So let's get this rolling shall we! I would like to start with the turn system I've created.
When I first started thinking about creating a game the first thoughts I had went out on how to create a turn system that I would like. I am not a big fan of the ''you go, I go'' way as I find it pretty boring! Basically you or your opponent moves, shoots, fights and whatever else with his entire force and all you do is react when needed and make some dice rolls for various reasons. What I like a bit better already is that you move something in your force and then you opponent does the same. This way you both get to play shortly after another without waiting for the other to finish the turn with his entire force. And it's also a bit more challenging tactically wise. Still I find this a bit predictable and I really want a system where you don't get to choose entirely which unit goes when.
So what I have come up with is that every
individual that is part of a force is represented by its own token. (bare in mind that I have a skirmish game in mind. That means you get to play with 6-20 miniatures a side. If you want to use the system in bigger games you could allocate the tokens to units just as well!) To playtest the system I've bought some glass pebbles (which are available in most pet shops and garden supply centers) to use as tokens.
You can write down numbers or symbols on the glass pebbles to represent the various sorts of fighters which can be found in your force. I'm probably going to use classes or levels to represent the fighters and characters so I've simply used Roman numerals to keep it simple.
For example, you have five class 1 fighters in your force, two class 3 and your leader is class 5. You would need to take 5 pebbles with a I, three with a III and one with a V. Your opponent does the same for his force and of course to keep the forces apart you use different colours for each force! (this also because there will be more different coloured tokens which have other uses. But more on that later!)
As said, once the
forces has been put together the players collect all of the tokens necessary for
that game and put them together in a bag. These bags are also known as dice bags. (check below for an example of a dice bag which I've found online) Just remember that you need a bag which is large enough to put your hand in with enough room for about 20-30 tokens without you being able to see whick tokens you pick.
To establish which player goes first
with which fighter, the players each take turns picking a token out of the bag.
The player who's token is taken out of the bag can activate a fighter of the same class which is represented on the token. For example we have five class 1 fighters in our force so it's up to you to decide which one of those five you are going to play with!
Repeat this process untill there are no more
tokens in the bag. When the bag is empty and all the fighters have performed then the turn is over and the players put back all the tokens into the back for another round. Reapeat this cycle for whatever number of rounds you have agreed upon or adhere to the number given if you are playing a scenario of some sorts.
Note that
it is possible to have one player's token taken out several times in a row.
This makes the game unpredictable and challeninging. You have to choose wisely which
fighters you use and more importantly, how you use them.
Edit: I now see I forgot a very important part!!! While the players are taking
turns in picking out a token blindly from the bag, it can happen that you pick a
token belonging to your opponent! Thus in this case he takes its turn and acts
with one of the fighters from the class represented on the token! And vice versa!
Okay this was the first part about the turn system and I hope you like it so far. If you have any questions, ideas, feedback or advice then don't be affraid to share it! Next part will be about the different sorts of tokens available and how they work.
Cheers,
Gibbergeist.
