Campaign Playtest Wednesday

On Wednesday evening we pushed forward our campaign rules playtest. We have been continuing along with our playtesting. In our third week we sat down to play again with one player being very dominant in his wins of tabletop games. This is good in playtesting as you can see how the system works with one player being successful.

We used a Bear to represent the Totem.

 We had an interesting situation in one game with a Medicine Roll on the first turn. The player got the event Totem Appears. This is a medicine event from our extended list that we are now playtesting. The event causes the Warband to go to Inspired for the rest of the game. It also gives the player a spirit creature that has a CV of 5 and four hits to appear with the Great Warriors group and it stays for one complete turn. It happened early in the game so both players maneuvered to avoid or put the totem to use in close combat. The later was finally achieved and the Totem obliterated a War Bearer from the opponents Warband. We used a bear as a figure for the Totem as you see in the pictures.

Trying to Avoid that Totem Creature.

We are playtesting several scenarios which are used in the Campaign game. In this kind of game you can play tabletop games using the setup rules in the Beta Playtest rulebook if the players both agree. However, there is also eight different scenarios that are written to provide alternate set ups depending on the terrain that the players utilize and what strategy they employ. You also need to choose a type of move in the Campaign Turn. You either choose Forage or Rest. If you Forage you are out looking for the enemy and you can challenge other players to a tabletop game. If you are using a Rest order then you are considered to be working on the fields, recuperating or otherwise not being aggressive. In this case you cannot challenge another player to a tabletop game but you can be challenged.

Led by the Totem the Great Warriors Group takes the day.

I did not like the way that the Campaign rules were shaping up using the point system as outlined in the Beta Playtest Rules. I felt that the point system did not accurately portray the system that was supposedly used in the period. During the Pre-contact period the Great Warrior would decide on a course of action, an attack or a raid, or simply a hunting expedition. He would then take his idea before the council to get permission to represent the tribe in his endeavor. If accepted he would then approach his mates in the Tribe and try to convince them to join him on his expedition. Although the promise of furs or other such riches may have been part of his argument, the success of the warrior and his status would also determine who would follow him. In this way a war party would be joined and the mission or expedition would then take place. At times neighboring tribes would also be contacted and the Great Warrior would make his plea to even more warriors. Therefore, a point system that allows you to simply "buy" warriors for your Warband does not necessarily reflect this type of recruitment. We have been working on coming up with an alternate system that better simulates this style of recruitment. In our new idea a Great Warrior needs to seek permission from the council for his type of Campaign move then after they receive permission or not they go to the tribe and randomly generate a Warband to join them. They also have some warriors like Striplings and a Companion that they have more control over and can bring at will. This provides the player with some choice to his Warband but also limits him based on how well he is doing in the campaign. We will fill you in on more details about this system as we continue playtesting.