18 Card Legacy – Master Villains & Game Play

This is a post about the design and development of a currently unnamed Shipwreck Game. You can see the other Blog posts at the Index for the Game.

Master Villains

The master villains (still searching for a unique name to use) will have a combat value, which is the amount you need to beat them. I have altered it, so that it mirrors the power circles on the player cards, and added a preliminary combat icon. Master villains can be made stronger over time, in the same way that the player cards can improve.

They also have an Ability:, a way to make the players job harder. And a Wins: condition, a way for the players to lose. These could be updated with stickers, but abilities and win conditions that depend on villain cards will get harder as the villain cards change.

18 Card Legacy - Maldonado

Each of the master villains has a number and suit, like the ordinary villains. But these will be a number higher than 4, in order to help differentiate them from the regular villains. There is also a space next to the attack value … I am still thinking about what might go there.

Single Player Game Play V1.0 – Set up

Place the player card in front of you. The lowest number on the combat wheel is your attack. Players start the campaign with a combat of 1. As your character develops, you colour in wedges of your combat wheel, increasing your attack. The coloured bars are part of the future development of your character. Ignore them now as they are not used in game 1.

Place the master villainĀ  above the player card. The lowest number on his combat wheel is his defense, and indicates the amount of attack you need to generate on a single turn to defeat him, thus winning the game. The master villain can also get stronger during the campaign.

The other cards have two halves. The top half is a regular villain, with their defense shown in the same way. The bottom half is a reward, that you will get to use in your fight against the villains in the next turn. Shuffle these cards together, and place them face down to the left of the master villain

Overview

At the start of each players turn, reveal a villain card from the deck and place it to the right of the master villain. Trigger all villain and master villain effects. Then the player uses the total combat and abilities available on their player card, and any reward cards in their tableau to fight a villain or the master villain. When a player uses their combat to defeat a villain, that card is placed in his victory pile, to the left of his player card. At the end of each players turn, the player discards all reward cards from their tableau, to the discard pile, to the left of the villain deck. Players add villain cards from their victory pile to their tableau. They gain access to the reward on their next turn. If the villain deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile, and turn it over to become the new deck.

When a player has enough combat to defeat the master villain, they win the game. When the master villains win condition is met, the players lose the game.

A Turn
  1. Reveal a card from the deck, and place it to the right of the master villain. Read any villain text (in the top half of the card) and action it as needed. Check the master villain effect.
  2. The player adds up the available combat on their player card and the cards in their tableau, which is to the right of their player card. If they have enough combat to defeat the master villain they win.
  3. Otherwise, it they have enough combat to defeat 1 or more villains, they place them in their victory pile, to the left of their player card, whilst following the instructions of any villain text. Any villains not defeated on a turn remain in play, and are joined by a new villain at the start of the next turn.
  4. After combat is complete, the player discards the cards from the tableau, in any order they choose.
  5. Move the cards from the victory pile to the tableau, again in any order they choose, following the instructions of the reward text (in the bottom half of the card).

18 Card Legacy Game - Turn Example

9 Card PnP

I have created a quick 9 card PnP, that anyone can download to try a quick 1 player version of the mechanics. This is a tutorial game, to get players familiar with the basic mechanics of combat. It has a Player card, a master villain, and 7 villain cards to form the deck. Anyone that would like to try it out, can download it below. I would love any and all thoughts.

The files is a hi-res jpeg, with small cross hatches in the corners of the cards. Right clicking on the link will allow you to save it to your computer.

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