Hi. I'm currently attempting to set up my own girlframe campaign. I understand the rulebook on a basic level but am struggling to understand the combat mechanics, as the manual doesnt really cover how mech speed or durability have any bearing on the system. are there any decent guides or additional resources you could recommend that would help me learn? ive looked around and have not had much success.
There's a short and a long answer to this, and I think if you're coming from a crunchier combat system it'll take some getting used to...
They don't have any bearing on anything. It's based on vibes that are loosely guided by the plays everyone can make and the narrative flow and tone.
The longer, better answer
Combat in Girl Frame isn't really so much about specific mechanics as it is about guiding the Conversation (the narrative flow of the story) in specific ways. The players and the Handler are given tools to guide this process, but very little specific mechanical direction as to exactly what those plays do.
Which means that the specifics of what happens are ultimately up to the table to decide. The level of how much things like Frame speed or durability matter come down to the players and their narration and the Handler and how they respond.
There are a few aspects that are mechanized... mostly the presence of assets as a thing that get damaged or voided and trigger certain conditions when they're all damaged/voided.
But a lot of it isn't strictly called out by a specific rule, which means it's up to the players to explain and the Handler to make a call on.
So, for example, you might argue that having a sniper rifle on your Frame allows you to pin down a Gorgon and prevent it from making the Attack play against you. If the Handler agrees, then that's what happens.
Similarly, you might argue as a player that having a particularly fast Frame allows you to close distance and prevent a Gorgon from making the Collateral Damage play by using Engage the Enemy. Or maybe that speed allows you to do an All-out-Assault in a way that a slower Frame might have had to take more time to set up for.
Especially now that basic combat has split out into Engage the Enemy and All-out-Assault, I find that it encourages the Handler to really pay attention to how the fight is flowing and guide responses to plays accordingly. Like, for example, we have a fight late in season 1 where a player wants to make an all-out-assault but they're still struggling to get their Frame back up from being under water, so they got told "no, you can't make that play yet" and used Engage the Enemy to get themselves into position first.
Similarly, things like avoiding the consequences of Gorgon plays are up to the Handler. You might offer the player a chance to avoid damage by using Keep Your Head or Engage the Enemy or something - but also, they might just be in a position where damage is inevitable based on narrative positioning.
Stuff like turn order are also really vague
The only really firm mechanics are the ones listed under the plays.
Page 187 of the latest rules ("How to Run a PbtA Fight Scene") has some useful advice about the general tone of how a fight goes, as well as advice for things like turn order. It's then a matter of tweaking this as the things the players do and describe narratively adjust the flow of the fight itself.
I think it works really smoothly once you get used to it, but it does take some getting used to, especially if you're used to systems that mechanize combat more.
