Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of Myths, Gods and Empires => Topic started by: Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye on November 23, 2014, 09:25:32 PM
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Some years ago I ran a pulp/colonial scenario in which the players were trying to recover a lost treasure somewhere in Africa. The idea was inspired by an old article in Battle magazine that told of a tabletop game in which each player had different objectives - instead of a battle it was a tabletop adventure. Anyway, I've run it a number of times with minor variations and it always seems to go over well.
The original concept was set in the some obscure "colonial period" - and featured several teams, each run by a player. There was an American Adventurer, some Portuguese, a British contingent with some stalwart Askari, the Germans in a Lego zeppelin, and Professor Magillicutty who had invented a mole machine to travel underground. IIRC there were also Arab Slavers to make 6 players.
So to convert this to Ancient Egypt we can have the following factions:
1) Pharaoh's expedition, sent on the mission by Pharaoh himself.
2) Queen's expedition, sent privately on behest of the Queen.
3) Tomb Robbers, a band of rogues also seeking the treasure.
4) Temple expedition, sponsored by one of the Temples.
5) A Prince or Princess who wants to grab the treasure for themselves.
Additional players can be made up by Tomb Robbers and/or rival princes or princesses.
Each expedition has a number of members:
The main character, representing the player himself. He will have a loyal companion or bodyguard and about a dozen or so minions, or "soak offs" as you might call them.
The Pharaoh's expedition should be lead by one of his counselors, with an able fighter as bodyguard. The minions will be from his Palace Guard.
The Queen's expedition will have a suitable leader and bodyguard and harem guards as minions.
The tomb robbers can use tomb robber figures, overseers, nubians and armed concubines.
The temple expedition can have some priests with Nubian mercenaries.
The princes or princess can have themselves, a companion and the female guards.
The way the game works is that each expedition is trying to cross the table to the lost temple and then return with the treasure. The table is meant to represent some wilderness region beyond the borders of the Realm. It will use both stategic and tactical movement.
The table is meant to represent a wide expanse of wilderness. It should be at least 4' x 8' but 5' x 9' is probably a bit better.
To set up the table divide it into largish squares. Say 3 or 4 rows of squares running the length of the table. The divisions should be marked out by terrain pieces so as to not destroy the look of the game. Each of these squares is divided into quarters, which can either be marked by some insignificant terrain piece or merely assumed. These large and small squares will control strategic movement and the random encounters.
About halfway along the table place a river that runs from side to side and which the players must cross to reach the destination. Naturally this river is infested with crocodiles. Feel free to add numerous crocodiles along it's banks to emphasize this point. :D
The temple will be on the far side of the river. Now in the original game I used a large Aztec style pyramid that stands a good 10" tall with the treasure right at the top. (In those games the treasure was a bit that came from the Lego zeppelin set and really looked the part.) For this variant you will need some sort of temple.
Another option is not to have the temple's location known but force them to find it once they are on the other side of the river.
Yet another option would be to have an underground chamber aspect to be played out on a separate adjacent table...
All rest of the terrain is just wilderness - jungle, scrub or desert as you like as long as you can work out where the squares are.
Strategic Movement - most of the time the expeditions will be moving through the wilderness to reach the temple. This is called strategic movement. If they have an encounter or are right in the same area as another expedition they may switch to tactical turns.
Move order is determined by cards. Remove a number of cards equal to players from a deck and record which belongs to each faction. Each turn the order the cards are drawn in determine the order the players move.
Movement is by the small squares. Each turn an expedition can move 1d3 small squares. This might be altered by events or magic or panic, etc.
IIRC I did not allow players to move diagonally.
Each time the expedition crosses into another large square there is a possibility of an encounter. What I had was a list of events, some of which could happen once, some multiple times and maybe some that only effected certain expeditions. Each event was given a card association and I just used the balance of the deck of card to randomly draw the events as they occurred.
Some events were essentially "nothing happens" ie. a "Flight of Birds". Others included a native village, cannibal warband, a native princess, lions, man-eating plants, etc. Some events can occur multiple times while other - like the village - only occur once. I will have to think of a list appropriate for our era...
When an event occurs the referee plays it out. Now here it is important to accept that the table is somewhat variable in ground scale. So if the village is found it is placed on the table as a small group of huts with the expedition at the edge. So altogether they probably now occupy more than a single small square which had previously represented a large area of wilderness.
Each time an encounter like this occurs there will be an interaction which could end up in combat. If so then there will be 3 rounds of tactical combat and then play moves on to the next player. Other players can move to the area and enter the fray generating another 3 rounds of combat. Otherwise the combat continues next turn or the referee might find it better to have the foe run off at that point.
One example of an encounter was a swamp. As I have two swamp terrain pieces this can occur twice in the game. When it occurs the swampy terrain is placed under the expedition. When they leave next turn or any time anyone else tries to move through that small square each figure must dice to see if they are sucked into the ooze and lost. On a '1' the figure is sucked down. The hero and significant figures can be saved by losing another. A sort of "look out, Sir" rule that warhammer players will recognize. ;)
Similarly, when crossing the river a d6 is rolled. On a roll of '1' a figure is dragged under by a crocodile.
Well that's all for now. I can see I have a few details to work out but you can see the general idea.
Comments or suggestions welcome. I'll post a few more details later.
Howard
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Sounds great,maybe for a change pygmies,a British naturalist with armed guards/guides or a gang trapping animals to sell to zoos?
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What fun!
What you are describing is the classic 'Braunstein' style of skirmish game - something between 'wargaming' and 'role-playing' games; good to see you getting this out for us, and thank you!
- chirine
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I should add that when laying out the table it is only necessary to indicate the corners of the large squares, with perhaps a small terrain piece or some sort of feature, and then a smaller piece or maybe only a pebble, to indicate the center.
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Note: The referee will have playing cards equal to the number of expeditions. Choose one suit to use for this purpose. The cards will be Ace, 2, 3, and so on, up to the number
of expeditions in the game.
Turn Sequence
1) The Referee will shuffle and randomly distribute the turn order cards to the players.
2) The player with the Ace may choose to either move first or wait. If the player chooses to wait he or she may opt to move before any other player, or move last, by simply declaring the intention before the other player begins his turn.
3) The other players take their turns one after the other in the order determined by the cards, from lowest to highest. The player with the Ace may opt to pre-empt any player as described in (2).
4) Once all turns are taken there is a night phase that the Referee must resolve.
5) Repeat until the game ends.
During its turn each expedition performs the following actions:
1) Roll for recovery.
2) Move - and possibly resolve an encounter. The expedition must then decide whether to "press on" or "camp for the night".
3) Make any "press on" move - and possibly resolve an encounter.
4) Take an Action.
In detail...
1) Recovery Rolls
At the start of a turn an expedition will be "rested" or "tired". In order to be "rested" an expedition must have 1) opted to "camp for the night" at the end of its last turn, and 2) not had a negative encounter during the night.
At the start of its turn an expedition may roll for the "recovery" of injured members. Roll 1D6 per injured expedition member and consult the following table:
d6 roll: Result:
1-2 dies.
3-4 remains injured.
5-6 recovers and returned to play.
Modifiers: Rested +1, Tired -1, First Aid +1, Magic: roll d6... evens = +2, odds = -1, Special Item: bonus or penalty per item, Expedition Cursed -1.
Characters with multiple wounds make a roll for each wound suffered.
2) Make a Move
(Note: It would be a good idea to have a tent marker, or firepit, for each expedition, to place on the table during turns in which the expedition is camped.)
An expedition is not required to make a move. An expedition may stay in one spot for as many turns as they want. There will be no encounter and the expedition may "camp for the night" at the end of the turn. An expedition may take other Actions while staying in the same spot, ie. Searching.
Each turn an expedition may move 1D3 small squares. If an expedition moves the camp is taken down and the marker removed from the table.
When an expedition enters a large square a card is drawn at the end of its move to see if there is an encounter.
After any encounter is resolved an expedition may opt to "camp for the night" or it may choose to "press on". It would be a good idea to have a tent marker, or firepit, to place on the table during turns in which the expedition is camped. If an expedition opts to "camp for the night" it does so on that spot. Place a marker to indicate it is camped.
3) Pressing On
An expedition that chooses to "press on" may move an additional small square, possibly entering another large square and causing another card to be drawn. An expedition may only "press on" once per turn. An expedition that presses on cannot be rested the next day and does not get to set up camp at the end of its move.
4) Take an Action.
Each character may attempt one allowable action. Actions include things like: Searching, performing First Aid, Casting Magic, etc.
Night
Certain encounters occur during the night. Each expedition must make a d6 roll. A roll of
'1' indicates a night encounter for that expedition.
to be continued...
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Very interesting Sir Barnaby - sounds fun and intriguing. :)
Please keep going with this.
When you get down to "tactical combat" are you moving individual miniatures into contact or are you battling with the expedition as a whole?
Also have found your blog chirine (chirinesworkbench.blogspot.com (http://chirinesworkbench.blogspot.com)) - you certainly seem to be "in the know" about this style of gaming.
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We do the tactical just like a skirmish game. But only 3 rounds to keep the game moving. When we did the colonial/pulp games we used modified "Warhammer Colonial" rules, which are sort of based on 40K. (ie. move - shoot - assault).
I'm going to suggest a similar set for this version but I think any good set of rules should do the trick.
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Very interesting Sir Barnaby - sounds fun and intriguing. :)
Please keep going with this.
When you get down to "tactical combat" are you moving individual miniatures into contact or are you battling with the expedition as a whole?
Also have found your blog chirine (chirinesworkbench.blogspot.com (http://chirinesworkbench.blogspot.com)) - you certainly seem to be "in the know" about this style of gaming.
I agree! This would play out very well on the table, and would be a screamer of a fun game!
Thank you for your kind words, too! I've been involved with gaming here in the Twin Cities since 1976; I gamed with Dave Wesely, the creator of the 'Braunstein', and worked for Dave Arneson as the guy publishing Prof. Barker's Tekumel materials for Adventure Games. I've been running this kind of skirmish gaming since then, and we still have a lot of fun doing it. I live in a sort of 'twilight world' between classic 'role-playing' games and classic 'wargames'; I do both, as needed, but mostly we play games that are both and are neither - just like we did back in 'Ye Olden Dayes', in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I enjoy it, and I especially enjoy making the models and miniatures!
- chirine
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Beautiful Maidens
One of the encounters I had originally was a "Native Princess" which was basically a "no event" encounter. I didn't actually write any firm rules for her but the idea was that if she accompanied the expedition she might help influence friendly natives or give local knowledge, that sort of thing.
In one game the British expedition made it to the temple and retrieved the gold idol. Of course, the side that does that immediately becomes the target of all the other players. He still had to make it back across the table to win and to do that he had to cross the river. There was only the native princess, his askari sergeant, last survivor of his men, himself and the idol.
Once across he realized another player was too close so he crossed back to get away. Remember - each time you cross the river you have to roll for crocs! This time he did roll a '1' and his stalwart sergeant was pulled under. A turn later that player was occupied by some encounter of his own so he tried to dash back. Another '1'! Oh no! I said, "you can throw the idol in and save the Princess..." He replied that he was keeping the idol, so the poor princess got eaten. So much for love... lol
For this game I've thought of a new angle. My thinking is there could be multiple possible encounters with Beautiful Maidens. These could be during the regular encounters or at night. My thinking for this game also is that instead of having the destination in a fixed - known - location on the table, the players have to find the Lost Temple. More on that later.
So the positive benefits these lost princesses (assumed) can provide are:
1) local knowledge: re-roll failures when crossing the swamps.
2) help with the locals. A bonus with the tribal village encounter.
3) maybe even a bonus in locating the temple...
But....
...and there always is a "But", isn't there?
But...
...as we all know, Beautiful Maidens can be as treacherous as they are beautiful!
So, some possible negative points might include:
1) the princess is actually not what she seems...
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-BW08ErhxqiY/VGkWWrQVjMI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/X5dSLTIvZDY/s800/Egyptian_Vampires.jpg)
2) She claims that you have kidnapped her, generating a negative modifier with the natives.
3) sure, she's seen a temple around here, but she is actually pretty ditsy so there is a negative modifier applied.
more to follow...
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Well, there you go!
It's a well-known scientific fact that all jungles with Lost Temples in them are simply swarming with Beautiful Maidens; this has been established by any number of expeditions over the years, and has been very well documented by any number of movies - usually from that respected documentary film studio, Hammer.
Whee! :) Thank you!
- chirine
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It's a well-known scientific fact that all jungles with Lost Temples in them are simply swarming with Beautiful Maidens; this has been established by any number of expeditions over the years, and has been very well documented by any number of movies - usually from that respected documentary film studio, Hammer.
Quite so, quite so.
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Brilliant stuff again i have about 150 young naked ladies in my fantasy collection and those I have and wil get hehe
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Must have something to do with the heat (makes things bloom) and the humidity (no need for daily moisturizing)>
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Great concept and nice conversion work on those minis,paint job is lovely.
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Conversion? ???
Those are part of the Egyptian Figures Indiegogo Campaign, part 4:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/egyptian-miniatures-iv/x/1587080
See also the thread for the campaign.
The figures were painted by Paul Sanderson, IIRC.
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Ooops,sorry,thought the ladies in the picture had vampire fangs added,must be my old eyes.
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Beautiful Maidens
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But....
...and there always is a "But", isn't there?
But...
...as we all know, Beautiful Maidens can be as treacherous as they are beautiful!
~
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-BW08ErhxqiY/VGkWWrQVjMI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/X5dSLTIvZDY/s800/Egyptian_Vampires.jpg)
~
more to follow...
Are they not indeed!!
Ooops,sorry,thought the ladies in the picture had vampire fangs added,must be my old eyes.
Fangs intended rather than added it seems, though like you, my first thought was 'conversion'
UNLOCKED! the Egyptian Vampire set for $12 (includes Vampire Queen & two minion vampires).
A marvelously comprehensive set of character figures available there, & here as well!!
http://www.darkfableminiatures.com/index.html (http://www.darkfableminiatures.com/index.html)
Perhaps one could begin the game with a suitably Phetching Pharaoh's Phemme, or two, or three, one or more of which turn 'bloodthirsty' mid game as the minis get switched for these Pharaoh's Phanged Phemmes Phatale.
Saw I the harridans depicted, I'd decamp with undue haste, obvious physical charms on offer notwithstanding, such overbite simply demands departure.
Thanks very much for the scenario scripts, marvelous Pulp Alley fodder on many levels!!
Look for bits of which to appear, suitable twisted of course, in future forays!!
Valerik
"Remember, Rome wasn't burned inna day..."