Magic and Tech: Pre Development Questions

[royalpain621Participant 3503xp 2]

I have been told not to let the fans build the game and to me, it makes plenty of sense. No rulebook can have everything a player wants for each of our tastes are different and it the rules did have everything we wanted, it would be a jumbled, confusing mess of a rule system.

But I think these questions will benefit me as the answers will be at the minimum, entertaining and interesting to the most, very informative.

Long story short, I am aiming to create my own line of minis to coincide with my rules but before I go that far, I want to ask you some questions. The first being about terrain. How many pieces do you generally use and how large? If it helps, I aim for a 28mm range for my line. Failing that, them I can create a general purpose ruleset that anyone can use.

[noyjatatParticipant 16155xp 2]

That requires some questions back, how large is the gaming area likely to be, is the game rank and file or skirmish and can you interact with buildings in the rules?

[grabnutzParticipant 994xp 1]

As a writer of skirmish games I often say that you cannot have enough terrain, and that no piece of terrain should be more than a fast move from any other.

However, as noyjatat says, we need to know what size game you are aiming to create; skirmish, large skirmsh/small unit action, company level, regimental level etc.? Are we talking formed up units or individual figures?

[royalpain621Participant 3503xp 0]

I am aiming at platoon sized games. No fewer than a team of 4 and no more than 30-50 and 1-5 vehicles/ walkers/ etc. I am not planning on packing a table full of troops and have them move around like the terrain is an after thought. Terrain is gonna be key in survival and offer tactical and strategical assets to utilize. But I also aim for some form of simplicity.

The idea I am working with is that each player draws for every square foot, 3 terrain cards that; after talking to their opponent what type of battlefield they would like, shuffle up the terrain cards and without looking at them, place them anywhere on the table.

The cards can be from a single tree to a group of trees, a building, a rock that is sticking out of the ground for some reason, etc.

[grabnutzParticipant 994xp 0]

Here is an extract from one of my games to give you some ideas:

The following options are suggested for setting up terrain:

1.       Cooperation.  The players cooperate in producing a pleasing and suitable terrain setup, perhaps referring to actual landscapes.

2.       Place Then Choose.  One player lays out the playing area and identifies where troops can deploy onto it.  The other player(s) then choose their deployment location(s); if there are more than 2 players, roll for the order of choice but the player who laid out the terrain will always go last.

3.       Defender’s Choice. If the scenario involves an attack against a defended position, then the defender may choose the terrain.

4.       Alternating Choice.  Each player is allowed to pick an agreed number of terrain pieces which are then placed one at a time; roll to determine the order in which the players place each piece.

I generally prefer option 1, and often play using option 2. Note that all these ideas require no cards or other complicating factors.

You do need to determine what each type of terrain does in the game. Does it block line of sight? Does it provide troops and/or vehicles with cover and if so, how much?

[athelstaneParticipant 698xp 0]

This stretched my game design mind as well. I came up with a fifth option, and given I am striving to cut the rules down to one sheet of A4, it reduced the length of the rules.  The ‘fifth option’: have a set of scenarios with terrain already mapped out.

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