This blog is just to catch everyone up to where we are in Ruin development. I originally started this blog over on my x-fire blog. So anyway, here are some basics for you.
Yes. This game is very complicated, and I am aware that it is difficult to learn. It is really fun though, and when we start our open testing, drop me an email or a comment and I'll let you know where you can go to play it.
Our Design Team:
Vincent- Vincent has been working on the Zantillan race and has designed a couple key rules. He hasn't yet had a chance to actually PLAY the game, but he's been busy recently.
Gavin- Gavin has been responsible for a large amount of the units and unit-based mechanics in the game. He brings a lot of great ideas to our team.
Me (John)- Ruin was my project baby for awhile, the idea I kicked around in my head but never had the guts to go through with. With some help from Vince and Gavin though, we finally have a semi-playable version that can be roughly tested and refined.
The Game:
Ruin is based off of the concept of two rival teams of explorers trying to explore an ancient ruin. On each side of the board, there is a powerful ancient artifact, which you try to take from your opponent by trickery or force. Ruin is set in a fantasy setting, which in addition to traditional fantasy themes (Elves and Goblins) introduces some new ones as well, such as the intelligent zombies known as the Zantillans. Ruin is played on a map made of up hexagonal tiles, on which players move around their units, attack, and cast spells.
This is one half of a Ruin map. The objects standing up represent walls and/or obstacles. Each player determines his half of the map off of a set of preset cards, shown below as well.
Anyway, units are divided into two main categories, Assistants and Explorers. Explorers are powerful, hard to destroy leaders and Assistants are...well...assisting them. A typical assistant card might look like this
That may look a little daunting, but bear with me. (bare or bear, either way)
The column on the left with the heading ATK (attack) refers to the offensive capabilities of the unit in melee combat. The base ATK is modified depending on a number of factors, primarily your numerical advantage and what terrain you are on. The types of terrain correspond with the color of the hex. ie: Green is Forest, Gray/Blue is Rock, Brown is Dirt. The deep blue is water. The DMG is the amount of damage you deal on a successful attack, which requires you to roll an EIGHT-sided dice, add your total bonus, then equal or exceed their total defense.
The second column is DEF (defense). This represents how well the unit can defend itself against attack. The unit above is an Elf, so it is adept at defense in its forest homeland, but weak in the open area of Dirt terrain.
Between the two columns are listed the name and type of the unit, along with a box that provides a description of the drawing that should later appear in that box. The art description sets the tone and mood of the unit, and provides information of the appearance of it.
Directly below the art description box is the abilities box. Each unit in Ruin is unique, so you can combine and create teams of them that are different and adaptable. The abilities can range from anything as simple as the bow and arrow attack shown above to complicated magical spells that can steal opponents' abilities. The italic text in parentheses is called reminder text. On units with few, reminder text helps newer players understand and use those abilities better. On the center bottom of the abilities box is printed whether the unit is an explorer or an assistant.
Now we close in on the last of the unit explanation things for now. In the DEF column there are two spots marked Life and SPD. Life is how much damage a unit can take. A fragile mage can withstand little damage, whereas an undead warrior can take brutal amounts of punishment before succumbing. A unit dies when its life is equal to or less than 0. If the unit is an Explorer, damage clears at the end of the turn, giving them combat superiority over the smaller Assistants. SPD is the number of hexes a unit can move in a turn.
WOW. that was a lot of information for you to take in. Pause for a second. Take a breather. Perhaps listen to a soothing song or two. Now we continue.
Many people, well really just a couple, have asked why we're using 8sided dice for Ruin. The answer is actually pretty simple. A six sided dice has too little variety, as a single point of bonus on it would be much more powerful than on an 8sided dice. however, on dice above 8 sides, you have numbers that may get above 10, which is something casual players tend to avoid if they can.
Alright! The Final Thing for this Post.
Phases of the Turn:
A turn of Ruin is divided into several parts, or phases. Each of these phases is then divided into further parts, called steps. This is a breakdown of the steps and phases in a turn with a basic explanation of what happens in each step and phase.
Beginning Phase
-Beginning of turn step: this is when affects that trigger at the beginning of turn trigger. Abilities may be played here
-Reinforcement Step: IF you have less than 1 explorer and/or less than three assistants out, put the top cards of those decks into play on your spawn space until you have 3 assistants and 1 explorer. If your spawn space has reached the maximum unit limit (2 of your units), you may put your units into play on an adjacent unoccupied hex. If you have no cards left in both of those decks, and no units in play, you lose the game. Abilities may be played here
Main Phase 1
-This is either a Move Phase or a Combat Phase
Main Phase 2
-This is either a Move Phase or a Combat Phase, whichever one Main Phase 1 wasn’t
End of Turn Phase
End of Turn Step: Effects that trigger at end of turn trigger here, and a spell that lasts X turns will lose one of those turns during this step.Abilities may be played here
Damage Clear Step: Damage Clears off of Explorers during this step. Abilities cannot be played during this step
Main Phases Explained:
During the first main phase, you choose whether it will be a Combat Phase or a Move Phase. The second main phase will be whichever of these you did not choose for the first one.
Move Phase
Beginning of Movement Step: Boost effects can be played during this step
Move Step: You choose which unengaged creatures of yours will move up to their SPD in hexes. You cannot stop a unit in a hex with 2 allied units in it already, but you may pass through them. If those two allied units are engaged, you may not enter that hex. If at any time a unit becomes engaged while moving, that unit may not continue moving. You may not move onto the spawn space on your opponent’s side of the map, or the artifact space on your side of the map.
End of Move Step: Boost effects can be played during this step
Combat Phase
1.) Beginning of combat: At this time, spells being cast and targets of those spells are declared Boost effects can be played during this step
2.) Choose Cells For Combat: The Active player chooses cells in which combat will take place. At this time, positional effects and terrain modifiers are calculated. They do not change until combat is over. Boost effects can be played during this step
3.)Damage is Rolled Simultaneously in all cells: We recommend using different color dice to represent each cell’s combat. After seeing the rolls, the active player may play Boost Cards and Abilities, then the Non-Active Player. Once done, all modifiers are applied. Nothing beyond this point can change the Defense Value or attack roll. After all of the modifiers are factored in, if the Attack Roll equals or exceeds the DV of the opposing miniature, damage is placed on the stack. (immediately after damage is placed on the stack, spells effects are placed on the stack. However, as damage is already on the stack, most spells effects can no longer affect combat at this point)
4.) Damage Step: with damage on the stack , boost effects and abilities can be played during this step. After all effects have resolved, damage resolves.
Some Terms:
DEF: abbreviation for defense
ATK: abbreviation for attack
DMG: abbreviation for damage
SPD: abbreviation for speed
Assistant: The weaker units in Ruin, though there are 3 of them and only 1 Explorer
Explorer: The stronger, commanding units in Ruin, you can have 1 out at a time
Engaged: This unit is engaged in combat, meaning that it is in a hex with an enemy unit
Unengaged: This unit is not engaged in combat, meaning that it is not in a hex with an enemy unit
Hex: A single Hexagonal tile on the game board.
Yes. This game is very complicated, and I am aware that it is difficult to learn. It is really fun though, and when we start our open testing, drop me an email or a comment and I'll let you know where you can go to play it.
Our Design Team:
Vincent- Vincent has been working on the Zantillan race and has designed a couple key rules. He hasn't yet had a chance to actually PLAY the game, but he's been busy recently.
Gavin- Gavin has been responsible for a large amount of the units and unit-based mechanics in the game. He brings a lot of great ideas to our team.
Me (John)- Ruin was my project baby for awhile, the idea I kicked around in my head but never had the guts to go through with. With some help from Vince and Gavin though, we finally have a semi-playable version that can be roughly tested and refined.
The Game:
Ruin is based off of the concept of two rival teams of explorers trying to explore an ancient ruin. On each side of the board, there is a powerful ancient artifact, which you try to take from your opponent by trickery or force. Ruin is set in a fantasy setting, which in addition to traditional fantasy themes (Elves and Goblins) introduces some new ones as well, such as the intelligent zombies known as the Zantillans. Ruin is played on a map made of up hexagonal tiles, on which players move around their units, attack, and cast spells.
This is one half of a Ruin map. The objects standing up represent walls and/or obstacles. Each player determines his half of the map off of a set of preset cards, shown below as well.
Anyway, units are divided into two main categories, Assistants and Explorers. Explorers are powerful, hard to destroy leaders and Assistants are...well...assisting them. A typical assistant card might look like this
That may look a little daunting, but bear with me. (bare or bear, either way)
The column on the left with the heading ATK (attack) refers to the offensive capabilities of the unit in melee combat. The base ATK is modified depending on a number of factors, primarily your numerical advantage and what terrain you are on. The types of terrain correspond with the color of the hex. ie: Green is Forest, Gray/Blue is Rock, Brown is Dirt. The deep blue is water. The DMG is the amount of damage you deal on a successful attack, which requires you to roll an EIGHT-sided dice, add your total bonus, then equal or exceed their total defense.
The second column is DEF (defense). This represents how well the unit can defend itself against attack. The unit above is an Elf, so it is adept at defense in its forest homeland, but weak in the open area of Dirt terrain.
Between the two columns are listed the name and type of the unit, along with a box that provides a description of the drawing that should later appear in that box. The art description sets the tone and mood of the unit, and provides information of the appearance of it.
Directly below the art description box is the abilities box. Each unit in Ruin is unique, so you can combine and create teams of them that are different and adaptable. The abilities can range from anything as simple as the bow and arrow attack shown above to complicated magical spells that can steal opponents' abilities. The italic text in parentheses is called reminder text. On units with few, reminder text helps newer players understand and use those abilities better. On the center bottom of the abilities box is printed whether the unit is an explorer or an assistant.
Now we close in on the last of the unit explanation things for now. In the DEF column there are two spots marked Life and SPD. Life is how much damage a unit can take. A fragile mage can withstand little damage, whereas an undead warrior can take brutal amounts of punishment before succumbing. A unit dies when its life is equal to or less than 0. If the unit is an Explorer, damage clears at the end of the turn, giving them combat superiority over the smaller Assistants. SPD is the number of hexes a unit can move in a turn.
WOW. that was a lot of information for you to take in. Pause for a second. Take a breather. Perhaps listen to a soothing song or two. Now we continue.
Many people, well really just a couple, have asked why we're using 8sided dice for Ruin. The answer is actually pretty simple. A six sided dice has too little variety, as a single point of bonus on it would be much more powerful than on an 8sided dice. however, on dice above 8 sides, you have numbers that may get above 10, which is something casual players tend to avoid if they can.
Alright! The Final Thing for this Post.
Phases of the Turn:
A turn of Ruin is divided into several parts, or phases. Each of these phases is then divided into further parts, called steps. This is a breakdown of the steps and phases in a turn with a basic explanation of what happens in each step and phase.
Beginning Phase
-Beginning of turn step: this is when affects that trigger at the beginning of turn trigger. Abilities may be played here
-Reinforcement Step: IF you have less than 1 explorer and/or less than three assistants out, put the top cards of those decks into play on your spawn space until you have 3 assistants and 1 explorer. If your spawn space has reached the maximum unit limit (2 of your units), you may put your units into play on an adjacent unoccupied hex. If you have no cards left in both of those decks, and no units in play, you lose the game. Abilities may be played here
Main Phase 1
-This is either a Move Phase or a Combat Phase
Main Phase 2
-This is either a Move Phase or a Combat Phase, whichever one Main Phase 1 wasn’t
End of Turn Phase
End of Turn Step: Effects that trigger at end of turn trigger here, and a spell that lasts X turns will lose one of those turns during this step.Abilities may be played here
Damage Clear Step: Damage Clears off of Explorers during this step. Abilities cannot be played during this step
Main Phases Explained:
During the first main phase, you choose whether it will be a Combat Phase or a Move Phase. The second main phase will be whichever of these you did not choose for the first one.
Move Phase
Beginning of Movement Step: Boost effects can be played during this step
Move Step: You choose which unengaged creatures of yours will move up to their SPD in hexes. You cannot stop a unit in a hex with 2 allied units in it already, but you may pass through them. If those two allied units are engaged, you may not enter that hex. If at any time a unit becomes engaged while moving, that unit may not continue moving. You may not move onto the spawn space on your opponent’s side of the map, or the artifact space on your side of the map.
End of Move Step: Boost effects can be played during this step
Combat Phase
1.) Beginning of combat: At this time, spells being cast and targets of those spells are declared Boost effects can be played during this step
2.) Choose Cells For Combat: The Active player chooses cells in which combat will take place. At this time, positional effects and terrain modifiers are calculated. They do not change until combat is over. Boost effects can be played during this step
3.)Damage is Rolled Simultaneously in all cells: We recommend using different color dice to represent each cell’s combat. After seeing the rolls, the active player may play Boost Cards and Abilities, then the Non-Active Player. Once done, all modifiers are applied. Nothing beyond this point can change the Defense Value or attack roll. After all of the modifiers are factored in, if the Attack Roll equals or exceeds the DV of the opposing miniature, damage is placed on the stack. (immediately after damage is placed on the stack, spells effects are placed on the stack. However, as damage is already on the stack, most spells effects can no longer affect combat at this point)
4.) Damage Step: with damage on the stack , boost effects and abilities can be played during this step. After all effects have resolved, damage resolves.
Some Terms:
DEF: abbreviation for defense
ATK: abbreviation for attack
DMG: abbreviation for damage
SPD: abbreviation for speed
Assistant: The weaker units in Ruin, though there are 3 of them and only 1 Explorer
Explorer: The stronger, commanding units in Ruin, you can have 1 out at a time
Engaged: This unit is engaged in combat, meaning that it is in a hex with an enemy unit
Unengaged: This unit is not engaged in combat, meaning that it is not in a hex with an enemy unit
Hex: A single Hexagonal tile on the game board.
2 comments:
Ah, a modern version of Dungeons and Dragons. Muy bueno!
Actually, where D&D is a roleplaying game in which you are your character, our game doesn't suggest players dress in costume or imitate accents.
It is more like a game of chess in which you can choose which units you send out into the field. Also, unlike D&D, it doesn't have the open-ended thing going. there is a way to win and you are encouraged to do it. It doesn't take months to finish a game of Ruin, like it does a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. (Average game time right now is 40 mins but we're trying to make it faster).
Mas Facil! (more easy)
-John
Post a Comment