Author Topic: The Knight in Panther Skin  (Read 4741 times)

Jubal

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The Knight in Panther Skin
« on: November 17, 2016, 12:15:04 PM »
AKA "yes I thought of another game idea".

Essentially this is a little questing game based on Shota Rustaveli's medieval epic poem "The Knight in Panther Skin". Players will be able to take one of six different characters, and go out exploring from their starting point in Arabia. The game will basically be competitive, but there can be some elements of cooperation involved too. Stay tuned! :)
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

comrade_general

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Re: The Knight in Panther Skin
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2016, 03:53:47 PM »
Will there be any ice wizard caves or THERMAL PODS?

Jubal

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Re: The Knight in Panther Skin
« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2016, 04:01:10 PM »
This isn't a text adventure :P And no, I am staying at least semi-accurate to things that were in the 12th century myth.
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

comrade_general

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Re: The Knight in Panther Skin
« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2016, 06:42:55 PM »
Pretty sure ice wizards and thermal pods were central to 12th century myth. :)

Jubal

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Re: The Knight in Panther Skin
« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2016, 11:19:02 PM »
[citation needed]

:P
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Phoenixguard09

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Re: The Knight in Panther Skin
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2016, 04:53:53 AM »
So in essence this will be similar to Hetairos? (Which I must remember to scan and upload the  illustrations I have done.) :p

Can we get some more info on the characters please?
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Jubal

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Re: The Knight in Panther Skin
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2016, 10:30:51 PM »
It's a lot, lot simpler than Hetairos - more like a 1hr playthrough time, based on a set card deck and with far less flexible/expansive rules. I'll write a rough overview of the mechanics soon :)



The six playable characters are:

Avtandil
The hero of the work, from Arabia. He's generally a wise and effective hero, not always morally perfect but cunning, persuasive, and a powerful fighter. Also apparently sings really well.

Brief synopsis of his role in the book:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Tariel
The titular Knight in Panther's Skin, hailing from India. Possibly the greatest fighter ever, but also impulsive, reckless, and somewhat mentally brittle.

Brief synopsis of his role in the book:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Nuradin Phridon
(Or just Phridon for short). The ruler of the small city-state of Mulghazanzar. Probably the most sensible and least morally dubious of the three main male characters, a good knight in his own right, and frequently a source of aid for the heroes.

Brief synopsis of his role in the book:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Tinatin
Avtandil's love interest and the heir to the throne of Arabia. Kind and wise but cunning enough to be an effective ruler.

Brief synopsis of her role in the book:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Asmat
Maidservant to Nestan-Darejan. Perhaps the only person who cares about Nestan-Darejan as much as Tariel does; she's resilient, wise, and used to living for many years in the wilderness as they wander in search of her mistress.

Brief synopsis of her role in the book:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Phatman
The wife of the head of the merchants in Gulansharo, the City of Flowers. She rather likes having dalliances away from her decidedly unsatisfying husband, but is otherwise generally kind-hearted and helpful to the heroes. Whilst not a magic user herself, she has several slave-magicians.

Brief synopsis of her role in the book:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

Phoenixguard09

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Re: The Knight in Panther Skin
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2016, 09:36:40 AM »
That's all pretty interesting.  Looking forward to finding out more. ;)
The Norbayne Campaign Instagram page. Give us a cheeky follow if you like. :)
By the power of Ga'haarr I command you to vanish! VANISH!
I CANNOT BE KILLED BUT WITH FIRE!
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(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
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Crazier than a crack-head cat and here to make sticky treats out of your vital organs.

Jubal

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Re: The Knight in Panther Skin
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2017, 12:44:37 AM »
Mechanics

The game has a deck of area cards in different types (plains, sea, hills, forest, special locations), and a deck of quest cards. It has player characters, who have action cubes (types being wisdom, movement, attack, and block).

You always put 7 action cubes down per turn - never more never less. They are not used up - reclaim them at the end of the turn.

Block cubes (black) do nothing, but you're required to play all the ones you have each turn. You start with four and aim to get rid of them.
All other types of cube may be required to complete quests. If you have all the cube types needed to complete a quest, you can complete it as an action.
Additionally:
  • Movement cubes let you explore 1 new area tile or move 2 explored area tiles
  • Wisdom cubes let you collaborate on quests - for 2 players to collaborate, the difficulty of the quest increases by 2 wisdom cubes, then 4, 8, 16, as the number of players joining in goes up.
  • Attack cubes let you draw an extra quest from the deck and place it on a tile.

Then the turn goes like this:
  • Select seven cubes and everyone reveals.
  • Add a marker to all current quests - when they reach as many markers as their difficulty, they disappear from the map.
  • Each player draws a quest and places it. All the quests are numbered and have certain allowed terrain areas, and all the map tiles are numbered likewise. Quests must be placed on the closest numbered valid tile.
  • Each player takes a turn to use up all their tokens and explore or do quests.
  • End of turn; a different player now goes first.

Once Kadjeti has been explored, the quests start giving negative effects if you can't complete them, though this needs clarification.

Current problems:
  • Board feels like it fills up with quests too much
  • Working as a 2 person tag team is currently a bit OP
  • I don't really like having a die in the game and I'd like to avoid one, but I'm not sure how else to get the late game interesting or have players "gamble" on whether they can complete quests
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...