I like the Assassins Creed games but wasn’t specifically after it – having a look however the game was half the price of buying the microconsole normally… bargin.

So I ordered it and the microconsole got delivered to me in work. Inside the plain cardboard box was this:

And with the packaging off you can see the box properly, I’m personally very fond of the design, sleek, stylish and minimalistic.

And now to open the box, not a lot in there as you can see – just the microconsole and the controller on display. Will look at each of them closer in a bit.

Oh, and underneath the microconsole is a small instruction booklet.

Now like a box of chocolates you look under the top tray to find two smaller boxes.

And finally in those two boxes are the various cables – HDMI, Network, USB, Power, etc.

Something I though was quite cool was the extra battery pack. As well as the rechargable battery in the controller it comes with a fitting to use normal AA batteries – I doubt it’ll get a lot of use but it’s a nice idea for if your battery runs out and you don’t want to play with the cable tethering you to the microconsole.

The controller is sort of cross between an X-Box 360 controller (shape) and a PS3 controller (analogue stick positions) and certainly feels well built. It has some extra ‘media’ controls along the front for the recording and playback functions of OnLive. The microconsole supports up to four controllers (indicated by the lights) but as it stands I don’t think there are any games that use multiple controllers.

A USB connection in the top of the controller is used for charging the controller as well as initially pairing it, it’s a standard Micro USB fitting (which conveniently means it’s the same fitting as my Desire Z). The shoulder buttons are the X-Box style triggers which I prefer.

And finally the console itself – it’s tiny, with just two USB ports on the front and a small button for power (though I just use the controller to turn it on and off).

And the back is a little more crowded with all the connections for network, HDMI, audio (stereo jack and optical connection), power and AV (which requires a separate cable for screens without a HDMI connection).

And finally just a quick look at the underneath reveals more or less what you’d expect on a network device, serial number, MAC address and general information.

So that’s the OnLive microconsole – unfortunately my Internet at home is appalling (awkward area) and BE Broadband don’t offer fibre yet. Games are still playable just the resolution is poor.

There is a wireless version of the microconsole due to be released soon, personally I’d rather go the cabled route for stability of the connection (I can see a big difference in games on wired laptop and wireless laptop) but it can’t be argued that for most people wireless is alot easier.

Digital artwork for some of the cards. I’ve put it side by side with the previous photo to give a better idea of things though some bits have changed slightly between versions (the power room now has two doors  instead of being a dead end, for example).

(You’ll probably want to click the image to zoom).

This is a very early mock up of an idea for the modular/rearrangeable board.

I have been playing about with ideas for Conviction and particularly thinking about how I wanted the map to work. I’ve always wanted it to be a modular board so that you can do various different map layouts based on scenarios in a book using the same tiles. Originally I wanted to do large hexagonal tiles with multiple ‘spaces’ on each tile for the humans and aliens to move around; taking a more practical look at it however, if I ever intended to make a playable version of this game I needed to go somewhere simpler and I have an idea I quite like.

Basically using standard sized cards (makes them easier to make and they could use normal card sleeves and stuff) which can either be laid out in advance by the alien player (following a scenario) or potentially shuffled and drawn for a ‘dungeon crawl’ type experience or solo game.

Edit: I’ve gone through things on the computer, made corrections and changed the wording slightly.

Conviction takes place over 600 years in the future. It is a time of peace and prosperity in which all people are guided and provided for by One Nation Earth (ONE).

ONE came into existence after the Third World War. With a death toll counting into the millions the war came to an end when the leaders of each faction inevitably resorted to nuclear weapons and destroyed each other. From the ashes of the old a new theocratic government was born and united humanity in a new age.

Mankind has prospered, seeking out new resources and expanding its horizons beyond imagining.

All was well – until the Azrael incident.

A colony was established on the first planet of the Azrael star system; the conditions were harsh and deaths were not uncommon but the unusually high deposits of natural resources made it a valuable project. It came as a shock when contact was abruptly lost.

A team of Clerics was sent to investigate the situation but after a transmission announcing their arrival on Azrael nothing else was heard and by the time ONE discovered what had happened it was too late.

The rich resources of the planet were actually the fossilised remains of an ancient species that had lived on the planet in the past. They had apparently gone into hibernation aeons ago and almost entirely died out – almost was not enough however and when a mining team dug into an underground cavern they unintentionally woke up the ancient, savage and hungry denizens within

The Spawn as they came to be known were capable of launching spores through space, by doing so they quickly expanded and destroyed more outposts. In the time it took for ONE to marshall its forces they had already lost more than fifty worlds; now the clerics are stretched to the limit preventing the fall of more colonies.

Unable to spare clerics to perform riskier operations, the Cardinals of ONE turned to its condemned sinners. They have offered absolution to those who were willing to serve ONE and fight for the survival of humanity.

You have been offered the choice, will your conviction save humanity?

One Father who art in the Heavens,
Hallowed be One’s name.

One’s Kingdom come,
One’s will be done,
In the reaches as it is in the core.

Give us this day our daily ration,
And allow us to atone for our sins,
As we grant atonement unto those who are worthy.

Lead us not into the darkness,
But deliver us from the xenos.

For thine is the kingdom,
And the power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.

Amen.

What’s this? Conviction is a board game idea I had a while ago – nothing particularly new, but with a bit of a twist.

I may expand on this in the future or I may not, but for now at least it’s just the result of boredom and inspiration. Next post should be back to RPG design (probably).

So characters; I’ve made references to stats and skills in my post on mechanics but lets expand it a little more while I have some thoughts in my mind.

First of all – Warhammer Fantasy, 3rd Edition. I know it’s a point of contention for alot of people who know about it. In my own gaming group I have some people who like it and some people who don’t (one dislikes the setting in general, one loves the setting and loved first edition but despises the overhaul that has been done with this latest version).

Having played through the introductory adventure I’m for the most part indifferent. I find the setting to be okay, nothing spectacular but interesting enough. The dice I dislike, they’re an interesting idea and I can see the thought behind them but I really don’t like game specific dice for an RPG.

One of the things I did like was the cards, especially the way you have a card for each of the actions your character can potentially do and as you learn new abilities you get new cards for them. This is something I’d like to have in my game.

I’m contemplating taking it a step further as well.

In WFRP3 (Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 3rd Edition) you have a character sheet much as you’d expect and then cards that ‘slot-in’ to your character sheet for talents and abilities you have acquired. Then a seperate hand of cards which are actions you can take (in combat for example, though there are also social cards).

What if we get rid of the character sheet?

Huh?

Well what if instead of having lots of entries on a character sheet you have a card for each stat, trait, item, etc. All of the mechanical elements that would normally be on a piece of paper instead have a card – this way instead of adding up numbers you play a few cards.

Some cards might have a number of dice to roll, others might give a flat bonus and others might have a more detailed description on them.

Scenario 1

Reinette is trying to seduce a guard in order to distract him so her companions can sneak into a building.

Looking at her character sheet she has Wood (remember we’re using elements as characteristics and Wood equates to Charisma) of 3 and a Seduction skill of 2. Oh she also has the Beautiful trait which the GM decides is applicable and gives her an extra dice. She’s rolling 6 altogether.

Or, she pulls her Wood, Seduction and Beautiful cards out and lays them on the table (they would have their values on them). The GM approves and so she rolls 6 dice.

Scenario 2

Ramiro is in a duel and wishes to disarm his enemy (both ending the combat and humiliating his opponent).

Looking through his character sheet he has a Fire of 5 and a Fencing skill of 3. Moving down to the equipment section his Heirloom Sword gives him a +2 bonus and the Fighting Style he learnt from his teacher grants him a special bonus for disarming people (lets say that it reduces the opponents effective Metal by 1). Adding it up he will be rolling 6 dice, with a +2 bonus and his opponents strength will be reduced by 1 (for determining a difficulty).

Or he flicks through his deck and plays his Fire and Fencing cards along with his Heirloom Sword card and his Disarming Technique card. The GM approves (and modifies the opponents strength as indicated on the card) so Ramiro rolls 8 dice and adds 2 to the result.

As well as making the game a little more tactile I think it would help to encourage flexibility – cards can be played together in any combination the play thinks is logical so long as the GM agrees.

Scenario 3

Matthew Walsingham suspects that a farmer may have witnessed an attack and wants to pry information out of him.

He could approach this a number of different ways.

The friendly diplomatic approach, trying to use his charm to persuade the farmer to help. He plays his Wood and Diplomacy cards.

Or the more reasoned approach, countering the farmers arguments and thus convincing him that helping is the best course of action. He plays his Water and Diplomacy cards.

Maybe he thinks being a bit more verbally intimidating is likely to be more successful. He plays his Earth and Intimidation cards.

Worst case scenario, Matthew falls back onto overt physical threats. He plays his Metal and Intimidation cards.

Notice that by playing Diplomacy with Wood he is being charming, by simply changing the characteristic to Water he makes it a reasoned and logical argument.

In the case of the Intimidation skill a person with enough resolve or force of will (Earth) can be scary; or someone who is more physically inclined (Metal) can be equally imposing.

Using the same cards in different combinations allows for many different options.

Obviously all this can be done without the cards but for some reason I like the tactile element and I like the idea of each character having a ‘deck’ that they build up and improve over time.

What do people think?

Interesting idea or pointless clutter?

Maybe have character sheets as standard but have cards as a seperate ‘prop’ option?

Isolation

There must be a reason for why there is a finite known world and why there is now access to a much larger world beyond that.

In the Universe of Rogue Trader (the Warhammer 40,000 Universe) there are ‘Chaos Storms’ which cut off areas of space for hundreds of years at a time. For my setting I figure the known world has been isolated from the rest of the world for hundreds of years – so much so that they have no idea what may lay beyond. Rather than storms however they are cut off by the oceans around them, a literally tide of darkness.

Surrounding the known world is the Shadow Tide, it is repelled from the coasts of the island by a naturally occurring but rare substance (for now I shall call it unobtainium). The Shadow water (in my head it probably looks similar to an oil spill) is corrosive so that the hulls of ships that enter it are slowly eaten away; worse however there are creatures that live within the waters, creatures that will eagerly attack any vessels foolish enough to approach.

This has been the way of things for as long as living memory can recall, their may perhaps be some writings (known only by a select few) of what once lay beyond the tide, but they are little more than myth and legend.

More recently something has happened, I can see two options:

1. The Shadow has retracted, though it still surrounds the vast majority of the known world certain routes have opened up leading through it and to whatever lies beyond.
2. Unobtainium has been refined into something that can be used by ships as a way of passing through the Shadow waters.

Both options have pros and cons.

Option 1 makes it easier to control how and where the players can explore and makes it easier to create an expanding ‘official’ map. On the downside it needs a good reason for why the Shadow has suddenly retracted after such a long time.

Option 2 gives a great deal more flexibility and freedom for the players. It does however lessen the threat of the Shadow significantly which is something I don’t want.

All due credit to whoever took this picture - I love it.

I’m thinking perhaps of some combination of the two. The tide hasn’t retracted but through the use of unobtainium researchers have managed to determine certain areas where it is thinner and ships can pass relatively safely.

Of course the danger factor comes in the fact that these ‘safe routes’ vary to an extent, navigators have to be alert and able to adapt their courses else the ship may run into Shadow and have its hull damaged or be set upon by a horrific sea monster.

The Known World

Though Shadow tide doesn’t have to be a big part of the game, it exists as an explanation as to why the known world is confined in the way it is and to give the option for exploration and expansion of the world without having to say something like: “Yeah, this island, it’s between two of the countries but people haven’t noticed it before and the natives have never bothered leaving it.”

It would be entirely possible (and probably quite likely) to play a game entirely within the known world, it will be plenty big enough and there will be enough nations to keep things interesting.

The Kingdom of Albion

Albion is a feudal nation consisting of a hierarchy of nobility ruling over fiefdoms and ultimately answering to the King. Albion is famed for its weapons and armour which are sought after by militaries across the known world.

A code of chivalry is followed by most Albion citizens, particularly the nobility, and they are known as honourable and trust worthy across the world.

Kenta

Kenta is a tribal nation with each tribe being led over by a chieften/king and his family. Most other nations assume the worse of any Kentan they meet, this isn’t helped by the fact that they still war amongst themselves and are thus considered rather barbaric by most standards.

They are most certainly a warrior culture and they have refused any advances by the Church, prefering instead to follow their own druidic religion.

The Blessed Lands of Khem’et

Khem’et is a large island cut in half by a vast river; the lands around the river are fertile and thus where most of Khem’ets settlements are based but as you move away from the river a vast desert takes over.

Khem’et is ruled over by the Peraya, a living God-King who is both unquestioned ruler of Khem’et and high priest of their vast Gods. The Church has made great progress in some of the more remote settlements and sooner or later the differing religious beliefs aare going to come into conflict.

The Kingdom of Brentia

Brentia is a close neighbour to Albion and they have similar feudal styles of government. Brentia however has a much more noticable divide between the poor and the wealthy with the nobility being exceedingly decadent and pompous. It is said by some that Brentia is the center of the civilised world and all forms of art and fashion spring from there.

Tyskland

Similar in many respects to Albion but with more of an emphasis on war and battle and less interest in diplomacy and chivalry. Tyskland is a harsh environment populated by dangerous creatures, it’s warriors are amongst the best in the world – even Groca has decided that the reward is not worth the effort of conquering Tyskland.

Tyskland meanwhile provides the best mercenary forces and military minds available to those that are willing to pay.

The Grocan Empire

Groca began as little more than a small settlement on the coast of one of the larger islands, the discovery of a large unobtainium deposit brought it great wealth and power – and obviously required a sizeable contingent of soldiers to protect. Eventually however, the leaders of Groca realised that their mines were running low and their wealth and power would soon disappear.

Using their military forces and extensive political contacts Groca quickly made their move, capturing all of the island’s ports before moving inland and proclaiming themselves a new nation. From there Groca has spread, capturing many of the surrounding smaller islands, which are permitted a degree of independence in return for loyalty and a regular tithe.

Svenja

Svenja is a chain of small islands, using short range ships these islands constantly fought amongst themselves until they were attacked by Groca.

Joining together they managed to repel the invaders and although they still fight amongst themselves on occasion, they quickly present a united front to any outside forces.

Nomads

There are a few groups around, known as the Nomads, they live on vast man-made floating islands that drift the oceans. Most of the tribes are peaceful and make as little contact with the other nations as possible, there are however at least some tribes that have taken to a life of piracy and with a mobile base of operations they can be a great danger to harbours across the world.

It is unfortunate that since the pirates are the ones most often dealt with by the other nations this has skewed their opinion on all nomads.

Beyond the Shadow?

It should be relatively simple to add any nations beyond on the Shadow – GMs can easily drop in places from other campaign settings or places of their own creation – I intend to have at least a few official locations though, I have three or four in mind but just a couple of examples for now:

Tecyan

The Tecyan culture is a reclusive one that generally avoids contact with others. They seem to live in cities very similar in style to those of the Precursors (oh I haven’t mentioned these yet? Guess that’ll be in my next post) and obviously worship them as Gods.

Dealing with the Tecyan is difficult at best as it seems the main thing they are interested in is human sacrifices.

Yochi

A distant land of strange customs, in many ways it’s science is more advanced than most of the nations in the known world. It operates a feudal rulership and it’s nobility follow a strict code of honour similar in many ways to Albion – it is however a much harsher society with a far more rigid caste system.

Setting

Rule One

The theme will trump real life. In real life a guy with a gun may be able to shoot and kill a guy with a sword from a distance and the guy with the sword won’t have a chance. According to the Rule of Cool however the guy with the sword should be able to fight back on relatively equal footing (at least).

In real life perhaps it is technically impossible to leap from the crows nest of a ship and use a dagger to ride the sail safely down to the deck – however that seems like a perfectly suitable course of action for heroes!

Time Period and Technology

The primary time period/technology level of the campaign setting will roughly equate to the Cavalier Years. Thus firearms will exist but there will still also be an abundance of swords and other melee weapons.

Different cultures will of course have variances in their technological level and thematic changes but if any nation was too advanced or too primitive then they would quickly conquer or be conquered (unless of course there are some other factors in play?).

Geography

It is not something that often comes up in role playing games, but when it does the world is normally either flat (like Discworld or Glorantha) or round (like the real world). One of my earliest ideas for this setting -before I had even formalised it into a setting of any kind- was to have a Dyson Sphere type world. It’s probably not entirely original, they certainly exist in literature and it’s not like I’m familiar with every role playing game in existence so I would be shocked if it hadn’t be done before.

Oddly enough the idea came to me while playing Rogue Trader (for those who don’t know Rogue Trade is a science fiction game in which you play the command crew of a huge city sized ship in a war torn future). The game was interesting, though space combat was a little tedious, but mainly the idea of the party being a ‘crew’ and having a vessel with which to explore an infinite universe was quite appealing.

Imagining this in a fantasy setting the equivalent is obviously a ship travelling the oceans; alas there is only so much exploring you can do before you’ve travelled to every island and continent. In a typical Dyson Sphere you have a surface area equal to over 500,000,000 times the surface area of earth – for all intents and purposes that gives an infinite amount of space to explore.

Nations

With an infinitely large world there are potentially an infinite number of nations. That’s a little impractical however and I think it makes more sense to have a known world which consists of a number of established nations. Of course there can always be other unknown nations existing beyond the known world, mentioned only in rumour if at all.

These extra unknown nations could be detailed in a Games Masters’ Book or other supplements and of course there is plenty of room for a Games Master to develop their own nations and continents.

Religion

Certainly within the known world I would like there to be a single powerful religion with perhaps smaller cults and  nation specific religions. The easiest example would be the real world, particularly the 1500s onwards, where Christianity spans most of the known world but there still remain small groups of other religions – even better the Church has different factions within it that hold the same overall beliefs but take different approaches towards it.

Beyond the boundaries of the known world (boundaries? what boundaries? find out next post) there may of course be further religions and different beliefs and as the world is explored the interaction of the prime religion with these new heathen beliefs could be very interesting.

Organisations

Organisations and groups are a key part of any setting and ideally, much like religion they should be able to span across the borders of nations (in fact the different factions within the big religion could be viewed as organisations in their own right). Things like like academic bodies who share science and research for the benefit of all mankind as well as groups of knights who follow a common code of honour and protect the weak and helpless could both both be known groups that act across borders.

Secret societies are also something I want in my setting, whether they are an international gentlemen’s club who provide hospitality to their members across the world or fanatical followers of the old ways who seek to overthrow the established religious order. These organisations hidden from the public provide an interesting opportunity for some players knowing more than others. What if for example one PC is a member of an organisation that know without a doubt that the head of the church is actually a puppet controlled by an evil mastermind – he can’t just go and blurt it out to his religiously minded companions, they may think him mad or they may tell the wrong people, but it would certainly change his interactions with the church.

And of course a third type of organisation exists as well, those that are publicly known but have secrets within or an agenda known only to more senior members. Charitable groups that are secretly trying to take over the world anyone?

Thoughts

Dice

D12s will be the dice of choice in my game.

Why? Well firstly because they’re an under-used dice. D6s of course are the ‘normal dice’, D20s are for … well D20 Systems and although I love D10s they get far too much attention with the World of Darkness and Roll and Keep systems (not to mention percentage systems).

Secondly I have in mind an initiative system of sorts with each round representing 6 seconds of time (I think that’s a fairly standard length for a round in many RPGs), using a D12 you can then split each round into half-second phases. Perhaps the number 6 (which a D12 works nicely with) will come up elsewhere as well?

Magic

Well it’s a fantasy setting (though less medieval and more swashbuckling) so it needs to have some supernatural elements. I don’t particularly want traditional D&D style mages but I do want magic of a sort, I’m thinking of something more about ritualistic preparation of materials rather than spontaneous flinging of fireballs and lightning bolts.

Each type of magic user will follow a different element (based very loosely on the elements of Wu Xing: Wood, Fire Earth, Metal and Water) and each will work in an entirely different fashion. Those who follow Water will create potions and elixirs while those who follow Wood will focus their powers into wands, rods and staves. There will be a sixth element as well, but that can wait for later.

I think I’m probably going to end up with magic being more of a pseudo-science than an actual supernatural power. Think more alchemy and less Gandalf.

Characteristics and Skills

Characters in role playing games need characteristics to define them; traditional systems use things like Strength, Toughness, Intelligence, Agility and so forth. I want to make my traits a bit more integrated into the setting.

So we’re back to the elements again.

Wood equates to a character’s charisma and social ability.
Fire becomes an equivilent to agility and dexterity.
Earth is effectively a mixture of constitution and willpower.
Metal corresponds to a character’s physical power and strength.
Water represents intelligence and wisdom.

Alongside traits characters obviously need someway to differentiate their skills from other characters. D&D goes with the idea of classes with feats (and a small selection of skills), I however hate the idea of classes – given time and training why should a priest not be able to learn how to pick locks or why can’t a magic user be a skilled swordsman? So the other route is skills.

Using a skill based system lets me dispose of both classes and levels; your skills improve gradually over time (rather than your skill level suddenly increasing in jumps every few adventures) and you can improve whatever you like. Just because you’ve practicing your lock picking doesn’t mean you can’t decide to take up swordsmanship or archery.

I still have to have a think about whether to go with something point based (like GURPS or Legend of the Five Rings) where you gain points which you can spend on anything or something usage based (like Call of Cthulhu or Rune Quest) where skills improve naturally through use – maybe even some combination of the two?

Traits

So what else is there? I’m a big fan of systems that incorporate things like strengths and flaws to further distinguish your character. Even in games that don’t mechanically reward it I think flaws can be great fun and an aide to roleplaying. I’ve seen it done a number of different ways but I like the idea (at least with points based systems) of spending points to gain advantages like ambidexterity and taking handicaps like short sightedness in order to gain extra points.

Depending on whether different species come into the game or not you can even build templates for races using these traits. For example a traditional Tolkeinesk dwarf might have bonuses like Night Vision and Longevity while suffering from a penalty like Short (not that being short is a penalty, but mechanically it may reduce movement or something like that, at this stage it’s just an example).

Money

There are two ways I can see of doing money. The traditional way of counting every penny “I have 343 gold coins, 27 silver coins and 15 copper coins.” as you see in D&D and virtually every other RPG about. Or the more abstract method, as used in the World of Darkness games and Mutants and Masterminds, where you have a Wealth rating; you don’t track individual coins and instead you can either afford things or not based on your wealth.

There are pros and cons to each system. I personally have a fondness for tracking individual coins, jewels and every item of value in my possession – but I may just be a little strange. Alternatively the abstract method requires much less paperwork and is much easier to monitor.

Given the concept I have in my head for the game I think more accurate tracking may be better. Treasure, loot and valuable objects will play a part in things; plus I love the chaos and confusion that can come as a result of different currencies in different countries.

Anyway… That’s about it for now, maybe next time I’ll write up a little about the setting.

The weather was unfortunately wet and engineering works on the train line meant that I had to get a bus from Barry to Cardiff – not to worry though. I eventually made it there and promptly bumped into Michelle who had a copy of Braggart set aside for me. I tracked down Matt Clementson who was concluding a game of Ticket to Ride – one of the better known board games (with the exception of things like Monopoly and Cluedo) but one which has never really appealed to me, maybe I just don’t like trains.

Once he was done with that we went to have some coffee downstairs and had a game of Pastiche with another Ben. I’ve seen  Pastiche before and it’s a very well made game (not to mention Ben had bought some tiny but perfectly sized artists easels to go with the game); this was the first time I’ve played it and I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked – it was very simple and easy to grasp and yet had a surprising twist of tactical game play as well. I actually won by the fluke of ending with two paintings by the same artist but it was a very close game. I think this is on Matt’s ‘to buy’ list.

Heading back upstairs we discovered Steve and Fe had arrived along with their friend Chris and while they concluded their game of Cutthroat Caverns Matt taught me the basics of Merchants and Marauders. Fe and Chris joined us for a game of what is effectively Sid Meier’s Pirates, The Board Game, I say that in a positive way, Merchants and Marauders will definitely be going on my wish list. After foolish using a sloop against a frigate my second pirate captain started to get the hang of things and actually had a coherent plan in mind, unfortunately by that time Chris had already won the game as a merchant.

Letters from Whitechapel was up next, one player plays the role of Jack the Ripper and the other players take on the role of police trying to capture him. Each night there is a murder somewhere in the city; the police know where that happens and have to close in on the location and search for Jack’s trail. Jack himself doesn’t appear on the board but keeps track of his moves secretly as he tries to make his way home each night; if the police manage to find out where he has been they can tail him and over the course of four nights try to capture him. Alas our farcical performance as police meant that Fe, the Ripper won the game when we were just moments away from her hideout. Overall a very good game and I’d gladly play it again, I have a thematic preference for Fury of Dracula however.

Onto Braggart, which may become a new favourite filler game; it’s quick and easy and exceedingly fun. Using cards you have to build up boasts. Cards consist of scenes, deeds, foes and results. As an example with the right cards your boast might be: “While travelling the frozen wastes and roaming the bitter seas” “I summoned the four elements to vanquish” “mysterious creatures from beneath the desert sands” “and now I’ve been offered the post of King’s Champion!” each of these cards adds points to your total and at the end of each round the person with the best boast gets to keep the accumulated points. The twist however is that other players can, by using the right cards, declare people liars and substitute cards for others, thus turning the above story into something like “While travelling the frozen wastes and roaming the bitter seas” “I opened a crate and was surprised to find” “mysterious creatures from beneath the desert sands” “and then I hid in my house crying.” There isn’t a lot to the game but it always makes people laugh.

Next I believe was Cash and Guns, another quick and simple game. Everyone has a foam gun and a handful of bullets, each round a pile of money is put in the middle of the table and everyone has to point guns at each other at the same time. People can then back out (if you think someone has a loaded gun pointed at you) or hold their ground. If you hold your ground and don’t get shot then you get a share of the cash in the middle. There’s a few other twists (everyone starts with a special ability) but the game is fairly simple. It’s endlessly amusing just to cater to the little person inside all of us that wants to point a gun at people. By the end of the game everyone was dead except for Chris and myself, but he had more money in his stash.

Our final game of the evening was a Touch of Evil with the Something Wicked expansion. A game which I generally find to be a bit hit and miss but overall gets a thumbs up from me. I was Karl, the soldier and with my trusty companions we were able to tool up and confront the swamp monster at the blacksmiths. He was tough, but fortunately I had two muskets strapped to a hunting rifle, strapped to a pistol and through use of teamwork we were able to destroy the beast (I say we, Steve sat around and watched). Alas Chris had been infected with lycanthropy, but with the swamp monster dead I had silver bullets to spare…

Overall the day was great fun (though I don’t think I’ve ever not enjoyed a board game day), the venue was good and the food was lovely. Many thanks to Rules of Play for arranging it and congratulations on the money they raised. Alas no raffle prizes were won by me, though Matt won a bottle of wine (I think he probably spent more on the tickets than a bottle would have cost). The only thing I failed to achieve on the day was a game of Ankh Morpork (the signed demo copy was auctioned for around £150) but it’s out soon and I’m sure someone in the group will be buying it so I’ll get a game sooner or later.