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Post by hocestbellum on Sept 30, 2019 21:46:59 GMT
I've only been involved in playtesting, but some secondhand advice:
If you've based it heavily on an already existing ruleset, then the basics should be solid. If you've changed a lot of those things, take those things down to simpler components and test them out. Like, if you've moved from d6-based rolls to 2d6 or d8 or whatever, it changes all the maths. Check your combats still work and all that. If you've got modifiers involved, make sure they don't shift the numbers outside of the 'working' range. Think of D&D 3.5 where you could break Armour Class by getting it to a point where nothing could hit you. In particular look out for multipliers and stackable effects that hit the same characteristic (i.e. buffs to 'attack' or 'defence'). They tend to be what gets out of hand.
Don't worry if it's vanilla if it's solid. It doesn't matter how clever it is if it doesn't work. Vanilla can be covered with an interesting theme, broken is just broken.
If you have one of those friends who is a min-maxer, recruit them to the testing. If there's a way to break your game, they'll find it.
But I think the main thing is just keep testing it, and get a lot of points of view. You don't need to heed them all, but they'll all see something different to you and it's good to know what they think.
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Post by Soul Samurai on Oct 1, 2019 6:22:06 GMT
I wrote my own Unbound rules variant after finding the official rules lacking, and I like it a lot. Does that count? I'll allow it. Did you run into balancing issues? I've only been involved in playtesting, but some secondhand advice: If you've based it heavily on an already existing ruleset, then the basics should be solid. If you've changed a lot of those things, take those things down to simpler components and test them out. Like, if you've moved from d6-based rolls to 2d6 or d8 or whatever, it changes all the maths. Check your combats still work and all that. If you've got modifiers involved, make sure they don't shift the numbers outside of the 'working' range. Think of D&D 3.5 where you could break Armour Class by getting it to a point where nothing could hit you. In particular look out for multipliers and stackable effects that hit the same characteristic (i.e. buffs to 'attack' or 'defence'). They tend to be what gets out of hand. Don't worry if it's vanilla if it's solid. It doesn't matter how clever it is if it doesn't work. Vanilla can be covered with an interesting theme, broken is just broken. If you have one of those friends who is a min-maxer, recruit them to the testing. If there's a way to break your game, they'll find it. But I think the main thing is just keep testing it, and get a lot of points of view. You don't need to heed them all, but they'll all see something different to you and it's good to know what they think. Actually getting defensive stats so high to the point of being invulnerable to many attacks was kind of built into the original concept behind the rules... but yeah, sounds like balancing would be very hard. The ideas are based on existing rulesets, but I was writing it from the ground up rather than tweaking something existing. I'm resisting the urge to start delving into the details because I feel it would bore people. I was thinking it would probably be easier to write the rules into a cooperative campaign/RPG type game, that way balance isn't nearly as big an issue an could be addressed over time in a less obtrusive fashion. It's a bit of a moot point for me right now as I don't have the time to really work on it, and I'm pretty sure none of my friends would be interested in playing it. I guess starting big projects and not finishing them is just my MO.
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Post by michael on Oct 8, 2019 14:13:34 GMT
I really, really hate painting Greylord Escorts. There are way too many different textures crammed onto a tiny canvas. Greatcoat blues? Check. Fur? Check. Two different leathers? Check. Hair? Check. Skin? Check. Khador Red armor? Metal armor? Orgoth dangly bits? At least seven of these elements meshed up against each other at any given point on the model? Of course!
Geez.
Thankfully the last three regular sculpt Escorts will be finished today (or else, I don’t care anymore) and then I never have to paint these guys again.
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Post by Havock on Oct 10, 2019 14:02:03 GMT
I'm... Kinda in a wargame slump at the moment.
The usual group I hang out with are nice enough people (I mean, a fair number of them are friends) but it's all just so.... Casual, not that there is anything wrong with casual but I play games like Warmachine to scratch a certain itch, some would call it competitiveness but I prefer the term "engrossing"; I love to think up new shit to try out or work out new ways to put it to work on the table.
And, say, Underworlds just doesn't have that. It's a fun game and all, but at the end of it, which, granted, isn't very long, it's just too shallow for me.
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Post by michael on Oct 10, 2019 14:35:02 GMT
I'm... Kinda in a wargame slump at the moment. The usual group I hang out with are nice enough people (I mean, a fair number of them are friends) but it's all just so.... Casual, not that there is anything wrong with casual but I play games like Warmachine to scratch a certain itch, some would call it competitiveness but I prefer the term "engrossing"; I love to think up new shit to try out or work out new ways to put it to work on the table. And, say, Underworlds just doesn't have that. It's a fun game and all, but at the end of it, which, granted, isn't very long, it's just too shallow for me. Play more Unbound...?
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Post by Havock on Oct 10, 2019 15:16:44 GMT
I'd settle for a normal game. But all the big wargames are too hard or require too much investment or whatever.
Can't tell other people what to like, but honestly, I am thinking about doing something else with my spare time on the "wargaming nights".
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Post by hocestbellum on Oct 10, 2019 15:32:57 GMT
I'm... Kinda in a wargame slump at the moment. The usual group I hang out with are nice enough people (I mean, a fair number of them are friends) but it's all just so.... Casual, not that there is anything wrong with casual but I play games like Warmachine to scratch a certain itch, some would call it competitiveness but I prefer the term "engrossing"; I love to think up new shit to try out or work out new ways to put it to work on the table. And, say, Underworlds just doesn't have that. It's a fun game and all, but at the end of it, which, granted, isn't very long, it's just too shallow for me. Not a wargame per se, but I got revitalised by Blood Bowl. Loads of factions playing in very different ways, and every turn becomes a puzzle of positioning, attacking, and risk management. I get completely caught up in it. It helps that there's a good online scene as well as a strong meta where I am. But it actually got me more interested in WMH again, too. I was winding down, but Blood Bowl got me back into the habit of going to the FLGS and throwing dice... 90% there at that point!
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Post by Havock on Oct 10, 2019 16:00:45 GMT
I tried getting a blood bowl league here, but it kind of gotten blown up by people going "meh" and/or deciding it was too difficult.
Yes, blood bowl, too difficult.
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Post by michael on Oct 10, 2019 16:54:32 GMT
I'd settle for a normal game. But all the big wargames are too hard or require too much investment or whatever. Can't tell other people what to like, but honestly, I am thinking about doing something else with my spare time on the "wargaming nights". Are you willing to travel to play Unbound against me?
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Post by Havock on Oct 10, 2019 17:05:23 GMT
Do you live in the Netherlands?
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Post by michael on Oct 10, 2019 19:54:19 GMT
Do you live in the Netherlands? Nope. That’s why you’re the one who gets to travel!
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Post by michael on Oct 15, 2019 17:59:54 GMT
Hey guys. You remember how much you hated living at home, don’t you? You seethed against your ass-hole dad and vowed that you’d really give him a piece of your mind one day, tell him how things really are, right? And then the day finally came and you told your dad to F off. You listed every perceived slight, legitimate or not, and you told him exactly how shitty he was and how you wished literally anybody else had been your dad, and it felt good. What a jackass! He deserved it, yeah!
But you remembered to get him to write that check for college first, right?
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Post by PrincessSparklefist on Oct 15, 2019 21:53:07 GMT
Hey guys. You remember how much you hated living at home, don’t you? You seethed against your ass-hole dad and vowed that you’d really give him a piece of your mind one day, tell him how things really are, right? And then the day finally came and you told your dad to F off. You listed every perceived slight, legitimate or not, and you told him exactly how shitty he was and how you wished literally anybody else had been your dad, and it felt good. What a jackass! He deserved it, yeah! But you remembered to get him to write that check for college first, right? Uh no. Literally never did that to either parent. Not that it saved our relationship. I’ve not talked to him in about 5 years. 🤷🏼♀️
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Post by michael on Oct 15, 2019 22:26:50 GMT
Yeah, I didn’t do that either, but I’ve got a real dickhead 17-year-old who apparently thinks he’a living in a dramedy and/or sitcom where those sorts of things happen and are somehow okay.
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Post by The Snark Knight on Oct 16, 2019 0:51:16 GMT
I feel reasonably certain that my cat is saying stuff like that to me all the time, but fortunately cats don't go to college and he probably won't live to be 17.
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