Homebrew design thread

[The_Evil_One]

Basically, write-your-own expansion. I made a character, need help refining it:
Miko (Human, Azure City)

Shticks

Windstriker
Monsters you battle get –1 to their support. When you battle a player, you may flip this shtick. Choose another player. That player may not assist the player you are battling for this battle.

Tanglefoot Bag (Flip)
Attack +6, Defense +6, Range 2
Weapon Shtick
Results: If a player, they lose a turn. If a monster, the battle is a draw, but you may continue battling with a new shtick and you on the attack, or simply end your turn.
Boost: +3 attack and +3 defense

Jump to Conclusions (Flip)
Flip to use your katana as a verbal shtick with a range of 3. You enter the target’s room at the end of the attack. You may not use Wakizashi with this attack, but you may use Smite Evil. You may even use this against an unexplored room, because it’s obvious what monsters will be there and where they will be.
Boost: Deals an additional wound

Detect Evil
At the start of your turn, you may have any player except Belkar show you their battle hand. If they have no hand, they must draw 7 new cards and show them to you. You may immediately flip this shtick to make them discard a card of your choice from it.

Wakizashi
When you attack with your katana, make an additional roll with half the attack bonus (including boosts), and use the higher results.

Divine Grace
You get +3 defense against Magic shticks and monsters with Spellcaster.
Boost: Additional +2 defense against Magic s
hticks and monsters with spellcaster

Fearless
You don’t run away, you just make tactical retreats. When you would flee the dungeon, you don’t drop the first loot you would otherwise drop. So, if you are 3 rooms away from the dungeon you don’t drop any loot. If you are more then 3 rooms away you wait for your first full turn of running away to drop any loot.
Boost: Skip another loot drop

Smite Evil (x3, Flip)
Flip this shtick when you attack a monster or Belkar with your katana. You get +1 attack, and deal +1 wound.
Boost: Additional +2 attack

Lay on Hands (x2, Flip)
As Durkon’s Cure Assorted Wounds, but you must be in the same room as the player.

Katana (x3)
As Roy’s Greenhilt Sword

Very Special Plan (Flip)
Obviously the gods have a very, very special plan for you. They would never let you die, right? Flip to prevent one wound.

Ambiguously Armored
Armor Shtick
You’re wearing some kind of armor, otherwise you wouldn’ t have those pauldrons, but you don’t appear to be wearing any other armor. Well, at least you have the AC bonus to make it up. You get +2 defense against Weapon shticks and monsters without Spellcaster.

Starting: Katana, Tanglefoot Bag, Smite Evil, Fearless

The play style I am going for here is attack-focused, but also able to rush in and ignore the consequences. Tanglefoot Bag and Jump to Conclusions were both designed to help her attack when she enters a room, as well as their other purposes. She has a few defensive shticks, to keep her prepared, as well as some helpful PvP shticks so she can take on the Order.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

Well, this thread is old dead, but i'll leave a suggestion all the same. Maybe there's still people playing this game :smalltongue:


Change one of V's "Protective Spell" for "Expeditious Retreat" (flippable)

At the start of your turn, you may move up to 4 explored rooms. You may not pick up loot this turn nor fight monsters. You cannot end your movement in an empty room or room with monsters (but yes with players)

Any comments? The idea is just to give V the possibility to be 1 room more away from the Dungeon Entrance to run for safety. Specially good for games with stairs not close to each other.

PD: sorry for not leaving comments about the previous post, it's really too much to have any opinion about it.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

Well, here goes nothing... again!

A change for Durkon's sthicks.

Though i get the point of Awfully Lawful, which i believe it is to avoid fumble situations, specially against multiattack. Still, i find it is a sthick i would never choose over others that he has. So i though of a different one (which i guess the designers have though of and dropped)

Thor's Might (flippable) - aka Big Guns

Flip this sthick to gain +6 Attack and +6 Defense until the end of the battle. You may not battle additional monsters this turn. You lose your following turn after using this shtick. You can't use it against Xykon, monsters with the Duel ability or players.

The idea is to have a really powerful weapon that you would rarely use, only when really needed due to the cost it has. I though of different penalties, not being able to retrieve loot or getting all your shticks flipped, but i think that losing a turn is hard enough to keep this buff in check.
Basically it´s just giving Durkon the capability of defeating though monsters that he would normally wouldn't be able to handle.
He is not allowed to use it against Xykon because then he would be too good at killing him. Neither able to use it against monsters with Duel because if not he would excel at fighting them (specially when they are supported), and also not against players, because then you'd never attacked unless that shtick is flipped (or at least 2 cahoots to get advantage of a -4 Defense).
This shtick would be mostly used when Durkon is out of heals, has 1 wound left and got a though monster played or when killing a monster is worth the penalties (and when there is no one to assist him which also means no one near enough to attack him the following turn).

[prj]

Thor's Might (flippable) - aka Big Guns

Flip this sthick to gain +6 Attack and +6 Defense until the end of the battle. You may not battle additional monsters this turn. You lose your following turn after using this shtick. You can't use it against Xykon, monsters with the Duel ability or players.


Interesting. I think I'd allow it against monsters with Duel, though. Losing a turn is already a big disadvantage, and Duel mosters are exactly the ones where it would be worth it to make up for not getting assistance.

Or, since this would commonly be used when Durkon is out of healing, maybe change it so that instead of losing your next turn, you simply can't move on your next turn (even if you are fleeing the dungeon). That gives you a chance to rest and get your healing back.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

If Durkon can rest the following turn of using the sthick, then there would be no reason not to use it before you plan to rest. It would become as standard use before resting instead of only when in a desperate situation.
That's also why i though of not being able to fight additional monsters: there could be a really strong monster on the top of a stack (like one with Support: Assist) which Durkon would be the best to take out, and he would then be able to take out all of the weaker supporting units. It doesn't fit his role in the game IMO and i think it makes him a bit too good at taking stacks of monsters.
I can't think of a penalty other than losing a turn that wouldn't make it too strong for certain situations. It is equal in benefit of a boosted halfling rage, but giving Durkon a Wound doesn't seem to make it bad enough for the "instant heal" character. Sacrificing a Loot you drool over is different approach (have to give it some though yet).
About the Duel Ability... I'm not sure. I should recheck how many there are and their stats. One thing i realized, this should give +6 only to Thor's Hammer shtick. Maybe also to armor shtick, but definetly not with Thor's Lighting.

Maybe losing a turn is too hard and a "skips your turn, you don't suffer the -4 Defense penalty" could be more appropriate.

My idea for Thor's Might is to be a really good standalone shtick which you would use only rarely, only when really needed (like it happens in the comic).
As it is, it's useful against tough Creepy Crawly, Ogre with enough support to send you straight to the Dungeon entrance (or Thog for that matter) and monsters in Xykon's Lair, for example the Zombie Horde.



Thor's Might (flippable) - aka Big Guns

This sthick gives +6 Attack and +6 Defense to your Thor's Hammer shtick. You may not battle additional monsters this turn. You skip your following turn after using this shtick (you don't suffer the -4 Defense penalty for losing a turn). You can't use it against Xykon, monsters with the Duel ability or players.

I still have to reword it to be shorter :smalltongue:

[prj]

If Durkon can rest the following turn of using the sthick, then there would be no reason not to use it before you plan to rest.

Well, it can still be a bit tricky - when a strong monster is on top of weaker monsters, using Thor's Might means you'll be forced to stay and battle the weaker ones next time, before you get a chance to rest. So you wouldn't use it unless you're sure you can handle the weaker ones without it. Also, even if you're fighting the last monster, and you think you're going to get to rest next turn, Elan could cause trouble for you by moving a monster into your room.

It probably needs some actual playtesting to see how the different possibilities work out.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

Uhm, yeah, but i can't get any playtest done until the weekend unfortunately.

I think we are having a different approach of what we want to achieve with this shtick. I think you want to make it usable between resting turns (carrying an extra risk) while i want to make it a once or twice moment in the whole dungeon crawl.

I checked on the monsters with Duel ability and i only found Samantha, Thog and Kobold King. I guess allowing it it's not that bad after all.
Also, i think that to make what i want (one time awesome) the bonus could be a bit higher for the taxing penalty it has, so i raised it to +9.
As for the penalty, i think that renouncing to 1 Bragging Right point is good to avoid using this shtick too much and letting you use it when you need it without having to consider other factors. Also fits with the idea of a sacrifice to get power. I don't think it's necessary to make loot that others also drool over (besides you), but if it does it needs a clause to avoid getting rid of boosting loot for other players. Still, i should check the amount of different loots Durkon has to be sure about this penalty.
This way the limit of use of this shtick is 5 times (each character has 5 loot whith 1 face they drool over, right? It's too costly to use it with loot that has more than 1 point) and you'd use it only when you can regain that point instantly with a plus (like getting the last X for a new shtick and loot - or the same as before, avoiding that last wound that would make you flee the dungeon).



Thor's Might (flippable)

This shtick gives +9 Attack and +9 Defense to your Thor's Hammer shtick until the end of your turn. You may not battle additional monsters this turn. After using this shtick, discard 1 Loot that only you drool over. You can't use it against Xykon or players.



PD: on a different note, i think that Haley's shtick to get past Impervious (Obscure Alchemical Arrows?) should be flippable when used against a monster with impervious. I know there are like, only 3 monsters with that (Mummy, Sabine and that Animal Fiend ) but i think that demanding her to rest after fighting one before fighting another is good to stop her a bit of her "i can kill anything with good modifiers" ability.

[prj]

This way the limit of use of this shtick is 5 times (each character has 5 loot whith 1 face they drool over, right?

Right. Or, to make it fit thematically, you could be more restrictive and require discarding a Word of Thor loot. There are only 3 of those in the loot deck, so it wouldn't be usable very often, but discarded loot gets reshuffled back into the deck, so you always have a chance of being able to use it again later.