- Introduction
- Goals
- Level Flow
- Versions
- Stats
- Breakpoints
- Stat Types
- Skills
- Armor
- Weapons
- Magic
- Defense
- Resistances
- Armor Class
- Offense
- Damage
- Chance to Hit
- Attack Speed
- Magic
- -Classes- (coming soon)
Welcome to the -Might and Magic X- Children of the Void Combat Compendium! This guide will walk through the calculations behind the combat system in Children of the Void, as well as explanations behind these design decisions.
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Children of the Void comes almost 10 years after the last Might and Magic game. Since then, things have changed. Gamers have evolved to a more casual group of people, who aren't as familiar with paper RPGs like they once were.
We want to keep in the spirit of Might and Magic with Children of the Void, so our combat system will be very paper RPG based. However, it should be simplified and clear in its intent. We want players to understand and utilize the combat system, as it is a vital part of the game.
There will be quite a few changes in the combat system with Children of the Void. I suspect there will be a lot of opposition to this, but it is for the greater good. This game isn't only for a small group of 50 people. After all, we want everyone to enjoy the spirit of the series one last time, and even introduce new people to it before it disappears completely.
From the beginning of the game, the player should have an idea of what he should do. Before the character creation screen, we should help the player to understand what each class means and how he should manage that class in combat. After all, we want the player to understand what type of party he is building for him to play the rest of the game.
Initially, we want it to be quite clear what the player should do to utilize the combat system. As we get further through the game, we want to inspire the player to explore with the combat system, and slowly pull away the guiding hand. Eventually, the player should understand the combat system and be able to use it effectively and enjoyably.
- 0.1 - Initial Release (not really complete yet)
- 0.2 - Filled out offense section (still not quite done, but stable enough for now)
While there may be stats beyond the ones I discuss here, the only ones I am concerned with are the combat-related stats. Names are unimportant for the purposes of this guide, I am only concerned with the effects of each stat.
Children of the Void will contain breakpoints just like earlier games. For now, the table is the same, but this will probably change in the future.
Accuracy is the stat that increases your chance to hit a monster.
Speed increases your armor class, as well as reducing your recovery time.
Might increases the amount of damage your attacks do.
Endurance increases the amount of health you have.
Magic increases the amount of mana you have.
Dexterity is replacing the old stat of luck. It increases your a chance to land a critical strike (more on that later).
While there may be skills beyond the ones I discuss here, the only ones I am concerned with are the combat-related stats. Names are unimportant for the purposes of this guide, I am only concerned with the effects of each skill.
There will be a variety of armor skills. Each level in any armor skill increases the armor class of that type of armor, reduce its affect on your speed, and increase any physical resistance bonus it may contain. It may also reduce the amount of repairs needed for that type of armor.
The types of armor are as follows.
- Robes
- Leather
- Scale
- Chain
- Plate
There will be a variety of weapon skills. Each level in any weapon skill increases the attack bonus of that type of weapon, as well as reducing the attack time of that weapon. It may also reduce the amount of repairs needed for that type of weapon.
The types of weapons are as follows.
- Dagger
- Mace
- Spear
- Staff
- Sword
- Blaster
- Bow
- Thrown
There will be a variety of magic skills. Each level in any magic skill increases the effect of spells in that magical school, as well as reducing the mana cost.
The types of magical schools are as follows.
- Fire
- Air
- Water
- Earth
- Body
- Mind
- Spirit
- Light
- Dark
- Chaos
- Nature
- Order
We want to save the best for last. And since the best defense is a good offense, offense is twice as good, so let's save that for later. Right now, let's focus on defense.
Unlike prior games, resistances play a significant role in reducing damage. Resistances go beyond just building up a stat to take less damage - well placed resistances can reduce more damage that can very well keep you alive. Having no fire resistance on a burning moon is a very bad idea, and you will probably die.
This type of damage reduction almost forces the player to think about combat. If they don't consider the resistances they will need for the next dungeon, they'll have a lot of trouble completing it. A smart player will build his team for specific dungeons to resist certain types of damage. This can be as simple as having a mage to cast a resistance spell, or as complex as having various enchanted gear to match the next dungeon they will next face.
Resistances consistently reduce a specific damage type based on a percentage generated from the number of resistance points you have. For example, having 5 resistance points in a damage type may reduce that type of damage that you take by 7%
Resistance points are based on a logarithmic function. This means that the more resistance points that you get, the less effect additional resistance points will have. So initially, your resistance percentage for a specific damage type will increase fast, and it will slow down as you get higher resistance. All resistances have the same logarithmic function for conversion to a percentage.
The types of resistances are as follows.
- Physical
- Poison
- Magical
- Fire
- Air
- Water
- Earth
- Body
- Mind
- Spirit
- Light
- Dark
- Chaos
- Nature
- Order
A lot of these should look familiar - they are the various magic schools. Each magic school does its own type of damage, and each corresponding resistance reduces this type of damage. There are a few other types of resistances as well, namely physical, magical, and poison.
Physical resistance reduces all physical damage taken. This includes damage from melee weapons like swords and ranged weapons like crossbows. Almost every type of armor contains at least a little bit of this type of resistance, and it is what makes stronger armor like plate better (to make up for a lower armor class, we'll get to that later).
Magical resistance reduces the damage taken from ALL magical schools. This is a very powerful stat, and is only given on very rare and valuable items. This stat should be given cautiously, as it essentially allows a player to ignore some of the resistance mechanic.
Poison resistance reduces the damage from poison. Poisons can be obtained in a variety of ways, and essentially just cause the player to take poison damage over time.
A higher armor class reduces the chance that an enemy has to hit you. Armor class comes from the type of armor you are wearing, the skill you have in that armor, and the amount of speed you have.
Earlier Might and Magic games had stuff like chain and plate adding more armor class than leather. This is changed in Children of the Void, partly because it simply doesn't make sense. How does wearing plate armor make it easier for you to dodge an enemy than wearing leather? To make up for this, plate armor will have higher resistance than lower types of armor (and so on).
Armor class will be discussed more when we start talking about the chance to hit, as it is an important topic there. In fact, I do believe it is high time for an offense section!
And now, the moment for which you have been waiting! Assuming you actually read the guide, you'll probably be very interested in how you do damage. After all, what's cooler than PAIN?
Since the combat system is based off of paper RPGs, a dice-based damage system is used. This is similar to earlier Might and Magic 10 games. For example, 3d6 would be a roll of 3 6-sided die. This equates to a range of damage from 3-18. You can also add a modifier to this, for example, 3d6+2; this would increase the damage by 2 every time (5-20 damage).
Damage can be resisted. See the resistances section for details on this. It's important to note the enemy's resistances when deciding which attacks to use.
Chance to hit is calculated based on two things: attack bonus and armor class. In earlier Might and Magic games, determining whether an attack hit was a fairly complex process. For now, that will not change.
Attack bonus(AB) is calculated from the attack bonus of the weapon and skill in that weapon type. This is used to determine an attack value(AV) with the following equation:
AV = (10+AB)/100
Armor class has already been discussed. A defense value(DV) is calculated from the armor class(AC) using the following equation:
DV = (100-(AC+10))/100
The attacker gets to continue attempting to attack until his chance to hit is reduced to less than 1%. His initial chance to hit is the same as the attack value.
If the player misses during the initial chance, he gets another attempt to hit. His current chance(CC) to hit during this second attempt is calculated from his last chance(LC) to hit using the following equation:
CC = (100-LC)*DV
If any one of these chances to hit succeeds, the player hits the enemy. Otherwise, he misses his attack.
As you can see, this process is complex. Some changes may be made to ease this for the player (like calculating chance to hit for monster info), or the system may be changed.
Attack speed is an important factor to offense in that it determines how often you can attack, and therefore it can increase your total damage. Attack speed(AS) can be determined from the weapon type speed(WTS), skill in that weapon(WS), the speed stat(SS) and armor penalties(AP). Armor penalties are reduced depending on your skill in that armor. A basic equation for attack speed is as follows:
AS = WTS+f(AP)-f(WS)-f(ss)
The functions used in the previous equation are still under consideration. Please feel free to contribute an equation if you have one.
Offensive magic in Children of the Void is going to be built for burst damage. Mages already provide a lot of utility beyond doing damage with their ability to heal, provide resistances, and enchant, depending on their class, so a lack of consistent damage isn't a huge problem. They generally take more physican damage, and can also provide very low consistent damage.
Mages' burst damage may be less useful on weaker enemies where it could be a waste of damage and mana, but on bosses it can provide a considerably benefit to damage. In addition their ability to provide resistance is already invaluable.
Most damaging spells will have a 100% hit chance. Some spells like magic arrows may have a chance to miss, although this is still under consideration.
This section is still under construction.
What about setting up the combat system so that players can choose to skip a characters' turn or turns to save actions for a later time. For example, say a player wants to skip three turns worth of recovery time so that he can launch three Fire Bolts at one or multiple targets. That can be judged by the amount of recovery time it takes to cast Fire Bolt x 3. That way, players will be tempted to use the lower-level spells more often and not stick to the higher-tier spells all the time.
It would also give the play more flexibility in combat and avoid wasting turns.