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51

Non-Mafia Game Threads / 7 Wonders I (Game over!)

« on: January 06, 2013, 05:00:56 pm »

7 Wonders lasts three ages. In each age, players receive seven cards from a particular deck, choose one of those cards, then pass the remainder to an adjacent player, as in Fairy Tale or a Magic: the Gathering booster draft. Players reveal their cards simultaneously, paying resources if needed or collecting resources or interacting with other players in various ways. (Players have individual boards with special powers on which to organize their cards, and the boards are double-sided as in Bauza's Ghost Stories.) Each player then chooses another card from the deck they were passed, and the process repeats until players have six cards in play from that age. After three ages, the game ends.

In essence 7 Wonders is a card development game along the lines of Race for the Galaxy or Dominion. Some cards have immediate effects, while others provide bonuses or upgrades later in the game. Some cards provide discounts on future purchases. Some provide military strength to overpower your neighbors and others give nothing but victory points. Unlike Magic or Fairy Tale, however, each card is played immediately after being drafted, so you'll know which cards your neighbor is receiving and how his choices might affect what you've already built up. Cards are passed left-right-left over the three ages, so you need to keep an eye on the neighbors in both directions.

BGG description

This thread is for the first PBF game of 7 Wonders on F:DS. This will be a game for 3-7 players depending on the number of signups, playing just the base game.

As the rules can be found easily here, I won't try to explain the normal rules. I will however explain how the game will be played via forum. At the start of the game I will randomise player seating order and wonder boards (each wonder is different as you might expect!). Then each player will PM me their choice of side for that board, and I will reveal all choices simultaneously. After that each age will work the same way. Each player will be sent a hand of cards, from which they will choose one to build/discard/use on their wonder. They will send their choice to me, along with any choices involved in that card (this includes who to pay for resources, what they are doing with the card (build/discard etc.), whether to use special abilities the player may have). Once everyone has chosen these, all of the card builds will be resolved, and each player's hand will be sent on to the next player, and I will post an update of each player's civilisation.

At the end of 3 ages, I'll do a check of the scores, and a winner will be declared.

I think that's just about everything I have to say before I start taking signups, although one thing I'd like people to say is whether they want me to include live score updates in each post. As this is PBF it's perfectly reasonable for everyone to calculate everyone elses scores in real time, so in that way I'd just be removing a mechanical aspect from the players. On the other hand, hidden scores are an aspect of the game, and perhaps most players probably wouldn't calculate others scores anyway. I'll leave it up to the players to choose.

Information dump

The Colossus of Rhodes (B) - Produce Ore
(1) Cost: 3 Stone. Gives: 1 Shield, 3 VPs, 3 Coins
(2) Cost: 4 Ore. Gives: 1 Shield, 4 VPs, 4 Coins   

The Lighthouse of Alexandria (B) - Produce Glass
(1) Cost: 2 Brick. Gives: Produce B/O/W/S
(2) Cost: 2 Wood. Gives: ProduceG/C/P
(3) Cost: 3 Stone. Gives: 7 VPs

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesos (B) - Produce Papyrus
(1) Cost: 2 Stone. Gives: 2 VPs, 4 Coins
(2) Cost: 2 Wood. Gives: 3 VPs, 4 Coins
(3) Cost: Paper, Cloth, Glass. Gives: 5 VPs, 4 Coins

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (A) - Produce Brick
(1) Cost: 2 Brick. Gives: 3 VPs
(2) Cost: 3 Wood. Gives: Tablet/Compasses/Gear
(3) Cost: 4 Brick. Gives: 7 VPs

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia (A) - Produce Wood
(1) Cost: 2 Wood. Gives: 3 VPs
(2) Cost: 2 Stone. Gives: 1 free build per age
(3) Cost: 2 Ore. Gives: 7 VPs

The Mausoleum of Halikarnassos (B) - Produce Cloth
(1) Cost: 2 Ore. Gives: 2 VPs, free build of a discarded card
(2) Cost: 3 Brick. Gives: 1 VP, free build of a discarded card
(3) Cost: Glass, Paper, Cloth. Gives: Free build of a discarded card

The Pyramids of Gizah (B) - Produce Stone
(1) Cost: 2 Wood. Gives: 3 VPs
(2) Cost: 3 Stone. Gives: 5 VPs
(3) Cost: 3 Brick. Gives: 5 VPs
(4) Cost: Papyrus, 4 Stone. Gives: 7 VPs

Age I Cards
Lumber Yard: Produce Wood.
Lumber Yard: Produce Wood.
Stone Pit: Produce Stone.
Stone Pit: Produce Stone.
Clay Pool: Produce Brick.
Clay Pool: Produce Brick.
Ore Vein: Produce Ore.
Ore Vein: Produce Ore.
Tree Farm: Produce Wood/Brick. Cost: 1 Coin.
Excavation: Produce Stone/Brick. Cost: 1 Coin.
Clay Pit: Produce Brick/Ore. Cost: 1 Coin.
Timber Yard: Produce Stone/Wood. Cost: 1 Coin.
Forest Cave: Produce Wood/Ore. Cost: 1 Coin.
Mine: Produce Ore/Stone. Cost: 1 Coin.
Loom: Produce Cloth.
Loom: Produce Cloth.
Glassworks: Produce Glass.
Glassworks: Produce Glass.
Press: Produce Paper.
Press: Produce Paper.
Pawnshop: 3 VPs.
Pawnshop: 3 VPs.
Baths: 3 VPs. Chain to: Aqueduct. Cost: Stone.
Baths: 3 VPs. Chain to: Aqueduct. Cost: Stone.
Altar: 2 VPs. Chain to: Temple.
Altar: 2 VPs. Chain to: Temple.
Theater: 2 VPs. Chain to: Statue.
Theater: 2 VPs. Chain to: Statue.
Tavern: 5 Coins.
Tavern: 5 Coins.
Tavern: 5 Coins.
East Trading Post: Raw materials cost 1 to buy from the right. Chain to: Forum.
East Trading Post: Raw materials cost 1 to buy from the right. Chain to: Forum.
West Trading Post: Raw materials cost 1 to buy from the left. Chain to: Forum.
West Trading Post: Raw materials cost 1 to buy from the left. Chain to: Forum.
Marketplace: Manufactured Goods cost 1 to buy from both sides. Chain to: Caravansery.
Marketplace: Manufactured Goods cost 1 to buy from both sides. Chain to: Caravansery.
Stockade: 1 Shield. Cost: Wood.
Stockade: 1 Shield. Cost: Wood.
Barracks: 1 Shield. Cost: Ore.
Barracks: 1 Shield. Cost: Ore.
Guard Tower: 1 Shield. Cost: Brick.
Guard Tower: 1 Shield. Cost: Brick.
Apothecary: Compasses. Chain to: Stables & Dispensary. Cost: Cloth.
Apothecary: Compasses. Chain to: Stables & Dispensary. Cost: Cloth.
Workshop: Gear. Chain to: Archery Range & Laboratory. Cost: Glass.
Workshop: Gear. Chain to: Archery Range & Laboratory. Cost: Glass.
Scriptorium: Tablet. Chain to: Courthouse & Library. Cost: Papyrus.
Scriptorium: Tablet. Chain to: Courthouse & Library. Cost: Papyrus.

Age II cards
Sawmill: Produce two Wood. Cost: 1 Coin.
Sawmill: Produce two Wood. Cost: 1 Coin.
Quarry: Produce two Stone. Cost: 1 Coin.
Quarry: Produce two Stone. Cost: 1 Coin.
Brickyard: Produce two Brick. Cost: 1 Coin.
Brickyard: Produce two Brick. Cost: 1 Coin.
Foundry: Produce two Ore. Cost: 1 Coin.
Foundry: Produce two Ore. Cost: 1 Coin.
Loom: Produce Cloth.
Loom: Produce Cloth.
Glassworks: Produce Glass.
Glassworks: Produce Glass.
Press: Produce Paper.
Press: Produce Paper.
Aqueduct: 5 VPs. Chain from: Baths. Cost: 3 Stone.
Aqueduct: 5 VPs. Chain from: Baths. Cost: 3 Stone.
Temple: 3 VPs. Chain from: Altar. Chain to: Pantheon. Cost: Wood, Brick, Glass.
Temple: 3 VPs. Chain from: Altar. Chain to: Pantheon. Cost: Wood, Brick, Glass.
Statue: 4 VPs. Chain from: Theater. Chain to: Gardens. Cost: Wood, 2 Ore.
Statue: 4 VPs. Chain from: Theater. Chain to: Gardens. Cost: Wood, 2 Ore.
Courthouse: 4 VPs. Chain from: Scriptorium. Cost: 2 Brick, Cloth.
Courthouse: 4 VPs. Chain from: Scriptorium. Cost: 2 Brick, Cloth.
Forum: Produce Cloth/Glass/Paper. Chain from: West/East Trading Post. Chain to: Haven. Cost: 2 Brick.
Forum: Produce Cloth/Glass/Paper. Chain from: West/East Trading Post. Chain to: Haven. Cost: 2 Brick.
Forum: Produce Cloth/Glass/Paper. Chain from: West/East Trading Post. Chain to: Haven. Cost: 2 Brick.
Caravansery: Produce Brick/Stone/Ore/Wood. Chain from: Marketplace. Chain to: Lighthouse. Cost: 2 Wood.
Caravansery: Produce Brick/Stone/Ore/Wood. Chain from: Marketplace. Chain to: Lighthouse. Cost: 2 Wood.
Caravansery: Produce Brick/Stone/Ore/Wood. Chain from: Marketplace. Chain to: Lighthouse. Cost: 2 Wood.
Vineyard: 1 Coin per brown card in yours+neighbours cities.
Vineyard: 1 Coin per brown card in yours+neighbours cities.
Bazaar: 2 Coins per gray card in yours+neighbours cities.
Bazaar: 2 Coins per gray card in yours+neighbours cities.
Walls: 2 Shields. Chain to: Fortifications. Cost: 3 Stone.
Walls: 2 Shields. Chain to: Fortifications. Cost: 3 Stone.
Training Ground: 2 Shields. Chain to: Circus. Cost: Wood, 2 Ore.
Training Ground: 2 Shields. Chain to: Circus. Cost: Wood, 2 Ore.
Training Ground: 2 Shields. Chain to: Circus. Cost: Wood, 2 Ore.
Stables: 2 Shields. Chain from: Apothecary. Cost: Ore, Brick. Wood.
Stables: 2 Shields. Chain from: Apothecary. Cost: Ore, Brick. Wood.
Archery Range: 2 Shields. Chain from: Workshop. Cost: 2 Wood, Ore.
Archery Range: 2 Shields. Chain from: Workshop. Cost: 2 Wood, Ore.
Dispensary: Compasses. Chain from: Apothecary. Chain to: Arena & Lodge. Cost: 2 Ore, Glass.
Dispensary: Compasses. Chain from: Apothecary. Chain to: Arena & Lodge. Cost: 2 Ore, Glass.
Laboratory: Gear. Chain from: Workshop. Chain to: Siege Workshop & Observatory. Cost: 2 Brick, Papyrus.
Laboratory: Gear. Chain from: Workshop. Chain to: Siege Workshop & Observatory. Cost: 2 Brick, Papyrus.
Library: Tablet. Chain from: Scriptorium. Chain to: Senate & University. Cost: 2 Stone, Cloth.
Library: Tablet. Chain from: Scriptorium. Chain to: Senate & University. Cost: 2 Stone, Cloth.
School: Tablet. Chain to: Academy & Study. Cost: Wood, Papyrus.
School: Tablet. Chain to: Academy & Study. Cost: Wood, Papyrus.

Age III cards
Pantheon: 7 VPs. Chain from: Temple. Cost: 2 Brick, Ore, Papyrus, Cloth, Glass.
Pantheon: 7 VPs. Chain from: Temple. Cost: 2 Brick, Ore, Papyrus, Cloth, Glass.
Gardens: 5 VPs. Chain from: Statue. Cost: Wood, 2 Brick.
Gardens: 5 VPs. Chain from: Statue. Cost: Wood, 2 Brick.
Town Hall: 6 VPs. Cost: Glass, Ore, 2 Stone.
Town Hall: 6 VPs. Cost: Glass, Ore, 2 Stone.
Town Hall: 6 VPs. Cost: Glass, Ore, 2 Stone.
Palace: 8 VPs. Cost: Glass, Papyrus, Cloth, Brick, Wood, Ore, Stone.
Palace: 8 VPs. Cost: Glass, Papyrus, Cloth, Brick, Wood, Ore, Stone.
Senate: 6 VPs. Chain from: Library. Cost: Ore, Stone, 2 Wood.
Senate: 6 VPs. Chain from: Library. Cost: Ore, Stone, 2 Wood.
Haven: 1 Coin & 1 VP per brown card. Chain from: Forum. Cost: Cloth, Ore, Wood.
Haven: 1 Coin & 1 VP per brown card. Chain from: Forum. Cost: Cloth, Ore, Wood.
Lighthouse: 1 Coin & 1 VP per yellow card (including this). Chain from: Caravansery. Cost: Glass, Stone.
Lighthouse: 1 Coin & 1 VP per yellow card (including this). Chain from: Caravansery. Cost: Glass, Stone.
Chamber of Commerce: 2 Coins & 2 VPs per gray card. Cost: 2 Brick, Papyrus.
Chamber of Commerce: 2 Coins & 2 VPs per gray card. Cost: 2 Brick, Papyrus.
Arena: 3 Coins & 1 VP per wonder stage completed. Chain from: Dispensary. Cost: Ore, 2 Stone.
Arena: 3 Coins & 1 VP per wonder stage completed. Chain from: Dispensary. Cost: Ore, 2 Stone.
Arena: 3 Coins & 1 VP per wonder stage completed. Chain from: Dispensary. Cost: Ore, 2 Stone.
Fortifications: 3 Shields. Chain from: Walls. Cost: Stone, 3 Ore.
Fortifications: 3 Shields. Chain from: Walls. Cost: Stone, 3 Ore.
Circus: 3 Shields. Chain from: Training Ground. Cost: 3 Stone, Ore.
Circus: 3 Shields. Chain from: Training Ground. Cost: 3 Stone, Ore.
Circus: 3 Shields. Chain from: Training Ground. Cost: 3 Stone, Ore.
Arsenal: 3 Shields. Cost: Ore, 2 Wood, Cloth.
Arsenal: 3 Shields. Cost: Ore, 2 Wood, Cloth.
Arsenal: 3 Shields. Cost: Ore, 2 Wood, Cloth.
Siege Workshop: 3 Shields. Chain from: Laboratory. Cost: Wood, 3 Brick.
Siege Workshop: 3 Shields. Chain from: Laboratory. Cost: Wood, 3 Brick.
Lodge: Compasses. Chain from: Dispensary. Cost: 2 Brick, Cloth, Papyrus.
Lodge: Compasses. Chain from: Dispensary. Cost: 2 Brick, Cloth, Papyrus.
Observatory: Gear. Chain from: Laboratory. Cost: 2 Ore, Glass, Cloth.
Observatory: Gear. Chain from: Laboratory. Cost: 2 Ore, Glass, Cloth.
University: Tablet. Chain from: Library. Cost: 2 Wood, Papyrus, Glass.
University: Tablet. Chain from: Library. Cost: 2 Wood, Papyrus, Glass.
Academy: Compasses. Chain from: School. Cost: 3 Stone, Glass.
Academy: Compasses. Chain from: School. Cost: 3 Stone, Glass.
Study: Gear. Chain from: School. Cost: Wood, Papyrus, Cloth.
Study: Gear. Chain from: School. Cost: Wood, Papyrus, Cloth.

Guilds (Age III)
9 of these will be randomly selected and used.
Workers Guild: 1 VP per brown card in each of your neighbours cities. Cost: 2 Ore, Brick, Stone, Wood.
Craftsmens Guild: 2 VPs per gray card in each of your neighbours cities. Cost: 2 Ore, 2 Stone.
Traders Guild: 1 VP per yellow card in each of your neighbours cities. Cost: 3 Brick, Cloth, Papyrus.
Philosophers Guild: 1 VP per green card in each of your neighbours cities. Cost: 3 Brick, Cloth, Papyrus.
Spies Guild: 1 VP per red card in each of your neighbours cities. Cost: 3 Brick, Glass.
Strategists Guild: 1 VP per defeat token in each of your neighbours cities. Cost: 2 Ore, Stone, Cloth.
Shipowners Guild: 1 VP per brown, gray and purple card in your city. Cost: 3 Wood, Papyrus, Glass.
Scientists Guild: Compasses/Gear/Tablet. Cost: 2 Wood, 2 Ore, Papyrus.
Magistrates Guild: 1 VP per blue card in each of your neighbours cities. Cost: 3 Wood, Stone, Cloth.
Builders Guild: 1 VP per wonder stage constructed by you and each of your neighbours. Cost: 2 Wood, 2 Brick, Glass.

Players (Some repeated to make positions on the table easier to see)
Archetype - Halikarnassos
Insomniac - Olympia
Qvist - Alexandria
sparky5856 - Babylon
Davio - Ephesos
mith - Gizah
Galzria - Rhodes
Archetype - Halikarnassos
Insomniac - Olympia

Above you is left, below you is right.


Age I: Pass left
Age II: Pass right
Age III: Pass left

Maybe a diagram makes things clearer. Or maybe it'll make things worse, I dunno. Either way there's a diagram.

52

Forum Games / What game would you like to see a PBF of?

« on: January 06, 2013, 12:09:15 am »

So I enjoy playing games by forum, but I also really enjoy running them. I don't know why. Maybe it's being able to see what lots of different people are doing from an objective standpoint, or heck, maybe I just enjoy helping people (...to destroy one another...).

So now I'm going to make an offer. I'm going to open this thread up to suggestions of games from people, that they would like to play a game of via forum, and hopefully I'll pick one (or even more than one, who can tell) and try to run it via forum. Of course, sometimes this won't be possible - if I can't find a cards list, for example. It might turn out that well nobody really has a game they want, that's fine as well, just means we don't get a game. But I'm hopeful that there'll be a game suggestion from someone, which I can find a copy of the rules and any necessary materials, and which other people are interested in, and if so, then I'll run a PBF of that game.

And there you have it. Go and have a think if necessary, but I'm happy to take any suggestion and at least find out if it's viable. If someone has an interesting enough game, I'd even be willing to try and run a prototype of a game.

53

Rules Questions / How do I buy a card (technical question)

« on: January 04, 2013, 10:03:01 pm »

Okay, so I'm trying to work out exactly how buying a card works in terms of, exactly what do you do? I keep thinking I can write it down, but keep realising I have issues when I try and express it at a completely fundamental level.

I'm thinking it's something like the below. It works like a dominion card itself, you do everything in order and if you can't do it, you keep going.

Buy:
-coin equal to the cost of the card currently
Gain a copy of the card

Now this might seem elementary, but issues start occuring when we put it in context of a buy phase.

Choose card I want to buy.
If (chosen card is in the supply AND chosen card costs less than my total coin available)
  -1 Buy
  Do Buy

Is that all correct so far? Then the next question is, when does a 'when buy' effect happen? Presumably before one starts resolving the buy effect itself, correct? If not, when? Then just for a second suppose we had the following reaction: When you buy a card, you may reveal and discard this. If you do, buy a card. At first, it looks fairly innocent, okay it's a reaction that gives a badly worded +buy. Except, does it? Have I spent any coin yet? Is this slightly unintuitive resolution technically correct, just a bit weird, or do I actually need to move some stuff around in my psuedocode?

I keep thinking this should be really elementary, but yet can't quite formulate exactly what should happen. Anyone want to help?

54

Forum Games / Through the Ages III + IV signups - Games started!

« on: January 03, 2013, 04:53:58 pm »

Through the Ages is a civilization building game. The goal is to develop your civilization, not to destroy other ones. Military strength is just one aspect of your nation, as well as population, production or science. It is up to you which aspect you will concentrate on, more or less, but you should not underestimate any of them while building your civilization.

Victory is achieved by the player whose nation produces the most culture during the game. However, there are many ways to produce culture: through religion, literature or drama, by building wonders, by utilizing cultural persons etc. Considerable amount of culture can be gained even via wars or aggression.

Description from BGG

This is the thread for the third Play By Forum game of Vlaada Chvátil's Through The Ages, which I'm opening as it looks like there's sufficient interest in another forum game (despite people playing on BGO - forum play is more exciting and personal!). This is not a short, simple game; it is an epic civilisation building game. Depending on player (and moderator!) speed, the game could take months to complete, but this does give players a good chance to evaluate the board and their options.

A copy of the rules can be found on BGG here. The rules are great, they're mostly very clear, and so I will make no attempt to explain the rules myself, and instead advise players to read them (you will need a BGG account, which if you don't have, is hassle free to make). I will of course try and answer any questions players may have.

The game will be run primarily from a spreadsheet, such as the one shown here. I have some midifications from TtAI planned for ease of use. Notably, only a single public sheet will be provided, instead of a sheet for each player. This sheet will show each player's Civil cards. Military cards will be sent to each player via PM on the forum.
I also hope to supply each player with a sheet they can play around on, implement their actions as they go and find out if/how much corruption they'll be facing (and of course provide some easy instructions on how to use said sheet). This should make it easier for players to calculate whats going on in their civilisation, especially after things get complicated.

Players may wish to bookmark this link, which shows all of the available actions (excluding extras given by wonders or leaders), as well as the turn structure summary. Sections 1 and 6 will of course be performed by me between turns.

Some notes for PBF:

• Please do not contact other players about the game outside this thread. I'm not saying you can't mention the game in other threads, but don't go out of your way to conspire in a way that isn't public.
• I will be respecting the standard rules for pacts. This means, you can't talk about a pact you might be proposing before you do, you have to play it, name the roles and the other player can respond. Breaking this rule results in forfeiting your political action for the turn.
• Hopefully the spreadsheets will work, but if there are any issues that crop up, let me know! Also, if you feel that some details could be better displayed, or should be displayed somewhere else, let me know - the sheets are, after all, for your benefit.
• For ease of spotting what your official actions are, please bold your final actions.
• I'm usually pretty lenient about letting people take back actions they realize are not what they wanted to do. Primarily this is intended as a catch for if you have corruption, civil actions remaining, or an uprising, all of which can be easy to miss.
• Try to check the game frequently, even when it isn't your turn, as political actions regularly affect everyone. If you sign up, I'd say at a minimum you should be able to check the thread at least once per day except weekends, ideally more times than that. That said if you check regularly you won't have to do anything a lot of the times you check, and when you do need to it's perfectly acceptable (and advised!) to mull over your options a bit.

Taking your turn:
Turn structure

1) Updating the card row: I will do this for you between turns along with step 7

2) Outcome of a war: You sacrifice units, then they sacrifice units, then one or both of you might need to make decisions based on what happened. I will update other things (usually culture) as I see them.

3) Political action: This is probably the most complex bit of your turn. If you want to play an:

• Event: State that you are playing an event in the thread along with it's age. Then, I will reveal the next current event and resolve it (which may require decisions from various players)
• Aggression: Play the aggression in the thread, name your target, and post what you're sacrificing (if you can calculate it yourself, please include your total strength for the aggression as well!). Your rival then posts what they're sacrificing (or bonus cards), and one or both of you might then have to make choices regarding the outcome.
• Pact: Play the pact in the thread, specify which player is A and which is B (if relevant). Your target then either accepts or rejects. Once the proposal has been made, you can talk about it, but you cannot renege or change the proposal.
• War: Announce it as though it were an aggression, but then simply carry on with your turn. Remember it's resolved next turn
• No action: Announce you are skipping your political action (note: Please do announce it, otherwise I might ask people to wait as I check, did you really mean to skip your political action?)

4) Discard excess military cards: Check your military hand limit (normally =military actions), then PM me military cards until you are at your military hand limit. This is the most commonly missed part of people's turn, please try to remember to do this!

5) Civil and Military actions: Post all of your civil and military actions directly into the thread. For the first few turns, or whenever you aren't sure, it may be a good idea to PM them to me instead, just to double check everything you're trying to do is valid, or perhaps mess around on your provided spreadsheet and see if what you want to happen seems to be happening. It's easy to forget a few things and make a few mistakes, like, you used military actions on an aggression/war, or that Wonder cost 1 CA more than you thought because you've completed a Wonder already, or accidentally trying to play a military tech with a military action instead of a civil one, and that's just a few examples. Either way if your move is valid, it stands (and I'll post it if you PM'd me) and I'll update everything based on it. If you did something wrong, I'll let you know, and you can fix it.

6) Production and Maintenance: I'll do all of this for you. Once I post in the thread the updated card row, take that as a sign that your indicators are updated, food and resources are updated, and your military cards are available.

Rules in use
We will be playing the alternate corruption rule. This lets you choose to not produce one resource token in your production phase. In essence, this rule will reduce your corruption by 1 if you would have exactly 0, 4 or 8 blue tokens left and at least one Bronze mine.
Other than that, I'm open to any other rules/variant suggestions! Let me know if there's something you desperately want to try as you sign up.
I'm happy to run a 3 or 4 player games, depending on interest and player preference.

Signups (I will be splitting these into two games, one of more experienced and one of less experienced players)
Kuildeous
Galzria
Watno
Jorbles
Qvist
Bozzball

55

Dominion General Discussion / Greatest Dominion moments 2013

« on: January 03, 2013, 04:14:26 pm »

Well we've had the 2012 edition, so someone might as well start the 2013 one!

Because we now have Goko and Isotropic, as well as some people submitting things that happen in face to face games, I think a more neutral name was in order.

For those who don't know, these threads are for showcasing those hilarious and bizarre moments in Dominion where maybe something unusual happens, you get ridiculously lucky or unlucky, and other such events that just really need to be shared. Logs are appreciated, and when theory gets around to posting the greatest moments from 2011 (not a typo) having the log handy is always useful!

56

Rules Questions / Another Procession/Duration question

« on: January 02, 2013, 12:22:40 am »

I play Procession, then on the procession play a second procession. Then I play let's say two Caravans. What stays in play until the next turn? Nothing, or the first Procession? Obviously, I'll be drawing a card four times at the start of the next turn regardless.

From my understanding of the rules, the only cards that stay in play are durations themselves, and the cards that modify them directly, i.e. not the first Procession. But then I know the reason modifying cards stay out is to show you that they're doing something and to remind you. I would guess that the hard rules trump this, but, I'm not 100% certain right now.

57

Dominion General Discussion / Merry Christmas! (Yes this is Dominion related)

« on: December 25, 2012, 06:35:25 am »

Here's a festive kingdom for you all, based primarily on the Nativity story. Obviously cards are 'best matches' to things.

Sage
Stables
Farming Village
Knights
Oracle
Bureaucrat
Inn
Smugglers
Spice Merchant
Hoard

And here's the explanation behind the cards:
Sage - the wise men.
Stables - The manger
Farming Village - Bethlehem
Knights - Herod's army (who tried to kill all babies under two years old)
Oracle - the angels who appeared to the shepherds
Bureaucrat - the census which forced Joseph and Mary to return to Bethlehem
Inn - there was no space in it.
Smugglers - how they got Jesus out of the country to Egypt
Spice Merchant - the wise men bough Frankinsence, Myrrh...
Hoard - ...and Gold

Hope everyone who celebrates it has a great Christmas .

58

Feedback / Do people know why there are pokemon in the right of sigs?

« on: December 19, 2012, 02:42:08 pm »

This is something I've found amusing... there's a very good reason for a number of these pokemon, but I'm wondering, are there some people who have just 'joined the bandwagon' and done it because they thought it was some kind of fad? Or is everyone really aware of what's going on?

If you actually don't know what's going on, it's because of a mafia game requiring everyone to be a pokemon

(Edit: theory, I'm not sure if this really belongs here or in General... it's kinda related to the forums, but it's also kinda not I guess. Go ahead and move it if you think it's better there).

59

Puzzles and Challenges / The most valuable copper

« on: December 18, 2012, 06:23:27 pm »

Re: http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=5806.msg153201#msg153201

The question here is essentially a simple one, how many times can you play Coppersmith in one turn, assuming perfect shuffle luck? I want my avatar to be as awesome as possible, after all.

In that forum a solution for 90+ is given.

60

Game Reports / Game from the tournament - how would you open?

« on: December 14, 2012, 10:56:03 pm »

Game log
Match report

Kingdom:
$2: Cellar, Chapel, Pawn
$3: Chancellor
$4: Baron, Bureaucrat, Jack of All Trades, Walled Village
$5: Embassy
$6: Adventurer

There's identical starting hands, and you have a 2/5 (in that order)

I found this quite an interesting game, for a BM board, in at least the opening. Now, maybe the correct answer is actually boring (and perhaps obvious to those more experienced) but I had some thoughts about what might be optimal. What I thought was P1 doesn't want to give away the free silver from Embassy, so he might just prefer Jack to Embassy, in which case Cellar is probably the best partner. P2 however is happy to take Embassy, so probably would prefer Embassy/Pawn.

What do you think? Am I way off the mark? Is P1 grabbing Embassy strong enough that they should do it anyway? Maybe the $2 partner isn't so obvious?

61

Dominion General Discussion / Playing Dominion with 5 or 6 people

« on: December 13, 2012, 10:01:22 am »

Who here has experience playing with 5 or 6 players? A lot of people always quip, well just play two games, but personally I think that's actually worse (they're likely to not end at the same time, you split the group up etc.)

I only have base (basic cards wise), but I've found that 5-6 player both work well as long as you don't put cursing cards out (and I usually avoid attacks that stack in some way, e.g. Ghost Ship because it's horrid getting hit turn after turn, or Ambassador because nobody likes everyone's deck rapidly filling with junk). I usually play with a house rule that there are 12 supply piles, which generally helps reduce the dependencies on one pile.

The main thing I feel about this though, which is actually why I started the topic, is that in my experience, 6 player is more similar to 4 player (and also to 5 player) than 4 player is to 3 player, or 3 player is to 2 player. With 3 players, a lot of the strategy you'd use with 2 changes (e.g. PPR, key piles are more likely to run out, 3 piling is more common). With 4, things change drastically again (now the key piles are even smaller, and there are only 3 Provinces per player, making BM much stronger). But with 5-6, not an awful lot else changes (piles are even smaller again, and there's less Duchies to grab). It really makes me wonder, why are people so happy (or at least neutral) about 4 player, but despise 5+ so much? I think Dominion's sweet spot is 2-3, both of which are great, and with 4+, well I'm happy to play but usually I have a better alternative. And yes I do prefer 4 to 5 to 6, but it's only a small preference.

62

General Discussion / theory really needs to stop with the terrible puns on his gmail.

« on: December 12, 2012, 01:39:35 pm »

Just a sample of ones I've seen him have (some paraphrasing):

I recently watched a documentary on how ships are held together. Riveting!

I was shocked when I found out my toaster isn't waterproof.

(Not a pun but still) I used to be bad at sports, until I found out you can just buy trophies. Now I'm good at everything.

63

Variants and Fan Cards / An idea inspired by a post in general

« on: December 11, 2012, 12:00:20 pm »

Counting House $5
Choose your draw or your discard pile. Look through this pile, reveal any number of Copper cards from it, and put them into your hand.
If you have chosen your draw pile, shuffle it.

This inspired a new idea for a card. I don't know exactly how it would work, but something like this:

[Card X] - $5
+2 actions
Name a card. Look through your deck, reveal any number of copies of it and discard them. Then, shuffle your deck.

I'm not really sure about it's power level. It's swingy, just like Counting House, because it depends on when in your deck you draw it, but I suspect more powerful in general (it does combo with CH though!). For example, get this right after reshuffling, and discard your three Estates. Or even discard all the remaining coppers once your deck is sufficiently good, if you want an engine. It has some potential combos, e.g. Scrying Pool, Counting House, but I wonder if in general it'd be interesting enough.

64

Non-Mafia Game Threads / Through the Ages I - GAME OVER - Watno wins!

« on: December 06, 2012, 10:19:36 pm »

Through the Ages is a civilization building game. The goal is to develop your civilization, not to destroy other ones. Military strength is just one aspect of your nation, as well as population, production or science. It is up to you which aspect you will concentrate on, more or less, but you should not underestimate any of them while building your civilization.

Victory is achieved by the player whose nation produces the most culture during the game. However, there are many ways to produce culture: through religion, literature or drama, by building wonders, by utilizing cultural persons etc. Considerable amount of culture can be gained even via wars or aggression.

Description from BGG

This is the thread for the first Play By Forum game of Vlaada Chvátil's Through The Ages, which considering TtA II is starting, I figured I might as well put the thread up for as well. This is not a short, simple game; it is an epic civilisation building game. As such, players should expect the game to take at least a few months (I predict about 3-4, depending on activity). This does mean it should be an engrossing, fun and strategically deep game, and the long time period should give you lots of time to plan out your moves.

A copy of the rules can be found on BGG here. The rules are great, they're mostly very clear, and so I will make no attempt to explain the rules myself, and instead advise players to read them (you will need a BGG account, which if you don't have, is hassle free to make). I will of course try and answer any questions players may have.

A public spreadsheet for the game is available here. Each player has a link to a private sheet, which also includes their own hands.

Players may wish to bookmark this link, which shows all of the available actions (excluding extras given by wonders or leaders), as well as the turn structure summary. As moderator, sections 1 and 6 will be performed by me. The PBF exclusive section 7: Point out moderator mistakes, will be performed by everyone else.

Some notes for PBF:

• Please do not contact other players about the game outside this thread. I'm not saying you can't mention the game in other threads, but don't go out of your way to conspire in a way that isn't public.
• I will be respecting the standard rules for pacts. This means, you can't talk about a pact you might be proposing before you do, you have to play it, name the roles and the other player can respond. Breaking this rule results in forfeiting your political action for the turn.
• Hopefully your spreadsheets will work, but if there are any issues that crop up, let me know! Also, if you feel that some details could be better displayed, or should be displayed somewhere else, let me know - the sheets are, after all, for your benefit.
• For ease of spotting what your official actions are, please bold your final actions.
• I'm usually pretty lenient about letting people take back actions they realise are not actually good, including possibly accidentally revealing things about their military cards (consider the fact you've revealed the information your punishment). However, do not attempt to abuse my good nature, or I will instigate a 'bold thing=>it happened' policy.
• I won't be enforcing a time limit, but for the sake of others, try to play relatively quickly, and respond to events when they happen. Checking the thread maybe two-three times a day would be great, if you can manage it (that's only checking, 80% of those times you won't need to post!). Less is fine, though, so don't worry too much.

Taking your turn:
Turn structure

1) Updating the card row: I will do this for you between turns along with step 7

2) Outcome of a war: You sacrifice units, then they sacrifice units, then one or both of you might need to make decisions based on what happened. I will update other things (usually culture) as I see them.

3) Political action: This is probably the most complex bit of your turn. If you want to play an:

• Event: State that you are playing an event in the thread along with it's age. Then, I will reveal the next current event and resolve it (which may require decisions from various players)
• Aggression: Play the aggression in the thread, name your target, and post what you're sacrificing (if you can calculate it yourself, please include your total strength for the aggression as well!). Your rival then posts what they're sacrificing (or bonus cards), and one or both of you might then have to make choices regarding the outcome.
• Pact: Play the pact in the thread, specify which player is A and which is B (if relevant). Your target then either accepts or rejects. Once the proposal has been made, you can talk about it, but you cannot renege or change the proposal.
• War: Announce it as though it were an aggression, but then simply carry on with your turn. Remember it's resolved next turn
• No action: Announce you are skipping your political action (note: Please do announce it, otherwise I might ask people to wait as I check, did you really mean to skip your political action?)

4) Discard excess military cards: Check your military hand limit (normally =military actions), then PM me military cards until you are at your military hand limit.

5) Civil and Military actions: Post all of your civil and military actions directly into the thread. For the first few turns, or whenever you aren't sure, it may be a good idea to PM them to me instead, just to double check everything you're trying to do is valid. It's easy to forget a few things and make a few mistakes, like, you used military actions on an aggression/war, or that Wonder cost 1 CA more than you thought because you've completed a Wonder already, or accidentally trying to play a military tech with a military action instead of a civil one, and that's just a few examples. Either way if your move is valid, it stands (and I'll post it if you PM'd me) and I'll update everything based on it. If you did something wrong, I'll let you know, and you can fix it.
In certain extreme situations, I might stop and check if you were aware of a consequence of something you did. This is primarily things like 'Woah those actions will give you an uprising, are you sure?' or 'Your military is already maxed at 60, are you sure you want to build those three infantry?' Both of which could be legit things to do e.g. desperately need more science at expense of some resource (for 1) or building up stuff to sacrifice in a crazy war (for 2), but usually, would not be.

6) Production and Maintenance: I'll do all of this for you. Once I post in the thread the updated card row, take that as a sign that your indicators are updated, food and resources are updated, and your military cards are available.

Rules in use
We are playing a 4 player full game.
The alternate corruption rule is in effect. This lets you choose for one mine to not produce [unless you ask otherwise, I will do this automatically if it will increase your resources].
As of right now, civil cards in hands are not visible to other players once they're in your hand. However, if all players would prefer that civil cards were instead public (as one can track exactly who has what with a little effort) then I will make them so.

Players (in turn order):
Watno
Qvist
Galzria
Kuildeous

Game state:

Reminder: The game doesn't officially start until the weekend, so even if I did have a turn time limit, I wouldn't even consider your time to have started until Saturday. So don't worry about feeling like you're holding the game up if you don't make your play until say Monday or so
Current Player: Watno
It is currently age A
Turn: 1 Reminder: On turn 1, you may only take cards from the card row, and have 1/2/3/4 CA to do so for the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th player resp.

Watno
Culture: 0
Science: 0
Strength: 1
Culture Indicator: 0
Science Indicator: 1
Civil Cards: None
Military Cards: None

Qvist
Culture: 0
Science: 0
Strength: 1
Culture Indicator: 0
Science Indicator: 1
Civil Cards: None
Military Cards: None

Galzria
Culture: 0
Science: 0
Strength: 1
Culture Indicator: 0
Science Indicator: 1
Civil Cards: None
Military Cards: None

Kuildeous
Culture: 0
Science: 0
Strength: 1
Culture Indicator: 0
Science Indicator: 1
Civil Cards: None
Military Cards: None

Card Row (Check spreadsheet for more details)
1 CA: Homer
1 CA: Alexander the Great
1 CA: Moses
1 CA: Pyramids
1 CA: Revolutionary Idea
2 CA: Hammurabi
2 CA: Rich Land
2 CA: Work of Art
2 CA: Frugality
3 CA: Patriotism
3 CA: Engineering Genius
3 CA: Hanging Gardens
3 CA: Aristotle
Civil Cards remaining: 7

Current Events: 6
Next event: Age A
Military cards remaining: 4

On turn 1, each player gets Civil Actions only to take cards, and the card row is not refreshed

65

Variants and Fan Cards / Two misc. ideas

« on: December 03, 2012, 08:25:22 pm »

Generic topic title is generic.

[No name]
Action - $5
+$2
Reveal cards from your deck until revealing five cards that are each either action or treasure cards. Put those cards back on top of your deck in any order. Put the other revealed cards into your hand.

The idea is to be a more viable scout variant. I've had this idea floating around for a while, was hoping to submit it in the kingdom design contest (as everyone loves scout variants!), but the opportunity never arose. This ensures that your next turn is curse and victory free (excluding multi-type cards), and will draw some victory cards into your hand. I'm not sure if it's really worth $5, I think a lot of the time it probably isn't, but if it's drawing say 1-2 victory cards on average, then that's probably worth the cost. And I guess in heavy green decks it would be very strong.

Aristocrats
Action - $6
+$4
+1 buy
---
While this is in play, you may not buy cards costing $4 or less.

That's a pretty powerful action effect. $4 cash, right there, and a buy to go with it. But the catch is, the aristocracy wouldn't be seen dead buying trinkets, no, they're going straight for the Grand Market and acquiring Provinces. I think this would be a good $6, decent in big money, but you'd have to be careful with it in an engine.

66

Other Games / Escape the Curse of the Temple

« on: December 01, 2012, 02:43:53 pm »

Anyone else played this? It's a medium-light, real time co-op which teaches in about 3 minutes and plays in 10. I got it today, and I've found it a lot of fun. The whole objective is to place and activate gems to reduce the difficulty of escaping, then leaving before the time limit runs out.

I have to say, while it's definitely fun, it's not the most challenging Co-op. Me and my housemate started on the standard difficulty, quickly added curses and treasures (which makes things a bit tougher), then upped the starting gems from 7 to 10, then to 13 (these are the given rules for difficulty increases). At 10, we had a few tense games but won them all anyway. At 13, It did really start to become tough, but that's the highest 'official' difficulty, and we were still winning occasionally.

Still, it's a fun game. I would recommend it to those who like Co-Ops and/or are looking for a good gateway game.

67

Forum Games / Through the Ages: A story of civilisation (Signups closed)

« on: November 30, 2012, 12:00:04 pm »

Through the Ages is a civilization building game. The goal is to develop your civilization, not to destroy other ones. Military strength is just one aspect of your nation, as well as population, production or science. It is up to you which aspect you will concentrate on, more or less, but you should not underestimate any of them while building your civilization.

Victory is achieved by the player whose nation produces the most culture during the game. However, there are many ways to produce culture: through religion, literature or drama, by building wonders, by utilizing cultural persons etc. Considerable amount of culture can be gained even via wars or aggression.

Description from BGG

This is the thread for a Play By Forum game of Vlaada Chvátil's Through The Ages. This is not a short, simple game; it is an epic civilisation building game. As such, players should expect the game to take at least a few months (I predict about 3-4, depending on activity). This does mean it should be an engrossing, fun and strategically deep game, and the long time period should give you lots of time to plan out your moves.

A copy of the rules can be found on BGG here. The rules are great, they're mostly very clear, and so I will make no attempt to explain the rules myself, and instead advise potential players to read them (you will need a BGG account, which if you don't have, is hassle free to make). I will of course try and answer any questions players may have.

An almost final copy of the master spreadsheet I will be using to run the game can be found here, which contains all of the cards, the player layouts, etc. Notably, it also shows the example civilisation from page 10 of the rulebook (which BTW is ludicrously good for the end of age I, nobody will be anything near as good as that), which should give you an idea of how data is laid out on the sheets.

Each player will get access to their own spreadsheets, which will show them everything they're allowed to see (public information such as each players civilisation, the card rows, deck sizes+their hands and the like). There will also be a generic public spreadsheet, just containing the public information, for spectators. I won't just be relying on the spreadsheets to do everything; at the end of each turn I will be posting the card row, culture/science/military and culture/science indicators in the thread, i.e. an overview of the game so far.

We will be playing either the advanced, or full game, depending on player choice. We may also play in teams, with two (or more) people managing a civilisation between them, able to discuss and plan by PM etc. Ultimately, I'd like people to state their preferences when they sign up. Or in other words, when you sign up please answer these:
Would you prefer the Advanced (shorter & easier) or Full (longer & more rewarding) game, and how strongly would you prefer it?
Do you want to play in teams, as single players, or do you have no preference? How would you feel about some players being in teams, and others on their own (just in case the numbers are awkward)?

I'd like to run a 4 player game, but will run 3 player as well (but again, if you have a strong preference on these, feel free to say it).

Signups:
Qvist
Watno (full game, no teams)
Kuildeous (neutral, okay with teams)
Galzria (Full game, indifferent with teams)

As I've drastically changed the first post, here's a copy of the original one so the following posts make sense

Through the Ages is a pretty complex civilisation building game, which can take a long time to play face to face... and along with it having what I feel are favorable mechanics for it (little if any randomness during turns, allowing lots of actions to be taken in one heap), I think this could work as a PBF game.

Now, I've only played one game (Advanced Game), but in terms of mechanics it's not too difficult to follow, so I'd be able to run a game of it. A few possible issues are:
1) It is a pretty complex game. I'd likely start with the Advanced game, because it's a little less brutal than the full game, but still strategically deep compared to the simple game. But there's quite a few rules to learn, so things might be a little slow in the first few turns.
2) The sweet spot is 3 players. That's not a huge number to run a game for. I was considering, if there's sufficient interest, to have people paired off (or even tripled up), which lets players co-operate on a civilisation, but then well I'm not sure about if that would really work or not. It can be played 4 player, that's also good.
3) You can already play it online, but that's in real time. This would be somewhat easier to wrap ones head around, due to thinking time, and hey we've got a little community going here right?

So right now, I'm throwing this out as an idea. You can find the rulebook on BGG here but I believe you need an account (free and easy to make though) to view files. If there's sufficient interest, I'll run a game, if not, I won't (and if people think the idea is crazy, you're probably right).

(Also if someone has a good reason for knowing why it wouldn't work as a PBF, pointing that out might be good too)

68

Variants and Fan Cards / Possibly crazy idea I had for a second currency

« on: November 26, 2012, 02:49:52 pm »

Yes, I know Potions are already a second currency, but the problem there is they come into games so rarely, as there are 10 potion cost cards in just under 200 cards. Well, 'problem', since it's not, but I was wondering how to make a more 'universal' second currency that could actually be interesting. The idea is pretty much a 'I had this thought' type thing, so it's very rough and probably has a number of holes in places.

For now I'm calling it wood. Wood is available from two cards, Lumber, a treasure card costing 2w and producing 2w, and Timber, a treasure card costing 5w and producing 3w.

Coin is a 'superior' resource to wood, and in short, anything mentioning wood can be done equivalently in coin, even in part (but not the other way around). So a card costing 5w could be bought with 3 coin, 2 wood, but a card costing 5 coin can't be bought with 4 coin and 20 wood. In particular, you can buy lumber for $2, and Timber for $5.

In games using wood, deal an effect card to each kingdom supply pile. This will change all cards from that pile for the duration of the game in one of the following ways (possibly multiple):
No change (probably the most common effect)
The card now costs wood instead of coin
References to coin on the card are now instead references to wood.
References to silver and gold on the card are now instead references to timber and lumber respectively.
Some amount of the cards cost is now in wood (2w instead of 2c, maybe all but 2c is w etc.)

This kind of thing might be better to do online because of all the changing stuff with otherwise fixed cards, I dunno.

The basic treasures and victory cards have half their cost in wood, rounded up. So Provinces are 4w4c, Duchies are 3w2c. Note you can still buy them with nothing but coin because of the coin into wood rule etc.

Yeah, that's basically the idea. I imagine it would require some careful planning in terms of maximising the effect; You could ignore wood for very little downside, but I suspect that's not usually going to be optimal. I hope it wouldn't just encourage a BM variant, but, maybe that could still be interesting, because with $5, do you take another Timber, or just a Silver?

Inb4 wood innuendos

69

Puzzles and Challenges / A number based puzzle

« on: November 25, 2012, 09:21:30 am »

Probably fairly easy but, let's go.

Dominion is worth 14
Intrigue is worth 19
Seaside is worth 5
Cornucopia is worth 3
Hinterlands is worth 8

How much are the other expansions worth, and why?

70

Dominion General Discussion / How much Dominion do you actually own IRL?

« on: November 22, 2012, 08:01:13 pm »

This has been something I've been wondering for a while... most people here play Dominion regularly online, although I suspect the majority were introduced to the game face to face. But how much of the actual physical games do people here own? And perhaps, why?

I own Base, Seaside, Hinterlands and Prosperity. Started with Base a while ago (about two years), then got Seaside not long after because expansions add a lot, and Seaside was my favourite expansion. Then I was considering getting Prosperity, but decided on Hinterlands (which had just come out) instead because it was cheaper (except, it wasn't, because Prosperity's price had dropped by that point). Finally, I just got Prosperity today from BGG Secret Santa. Yay! And that's also the thing that inspired me to make the thread. I also don't think I'm going to get any more expansions. 102 cards is sufficient, and fits nicely in my card box.

(I wanted to add a poll, but maybe I'm being stupid but I can't see the option to do that...)

71

Goko Dominion Online / So, how about that Pro Leaderboard?

« on: November 13, 2012, 07:35:05 pm »

In case you didn't know, I'm the 5th best Dominion player in the world, and have the most hilarious score to go with it.

Okay, I don't actually believe the first one. I did get there through legitimate play, but the fact there's no ranking degradation, and a lot of newbies tend to be typical opponents (who are unfamiliar with non base cards, it seems), I've quickly risen in ranks, despite being no better than average in reality (when I'm active, about level 23-25 on Iso). This really highlights a flaw in the rating system, more than anything; I shouldn't be able to stay on the leaderboard by refusing to play Pro games.

(For those too lazy to check my score, it's 6969. Yes it's immature, deal with it)

72

Non-Mafia Game Threads / Resistance V: Avalon - Game Over, Spies win 0-3

« on: November 10, 2012, 06:22:39 pm »

Based on the new Resistance: Avalon game, this Resistance will feature a new twist in the form of the Merlin role. Merlin has to be extremely careful, lest the forces of evil discover and kill him, dooming the kingdom to darkness...

If you've played before, look for the notes in bold to see what's changed. Or if you're too lazy, as a short summary:
Resistance and spies are rethemed.
Merlin knows evil, must not be discovered
No Plot Thickens (it's not incompatible, but... the theme is off and I can't be bothered to rename everything). Slight deadline change to fit.
If players are up for it, we might throw in a different official variant. See next post. No further variants used.

Rules of Resistance: Avalon

Resistance: Avalon is a mafia-like game of social deduction. There are two teams - one consisting of a number of Empire Spies Minions of Mordred (between 2-4 depending on number of players), each of whom knows all the other minions - and one team of Resistance members Loyal Servants of Arthur, who know nothing but the fact that they themselves are loyal. The loyal servants are trying to thwart evil by conducting three successful quests - each requiring the full co-operation of everyone on the team. The minions, on the other hand, want to sabotage said quests - if they can sabotage three quests, then the force of good is destroyed, and evil takes over the land.

But wait! Merlin is helping the loyal servants of Arthur out, but he knows if he's discovered and killed, Mordred himself will be unopposed and surely destroy the land. Merlin is a special role one player on the loyal servant's team will receive. He will also know who all of the minions are. But he must be careful. If the loyal servants pass three quests, the minions will make one final attempt to destroy good by assassinating one player. If Merlin is assassinated, the evil team wins. One minion is also the assassin. He has the final call in who the minions assassinate at game's end.

At the start of the game, the leader is randomly chosen, as well as the succession of the leader. The leader's job is to choose a team of between 2-5 operatives (depending on number of players and quest number), to attempt the next quest. After the leader proposes his team, everyone (including himself) gets to vote yes or no to that proposal. If a majority say yes, the quest goes ahead with that team. Otherwise, leadership passes to the next person in the succession (this goes in a circle - the last person passes leadership to the first person). Voting is done simultaneously - to simulate that here, all votes will be sent via PM to the mod (that's me!).

Be warned: if 5 proposals fail in a row, for any reasons (plot cards can affect this, if they are being used), then the forces of evil advance too far against the chaotic, poorly lead forces of good, and the Minions of Mordred win.

If the proposal passes, then each person on the quest can choose to sabotage or support the quest. Minions have free choice in this, and while they need to sabotage to win they might support as a strategic move. Loyal servants MUST support the quest. After everyone has chosen, the results are revealed. In real life, this would be done with cards which are then shuffled and revealed. Here, I only need the spies decisions, all done via PM.

If a quest has even a single sabotage, it fails and the minions get a point. If a quest has nothing but successes, however, it passes, and the loyal servants gets a point. Regardless of if a quest passes or fails, leadership moves on to the next person. Whichever team reaches three points first wins.

Deadlines

For every proposal, the leader will have a 5 day deadline to propose a team. Missing the team proposal deadline will result in a random team being chosen.

Voting will have a 2 day deadline from the team being proposed. Failure to vote will result in a no vote being cast. Voting will end early once all votes are in and I have seen them all.

Quests will have a 1 day deadline. Only minions need to submit a decision for the quest. They may submit their choice in advance with their vote for the quest. Quests will never end early unless the game will end as a result of the quest - this is to protect the minions right to think in cases they need to make a non-trivial decision (e.g. both are on a quest). In the rare case of a minion missing the submission for a quest they will default to sabotage.

The role PMs in this game look like this:

You are a loyal servant of Arthur

You win if the loyal servants of Arthur succeed on 3 quests and Merlin is not assassinated. You lose if the minions sabotage 3 quests or Merlin is assassinated.

You are Merlin

The three minions are:
W
X
Y

You win if the loyal servants of Arthur succeed on 3 quests and you are not assassinated. You lose if the minions sabotage 3 quests or you are assassinated.

You are a Minion of Mordred OR the Assassin

The three minions are:
W
X
Y

You win if the minions sabotage 3 quests or Merlin is assassinated. You lose if the loyal servants of Arthur succeed on 3 quests and Merlin is not assassinated.

Note: The order of names on the role PMs will be the same as the order of leadership. Only the Assassin knows who the assassin is.

Finally rules. Shamelessly stolen and adapted from Axxle, who stole them from Mafiascum.

General Gameplay and Etiquette:
1. You may not quote private Moderator-supplied information (either real or fabricated) of any kind. Paraphrasing is acceptable.
2. There is to be NO personal communication outside of the forum postings. This includes Minions!
3. As a general rule you should aim for one post every 48 hours, minimum, to keep the game moving.
4: You may talk at ALL stages of the game. This means during proposals, voting, and quests. There is never a period where communication is banned.

Miscellaneous/Mechanics:
1. Bold, blue text is reserved for the Mod.
2. No invisible/small text is allowed, nor is cryptography, or obscuring text in any way.
3. If you have an issue/problem with the game, please PM the Mod privately. Do not post issues/complaints in the game thread.
4. The Mod may make mistakes - please point out any mistakes gently. Mistakes will be corrected where possible, but sometimes mistakes are made that cannot be reversed. These will stand as final to be commiserated over after the game.
5. Please bold and double hashtag ## all requests to the Mod so that they don’t get missed. This includes all final actions (giving out plot cards, proposing a team, public vote if you have Opinion Maker).
6. Prods of missing players will be issued automatically after 72 hours of no activity or upon request after 48 hours of no activity. A prodded player has 48 hours to respond or risks replacement. A player who has been prodded 3 times is subject to replacement without further notice.
7. Rule violations will be dealt with according to their severity.
8. If you anticipate being unavailable for more than a 48-hour period please post a notice to that effect in the thread. Treat this game as a commitment. Be considerate – don’t leave us hanging.

73

Game Reports / Challenge Accepted

« on: October 22, 2012, 06:03:54 pm »

The board: Great Hall, Island, Monument, Smithy, Counting House, Mountebank, Wharf, Adventurer, Expand, King's Court, +Colony and Platinum

Overall, nothing too exciting - King's Court could be good, but the only +actions is Great Hall, so it'd rely on itself mostly to chain, which is risky. Especially when there's Mountebank there to mess things up. Wharf gives extra buys, Monument could be useful for extra points and getting to $5 early for Mountebanks.

This game was against my housemate (who will almost certainly complain about me posting this game, just for fun ), so we're in different rooms but can shout at each other quite easily. Neither of us are that great (I was peaking at about 25-28 on Iso, but have been a bit out of practice since, he's probably about 25 nowadays, likely slightly better than me, but has a tendency to do... interesting things)

I open, and see my 3 coppers, and start thinking about my strategy, which I've summarised above. But then Joe opens, and gets a 5/2, going for Mountebank. Can I win against that? There's something in the kingdom that makes me think I can.

"Challenge accepted!" I shout out of the room.

Four turns later, and I haven't hit $5. Challenge failed, I think. I need to hit $5 to get my strategy running. I start taking the curses from Mountebank, and he grabs another. This... could go wrong. But I hit $5, and grab a Wharf - the extra buy and cards will be valuable, especially if I get a little luck. I hit $5 a few turns later, and this time... it's Counting House time!

Twenty turns later, and I take the last Province with $11, to edge out a 2 point win. I walk (okay, run) out of my room, barge into Joe's room. "Challenge complete!" followed by laughter at his inability to win the game.

http://dominionlogs.goko.com/20121022/log.505c7f4ca2e6c78ad2ed5ba1.1350942467002.txt

So some comments on the game: Neither of us player perfectly. I think I should have taken Monument over Counting House, and probably should have taken a Mountebank of my own. And I question that Wharf buy still. Joe expanded his Mountebanks probably a little early - giving my a copper is good for me, but the curses still make them more painful. And not taking Wharves after that, I'm still not sure why.

But still, winning against a first turn 5/2 Mountebank without hitting $5 turns 3-4 with Smithy/Silver is a pretty steep slope to climb. So I'm pretty happy about this game, overall.

74

Rules Questions / Watchtower and the lose track rule

« on: October 17, 2012, 09:38:01 pm »

I think I already know the answer to this, but I thought it was worth checking. If I use Watchtower to trash a card, can I use Watchtower's reaction to move the trashed card on top of my deck? This matters for e.g. Market Square.

I think the answer is no, Watchtower loses track of the gained/trashed card, so it can't move it after it's been trashed.

75

Goko Dominion Online / Dark Ages: Part 2 stealth launched in private beta

« on: October 06, 2012, 01:19:06 pm »

No further explanation required.