So "Tradewars - Homeworld" is a game DESIGNED for "Expansion". Victory conditions are on scenario cards and the first edition of the game are the "Exterras".
The card distribution for the "Exterras" race is:
3x 1, 3x 2, 3x 3, 3x 4, and 3x 5 (Total 15 card per upgrade pile)
But I have been thinking about another card distribution:
1x 1, 2x 2, 3x 3, 4x 4, 5x 5! (Still 15 cards per upgrade pile)
This could be for *NEW* Races...!
Again this could be an "expansion" to the game. I had not planned to think of new races for the game - but I left the door open when I said that the "Exterras" would be the FIRST EDITION of the game.
This could open up MULTIPLE RACES, since the distribution could change for "Firepower" or "Resistance". Meaning we could have a couple new races in future expansions.
We have quite a few expansion ideas - it would be real awesome if this game gets popular so we can examine closer all the expansion possibilities. Anyhow just a quick entry about "future" races!
Cheers...
Comments
Bonus/Penalty
The "Exterras" have no inherent bonus as all cards are EQUALLY distributed.
Race #1 could be a "defensive" race, that has BONUS for Crews but a PENALTY for Weapons.
Similarly Race #2 could be an "offensive" race, and in their case the BONUS is for Weapons and PENALTY is for Crews.
This means ALL THREE (3) Race could be played together! Each player could decide which race he controls and the result would be more or less EVEN playing ground with any of the races!
Man... This would be real sweet to design/develop...
So we would use 2 distributions
The first is the BONUS:
1x 1, 2x 2, 3x 3, 4x 4, 5x 5 (Total 15 card per upgrade pile)
And then the PENALTY:
5x 1, 4x 2, 3x 3, 4x 2, 5x 1 (Again a total of 15 card per upgrade pile)
This means a RACE is stronger in one STAT and weaker in another. Our two (2) stats for starships are "Resistance" and "Firepower". One is defensive and the other is offensive. So it makes sense that we have TWO (2) other races corresponding to that set of bonuses/penalties!
Binary Races
I have been thinking some more about the additional TWO (2) Races. And my thinking is something along the lines that both societies originated from a common race and share a common language.
But one society is one of "Warriors" (brothers-in-arms) that have been trained to be superior combatants, and therefore are more cunning in the ways of battle tactics (and therefore have superior Crews).
The 2nd society is one of "Knowledge" (Technocrats) that actively pursue all forms of research and are more advanced than their "Warrior" counterparts. As such they have better weaponry but lack the skills when it comes to piloting and using their technology.
If this was not the relationship, and the roles would be reversed, the "Warriors" would destroy their next of kin. So to avoid this, I have made the "Warriors" less technologically advanced, and the "Technocrats" possessing more in terms of raw power.
This makes it that even though the "Warriors" are more cunning and tactically sound, they have to be careful because of the great in-balance between the two societies. They must not aggravate their opposing race otherwise they would destroy every "Warrior" alive.
Generally speaking in terms of "numbers", there are significantly less "Warrior" population than that of the "Technocrats". This is because it takes very difficult training and programming to survive as a "Warrior", their society is much more harsh and predisposed to natural selection.
These are my starting thoughts. Feel free to comment!
More thought has led to...
Me thinking that the two (2) races should either be:
A> Lizard-men
B> Lion-men
C> BOTH!
What do you people think?!?! Should it ONLY be "Lizard-men" OR "Lion-men" or should it be BOTH and make the Lion-men the "Warriors" and the Lizard-men the "Technocrats"???
I'd like to hear your opinions. These two ideas seem very likely to be one of my selections (or both...)
The "Valorians"
The "Lion-Like" humanoid race will be called the "Valorians".
"Today we fight for Valor...!" and "We live with our Pride."
Obviously this race will be well trained in battle tactics and offer superior Crew capabilities (Enhanced Resistance). They will be the first of two (2) races we hope to create for the game!
The "Valorians" continued...
So the "Lion-Like" humanoid race called the "Valorians" come from the planet "Tempest Prime" and the majority of the planet is mostly covered by Savanna (Savanna Plains).
Since this race is composed of "Warriors", they have superior training and have very resistant crews. But as a "warrior-like" race, they have limited amount of knowledge in technology. In a way they are technologically-challenged. As such they don't have strong weapons for their starships.
So you should expect to see Tactic cards that BOOST "Firepower" such as a "Firepower +1 until destroyed" or a "Firepower +2 until end of turn", etc.
This will balance their weakness in "attacking" even though there are a very strong and resistant race...
"Valorian" Tactics
Letting the "cat-out-of-the-bag" a little early but here is what I see as the Tactic cards for the "Valorians":
I'm really excited about this 2nd Race (actually both). But I am developing the "Valorians" because it's something that may attract more players to the game.