Well this night around 2:00 AM in the morning - I got some amazing ideas about how "Quest Adventure Cards(tm)" (Quest) could become an EPIC story-telling game.
Although the game is only in an embryonic stage, the truth of the matter is that it is SHAPING up to being EPIC!!! I did not think that the game had any type of future... But it looks like it may.
The goal of the game is to "design/build" the most EPIC Journey. First player to 100 points WINS (or if a player runs out of cards in his deck - the highest scoring player wins). If we average out the 100 points, this amounts to 20 cards, so about 5 points per card (average).
Unlike the First Edition where the rules needed to be stated in "writing", we have found a *NEW* and more creative way to design quests! I'm keeping that under wraps - because it's pretty novel mechanic.
Right now it's about 2-3 quests that you must complete in order to score 100 Victory Points (VPs).
As of today, what I am thinking about is STATS. Because it's not enough to "story-tell" the Epic Journey, you actually have to be able to complete it with your Heroes!!! Monsters will be slain, Heroes will be defeated, Treasures will be recovered, all these are Epic Elements to your Quests!
There are a total of ten (10) distinct Quest "Elements". Of course your opponent can "hamper" your efforts by playing some of HIS cards into your Epic Journey - making it harder to complete your Quests. And part of the balancing is "building" your own quests and making it "harder" for your opponent. As such some cards will be purely "screw over your opponent" cards... Things with many requirements but little Victory Points.
A player may play three (3) cards from his hand onto the table per turn.
The concept is still *NEW* and a lot of thinking has to go into it. BUT one thing for certain - "Quest AC 2" is on it's way to being EPIC!
Cheers.
Comments
@Unlike the First Edition
@Unlike the First Edition where the rules needed to be stated in "writing", we have found a *NEW* and more creative way to design quests! I'm keeping that under wraps - because it's pretty novel mechanic.@
Really? You are disappointing us, mate. I mean, it's not your first day in the industry to be afraid of someone "stealing your innovative idea".
One part Adventure, one part Tarot
So I have been TRYING *desperately* to find a GOOD "Storytelling" mechanic. As such I started looking at Tarot reading. What I found is that cards can allow you to "tell" a story ... but this story is subject to much interpretation and is difficult to pin-point an EXACT "narrative". Tarot is very much subjective...
Having this as a Primary Mechanic - well was NOT good. I needed a way to create stories that would have a "structure" but that would not require "Quest Cards" as in the First Edition of the game.
For those of you who do not know - Quest was my first REAL attempt at making a Card Game. Ultimately the end-product was too simple, had not enough strategy and had a terrible sales/distribution model (CCG Boosters).
But in a WAY, I am "borrowing" some of the Tarot's storytelling mechanics. My current "Quest Elements" are very dynamic and allow for a very definite (not only subjective) Journey as you conquer the Quests...
@Arty: Of course I'm going to keep some secrets. That's kinda the point, you want people to be interested knowing what they know from the blog but at the same time - curious as to the details about how it is going to be implemented. Got to have some secrets - otherwise it's boring!
Mysterious Ways
As I have explained the "mechanic" is one part "Adventure" and one par "Tarot". I have successfully "designed" a simple way to combine tarot-like story elements into a "cohesive" union.
Right now, my concern is with statistics. I am working on that as we speak. I am referring to the original "Dungeon & Dragons" Character Stats. There are only six (6) statistics. And my concept is that each class of Hero should have only three (3) out of six statistics. This makes mixing and matching of Heroes more important when trying to accomplish a quest (Depending on the nature of the quest).
More to think - when it comes to "playing" the Quests...
Pleased with stats ... what about currency?
While I am satisfied with the stats used by each class of Hero (Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, Mage, Thief and Ranger), I have been thinking about the "Treasury" as in the First Edition of the game.
Maybe the concept of "Upkeep" might be good to be introduced. I'm saying "maybe" because I don't want players simply to lay out a farm of "Cities" just so that they can pay the upkeep of a dozen Heroes! :P
It would be simple to give "Castles" +3 Gold/turn, "Strongholds" +2 Gold and "Villages" +1 Gold. As a form of "income"... This may be too simple.
However the "concept" is interesting. I need to think further about it.
The three "knocks" rule
I have removed the "three knocks" rule... I no longer need this mechanic for the game to be balanced and work!
How to fix the balancing
My thoughts go as follows. The World you travel in is spherical, so the left side connects to the right side. And you play cards to the Right of your initial village. This makes it quicker to travel to the more distant locations (on the far right).
Each "Lair" produces gold for it's owner and it is more gold than a "City". What this does is encourage your opponent to create Lairs (to basically accumulate more wealth). But Lairs must be connected a "City".
So:
City #1 - City #2 - Lair #1 = permissible
City #1 - Lair #1 - Lair #2 = not permissible
This is the balancing mechanism I plan to use. Players are encourage to configure Lairs but balance is struck as the player lays down a connecting city. It is not possible to have two (2) contiguous Lairs.
Something along those lines.
Stats + Combat
Although it seems like I *might* have a stats system (with the three (3) stats per Hero), I do not have a combat system to match...
I will be thinking more about how to implement a combat mechanic.
No idea what it may look like - but I want it to be relatively simple.
Worker Placement IDEA
Well I just had another flash of inspiration... When your opponent creates you a Lair on your Journey Timeline, he earns income as stated on the Lair card (a value higher than towns/cites). But when the opponent "clears" the Lair by defeating all the Minions and the Monster, the opponent can no longer collect income - because the Monster has been defeated.
Similarly, for cities/towns that are supposed to collect income, I thought that maybe "Worker Placement" might be required to collect income...
Basically this would mean that a city/town would require at least ONE (1) Hero to be present in order to collect the income... Maybe he works as a Merchant trading fine wares for gold (or something along those lines).
So when your Heroes go "Questing", they lose the income they would generate unless there is one remaining Hero in that town/city.
What do you think? Is this "Worker Placement" idea good or not? Personally it adds an element of risk: instead of building a party with five (5) Heroes and defeat all the Monsters/baddies... Now you have to THINK: "Do I add this Hero to the party and lose some income or do I leave him in the city/town to earn more income???"
This kind of thinking adds a deeper level of strategy given that the player has the choice on how to proceed!
Comments/Feedback?!
Income generation vs. Combat
Also there is an "inherent" synergy between generating income and combating more difficult Monsters. Firstly you need a party which means you RISK losing "X" Heroes if the dice rolls go south... Then, if that does happen, you need sufficient income to recruit your party members anew.
Because recruiting each additional Hero costs more (given a multiplying factor of the Hero), having sufficient income is very important so as not to "stunt your growth..."
And remember your goal is to progress to 100 Victory Points (VPs). Since the Lair mechanic "encourages" progression in all players' timelines, you can be certain that growth will be required...
Not sure about a "bargaining" mechanic - might be informal deals that players make like "If you add a Lair for me, I'll add one for you." These kind of player discussions which help the players move along towards their 100 VP goal.
Update: I may need to drop the two (or more) consecutive Lairs restriction. Why? Because a player may "delay" his opponent from moving forwards in the game... by not placing a town/city. Remember that even the opponent has to balance placing Lairs that get COMPLETED. Only then does he score VPs!
Update #2: And you need to BALANCE between cities/towns and Lairs so that you can recruit sufficient Heroes to defeat all of the baddies (Monsters and Minions). So far the *mechanics* seen to be leading towards a pretty balanced set of mechanics that go hand-and-hand (so to speak)!
Hero Locations
So now that I have a minute to "pen this down", I will state that cities/towns produce LESS "income". But they allow you to recruit Heroes (which is good - because all Journeys require Heroes!) and can help you complete Quests.
These are the types of Hero locations: Castles, Villages and Towers.
Although they produce LESS "income", they award the player MORE "Victory Points" (VPs).
I am striving hard to create a balance between producing Lairs and Cities/Towns. And this is sort of the way that I can achieve it... If you Journey ONLY has cities/towns - well you'll probably suffer in terms of "income".
But if you only have Lairs - well you'll probably have less "VPs"...
I think this is the best balancing mechanic to "diversify" you collection of cards such that your Journey is balanced.
I need to work on a prototype - maybe sometime soon... We'll see. We're kind of busy with "Tradewars - Homeworld" (TWHW) ... but I might be able to squeeze it in on one of my Summer Holidays/Vacation days...
It's up to you, of course,
It's up to you, of course, but medieval cities would produce much more income, than villages or castles. It seems somewhat off thematically.
Very true
There are Lairs (For the baddies: Monsters and Minions) and "Dwellings" (In my terminology for the Heroes and Characters in your Journey).
It's just the places Heroes arise from *like* a Castle, Village or Tower (Mostly Mages). Castles produce 3 Income, Villages 2 Income and Towers only 1 Income.
And BTW I actually want LOW income producing "Dwellings" since they will be high scoring Victory Point cards... The flip side are "Lairs" - but I already covered that in an earlier post.