All games must offer a studied probability margin, in which the resolution of a given situation is not based solely on the mastery of the player, but on a chance which materializes all the secondary factors of failure or success. Chance is not the only way to achieve this, however.
Thus, in SUPERPUNK Tactics’s fights this margin is not based on chance, but on an emerging complexity introduced by the combination of Reactive Abilities and Dynamic Characteristics, two mechanics which, when combined, allow the player to have a clear idea of the present and future state of the fight.
Reactive Skills
Units acquire their abilities through the equipment they wear. The player can improve his equipment and therefore improve his abilities.
There are three types of abilities in SUPERPUNK Tactics:
- Active Abilities, which encompass all the actions that units can perform during combat. (attack, charge, etc.).
- Passive Abilities, which do not require any action from the player, but which play a key role in his strategy.
- Reactive Abilities are special skills that the player decides to activate or not. Giving him the ability to cancel or completely reverse the situation by trying to predict and react to the opponent’s actions.
Note that the Reactive Abilities are triggered only when the opponent performs an action, such an attack, giving the player the ability to respond outside its turn. Their effects are diverse and their goal is to return the situation (counterattack, dodge, parry, etc.).
Dynamic Features
For the sake of simplification and in order to target a wider (mobile) audience, the unit characteristics are reduced to the strict minimum, no such thing as strength, dodge rate or resistance percentage, only one characteristics paired with a recovery mechanism.
EP, Recovery Points and Recovery Thresholds
Endurance Points (EP), act both as Health Points and Action Points. The unit loses EPs when taking physical damage and expense when taking action.
To compensate for this, a recovery equal to the Recovery Points (RP) is applied at the start of each player turns. By default, a unit has 10 PR. This recovery is subject to limits called Recovery Thresholds which block the recovery by the tenth (i.e. at 10, 20, 30, 40, etc.). These thresholds, however, remain inactive until the unit uses combat abilities.
We speak of combative abilities when they include the action of targeting or directly attacking the opponent. Other actions such as moving, using objects, etc, are considered non-combative.
