Originally posted at The Forge

David Artman

xenopulse

Hit Location Matrix

If you want to be random, roll a D20 and a D12 and find the cross-section. That’s where you hit. And yes, it means you can miss if you roll outside the human bounds. (You can add weapons or shoulder bits or whatnot, too.)

Now, if your skill is great or your roll good, you just select a sub-section of the matrix to determine where you hit. So if you’re a crackshot, you could pick a 6×6 area out of the 20×12 area, say “first D6 is 4-9 on the x-axis, second D6 is 7-12 on the y-axis.” Or, in short gamer lingo, “6X4, 6Y7.”

That’s a VERY cool idea for an aimed shot, and it might even work with melee and my ideas about ebb and flow, too.

• A melee attack skill lets you pick the quadrant you’re aiming for and determines the “area” of it. Different skills and/or weapons allow for larger or differently shaped areas.
• THEN, you can delay to narrow down that area further (aiming/calling a shot). Of course, if you delay enough that the defender’s “initiative” comes up, he might attack ahead of you.
• The KEY is that, once you’ve rolled to hit a quadrant, your weapon is in that “area” until some later count of initiative. This positioning, in turn, adjusts your chance of parrying against attacks against you in that quadrant.
• SO if your opponent then gets to his initiative count and attacks in that quadrant, you’ll have a bonus to parry. Conversely, if he attacks elsewhere, you have a penalty as you try to haul your weapon into that new quadrant… should you choose to do so!
• REPEAT. Now HIS weapon is in some quadrant for some time period, and that impacts HIS defensive capabilities.

Sprinkle liberally with hindering effects from limb hits, bleeding out from wounds that aren’t instantly lethal, and attacks to subdue; and I think you’d have a nice system with high verisimilitude but minimal handling. Basically, every combatant would have a chart (like that cool grid above) and maybe some tokens or a dry erase marker (laminate the grids) to mark their weapon’s current quadrant and which of their quadrants was last attacked (i.e. their opponent’s weapon position).

Hmmm…. Wonder if you even need a randomizer, then, or if it could all be done with resource allocation (like action point systems). Ooo! And in such a system, delaying or aiming is how one gets more resources! Spending them dictates how accurate the hit was: you only miss because your opponent expends more resources defending (to “push” your hit off his body grid) than you spent attacking (to “pull” your hit to the best spot in the quadrant that you want to hit).

OK, that’s the general notion; here’s the more formal structure of it:

Overview

Ebb & Flow uses this chart of valid hit locations and a concept of Action Points (APs) that determine, without randomizers, an attack’s success and effects on the victim:

That chart shows the hit locations (red rectangles) for each significant body part. The more boxes there are in a location, the easier it generally is to hit that location. Yellow locations, when hit, generally prove lethal; green locations prove lethal over time if not treated OR have other systemic effects like being disarmed or tripped (system TBD).

Combat Begins

Most often, combat begins when a character makes its initial attack against another character. At that moment, all combatants’ Action Point Pools are refreshed, presuming that no long-term effects of damage have temporarily reduced them.

Action Point Pool

Determined by adding together the APs granted by each combat skill–some grant more than others, while some grant none but instead have other combat effects (disarming, tripping).

Viscosity

Ebb & Flow combat is not turn-based. Instead, every character has an Viscosity statistic, which is how many “ticks” of time pass after each attack attempt before the next attempt (or aiming) may occur. A tick is not equal to a second (more like a tenth of a second), and it is only intended to be a loose metric of time passing in-game.

Heavier weapons, generally, increase a character’s Viscosity but also increase or meaningfully change the “attack profile” (below).

Initial Attack

An initial attack may be declared by a player at any time: to start a combat or in response to being attacked (if the attack is dodged, but not if it is parried).

The attacker simply states the number of APs that he or she is investing, what type of attack (i.e. what “attack profile” per below) and, therefore, which squares he or she is targeting with those points. Those three pieces of information determine the direction and ferocity of the attack.
(Ex: 6 AP sword attack–swords provide an additional target square per 3 APs–to target squares D4 to F4: an attempt to lop off the victim’s head!)

Attack Profile

Basically, most weapon types have an AP cost to add additional target squares to an attack. This changes the “profile” of the attack, when an attacker opts to take advantage of it. Some weapon types (usually huge ones) even grant some initial, extra target squares for free, usually with a much higher increase to Viscosity than lighter weapons.

Linear – The attack profile weapon must “extend” additional target squares along a single line of contiguous squares.
(Ex: Zweihander: 2 free target squares + 2 AP per additional target square (linear profile); +10 to Viscosity; 5 APs to draw, starts at C1)

Square – The attack profile must designate additional target squares to make the overall profile as square as possible, which makes using weapon parry much more costly in terms of APs (i.e. each “row” of target squares must be pushed off a hit location; they do not push off en masse).
(ex: Maul: 1 free target square + 2 AP per additional target square (square profile); +15 Viscosity; 8 APs to draw, starts at A/I15)

Scatter – The attack profile may designate additional target squares anywhere on the hit location grid; e.g. a shotgun blast or multi-headed flail, which makes both parry and dodge more costly in terms of APs (i.e. the defender will have to pay big to “connect the dots” with a swirling, sweeping parry, to gather them all up and shove them off locations; OR he or she will pay heavily to individually move each one off all locations [i]in the same direction[/i] (i.e. dodging a huge distance in the opposite direction).

[And then there would be a laundry list of weapons]

Defense

The defender may then respond with the number of APs that he or she is investing in defense.

Dodging – For each point invested in defense, the defender may move one of the target squares ONE square in a direction; if enough points are invested to move all target squares off of all red boxes, the attack will be a miss. Note, however, that ALL target squares must be moved in the same direction, to the same ending square (this is very important later)! Note that dodging implies movement of the defender’s stance (distance per square TBD) and, as such, might very well result in other effects based on terrain (system TBD).
(Ex: D4 costs 1 AP to move to C4, E4 takes 2 APs, and F4 takes 3, for a total of 6 APs to move the sword into C4: a deft dodge to the left)

Parrying – For each point invested in defense, the defender may move one of the target squares TWO squares in a direction, so long as his or her weapon target is also moved to a square adjacent to that ending square. Alternately, the defender may use APs to move his or her weapon target to a square adjacent to a target square and then move it [i]AND all other target squares in the line of movement[/i] ONE square per AP, and his or her weapon target remains in the square just “behind” that line of movement. His own weapon target, in turn, must also end off a red box: no parry may leave your weapon target on one of your opponent’s hit locations. Put differently: when parrying, your OWN weapon target can hit you, if not also moved off any red box!). Note that an unarmed defender may not parry a weapon attack, and a weapon parry of an unarmed attack is automatically a hand hit.
(Ex: Suppose the defender above had his or her weapon target at B3. He or she could, instead of dodging, move it to C4 (1 AP) then all the way “through his own neck” to G4 for 4 more APs, leaving the attacker’s weapon target in H4: a solid parry that leave him or her better off than the more expensive dodge above.)

Note that drawing a weapon costs a number of APs shown in the weapon description, and its target begins in the square designated by the description; and if it says “A/I” and a number, use the combatant’s handedness to decide whether it’s in the A (right) or I (left) column at the designated row.

Note also that this system utterly supports dual wielding: an attacker may choose which weapon target to move to attempt a hit, and a defender may choose which of his or her targets will be moved in a parry. Finally, a shield is, for all intents and purposes, a special kind of weapon that has a square-shaped target when parrying (2×2, 4×4, or even 6×6 depending upon size–thus, they can move “square” profiles en masse), a typically higher Viscosity increase to wield than a weapon, and a very high additional target square cost (i.e. one can only poke someone with its center spike or slash at the victim with its edge).

Attackers and defenders MUST note the square in which their weapon targets end up after a defense; it is relevant to follow-up attacks against the victim.

Follow-Up Attacks

Follow-up attacks work just like the defense system–in fact, Ebb & Flow is little more than investing effort to be the one who finally has the AP surplus and weapon target positioning to make a decisive blow.

Basically, if the character is not counting off Viscosity ticks, the he or she may spend APs to move his or her weapon target from its current square to a different square, one AP per square moved, and then may invest further APs to change the attack profile.

A defender invests APs to move the target square(s) with a dodge or parry, per above. Note that a defender might have to suffer effects of a lesser hit–for example, pushing a hit from the upper torso to an upper arm–if he or she does not have enough APs or doesn’t want to use them all up in defense.

Aiming

At any time when a player is not counting off Viscosity after an attack attempt, a player may delay (i.e. not attack) for one tick to receive one AP to his or her AP Pool. (Or maybe this is something that varies based on a combat skill or skills, instead one-for-one.)

I think that’s sufficient to illustrate, maybe even to test.

OK, so what’s missing, here? Where’s the obvious min-max uber strategy? Where’s the first-turn kill? (Assume whatever in AP Pools, so long as they are fairly close between defender and attacker–this system does NOT give a significantly weaker defender much of a chance to survive; there’s not “lucky blows” here, other than (maybe) combat skills that tweak AP costs let you jump ahead in Viscosity count….)

Wormholes
David Artman
A mind-warping space battle for 2 or more players.
Players:	2-10 (see Equipment)
Icehouse stashes:	1 Treehouse set per 5 players
Other equipment:	One set of Martian Coasters per 4 players, plus up to two Black Coasters; one six-sided die
Setup time:	5 minutes
Playing time:	half hour to an hour
Rules complexity:	Medium
Strategy depth:	High
Random chance:	Medium
Mechanics:	Dice, Move & Fire, Placement
Theme:	Space
BGG Link:	not ready yet
Created in August, 2007

The Ancients thought space was mostly empty, a vacuum, a void through which a spacecraft could creep for eons without getting anywhere important. They were wrong.

Space is teaming with wormholes: bridges between regions of space that are free of time, through which spacecraft may instantly travel. But space is also teaming with Others: sometimes allies, ofttimes enemies.

Equipment

For any number of players, Wormholes requires a Treehouse die and a six-sided die (d6) numbered 1 through 6.

Further, each player needs a stack and a Martian Coaster of a color different from every other player. Common ways to break this down based on Looney Labs products is as follows:

• A two- to four-player game requires one Rainbow Treehouse set and one Martian Coasters set.
• A five-player game requires the above plus one of the following:
  • A Black Coaster
  • One stack from a Xeno Treehouse set and the corresponding coaster from another Martian Coasters set, marked to indicate that it is associated with the Xeno set.
• A six- to eight-player game requires a Xeno Treehouse set and another Martian Coasters set, marked to indicate that it is associated with the Xeno set.
• A nine-player game requires the above plus a Black Coaster.
• A ten-player game requires the above plus another Black Coaster, which is marked to indicate that it is the White coaster.

Note: Everywhere “Rainbow” or “Xeno” appears above could be switched to “Xeno” or “Rainbow,” respectively; the point is that everyone has their own color stack with that color coaster, and the Xeno coasters are marked to distinguish them from their Rainbow counterparts.

Setup

Determine the order of play by whatever means. Determine who will play what color. Each player gets his or her color coaster and a small, medium, and large pyramid of his or her color¹.

The first player places his or her coaster in the middle of the playing area; this is that player’s home system. Then, in turn order, each player places his or her own home system on the playing area such that his or her coaster is squarely and completely adjacent (i.e. lines up “cleanly”) to at least one other coaster. After placement, all of the coasters are collectively referred to as the galaxy.

After all coasters are placed, each player then, in turn order, places a nest of his or her pyramids flat on any square on his or her home system, with the point of the pyramid stack pointing in any orthogonal (non-diagonal) orientation. (Throughout play, pyramids are always flat and are always orthogonally oriented.) These nests are the players’ ships, with two ablative shields (the large and medium pyramids) and an inner hull (the small pyramid).

Throughout setup, players tend to notice and comment upon the relative strengths and weaknesses of various home system placements in the galaxy. Such observation typically leads to early advice, alliances, and deals: all such “table talk” is perfectly legal throughout the course of play, but it is never enforced by the game rules.

Play

A player’s turn consists of rolling both the d6 and the Treehouse die, moving his or her ship, and firing on another ship (in that order).

Movement

The d6 result is that player’s movement points for this turn.

To move from one square to another square, the ship must be oriented to point at the destination square, there must be an arrow (called a wormhole) pointing from its currently occupied square to the destination square, and the destination square must be unoccupied. (There is no “collision” or “capture” in Wormholes.) A player uses one movement point per wormhole crossed (but see “Double Movement” and “Warping” below) or per 90 degrees of rotation (see “Turning” below).

A ship may not move out of the galaxy (i.e. all ships must remain on squares on coasters).

Double Movement – If the player’s ship is moving in or into its home system, each movement point is worth double movement (i.e. half of a movement point to move one square or to turn 90 degrees). Likewise, if a ship is moving in or into an ally’s home system, each movement point counts double, but only if the ally agrees to it during the player’s turn: the ally must confirm the alliance.

Warping – If the player’s ship is resting on the center square of its (or an ally’s) home system, it may “warp” to the center square of an ally’s (or its own) home system. As with double movement, the ally must confirm the alliance to permit the warp to or from its center square; and as with any movement, the destination square must be unoccupied. Likewise, a ship may warp between two of its ally’s center squares if both allies confirm the alliance and the destination square is unoccupied. A warp uses half of a movement point.

Once a player is eliminated from play (see Damage), that player’s home system becomes “allied” with all other players for purposes of warping, but not for purposes of double movement. In other words, anyone may warp to (or from) that system’s center square, from (or to) one’s home system or an ally’s system.

Finally, a player is not required to use all of his or her movement points on a turn, and any unused movement points or half-points are lost at the end of the player’s turn.

Turning

A ship must use movement points to change orientation, at the rate of one movement point per 90 degree turn (or half of a movement point per 90 degree turn, in its or an ally’s home system). Thus, a ship may make a complete reversal of course if it uses two movement points (or one movement point, in its or an ally’s home system).

It is permissible (but pointless) to “spin in place”—use four movement points to end up in the same orientation—or to “go the long way around”—use three movement points in one direction to effect a 90 degree turn in the other direction.

Cosmic Flux

The Treehouse die represents cosmic flux, and its result indicates one of the following:

• TIP = “Turn In Place”—The wormholes are unstable; the current player may only use movement points to change the orientation of his or her ship within the square that it currently occupies.
• SWAP² = One time before, during, or after the current player’s movement, the current player’s ship swaps places with another player’s ship (do not change the orientation of either ship). This swap does not use up a movement point.
• HOP = One time before, during, or after the current player’s movement, his or her ship may “hop out of space-time” to move from its current square to an unoccupied orthogonally adjacent square (do not change its orientation). Unlike normal movement, neither the ship’s current orientation nor the wormholes on the current square are relevant when choosing a destination square. This hop does not use up a movement point.
• AIM = One time before, during, or after the current player’s movement, he or she may orient his or her ship in any orthogonal direction. This aim does not use up any movement points.
• DIG = One time during the current player’s movement, his or her ship may “dig through space-time” to enter a square at which it is pointing even if there is no wormhole pointing from the current square to the destination square. This dig does not use up a movement point.
• WILD³ = Choose one of the above.

Firing

At the end of a player’s movement, he or she may choose to fire a torpedo. An imaginary missile travels out of the front of the ship in a straight line until (a) it hits a ship and does damage or (b) it hits the edge of a square with no wormhole pointing to the next square in line and detonates harmlessly or (c) it goes off the edge of a coaster completely and leaves the galaxy.

Put another way, the torpedo “moves” like a ship that has unlimited movement points and can not turn or warp, but can leave the galaxy.

Damage

When a ship it hit by a torpedo, that ship immediately removes its outermost shield: the large first, then the medium on a subsequent hit. If a ship with no more shields (i.e. just its hull, the small) is hit, it is destroyed and that player is out of the game.

Winning

The last player with a ship on the board is the winner.

Two or more players can win if they are in an alliance and are the only players with ships on the board. Alliances may be formed overtly or covertly throughout the course of play; but to break an alliance, a player must declare his or her split from it before (or at the same time that) the alliance declares victory. Should such a last-second break occur, play continues as normal until only allied ships remain on the board (even if it ends up an “alliance” of one!).

Variations

Players should decide in advance whether any of these game variations are in effect:

1. Tag Team: Players choose more than one color each. All of that player’s colors are considered allied to each other. Regardless of the number of colors that each player controls, make sure that turn order is preserved and that color order remains consistent. Thus, a player should never be allowed to take a turn with the same color as he or she used previously until every other color that he or she controls has been used on turns subsequent to the one on which the first color was used.

   For a variation on this variation, allow players to take their turns with whatever color they want, each turn.

   Both of these variations help to make a more dynamic game for smaller play groups. At no time, however, should a player be allowed to use all of his or her colors on a single turn: that sort of mass, uninterrupted coordination will make for very fast, lop-sided games that favor those who take their turns earliest.

2. System Swap: SWAP = Choose any two home systems: those coasters swap positions in the galaxy (do not change the orientation of either coaster).

   This variation is best suited to smaller games where a critical system swap can temporarily save a lone player from an early assault by an alliance. In larger games, the frequency of system swapping will make for a game with a lot of movement compared to firing, which some players might find tedious.

3. The Wild Shot: WILD = When you fire your torpedo, if it reaches the edge of a square with no wormhole pointing to the next square in line then it turns to the right in that space and tries to continue. It will continue until (a) it hits and damages any ship, including your own, (b) it must turn right twice in the same square, which makes it self-destruct, or (c) it goes off the edge of a coaster completely and leaves the galaxy.

   This variation is best suited to smaller games or games where the players appreciate more complex turns. A wild shot requires significant pre-planning of movement to end up in the right square at the right orientation to send a torpedo careening across the galaxy to hit someone who never expected it. Such pre-planning can make for much slower turns.

Credits

Wormholes was inspired by and borrows much of its mechanics from Chris Kice’s Zamboni Wars and Andrew Looney’s Martian Coasters.

This work is distributed by David Carle Artman under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Created in August, 2007

I have this idea for a pyramid soccer game that works something like Subbuteo.

I’m thinking basic position play plus some effect due to pyramid size: maybe determines who wins a tackle attempt, or determines the “range” within which a piece can “receive” a pass that doesn’t directly hit it.

Summary:

• Position pieces and ball for kick-off.
• Take turns flicking a piece:
  • Basic move – Piece doesn’t hit an opposing piece (else Foul) or the ball (else Tackle Attempt).
  • Dribble the ball – Ball doesn’t hit an opposing piece, and your piece ends up within its “range” of the ball after all motion ceases.
  • Pass to another piece – Ball hits recipient piece without hitting an opposing piece and ends up within the recipient piece’s “range.”
  • All tipped over pieces are set upright (by pivoting at base edge in contact with table) at the end of their player’s subsequent turn (ball position is unaffected by tipping a piece).
• Attempt to tackle by flicking a piece into an opposing piece in possession of the ball (or the ball itself).
  • Foul if you knock the opposing piece flat.
  • Tackle won by largest piece; tie goes to piece in possession prior to the Tackle Attempt.
• Flick-kick into the goal (past the keeper?) to score:
  • Must be past Shooting Line: half way between goal and midfield.
  • Reset to opening position afterwards.
• Timed game or play to predetermined score.

More to come….