Derek Mondeau's page

@H4ppy

Everything in this thread works against the desigber's intentions.

I love your general suggestions. We had a lot of the same thoughts independently, and we use most of the same variant rules that you've articulated when trying to tweak the difficulty. I think the suggestions you've collated definitely help increase the difficulty without breaking anything too seriously. Of course, only helping others at the same location has a lot of issues with it - I was just wondering. Still seems really odd when we play. It really breaks the theme for us. I'll put some time into it to see how it affects Harsk, etc. I don't like to fiddle with near-perfection much, and I don't imagine it will be a good solution, but it is worth a try.

This is why I mentioned REALLY wanting to see the designer's suggest alternate play parameters in their next iteration, similar to Thunderstone / Mage Knight. However, they have enough on their plate though, I understand.

Cheers, all.

DM

I've tested most of these difficulty changes. You have to look for the balance of improving the game without changing a core design intent (IMHO).

LIKEY:

I am a fan of adding a location. In solo / 2 player games this makes time a significant factor, where it wasn't before. I haven't experienced anything crushing as a result. Simply increased the need for consistently smart plays.

NO LIKEY:

Villains in lower half of the deck yielded almost no change for us. If anything it made the game easier (hoarding stuff for the showdown). Also, knowing approximately where the henchman / villains are located is borderline game breaking with some power/card combinations. I love the idea of this change. But without a scaling villain, it fell flat for us. Consistently.

Just adding combat difficulty doesn't seem to work. It is very in inconsistent. At best it gets rid of more blessings more quickly, but there are better, clearer ways to do that.

NEW TO TEST: TO HELP ANOTHER PLAYER YOU MUST BE IN THE SAME LOCATION WHERE THEY ARE MAKING THEIR CHECK.

I haven't played a lot of 4-6 players so I'm not the authority here. This comes out a thematic issue for me, but I don't think you should be able to help players who aren't at your location. Everyone jokes about Harsk shooting an arrow from the Prison to The Rusty Dragon. It is ridiculous. If I can't give you cards in other locations, I shouldn't be able to a shoot at monsters in those locations either. This would make splitting up to temp close a more costly decision.

Has anyone tested this? I mean no blessings. No powers. No card effects unless you share a location with that person. You would just apply the assisting other players rules as they stand, simply limit the scope "add 1 die to a check (at your location)".

Regardless, the game is stellar. I would love to see some official enhanced difficulty rules (similar to Thunderstone) in the next iteration of the rulebook. Also, list of cards that are not compatible with solo play (true solo - as in 1 character) would help a lot. I haven't come across any yet, but hear they are out there.