The concepts and base mechanics for the new game have come along nicely. I've gotten to the point of solo playtesting, always a difficult, time consuming activity. As long as the game is decent it can also be fun.
Today I played a battle between a halfling thief type and a giant, one of my favorite stereotypical battles. The first time, the thief tried to stay in close and avoid the giant's club which requires more space. Unfortunately, this didn't work out so well because he only got one attack while the giant slowly beat him to a pulp.
The second battle, the halfling avoided the slow moving giant as long as possible. This meant the giant was more fatigued (fewer cards) than the halfling. Unfortunately, through one fairly lucky set of rolls the giant bashed in the halfling's head in one swell foop. I had expected the giant to win, but it would have been nice for the halfling to get in a hit or two first.
So here's a summary of what I've figured out and what I'm still working on, in no particular order.
Those are the main things I thought of. For now, the game is going as TBD. We'll see how it continues to pan out.
Today I played a battle between a halfling thief type and a giant, one of my favorite stereotypical battles. The first time, the thief tried to stay in close and avoid the giant's club which requires more space. Unfortunately, this didn't work out so well because he only got one attack while the giant slowly beat him to a pulp.
The second battle, the halfling avoided the slow moving giant as long as possible. This meant the giant was more fatigued (fewer cards) than the halfling. Unfortunately, through one fairly lucky set of rolls the giant bashed in the halfling's head in one swell foop. I had expected the giant to win, but it would have been nice for the halfling to get in a hit or two first.
So here's a summary of what I've figured out and what I'm still working on, in no particular order.
- I think the basic mechanics are sound, but the characters had too many cards. Even when running around the room they only slowly got winded.
- Fitness/stamina is super important and may be difficult to balance. I settled on a base recovery of 1.
- The game can be very deadly! Not sure if that is good or bad.
- Having defense free, fatigue wise, might be the wrong choice. I'll have to try it the other way or find a way to "half do" it. I guess even if you're resting you'd have your defenses up, but actually dodging would be tiring..
- Movement is a PitB. Using diagonals as a single move is silly, but the alternative doesn't work well either. I devised an octagonal grid with squares overlaid that is mostly mathematically sound, but it might be too confusing.
- Balancing everything for this game is going to be tough. For my next series of tests I'll try to make equal characters, probably the standard halfling thief, human fighter, dwarf cleric, elf archer, and or gnome mage. If I can get them pretty balanced it will go a long way toward figuring out the monsters.
Those are the main things I thought of. For now, the game is going as TBD. We'll see how it continues to pan out.
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