Thrilling Adventure Playtest Rules Version 2 Now Available! 6/8/14

[Operator5]

I am opening Thrilling Adventures to public playtest.

The playtest version of Thrilling Adventures is now available for FREE download. The goal of these rules is to provide players with a straight "out of the box" way to play a pulp game. You'll have all the stats on the character and unit cards and you will have cards that allow you to add equipment, abilities and special actions to your characters or units.There will be no prep time of figuring out characters or putting force lists together. Also, the rules you need to know, for the most part, fit on a single double-sided page. Different scenarios might have different special rules, but those are on a case by case basis.

And feedback. I would love any and all feedback (with exceptions shown below). The more comments I get, the better I can make the game. Just keep in mind the goal is not to end up needing a 20-page rulebook to play. It should be simple to play, but complex to master.



There are a few of things you should know before you sit down to start using these rules.

1) You do not need dice. I know I’ve lost half of you after you have read that, but if you can keep an open mind, give the rules a try. You might find you don’t need dice for every miniatures game.

2) These are playtest rules. Approach them as a work in progress and if you have questions, please ask (on our Facebook page or email me at raj@rattrapproductions.com). I have tried to make things clear within the rules sheets, but if something is not, I’d like to know so I can address it.

3) There are only 9 Character Cards per faction whereas the final decks will have 36 and offer a lot of customization. Please don’t write in to tell me that there aren’t enough choices for the characters. I know that and I hope to release a few more after GenCon so that you can try different combinations.

4) Ignore the point costs on the cards. They are rough guides and still need a lot of refinement.

5) There are only 24 Action Cards supplied. The final deck will have 36.

6) You have 22 Scenario Deck Cards. A full deck will come with 36. You may want to play around with the number you use depending on how long you want the game to run. Two of the cards do not go into the Scenario deck to be drawn, but are Guardian Stat Cards that appear based on the Scenario cards that are played.

7) There are no rules for cover. I know that seems odd for a miniatures game but the game assumes that all models are always taking the best advantage of the available terrain and only occasionally (specific Scenario card) will they get a bonus to their Defense.

8) There are no units in this playtest demo set, only characters. I will add a unit to each of the factions after GenCon.

Enough jabber. The link to the PDF is here.

Thrilling Adventure Playtest Rules

[Tars Tarkas]

These look super, thanks!  Looking forward to trying them, especially as I'm all for rules (esp pulp rules) that just allow you to play without reading the full IRS code first.

[Operator5]

I hope you enjoy them. Please share any thoughts or comments you have. Though the rules have been in development for 2 years or so, the play testing is still in its infancy. So any places where there are issues that should be addressed, I'll be sure to get right on it.

And the goal is that the final release will NOT have a rules document longer than 2 pages.

[Operator5]

Received a couple of questions and I thought I would share the answers.

Q) What will be the average faction size?

A) I'll probably plan my factions out at roughly 150 points. That would give you two characters, a unit and enough points for weapons and upgrades (about 4-6 models). If you go with larger point sizes and more units, you could end up with 20+ models per side. The final Faction decks will contain 3 characters and 2-4 units. That will give you up to 29 upgrade cards to mix and match.

Q) Do Units get a bonus on Defense like they do on Attack for more models?

A) No. More guns firing means there is a better chance of hitting. More guys doesn't mean they are suddenly harder to hit (though each individual might have a lower chance of being hit, the unit as a whole does now.)

[Operator5]

I have posted a preview of two of the unit cards for Thrilling Adventure. One is for the Gargoyle's faction and the other the Jade Hood. Should have some upgrade cards ready for them this weekend and then I'll have a new PDF ready for download. You can get the quick preview here:

http://www.rattrapproductions.com/2014/07/25/first-look-at-some-unit-cards/[/u]]http://www.rattrapproductions.com/2014/07/25/first-look-at-some-unit-cards/

[Operator5]

And some new questions that came in over the last couple of days.

Q) When using the Bonus Cards, do you announce them with abilities and equipment or with your Action card?

A) They are revealed with the Action Card. But they must be placed down in advance.

Q) (and this is the good one) Can you use the bonus on a Scenario card?

A) Never thought about that before so I'm going to rule on this now and say yes, if you want to make a TN more difficult, then you can use the Bonus. Obviously, cards that don't have a TN can't be affected.

Playtest game is tomorrow afternoon. Expect a full AAR hopefully with great photos (if not great then at least passable).

[Operator5]

I'm going to post the full report on here tonight or tomorrow. But if you are interested in seeing the details of the Thrilling Adventure playtest game before that, check out this link.

http://www.rattrapproductions.com/2014/07/28/chapel-of-the-dead-aar/

And if you want to see an example of combat, I have that up as well.

http://www.rattrapproductions.com/2014/07/27/chapel-of-the-dead-combat-example/

[Operator5]

After the playtest game last Sunday, I have updated the rules and the Character cards for the playtest version. The modifications are slight for the most part (some minor tweaking of numbers on the Character Cards.) But, if you have already downloaded, you should print the rules and character cards from this version and replace anything you have already printed. Action and Scenario cards remain the same. As always, please post any comments, questions, etc. you may have on our Facebook page or email them to me at raj@rattrapproductions.com.

Here is the download: ThrillingAdventurePlaytest v2