The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.

[Small World] Game 8, Sign-Ups: All expansions! It's crazy!

StericaSterica YesRegistered User, Moderator mod
edited January 2011 in Critical Failures
OP was stolen from Valkun's pocket by Gandalf the Crazed, whom I drugged and stole it for myself.
pic803497_md.jpg

FOOLS

You thought me gone, did you? I was simply waiting and amassing a mighty army of the DAMNED. And when my ghastly fellows have amassed, nothing will save you.

But I am not without mercy. Below you shall find new allies and powers to help withstand my onslaught. It will, of course, do you all little good. But I do enjoy watching my victims struggle.

I suggest you educate yourselves.

This game will be using the Cursed!, Grand Dames, Tales & Legends, Be Not Afraid..., and Necromancer Island expansions.

Deadline
You must sign up before midnight, eastern standard time, on January 10th. I will then select five players to play the game. Any players I did not select will become reserves should any players be unable to play.

What the?
Small World is a game of territory domination with an emphasis of strategic thinking over random dice rolls. Each player will be able to select from a number of randomly generated races which combine the race's abilities with a special power to generate combinations ranging between ho-hum and outstandingly powerful. However, you have to decide when to abandon your current race in favor of a new one as the original lacks the power to expand or outlives its usefulness.

How do I join?
People can sign up until 11:59am EST on Saturday the 28th. After that, I will randomly choose five victims to play for everyone else's viewing entertainment. The game will begin after Thanksgiving and hopefully will be completed before Christmas. That may be wishful thinking, though.

Once a round ends, I will update the map, set the current event and reveal the upcoming event.

Guidelines for playing:
In order to keep the game as intact as possible, without slowing it down, I have a new method for bids. When the upcoming event is a bid and at the end of your turn post, you must make a separate spoiler containing your bid. All other players should, on their honor, not look at any other player's bid spoiler. A minimum bid of 1 is required. If, somehow, you are unable to afford a bid, your bid will be reduced until you can afford it.

Players can make their own rolls for final conquests/berserk (roll 1d6; 4,5,6 = 0) and are responsible for reposting the game summary with their additions/alterations. Post how many points you earned for your turn, but keep the total to yourself. At the end of the game, we'll reveal how many points we've earned. There is no way to stop it, but it is against the spirit (and rules) of the game to keep a running total of other players' points.

To keep the game flowing faster, each retreating unit from conquered regions will go to the region with the least defense that does not contain an immunity token like the dragon, hero, or halfling hole. Water regions are considered immune as well. Multiple retreating units will each check for whatever is lowest at the time they are placed.

Useful Links
Rules
FAQ

Useful Links
Rules
FAQ

Race Summary:
1. Amazons (6) Use 4 Additional Amazons during conquest.
2. Dwarves (3) Collect 1 extra coin for each mine, even in decline.
3. Elves (6) Do not suffer losses when conquered.
4. Ghouls (5) Act as if active when in decline.
5. Giants (6) Conquer adjacent to occupied mountains at -1 units.
6. Halflings (6) First conquest may be anywhere. Place a hole-in-the-ground tokens in each of the first two regions conquered. These regions are immune to conquest and/or powers of enemy players.
7. Humans (5) Collect 1 extra coin for each Farmland region.
8. Orcs (5) Collect 1 extra coin for each occupied region conquered this turn.
9. Ratmen (8) Have more tokens than other races!
10. Skeletons (6) Create 1 additional skeleton during redeploy for each 2 occupied regions conquered this turn.
11. Sorcerors (5) On your turn, you may replace an opponent's single active token adjacent to your territory with a sorceror from the box. You may do this once per turn per opponent.
12. Tritons (6) Require one less token to conquer coastal regions (this includes regions adjacent to the lake).
13. Trolls (5) Place a Troll's Lair in each region you occupy. A region with a lair requires one extra token to conquer. These stay even in decline, but are removed if there are no trolls present in the region.
14. Wizards (5) Collect 1 extra coin for each Magic Source.

EXPANSION RACES:
15. Kobolds (11) You may not conquer or occupy a region with fewer than 2 race tokens. When going In Decline, however, keep a single token in each Region, as normal.
16. Goblins (6) You may conquer any In Decline Region at a cost of 1 less Goblin token than normal.
17. Gypsies (6) Place 1 bonus VP (from the stash) in each Region you abandon. You cannot conquer these Regions again this turn, BUT you receive the coins they hold as a bonus at turn's end.
18. Priestesses (4) When going In Decline, take one token from each region you occupy and stack them to form a single "Ivory Tower" in one of the regions you occupy, abandoning all the others. Each turn, score 1 VP for each Priestess token in the Ivory Tower, in lieu of your usual In Decline scoring.
19. White Ladies (2) Once In Decline, White Ladies are immune to your opponents' conquests and powers.
20. Barbarians (9) Have lots of tokens, but cannot redeploy at the end of your turn (cannot rearrange for defense). If you fail a reinforcement roll, the tokens being used for that conquest stay in your hand until your next turn.
21. Homunculi (5) When this race is passed over, in addition to the 1 VP that must be placed on it, the player passing it must also place a Homunculi token on its banner. When a player chooses Homunculi, they get the standard number of tokens they are entitled in ADDITION to the number of tokens placed on the banner (they also get any VP as usual).
22. Leprechauns (6) When redeploying, you may take any number of pots of gold and place them in regions you occupy. If a player (not just the Leprechaun player) has pots of gold in any of his her regions at the beginning of his or her turn, that player adds the pot of gold to his or her supply of VP. At the end of the game, all pots of gold are worth 1 VP each.
23. Pixies (11) A ton of tokens, but instead of redeploying, you must return tokens to your hand until each region is occupied by only 1 pixie token.
24. Pygmies (6) Whenever you lose a pygmie token, roll the reinforcement die and take that many pygmies from the reserve into your hand.

SPECIAL RACES:
25. Ghosts (N/A) The necromancer’s race. Considered to be in decline, but otherwise act as if active. When all 14 are on the board, the necromancer wins the game.

Special Power Summary:
1. Alchemist (4) Collect 2 exta coins at the end of each turn while active.
2. Berserk (4) You can use the reinforcement die for every conquest and roll before selecting the region.
3. Bivouacking (5) During redeploy, place or move the 5 Encampment tokens in your region(s). Regions with these tokens require one more token to be conquered. You may have multiple encampment tokens in each region.
4. Commando (4) Regions require one less token to conquer.
5. Diplomat (5) At the end of your turn, pick an opponent whose active race you did not attack. That player may not attack your active race before your next turn.
6. Dragon Master (5) Once per turn, you may make a single conquest with just one token. Place or move the Dragon token into that region which makes it immune.
7. Flying (5) You may conquer any region except water even if they are not adjacent.
8. Forest (4) Collect 1 extra coin for each Forest you control.
9. Fortified (3) Once per turn, place one Fortress in a region you control (max 1 per region, 6 total). Each fortress token generates one extra point if the race is active and regions with fortress tokens require one more token to conquer (even in decline).
10. Heroic (5) At the end of your turn place your 2 Hero tokens in two seperate regions you control. These regions cannot be conquered and are immune to enemy powers.
11. Hill (4) Collect 1 bonus coin for each Hill you control.
12. Merchant (2) Collect 1 bonus coin for each region you control.
13. Mounted (5) Conquer Hills and Farmlands at -1 units.
14. Pillaging (5) Collect 1 extra coin for each non-empty region conquered this turn.
15. Seafaring (5) You may conquer and occupy water regions. This lasts even in decline.
16. Spirit (5) This race does not count for your declined race limit. (Keep this power when in decline)
17. Stout (4) You may go into Decline after conquering.
18. Swamp (4) Collect 1 extra coin for each Swamp you control.
19. Underworld (5) You may conquer regions with caverns at -1 units. All regions with Caverns are considered adjacent.
20. Wealthy (4) Collect 7 extra coins at the end of your first turn active.

EXPANSION POWERS:
21. Cursed (0) In order to skip this race during race selection, you must place 3 VP on it instead of the usual 1.
22. Hordes Of (5) You may use your 2 "Hordes Of" tokens exactly as if they were additional active race tokens. They disappear when you go into decline.
23. Ransacking (4) Each time you successfully conquer a Region containing an opponent's active Race, he must immediately pay you 1 VP from his own stash.
24. Were- (4) On even-numbered turns, conquer all regions at -2 tokens.
25. Marauding (5) Once your conquests are over (but BEFORE any final conquest attempt using the Reinforcement Die), take your troops back in hand, leaving at least one token per region, and go through another complete cycle of conquests; then do your final conquest attempt, if any.
26. Historian (5) Collect 1 bonus VP for each Race In Decline at the time you select the Historians. While you're active, collect 1 bonus VP each time another Race goes into decline, including your own race!
27. Peace-Loving (4) If you have attacked no active races at the end of your turn, collect 3 bonus VP.
28. Barricade (4) If this race occupies 4 or fewer regions at the end of your turn, collect 3 bonus VP.
29. Catapult (4) Once per turn, you may place the catapult token at any region you occupy and then proceed to conquer a region that is one region away from the catapult (not adjacent). You may fire over the lake, but not the seas. In addition, the region with the catapult token is immune to powers and conquest. Remove this token from the board when this race goes into decline.
30. Corrupt (4) Opponents must give you one of their VP whenever they conquer your active regions.
31. Imperial (4) At the end of your turn, you gain 1 additional VP for each region this race occupies past the third. For example: you get 1 bonus VP for 4 regions and 2 bonus VP for 5 regions.
32. Mercenary (4) Before you attack a region, you may spend 1 VP to reduce the number of tokens required to conquer it by 2 (a minimum of one token is required). You may do this as many times as you like per turn but only once per region. When rolling the reinforcement die, you choose to pay AFTER the roll.

The Map:
defaultmap.jpg

The Territories By Quadrant:

NORTHWEST
A. Drake Sea
1. Dragon Coast
2. Witch Marsh
3. World's End
11. Windmillia
12. Westros (1) Lost Tribe
13. Rush Valley (1) Lost Tribe
14. Warlock Falls
15. Rolling Flats (1) Lost Tribe
16. Ent's Harbor
17. Swamps of Despair (1) Lost Tribe
18. Leyland
45. Norfolk (1) Lost Tribe

NORTHEAST
4. Northwoods
5. Ghitu Highlands (1) Lost Tribe
6. Ghitu Lowlands
7. Doveland
8. Secluded Swamp (1) Lost Tribe
9. Mount Mithril
10. Iron Spine
43. Waterwood
44. White Crag

SOUTHEAST
19. Piercing Delta (1) Lost Tribe
20. Rivertown
21. Gug (1) Lost Tribe
22. Crackling Steppes (1) Lost Tribe
23. Burning Steppes
24. Falling Leaves (1) Lost Tribe
25. Saint's Pride
34. Secluded Vale
35. High Peaks
36. Misty Vale
37. Mid Peaks
38. Southpeak
B. Necromancer Island [IMMUNE]
C. Corner Sea

SOUTHWEST
26. Valorock
27. Wool Road (1) Lost Tribe
28. Deathmaw
29. Raptor's Nest
30. Platinum Plateau (1) Lost Tribe
31. Quicksilver Forest (1) Lost Tribe
32. Midland (1) Lost Tribe
33. Engorged Marsh (1) Lost Tribe
39. Lowlands
40. Tranquil Expanse
41. Dryad's Retreat (1) Lost Tribe
42. Silver Mist

YL9WnCY.png
Sterica on

Posts

  • LeztaLezta Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Sign up!

    Love me some Small World.

    Lezta on
  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited January 2011
    Changed the title so more people know that we need warm bodies.

    Sterica on
    YL9WnCY.png
  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited January 2011
    I'm extending sign-ups to Wednesday at midnight. No Small World?

    Sterica on
    YL9WnCY.png
  • Void SlayerVoid Slayer Very Suspicious Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    I will reserve with a sign up if no one else joins.

    New rules scare me!

    Void Slayer on
    He's a shy overambitious dog-catcher on the wrong side of the law. She's an orphaned psychic mercenary with the power to bend men's minds. They fight crime!
  • SlickShughesSlickShughes Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    I will reserve with a sign up if no one else joins.

    New rules scare me!

    I'll do the same - not because I'm afraid of the new rules, but because I've played in the last 4 or so.

    SlickShughes on
  • DarianDarian Yellow Wizard The PitRegistered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Rorus Raz wrote: »
    Changed the title so more people know that we need warm bodies.

    Sign up. Dibs on the necromancer? Also, posting an announcement in the boardgame thread or at least in the PbP index thread (or even in the currently running game) would be likely to catch more eyes; I really don't check the main forum view very often.

    Also also, trying to run Tales and Legends simultaneously with Necromancer's Island is likely to end in tears. From the perspective of the cards, are the necromancer's ghosts considered active or in decline?
    Not that the necromancer doesn't bring out its own suite of rules problems (does Diplomatic work either for or against him? Do the ghosts count as an in-decline race for a Historian? and on and on)

    Darian on
  • ExtermatottExtermatott Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    I will reserve with a sign up if no one else joins.

    New rules scare me!

    I'll do the same - not because I'm afraid of the new rules, but because I've played in the last 4 or so.

    I will do that also.

    Extermatott on
  • UltaruneUltarune Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Darian wrote: »
    Also also, trying to run Tales and Legends simultaneously with Necromancer's Island is likely to end in tears. From the perspective of the cards, are the necromancer's ghosts considered active or in decline?
    Not that the necromancer doesn't bring out its own suite of rules problems (does Diplomatic work either for or against him? Do the ghosts count as an in-decline race for a Historian? and on and on)

    This is correct. We play with all 6 expansions, and judicious editing and on the fly judgments are necessary with Tales and Legends interacting with Necromancer. We had a game where Winter Queen came up, silent auction to win immunity for your in decline race, and the necromancer bid 36 coins, won it, and steamrolled us. I'd recommend reviewing the cards you draw for the deck, and replacing those that provide too much of a boon to the necromancer. The idea thats in an auction makes it balanced doesn't work with the necromancer, because he doesn't need money to win, so in my previous example, someone would have had to bid 37+ coins to stop him, essentially giving up a chance at winning, which is no fun.

    Ultarune on
  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited January 2011
    The rules specifically state that the ghosts are considered in decline.

    Stating that certain events give the Necromancer a huge advantage is...not all that compelling. Any event can give a player or specific combo a massive advantage over. You could just as easily draw Tabula Rasa, which would put the Necromancer back at square 1. Or have a string of events that affect only active races.

    Auctions would generally play out worse for the necromancer, as he is generally spending his coin on ghosts or more powers whereas the others only get to spend their coin on, well, auctions mostly. If the Necromancer has that much money saved up, either you've had a string of bad events or are fighting amongst each other too much.

    Sterica on
    YL9WnCY.png
  • Gandalf_the_CrazedGandalf_the_Crazed Vigilo ConfidoRegistered User regular
    edited January 2011
    !sign up

    Gandalf_the_Crazed on
    PEUsig_zps56da03ec.jpg
  • DarianDarian Yellow Wizard The PitRegistered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Actually, the ghosts are treated as active by the Necromancer himself, but as in decline by other players. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to take advantage of any of their powers, since most powers don't work in decline.

    See this discussion from BGG for one attempt to deal with that duality. The thread creator applies the following principles:
    1. The Necromancer's active race is the Ghosts. He may use Special Powers with the Ghosts normally, so for him they are active.
    2. The Necromancer has no in-Decline race. Ghosts are the only race he ever has, and they are active.
    3. Other players interact with Ghost tokens as if they were in Decline. Though active to the Necromancer, the Ghosts behave as if in Decline to everyone else.
    4. The Necromancer never changes his race, never going into Decline with the Ghosts.
    5. The Necromancer's Racial Power is the ability to: a) take conquered tokens and bonus (scoring) tokens into the Well of Souls; b) spawn Ghosts onto the map; and c) purchase additional Ghosts and Special Powers. The immunity of the central Lake region, while an essential part of the Necromancer's presence, is not part of his Racial Power and is always in force.
    6. Discarded Ghost tokens always go into the Reserve, not the box.
    7. When the Necromancer scores, the Victory Coins and bonus souls are considered separate earnings.

    Darian on
  • UltaruneUltarune Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Darian wrote: »
    Actually, the ghosts are treated as active by the Necromancer himself, but as in decline by other players. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to take advantage of any of their powers, since most powers don't work in decline.

    See this discussion from BGG for one attempt to deal with that duality. The thread creator applies the following principles:
    1. The Necromancer's active race is the Ghosts. He may use Special Powers with the Ghosts normally, so for him they are active.
    2. The Necromancer has no in-Decline race. Ghosts are the only race he ever has, and they are active.
    3. Other players interact with Ghost tokens as if they were in Decline. Though active to the Necromancer, the Ghosts behave as if in Decline to everyone else.
    4. The Necromancer never changes his race, never going into Decline with the Ghosts.
    5. The Necromancer's Racial Power is the ability to: a) take conquered tokens and bonus (scoring) tokens into the Well of Souls; b) spawn Ghosts onto the map; and c) purchase additional Ghosts and Special Powers. The immunity of the central Lake region, while an essential part of the Necromancer's presence, is not part of his Racial Power and is always in force.
    6. Discarded Ghost tokens always go into the Reserve, not the box.
    7. When the Necromancer scores, the Victory Coins and bonus souls are considered separate earnings.

    I like this interpretation and we will be using this going forward. Thanks for posting it.
    Rorus Raz wrote: »
    The rules specifically state that the ghosts are considered in decline.

    Stating that certain events give the Necromancer a huge advantage is...not all that compelling. Any event can give a player or specific combo a massive advantage over. You could just as easily draw Tabula Rasa, which would put the Necromancer back at square 1. Or have a string of events that affect only active races.

    Auctions would generally play out worse for the necromancer, as he is generally spending his coin on ghosts or more powers whereas the others only get to spend their coin on, well, auctions mostly. If the Necromancer has that much money saved up, either you've had a string of bad events or are fighting amongst each other too much.

    I disagree with you. Your mention of Tabula Rasa screwing the Necromancer only seems to reinforce my point, but you seem to use it as an argument against it? Any card that is an automatic win or loss is one I will have a dim view of. Regarding auctions, it is my playgroup's experience that auction's massively favor the necromancer since he uses money in such a fundamentally different way than the players. It is just a means to an end for him, where it is THE end for the players. While it is true that players have more money than the necromancer generally, he can choose to bid large sums of money and gain large advantages, often more than purchasing another ghost would garner him, especially once he gets into the 10+ money cost for ghosts, where any player who wants to win the auction in order to prevent the necromancer from receiving the benefit is essentially taking themselves out of contention for the win, which is no fun to us. Your mileage may vary, but we find auctions way to far in the necromancer's favor.

    Ultarune on
  • ExtermatottExtermatott Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Is this game happening? It has fallen to the pits of the fourth page threads...

    I'll change to a definite Sign Up.

    Extermatott on
  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited January 2011
    I just got the expansions in, and am experimenting with different rule interpretations just to make sure things aren't a clusterfuck.

    I'm starting to think Tales and Legends may just not be suitable for PbP.

    Sterica on
    YL9WnCY.png
Sign In or Register to comment.