Edit: Based on feedback, I’ve created a third system explained here.

I’ve created two player decks for my cooperative time travel game, Chromniprescence (a martial arts using child who can specialize in robotics and a college student that uses psychology, biology, and chemistry who can specialize in cryonics) and playtested with others, but I want to solidify my combat mechanics before creating more content. Currently I’m considering two different systems for combat. I’m looking for some input from players or designers who commonly use dice combat systems.

1. The first system is a fairly traditional combat system used by games like Arkham Horror. When a player attacks, they roll the amount of D6s equal to the strength of the attack. They hit on a 5+ with range and heavy attacks and 4+ for melee. There are ways to increase the strength of the attack and lower the number on which the attack hits. With this system players can quickly reach the point where they are rolling 5 or more dice each attack. The probability of a hit is higher with this system, but the probability of doing more damage is higher with the second system.

2. The second system is based on an old wargame called Wizard’s Quest. When a player attacks, they have a die range (1-6) equal to the strength of the attack. If they roll equal to or less than the die range, they deal that amount of damage. If they roll above the range, they deal no damage. For example, if the die range of the attack is 2 and the player rolls a 1, they deal 1 damage. There are ways to lower the die range and increase damage dealt for a hit. This system is attractive to me because players will always roll only 1 die for each attack, but it doesn’t approximate a normal distribution. The probability of a hit is lower, but the probability of doing more damage is higher. Also, rerolls are more strategic, and adding or subtracting 1 or more from a die roll is more powerful. I could find some way to integrate rerolls and changing die rolls by 1 to mitgate the higher luck. This second system has the added benefit of being uncommon and not reminding me of the large amount of die rolling found in Arkham Horror.

What does everyone else think? Please respond in my poll to help me out, and leave comments if you want to explain your answer.