I grew up playing JRPGs, like Suikoden, FF IV, and Chrono Trigger. I can't remember if the positioning mattered that much. But I enjoyed the combat in those games even though the characters mostly "stayed in place." This idea is loosely inspired, particularly by how I remember Suikoden's combat arrangement.
The idea I have is that when battle commences between two opposing forces, the characters can choose to place themselves in one of the 3 zones:
- Front
- Middle
- Back
Two opposing sides would look like this
Back | Middle | Front || Front | Middle | Back
Not every zone has to be occupied. But there always have to be someone in the "Front."
Attack range is defined how many zones it can cross. For example, a melee attack can only hit the zones that are immediately adjacent.
Ranged attack can skip over at least one zone, depending on the type of attack. Super long range attacks, which may reach from Back to Back, may require time to charge up.
Crossing into enemy zone is possible but may require some kind of a cost—something like an opportunity attack in DND.
I imagine the combat is done in rounds, where one side can do the following
- Switch zones
- Use items (which are either consumed or have a hard cap on usage per round or combat)
- Declare an action
An action can be something like attack, defend, or charge up (maybe to increase the range of the attack).
I also think it might be possible for one of the sides to be flanked, in which case, the Back also becomes another Front.
Back | Middle | Front || Front | Middle | Back
Could turn into
Front || Front | Middle | Front || Front | Middle
Curious to hear what folks think about this approach to combat or if there is already a system that does something like this.