low numbers

[Tars 0]

anyone make a combat system with lower stats and damage. The numbers in the game seem pretty high

Would lowering everything down screw up the fighting?.

[kayden997 84]

Not really, I like it more because it feels easier to deal with. However, you can only do so much with 10hp.

If so, one would have to modify the attack formula and skill values. It wouldn't be too hard but it would require some pre play testing before an actual battle can be made

[Tars 0]

Ok cool. I'm gonna try it

[Wren 179]

Let me know how you do on this.

 

I wanted to try to do something like this when I first got rpgmvxace and never got around to doing it.

[+ EraYachi 180]

In my game, I've lowered the HP and overall leveling curve so characters don't start out with high stats. Such as 120 or less HP per person.

 

In all honesty, doing this requires you to bascially create all of your attacks, weapons, armour, items (any database item) from scratch, or heavily modify them all. This also includes modifying or recreating magic and skills so they appropriately scale to lower stats and your team isn't getting 1-hit KOed. It's a lot more work, but it allows for more creative movements and boss planning.

 

In the next RPG Maker released (if there ever is one), it would be nice if they added a system that scaled down/up the default stats on all gear/skills in the database with the click of a few buttons.

[Hikitsu 31]

Actually, you can do this yourself easily. Here are a few ways of doing it :

 : 

1> Setting Low HP for Characters

Use this Formula to Set HP :  Initial HP @ Level 1 + 98 * (HP Gain per Level) = Final HP @ Level 99   

Normally, I give my Characters anywhere from 75 - 120 Initial HP & 10 - 20 HP Gain / Level, depending on how Tanky or Squishy I want them to be. Again, I follow a simple rule here, Higher their Atk potential, Lower their HP.

 

2> I limit all other stats to a range of  10 - 15 @ Level 99.  

This means the Character only gains a Stat point in these fields every couple of levels, Which gives you very low Base stats. Note that this is best with Games that have only a few levels, I normally use this for my games where the Max Level is 15 ~ 20.

 

3> I plan weapons damage to scale significantly but in very small numbers. 

Example I  : Lets say you plan Swords of 4 Different grades (No Bonus Atk) - 2 Atk, 4 Atk, 8 Atk, 16 Atk 

Example II : Lets say you plan Magic Wands of 4 Different grades (Add +2 Atk) - 4 Atk, 6 Atk, 10 Atk, 18 Atk 

You can make various weapons like this for different classes, depending on how powerful you want them to be.

 

4> Armor & Equipment Bonuses

This is simple too. Generally, I use 3 grades of Armor Bonuses for Light Armor, Heavy Armor and Cloth Armor.

Example 1 : Cloth armor has least Defense but more Magic Defense - 1 Def, 3 Magic Def

Example 2 : Light Armor has equal Defense and Magic Defense but overall less than either of them - 1 Def, 1 Magic Def

Example 3 : Heavy Armor has more Defense but less or no Magic Defense - 3 Def

 

You can now create Armor Bonuses in a similar way you created weapons.

Example for Cloth Armor of 4 Grades : 1 Def, 3 Def, 5 Def, 7 Def so on.. 

Example for Heavy Armor of 4 Grades : 3 Def, 5 Def, 10 Def, 13 Def so on..

 

5> How to plan Skills

Generally, If you are using such low stats as these, You would want to have Skills do mostly % Dmg to avoid the Confusion of Skills being under powered or overpowered. You do these by pre planning the range of % Atk Dmg or Magic Atk a Skill does for a Particular Character.

Example : Skill Dmg Range for Knight : 120 - 150%

Example Skill : Knight Skill Flash blade deals 5 + 120% Dmg 

Example 2 : Skill Dmg Range for Mage : 150 - 300%

Example Skill : Mage Dark Sphere deals 30 + 180% Dmg

 

So you get the idea, Plan the range of Damage for skills beforehand and it makes the work a lot easier. You could also plan skills to do just base Dmg however, be aware that base damage varies a lot and won't be good at all levels, this is why % Dmg is highly suggested. You can experiment with this idea to make your own damage scales or even use the custom damage foruma to create some interestingly unique skills.

 

6> Enemy Battler Stats

This is the most tricky part of them all. It always takes time and patience to test how much HP is ideal.

Normally, I decide this by 2 Things -

1> The Best Gear the Player can obtain at that Level while facing the Enemy Battler

2> Enemy Type (You can plan Enemies of all types, just use your imagination. Ex : High Atk, Atk + Agi, Def + HP, High HP, High Def etc)

 

Imagine the Enemy to have half of the stats of the Player at that level. This is how I approach it. Also, You could classify Enemy Battlers into various Groups. Example : 

Group 1 - Enemy Levels 1 - 4

Group 2 - Enemy Levels 5 - 7

Group 3 - Enemy Levels 7 - 20 so on... And you could slowly raise the stats exponentially as you approach higher groups of enemies.

 

Now Consider a Group to contain 4 Enemies.

Example : Group 1 HP : (45, 70, 90, 120) (Add +100 HP to next Group)

Group 2 HP : (145, 170, 190, 220) (Add +250 HP to next Group)

Group 3 HP : (395, 420, 440, 470) so on.. Just make sure you play test to make sure enemy Battlers aren't too weak or too overpowered. The best way to do this is plan how many Hits + Skill Hits kill an enemy.

 

I would want an Ideal Group 1 Enemies to go down in 2 - 3 Hits.

I would want to gradually increase the Difficulty, Group 2 : 3 - 4 Hits + 1 Skill Hits to take down the Enemy so on.. 

 

So yea, I hope this helped you to think your own ways of making a game with very low stats using these ideas ^ ^

Edited August 28, 2013 by Hikitsu

[Aurumlamina 4]

Hikitsu, this is absolutely fantastic to give fellow designers a starting point for reduced stats.  Well done!

[RogueHeart 0]

What about a page out of Final Fantasy Tactics' book? No defense stat, armor adds HP. Most characters start with 4-6 in atk stat, and most attack formulae goes something like attack * weapon dmg. Single digit growth HP, less MP, and about 6-10 points of atk growth by LV99. Taking out defense makes formula less complicated and gives you naturally lower numbers.

 

Armor catagories can be differentiated by making them specialse in certain things. Eg, in FFT robes and such give less HP but have major MP boosts. Heavy armor generally gave very good HP but little anything else, while light armor gave decent HP but many have boost to stats (atk, spd etc), or permanent positive status.