Pulp Alley 15 and 20-point leagues?

[thebinmann]

Hello,

I'm thinking of trying out 15 point leagues to give the league a little more flavour - use of weapons etc. Have any of you tried this? How was it?

I might alos try a 20 point league instead of playing a 3-way game, so 2 10 point leagues "vs" a 20-pointer... has anyone tried this?

Cheers

[NickNascati]

I almost always make my leader a commander to get the extra four slots.  All depends on how many figures you can keeep track of.

[blacksoilbill]

I've thought about it for a version of GW's Warcry, but I've not tried it.

[thebinmann]

Cheers

[aircav]

Just put it on the Pulp Alley players page for you Adam, might get some more answers from there, I will repost em for you here

[aircav]

Here’s a reply from Facebook -

I don't know where LAF is but my two cents is that of course you can always increase the allowable number of slots to accommodate your personal preferences (such as just a larger version of the game strictly for combat scenarios) but in my personal adventures with Pulp Alley I have never seen the need to for me.  I like how simple and challenging it is to make a League as is.  However like Dave always says, "Make it your own and have fun!"

[warrenpeace]

Dropping in from Facebook. Haven't been here in a while.

I have used some 12 slot leagues when I've wanted to add just a little more power.

I've also used the Mastermind league perk or Commander leader ability to add more slots. When I use Mastermind I like to give the sidekick in charge one level 4 ability. If that sidekick uses the Commander ability with the Mastermind league perk then there's 20 slots right there. That results in a lot of bodies to interfere with a couple of other leagues, but they are not overpowered.

I usually like to design scenarios for multiple players. One style I like to use is leagues of Indiana Jones & Tomb Raider types competing against each other and a table defense league. The league defending the table might be constructed as above to give maximum bodies to interfere with and delay the main protagonist leagues. Then again there might be a lot of ambushing characters such as giant snakes (why did they have to be snakes?), leopards, witch doctors, gangs of natives (with spears, knives, or muskets), wild boar, ninjas, etc., which may set up hidden, or may be triggered when a character from one of the main protagonist leagues comes close to a terrain feature. Sometimes I have a player run the table defense league, and sometimes I run it as the GM.

Sometimes I include what used to be called a Terror, and is now called an Epic Character. Because these have so many slots, I sometimes transfer slots from the Epic Character to the table defense league. My most fun Terror was a giant crocodile . I used it to lumber onto the table after a few turns to start chasing the protagonist leagues off the table. That meant that they had only a few turns to grab the plot points. And then they faced a dramatic choice of either running or banding together with other leagues to fight the Terror. You can search here for "Island of the Crocodile God" to see descriptions and photos in this forum.

As for loading up the characters with more weapons and abilities, I've found that it's difficult for me and other players to keep track of too many abilities and too many cards in hand. We forget to use abilities and cards that we have, or take too long to shuffle around and find something that will help. This is supposed to be a quick reaction game rather than a game of chess. Important to keep the game moving quickly for better entertainment value rather than letting it get bogged down.

My 2 cents... Now off to my usual haunts.

[thebinmann]

Hello,

Thanks a lot for the very detailed answers. As it was our first time, in the end we played with three leagues with no allies. The game was fairly balanced in the end, with no "ganging up" so it worked pretty well. Two of the leagues had commander, one mixed with the perk that gives an extra sidekick slot, so this offered a bit of variety. I'll try to post a few piccies....

All the best

[thebinmann]

As for loading up the characters with more weapons and abilities, I've found that it's difficult for me and other players to keep track of too many abilities and too many cards in hand. We forget to use abilities and cards that we have, or take too long to shuffle around and find something that will help. This is supposed to be a quick reaction game rather than a game of chess. Important to keep the game moving quickly for better entertainment value rather than letting it get bogged down.

My 2 cents... Now off to my usual haunts.

In the end, this was the reason I decided against 20 point leagues or two leagues for one player. The game isn't really about "winning" anyway... and the mechanics throw up a number of rather fats turnarounds - esp if you try to have leagues with varied skills/perks.

[Tolemykus]

When I felt the players needed something extra, I just allowed them the Company of Heroes perk for free. They still had to pay the 3 levels for the character, but I gave them a free extra 2 point perk. It seems to help while not giving them too much power.

[aircav]

When I felt the players needed something extra, I just allowed them the Company of Heroes perk for free. They still had to pay the 3 levels for the character, but I gave them a free extra 2 point perk. It seems to help while not giving them too much power.

When I first started playing Pulp Alley with the kids I let them have the ‘Can O Beans’ card for free

[aircav]

When I felt the players needed something extra, I just allowed them the Company of Heroes perk for free. They still had to pay the 3 levels for the character, but I gave them a free extra 2 point perk. It seems to help while not giving them too much power.

That’s a good idea
When I first started playing Pulp Alley with the kids I let them have the ‘Can O Beans’ card for free