Knockbacks

[Rusty]

I'm about having knock-backs in my game, where attacks can move characters back a tile.  This would be usefull for giving characters, especially the player, more breathing space as well as convey the mighty warrior image.

Here I'm assuming that knock-backs happen randomly.  One-tile knock-backs would seem to work fairly well.  However, since I want my game to work with superhero-esque settings and characters, part of me wants to allow multi-tile knock-backs that send characters careering through the air and crashing through walls until they land or hit a cliff.  This kind of action works in cartoons and comic books, but in a roguelike it would seem to translate into giving a character a free, albeit painfull, escape.  This could be even more annoying if the character focuses on ranged attacks.

I'm thinking of a couple of ways to balance this kind of knock-back.  One way would be to not make it random, but allow the player to choose when to make a knock-back attack and maybe control the force.  I'm a little worried that this might complicate the interface though, and that since it's an active effect it might not see as much use in battle, reducing the overall quantity of "cinematic action" I was hoping for.

Another way would be to give more advantages to these knock-backs.  On top of the damage caused by the blow, the hit character could also receive bonus damage based on how far he flew and how many things he ran/crashed into on the way.  A knocked-backed character could run into another character, which knocks him back causing damage, who could knock other characters back, and so on for a Newton's cradle effect that ends up dealing damage to multiple characters.

A final set of improvements would be to make it easier to close the gap between the attacker and the knocked-back target.  The knocked-backed character could be "unconscious" for the number of tiles he flew, giving the attacker time to either catch up or focus on other enemies.  Characters could also have "run" or "leap" abilities that they'd use to cross multiple tiles in one turn, which would be usefull here.

[Ex]

The enemy doesn't need to flee if knocked back, necessarily. Fleeing is usually a fairly annoying thing for the player to deal with anyway, it could be that after you throw them they just run back up and try to attack again. However, I really like the idea of being able to control a knock-back. Maybe you'd get bonus damage for what you threw the enemy into. If the enemy must run sometimes, it still doesn't need to run after knock back. The enemy after knockback could automatically return to the player, and then evaluate if it wants to run.

[corremn]

Enemy AI should of course randomly knock back.  Once knocked back the player would be stunned for a few rounds.  Same goes for enemies. 

This is a great mechanic and I have used it in one of my games.   Every time someone was knocked back thrown they were either stunned or knocked prone. Hence they had to recover and stand up before they could continue fighting/fleeing.  You could throw them into a corner as well. Certain traits/skills allowed some monsters to auto-stand, jump-up, not go down etc to keep variety in this attack. 
The best effect of my game was the throw enemy/ally skill.  It was sometimes hilarious to what a ememies pickup your allies and throw them at you. Sometimes your ally would pick you up and throw you at a dangerous enemy.  Fun stuff.  Add the fact that some monsters had an eating trait, that randommly allowed them to pick you up and eat you in stead of throwing you.

Good luck, this sounds great.

[Fenrir]

The best effect of my game was the throw enemy/ally skill.  It was sometimes hilarious to what a ememies pickup your allies and throw them at you. Sometimes your ally would pick you up and throw you at a dangerous enemy.  Fun stuff.  Add the fact that some monsters had an eating trait, that randommly allowed them to pick you up and eat you in stead of throwing you.

What game is this? I must play it.

We need more roguelikes with crazy mechanics.

EDIT:
Erm, it's "SewerJacks", of course. How imperceptive of me.

[Slash]

DrashRL also uses knockback and pass-by evade

[corremn]

What game is this? I must play it.

We need more roguelikes with crazy mechanics.

EDIT:
Erm, it's "SewerJacks", of course. How imperceptive of me.

yeah I really should polish this game off one of these days... 

Crazy mechanics like a superhero game would be great.  I might actually add some more knockback effects and throwing effects in sewerjacks.