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Second Line - New Orleans parade game

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chris_mancini
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Playtesting

Continued development status updates on this thread...including rules doc linked below and images.

After several tests with 4 players, I think Second Line has found its happy place.

First Line Cards (the ones gathered in set collection) are balanced both in inter-playability and reward; Event cards deliver the anticipation and effects they should; luck elements are satisfying with some very exciting moments; lots of room to test and build your favorite strategies...the game has reached a point where everything works nicely and it's ready for some "outside" testing.

Rules are also down to an even 10 pages, and it can only get a little tighter with some professionally written rules. I feel like I got a bit redundant in areas in an effort for clarity, but I've edited to a place which I think captures the best spirit of the game and its intent:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/854op44ebvl8nnm/Second%20Line_RULES_CONDENSED....

As always...
Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!!!

wombat929
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Second Line rules - comments

Overall, your rules are well written and coherent. These comments will be mostly about changes you could make, because frankly, that's the most helpful. But don't interpret that as an overly negative response to your project. I think this sounds like a fun game and would enjoy playtesting when the time comes.

- A one-paragraph intro to give some flavor and explain the game's name would be good. Before Object or Components

- Setup: item 1 - I don't think you need the first two sentences of the instructions. Unless you make it funnier. Perhaps "Set up this game on a table or other sturdy surface. Because of the many small pieces, we do not recommend playing this game in the midst of a parade."

- Setup: item 3 - Make this active rather than passive. "Place 5 first line cards face up in a row..."

- Setup: item 5 - The "well..." is confusing. Is there a penalty like in TTR? If so, say that.

- Setup: item 6 - I know you explain drafting later, but a few more words here wouldn't hurt. Maybe "Players draft a starting hand of 5 first line cards by selecting one from the cards they're dealt, then passing the remaining cards to the left and repeating this process.

- I love the way you populate the board.

- “are stood” is not my favorite verb construction. It’s also passive again. How about “Players drop their Paraders from a height of about 5 inches above the board, randomly scattering them throughout the Quarter.
Then the players stand each Parader up in the space on which it landed.”

- Populating: item 8 – Could you reduce this to just say “Paraders who land off the board are collected and dropped again until they occupy a legal space.”

- Grand Marshall cards: item 5 – It’s unclear why you’d say each Grand Marshall can only be played once. Are there multiples in the deck? Is there some way, following the usual rules, that people COULD play them twice?

- I would probably introduce the card type descriptions AFTER I explain basic gameplay. This way, explaining the cards expands the knowledge I already have rather than creating new questions. For example, in the Event cards section, item 2 says “any time a player lands on a space…” From the description thus far, I thought this would be kind of like Ticket to Ride, so the idea that I have a pawn that moves and ‘lands on spaces’ is surprising. This same effect is caused by the bit about “players whose lines are broken by a street closure.” There’s a lot here that assumes I understand how to add paraders to the board, etc, and this hasn’t actually been explained yet.

- I would also include ‘game ending conditions’ near the beginning. I always like to know where I’m going right from the outset.

- you haven’t explained the concept of a ‘full round’ yet.

- Voodoo Priestess Events: item 1 – Change “off of the board” to “off the board” or “from the board.” I’m also not sure why you’re using the word ‘ceremoniously’ here. Usually, the construction for “something done quickly and with surprise” is “unceremoniously.”

- Voodoo item 5: Again, you haven’t explained the idea that you can fill in gaps using paraders from the front of your line.

- Rejoining your Line: how do the other players verify that the player has used the least valuable set of cards?

- Losing item 3: the linking thing is a little confusing. The way I understand it, if section 1 leads back to the ‘start’ of the parade, that part is off limits. Shouldn’t section 2 lead to the other player’s first line? If you connect to that, do you take over the whole first half of their parade? This seems, well, WICKED powerful.
Gameplay

- It’s unclear if sharing your grand Marshal is optional or not. If it’s mandatory, be explicit about that.

- I’d say the remaining FL cards should be put on the bottom of the pile. This will save from having to shuffle right at the beginning of the game.

- After a player draws one of the two cards from the five face up cards, can the player replace that card before drawing the second card, or must he/she wait until after both cards are drawn?

- Paraders may be placed – I would rewrite these as active sentences. “You may add your new paraders to the front of the line in any order you choose.” The third option is confusing. If you’re adding three paraders, can you only move three paraders up, or can you move the whole line up and put the three in the middle?

- “As a general rule” suggests there are exceptions to this rule. I’d be more specific, if you can. For example, “Except when cards state otherwise, players must always…”

- Your rules don’t say anything about what happens when lines cross (or if they can). This should also explain what happens if someone gets penned in by another player.

- The board has some spaces that are unclear. For example, the voodoo museum and madame john’s legacy have yellow spaces on Royal st. Which location is the parade on those spaces visiting? This should be clear from the board.

chris_mancini
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Thanks very much

Thanks very much Wombat...being so close to the game and the instructions is precisely why I needed them to be scrutinized; and I agree with everything you mentioned. I never take criticism in a bad way, such is the life of a designer, and you've certainly been nothing but helpful and constructive!

Losing item 3: I imagine the opportunity to "steal" the entire front-half of an opponent's line after it has been broken will be VERY rare, but plying this out will tell. If it turns out to be more frequent, I'll do away with that rule...as you said, it would be VERY powerful and probably just cause a "there's no way I can win now" feeling by the other players.

I see what you mean about certain board spaces and clarity...I'll have to rework those a bit.

Thanks again for the help!

Orangebeard
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Reviewing tonight

I printed out a copy of the rules; I'll read it over tonight and will post some comments in the next day or so...

chris_mancini
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Latest edit now available at

Latest edit now available at the link...

One thing I'm curious to get some thoughts on are the Street Closure Events VS. the Voodoo Priestess Events. Both effectively do the same thing, in that they define a section of street which removes all Paraders from the board.

Street Closure Events last one full round (no Paraders may be placed within the boundary of the closure until the player who drew the Event card goes again) while the Voodoo Priestess area of effect can be played immediately after her event takes place. The Priestess meeple remains on the board, blocking the street on which she appears...but players may still place in front of/behind her.

This is really the only difference...is that OK, or am I better off just making them all Priestess Events, giving a bigger and more frequent place in the game?

Currently there are 10 Closures and 10 Priestess Events in the deck of 60...

Darwins_Dog
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From my first read through I

From my first read through I really want to play the game. It sounds like a lot of fun!

I'll take a closer look as soon as I get the chance. For now I only have one suggestion. I love it when games have a creative and thematic rule for who goes first. Something like "The player who was most recently in a parade" or "most recently in New Orleans". Maybe the first person to make the game owner a sazerac?

I also really like the rule that everyone shouts “Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler!” That's a nice touch.

Orangebeard
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Review questions

Sorry for the delay! also, apologies if I duplicate previous comments!

Foremost, this a solid first draft - nice work!

Parader and location questions
Does the bonus for matching a location only apply once, or each time the player can populate the location with the correct paraders?

If your line is broken, and all of your blue people are in the back half, is your front half protected from the VP (voodoo priestess)?

I am assuming here, but want to clarify, if you have paraders matched to a location, does the parade move around them or do they move with the line? Is there an advantage to leaving them at the location for multiple turns?

I love the shout and drop approach to populating the board; only a couple of questions...

there will probably be some strategy to getting a "good" drop, as such, my suggestion would be to have 4 "drop points" on the board. In addition, I think a re-drop could be used to alter the first drop (ie, I drop mine off the board, pick them up and re-drop them to bump your drop); is there a neutral location on the board where off-board meeples can be placed? maybe in Bourbon street locations?

Until it is playtested it will be hard to assess, but Second Line will start with a very exciting opening as the players all shout together; will the gameplay be as energetic and exciting?

Objective cards
since the parade line is expected to be dynamic, how to the players keep track of how many bars have been visited (Bar Stroll); or is the intent that objective is complete if the game ends and the particular condition is met?

Grand Marshals
I get the "no trading" rule, but it may not be needed to call this out if there is no rule to support trading

I had to laugh when picturing the replacement of Grand Marshals (GM) in the parade (beat it scumbag, this a Brass line now!) - could parade lines have co-grand marshals rather than replacements? This might give players the chance to lure away a grand marshal from another parade line...

Also, could the starting GMs be "unstealable" and/or have no first line requirement to play? Alternatively, they are stealable, but at the start of the game, you begin with a GM and the matching FL that they require

When I exchange a FL set, and the cards I exchange match the criteria for both a group of paraders and a GM, do I get both or do I need to pick one or the other? Or is it not an exchange for the GM; simply showing that you have the right combination is sufficient?

I noticed that sometimes game effects impact a street and sometimes the entire line; for things like blue people vs. the VP, the rules will probably need to be extra clear to prevent confusion

It may be confusing for players to reverse the benefits of matching paraders to locations; it might be simpler if the rule states that paraders that are removed from their locations are wiped from the board; I think the loss of the 5 points at the end of game would be sufficient penalty

Rather than player turns, my gut reaction is that this game would play better with a round/phase style of play. For example, the round starts and all players draw and play 1 event, then all players move their lines, then all players attempt to fix their lines, clean up phase, etc.

depending on the order of phases, streets could close in the first or second phase, thus leaving the remaining phases for the players to fix it

side thought - as opposed to a "street closure", these events are more like "line breakers"; as such, event cards like "heavy traffic" or "crowds" might be short term things that affect lines, but I do like your idea of a rare, but permanent street closure that breaks lines and strands paraders until another line picks them up or the player can mend the breach

also, this keeps the players acting every few seconds or so rather than waiting for all other players to finish their turns (maintains excitement!).

Each round, the first player to act could rotate so the order is slightly different each round

I can see some situations in which a single parade line may have multiple breaks at the same time. would the players benefit from having a default "take no other actions this round and consolidate the line" option? The player would effectively lose their turn, but would start the next round with a solid line

if a game ending condition is that all event cards are played, I would be concerned that experienced players will begin to base their final turns on the knowledge of which event cards have not been played yet. would it be possible to add a game ending condition in which players seek to move their parade line to a pre-determined location? this gives the players a little more control over when the game ends, and may give players a bit more strategy by closing streets or breaking parade lines

this could be as simple as having a matching colored start mask (ie the end mask) somewhere on the board; this could also force players to cross parade lines (and chaos ensues!) or the players might need to make an effort to avoid other lines on their journey to the end mask

going back to objective cards, if a player has "bad" objectives, it may make more sense for the player to move fast towards their endpoint in the hopes of low score/sudden end win

tl;dr - great first draft, keep the excitement high

chris_mancini
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Thanks for taking the time to

Thanks for taking the time to read through the rules OB! I'll answer a few of your questions here...but as you said a lot will get sorted in playtesting.

"Does the bonus for matching a location only apply once, or each time the player can populate the location with the correct paraders?...It may be confusing for players to reverse the benefits of matching paraders to locations; it might be simpler if the rule states that paraders that are removed from their locations are wiped from the board; I think the loss of the 5 points at the end of game would be sufficient penalty"

The penalty for losing a Location was mostly to prevent abuse of the bonuses they award; for instance, if a player is able to purposefully leave a Location only to re-visit it again in order to gain the bonus for a second time (more Paraders, more First Line cards, etc.) It seemed that this could be potentially abused. Also, if a player loses a Location due to an Event, but are able to secure it again after the fill-in mechanic, should the bonus be awarded again, or should the player simply keep the award they received in the first place?

"Since the parade line is expected to be dynamic, how to the players keep track of how many bars have been visited (Bar Stroll); or is the intent that objective is complete if the game ends and the particular condition is met?"

As the "movement" of your parade always happens at the front or rear, Paraders who are "visiting" a Location are generally there until an Event removes them; I can't see any reason why a player would abandon a Location they "own" unless made to do so. Therefore, if your Objective is to visit 5 bars, the Paraders you place to visit those Locations are generally kept there throughout the game. If you were to pass a bar but are unable to place 2 Revelers and "own" it, you have a few options on your next turn to try and do so successfully...mainly playing cards which award you Revelers in the first place and using the "bump" action to move those at the front up and filling in with new Paraders. Take too many turns/proceed too far past the Location, and the opportunity is lost! First Line hand management directly affects your Second Line progression, turn-by-turn.

"When I exchange a FL set, and the cards I exchange match the criteria for both a group of paraders and a GM, do I get both or do I need to pick one or the other? Or is it not an exchange for the GM; simply showing that you have the right combination is sufficient?"

GMs are just like First Line cards, but with higher set requirements and in return, higher Parader awards. They only limit the sets you play IF you plan on playing a set with a GM included. They can be tough to play successfully, but the hope is they're clearly worth the pain of fulfilling their requirements. This is why players are limited to only 1 at a time...to use them, you'll have to purposefully target the cards they need as you build your hand.

"Rather than player turns, my gut reaction is that this game would play better with a round/phase style of play. For example, the round starts and all players draw and play 1 event, then all players move their lines, then all players attempt to fix their lines, clean up phase, etc."

I do really like the idea of players being "active" as often as possible throughout the game, and a turn-based system certainly brings down time with it. Something like this could work:
Draw Phase/Trade-In Phase/Placement Phase/Event Phase/Resolution Phase

This sounds like a really great idea...it also forces me to change the Location award for Tourists, which is currently "Take an extra turn." I chose it as a scapegoat and don't really like that condition, as the others award you more Paraders and more First Line cards. What could the Tourists award you that is equally meaningful, fitting this new "phase" progression???

"I can see some situations in which a single parade line may have multiple breaks at the same time. would the players benefit from having a default "take no other actions this round and consolidate the line" option? The player would effectively lose their turn, but would start the next round with a solid line."

I agree that the "fill-in" mechanic should not be too cumbersome; coming with too many requirements/restrictions to do so. Losing the Paraders and control of Locations should be penalty enough, and players should get back to extending their parade ASAP without having to pull themselves out of too big of a "rules hole." I like your suggestion as it keeps things neat, but with a decent penalty.

Awesome awesome feedback from all so far...I hope you guys all see I'm making a real effort at getting this game completed to industry standards, and the critiques and suggestions posted here are a big part of getting there!

Orangebeard
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chris_mancini wrote:Also, if

chris_mancini wrote:
Also, if a player loses a Location due to an Event, but are able to secure it again after the fill-in mechanic, should the bonus be awarded again

If they get the award again, then playing an Event to cause a player to lose a location could actually benefit the targeted player overall; I would expect players would become leary of this quickly.

If no, then apart from the bonus at the end, there is no incentive to retain locations.

I would say "no". You get a bonus for being the first to score a location (incentive to do it) and there is a score value at the end for the player that controls it at the end (incentive to keep it).

This does mean you might need a token or something to mark a location that has been owned. Themematically, maybe the location is now celebrating with the parade?

chris_mancini wrote:
If you were to pass a bar but are unable to place 2 Revelers and "own" it, you have a few options on your next turn to try and do so successfully

So if you can't own the location, does your line effectively block any other player from owning it as well?

chris_mancini wrote:
Draw Phase/Trade-In Phase/Placement Phase/Event Phase/Resolution Phase

This sounds like a really great idea...it also forces me to change the Location award for Tourists...What could the Tourists award you that is equally meaningful, fitting this new "phase" progression???

What if Tourists could "convert" to another type of reveler?

chris_mancini
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Board and setup photo

I've posted a photo of the playtest game setup in the OP...more balancing to be done, but things are developing nicely! I thought those of you interested in "Second Line" and it's life here on BGDF would enjoy seeing the progress.

Orangebeard
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nice prototype

Looking good!

What are the 3 dice for in the lower right corner? Cause if this game comes with 3 custom mardis gras themed dice, then I'm buying it!

chris_mancini
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Parader dice

Ha thanks OB...the dice are for Parader bonuses; visit a Location on the board by placing 2 matching Paraders on their color spaces and you get to roll the dice to see how many and which types of people are attracted "outside" to join your parade. All dice are identical and feature the 4 core parader types of Reveler, Artist, Tourist and Local, as well as 1 Draw side and 1 blank side (no gain). Min gain 0, max of 3 per roll.

questccg
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Haven't read the rules - but I like what I SEE!

Well this game seems to be something (in my mind) that could be the NEXT "Catan"!!!

Seriously, the board is simple and the game looks to be complex and infused with all kinds of stuff...

On your last image, I commented that it feels like a Hint of "Ticket-To-Ride" combined with the video game "Snake" (where you try to grow your snake's body by eating bits - and then you try to avoid crashing...)

In any event, I think you have the possibility of having a very ORIGINal and interesting game casual board gamers can enjoy.

Best of luck with your game!

P.S.: Here is the link to my original comment (in the event you did not see it...)

http://www.bgdf.com/image/playtest-game-board#comment-77525

chris_mancini
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You do me an honor with that

You do me an honor with that comparison sir! You're right TTR had an indelible effect on me, and while it was not directly the inspiration for Second Line, some of its elements made a lot of sense to add to what felt "natural" within the theme.

I'm definitely trying to keep this at a similar weight as TTR, as the theme is fun and light and I think players would expect as much. No one wants to play a game about a party in New Orleans that plays too deep. Kind of a hybrid game night/party game, as your previous comment mentioned. I fully intend this to be played with some Dr. John blaring (I've been playing his albums "Gris Gris" and "Remedies" for days now) and perhaps a preferred beverage...so it's important to me to get the up-front simplicity and depth of strategy in balance.

I thought of that "Snake" game too! Currently players are allowed to cross over their own parade lines, and also required to maintain at least 1 open space between them and an opponent in order to tell lines apart (tracing them back to the starting street). There is the ability to steal an opponent's line if it's broken by a street closure or movement of the Voodoo Priestess, but that's the only time opponent lines may interact...looks good on paper but I really need to play through this scenario. There's also the Re-route option available each round, so players are never really completely boxed in. I'll investigate how your "lead meeple" suggestion could help...

Anyways thanks for continuing to check this design out! I'm just beginning testing, but my hope is to have it fully tested and ready to pitch by the end of the year...if not sooner.

questccg
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Great potential

chris_mancini wrote:
You do me an honor with that comparison sir!

TTR is such a staple... And your parades remind me of laying down railways.

chris_mancini wrote:
I'll investigate how your "lead meeple" suggestion could help...

I had another idea for you: if the players are competing for the WHITE meeple who is the "City Mayor"...

Update #1: And if you finish the game with him at the front of your line, you earn +10 Victory Points. It doesn't guarantee you WIN but it can HELP somebody "steal away" the victory! :)

This sound very cool! But again for your to judge if you like the concept...

Update #2: I read some of the rules and I get how the Voodoo Pristess is like the Robber in Catan... Obviously if the "City Mayor" is at the HEAD of your parade/line, you are protected from the Voodoo Priestess similar to the BLUE meeples...

questccg
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Another IDEA

Maybe you could use a "Push-Your-Luck" mechanic with the BLUE meeples.

Something like Pos #1 ... Pos #12 means ALL those meeples are protected from the Voodoo Priestess (Black meeple).

So the idea would be to have PAIRS of Blue meeples protecting your line. But if the Black meeple (Voodoo Priestess) takes over, that line is STALLED until the Black meeple can be removed from your line.

OR IDK maybe you could roll a 1d6 and have to remove that many meeples from your line and then the Voodoo Priestess is removed from the board - until she strikes again...

Just some ideas as I work my way through your rulebook.

Cheers... I really, really like this game. It feels so ORIGINAL in its theme plus it draws inspiration from some of the TOP games on the market like Catan, Ticket To Ride, Snake, etc.

Update: #2 is more realistic - using PUSH-YOUR-LUCK mechanic, you could TRY to secure your line and NOT LOSE Paraders. I think this could be real nice to add some tension...

Another "VARIANT" of this is the following: instead of rolling a dice, you lose ALL meeples back to your LAST BLUE meeple. So if you had amassed ten (10) paraders and the Black meeple is placed at the front of your line, you lose ALL TEN (10) PARADERS!

So this kind of mechanic forces you to take risks (by deciding WHEN to place a BLUE meeple - locals).

I know this changes things a little - but I really think the PYL mechanic has potential...

Explore the idea further - if you are the least bit interested by the idea!

chris_mancini
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It's funny you mention the

It's funny you mention the variant idea; currently some of the Event cards do just what you described..."remove all Paraders back to a first (fill in the blank)." I like the idea of making it a more central part of the game, and using the Locals and their relationship with the Priestess makes sense.

She does stop at the end of her routes to stop players from moving past her, but it would be much more meaningful if it were integrated a bit more than simply based on the chance that someone is in her path to begin with. So far the biggest threats come with Events...making it more of a player action definitely makes things more interesting. I'm not sure she turns out to be the threat she should be, currently...

A lot of great ideas here! I'll play some of them out and see which work best...still plenty of time to explore during the early testing so your thoughts are very much welcome to the party!

chris_mancini
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I should add that I tried

I should add that I tried playing the Locals in such a way that having (1/2/3) on any given street will protect your parade, rather than having the "visiting" mechanic of the other Parader types serve to ward off the Voodoo Priestess.

With just one per street, players tended to plant them at the corners, effectively blocking 2 streets with a single Local. Requiring more than one made this less of a simple strategy, and I think this overall piece could be made more strategic in HOW and WHERE Locals must be placed, as well as how their number and placement relates to the movement of the VP.

I think having the Locals operate in a slightly different way than the Revelers/Tourists/Artists would enrich the game and add another level of strategy, so again your comments are very helpful!

chris_mancini
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BIG improvement to Voodoo Priestess!

Thanks to the ideas thrown out on this thread, I've made a big change to how the Voodoo Priestess operates...and I think she now brings much more strategy and importance to the game! She is now controlled by the players rather than the random Event deck, and is always having some effect on the board throughout the entire game:

The Voodoo Priestess:
When a player exchanges a set featuring a Grand Marshal card, they win the ability to move the Voodoo Priestess to any of her available spaces on the board.

If multiple players play a Grand Marshal in a round, control goes to the player who had the highest total Parader value for his hand. If values are tied, both players must agree on her new location.

Her action is taken at the beginning of the Event Phase, before any cards are played.

She is always placed at an intersection, however whichever street she faces down is the only street she affects.

If any player’s Line so much as crosses the street on which she stands, they lose all Paraders from the front of their Line back to the first Local.
Players with a Local at the front of their Line are not affected.

The Voodoo Priestess removes Paraders from any Lines present on the street on which she stands, and no Paraders may be added to that street as long as she remains there, though players may reroute their Line to avoid her.

If placed on her space immediately in front of and facing another player’s Line, she “hypnotizes” that Line. The player loses Paraders AND cannot perform any Parader actions until she is moved again. Player may still Draw, but no Exchange, Place or Reroute may be made unless done with a Grand Marshal, granting them the ability to move the Voodoo Priestess.

As the Priestess affects the entire length of the street she faces, players have to be careful when placing her that they don’t damage their own Line. Players may strategize their routes, for as long as both you and an opponent are both on a street, you can assume you’re safe as no one wants to deplete their own Line. Players can also hit multiple Lines with a single movement of the Voodoo Priestess!

questccg
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Hmm...

Let's clarify just a little bit!

  1. One (or more) player control the placement of the Voodoo Priestess.
  2. If there is a line on that street, she forces all paraders to be removed until the first local is encountered or the line changes to another street (corner bend).
  3. On that street no more paraders may be added either (double whammy).
  4. Players affected by the Voodoo Priestess are "hypnotized" and cannot add more paraders to their line (A bit harsh...)
  5. To remove (or move) you require a Grand Marshal (Card) and relieve them of the Priestess.
  6. The priestess affects the ENTIRE street she faces.

Sounds interesting. My only thing is that it seems harsh that players may be "hypnotized" and cannot ADD to their line. But I must say this does clarify her purpose. I guess it's not too bad if the Grand Marshal is readily available (not sure) - would need your response to this.

OK NOW FOR THE IDEA:

The Events are driven by "Fleurs de Lys". I think there needs to be some "Randomness" and less Event cards disbursed on one turn. If a player has paraders on four (4) "Fleur de Lys", he would get 4 Events cards...

My idea would be to have numbering going from ONE (1) to TWELVE (12) for the various "Fleurs de Lys" on the board. Instead of just having paraders on the right position, I would suggest to ROLL a 1d12 and have each matching "Fleur de Lys" draw ONE (1) Event card.

This will REDUCE the number of Events and simplify things. It also adds an element of tension to the game: Dice rolling. So far I saw no dice in your game but by adding 1d12, you lower the quantity of Events that need resolution and increase the tension.

So even if you have THREE (3) "Fleurs de Lys" in a ROW... IT does NOT mean that you will earn three Event cards. No it would depend on the roll and would most of the time result in resolving one (1) or two (2) Events per player...

This will help in reducing play-time also...

Just an IDEA... You can think about it and tell me if you like it or not. I thought A DICE added to the mix could add some more tension to the game!

Cheers!

Update: Instead of 1d12, it could be a COLORED custom d6 (another variant)... Looking at the board, that might make better sense.

You could have two (2) of each color on the custom "color" dice...

chris_mancini
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Line hypnosis

To clarify, a Line only becomes "hypnotized" if she occupies her space IMMEDIATELY in front of the player's Line. Only 1 Line can be hypnotized at a time, and players can avoid this simply by trying to leave at least 1 space between the end of their Line and any of her unoccupied spaces marked on the board. For the most part, she just removes Paraders back to the first Local, unless a Local leads the Line to protect it entirely.

As for Events, players can avoid them if they choose...only certain Locations require an Event when visited. They're pretty evenly split between beneficial/take-that/prohibitive events, so many deliver a "positive" response of some sort overall.

I see what you mean about the potential for too many in a round, and the die mechanic is interesting...the main thing is, some regulation of Events in a single round should be accounted for. Plus the d12 is my favorite polyhedron, so you got me there!

I should probably also mention that the board has changed slightly from the last image posted, with single spaces at most intersections marked for the Priestess to appear. She now occupies the blue spaces instead of Locals, so they now perform very differently from the other Paraders...as they should!

chris_mancini
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Latest image posted

I've updated the game board, and you may notice it's become quite a bit cleaner!

Gone are the fleur-de-lis Event markers on the board, as now players each receive a roll of the d12 Event Die to see if any occur each round (50% chance). Event cards are still drawn from the Event deck.

Voodoo Priestess may occupy any blue space; red/yellow/green spaces remain and play the same.

I think all of my design questions have been answered, so it's time to play!

questccg
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Some strange coincidences

Well the board does look better. And there seem to be 26 positions for the Voodoo Priestess (or 13 on each side of the board - coincidence? Probably not!) :P

Just a quick count (full board), there are:

  • 28 + 31 = 59 Yellow spots
  • 30 + 31 = 61 Green spots
  • 33 + 28 = 61 Red spots

This is cool distribution - not uniform - which is okay. Maybe I would balance it out by removing 1 Red & 1 Green spot and add 1 Yellow spot...

Uniform would be better since that would mean odd-wise there is no need to favor one parader over another.

Q: "How are you using the d12 for events?"

Looking much more streamlined. That's for certain!

chris_mancini
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Every player gets a roll of

Every player gets a roll of the d12 during the Event Phase. For each one that lands with a fleur-up, they draw 1 Event card. So now there's a max of 4 Events per round...or there could be none!

Distribution of the spaces began with the Locations around town (Bars=Revelers/Landmarks=Tourists/Cultural Centers=Artists), then filled in based more or less on concentration to give all players a more or less even distribution. Uniformity doesn't matter to me as much as long as all players have the same overall chances.

There are also FAR more spaces than meeples to fill in, and this was done so that players weren't overwhelmed by trying to match Paraders to the spots, as there are so many around you always have a shot at another nearby. Hopefully, this keeps Lines growing and "moving" at a good rate.

Total of 184 "spots"/3 = 61.33 of each, or 61/61/62. I gave the bonus to the Revelers, as everyone in NOLA loves to party!

Looks like I forgot to fill in a space towards the upper left center of the board, too...that's the final red Reveler spot.

questccg
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More comments/ideas/questions

Check out this POST: http://www.bgdf.com/image/second-line-question

That has more ideas based on what I read. But I still haven't completely digested the entire rulebook.

My ideas are to STREAMLINE the game to making LARGER Parades and VISITING more locations...

chris_mancini
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Final rules draft link in OP

OP has been edited to reflect the current status of this game...suffice to say after just 4 playtests in 4P mode, much has been discovered. The good has been amplified; the bad has been tossed. Everything has been systematically tightened to play intuitively and in theme. The game feels and plays great even when pushed into extreme situations, and I'm taking it into "outside" testing, where it will be exalted or abhorred by strangers...or worse still, met with soul-rending indifference.

For any community members in the LA area, I'll be running some playtests on Saturday, August 29th at Emerald Knights in Burbank from noon-5pm...if for any reason you might want to play Second Line. I may have to dress up like a Mardi Gras float to attract attention to my table, so be prepared for anything!!!

Those kind enough to go through my rules now that I think that they're proven...your impressions are very much welcome!

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