So what's gamemastering gonna be like?

Dungeoneer the RPG is fast paced and easy to learn, and yet is packed with depth and tactical game play. You can set up your game session in moments and enjoy playing for hours.

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OURUlz
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So what's gamemastering gonna be like?

Post by OURUlz »

So whats the game mastering end of this game gonna be like? Is it going to be one of those games where the GM has sit back and " story tell" and protect the heros like sheep for the sake ot his precious campaign? Or can he get competitive and try to nail their miserable hides to the wall?
Nobody wants to do the math to hit Armor Class 42...do you here me? Nobody.
warpweaver
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The Dungeonlord is the Antagonist.

Post by warpweaver »

The role of the dungeonlord is to create a real threat for the heroes.

No rolling dice in secret to 'nerf' your blows for the sake of story.
The plot is laid out in advance, and is represented as a quest tree.

Our explicit design goal is to extend the Original Dungeoneer XCG concept (where each player is hero and dungeonlord alternately) and during the dungeonlord phase, you TRY and kill the heroes.

Due to the peril system, we have greatly shifted the balance of power between the heroes and the dungeonlord. The heroes have MUCH more control over the flow of the game.

While in some RPG's there is nothing from preventing an angry or capricious GM from throwing in Tiamat into the middle of a level 1 adventure. In DGA, a hero would have to have accumulated 20 peril AND enter a map tile where the peril limit was at least 20 in a scenario where the mother of all dragons was in the deck for Tiamat to assault him.

IF ...
You use your tactics effectively to defeat the encounters.
You choose your actions wisely to explore the perilous map.
You gain hints and clues as rewards for great role-playing.

You WILL be able to defeat the dungeonlord.

When you survive a scenario of Dungeoneer Adventures, we hope you feel that you truly earned it!

Onwards to Glory!
bye for now,
richard pocklington
gilgalad
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Post by gilgalad »

Hello warpweaver,

When you refer to a "tile" and the "card in the deck" are you speaking literally or figuratively? Will there be tiles and cards in this game? Is it more of a board game like Heroquest or Warhammerquest?

Never mind! I just read the generic topic where it explains that it is. ;-P
OURUlz
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Post by OURUlz »

Hey warpweaver,

This sounds absolutely awesome. Its the missing link that RPGs have had for a long time: As a player, How do you keep a GM from crapping on you and as a GM how do you go after the players without looking like you're blatantly trying to butcher them? Now its objective and their won't be much guessing about it. If a hero gets wacked chances are he had it coming.
The truth is that most RPG's at the core are not really games. GM's are encouraged to fudge for the sake of storyline. Even if a GM decides to be ruthless and follow the rules to the letter and heroes wind up dead, there is the hour down time( at least) so people can roll up new characters. This sounds like a cool innovative game, keep the details coming.
Nobody wants to do the math to hit Armor Class 42...do you here me? Nobody.
warpweaver
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Post by warpweaver »

DGA is both a card game and a roleplaying game.

We studied HeroQuest, Warhammer Quest as well as Talisman in some depth during the initial design phase.

Dungeoneer Adventures is meant to be substantially more rich of a game, but we are aiming for a similar simplicity of gameplay.

That being said, the game is acessible to newcomers, but designed to challenge the 30 year RPG veteran.

The combination of the physical map and the quest tree, adds a depth of storytelling potential of which board games are not generally capable.

Our tactical combat system is deep enough to provide complex and strategically complex battles.

The explicit role-play phase adds a dimension which card and board games avoid. Think of it more like interspersing a charades or balderdash turn in between exploration and combat.

As a hybrid roleplaying/card game, this may put the game somewhat in it's own genre. We will have to wait and see what the reviews say.

Right now, we MAY include some printed maps, instead of map cards.

Onwards to Glory!
bye for now,
richard pocklington
OURUlz
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Post by OURUlz »

I think that another thing that RPG's have been missing is structure. I know that when I ran a Castles and Crusades game recently with my GF and some of our friends, they were not really sure about what they were supposed to do. The idea of a hybrid game sounds good. Dungeons and Dragons came out in the seventies where things were more experimental and do your own thing that was the appeal of it. Now, especially the older i get the more i want things structured out. I remember Playing the old Against the Giants Gygax module and debating for an hour about how to get into the Hill Giants lair? I don't want to do that anymore. Hell, I'm lucking if I get to game once every three months and I don't want to waste good hacking time trying to figure out what to do next.
Nobody wants to do the math to hit Armor Class 42...do you here me? Nobody.
gilgalad
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Post by gilgalad »

I agree with OURUlz. Quickness of play would be great. Gone are the entire weekends I could devote to gaming. And everyone's attention span seems to be shorter. Fast food, high speed internet, pay at the pumps, it's all go. It's hard to get everyone to sit down for 5 or 6 hours on a regular basis. Plus the time it takes to actually get people focused and into the adventure. So much about the RPG's these days makes for time wasted. Books books books volume 1 - 17, expansions, splat books, rules rules rules errata errata errata.... well, you know what I mean. I want to GAME! I want players to talk about the many amazing feats of heroics they did! Not talk endlessly about tweaking stats and munchkining their characters.

Well I'll stop my rant now. Sorry. :oops:

I guess what I'm trying to say is make it fun, make it frenetic, and make it soon! :lol:

By the way, will there be some way of adapting existing Goodman modules to the game or are the rules just too different? I like their modules and use them all the time.
Thomas Denmark
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Re: So what's gamemastering gonna be like?

Post by Thomas Denmark »

OURUlz wrote:So whats the game mastering end of this game gonna be like? Is it going to be one of those games where the GM has sit back and " story tell" and protect the heros like sheep for the sake ot his precious campaign? Or can he get competitive and try to nail their miserable hides to the wall?
I wouldn't go so far as to say it is a competitive relationship - but unlike traditional roleplaying games, the Dungeoneer RPG truly is a game. There is no room for the Dungeonlord to fudge rolls for the sake of her story, and she doesn't have the power to drop Asmodeus Lord of the Infernal Realm ad hoc onto the party at her whim - the players would have to accumulate a crap load of Peril and really deserve a pounding for that to happen.

It is a structured game with rules - not an excuse for amateur actors to pretend it is story hour. However, as a fan of RPG's since I was 12 (that was in the early 80's ... to date myself) I can safely say it has endless potential for story within the structure of the game.
Thomas Denmark
www.studiodenmark.com
OURUlz
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Post by OURUlz »

Sounds like this game keeps things even and fair. When I GM, depending on the group i want to reserve the right to nail the players with a tough combat when the time is right, and really nail them when they deserve it. Like when someone gets caught trying to pick pocket the captain of the guard. It sounds like dungeoneer is structured in a way where the heroes won't be wandering around looking for trouble like in town and stuff. Which I think is cool, because I think that the times that a GM is most likely capricious and evil is during the "Town business Phase" of RPG's and during the random wilderness encounter period of traveling to the dungeon. I remember one session where my GM flew in a red dragon because we were arguing with each other too much. I looked at my watch and was like, " so it's 7:30 and you're going to murder us cause we're arguing about what to do with the extra healing potion?"
It was pretty lame. It sounds like Dungeoneer protects the player from a cranky GM.
Nobody wants to do the math to hit Armor Class 42...do you here me? Nobody.
Banesfinger
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Post by Banesfinger »

warpweaver wrote:Right now, we MAY include some printed maps, instead of map cards.
Will a GM be able to create his own maps, adventures, campaign, etc? Or since this is a (hybrid) card game, will he have to purchase a new map card if he wants terrain ( ? ) that is not included in the main box set?

Basically I'm asking if it is possible to create your own home-brew world in Dungeoneer RPG?
warpweaver
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Post by warpweaver »

wow, finally a simple question!

yes.

it will be possible to do your own 'home brew' dungeoneer world

thomas denmark has already put card templates up on his site

i reccomend putting your DGA cards in sleeves
that way, when you have home made cards mixed in
you will not easily be able to tell them apart

as the prototype set
i have been using existing old cards i have
from all sorts of card games
with stickers on them to transform them into dungeoneer cards
bye for now,
richard pocklington
warpweaver
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Last Night ended in a Crushing Defeat for the Dungeonlord

Post by warpweaver »

The Dungeonlord got wacked last night!

Dzintars and Michael, who got wiped out in a total party kill last month, redeemed themselves with a clear victory against an Epic scenario set in the great chasm in the Dunwin Wastes which separates Dolmeranthuz from Ilbor Paidan.

Excellent hero design and effective roleplaying generated a party that, once they got started, pushed through every threat and challenge I could throw at them.

As the Dungeonlord, my strategy was based upon synergy among a group of demon encounters with plenty of enhancers including vicious, monstrous, diabolical and malignant. I threw in some dragons, humanoids and a couple of key fiends to make sure the heroes would be punished for overspecializing in demon slaying. I didn't add many traps to my deck as the dungeon map tiles provided plenty of spikes, pits and trapped dorways.

In the end, as the final battle took form in an intricate series of roleplay phases, the heroes were looking at an extremely deadly pack. Over 20 wounds worth of monsters were ready to pounce, some of them with melee scores as high as 10 and given the map tile bonuses, not a single foe with less than 6 magic.

The Ancient Curious Arcane Adventurer took a few lumps while preventing either speed threats or magic challenges from resulting in disaster while the incredibly specialised melee master, a Rustic Devout Tough Fighter, cleaned the map of enemies and still had plenty of wounds left to keep going. Perhaps they will start out after the one monster who got away. Great work Heroes!

Onwards to Glory!
bye for now,
richard pocklington
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