| From: | "Abadia, Teos" <Teos.Abadia@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Matb's DMZ - cool! |
| Date: | Tue, 31 Mar 1998 17:06:30 -0500 |
alternative rules for Shadowrun. If you haven't seen it, take a look.
Very cool. (His site is available from my links page off of my page
below, or check for one of his many posts for his address in the sig.).
First, I had a lot of fun. Word of warning, I used a ton of cards to do
this; about 5 decks plus some locations and other cards from my
collecting pile. I had a bunch of questions and comments, and I will do
these in the order of the instructions for Matb's benefit and for yours
if you want to try to figure out what I am talking about.
Setting Up The Game
- I thought this was well done, but could have used a "Goals" statement
up front to make it clearer what the game is about (traveling around the
DMZ turning up cards hoping for cool contacts or locations or Rep, while
laying down protective cards). In a nut shell (for those new to his
rules) you lay down a grid of cards, each being a contact, location, or
objective. Then you and your opponent alternate layering protective
cards (stingers, specials, challenges) on these cards. Each turn you
move your runners around, add more protective layers, face cards in one
stack of the grid, and can engage in combat with enemy runners in the
same grid or adjoining grids.
Events Deck: I would only use the same events deck for all players if
you aren't competitive and don't want to spend time refining the events
deck. Sharing the same deck levels the playing field, but having
separate ones (as under the optional rules) can make walking the DMZ
very trecherous. I found that gear can be tough to use because of the
restriction on when it can be played (in safehouse). Challenges were
very important, as you have to protect a lot of real estate (quite
literaly) and it can be hard to get the right protection out. I like how
fate/luck is a huge element, with no one knowing what cards are on the
bottom of the grid stacks.
Runners:
The biggest question about runners, Matt, is do you have to pay for the
runners? Or do they come free of charge? What incentive is there to use
mage decks or sleaze decks, when you can start with a group of really
powerful cards?
Playing the Game
Earn Nuyen:
I assume that just as Fame kicks in in this phase, Upkeep would as well.
One idea I had: a "Capture the Flag" variant, where you placed all the
protective cards first, with each player covering the opposite side. In
the middle is "the flag", and each player sends runners to get the flag.
Runners must clear blocks of all protective cards before moving on.
What do you think?
Action Phase:
Lots of questions. First, you say "There are any number of actions
which may be undertaken" and "each player acts in sequence" and then
"may not voluntarily pass an action up".
This leaves me confused. When does "phase" end? If each runner acts,
then it seems like they won't be able to take part in the next phase,
because the runners will eventually be turned! But if they are
unturned, then they can still act, and yet may not pass up an action?
Huh? Me confused. Please help.
Gear:
The restriction of playing gear only in the safehouse seems to be too
much. This can take a long time if I want to move a runner back to the
safehouse to get gear. Maybe if there is a line of runners the player
controls joining the safehouse and the runner that wants gear this could
allow for gear to be played on the runner? Or add a "transportation
tax" of 1 nuyen?
Special Traits
Recon: Can recon be used on the block that a runner occupies? Recon is
still useful, but the number of cards on a stack make it hard to be the
insurance it can be in regular SRTCG, where knowing one of two or three
challenges can make all the difference.
Exploration Phase
Again, here you say "only unturned runners amy be a part of this team"
which contradicts the earlier notion of having to take all actions until
none are remaining.
"Challenges are Revealed and sleazed in order"
-What do you do if the bottom card is an objective with modifiers to the
challenges? For example, Operation Cottonmouth? Would you retroactively
apply the damage? Hmmmm. What about a "No Indoor" restriction? This is
where my idea of "Capture the Flag" and setting up the opponent's half
of the board might work well.
Under additional rules, demolitions skill can be used to destroy a
barrier. This seems overly potent. I recommend that this work on a 1-3
on a D6.
Overall, these were fun rules and a great way to spend an hour when you
feel like something different. Matb, please get back to us with your
explanation of a few of the pieces I didn't grasp.
Thanks, Matb! I recommend the DMZ to everyone.
Teos.
http://www.duke.edu/~tsa1/Shadowrun/
