Another Erf-Game

[Dark Arbiter]

Hi everyone.

I know there has been a lot of interest in this (obviously), and I've been following the other Erfworld game thread, as well as the "Battle for Gobwin Bump" pretty closely, so I'm putting this offer out to anyone who is interested in it.

I am going to be running a game based on the comic (and rules assumed from the comic) over Google Wave. I've already used this for a test-game, so I know that it works fairly well, and I like it more than email for this purpose. I realize there might be some animosity towards Wave, but I promise that is it functional and very effective for turn-based games.

Many of the rules we'll be using are going to be from the previously mentioned other threads/games, so credit and many thank you's to everyone who's participated in those test games and rules debates. A few of the rules have been added or modified from the other games, simply because after a few test play-throughs they needed to be refined and balanced a little bit more.

I plan on running a minimum of one turn per day, and more than that will depend on how far along the slowest player is, so that all players are kept at about the same turn.

The main rules, as well as city rules, and a spell list, are all google docs, which I will link below so that any one who is interested can check them out. If anyone is interested in playing, post below or else PM me and I will set you up on the map and on Wave and you can pretty much get started immediately.

General Rules

City Stuff

Spell List

Again, a LOT of these rules were taken directly from the "Erfworld Game" thread, and I claim absolutely no credit for almost any of this - I just really want to try them out

LIST OF PLAYERS:

• Lefish
• Twoy
• Turbler
• Azgrut
• Crovius
• Sinrus
• Ehbobo
• 3 players (friends of mine) from RL

EDIT: Also, here is a sample side that I created, based on the Combine Empire from the Half-Life games.

[Lefish]

Hey, it sounds pretty interesting. Count me in.

[Crovius]

I think I'll give this a try. I'll only be able to play at night. I'm thinking on making a side based on greek mythological creatures maybe... that or just make up the design completely. How does Google Wave work?

[Dark Arbiter]

I think I'll give this a try. I'll only be able to play at night. I'm thinking on making a side based on greek mythological creatures maybe... that or just make up the design completely. How does Google Wave work?

That's fine - even if you can only do one set of orders a night, that'll be more than enough. And if you can do a few in advance (like when you're waiting for a Warlord to pop), you'll be able to take a couple of days off too.

As far as Wave is concerned, just PM me your email address that you want to use, and I can send a Wave invite to that account, and then you're set. Lefish, same goes for you.

Also, if you guys have any questions about the rules or anything, post them here, or PM, email, or Wave (once you're set up there) - I'm very open to answering questions and am almost always reachable by one of those methods.

Plus, you can send me ideas you have for your sides, units, etc. You're welcome to post that stuff here, but I've got no requirements on other people knowing your units' stats and such.

[turbler]

I was THINKING of going for a 5 instead of a 6. either way I'm in.

[Dark Arbiter]

I was THINKING of going for a 5 instead of a 6. either way I'm in.

Sounds good. I'll set you up on Wave ASAP and get you started.

[Twoy]

I would like to get in on this game. I will send you a pm with my e-mail address.

edit: p.s. sent e-mail

[Twoy]

I'm very tired, but I want to comment on some rules as I read them.

Complex Specials:
1. Frightening (3) Enemy units in the same hex lose all Leadership bonuses

I think Frightening might be overpowered. One Frightening unit should not be able to completely negate the leadership bonus of a Level 9 warlord. You might want to consider making Frightening negate 1 level of leadership bonus per level of the unit. Or maybe even negate 3 levels of leadership and plus one for each level the frightening unit has more than one. For example, a Level 1Scarecrow negates 3 levels of leadership and a Level 3 Scarecrow negates 5 levels of leadership. I still think that is to powerful but better than negates ALL leadership bonuses.

Casters:
AS commanders, casters should be able to designate resource points, pehaps slightly slower to build than warlords or overlords.

[Dark Arbiter]

I'm very tired, but I want to comment on some rules as I read them.

Complex Specials:
1. Frightening (3) Enemy units in the same hex lose all Leadership bonuses

I think Frightening might be overpowered. One Frightening unit ahouls not be able to completely negate the leadership bonus of a Level 9 warlord. You might want to consider making Frightening negate 1 level of leadership bonus per level of the unit. Or maybe even negate 3 levels of leadership and plus one for each level the frightening unit has more than one. For example, a Level 1Scarecrow negates 3 levels of leadership and a Level 3 Scarecrow negates 5 levels of leadership. I still think that is to powerful but better than negates ALL leadership bonuses.

That's actually a very good point. Nobody has created units with frightening yet, so I will admit that I hadn't thought about it in detail. What about this:

Frightening (3) A single enemy stack (per unit with frightening) in the same hex as the unit lose leadership bonuses for the turn.

Thoughts?

Casters:
AS commanders, casters should be able to designate resource points, pehaps slightly slower to build than warlords or overlords.

Less down with this one. I think that being able to cast any flavor of magic is a huge bonus, and to balance it out I think that Warlords should be more multi-purpose than casters, whose usefulness should pretty much be limited to casting.

[Dark Arbiter]

Also, after the most recent two text updates, it appears that Courtiers are real units that do things. If anyone wants to come up with something for them... think away. I'll be doing the same.

Same goes for Royal Warlords, which I notice was also brought up in the other game thread.

[Twoy]

That's actually a very good point. Nobody has created units with frightening yet, so I will admit that I hadn't thought about it in detail. What about this:

Frightening (3) A single enemy stack (per unit with frightening) in the same hex as the unit lose leadership bonuses for the turn.

The problem with that rule is that generally a stack will have either no leadership bonus or a bonus from only one unit in the stack -- the warlord.

I think decreasing the leadership by some points will make the units very valuable and powerful. I'm already working on having a special unit C or D with Frightening.

[Twoy]

Just noticed some inconsistencies in the rules.

Special Unit D:
Unlike the other Special Units, there is no cap on what number of Specials can be added to the unit, and they come with a price of 2.

In the example "Dwagons possess only 2 high-level specials - Breath Weapon and Very Fast (+15 Move) which they all pop with unfailingly. They also have the Mount and Flight specials, for 2 each, which leaves them with at most 12 points to put into other abilities..."

That means Breath Weapon and Very Fast each cost four points in the example.

I have another question for clarification. Does Special Unit C get Heavy for free or does it cost points?

[Azgrut]

The frighjtning I thought of just removed 1 point of leadership per level of the frightning unit. And only the highest level frightning unit removed leadership.

Anyway, if I may, I'm in. I already have wave . I'll pm you with email after breakfast.

[Twoy]

Side Name: Land of Oz
Ruler/Overlord Name: King Oz
Type of starting hex preferred: Plains
Starting Units: Scouts, SU A and B.

Winkie: Stabber Class Infantry, (HP 6, Attack 4, defense 2, Move 4) upkeep 30.

Munchkin: Piker Class Infantry, (HP 8, Attack 3, Defense 4, Move 3) Pops as garrison unit. Upkeep 20 each, can be promoted to normal unit for 50 Schmuckers, but upkeep raises to 30.

Gillikin: Archer Class Infantry, (HP 6, Attack 6, Defense 1, Move 3, Special-Archery) Pops as garrison unit. Upkeep 30 each, can be promoted to normal unit for 50 Schmuckers, but upkeep raises to 40.

Winged Monkey: Scout-Class unit, (HP 4, Attack 1, Defense 1, Move 8, Special-Flight) 30 upkeep.

Lion: Special Unit A, (HP 6, Attack 6, Defense 3, Move 4, Special-Siege) 40-50 upkeep.

Tin-man: Special Unit B, (HP 9, Attack 4, Defense 4, Move 3, Special-Builder) 40-50 upkeep.

Mechanical Horse: Special Unit C, (HP 15, Attack 6, Defense 5, Move 3+8, Specials-Heavy, Mount, Fast) 70-80 Upkeep.

Scarecrow: Knight-Class Infantry, (HP 13, Attack 8, Defense 7, Speed 5, Specials-Rider, Frightening) 120 upkeep.

Witch: Special Unit D, (HP 21, Attack 16, Defense 12, Speed 12+16, Specials-Flight, Mount, Magic Wand, Very Fast) 200-350 Upkeep. (I'm using the Breath Weapon rule, but calling it Magic Wand. Witches can carry a passenger on the back of their broom.)

Edited: Made unit corrections from GM. Added starting info.

[Twoy]

I have not tested this system because it seems to have a couple of faults. I have underlined the possible errors in the first iteration and replaced them in the second.

Combat happens in a series of stages
Attacker add all his attack scores together (With bonuses this can become very high indeed) and divides it by the amount of defenders.
Add a random die roll (which can be influenced by luckamancers) and have the Attack score.
Defender add all his defence scores together, divides it by the amount of defenders and adds a dice roll (1d100/1000).
The attack score minus defence score equals the amount of hits each defender will suffer.
These should be randomized if the attackers are unled and be spread more intelligently the higher the warlord is leveled.
Defenders add all their attack. Divide by number of attackers and then divide by 10. Add dice roll. Attackers do the same with defence.
This will be the amount of hits each attacker will suffer.

Combat happens in a series of stages
Attacker add all his attack scores together (With bonuses this can become very high indeed) and divides it by the amount of defenders.
Add a random die roll (which can be influenced by luckamancers) and have the Attack score.
Defender add all his defence scores together, divides it by the amount of attackers and adds a dice roll (1d100/1000).
The attack score minus defence score equals the amount of hits each defender will suffer.
These should be randomized if the attackers are unled and be spread more intelligently the higher the warlord is leveled.
Defenders add all their attack. Divide by number of attackers <deleted> and . Add dice roll. Attackers do the same with defence.
This will be the amount of hits each attacker will suffer.

With the divide by 10, defenders suffer a huge disadvantage and could probably never win a defensive battle.

[Twoy]

I know I'm posting one thing after another, but I have a lot of questions.

Stacks
The units within a stack get a combat modifier proportional to the number of units in the stack
This bonus maxes at 8 units, and decreases with more than 8 units

What is the bonus?

[Dark Arbiter]

Defender add all his defence scores together, divides it by the amount of defenders and adds a dice roll (1d100/1000).
...
Defenders add all their attack. Divide by number of attackers and then divide by 10. Add dice roll. Attackers do the same with defence.

Defender add all his defence scores together, divides it by the amount of attackers and adds a dice roll (1d100/1000).
...
Defenders add all their attack. Divide by number of attackers <deleted> and . Add dice roll. Attackers do the same with defence.

I'll address these two issues individually:

1. When defenders initially divide by number of defenders, that is done in order to calculate a sort of "average defense score" for the entire side/hex/stack. You'll notice that the exact opposite is done in the next part, where an "average defense score" is also calculated for the attackers, when calculating their losses.

2. As far as dividing by 10 goes, that's done to impose a particular style of battling. I think that the focus for attackers should be on how much damage they do, and for defenders on how much damage they can take. Reducing the attack of defending units, as well as the defense of attacking units, is a perfect way to do that. With the system the way it is now, it's more efficient to defend your city with high-defense units than by having units with massive attack and no defense garrisoned, and win by killing the attackers.

That second one is less central to the balance of the game, but I feel like, if you want to focus on defending, you should use units with high defense, and take little or no damage, as opposed to trying to kill as many of their guys as they kill of your guys.

If any of that doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try and explain it in a less convoluted way.

[Twoy]

As long as you feel like you have worked out a functional system, I am willing to play it. I thought you had just made some cut and paste errors in your combat calculation system.

[Dark Arbiter]

Ah got it. Nope - I have it all hooked up on an automatic spreadsheet, and I've run a bunch of different simulations. It works out pretty well, so I have faith in it. Granted, I haven't actually had to run any battles yet in the game, so there's always the chance that it'll need to be changed - but I doubt it.

[Sinrus]

Side Name: Yokai
Ruler/Overlord Name: Shogun
Type of starting hex preferred: Coast
C Special Unit

Infantry, Stabber-Class: Tengu (a goblinoid creature with a distinctive and unnaturally long nose who wields a short sword)

Infantry, Piker-Class: Noppera-bo (identical to humans but with a totally smooth face, dressed in samurai armor and holding a long spear)

Infantry, Archer-Class: Karuka (A man with the head of an eagle who fires flame from his hands)

Infantry, Knight-Class: Kitsune
Kitsune are half man and half fox, with in gold, white, or silver fur. They begin life with a single tail but as they become stronger they acquire 5 tails and then 9.
120 upkeep
HP: 12 Attack: 7 Defense: 6 Move: 5
Leadership, Limited Foolamancy*

Scout-Class: Tanuki
Tanuki are short and fat raccoon-like men, who make devious tricksters and excellent spies.
Natural Thinkamancy (8)

C: Raiju
Raiju can be in the form of cats, monkeys, or weasels and when in battle hover above the ground surrounded by balls of lightning or fire.
3 turns
80 upkeep
HP: 8 Attack: 6 Defense: 3 Move: 5
Limited Shockmancy**

C: Jubokko
Jubokko are trees that grow near the sites of battles. The blood absorbed by their roots made them into gump-like units and they can heal by waving their branches over a wounded ally.
4 turns
70 upkeep
HP: 12 Attack: 5 Defense: 5 Move: 3
Heavy, Limited Healomancy***

D: Oni
Oni are giant demons, mostly humanoid but with sharp claws and two horns growing from their foreheads, odd numbers of eyes and digits, and skin that can be many colors, usually red or blue. They are immensely strong and beat their enemies to death with iron clubs.
275 upkeep
HP: 21 Attack: 17 Defense: 11 Move: 12
Heavy, Frightening

*Limited Foolamacy: Kitsune can use the spells Veil and Mass Veil.
**Limited Shockmancy: Raiju can use the spells Tesla, Lightning, and Morse.
***Limited Healomancy: Jubokko can use the spells Band-Aid and Moonbrooke.