Post originally by Trentin C Bergeron at 2004-01-08 11:03:28
Converted from Phorums BB System

Action! System - Fuzion Comparison

First I will mention this, there are striking similarities between the two systems. It is obvious Fuzion played a big part in the inspiration of the A!S. With that, I will try and outline some details.

Attributes - Fuzion has a three attribute per group structure however the inclusion of the Combat group makes it a bit different. Here we have three different skills pertaining to various combat abilities. Fuzion deos not have the “functional” breakup that A!S does (Power, etc.) The upside? Harder to put all your points into one Attribute and become a combat god. Downside? Makes it harder to differentiate across the very similar Attributes that could have been represented by one. The Body score in the physical group is also a tad different compared to the flat Health of A!S. Attributes are one area of basic similarity where the details make them very different.

Derived Attributes - Fuzion utilizes the Hero idea of Hits and Stun and includes options for Endurance. It is cool as it reflects what types of damage are having what effects on the character in a fairly obvious way, but it requires more math and in-game tracking of those three scores. Fuzion includes more and several options while the A!S is simpler.

Traits - Now here is where the A!S takes a different turn. Fuzion utilizes the Hero/Interlock paradigm with separating out these options into variables by type. You have complications, talents and perks with different or variable point levels determined by what you are getting. The complications have a cool feature that let you select the frequency, impact, and importance of the complication. This structure helps to compartmentalize these characteristics and adds a level of granularity to them that can get lost in the A!S (three positive and negative levels..). It also make learning them take longer as there is not a consistent mechanic as it were. I think the Traits section is another place that the A!S really excels in system design as an improvement, however the way Fuzion does complications is really cool.

Skills – Fusion skills seem quicker. The basic structure is the same for both, however the A!S includes more details for each skill and clarifies the group/skill/specialty difference. Fuzion is fast (one of the advantages to the previous Interlock system) while A!S is more detailed.

Combat – Both are almost the same beast. Of course, the basic structure could be said of many systems. One thing I like about both combat systems (A!S and Fuzion) is the nice quick lists of moves/actions you can take. Makes things faster and easy to reference.

Hits/Stun/Endurance vs. Life Points – Here is a major divergence. Life points are almost the same things but concentrate on effect across a combined pool. Recovery in the A!S is automatic based on campaign level where Recovery is a derived attribute in Fuzion. One thing that Endurance lends well to is a limit on the amount of super powers or magic that can be used and dose not make it exactly derived for how healthy you are damage-wise. The Fuzion way is very Hero like while the A!S is simple and cohesive. I will admit that I prefer the A!S method and consider it a major improvement over its predecessors.

That is what I pulled out in about an hour of reading, comparing, and thinking. If anyone else has some ideas please chime in. Hope that was helpful. I should also point out – they are both good systems made by some really cool people in this industry. It really comes down to flavor. Check them out, read them (both have free downloads) and decide which one fits your paying style best!!

Ciao for now,

-Trentin