Welbo and I met yesterday to run the first official playtest of the Valley of the Five Fires Microgame, and I am more than pleased by the results. Regardless of the detail, play was moderately quick and easy to pick up. More importantly, play really captures the spirit of the module, which was the intention. There is a lot of rich detail to the setting that really comes through in the monster, place, and special encounters.
Really, at this point, we only see two minor issues which need some refinement:
1) the spaces on the map -Honestly, if these are the biggest issues at this point, we're in good shape! (I shouldn't get cocky, though. There are a lot of Special NPC encounters we have yet to play through fully.)
are there enough, and are the placed to be fair to all 4 players?
2) the balance of monster attack dice/wound points -
are they balanced enough to provide a challenge but not be unfairly deadly should the player encounter one?
I was a big fan of microgames as a kid, so this has really piqued my interest. What's the playing time? Also, how do you plan on distributing it, PDF or hardcopy?
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ReplyDeletePlanning on hardcopy only. 1/2-letter sized rulebook (16 pp., B&W interior, color cover), 11x17 color map (quarter-folded) and counter sheet (1/2 letter sized, color) all in a zipped poly bag. Trying to keep cost to $5.95 + shipping (might get it as low as $4.95 + shipping, based on interest and total number produced during the first production run).
ReplyDeleteAs for playing time, it depends on the rules options you're using. Under the "hardcore" rules option, all of the players could, theoretically, die on their first turn, meaning the game could only take 5 or 10 minutes (not including the 3 minute setup time). Under the "liberal" rules option (where players who die "start over" from their home yurt space) with 4 players (the game's max), play could last for several hours (possibly 3-4 hours, depending on dice rolls and potential alliances).
Sounds like a fun game! It's awesome to the OSR turn to microgames in addition to RPGs. I'm looking forward to this, and will be ordering a copy.
ReplyDeleteDepending on how this one goes (success as a game, and in terms of response), we may look at doing a couple of others. Welbo and I have (in the past) talked about a space samurai concept (even though I think he'd be just as happy to do a simple samurai armies microgame).
DeleteI would very much like to play this.
ReplyDeleteJust keep your eye on the blog for upcoming recruitment announcements. We'll be looking for people who do and don't own the module (want to get the opinions of both).
DeleteLooking good! Are you going to include solitaire rules, or is this strictly a 2-player game?
ReplyDeleteI suppose it could be played solitaire (the combat and encounter systems totally allow for it), but the game would lose the "cutthroat-ness" of the horde vs. horde competition. In the horde vs. horde game, dying means a "restart" (lose all acquisitions, and start back at your base camp); in a solo game, I suppose dying even once = end of game. Let Welbo and I give that some thought as we continue our internal playtests.
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