Knock for 6 Devlog #1
TLDR: I consider the outline for the game to be complete, barring some technicalities in mechanic interactions. The next step is to write out the rules thoroughly before some preliminary playtesting and formatting of the publication.
Hello everyone, thank you so much for taking a look at the first devlog of Knock for 6. Since I haven’t posted about the actual game before on the blog, I think a bit of an introduction would be helpful.
Knock for 6 is, as the subtitle states, ‘a game of modern tactical raiding and combat for the tabletop.’ I’m aiming for it to be a 2d6 system with the premise revolving around players operating something akin to a SWAT team as they infiltrate compounds to complete objectives. The game is meant to be highly lethal, and as such players are encouraged to act in a calculated manner. Players will have many tools to help them achieve their goals, which will be discussed more below, as well as options for extended campaign play and for a lot of flexibility in how they like to engage with this game. The compounds are created or run by a ‘Don,’ which is this game’s equivalent to a Dungeon Master, and can be populated with various enemies, traps, tools, and points of intrigue.
My main inspiration for this project is the video game series Door Kickers, and my aims for this are to, hopefully, develop some sort of overarching multi-media franchise with great characters and intrigue, something akin to Black Powder Red Earth and maybe even Warhammer if something so ambitious is merited. I have a lot of ideas but I am only one person, and the practical demands of life often keep me busy. Despite this, I hope to continue making progress and to create something that brings a smile to at least one person’s face. Thank you for your interest.
With all that out of the way, let’s look at some of the outline components. It's important to note that a lot of this is tentative, as playtesting has not occurred, but hopefully my ideas aren’t too shabby. We’ll start with rules for operators, which are what player characters are referred to as:
The first and most important thing to note about operators are the stats, of which there are five in total. These are HP, Armor, Speed, Proficiency, and Reaction.
I’m thinking players can choose between starting with 10 HP or rolling 2d6 for a challenge, but this stat is pretty self explanatory. When HP falls to half, movement range is also cut in half (the operator is wounded, I should probably cut their Proficiency too), and when it falls to 0, the operator is dead. No saving throws here.
Armor is a factor in damage calculation, it is obtained solely through equipment, and cuts Speed. As such all operators have a default Armor stat of 0.
Speed determines movement range, some missions call for high speed units, such as certain hostage rescue and escort missions.
Proficiency is a character's handling, or raw skill. It helps with damage calculation, accuracy with throwables like grenades, and some items need high proficiency to operate, such as ballistic shields and lock picks.
Reaction is used to determine firing order when operators encounter enemies. It is a direct check for who has the higher stat, though bonuses can be granted to either individual depending on line of sight and ambush circumstances (e.g. if you surprise the enemy, +1 to your reaction stat).
These stats support the idea of 3 ‘archetypes’ that operators may inhabit if the player wishes. Assault types have normal stats, Medics can heal operators and have very high Speed at the cost of everything else being low, and Support types have high Speed, high Proficiency for using special items in the field, and a low Reaction stat. When players engage in campaign play, they can level up operators, granting them an extra point in a stat of their choice.
I just realized that this could run a bit long if I were to talk about everything here. I think that next time I’ll talk about Equipment, followed by Scenario Rules, splitting the explanation of the outline into essentially three pieces. I strongly suspect, however, I’ll need multiple parts to flesh out the Scenario Rules for you all. There’s even more to the game I could talk about, such as how Dons can go about designing levels and about different mission types. Although these are included in the outline, descriptions in this devlog series will probably have to wait.
To wrap up, I’m going to HeroesCon 2024 tomorrow (check out the poster by THE Jim Starlin below), as it’s literally in my hometown and the city I live in. I’m also checking out Knave 2e, as I’ve recently gotten my booklet from the recent Kickstarter. I’ll be writing about all this on my blog here in my free time, I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do.
Nikhil Saxena
Founder, Destrier Studios
https://linktr.ee/destrierstudios
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