Some Specific Design Ideas for Maelstrom

[Ry Vor]

On the topic of assasinations, maybe you need to be enemies with that kingdom or there your enemy in order to do an agent assasination attempt? Military leaders/wizards excluded from this of course. I like kidnapping better myself.

No, some of the best assassinations comes from those that you believe are your allies.

You've been watching Game of Thrones.  BTW, I went to Barnes & Noble to see what new games were out and there is now a couple card games and Risk, Clue, Monopoly and a couple others GoT themed, licensed from Martin or HBO, however that was worked out.

Interesting the card game I picked up and am starting to learn has a lot of ideas I had for my intended card / board game.  They seem to feature Alamaze concepts like intrigue, espionage, military, possessions.  Sent the Clue game to my son in law for a 30th birthday present (said in the card, about turning 30, "Now you are a real adult" :-)  I know Clue sounds sort of lame but Risk or Monopoly can't actually be completed in an evening, if everyone knows what they are doing.  So we can actually play this one in an evening and not chase the girls off.  No offense, ladies.

[Ry Vor]

On the topic of assasinations, maybe you need to be enemies with that kingdom or there your enemy in order to do an agent assasination attempt? Military leaders/wizards excluded from this of course. I like kidnapping better myself.

No, some of the best assassinations comes from those that you believe are your allies.

An idea is that in Maelstrom, only fanatics (not agents) commit assassinations, escape is harder for prisoners, so rescues and kidnappings more important. 

Various setup changes, for example, the wizard kingdoms will have fewer companions and may have a trait of "Skeptic", making getting and using a HP about 50% more expensive.  

The Maelstrom map is still the dominant thing in my eyes, and the implications with the 12 regions, huge ecomomic changes, Rulership separate from Influence, spell changes, the covert changes referenced and counter espionage being more discretionary (not covering everything in a PC), sabotage more distinct and direct and strategic.

While we have no intention of withdrawing 3rd Cycle, if we pull this off, Maelstrom should really raise the bar. For the whole hobby.

[JonDoe]

On the topic of assasinations, maybe you need to be enemies with that kingdom or there your enemy in order to do an agent assasination attempt? Military leaders/wizards excluded from this of course. I like kidnapping better myself.

No, some of the best assassinations comes from those that you believe are your allies.

An idea is that in Maelstrom, only fanatics (not agents) commit assassinations, escape is harder for prisoners, so rescues and kidnappings more important. 

Various setup changes, for example, the wizard kingdoms will have fewer companions and may have a trait of "Skeptic", making getting and using a HP about 50% more expensive.  

The Maelstrom map is still the dominant thing in my eyes, and the implications with the 12 regions, huge ecomomic changes, Rulership separate from Influence, spell changes, the covert changes referenced and counter espionage being more discretionary (not covering everything in a PC), sabotage more distinct and direct and strategic.

While we have no intention of withdrawing 3rd Cycle, if we pull this off, Maelstrom should really raise the bar.  For the whole hobby.

Just as long as the Bar does not go so high that I cannot reach my drink

[Ry Vor]

Jon Doe you will be fine.  For other players experienced and new, I don't think the game will be much harder, other than the PC Improvements, but it seems like it will be Strategy Squared. 

I'm looking forward to how regions get selected, and how they get paired with kingdoms. 

I really would like to know if someone experienced thinks there is an obvious combo to take or avoid.  Again, it will probably be a snake two round draft where you pick either a region or a kingdom and then the other the next round.  Hope that makes sense.

[JonDoe]

I think the regional effect may make some think more. Now they have a real thing they can grasp an extra brigade for a military kingdom or extra gold or perhaps long term more gold throughout

[Eregnon]

Have you considered assigning a point value to the various traits (riders, order, etc.) and then giving each player a certain number of points and allow them to "build" their own kingdom?

[Ohman the heartless]

Possibly somewhat like the order 11, and customize a trait or 2?

[Calidor]

The problem with that is the inevitable cookie cutter approach once "optimal" builds are found.

I like the idea of customizing but also like the idea of unique kingdoms with a history and backstory.

[unclemike]

Rick and I discussed the following privately and we would like your feedback about this possible enhancement to the game.

Would Alamaze be better if the map became more "alive" and responsive to a kingdom's actions?

In other words, what if the game had a new Popularity metric that represented the satisfaction level of the census in a region. The more satisfied the population, the greater the production effort and defense of the realm.

For example, if your kingdom had control of a region and had Friendly regional reactions, your pcs would produce food/gold at their full value and defended as normal. If you were Tolerant, they would produce less food/gold (with -10% defense) and so on. At Hostile, there's a risk that your pc(s) may revolt on their own due to the unsatisfactory level of the population under your control.

That way, the map would seem like its more "alive" and responsive to your kingdom's actions and contribute to the overall strategy of the game. A player may increase their Popularity level by constructing special buildings like a Gladiator Arena, War Memorial, Religious Shrine, or a Fountain/Park in order to improve their kingdom rating. So numerous buildings and actions like being successful in battle would improve and/or sustain the Popularity level of the census.

Another concept that could make the map more alive would be to have special encounters that roamed the map. In other words, rather than have a static encounter that is fixed on the map, have special types like a roaming band of Ogres that caused havoc in your region that lowers your Popularity level if not dealt with by a patrol of your leaders/wizards. If not dealt with in a timely manner, that band of Ogres could end up attacking a village or two, tormenting your people, causing you to lose control of the pc.

There may be other ways to make the map more alive and responsive to your kingdom's actions. So in general, how would you feel as a player about this possible enhancement to the game? Would it make it better and more exciting to play or would it make Alamaze too complex and not worth the effort? Share your opinion below...

[Calidor]

Interesting ideas. I think one of the challenges will be the speed at which region reactions shift as well as the frequency of PC turnover.

Maybe instead of 4 levels of reactions there could be a range from 1-100 and a limit on how far it could move each turn?

Maybe instead of the King issuing orders to enamor or denigrate they would hire NPCs which would work to increase or decrease popularity in their regions. Currently the swings are too wild:

We love you!
We hate you!!
Never mind, we love you again!