Strange Aeons Solo Play

[underfire987]

I haven't found that in my games. But.....I tend to play larger BP games. Then, there are random events that are triggered by Threshold Agents. Sometimes they can find a magic spell, or sometimes they can inadvertently invoke a Zombie or two. They are usually not balanced games, and in yesterday's solo game, Threshold was destroyed.

Personally, I don't like to randomize the side that I am playing. Usually I play Threshold and they seem to have more complex objectives for my scenarios, than do the Lurkers. I want a randomized activation with some non-deterministic aspects to the Lurker moves too. Generally, the lurkers are only trying to stop the Threshold agents from doing their job, they are the reactive team.

As for the "End turn now" card, do you not find them annoying? I may have up to 11 activation cards for my Lurkers (6 Cultists with command, up to 4 Zombies and a Daemon) and still the "end turn" card comes up too often. Since I have only 4 Threshold Agents, their turn is always done early. Therefore, the "end turn" card generally interferes with the remaining Lurkers instead. I now have a "end turn now on a D6 roll of 4+" card, which is less intrusive.

Agree with you completely. I would like too add as well though, that since we would like too play our threshold agents fully in our control and no randomness. why not add some extra bonuses too the lurkers based on the BP level? so that they may be random and sometimes ineffective and yet other times very effective why not add this level so that it sort of balances out these extremes?

their fore they could be abit more effect and a more fairer challenge for our threshold agents ! what do u think of this idea?

[Argonor]

They are usually not balanced games, and in yesterday's solo game, Threshold was destroyed.

Which is quite as it should be, from time to time 

Personally, I don't like to randomize the side that I am playing. Usually I play Threshold and they seem to have more complex objectives for my scenarios, than do the Lurkers. I want a randomized activation with some non-deterministic aspects to the Lurker moves too. Generally, the lurkers are only trying to stop the Threshold agents from doing their job, they are the reactive team.

As SA is realy about Treshold, I also think a solo version should reflect that, so the player controls the agents, while the rules control the Lurkers. If both sides are randomized, it's like setting the Wii to have 2 computer players in a tennis game and then lean back.

As for the "End turn now" card, do you not find them annoying? I may have up to 11 activation cards for my Lurkers (6 Cultists with command, up to 4 Zombies and a Daemon) and still the "end turn" card comes up too often. Since I have only 4 Threshold Agents, their turn is always done early. Therefore, the "end turn" card generally interferes with the remaining Lurkers instead. I now have a "end turn now on a D6 roll of 4+" card, which is less intrusive.

I don't like 'End Turns'. I would prefer that the turn sequnce was:

1: Treshold takes a normal turn. Alert Lurkers will always react at first opportunity.
2: Depending on the number Lurker models with command, a number of random Lurker Models is activated. (1+1 for each model with Command?)

Or vice versa - depending on scenario. Then alternate turns as normal. Lurker cards are shuffled

Lurkers with armed weapons will always shoot at nearest agent in range and LOS, but will shoot at agent within a certain distance of an objective instead if possible.
Lurkers with no ranged weapon will, in order of priority: 1) Charge agent within range 2) Move towards objective 3) Move towards nearest objective 4) Move towards nearest agent.

OBJECTIVE is defined by scenario or the Lurker's special rules (for instance, a grave marker is an objective for a Ghoul, a Scrawny One will eat humans, etc.)

What say you?

[Kamiya]

I would also prefer to have a no randomized threshold team.

But I don't want that to come with the cost of an unbalanced game. If the lurker team has units with command skill then they should be able to use that skill to the same extent as the threshold. As long as there is a system for this then I'd say rock on.

[Sheerluck Holmes]

The cards are not there to create randomness - the system is used to add uncertainty and unpredictability to a game by not knowing which figure will be activated when in a turn.

 They are a tool to allow various units to be activated in such a way that you didn't expect to happen, thus adding a level of unknown to the game turn.

 You as the player have full control over the design of your Agents (BP) and what orders you give them. It is only when they are activated that changes in this system.

 As mentioned in a previous post, it is only the lurkers have guide lines as to how they behave in a given situation based on scenario requirements and proximity to agents or objectives.

 The end turn is only a suggested addition to the system - it isn't 100% necessary: it is to add tension to the game and force you to make decisions that could make or break the scenario.

 As with any rule system players are free to do as they like with the rules and change them in such a way as that makes them happy.

 Please do that with the solo rules, and enjoy playing SA 
 

[Bowman]

I would also prefer to have a no randomized threshold team.

Me too, but to be fair to Sheerluck, I agree that this just adds some randomization to the Threshold activation. Once the figure is activated Sheerluck totally controls the play. So the games aren't that much different. Sheerluck just likes that extra tension. The Aggression Rolls for the Lurkers do that for me. Until I roll the die I'm not sure exactly how the lurker responds. I then interpret how the figure best responds given the parameters of the scenario.

But I don't want that to come with the cost of an unbalanced game. If the lurker team has units with command skill then they should be able to use that skill to the same extent as the threshold. As long as there is a system for this then I'd say rock on.

Hmmm......yes. I have yet to play linked games, where the previous game affects the next one. I have set up "one off" games, which frankly have been suicide missions for the Threshold side. I wanted to set up a scenario that had an AI controlled Lurker side, that had difficult to obtain objectives. The Threshold agents were not expected to survive.

Of course, that is not how most people play. With linked campaign style games you want your agents to survive and gain experience and new skills. In that case, you should be playing a balanced point game, just like the rules say. It shouldn't make much difference to any solo play mechanisms.

[underfire987]

So just too get this right. I need just too set up the cards for my lurkers and then if i want too i can add a few random end turn cards ect?

I also think for my threshold i will use them 100% under my control but what i will do is put a fair bit of those end turn cards into the card deck hence it will end a turn and i may not have had a chance too activate all my units, too balance it out .

[Sheerluck Holmes]

If you play it the way I have written it, you still need to add agent cards to the deck.

 If you want all figure to activate during a turn do not add the end turn cards.

 Adding one or more end cards is not essential and should only be included if you want the turn to end before all figures get to move.

 If you don't add the agent card and use end turn cards then you are being unfair to the lurkers.

But, having said that, use the system how ever you see fit - just don't expect answers to questions on how the system works if you change how you use it    ... after all, once you change the system it is no longer my system but your own.

[Bowman]

So just too get this right. .......... but what i will do is put a fair bit of those end turn cards into the card deck hence it will end a turn and i may not have had a chance too activate all my units, too balance it out .

Ok, if you select the Threshold figures wholly by your choice, but pick the Lurker figures by card drawn activation, you are penalizing the Lurker side, as Sheerluck correctly explains.

If you play even a single "end turn" card you will, statistically speaking, also penalize the Lurker side. Why? Because due to the cost of Lurkers, you will have more Lurker figures than Threshold figures. (In my games the ratio is about 2:1). The purpose of the "end turn" card is to add some unpredictability to the solo game by stranding some figures, by not letting them play this turn. Statistically, that will usually strand more Lurkers than Threshold figures each turn.

Be prepared for that.

I don't know why you would want multiple "end turn" cards in your deck. Assume you have 5 Lurkers in your deck. Putting 2 "end turn" cards will stop your turn 28% of the time on the first card pull! Using one "end turn on 4+" card will drop that to about 8%. I'd suggest that might be more manageable.

[Sheerluck Holmes]

If you play even a single "end turn" card you will, statistically speaking, also penalize the Lurker side. Why?
I don't know why you would want multiple "end turn" cards in your deck. Assume you have 5 Lurkers in your deck. Putting 2 "end turn" cards will stop your turn 28% of the time on the first card pull! Using one "end turn on 4+" card will drop that to about 8%. I'd suggest that might be more manageable.

I add extra cards into the deck that are either "Blank cards" (i.e. nothing happens.. this is for added tension) or "random even cards" that can give a bonus or penalty to either side (one method when a random event card is drawn is to draw a card from the 'twist of fate deck' downloadable from the Strange Aeons site).

 I would suggest only using one 'end turn' card in the deck, and even the method suggested by Bowman is a good one.

 An alternative is to include the end turn as a random event - that way it wont always happen but the chance of it happening is still there... you just don't know if or when it will happen.

[Kamiya]

Ok, if you select the Threshold figures wholly by your choice, but pick the Lurker figures by card drawn activation, you are penalizing the Lurker side, as Sheerluck correctly explains.

Sorry Bowman, I must have misunderstood your system because you wrote in an earlier post:

I think we are conflating two separate mechanisms for solo play here. Allow me a quick run through. First, pick a side you want to play. Let's assume that you wish to play Threshold, therefore you only need cards for your Lurker forces. This is simply to randomize the "activation" process for the individual Lurkers.

Aren't you saying that you use cards only to activate Lurkers and then activating the Threshold by your own choice? In that case I can't see what is different from your solo system as to what underfire suggested. Except for the inclusion of end turn cards of course.

[Bowman]

Sorry Bowman, I must have misunderstood your system because you wrote in an earlier post:

Aren't you saying that you use cards only to activate Lurkers and then activating the Threshold by your own choice? In that case I can't see what is different from your solo system as to what underfire suggested. Except for the inclusion of end turn cards of course.

Sorry. My system is like Underfires. I'm just warning him that the Lurker side is slightly disadvantaged by this system. Their activation is wholly random, and their behavior, once activated, is also somewhat governed by chance die rolls (that would be my aggression roll). This only matters in a balanced point game. My games that I have played so far tended to be unbalanced and stacked against Threshold. Eventually, someone smarter than me could figure out that, "Random activation of one side is equal to 3 points", so that side gets 3 points for figures or equipment.

Since Sheerluck uses a card drawing system for the activation of both Lurkers and Threshold, his system is inherently balanced already.

[Bowman]

I add extra cards into the deck that are either "Blank cards" (i.e. nothing happens.. this is for added tension) or "random even cards" that can give a bonus or penalty to either side (one method when a random event card is drawn is to draw a card from the 'twist of fate deck' downloadable from the Strange Aeons site).

Sheerluck, do you have your own random event cards made up that you could share?

In my scenarios I use these little Cthulhu statues that I bought at Origins this year. I scatter them around the table. If a Threshold Agents chooses to do so they can "examine" one of the statues. There is the potential that the statue is imbued with some powers that are unleashed. The Agent throws 2D6:

Score                                     Event
2                        Agent inadvertently summons 2 undead Zombies, who arrive 3D6" in a random direction from the statue (add cards and figures to game)
3                        Nothing Happens
4                        Agent inadvertently summons 1 undead Zombie, who arrives 3D6" in a random direction from the statue (add card and figure to game)
5                        Nothing Happens
6                        Agent inadvertently summons 1 Knife armed Cultist, who arrives 3D6" in a random direction from the statue (add card and figure to game)
7                        Nothing Happens
8                        Agent gains 1 skill (may be any single skill appropriate to Agents level)
9                        Nothing Happens
10                      Agent uncovers Magical scroll is found with 1 magic spell (randomly chosen)
11                      Nothing Happens
12                      Agent uncovers Magical scroll is found with 2 magic spells (randomly chosen)

In the last game, I only rolled 2s and 4s for the Threshold rolls and Threshold got smoked!

Also I have obelisks that are used to invoke Deamons. The Threshold Agents are supposed to "Purify" (destroy) the obelisks. The lurkers drag captured civilians and try to sacrifice them at the obelisks to bring the Daemon into existence. If the Threshold Agents rescue to civilians, the a Cultist may commit suicide by the obelisk also. My Daemons use the "Skinny One" stats, so they are not that powerful. But they can Teleport from obelisk to obelisk, which makes them tricky to pin down. You need to purify the other obelisks!

Zombies don't need Aggression Rolls, as they always pursue the Threshold Agents.

Ok, so I fill up my scenarios with a lot of stuff, and at any given movement I don't know how many figures I will need or what the point values are. There are a lot of interesting things in this game and I have a tendency to cram them all in.

[Sheerluck Holmes]

As mentioned you can use the "Twist of Fate" Deck for random events http://strange-aeons.ca/sa/?page_id=23

 Looking at your chart you have 11 events: 5 do nothing, 3 have the chance to kill agents, 2 technically can't be used until they are translated between games, and the last one can be useful - if the situation arises that the skill can be used.

 I humbly suggest that is is one reason your agents get bashed about so much, as there is almost nothing there to help the agents during a game.

 When I put together a random event deck I add cards that can be used immediately as a benefit as a once off use: "+# bonus to next dice roll", "auto critical hit with next damage roll", "automatically pass next fear check" and so on.  You can add 'fluff' to those cards to explain why they get the bonus such as "Remembering your training you take your time to carefully aim your weapon before pulling the trigger. The next time you hit a target you automatically cause a critical hit"

 You can also add additional text to these: "... for the next Threshold Agent activated" or "...for the next Lurker activated".  This way they can only be used for one side only. This way you can balance the cards towards a particular side if needed.

 Rather than have zombies rise the agents could find a body with a piece of equipment that could be used - a civil war sabre in the hands of a body (that didn't turn in to a zombie) will be a welcome bonus to your agents.

 I tend to add either 50/50 good/harmful cards in to a random event deck, but this allows you to alter the degree of difficulty for a game - for an easy game you could have 75/25 good/harmful, for an average game 50/50, and for a hard game 25/75.

 I hope this has been of some help.

[thebinmann]

Nice topic

Sheerluck love the cards, is there a template for those?

[Sheerluck Holmes]

Nice topic

Sheerluck love the cards, is there a template for those?

 Yes... but you have to print both sides out or print the backs out and add photos of your minis and glue them together.

 I have it in a PDF if you would like a copy.