In April the stance system was a second health bar. Hit an enemy enough and it broke. It was clear, it was fair, and nobody cared. Playtesters ignored it and just attacked whatever had the biggest number.
The second version hid the weaknesses entirely. You had to discover them by trying every form. That made people care, but it also made the first turn of every fight a chore: six attacks, five of them wasted, on a bandit you would never meet again.
What changed
The version in the demo shows a stance as shields above the enemy, and weaknesses as empty slots. Strike with the right form and a shield cracks and the slot lights up. Strike with the wrong one and you see Resisted — which still teaches you something.
When the last shield goes, the enemy is broken: they lose their next turn and take double damage until they recover. Suddenly the question in every fight is not “how hard can I hit?” but “what does this person guard, and what don’t they?” That is the question a wuxia duel should ask.
Numbers from the playtest
Twenty-three people played the first river over two weekends. With the old system, players broke an enemy's stance 1.7 times per fight on average. With the new one, 2.9 — and more importantly, eighteen of them used a form they had never tried before to do it.
The demo version also adds Breath. Every turn you don't spend, you bank a breath, and breaths let you strike two or three times in one turn. Holding back to break someone later is the most satisfying thing in the game now.
