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 So, let's have a contest! D. Brad Talton and I have been talking about doing some special things for Something Awful's BattleCON community for a few months now, so I thought I'd get this ball rolling with a short fan design contest. Thanks, Brad! The goal of this contest is to design new fan arenas! Though they were first introduced in War of Indines, the concept was heavily revised in Devastation of Indines. If you haven't familiarized yourself with them, now's a great time to start! Each modifies gameplay in a particular way, often giving special effects to different parts of the board. When a predetermined trigger occurs, the arena is flipped and a whole new set of effects takes place! Here's an example from the original Kickstarter:   I want you to submit a thing. Believe in me who believes in you!  So, here's what I'll be looking for as a judge:
In general, they should have:
You may submit up to two arenas. Since Halloween is coming up, it is required that if you submit more than one arena, one of the two must be spooky. However, only one winning arena will be selected.  Deadlines are below. The first deadline has been extended!
Our present entrants, with linked playtest threads by fighters, are: Acting Power
The prize will be $25 credit on the Level99 store, provided generously by Level99 Games. Why, is that the same price they're charging for Fate of Indines? I do believe it is! Level99 will also have a look at the designs and I'll be consulting with them. If you have any further questions, feel free to message me or post them to the thread. I'll put any clarifications here in the opening post. Good luck and better skill to all of you! Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Nov 2, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 04:37
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| # ? May 17, 2024 19:01 |
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Spooky, huh? Maybe I've just been playing too much Minecraft recently, but I can do spooky. They dug too greedily, and too deep. Empire of Gesselheim Abandoned Iron Mines Long ago, these mines were a vast source of iron for the Empire. After the Overlord's death, the mines were abandoned. You've come to claim some of the forgotten wealth for yourself, or perhaps to challenge the dark magics that people say settled in on the empty caves. But it seems you are not alone- a figure on the far side of this rich, metal-filled passage moves to block your way. Entry: Use the 7-space board. Players start one space from the edges. Place three iron markers in the far spaces of the board, and one in the middle space. Players cannot end their movement in spaces with iron markers. When a player hits with an attack that also includes a space with iron markers in its range, that player may take one iron marker from the space. During the ante phase, an iron marker may be anted for +1 Power, or Soak 1. Turning Point: At the end of the beat, if either far space has no iron markers, flip this card. Empire of Gesselheim Cursed Caverns The brittle stone of the walls caves and collapses, revealing a yawning chasm that even the brightest lights cannot pierce. An intangible force, cruel and oppressive, reaches out from the darkness. Voices in your ear tell you unspeakable secrets, and promise you great and terrible power. But at what cost? Entry: Use the 7-space board. Remove all iron markers. Do not move the players. When a player ends a beat at the edge of the map, they gain a Black Bargain counter, chosen from the list below, that applies its effect to all their attacks for the rest of the duel. The effects of each counter are cumulative, and a player cannot choose the same counter multiple times.
girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Oct 23, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 05:43
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FINAL VERSION Kingdom of Jeffreys Planestalker R&D Lab The Planestalkers are constantly cooking up new ways of dealing with the troubles from beyond the rift. These portable gate prototypes are just the latest in a long line of experiments. There's an awful lot of delicate stuff in here, so don't bump anything... Wait. What are they doing here? Entry: Use the 9-space board. Players start one space from the edges. Place a Portal Frame marker on each of the two spaces adjacent to the center. When a player stands on or moves onto or through a space with a Portal Frame marker, they may spend 2 spaces of movement to move directly to the other Portal Frame. When a Portal Frame marker is in range of a player's attack, they may choose to hit the Portal Frame rather than their opponent. The Portal Frame travels an equal number of spaces to the power of the attack, and bounces off the arena edge if it has remaining movement. If the Portal Frame moves through a space that a player is in, they move directly to the other Portal Frame marker. Turning Point: When both Portal Frame markers and a player share a space at the same time, that player loses 3 Life. Flip this card. ??? Unstable Pocket Dimension What did I say about not bumping anything!? Entry: Use the 7-space board. Players start in the spaces adjacent to the center. Edges of the board are treated as adjacent to each other. Each player gains an Unstable Space token once every 3 beats. Players may ante this token to gain the effect below for their attack that beat. The anted token is recycled with the attack pair, returning to the player's token pool when the pair returns to their hand. When you would move this turn, the movement is doubled (e.g. 1 = 2, 2 = 4, etc). Reveal: If your attack possesses a Power value, your attack's Priority and Power are exchanged; their new values are capped at no lower than 0 and no higher than 7. Tollymain fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Oct 31, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 17:42
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hope you can think with portals hurr hurr
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Sep 26, 2014 17:42
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Tollymain posted:hope you can think with portals hurr hurr Dang it, and I was working on a teleporter stage too. Ah well. I'll just have to figure out my house of mirrors, then.
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Sep 26, 2014 18:12
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Don't worry about thematic overlap; I wouldn't get too discouraged by that if you think your idea's strong.
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Sep 26, 2014 18:46
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Tweaked the Cursed Caverns to better fit on a card.
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Sep 27, 2014 06:12
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Oh, good, because I already had a mirror-centric idea: Council of Mirrors The meeting place of the magisterial council is a place rife with magical power and ancient symbolism. Magisters customarily enter masked, and an interlocking mechanism of mirrors makes it impossible to judge anyone's location. It's one of the true wonders of the modern world. You're gonna smash it up. Entry: Use the 7-space board, characters start one space away from each edge. Mechanics: If an attack would miss your opponent and its range includes any empty spaces, put a shatter token on one of the empty spaces at the end of the beat. During recycle, any player that is neither stunned nor standing on a shatter taken may move to any empty space without a shatter token on the same half of the board (this always includes the center space; a player in the center space may move to either half). Players make this move in order of highest to lowest priority. Turning point: When there are 3 shatter tokens on the board, flip this card. Magocracy of Willat? The Shattered Labyrinth As the mirrors break, their magic is unleashed; the council chamber is transformed from an elaborate parlor trick to a nightmarish maze of distorted distances and impossible architecture. Only the strongest will escape! Entry: Use the 7-space board, players start in their previous positions. Both players gain two distortion tokens. Mechanics: At the end of each even-numbered beat, both players gain a distortion token. During the ante step, a player may spend a distortion token to move to any empty space on the board. quote:Magocracy of Willat Androc fucked around with this message at 15:26 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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Sep 27, 2014 06:15
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Empire of Gesselheim Boneyard Rave This village of mausoleums looks pretty dead during the day, but trust me, the night life is fantastic. Entry: Use the 7-space board. Players start one space from the edges. At the end of each beat, players gain 1 Skeleton Dance token. They may ante these tokens to gain the following effects. After being anted, Skeleton Dance tokens are then placed in a pool off to the side. [*] 1: Opponent has -1 Power. [*] 2: Opponent has -2 Priority. [*] 3: Start of beat: Move opponent 1 or 2 spaces. Turning Point: When the anted Skeleton Dance pool exceeds 10, flip this card after Recycle. Empire of Gesselheim An (A)sexual Tyrannosaurus Summoned Straight From The Bone Zone Oh, that's why they were dancing... Entry: Use the 9-space board. Players start 2 spaces from the edges. Place a Skull marker on each of the 2 spaces closest to one end of the arena and a Tail marker on each of the 2 on the other end. If an attack pair with a Power of 5 or greater misses, at the end of the beat both players are stunned and pulled 1 space towards the nearest edge before any end of beat effects take place. Both players have -1 Power and -1 Range (exception: Range cannot be less than 1) for the next beat. At the start of the beat, if a player on a Tail marker space has a Priority of 5 or greater, they may move up to 3 spaces, and gain +1 Power if they move all 3. If they have a Priority of 3 or less, they have -1 Power and -1 Range (exception: Range cannot be less than 1) for that beat. At the end of the beat, if a player is on a Skull marker space and was on a Skull marker space at the beginning of the beat, they take 2 damage before any end of beat effects take place. Tollymain fucked around with this message at 08:08 on Oct 6, 2014 |
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Sep 28, 2014 22:26
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Good to see stages hitting early! If you want to playtest stages, keep in mind you don't have to wait until the 5th if you want to arrange that sort of thing.
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Sep 29, 2014 03:29
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The ocean somewhere The Kestral Once upon a time, there wasn't a sailor alive who didn't pale in fear at the mention of the Kestral. Its pirate crew could strike anywhere in the world they pleased and vanish in the blink of an eye. Only one man ever saw it and survived to tell the tale; he spoke in hushed tones of its captain, a deathly chill surrounding him and empty black pits for eyes. One day it simply stopped appearing, just as quickly as it had come, but they say that on nights where the full moon is hidden behind the clouds you can still see the lights of an old wreck drifting off the shore... Use the 7-space board. Place Lantern markers on both spaces at the edges of the board, and on both spaces adjacent to the center space. Players start one space from each edge. Waves rock the ship. During every third beat (3, 6, 9, 12, 15), each character gets -1 priority on their next attack pair for every square they move. When an attack with power 3 or greater includes a space with a Lantern marker in its range, remove that Lantern. Turning Point: When there are no more Lantern markers on the board, flip this card. ??? The Space Between Worlds As the last of the lanterns crashes to the deck, the ocean around you goes completely dark and quiet, and the sky disappears. Ghostly hands reach up around the freshly spilt blood across the deck, desperate for a taste of the life and energy it once carried. The board does not change, nor do the players' positions on it. During every third beat (3, 6, 9, 12, 15), each character gets -1 priority on their next attack pair for every square they move. Whenever a character takes 3 or more damage at once, that character gains a Bloodstain counter. At the beginning of each beat, each character moves one Bloodstain counter from their reserve to the space they stand on. At the end of each beat, each character standing on a space with a Bloodstain counter on it loses 2 life. Then remove all Bloodstain counters from the board.
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Sep 29, 2014 04:41
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Okay, this came to me in the car. This is super rough, but: Empire of Gesselheim Backstage at Galston House The 'magic of theatre' is more than a metaphor in Tanis's haunted playhouse. And if you're not careful, you just might lose yourself... Use the 7-space board. Place Trap Door markers on each starting space and on the center space. At the end of the recycle step (after cycling cards), if your fighter is standing on a trap door, remove that fighter's standup from the board. (Any tokens on the board remain, but become inactive.) Select an unused fighter from outside the match. (If multiple fighters are removed, the Active Player selects first.) Place their standup on the trapdoor, and replace all styles and unique bases in your hand and discard pile with the new fighter's styles and unique bases. Styles must be replaced with new styles of the matching color, wherever possible. Perform any other setup instructions for your new fighter. Your new fighter has the same life total as your previous fighter. Place the "discarded costume" (your previous fighter) next to the board. (Discarded costumes are not "outside the match" and may not be chosen again.) Turning Point: When there are more discarded costumes than participating fighters (including tag partners), flip this card. Empire of Gesselheim The Main Stage "Thrills! Chills! Mistaken identities! Amnesia! The players are chosen! The curtain is up!" Use the 7-space board. Leave the Trap Door markers on their spaces. At the end of the recycle step (after cycling cards), if your fighter is standing on a trap door, remove that fighter's standup from the board. (Any tokens on the board remain, but become inactive.) Select one of the discarded costumes, even one previously used by an opponent. (If multiple fighters are removed, the Active Player selects first.) Place their stand-up on the trapdoor, and replace all styles and unique bases in your hand and discard pile with the new costume's styles and unique base(s). Styles must be replaced with new styles of the matching color, wherever possible. Your new costume has the same life total as your previous fighter. Place the discarded costume next to the board. The costume is available to be selected by another player --- The idea sooo needs some rules development, and will require an FAQ for dealing with characters like Joal, Endrbyt, or Boris (if he ever sees print). gutterdaughter fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Sep 30, 2014 |
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Sep 30, 2014 05:56
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How big is the Main Stage?
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Sep 30, 2014 07:45
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Androc posted:Mechanics: If an attack would miss your opponent and its range includes any empty spaces, put a shatter token on one of the empty spaces at the end of the beat. At the start of a beat, after antes have been chosen but before pairs are revealed, any player not standing on a shatter token may move to any empty space on the same half of the board (this always includes the center space; a player in the center space may move to either half). Both players declare this move simultaneously. Highlighted some problems. a) "Start of Beat" is a specific game trigger, which occurs after Reveal. You might want "after anteing but before reveal." That said, I don't like this trigger window because: b) "Both players declare simultaneously" is a hard thing to do in a physical game, without a representative physical component (i.e. turning over a hidden card). The rule of thumb with BattleCON is to always do things in Active Player Reactive Player order. But this would be too powerful an effect after pairs are selected. I might have the moves occur during Recycle. c) Thematically, I'd also only allow a player to move to an unshattered space, but that might be too much rules weight.
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Sep 30, 2014 17:58
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Gutter Owl posted:Highlighted some problems. Changed the first two, the third was actually my original intent with the phrase 'empty space' but I updated it to be more clear. I'm not too worried about the added complexity, I'm a big believer in the idea that rules complexity becomes less of an issue if the players can make clear thematic sense of it. Also, I'm having second thoughts on the second phase. Some thinking about the ante step gave me this idea: Magocracy of Willat? The Shattered Labyrinth As the mirrors break, their magic is unleashed; the council chamber is transformed from an elaborate parlor trick to a nightmarish maze of distorted distances and impossible architecture. Only the strongest will escape! Entry: Use the 7-space board, players start in their previous positions. Both players gain two distortion tokens. Mechanics: At the end of each even-numbered beat, both players gain a distortion token. During the ante step, a player may spend a distortion token to move to any empty space on the board. Remember that the ante step doesn't end until both players pass, so the idea is to add a sort of resource conservation minigame/stage literal DBZ fights.
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Sep 30, 2014 18:40
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WARNING: A HUGE DEADLINE "INITIAL SUBMISSIONS" IS CLOSING FAST! I'm setting the exact cutoff as Noon EST on October 6th, just to give some allowances for timezones. If you're still looking to submit an arena or an additional arena, make sure to get it in this weekend! that means youuu 
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Oct 3, 2014 17:11
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kind of hoped there'd be more submissions 
Tollymain fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Oct 6, 2014 |
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Oct 6, 2014 04:39
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You still have... ah... ten and a half hours!
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Oct 6, 2014 06:30
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Tollymain posted:kind of hoped there'd be more submissions Blame my school
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Oct 6, 2014 13:18
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djfooboo posted:Blame my school Three hours and twenty-one minutes!
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Oct 6, 2014 13:39
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Lost Continent of Amalao The Mirrored Pond In a quiet grotto, nothing seems to stir, other than the reflection of the warriors on the water as they circle and strike. The images seem so clear, so crisp, that they almost seem to move faster than the fighters themselves. As the fight rages on they seem to take on a life of their own, no longer reflections but their own entities. Is it a trick of the moonlight on the pond, or is there really a second, mirrored, battle...? Entry: Use the 7-space board. Players start one space from the edges. Place a reflection marker on every square other than the squares containing players at the start of the match. A fighter standing on a square containing a reflection marker at the start of the beat may choose to ante the reflection marker for one of the following effects: 1.) -1 Priority, +1 Other World Token. This token gets added to their stockpile and can not be used or discarded by effects until the arena Turns. 2.) -1 Power, + 1 Other World token. This token gets added to their stockpile and can not be used or discarded by effects until the arena Turns. 3.) +0~1 range 4.) Before Activating: Retreat 5.) Lose two life, stunguard 2. turning point: When there are two or fewer reflection markers left on the board, flip this card. The Dark World In a sudden blur of motion, everything seems to change. Everything is the same, but strangely different. There's no time for a pause. Shadows and reflections. The moon above turns crimson. The fight goes on. Use the 7-space board. Remove any remaining reflection markers. Switch the positions of the player's standups. Place a "Dark World" marker on every every square other than the squares containing players when the card flips. Any player starting their turn on a "Dark World" marker at the start of the beat, may choose to switch places with any square containing a "dark world marker", while losing life equal to the number of spaces between the dark world marker where they started, and where they ended. When this happens remove the dark world marker that the fighter arrived at. (Remember, start of beat effects are resolved in priority order) While the board is in the Dark World, Other World Tokens may be spent for one of the following effects during the ante phase. The desired effect must be declared when the token is anted. 1.) +2 Power 2.) +2 Priority 3.) Before Activating: Move 1 --- I have no idea what I'm doing, but I really like the idea of an arena that takes place over a mirrored pond.
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Oct 6, 2014 14:16
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Empire of Gesselheim Haunted Sewers Grey bricks crumble all around, occasionally broken up by large pipes. You come across a spirit in an open area; it seems startled and cowers down. Perhaps you can ignore it. Use the 7 space board. Players start one space from the edges. Place a shy ghost marker in the center space. Start of beat, after player start of beat effects, check the position of the shy ghost. If it is in between two fighters or on the space of a fighter, nothing happens. Otherwise, if it is adjacent to a fighter, that fighter loses 1 life; if it is not adjacent to a fighter, it moves 1 space towards the closest fighter, and if it ends adjacent to a fighter that fighter loses 1 life. If an attack that includes the ghost's space in its range misses, add one anger token a pool off to the side. If an attack that includes the ghost's space in its range hits, the target of the attack may choose to have the ghost soak 1 damage from the attack by adding an anger token to the pool. Turning point: When there are 3 or more anger tokens in the pool during the recycle phase, flip this card. Angered Spirits The spirit has had enough. It advances inexorably, attacking any who get in its way. Use the 7 space board. Players retain their positions, and the shy ghost token is replaced with an angry ghost token. Start of beat, after player start of beat effects, the ghost moves towards the nearest player if it is not already on or adjacent to a player. If there is a tie for nearest, the ghost moves towards the active player. After this movement, it deals 1 damage to any adjacent player and any player it shares a space with. If it deals damage this way, remove an angry token from the pool. If an attack that includes the ghost's space in its range misses, add one anger token a pool off to the side. If an attack that includes the ghost's space in its range hits, the target of the attack may choose to have the ghost soak 1 damage from the attack by adding an anger token to the pool. When there are no more anger tokens in the pool, flip the card back. Players retain their positions and the angry ghost becomes a shy ghost again. Sefer fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Oct 30, 2014 |
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Oct 6, 2014 16:58
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I need to add some flavor text to the above but I wanted to make sure the mechanics got in before the deadline...
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Oct 6, 2014 16:58
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cutting it just a little close there 
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Oct 6, 2014 17:05
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That's fine, Sefer. Getting in the mechanics is the essential part! Androc
FIGHT! Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Oct 8, 2014 |
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Oct 6, 2014 18:46
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I finally came up with an idea that wasn't already taken! ...And it's way too late. Oh.  Oh well! Is it all right if I share my ideas anyway? I'd like to see them critiqued and/or played. I've got one based off of the Nathaniel Hawthorne story "Rappaccini's Daughter," one set in a robot factory a la Chrono Trigger, and one with three moons whose cycles affect gameplay.
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Oct 7, 2014 02:22
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What are the mechanics though
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Oct 7, 2014 02:42
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Tollymain posted:What are the mechanics though Still working on them a bit. Rappaccini's Garden | Eden's Venom is mostly done; I'm trying to balance the powers and the life loss. EDIT: --Note: Non-competitive. This is just a squiggle of an idea, anyway. And since nobody commented on it...  --quote:Rappaccini's Garden: ActingPower fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Oct 16, 2014 |
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Oct 7, 2014 04:12
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Argh! Why do I never look at the stickied threads!  Good luck, goons!
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Oct 7, 2014 07:31
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Fix posted:Argh! Why do I never look at the stickied threads! I only got around to stickying it today. Sorry ARB 
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Oct 7, 2014 13:50
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The OP has been updated with a list of currently running games! If I've missed any, let me know. In light of the thread being stickied, and with the general notion that more entrants = more better, I've decided to extend the first deadline to Noon EST on October 13th. The monkey's paw turn that goes with that is that I'm not changing the later deadlines at the moment. The playtesting deadline will be flexible for people who are already well underway on the playtests by the 19th, but make sure to get on top of that quickly if you haven't begun already. Still, I'd love to see more contributions, so do enter if you have interest, and let's add to that map of Indines!
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Oct 8, 2014 09:18
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As a reminder, folks who still wanted to get in have until the end of the weekend. That's all!
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Oct 11, 2014 19:08
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This really sucks, but I may or may not have to withdraw. I still haven't started my playtest, and I've only got a week to do it and have been caught up in a lot of RL crap.
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Oct 11, 2014 19:13
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You don't have to drop out if you can't manage a playtest! It'll be something I consider when judging, but it's not mandatory.
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Oct 11, 2014 20:33
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Poison Mushroom posted:This really sucks, but I may or may not have to withdraw. I still haven't started my playtest, and I've only got a week to do it and have been caught up in a lot of RL crap. If you can't run a playtest, I'm willing to run one set in your arena. I should be able to handle two games at once. Especially since the players for my arena haven't gotten me pairs for beat 1 yet. Hint, hint 
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Oct 12, 2014 06:39
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Sefer posted:If you can't run a playtest, I'm willing to run one set in your arena. I should be able to handle two games at once.
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Oct 12, 2014 06:49
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I wanted to make an arena that both encouraged and punished scoring light hits and hiding in the corners of this large arena. Sometimes you want to be the player scoring one or two damage hits and running away-- sometimes you want to be planted firmly in the middle of the arena, laughing as a wave of zombies carries your foe to their death. And if you can trigger a clash at the right time, you can do a lot of free damage. 
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Oct 13, 2014 00:37
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I didn't mention it Monday, but entries are closed. A lot of interesting arenas, and it's going to be tough picking a winner. Or winners, maybe. Did I say that? I'll have to check with Level 99. The OP should be updated with links to all the current matches I'm aware of, and it's great to see so many going on. If there's any matches I'm missing, let me know. As a reminder, if you're going to playtest, make sure to start it by the end of the week!
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Oct 16, 2014 05:17
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I have changed the first half of Abandoned Iron Mines slighty, after playtesting. 
girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Oct 23, 2014 |
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Oct 23, 2014 21:01
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| # ? May 17, 2024 19:01 |
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As a reminder, people have about four days left to complete entries! I'll be cutting final revisions off at Noon EST on November 1st. If you've playtested (or not) and decided not to make any changes, please note that here. Otherwise I'll presume you skipped the last step if I'm not otherwise notified. That isn't going disqualify anyone if you don't, but it's something I'll take into consideration in judging.
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Oct 27, 2014 11:45
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