Thanks all!
Question:
How does "war band" advancement compare to FRPG advancement? I stopped OD&D/AD&D decades ago (when second edition was building steam.) How does advancement affect playability/balance versus other teams?
Gracias,
Glenn
It is quite a bit different than character experience advancement from games like D&D... in those typically characters get xp for kills, treasure gained and other rewards decided on by a DM and each character in the party has their own advancement and choices to make as they 'level up' as well as likely some standard advances, like more hit points, better combat or magic skills, etc.
This game has a system that is much simpler. the 'warband' earns xp as a group in the form of 'shillings' after each game. You get more for a win than loss, plus some for every opponent you take out and a bit for each of your own that isn't taken out, and the scenario might give you some more for goals met. This goes into your bank and you can use it to hire new members, equipment and weapons, or spend 10 for a roll to advance a member's stats or to gain a skill. These are random rolls, so there is some luck involved. You can also buy 'influences' that you can use to influence (fancy that) a game, by selecting the time of day or bringing on an angry mob, etc.
So you could focus on hiring as many people as possible, or focus on your characters to get them better stats & skills to survive & thrive, or better weapons, or try to balance it all. You might well decide to keep a low investment on flunkies, so they may not advance at all as you spend your shillings for new or other members, -where in an RPG that wouldn't happen- all the characters are 'stars' in their own right and would advance.
As for balance, jury is still out on that as far as I'm concerned. The only balancing factor comes post-game. An underdog team earns more shillings if they face a team that has a higher rating (at 50 shilling increments). So while the game is going on, an under-rated team is going to be at a big disadvantage. I could see that this might cause a situation where the strong get stronger as the weak get weaker, since the bonus shillings is not much compared to the damage that can be inflicted. For example, if a team spends their shillings on new recruits, then each new member is worth another 2 shillings if they survive the next game.. if 11 such, that's 22 shillings just from survivors.. enough for 2 more guys with knives, which is then 26 shillings more after the next game, and so on.
But we haven't played enough games in succession for me to be sure- it's just a possible concern in my mind right now. If there are many teams to play (such as people playing more than one team, so games can be selected to bring similar ratings together) then it might be fine- that's what we've been aiming for.
05 June 2012, 09:44:36 PM