Rakshasa is a two player bluffing game that I started designing for the April 2014 Game Design Showdown. Since it's such a small game I figured it would be a great chance to practice polishing. I've enlisted an artist friend as a co-designer and we'll see what we don't come up with together. If anyone care to share thoughts as we're going they're most welcome to!
Here's a second draft of the rules (that doesn't have the 500 word limit that the GDS draft did.)
Premise
A two player bluffing game in which shape shifting Rakshasas take turns building an obstacle course for the other to run.
Components
- 16 obstacle cards: 4 of each of the high wall, small tunnel, blocked passage and underground stream.
- 7 form cards: the Rakshasa and six other magic forms
- 25 honor tokens
Object
The players each take the role of a Rakshasa. One will construct an obstacle course filled with 4 different types of challenges. The other will transform into various creatures and run the course. The runner is nominally supposed to keep a single form for each section of the course, but Rakshasas love the art of deception and no one really expects that to happen. Each time the runner encounters an obstacle they cannot overcome they can either pay honor tokens to the builder or they can lie and say that they are able to overcome it (in which case they would temporarily change to a more appropriate form and then change back.) It is the runner’s job to get as far through the course as they can before running out of honor tokens, and it is the builder’s job to catch the runner when they are lying.
Each player takes a turn as a builder and a turn as a runner. Whoever gets further through the course without running out of honor tokens as the runner is the winner.
Obstacles
The builder has four different obstacle types to build their course from. The course will eventually consist of 15 obstacles in three sections of 5. Some will be revealed as the course is being built, but the runner will not know what others are until they are upon them. If the runner is not able to overcome the obstacle and doesn’t want to lie and say they can, they must give honor tokens to the builder to skirt it. The four types of obstacles are:
- Blocked Passage: The builder places a large boulder in front of the passage forward that the runner must be strong enough to move aside.
- High Wall: The builder places a high wall in front of the passage forward that the runner must fly or jump over.
- Small Tunnel: The builder places a small tunnel that the runner must be small enough to fit through.
- Underground Stream: The builder places an underground stream that the runner must be able to swim through.
Magic Forms
The runner will have seven different forms to choose from when running sections of the obstacle course. They can use their natural form, or any of six others, each with their own advantages. Once the runner has completed a section of the course with a given form they will not be able to use it again for the rest of the race.
- Rakshasa: The rakshasa’s natural form cannot overcome any revealed obstacles; it is too weak to move the boulder to traverse the blocked passage, too large to fit through the small tunnel, it cannot swim through the underground stream, and it cannot get over the high wall. The rakshasa can use divining magic and is very fast in it’s natural form, and can peak at unrevealed obstacles while quickly bypassing them.
- Aquatic Troll: The aquatic troll can move the boulder to traverse the blocked passage and swim through the underground stream, but it has no way to get over the high wall and is too large to fit through the small tunnel.
- Dragon: The dragon form can move the boulder to traverse the blocked passage and can fly over the high wall, but it cannot swim through the underground stream and is too large to fit through the small tunnel.
- Dwarf: The dwarf form can move the boulder to traverse the blocked passage and is small enough to fit through the small tunnel, but cannot swim through the underground stream or get over the high wall.
- Giant Frog: The giant frog form can swim through the underground stream and hop over the high wall, but it is too large to fit through the small tunnel and not strong enough to move the boulder to traverse the blocked passage.
- River Otter: The river otter form can swim through the underground stream and fit through the small tunnel, but it has no way to get over the high wall or move the boulder to traverse the blocked passage.
- Songbird: The songbird can fly over the high wall and through the small tunnel, but it has no way to move the boulder to traverse the blocked passage and it cannot swim through the underground stream.
Setup
To start the game, pick one player to be the builder who will construct the obstacle course and the other to be the runner who will try to get through it. The builder takes the 16 obstacle cards and 10 honor tokens and the runner takes the 7 form cards and the remaining 15 honor tokens.
Play
The builder starts by building the first section of the course, two face up obstacles followed by three face down obstacles. The runner, after seeing the setup chooses any of their seven forms to play hidden (face down) beside the first obstacle in the section. The runner then runs this section of the race. The runner's form is then placed face up next to the first section and cannot be used again.
The builder then constructs the second section of the course, one face up obstacle followed by four face down obstacles, which the runner will again pick a form for and then run. The third section of the course consists of five face down obstacles. The runner will run the third section (using a third form) and then, assuming they have any honor tokens left will attempt to run back to the start of the course, picking a new form for each section as they go.
As the runner runs a section they will need to either overcome obstacles or bypass them. Each obstacle will be revealed (face up) or hidden (face down) when the runner gets to it.
If the obstacle is revealed, the runner must either claim to have the power to overcome it, or give two honor tokens to the builder in order to skirt it. If the runner claims they can overcome the obstacle the builder may challenge that claim (see page #.)
If the obstacle is hidden, the runner can 1. Claim to be in rakshasa form in order to pay the builder one honor token to skirt it and look at the obstacle before placing it back, face down. The builder may challenge this claim before the runner looks at the obstacle (see page #.) 2. Pay the builder two honor tokens to skirt the obstacle without looking at it. 3. Reveal the obstacle by flipping it face up. They can then claim to have the power to overcome it or pay the builder three honor tokens to skirt it. As always, if the runner claims they can overcome the obstacle, the builder may challenge the claim (see page #.)
After either overcoming or skirting each obstacle the builder has the option to give the runner one honor token in order to replace any one hidden obstacle on the course with an obstacle from their hand. The newly placed obstacle stays hidden.
The runner's run can end in one of three ways:
- The runner cannot pay the honor tokens needed to meet a challenge or skirt an obstacle. In this case, the runner gets one point for each obstacle they have overcome in the course (up to a possible total of 29.)
- The runner overcomes or skirts the final obstacle in the course. In this case the runner gets 30 points for completing the obstacles and an extra 1 point for each honor token they have.
- The builder cannot pay the honor tokens needed to meet a challenge. In this case the runner gets 55 points, 30 for completing all the obstacles plus 25 for all the honor tokens.
After the first runner has completed their run, the players switch roles and play again. After each player has run the course the player with more points is the winner.
Challenging Claims
At each obstacle the runner may lie about having powers if their form is hidden. This can either be lying that they have the power to overcome a revealed obstacle or lying that they are in Rakshasa form to look at a hidden obstacle and skirt it more quickly. The builder may challenge either of these claims before the obstacle is passed.
When a claim is challenged the runner reveals the form that they were using.
If the runner was lying they pay the builder the honor tokens needed to skirt the obstacle (two or three depending on whether they revealed the obstacle this move) plus one additional honor token. The runner must run the remainder of the section with their form revealed and can no longer lie about powers until they choose a new form at the start of the next section.
If the runner was not lying, the builder gives two honor tokens to the runner, and the runner is given the option to change their form for the rest of the section. The runner returns their current form card to their hand and then selects a form to play hidden at the next obstacle.
SAMPLE PLAYTHROUGH GOES HERE
