Update #9 - Game modes

Writing a rule book is hard. I initially thought that since it’s my game and I know how to play it that it will be easy to put it on paper. I couldn’t have been more wrong :D

Even though I have most of the stuff written out in some of the previous updates, it’s still very difficult to put things in the right order and explain it to someone who has never seen the game.

That’s why I have decided to jump in with a little half time break and describe the different playing modes and some other changes which came up during development.

Major change #1

Players will earn XP as described in the following way:

1. N XP will be awarded to all players once an enemy is defeated. This will be highlighted on each enemy board. XP gained by the whole group will be dependent on the enemy. Easier enemies (with weaker attacks) will award fewer collective XPs while harder enemies (with attacks that pack a little more punch) will award more collective XP.

   1. Additional XP will be awarded to the player dealing the final hit that caused the enemy to be defeated. This will also be noted on the enemy boards and will in general be the same for all enemies. These XP will depend only the the difficulty level of a certain enemy (1 - 3 or boss)

2. Completing a level will, again, award collective M XP to each of the heroes who finished the level tile without fainting.

3. When playing in certain game modes players will be awarded additional XP or been given an XP multiplier to balance out different game modes.

N, M - amount of XP award will be determined during the play phase

Major change #2

Players will be able to enhance their base stats like movement, base range, and damage dealt to opponents. This wasn’t planned initially but after trying out a few things it turned out to be a nice mechanic.

There will be two paths to enhancing your characters stats:

1. Permanent stat enhancements - will grant your hero a stat boost until the end of the game

2. Temporary stat enhancements - by activating items heroes will get a bigger stat boost for one round of play after which the item falls into a cooldown phase which can last from 1 to 3 rounds

Major change #3

Players will not use XP to buy skills but will use the XP to level up their hero and at certain points get health increases, the option to select a new skill, get a new item slot, or enhance a stat permanently.

This way players will have an incentive to keep pushing by always having the next perk in sight.

Game modes

The game will offer multiple game modes which are tailored to different player styles. There are three of them so let’s check out each of them in turn.

Campaign

Campaigns represent a journey. Players will form a party and the game will lead them through the world. Along the way players will encounter different decision points which will have them take different paths and to accomplish different assignments but all will lead them to the main goal - freeing the land from the reign of the evil king. Campaigns aren’t expected to be completed in one sitting but will require multiple sessions of play. Progression is going to be designed to be slower with XPs being award as described in the Major changes #1 sections in the points 1 and 2.

Missions

Missions are a simpler way of generating a quick campaign. Players will form a party and select a certain amount of mission cards which they will have to finish for them to reach the final battle with the king.

XPs will be awarded at a higher rate with a multiplier assigned based on the tile level which will enable players to face the king fully prepared.

Some of the missions are:

• Clear out X level 1 tiles, Y level 2 tiles, and Z level 3 tiles (in any order)

• Clear out X different level tile terrain types Y times

  • level tiles will come in different terrain types (water, dungeon, woods, plains, etc.) and players will have to clear a certain amount of terrain types before they can advance to the final battle

• Recruit X allies

  • Some tiles will have other non-player characters which when encountered will join your party. They will have fully automated combat actions (like enemies) but will be very low on health points (HP). Your goal is to clear the level tile with them alive. Once a level tile is completed they are considered your ally. They leave your party after you finish a level tile completely.

• Defeat X enemies

• …

Rush

Rush mode is the easiest to set up and execute. Players just have to earn a certain number of Victory Points (VP) to be able to face the king.

VPs will also act as a XP multiplier just like in the Missions game mode to facilitate a more balanced game experience.

This mode is for people who like to play the game in one go from start to finish with only one goal in mind - defeating as many enemies as possible before having a battle with the king.

Leveling up and hero enhancements work just as in the previous two games with the only difference being that the entire game experience is in an unstructured free form allowing the players to choose their own path to victory.

I’ll continue digging into writing the rule book and adding all assets to Tabletopia for online testing. Also, the next update will probably cover an overview of a player’s hero board.

We will check out all the different sections to get a better feeling for the game.

I hope to get the first draft ready by the end of the year so if you are only 1% excited as I am stay tuned for more :)

Until then,
don’t stop playing!