Love of Fighting is a mini-game of dueling.
It can be played either as a standalone short game or as a part of a larger game.
It’s a very focused material, so if you’re looking for anything other than dueling rules, tough luck buddy.
– Description from game author
How does it Work
Based on the Caltrop Core system, Love of Fighting uses D4 dice to simulate an old-style duel.
Characters fight by selecting a move and rolling a few dice.
There are active or reactive moves.
Setting Up
Before starting your fight, you will want to answer a few questions to get into character.
You can either pick from the list or use a D4 to decide.
- Why are you fighting
- When does this take place
- What type of weapon are you using
- Who are you fighting
You’ll want to give your fighter a name and decide how they act under pressure. You might even want to decide what they look like or find a picture of your character.
Every fighter has a starting stamina pool. Usually its 3.
If fighters stamina gets to zero, the fighter loses. They may die, they may be knocked out, or they may simply run away in fear. (Its up to you)
Finally, select an archetype for your fighter.
You might want to be a gambler, a scoundrel, a musketeer, a mastermind, or a vanguard. Each of the archetypes have special moves that will give an advantage in a fight.
Love of Fighting is normally played by two players, but you can play a single player game by rolling a D4 dice to determine the attributes and moves of your opponent.
If you decide to play solo, you should roll for the opponents attributes or moves AFTER you have made your own selections. By doing this, your opponents choices will come as a surprise, and you won’t be able to automatically counter them with your own selections.
How to Play
The game is played until one of the players ends up with a stamina of zero.
One player starts with initiative. At the start of the game, this is decided by a dice roll.
The fighter with initiative can select any of the active moves. The other fighter has to pick a reactive move.
If you are playing solo, make your selection first, and then use a D4 to select the move for your opponent from the available list.
The active moves are Attack, Guard, Feint, or Prepare.
The reactive moves are Struggle, Parry, Goad, or Catch a Breather.
Once you have selected the moves, roll the number of dice that match the fighters current stamina, and take the highest value.
By looking up the rolled values, you may change the initiative, take damage, or hurt your opponent. The last two results change your stamina value (which also changes the number of dice you can roll on your next move)
My thoughts
This is a great little game.
It’s easy to setup, and doesn’t take a lot of brain power to run through a session.
You don’t need much of an imagination because all of the moves have clear prompts that tell you what the outcomes are and what you can do next.
Verdict: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
How to Get It
Love of Fighting was designed by Dani Belonia @dani_belonia