we're about to start implementing it.
Ship-made Grenades (cheap and fairly common, many enemies will have several grenades on their belts).
1. Gas Grenade - creates a visible 7x7 poison cloud that hovers over the affected area for 2 turns and does X damage per turn for Y number of turns (once poisoned).
If poison gets through the respirator or mask (i.e. the mask doesn't block the poison entirely), it causes low damage to physical stats (STR, DEX, CON), which is worse than 2-3 points of damage per turn.
So the gas grenades' stats are:
- Damage per turn
- Number of turns once poisoned
- Stat damage (damage range is 1-3; 1 is common, 3 is rare).
Defense:
- respirators (half masks), gas masks (full masks), full helmets to reduce poison DR
- implant (synthetic heart with blood purifier) to reduce poison stat damage
2. Flashbang Grenade - instant flash in the middle of a 7x7 area that sets all affected enemies' PER to 1 (thus lowering THC), reduces their AP by 10 (disoriented), and sets Evasion to 0. All effects last 1 turn, Evasion penalty starts during the player's turn and ends after the enemy's turn.
Defense: Combat goggles, full helmets, or implant (bionic eye) to reduce PER and AP loss
3. Smoke Grenade - creates a dense 7x7 cloud that hovers over the affected area for 2 turns. The cloud greatly reduces visibility: if your target is in the cloud or behind the cloud (i.e. there is a smoke cloud between you and your target), your THC is set to 5%, representing zero visibility.
Basically, it affects both parties (if you're in the cloud, you can't see anything outside of it either), so it's best suited for charging melee attackers to generate some cover while they are on the move.
Defense: Goggles, full helmets, or implants (bionic eye with different properties) to increase visibility (thermal vision).
We assume that your THC is THC under perfect conditions. If the visibility is reduced, your THC is reduced with it. So if combat goggles give you visibility of 80% and your THC is 60%, then your adjusted THC is 60*0.8 = 48%
* * *
Earth-made Grenades are much more powerful but rare. They are a last resort weapon and you won't have more than 5-7 such grenades in the entire game. Defending against them is much harder and will require equally rare gadgets.
4. Stasis Field - creates a 3x3 stasis field that lasts 2 turns. You can't attack those trapped inside and they can't do anything either. It's a ‘divide and conquer' grenade.
Defense: None
5. Brainwave Disruptor - instant spiral effect over 5x5 area that tries to make the affected characters go berserk and attack nearby targets (most likely their own allies).
Defense: Helmet's mental resistance stat (Neural Shield), we roll to see if you manage to resist the urge to kill nearby people. If you pass the check, you are unaffected.
6. Pulse Grenade - instant pulse over 10x10 area. All energy shields are disabled, all gadgets are fried and can't be used for the duration of combat. All droids are disabled for 2 turns.
* * *
Defensive Gear and Stats, come in different varieties with different stats:
1. Respirator (half mask)
- Toxic Resistance 2
2. Gas Mask (full mask)
- Toxic Resistance 4
The gas mask provides superior protection but takes both slots, meaning you can't wear goggles and thus are vulnerable to flashbangs and smoke grenades.
3. Tactical Mask (gas mask and combat goggles combo) - Earth-made gear, rare
- Toxic Resistance 3
- Thermal Vision 40%
4. Combat Goggles
- Optic Resistance 4 (meaning that your PER and AP aren't reduced to 1 and by 10 respectively but to 5 (1+4) and by 6 (10-4).
- Thermal Vision 60%
- Targeting 5% (aimed THC bonus)
5. Power Armor Helmet
- Damage Resistance 12
- Toxic Resistance 8
- Optic Resistance 6
- Thermal Vision 80%
- Targeting 15%
- Neural Shield 75%
The AI will target your weaknesses, so if your character has high-quality goggles but a cheap gas mask, the AI will use a poison grenade, etc. This way reloading and equipping a better gas mask won't make a difference because the AI will target a different weakness. Your headgear will be useful not only in combat but also while exploring the ship, so non-combat characters will still have a reason to look for better gear.
Thoughts?
