Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:36 pm Post subject: Card Idea (Moved)
I separated the Card stuff from the New Idea thread since it is about secret weapons now.
Anyway, Here's what we had so far.
I wrote:
As I was copying and pasting Tom's Gencon rules to Board Game Geek my eye caught the bit about drawing a card for every turn you end while holding the ball and I had an idea.
Two of the most common criticisms of Elfball (especially from the Bl00d B0wl camp) is that the insanity is missing and that it takes too long. I argue with the latter point but no the former.
But what if, like in the optional rule, you drew a card from a stack BEFORE every turn (instead of after) AND on that card was a random event? Now since this would be every turn they would need to be very minimal effects like +1 Jog for that turn, or +1 Momentum for that turn, Refresh Cheerleaders used that Test, Cheapshot for that turn etc.
But you could also make 3 or 4 cards become something sweet like +6 Momentum, or one player who is injured is miraculously cured and moves to the bench, or a free Zlurpee Keg or Potion.
You could also force a draw at the start of each turn and say each player could have a hand of no more than 5 cards or so. Cards can be played one time at any point during your turn.
I know this is something that the boys at Impact aren't gonna jump on but I think in my spare time I might come up with a list of 60 cards and make a PDF.
SillySod wrote:
I like it, it would make a neat variant and you could do some fun stuff with it. However I'd suggest leaving most of the cards blank, throw in some stuff like a single momentum or jog boost and then think of some random events that wont be too game turning... perhaps weather could be introduced to the game this way (if the deck is sfficiently large to make weather a rare event). This is also the sort of thing that the Elfball client could have added fairly easily.
I dont think I'd want it to be a core part of the rules but if the events are sufficiently spread out then I'd really fancy a go with those rules for a laugh sometime.
I wrote:
Something like:
60 Cards
40 Blanks
15 Random Events (+1 Jog, +1 Momentum etc)
5 Rare Events weather effect, miraculous recovery, full Momentum etc.
Thom wrote:
I think your on to something here sir! The game does seem to be missing some of the insane "Waaahoooo!" that Gramma's game is famous for, and while I understand the desire to have a unique flavor I do think it needs some "Waaahoooo" inSanity.
This seems like a good effort towards answering that.
bouncergriim wrote:
Coul always use a regular deck, number cards = blanks, Face cards of each suit have different attributes they affect like jack +1 jog, club +1 might, heart +1 tackle, spade + 1 dodge etc. Then have aces be the really special cards.
duttydave wrote:
In my own humble opinion, I wouldn't like to see cards introduced as a compulsory part of the game. I prefer the randomness of the game as it is without adding cards to the mix. I would have no problem with them being an optional variant to be used if both players agree.
On the other hand I like the Secret Weapons idea. In Street Brawl a Team may take a Chainsaw Maniac so why not Elfball? It would also open up some good conversion opportunites for some of the models. Better still we may even see some new Impact Models with the Secret Weapons.
Star Players are another thing that I'd like to see. I believe that Galak has mentioned in another Thread that this is a distinct possibility in the future. There are already models for Bazooka Jo-Nome and a Half-Dwarf Star, we just need the rules to flesh them out.
Darkson wrote:
No stars for me, even as an optional.
Want a star player? Build your own.
Cards for randomness as an option sound like fun to me though.
And that brings us to... _________________ Dominate, subjugate & infuriate.
Catechize, criticize & proselytize.
Repudiate, abrogate & annihilate.
This gives you 56 cards. (I'll have higher resolution versions later)
Draw one at the start of your turn. That's 28 turns per test. When the cards run out the test is over. If the score is tied the person with the highest number of No Event Cards is the winner. If still tied do a face off. Winner of the face off wins the match. (I think I may replace a Miraculous Heal with a No Event card to make an uneven amount for tie breaking)
If you guys play test these and like them I'll make them more professional looking and make backs for them. I'll also make a template for a box.
I think what I will do is use card sleeves for now. _________________ Dominate, subjugate & infuriate.
Catechize, criticize & proselytize.
Repudiate, abrogate & annihilate.
Nope. If you have Photoshop just use the "rounded rectangle" toll and created a 2.5" X 3.5" rectangle. Then hit it with a outline with the stroke tool.
I'd be glad to make a template for you, if you tell me how how large of a sheet and many DPI you want. _________________ Dominate, subjugate & infuriate.
Catechize, criticize & proselytize.
Repudiate, abrogate & annihilate.
Just an update. We have been using these cards in our games and we love them! I replaced one of the +6 Momentum Cards with a No Unusual Event card. That makes an uneven number of No Events. At the start of each coach's turns he draws a card. When the cards run out or somebody scores, the test is over whichever happens first. If nobody has scored and the cards are gone, the coach with least number of No Event cards wins the goal.
We use a 4 joker deck of playing cards and wrote the text on them with a sharpie. I'll print some real ones later. So far the cards have had very little impact on the game. Occasionally, a coach will get the healing card after a player has been knocked out, or cheerleader card after using his cheerleaders but in about 5 games (10+ tests) we haven't had one game where somebody felt they lost because of the cards. _________________ Dominate, subjugate & infuriate.
Catechize, criticize & proselytize.
Repudiate, abrogate & annihilate.
Seeing it reposted and reviewing the process I am coming to the opinion that event frequency should be increased. Maybe cut down to 30 blank "No Unusual Event" cards, 20 "Random Events" and 10 "Rare Events".
Now admittedly I have not had a chance to play with these rules but if only one out of three cards (33%) is an event then there is a good chance that any given player will get none.
At least by changing this to 30 you get a 50% chance, perhaps closer to fair. _________________ Thom. . .
How many. . .Elf hides does it take to make an Elfball?
Well, I'd be afraid that increasing the number of events would cause too much impact on the game.
I'd be interested in hearing ideas of some extra buffs we could add tho.
Also, needs to be an uneven number of No Events so you can have a tie breaker. _________________ Dominate, subjugate & infuriate.
Catechize, criticize & proselytize.
Repudiate, abrogate & annihilate.
Sounds like its working pretty well. One thing that struck me...
Quote:
If nobody has scored and the cards are gone, the coach with least number of No Event cards wins the goal.
Shouldnt this be the person with the most number of no event cards wins the goal? The event cards tend to give an advantage so I'd have thought that getting a draw while being given less advantages is more worthy of the win
I still reckon that weather could work well with this, perhaps 5 differnt weather effects and 5 "weather returns to normal" cards. _________________ Elfball is for girls...... and pigs apparently, I know which one I am :D
Sounds like its working pretty well. One thing that struck me...
Quote:
If nobody has scored and the cards are gone, the coach with least number of No Event cards wins the goal.
Shouldnt this be the person with the most number of no event cards wins the goal? The event cards tend to give an advantage so I'd have thought that getting a draw while being given less advantages is more worthy of the win
That actually is a typo. It IS in fact the coach with most number of No Event cards wins. I think I wrote it that originally. Sorry about the confusion.
SillySod wrote:
I still reckon that weather could work well with this, perhaps 5 differnt weather effects and 5 "weather returns to normal" cards.
You know, I think you may be right. And replacing the uber gift cards with weather will make the rare cards affect the game in a more even manner. _________________ Dominate, subjugate & infuriate.
Catechize, criticize & proselytize.
Repudiate, abrogate & annihilate.
I guess you dont have to restrict yourself to weather effects as "weather" cards - a particularly excited crowd might be a good weather effect, nothing a good dose of rain cant get rid of
One big problem with adding weather cards is although you dont know how long each effect will last you do know that its going to rain or be very hot at some point during the game. That might not be a problem as such but it does sem slightly undesirable that it -always- rains at least a little bit. Perhaps some way to use only half the cards or a random number of cards (using game ending trigger cards) might work but then that might overcomplicate things.
Also you could have an eclipse as a random event - not sure what that would do exactly but it could explain one of the +stats, maybe the extra dodge stat. _________________ Elfball is for girls...... and pigs apparently, I know which one I am :D
Well in all of our test games we have only run out of cards a handful of times so it wouldn't rain every time...but I take your meaning.
How about something like rolling on a weather table that tells you what weather cards to add?
Something like roll 2D6
2 Snow - Replace 4 rare cards with 4 snow cards
3 Rain - Replace 4 rare cards with 4 rain cards
4-10 Nice - Replace 4 rare cards with 4 nice cards (Maybe this would be where you would get crowd effects.)
11 Sunny - Replace 4 rare cards with 4 sun cards
12 Torrid - Replace 4 rare cards with 4 heat cards
This would allow use of the weather goblins or tokens. I think then, there should be card effects and a smaller ubiquitous effect for each result.
Snow - Players who are placed Down roll a D6. On a 1 they are Dazed instead.
Rain - When a player drops the ball (or misses a pass) the ball scatters twice before coming to rest. (If the during the first scatter the ball bounces off of a prone player, a chalk line or a player chooses not to catch the ball ignore this result. Also if a player is shoved into the hex with ball ignore this result.)
Sunny - The distance and direction of a missed pass is 1D6+1 in a D6 direction.
Torrid - Players attempting a Dash Challenge roll a number of dice equal to the number of Momentum counters spent -1.
Then for each category I can see 4 cards or so for each result. I'm thinking 2 temporary results (for that turn only) and 1 result that affects the rest of the game, and one result that clears up the weather resetting it to Nice (and makes any weather effects left in the deck void.)
Not that I have anything concrete at this point but Ill throw my hat into the ring! Its more brainstorming, so feel free to can ideas
We have 5 goblins...
For example (these arent tested or thought out!) I know Im on the boundary of making rules to fit the look of minis.
One in snow... I think the fact that snow could have 2 effects here, one will be that the soft snow will cushion the blow when the players fall to the ground. Another effect that I can possible envisage is that a player will lose a hex of jog each turn as snow is tough to run through. The weather is so cold they feel a little sluggish (especially if Darkson gets his insect team!) until they warm up a little. Due to snow being white, and the magical lines being white on the pitch, it might alter the way in which the white powder acts? However, if the ground is icy, then thats a different kettle of fish!
One in a waterproof coat... wet things are slippery, so for me that means it should be a little easier to disengage, or rather, more diffictult to tackle a player, I know when playing football (or soccer!) when the ball lands in a puddle, it just stops dead, I see the sense in it being very tough to dash properly in the rain so you could more likely break your neck and injure yourself in the rain rather than in the snow
One normal, well thats it, the skies clear and return to nice playing conditions, i think its nice to have one normal one
One on the deckchair, all down results are automatically turned to dazed, as players are too exhausted to stand up. Or more bizarrely, the heat from the 2 suns make the (insert plant name here!) seeds burst and release spores, which could probably do something! You could argue that it can be made into a drink, which is what your gob is drinking there!
One in shorts and shades... This could have 2 effects, well one is the obvious tough to catch and throw the ball accurately, while also its hard to do pretty much anything in the bright light, like disengage, as your eyes are half closed. Another effect is that players will remove armour (could also be used in the above) just to keep cool, and thus means that its easier to hurt them, or gain a point of jog.
What could happen is that your players could wear shades (or some bionic thingy) to eliminate the sunlight, but the ref may not take kindly to this unfair advantage either, which could lead to an ejection??
Well thats all I can think of, maybe there is one thing that people like...
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Join! (free) 
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Cheers!
