DCG - Abilities - G

Because I don't really have a lot of other things to talk about. I'm going to continue to write about the DCG so that it keeps a little bit fresh in people's minds.

Now I'm going to go over the abilities in the game.

The first one we call G. G is first of all not Gatorade and I have no idea why they felt the need to rebrand that. G is really the Generic Resource Production Skill. It's going to probably be the most common Skill in the game since part of our design model deals with the fact that a vast majority of the base set is going to be generic characters. The foundation of most decks should be generic characters and I decided that to help with resource production any open space is going to have a G in it. That'll allow for a lot of variability in who you can play.

I'll get back on the DCG writing with all these ability things now. Just because it'll keep it all fresh in my mind.

DCG - Factions - The Anti-Imperialists

Not everyone is happy with the way things have been going over the past few hundred years. Every so often someone would get slighted, a house would fall and those that survived would blame it on the empire for letting a proud and noble house crumble. These people have built up their own power base on the Capital planet. They keep things quiet, but they do have supporters almost everywhere each one willing to put their lives on the line to end what they see as the wrongful imperial dominion.

What makes this group different is that they don't have one leader with one goal. They've got several leaders each with their own agenda, and methodology. They will often fight each other over clashing ideology. There are three groups lead by mysterious figures (because I haven't designed the cards and therefore don't really want to come up with their names just yet). One group feels that the only way to drive the Imperialist out is by sheer and utter destruction of what they hold dear. They will attack anything and anyone at a moment's notice, usually under the cover of another group's efforts. Sometimes they succeed, more often they fail but it puts the Imperial Guard on double alert when anything goes on in the city.

Another group believes that by taking out any sort of spaceflight ability, that they can wait out and starve out the Imperialists. They spend most of their time attacking the Starport and the ships that are docked there. They also attack communication towers because they believe that this is part of cutting off the head of the snake rather than going after the body.

The third group belives that if they incite the populace enough, they will rise up against their enslavers and throw off the chains of oppression. They do engage in clandestine activities, but a lot less than the two other main groups. They're also more often going to have agents embedded deeply within the various houses, both great and small.

The Imperial Guard takes these groups very seriously, and has orders to kill any known members on site. This has caused them to go underground, but they're still very active. Their hatred of the Imperialists goes beyond the threat of death.

Hammercon 2009 - Oh What a Day.

If you didn't hear, there was a convention in Hamilton this past weekend. It was called Hammercon and if there is any justice in the world, then it will be going again next year. It was the standard for any new con that would like to start up.

I got there around 8:45 in the morning and your experience with the front desk is usually a good indicator of how the convention is going to go. If they're all running around stressing out, and putting that stress on their guests, then you know that there's a good chance that things are going to go poorly. If they're all calm, and collected and everything is where it should be then it's probably going to go well. Everyone was calm, and everything was where it should be.

The first game I ran went well. There were only 2 people in the game, but it was a lot of fun. They managed to try to think their way out of every single situation, and they had a good time doing it. That was always worth the effort.

The next game I ran was a kind of ongoing game of Suitors. Like what normally happens with the game, when I run a demo for it there's a good chance that people buy it. Sold five copies there, which was refreshing because I only bought five of them. It always refreshes my ideas on the game when I run it at cons. People buy it and that makes me feel a little better.

The rest of the time I spent hanging out with the guests, and con goers and organizers. We did a couple of panels, one of them on pitching and the other on house rules. To be fair, I'm not caring much about house rules so I didn't talk much on that one. My philosophy is that you bought the book, do with it as you will. It's why I don't give much in the way of support on the stuff that's in the book because as Robin said, "When you ask a designer they're usually working on something else and so will more than likely just make something up on the spot rather than look at what was there and tell you."

My one suggestion for the con would be to stagger the blocks of time. That way there might be a little bit more in the way of circulation and a little bit more happening in the board game area. This is a slight recommendation, I think everything was wonderful the way it was.

Hopefully they'll be doing it again next year. I recommend that everyone go next year for a good time.

Check it out at hammercon.ca for all the stuff that you missed out on.

DCG - Factions - The Faithful

Humanity has never really been able to shake religion. It has been viewed as the succor that keeps people honest and has ruled like a bloodthirsty tyrant. It has been done through the worship of nature and through some old dude with a beard somewhere.

The major faith that has evolved in the empire is a group called The Faithful. What the Faithful preach is not a destination but an appreciation of the journey, or The Way. Historically it's a mishmash of various different older religions into a single unified belief. It focuses on service to others, aiming others in the direction that suits them best, as well as a deep seated need for peace and harmony. Most people respect The Faithful, even if they don't hold a similar belief structure.

The Faithful are lead by the Ersthoff, a spiritual leader who doesn't seem to have any outward goal beyond helping others. On the surface it seems as if the Ersthoff has no plans beyond that, but there are a couple of things that seem odd. The first is that he doesn't seem to support any faction over another. The Ersthoff has given orders that all groups who seek aid from the Faithful should get it to the best of their ability. The second is that there isn't much asked for in return. A favour here, or a favour there down the road. A donation to a local chapter is also appreciated but never asked for.

Everyone is certain that The Faithful have some sort of long term goal, but no one has been able to determine it, but it seems as if the Faithful are quietly making believers out of people in all walks of life, and in every house. This has caused the rumour mongers and the conspiracy theorist to call foul, as if The Faithful are setting up for a massive coup, but those who follow the path just smile and continue to help those they see in need.

Playtest Night

So I had a play test night. I was able to get a good look at how the Faery Game works.

I love it. This is just going to prove my point that if I can't figure out the rules in a 30 minute street car ride then it isn't worth doing really. I didn't get to try out Succession again, but that's okay because it's always there and I don't really have the means to produce it anyway. I could sell it, but ultimately I want to do stuff that I can put out and this Faery Game has really lots of potential.

Good things about the Faery Game

1. Character Gen didn't blow people out of the water which was good. It wasn't too complicated or difficult, it did require thought in a couple of places but that's fine too.

2. They loved the character interaction. The communal aspect hit it spot on and it actually encouraged you to get involved in other people's scenes. Sure you're NPCing it, it's nowhere near as elegant as Ganakagok, but it's really good.

3. They loved the interactions with the faery. We had one trickster, one vengeful and one flower faery. It was great fun because the different ideas they all had. The Dryad I had was bend on vengeance and used her power like a whip. Saul had a fae whose description was, "I am the punchline of every joke" who was random and Desiree's Flower faery was happy that everyone was happy. I'll need to try it with other people but so far so good.

Things I need to work on.

1. Explaining the rules a little bit better and the importance of the dice
2. Cut what elements the Faeries can affect. They affect everything.
3. Make sure that I mention that the Faeries can break in at anytime instead of just on "their turn."
4. Write that it goes one round and then one round of the faeries. I thought they would get something at the end of the scene, but making them more prominent is better for the game.

All in all it was a good time. I'm going to start filling out the text, because the big things this showed me was that this was something worth putting out.

Review from Robot Viking - September 8th!

Look what I missed!

It's perhaps the best review we've gotten ever. I'm actually tickled pink and all the frustration of the past several years have suddenly melted away. I don't know if they'll come back at all but for right now I'm currently full of bliss.

Thanks Ed!

What am I up to?

Writing, lots of writing.

That's why there's nothing here. It's been busy trying to get the other stuff done.

DCG - Faction 5 - House Ndebele

House Ndebele, out of all the houses, has its power centre based mostly around manufacturing and the military might that goes around manufacturing. Most ships that are used by other houses bear Ndebele's mark. Most weapons used by those fighting are manufacturered on Ndebele worlds. The House has made its money by selling to everyone, they don't discriminate when people come calling to buy things. However, they do reserve the latest and greatest 'toys' for their own troops ensuring their own military supremacy over all those that buy their wares because that's what Ndebele does best, intimidate people into doing what they want.

When they were included with House Aan to be added to the list of Great Houses a lot of others felt that this was Ndebele forcing their way onto the counsil. This isn't true. What happens is that House Zhang felt that be including them it would be a better way to keep them in check, if they were busy looking at the Imperial House as a prize then they might be less inclined to take from their neighbors. It worked and House Ndebele spent the next several decades playing nice while vying for the Imperial seat like the rest of the Houses did at the time, by peddling influence and playing politics.

This was capped with the shortest time as the Emperor. Katina Ndebele was killed by an assassin during the Hernden incident where the Hernden house and the Contreras house were fighting over a trade route. Hernden had said that they had made a treaty with Contreras to have exclusive rights to the route while Contreras said that there was no such exclusive deal in place and that any and all who wished to use the route could as long as they paid the tolls. Emperor Katina was leaning towards siding with the Contreras when the Herndens attacked. To enforce her power, Katina led her forces with Contreras in a concerted effort to end the conflict quickly. Unfortunately, the ship that the Emperor was on was sabotaged by unknown people and exploded during the battle. There were no survivors and the Imperial throne passed to another house.

Currently the house is split along two lines. There are those who wish to play the political game to get back to the Imperial throne and there are those that feel that they need to flex their military muscle to show the others that they should take the throne from the Aans. They feel that this would also get them some extra territory from the Zhangs.

With the House in flux there are many ways this could go. The hope of those in the house is no matter what, it will be a benefit to them all.