combat system, have or have not?

Hi everyone! I’m pretty new around here.

Anyway I am trying to build a game with twine 2, but I can’t decide if I should have a dedicated combat system or simply narrating the combat sections just like the rest with usual choice based progression.

On one hand it would be a nice change of pace, on the other it is interrupting the “normal” game for another. What do you guys think?

I generally recommend against having a combat “system” unless the combat system is the central point of playing the game. If you’re considering whether to have a combat system or not, then presumably you have a game that isn’t essentially about combat, upgrades, and optimization, so don’t have it.

Instead, include combat-related choices that are about the main “choice themes” of your story. For example, if lots of your non-combat choices are about how far to self-sacrifice, put those choices into the game (“take a big risk to protect your team?”) If you have a bunch of choices about honor, offer the player a chance to “cheat” in a one-on-one duel. If your game is about the brutality of war, “do you slaughter the enemy or take prisoners (who may attempt a jailbreak)?”

Choices like those are usually a lot more fun than attack/magic/item/run.

You bring a very good point! Yeah I started with the idea of building a combat system inside my story, butgoing forward ti was feeling more and more detached from the rest of the work and at that point I started questioning if I should keep it.

Anyway, thanks for the answer!