Guildhall (Assassin Dice)

I would love to get some feedback from the community on a game concept I've been working on. I've been playtesting the current version for a while myself but It still feels like something is missing to me.

The basic concept of this game sprung from the desire to craft an asymmetrical dice game wherein the players had to make a decision. Do they devote all of their units to attacking the “PvE” contract die in an attempt to get as many victory points as possible or split their units between attacking the contract die and engaging in “PvP” with other players in an attempt to slow down their acquisition of victory points.

Premise Of The Game: In the great city of Arakon many guilds exist but one is feared and respected above all. That of the Assassin’s Guild. For many years under the leadership of master Yolan Kale the guild has prospered. However, even the greatest assassin cannot outwit death himself. Yolan fell to the ravages of time and in doing so, left a power void squarely at the top of his organization.

This is where you come in, as his most trusted lieutenants it falls to one of you to take up the mantle of leadership. The only question is... which one of you will ascend to the position of leader and who will have to die before you hold it securely?

Basic game elements:
• Players 2-4 (Can be expanded to 2-8 players but the amount of dice become unwieldy for packing and pricing purposes)
• 12x D6 Unit Die (4 sets of 3)
• 1x D20 Contract Die
• 20x Victory Point Counters

Unit Die [D6]
1. Assault
2. Assault (Reroll)
3. Stealth
4. Stealth (Reroll)
5. Snipe
6. Snipe (Reroll)

The unit dice are meant to represent the assassin that remain loyal to you. When they are attacking they have three methods of assaulting their target. For gameplay these are represented by swords (Assault), poison bottle (Stealth), and a bow & arrow (Snipe). These have a similar powers to classic rock, paper, scissors with the order of power being Assault>Stealth>Snipe>Assault...

All even numbers are reroll sides. You may reroll them and add whatever you get to your total tally. For example if a contract requires you to roll 2 assault and you get 1 Assault (Reroll) + 2 Snipes on your first cast, you may roll the assault (reroll) die again. If the result is another assault you will have reached the required 2 Assaults and successfully completed the contract.

Contract Die [D20]
1. 1 Assault Contract
2. 2 Assault Contract
3. 2 Assault Contract
4. 3 Assault Contract
5. 1 Stealth Contract
6. 2 Stealth Contract
7. 2 Stealth Contract
8. 3 Stealth Contract
9. 1 Snipe Contract
10. 2 Snipe contract
11. 2 Snipe Contract
12. 3 Snipe Contract
13. Clash
14. Clash
15. Clash
16. Clash
17. Clash
18. Alliance (5 Assault)
19. Alliance (5 Stealth)
20. Alliance (5 Snipe)

Setup
• Each Player gets three unit dice
• Each Player gets one victory point

How To Play

1. Current player allocates his three units in the manner he wishes, split between attempting to successfully complete a contract and intercepting enemy assassins. You can dedicate your three units to attack as many enemy players as you wish.

2. Player rolls the contract die

3. Player attempts to successfully fulfil the requirements of the contract. If result is....
   • 1,2 or 3 “Method” Side (Assault, Snipe or Stealth): then you must roll the appropriate number of opposite methods with your remaining units. For example, if the Contract die comes up on 2 Stealth the player must roll a total of 2 assaults before his unit actions are expended to claim the victory point.
   • Clash: then the player can recall all declared units from the field and engage in a roll-off with another player of his choosing. Clash combat is resolved by players rolling one unit against each other at a time. Each time a unit is defeated it is taken out of play for the duration of the clash. If both players roll the same method then both dice are rerolled. The victor in the clash can then steal a victory point from the other player’s hoard. If you attack a player with no victory points a successfull clash will remove them from the game.
   • Alliance: then the current player may choose an ally. Once an ally has been chosen both players roll their armies together and attempt to get 5 successful attacks. If the attack succeeds then both players get a victory point.

4. Any declared attacks on other players are resolved.
   • Roll off against enemy unit dice one at at time. Repeat for each unit you have sent to attack.
   • If your unit is victorious their defending unit is taken out of play until the end of their next turn.
   • If their unit is victorious your unit is recalled with no penalty to you.

5. Game continues until a player collects 5 victory points.

[EDITS]______________________
• 07.12.12 – Updated Alliance rules