Anatomy of a Playtest 5: Power Up!

Last weekend Tom and I got together again to do some more playtesting.  This time we only played a couple of games but they involved more Frames because of the rules we were trying.  The first game was a test of the Power Up Stations rules alone.  The second was Power Up Stations with the Lightning Strike weather rules.

Tom (3 Frames & 12 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (3 assets) = 15 points.
Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W +SSR.
Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

Me (3 Frames & 12 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (3 assets) = 15 points. (Scissorhands)
Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W +SSR.
Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

This is what the table looked like at the start of the game.

Events of Round 1 (DDC @ 7): Tom's Blue frame moves East and captures the Red Power Up station.  My Blue Frame moves North and hits Tom's Blue frame for 1.

Tom: 15 points.

Me: 15 points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC @ 5): Tom's Yellow frame Moves Southeast and captures the Yellow Power Up station.  My Blue frame continues moving North and captures the Yellow Power Up station, hits Tom's Yellow frame for 1, then hooks West and captures the Neutral station.  Tom's Blue frame hits my Blue frame for 2 then moves South in front of a small wall.  My Yellow frame hits the small wall in front of Tom's Orange frame for 1, destroying it, then moves up to the Neutral station.

Me: 20 Points.

Tom: 15 points.

Events of Round 3 (DDC @ 3): My Orange frame moves North to the wrecked wall and hits Tom's Blue frame for 2.  Tom's Blue frame shifts West and hits my Yellow frame for 1, and my Blue frame that was covering it for 2.  Tom's Yellow frame moves South to capture the Yellow Power Up station and hits my Blue frame for 2, Station Dance.

Me: 20 Points.

Tom: 15 points.

Events of Round 4 (DDC @ 1): My Blue frame sprints Southwest and captures the Blue Power Up station.  Tom's Yellow frame moves West and hits my Yellow frame for 1.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Me: 20 Points.

Tom: 15 points.

Here are several during and aftermath pictures.

Round 1.

Damage roll, not Melee.

Round 3.

Round 4.

Round 3.

Thoughts & Observations:

• 

  Round 4.

  This was a playtest.
• Since we wanted to observe the new rules over a longer time period we started the Doomsday Clock at 7.
• The Power Up Stations work at the Demo Game level.
• Now we have to see if they work in a full scale game.
• I should have kept a record of when the Power Up tokens were cashed in.
• There is the potential for Power Ups being overpowered, depending on how they are used.
• Spacing the Stations out on the table should help with that.
• Also placing them after the Set-Up phase should help that as well.
• I don't have very many Translucent Blue 1x1 Round Bricks, which is why the Blue Power Up station is shorter than the rest.
• I took notes but not pictures for the second game.
• In the second game the Lightning Strike hit in the second Round.
• It affected half the Frames on the table.
• The only real issue was remembering to check against the Lightning Strike power when rolling dice for activation.
• Apparently there's a 1 in 50,000 chance for the Damage roll in that picture to happen.
• I added in a couple extra walls since there were extra Frames on each squad.
• They haven't seen use since 2016.
• This game actually highlighted an issue with my Scissorhands frame design.
• You can only see the color markings from one direction so I added matching color Plates to the feet after the session was over.
• Flickr page.

Rule Mod: Power Up Stations

Back in the day there were a few conversations about Stations with special abilities.  Even more recently there have been other rule ideas involving Stations -- such as the Neutral Station rule, and my own Flag Stations rule.

The initial version of the Stations in the picture above was created twelve years ago and didn't have much thought behind it than "this looks cool".  Now that I have two more constructed, and a fourth on the way, I have some idea with what to do with them.

I've had an idea for a "Video Game Arena" table-setting sitting in my brain for a long time.  That will be a completely different blog post when it gets built.  My most recent idea for that table-setting is to use these Stations in that setting with each of them granting a d8 of their respective color when captured.  This relates to the idea that certain video games have "Power Ups".  These d8s will last until the player chooses to roll it for the Frame that captured the Station, or the end of the game whichever happens first.  I'm choosing represent this "Power Up" with a blank poker chip of the appropriate color placed under or near the Frame that earned it.  Since you get a "Special Ability" when you capture one of these Stations, your points total will not change when you capture one of them.

To sum up.

• Place any number of Power Up Stations, in colors that match the standard Systems, on the battlefield after the Set-Up Phase but before the game starts.  
• When you capture one of these Stations it grants a d8 of their respective color.
• This die lasts until the player chooses to roll it for the Frame that captured the Station, the Frame is destroyed, or the end of the game whichever happens first.
• You can show this "Power Up" with a token placed next to -- or under -- the Frame that earned it. I generally use a blank poker chip of the appropriate color.
• Remove the token from the battlefield when the d8 is used.
• Since you get a "Special Ability" when you capture one of these Stations, your points total doesn't change when they come under your control.

Parts List

3062 1x1 Round Brick (x24)
60208 Technic Wheel 31x15 (x2)
2780 Friction Pin w/Short Ridges (x6)

Alternate Rule: Weather Conditions 2

In the first Weather Conditions post I laid down some rules on how to incorporate weather into your MFZ: Rapid Attack games.  In the Playtest Report I changed them up a bit.  Now I'm adding more and fitting them into the original ideas.

Dust Storm -- This weather condition applies a -1 to all Spotting rolls.

Torrential Rain -- This weather condition applies a -1 to all Movement rolls.

Hurricane Winds -- Roll a d8.  A 1 or 2 = North, 3 or 4 = East, 5 or 6 = South, 7 or 8 = West.  This weather condition applies a -1 to all Movement rolls in that direction and +1 to all Movement rolls in the opposite direction.

Hail Storm -- Roll a d8.  A 1 or 2 = Round One, 3 or 4 = Round Two, 5 or 6 = Round Three, 7 or 8 = Round Four.  At the end of that Round all Frames will suffer a 2d6 (Choose the highest) Melee attack.  Compare the roll to all Defenses on the battlefield and roll the appropriate amount of Damage dice for each Frame that is effected.

Tornado -- Roll a d8. A 1 or 2 = Round One, 3 or 4 = Round Two, 5 or 6 = Round Three, 7 or 8 = Round Four. At the start of that Round a tornado will cross the battlefield from one side to the other. Roll a d8. A 1 = North, 2 = Northeast, 3 = East, 4 = Southeast, 5 = South, 6 = Southwest, 7 = West, 8 = Northwest. This is the section of the battlefield where the tornado starts. Roll a d6. A 1 = F1, 2 = F2, 3 = F3, 4 = F4, 5 = F5, 6 = Roll Again. The F rating of the tornado is how far across in Ruler Units it will affect as it moves across the battlefield. It is also how far in Ruler Units it will move any Terrain, Frames, or Stations it encounters. If a Frame or Station is pushed off the Battlefield in this manner it is Out Of Play and the person controlling it loses those points.

Lightning Strikes -- Roll a d8. A 1 or 2 = Round One, 3 or 4 = Round Two, 5 or 6 = Round Three, 7 or 8 = Round Four.  At the start of that Round roll 1d8.  This is the Lightning Strike's power.  During that Round all Frames as they activate will have to make a Defense check against the number rolled.  This is the initial Blue die rolled by that Frame.  If the Frame's Defense is equal to, or higher than the Lightning Strike Power then nothing happens.  If the Defense is lower, then the Frame gets a -1 to all White Dice.  If the Frame has no Blue dice it is automatically affected.

Roll 3d6 (Add):
3 = Clear Skies.
4 = Clear Skies.
5 = Tornado.
6 = Lightning Strikes.
7 = Hurricane Winds.
8 = Hail Storm.
9 = Torrential Rain.
10 = Dust Storm.
11 = Dust Storm.
12 = Torrential Rain.
13 = Hail Storm.
14 = Hurricane Winds.
15 = Lightning Strikes.
16 = Tornado.
17 = Clear Skies.
18 = Clear Skies.

Instead of rolling on the table, you could also just choose one of the weather options if that's the story the players want to tell about that game.  Keep in mind that some of these ideas have not been play-tested. As I've mentioned with other rule modifications, I hope this is a fun option for people.

Anatomy of a Playtest 4: Weather Report

Remember Wednesday when I told you the weather rules hadn't been playtested?  I lied.  Tom and I did four fast, demo-style games last Sunday to quickly test the rules and see if there was anything majorly wrong with the concepts I had outlined.

Things were so awesome,
Merlin had to get involved.

Game 1: Dust Storm.  There were no obvious issues with this

idea.  It does need testing in a full scale game though.  The

biggest problem was remembering to roll down the Spotting die.

Game 2: Torrential Rain.  There were no obvious issues with this

idea.  It does need testing in a full scale game though.  The

biggest problem was remembering to roll down the Movement die.

Game 3: Hurricane Winds.  One, you need some sort of marker

showing which way the wind is blowing.  Two, if you do use this rule

modification it needs to be decided before the Set-Up phase so people

can decide where to place their units in relation to the wind direction.

Game 4: Hail Storm.  This one required some think on how to implement

it properly.  It has to occur at the end of the Round so that all Frames

have Defenses in place and you don't wreck Initiative Order.  Two, I

changed it to a d8 roll to decide when it happens so that you don't need

something other than the d6/d8/d12 that we already use.  Third, Tom and

I figured a 2d6 Use-The-Highest roll for an Attack number is closer to

how the game usually works and is more likely to generate an effect.

Final thoughts.  Honestly, all of these rule mods should be decided on before the game starts so people can plan around them.  A Dust Storm will require extra Spotting, Torrential Rain will require extra Movement, etc.  That's just in line with the data forward, What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get nature of Mobile Frame Zero anyways.  In terms of "interestingness" Dust Storm and Torrential Rain are fairly straightforward but will probably be brutal when it gets to late game, limited number of dice, make the best of bad rolls situations.  Hail Storm has the possibility of dealing a lot of damage, especially late in the game, but also has the chance of doing squat -- which is what happened in Game 4.  Hurricane Winds is probably the most interesting.  Speeding up -- or slowing down -- Frames always has big repercussions, even if they can't be seen until the game is over.

Here are the updated versions of the rule modifications.

Dust Storm -- This weather condition applies a -1 to all Spotting rolls.

Torrential Rain -- This weather condition applies a -1 to all Movement rolls.

Hurricane Winds -- Roll a d8.  A 1 or 2 = North, 3 or 4 = East, 5 or 6 = South, 7 or 8 = West.  This weather condition applies a -1 to all Movement rolls in that direction and +1 to all Movement rolls in the opposite direction.

Hail Storm -- Roll a d8.  A 1 or 2 = Round One, 3 or 4 = Round Two, 5 or 6 = Round Three, 7 or 8 = Round Four.  At the end of that Round all Frames will suffer a 2d6 (Choose the highest) Melee attack.  Compare the roll to all Defenses on the battlefield and roll the appropriate amount of Damage dice for each Frame that is effected.

Roll 2d6 (Add):

2 = Hurricane Winds.

3 = Clear Skies.

4 = Dust Storm.

5 = Clear Skies.

6 = Clear Skies.

7 = Clear Skies.

8 = Clear Skies.

9 = Clear Skies.

10 = Torrential Rain.

11 = Clear Skies.

12 = Hail Storm.

One of the good things about this expanded chart is that you can replace some of the "Clear Skies" results with the other weather conditions to increase the frequency if you want to have them happen more often.  You could also just choose one of the weather options if that's the story the players want to tell about that game

As I've mentioned before, I hope this is a fun option for people.  Flickr page.

Alternate Rule: Weather Conditions

Something that struck me as I was watching some random video is while Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack isn't really a "simulationist" game, beyond the Hazardous Terrain rules MFZ:RA doesn't do much to alter game states.  And right now there's a part of me that wants to mess around with that.  The easiest thing to do this with is adding weather conditions that effect things that happen during the game.

The basic idea is that you roll a die before the game, compare it to the chart, and apply that modifier or result.  Here are the ideas I've come up with.

Dust Storm -- This weather condition applies a -1 to all Spotting rolls.

Torrential Rain -- This weather condition applies a -1 to all Movement rolls.

Hurricane Winds -- Pick a direction, this weather condition applies a -1 to all Movement rolls in that direction and +1 to all Movement rolls in the opposite direction.

Hail Storm -- Roll a d4.  Whatever number comes up, on that Round all Frames will suffer a 1d6 Melee attack.

Depending on how common you want these events to be in a game I came up with a chart based on the combined roll of 2d4 that pushes the weather events to the outsides of the bell curve.

2 = Hurricane Winds.

3 = Dust Storm.

4 = Clear Skies.

5 = Clear Skies.

6 = Clear Skies.

7 = Torrential Rain.

8 = Hail Storm.

As usual, all players should agree to use these rules before the game starts.

Keep in mind that these ideas have not been play-tested.  As I've mentioned with other rule modifications, I hope this is a fun option for people.

Battle Report: Dinosaur Planet 1 (Anatomy of a Playtest 3)

A year and a three quarters has passed since the last time I tried to playtest my "Dinosaur Planet" ruleset.  I've actually sold this ruleset as an ashcan in the intervening time at PAX Unplugged.  We had three players this time and this was also the first time it's been used in a full sized game.

Tom (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points.
   Blue Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W + SSR.
   White Anvil -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Y/2W.
   Yellow Anvil -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Anvil -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Y/2W + SSR.

Phungkyjams (5 Frames & 19 Systems) = (4 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 28 points.  (Farmhands)
   Red Anvil -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Y/2W.
   Blue Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Lime Closer -- 2Rh+d8/2Rd/1B/2W + SSR (x2).
   Yellow Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Orange Static Warrior -- 2Rh/1B/1Gd8/1Y/2W.

Me (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 21 points.  (Quattros)
   Purple Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W + SSR.

   Green Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   White Walking Target -- 2Rd+d8/2Ra+d8/2W.

This is what the table looked like at the start of the game.

Events of Round 1 (DDC@11): Tom captures Phungkyjams' Dog station before the game starts. My Green frame hits the tree in front of Tom's Yellow frame for 1 then moves along the edge of the battlefield towards a Small Triple Tree.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits Tom's Yellow frame for 1, Station Dance. Phungkyjams' Yellow frame hits Tom's Orange frame for 1, Station Dance. Tom's Orange frame hits Phungkyjams' Blue frame for 2. My White frame takes a couple steps to its left and hits Tom's White frame for 1 and his Orange frame for 1, Station Dance.

Tom: 49 points.
Phungkyjams: 24 points

Me: 21 points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC@9): The Triceratops gores the Tyrannosaurus Rex for 1. Phungkyjams' Red frame hits Tom's Orange frame for 1. Tom's Yellow frame hits the tree in front of my Orange frame for 1. My Orange frame hits Tom's Blue frame for 2 in response. My Orange frame then runs forward and captures Phungkyjams' Dog Station that was under Tom's control. My Green frame tucks in closer to the Small Triple Tree then hits Tom's White frame for 2, Station Dance. Phungkyjams' Yellow frame moves closer to his Carrot Station and hits Tom's Blue frame for 3, Station Dance.  Phungkyjams' Lime frame hits Tom's Blue frame for 2, destroying it.  Phungkyjams' Lime frame then moves to the center of the battlefield and captures Tom's Station.  My Red frame hits Phungkyjams' Yellow frame for 1 with a SSR then moves closer to the center of the battlefield.

Tom: 28 points.

Phungkyjams: 28 points.

Me: 24 points.

Events of Round 3 (DDC@6): One of the Dilophosauruses spits at the Triceratops for 1 then runs off the battlefield.  Tom's Yellow frame hits the tree in front of Phungkyjams' Blue frame for 1.  My Purple frame slashes Phungkyjams' Lime frame for 2.  Phungkyjams' Lime frame hits my Purple frame for 2 in response.  Phungkyjams' Orange frame hits my White frame for 3.  Tom's Orange frame hits my Orange frame for 2, Station Dance.  Tom's Orange frame then trundles backwards and captures my Red Station.

Tom: 35 points.

Phungkyjams: 28 points.

Me: 21 points.

Events of Round 4 (DDC@3): Tom's White frame hits my Orange frame for 3.  Tom's Yellow frame hits Phungkyjams' Red frame for 1.  Phungkyjams' Red frame hits Tom's White frame for 2.  The Velociraptor bites my Purple frame for 2.  My Purple frame then jumps to the other side of Tom's Station and punches Phungkyjams' Lime frame for 4, Station Dance.  My Purple frame captures Tom's Station that was under Phungkyjams' control.  My Green frame comes out from the cover of the Small Triple Tree and hits Tom's Yellow frame for 1.  Phungkyjams' Blue frame finally makes it to the corner of the battlefield and captures my Purple Station.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Tom: 35 points.

Phungkyjams: 28 points.

Me: 21 points.

Here are more pictures from during the game and the aftermath.

Round 2

Round 1

Round 1

Round 2

Round 2

Round 3

Round 2

Round 3

Round 3

Round 3

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Round 4

Thoughts & Observations:

• 

  Round 4

  This was a Skirmish.
• We all showed up with the same Frame/System ratio so there was a roll off to determine Defender.
• Then we had another roll off after I opted to add a Frame to my squad.
• Phungkyjams also opted to add a Frame but with less Systems so we finally had our starting Initiative Stack.
• Remember, always have current versions of your playtest documents on hand when executing a playtest.
• Came up with some ideas on Movement and dice decisions for the dinosaurs.
• Still working on where they should activate in the Initiative Stack.
• There wasn't a lot of destruction for this game.
• I dug the Quattros out of storage for this game because I didn't have a new squad ready to go.
• Of course now I want to tinker with them.
• Which I should do because I need more variation in the Systems available for this squad.
• The Damage dice went cold for me in Round 3.
• This game had the least amount of Frames destroyed of any game we've played.
• We had a pretty crazy Attack chain to open the last round.
• Flickr page.