gadren
2014-06-17, 12:24 AM
So, a few months back, I bought the basic Castle Panic game and played it with friends. The game is okay, but honestly it kind of just plays itself and gets old quick.
Then, I got the Wizard's Tower expansion for the game. This expansion makes the game more interesting, but also way harder, and we still felt the cooperative aspect of the game was minimal.
So, we came up with the Class rule, which we've used and refined over the course of a dozen games, and it has made the game much more fun. It improves the chances of each player being able to contribute something on each turn and makes you feel a bit more unique if you're the only one who picked a class. It also makes the game easier, but we still find it challenging (and you can always add the difficulty-enhancing variant rules printed in the game's rules.)
Anyways, I wanted to share this variant with anyone else who has the expansion, so that they can enjoy it as we have. It may sound a bit complex in writing but it is actually very simple in practice:
Wizard's Tower Player Class System:
When using this variant, the following changes are added to the game:
-Trading: You may trade one card with each player at the table, but only one card per player.
-Class: At the start of the game, you choose one of four classes for yourself: the Archmage, the Lord Commander, the Master Thief, or the Miracle-worker. They each have a different ability that comes into play in Step 7.
-Step 7: A 7th step of play is added to the game. What you can do during Step 7 depends on your class:
Archmage: Draw 1 Wizard Card, even if the Wizard's Tower is destroyed. Draw 1 Castle Card.
Lord Commander: Look at the top 3 cards in the Castle Deck. Take up to 2 Hit cards from those 3. You can choose to discard the other cards, and/or put them back on top of the deck in any order.
Master Thief: "Steal" (Draw) 2 Castle cards from the Castle Deck. Note: Because he's greedy, a Master Thief's starting hand size is 5 in a 6-player game, 6 in a 3-5-player game, and 7 in a 2-player game.
Miracle-worker: When any player discards a Hit card during steps 4 or 6, you may take that card and put it in your "Infirmary" deck. Your Infirmary has three spaces; regular Hit cards take up one space, and Hero and Any-Color cards take up two. During your step 7, you add all cards from your Infirmary into your hand. (Your sacred oath prohibits discarding cards directly from the Infirmary, they must be added to your hand first.)
(Note: In a 2-4 player game, you may wish to rule that each player must choose a different class. In a 5+ player game, you may wish to rule that there cannot be more than two of each class at the table.)
Then, I got the Wizard's Tower expansion for the game. This expansion makes the game more interesting, but also way harder, and we still felt the cooperative aspect of the game was minimal.
So, we came up with the Class rule, which we've used and refined over the course of a dozen games, and it has made the game much more fun. It improves the chances of each player being able to contribute something on each turn and makes you feel a bit more unique if you're the only one who picked a class. It also makes the game easier, but we still find it challenging (and you can always add the difficulty-enhancing variant rules printed in the game's rules.)
Anyways, I wanted to share this variant with anyone else who has the expansion, so that they can enjoy it as we have. It may sound a bit complex in writing but it is actually very simple in practice:
Wizard's Tower Player Class System:
When using this variant, the following changes are added to the game:
-Trading: You may trade one card with each player at the table, but only one card per player.
-Class: At the start of the game, you choose one of four classes for yourself: the Archmage, the Lord Commander, the Master Thief, or the Miracle-worker. They each have a different ability that comes into play in Step 7.
-Step 7: A 7th step of play is added to the game. What you can do during Step 7 depends on your class:
Archmage: Draw 1 Wizard Card, even if the Wizard's Tower is destroyed. Draw 1 Castle Card.
Lord Commander: Look at the top 3 cards in the Castle Deck. Take up to 2 Hit cards from those 3. You can choose to discard the other cards, and/or put them back on top of the deck in any order.
Master Thief: "Steal" (Draw) 2 Castle cards from the Castle Deck. Note: Because he's greedy, a Master Thief's starting hand size is 5 in a 6-player game, 6 in a 3-5-player game, and 7 in a 2-player game.
Miracle-worker: When any player discards a Hit card during steps 4 or 6, you may take that card and put it in your "Infirmary" deck. Your Infirmary has three spaces; regular Hit cards take up one space, and Hero and Any-Color cards take up two. During your step 7, you add all cards from your Infirmary into your hand. (Your sacred oath prohibits discarding cards directly from the Infirmary, they must be added to your hand first.)
(Note: In a 2-4 player game, you may wish to rule that each player must choose a different class. In a 5+ player game, you may wish to rule that there cannot be more than two of each class at the table.)