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Author Topic: I need your help! (Boardgame design, W.I.P.)  (Read 521 times)

professorlamp

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I need your help! (Boardgame design, W.I.P.)
« on: January 14, 2013, 10:52:37 am »

Hey guys

As some of you might know from previous threads, I've been working on a board game. It's been in development for about 2 months and has had several redesigns (especially the combat phase). But, I can taste the end (kind of). The basic mechanics are more or less there, I just need content, less sterility/'what now?' moments and playtests!

I'll describe the game and tell you where it falls short.

The game takes place on a world map, on several different types of terrain. Each terrain has different events that can happen.

THE WORLD MAP IS HERE   

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2872916/world%20map.jpg

***Characters***

To begin you must select a character, of which there are 4 types (at the moment).

Thief   
Knight
Wizard
Monk

Each has its own special Abilities and attributes.

***Movement on the map & events***

A character may move 1 hex per turn (2 on a road) on the world map unless he has a special ability. Once you have landed on a tile, you roll for the events corresponding to that tile.
If you land on grass, you roll on the grass event table.

***Events***

Events dictate what happens that turn. The 'Desert' terrain events can be seen below as an example

Desert   Event            Effect
2D6      
2   Ambush                   Roll 2d6 for creature
3   Pyramid                   Roll on 'Rare' search table
4   Fortune              See 'fortune teller'
5   Sarcophagus           Random artefact
6   Leather pouch   1d6 gold
7   Nothing happens   Nothing happens
8   Leather pouch   1d6 gold
9   Mummified corpse   random item
10   Sandstorm          lose your next turn
11   Pyramid                 Exploration
12   Ambush                  Roll 2d6 for creature table

This is what most will look like, although a bit more specific to their type of terrain (I will post up all other events if requested, it's effort :D ).
The issue with these events is that they do not take much time, that may sound like a good thing but you can finish a game off in about 15 minutes. I want the game to be more meaty and crunchier but WITHOUT adding more tables,charts and reference material.


***Attributes***

There are 2 attributes within the game, HP and weapon skill.

Hp is the measure of your health when this reaches zero, you are dead.

Weapon skill is the amount of 'adds' you get in combat.
example
A sword will do 1d6 damage, if you have a weapon skill of 2 you would deal 1d6+2 damage.

***Abilities***

Each character has 3 abilities.

1Passive world map ability (This is an ongoing effect, and each character's is different)
2 Battle abilities (You can only use each one once per combat)

Passive world ability example

Cartography: Player may move 2 hexes (3 on road) on world map.

Battle ability example

Valor: Reroll your attack dice.

***Combat***

Combat is extremely simple and fast (we had a longer more tactical choice should you wish to go down that road...).
You both have a specific dice range, the character's is set by the types of weapon he uses and his weapon skill, the creature's is a fixed dice range.
To combat;

Each combatant will roll a dice, in this example it is Knight vs Skeleton

Knight
(Weapon skill 1, HP12, 1d6+1 damage)

Skeleton
(HP5, 1d6 damage)

1. Knight rolls 5+1 = 6
2. Skeleton rolls a 4
3. Knights roll (6) - Skeleton roll (4) = 2
4. You subtract that from the Skeletons health because he lost the roll
5. Skeleton is now on 3 health...
6. Play continues until victory.

***Levelling up***

When you gain enough experience (still don't have numbers for this yet) you may improve one ability/skill and add 1d6 hitpoints to your HP.

***Equipment and Gold***

When you kill a creature you gain gold, you may occasionally find gold during your travels. This gold can be spent on bettering your weapons (a better weapon gives more dice, 2d6,3d6,4d6...)

There are also items to buy
Potion - Heals 1d6
Explosive - 1d6 damage to target
Restore - Restores you to full health
Blessed vial - +2 to your next attack roll

***Aims***

I eventually aim for this game to be a free print and play game including Rules, digital world map and print off counters. Aswell as this I hope for it to become print on demand which would include the game box (duh). Spiral bound rules (with added fluff text on spells and creatures), mounted map and good quality counters.

***Questions***

Aside from killing creatures and completing quests where else should I reward XP? At the moment character progression is extremely slow and sterile.
Apart from events on the world map, not much happens. This needs addressing badly as this is the main pitfall. I've thought about putting a few building counters in the game but I'm not sure what exactly they could offer.
I need more events, the ones I have are ironically...Uneventful so any ideas, don't hesistate to bring them forward.
I also need more abilities/skills/Items/Weapons etc...... I'm going to compile a large list of all abilities/skills/weapons/items I can think of and then pick the most relevant ones to the game.

Any help with absolutely anything would be good, I'm sorry if I've left much to be desired. My brain is fried.


IF YOU DIDNT SEE THE LINK FOR THE WORLD MAP AT THE START, SHAME ON YOU, HERE IT IS AGAIN

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2872916/world%20map.jpg


« Last Edit: January 14, 2013, 01:04:50 pm by professorlamp »
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