I absolutely love Into the Odd's decisiveness in combat. You're fighting? Whatever is getting attacked is taking damage. I also love its speed and simplicity. It's fantastic for getting out of combat and back to the parts you can't do in video games.
But one of the things that attracted me to Troika was that its combat was crunchier. That its initiative system is just too wild to pull out. That the weapons you choose have nuance and character. But it maintains the idea that when you roll, someone should take damage. I want to keep that intact while keeping the crunch higher than Into the Odd (which isn't saying much).
So now that we have STR DEX and WIL instead of just BASE SKILL to attack with, what impact does that have? Do all melee weapons add STR and all ranged weapons add DEX? Ranged weapons keep you from getting counterattacked and Troika has no penalty for point blank shooting (as far as I could tell RAW), so why play a STR character? Into the Odd uses STR as a backstop to HP, making it more valuable, but Troika has its own dedicated HP stat. I have a feeling if I start messing with that the Jenga tower starts to lean a bit too much.
The first clue was Troika's "#" weapon ability to ignore 1 Armor. It used on weapons that literally "pound" on the enemy: Hammer, Polearm, Maul (and both guns). Those didn't make sense to use DEX to attack, so I made them STR only. Anyone can use them, they just have to use their STR when they attack with it.
So this led me to D&D's Finesse weapons. Some weapons only use STR, some only use DEX, and some let the PC choose either.
Then I realized that I couldn't tell for sure whether the STR based weapons outclassed the DEX based weapons (for both 1 and 2-handed use) without calculating their Expected Damage.
So I built a spreadsheet!
I also took the opportunity to rearrange the weapons into the categories they'd actually be competing against: 1 or 2 handed melee or ranged. I also whipped up values for:
- Expected Damage (the average of the "normal" damage rolls 1-6)
- Low Damage (average of 1-3)
- High Damage (average of 4-7+)
- Variance (difference between Low Damage and High Damage)
These gave me the framework I was looking for to build new weapons that fit Troika's existing balance.
My first pass of determining which 1-handed melee weapons should use STR, DEX or either showed that the Dagger (fka Knife) and the Sword really made sense with DEX, so I whipped up a Javelin and a Whip as two additional options. The Javelin and Dagger also appear in the 1-handed ranged table since you can chuck em.
The EV column shows that the Sword is far and away the best 1-handed melee weapon for a DEX focused PC, and I'm still ruminating on if I'm okay with that and/or how to adjust it. The Whip (and some of the 2-handers) might get a Reach mechanic, but I'm still on the fence about that too.
I liked how the 2-handed melee options are pretty much STR only, but I need to figure out a niche for the Staff. Why would a DEX character use two hands to wield a Staff when the Sword and even Whip deal more damage with one less hand? Maybe that one gets reach too? TBD.
1-handed ranged weapons only had one entry (the Pistolet), so I added a Sling and Hand Crossbow in addition to the aforementioned Dagger and Javelin. The Pistolet is obviously the best overall damage dealer, but the idea that it's very feast or famine and its ammo is competing with spellcasting seems balanced.
I was happy to see that the 2-handed ranged weapons offered a clean way to differentiate a Bow from a Longbow: The Shortbow (fka "Bow") can use STR or DEX, but the Longbow requires STR, deals more damage, and penetrates armor. I'm concerned that the Fusil might be busted but it follows the same considerations as the Pistolet above.
So, to review, my combat update goes like this:
- Standard Troika initiative
- Melee attacks require both characters to roll d20 + either STR or DEX + Advanced Skill
- The winner of that roll deals damage to the loser
The only change at the table is rolling d20 instead of 2d6. I am sad to move away from Troika's small number addition to two digit addition, but I think it'll be fine. Mostly.
Quick, what's 12 + 16 + 3? Is that bigger than 14 + 9 + 5?
See? Fine. 😬
Next up: Determining starting gear based on stat rolls!
