4 months ago I started taking this project seriously and these past two weeks I noticed that I was getting into the habit of endlessly tweak minor problems (by adding mechanics on top of more mechanics) and not a lot of finishing. So I took an executive action of purging gimmicks that were impeding the completion of the basic rules.
From the 7 main goals I stated on my
first post:
- Grid based - Still keeping it
- Tiny footprint - Probably the biggest incentive I had to make this, so this is a keeper
- Progression system focused, with small campaigns of interlinked missions - Less progression, more missions
- Loot focused. - Loot is half the character progression I have now.
- Keep the weapons profiles to a minimum. - Unless acquired by specific events (the other half of character progression), these are still pretty bare bones.
- Base building. - This got thrown out the window
- Generic characters - Still keeping it
Other things that got the axe:
- This was supposed to be a two player game with environmental dangers, but due to the small footprint of the game, the downed mechanic meant that splitting your forces was a terrible idea against a lucky/cunning opponent. So I got rid of the human element and now AQ is a solo game
- Permanent injuries. I envisioned the idea of characters getting traits based on past battles and things like that, but this was just a huge hassle and meant a lot of tracking on the game.
- XP gained at the end of the game. Again, a lot of unnecessary tracking during the game, now skill progression can be attained by completing certain scenario objectives.
Some games I played that helped me come to these conclusions. Not propper battle reports, just some photos I took while I rolled some dice on my living room.
A simple scenario, dots are cover, checkers is the inside of a house and the arrows are the entry points of said house.
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| Game 1: No loot, no hazards, just a death match. Nothing interesting happened, including fun. |
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| Game 2: Blank dice are loot, Cube bois were able to pin everyone down and get out with most of the loot. Getting an isolated character injured meant that most likely they were out of commission for half of the game. |
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| Game 3: Split both my forces into two, got some unlucky rolls and got a full half of the Esher's gang unable to get up for half of the game. |
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| Game 4: Blue things are roaming zombies |
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| End of the Game, got a lot of things secured, but I mostly tried to not engage with anything other than the zombies. This was the most fun play though of them all |
