Yeah, as it is right now, slash and stab really have no different functionality. It just does damage. But what you say about the attacks having strategic weight is a great idea, actually, haha, so I'll try to rework my system around player choice and strategy than rather about clicking attack 500 times.

I'm glad you like the idea of art. I'll just have to do some fiddling around with it to see if I can make it more intuitive for the user.

But hey, thanks for the input, and if I could do something like this, I'm sure anyone could conjure something similar.

Ah, okay, I hear you. Honestly, I have no idea why I haven't focused on this before. I guess I've just been so caught up with the complexity of the system, that all the basic gameplay flew over my head. I'll give it a shot.

Ah, that's what I thought. Well, back to the drawing board, I reckon. Thanks for trying it.

So, to anyone reading this and has some spare time, I'd appreciate some feedback. Essentially, the following two links are the same system, just with different UI design. Personally, I feel like the one with art is less intuitive than the text-based one, so I'd like to know what you guys think.

https://chooseyourstory.com/story/of-house-elwine - Fully Text-based
https://Duel-System.jordanvang4.repl.co - Integrated Art

[Note: Stab is ALWAYS the worst choice as of now. Stamina is VERY important. Attacking uses stamina. Missing and getting blocked uses a lot of stamina. Replenish it by waiting. Whoever gets one of their health bars down to 0 loses.]

Edit: Forgot to add, you can click on the little "guys" on the "art" version. That will set your guard (red) and target (blue).

It's a storygame after all, so what you say about prebuilt encounters makes sense. These are pretty solid tips that I'll certainly take to heart. Thanks for all the help!

Yeah, I'm certainly leaning towards that. I went for a gamble to create a prototype of a system like this and failed. 

Well, this is extremely insightful, so thank you for the in-depth write up.

Basically, the idea was that the player sets the distance, target, stance, etc. prior to the round, and then their player fights based on those stats (so if they chose a short distance, head, aggressive, they would go pedal to the metal trying to cut off the opponent's head). So in theory, all these little stats would wind up affecting how your character fights in a certain round, then the next round, the player would adjust the stats based on the performance.

But of course, the distance isn't really intuitive, nor is the armor system.

I'm glad you mentioned how you didn't read too closely. I think I was most intimidated by the need to present an immersive, jaw-clenching narrative, but the more I think about it, I just don't think it's feasible with randomly-generated encounters. So, perhaps changing out the generated text for something simple like "Edgar cuts your head for 60 damage" would work? That way, I could focus more on complexity and choice?

So, I've been working on a duel system (and keep in mind that I literally started it today, so I know it's very lackluster and lacks in variety). Basically, the way it is now, it's a basic combat system. You have two combatants, the player and "Edgar," who each have healthpoints. Then you click the fight button and it randomly generates some text based on what happened in a particular "exchange." (They don't die yet, though)

I'm planning to make it a little more complicated. For example each combatant has six body parts (head, torso, arms, and legs) which will effect their combat abilities and eventually will have armor stats and stuff.

Anyways, the issue I'm having is, while all the behind-the-scenes stuff is awesome, the actual gameplay is so boring. So, I was wondering whether anyone has any ideas on how to spice up such a system?

If you want to look at it, have a go. Let me know what you think: https://chooseyourstory.com/story/of-house-elwine

You know, when I first entered, I was thinking against it, since I sort of wanted a break from this mumbo jumbo that is code, but I don't see why I can't import a few modules from my other project.

I'm in, I guess?