PDA

View Full Version : NEW OOTS GAME!?!?



purepolarpanzer
2006-07-27, 10:52 PM
This IS NOT JUST TO POST FIRST. What is the OOTS game like? Where can I buy it? DETAILS I LOVE OOTS!!!

evnafets
2006-07-27, 11:17 PM
Well, I would suggest you read the news for 6/24/06 (http://www.giantitp.com/index.html) (its a little way down now).
And also the Press release (http://www.giantitp.com/Book004.html) (after the announcement of the book)

You may also want to check out www.apegames.com (http://www.apegames.com/oots/oots.html) which is where you can currently preorder the game.

There was a post in the Comics forum here (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=comics;action=display;num=1151138436 ) which discussed it some. Not sure if it will move to this forum or not, seeing as it discusses the book as well.
We'll just have to see.

evnafets
2006-07-27, 11:36 PM
Some tidbits from here and there:
Highlights of that thread.



1.) Both the book and the game WILL be available for sale online. The board game will not be available through Paizo, however, due to our exclusivity agreement with APE Games (which, incidentally, was signed 6 months before Paizo ever was involved with GITP). You'll be able to preorder the game from APE on June 5, in fact, and I expect the book to be on sale online in late August. But as a courtesy to fans who don't want to order several packages from different sites at the same time, the APE store will eventually carry the OOTS books as well, so that you can order the book and the game in the same package.





The short answer is that there aren't a lot of similarities between the Order of the Stick Adventure Game and Munchkin.

The rules will eventually be put on the APE site, but for now, here's the long answer:

Each player takes the role of one member of the Order of the Stick, and takes the shtick deck for that character. A shtick deck contains skills for that character. For instance, Belkar's deck includes Deep-Seated Emotional Problems and Twin Daggers of Doom, Vaarsuvius has Magic Missile and Verbose Recitation, etc. Each deck contains 20 shticks. Players start the game with 3 shticks and can trade in loot and XP gained from killing monsters to learn additional shticks.

Players move through the dungeon, exploring new areas by drawing rooms from the Room Deck. As you move into new or empty rooms, they become populated with monsters. And here's the really clever part (well at least I thought it was really clever.) Monsters aren't drawn from a pile of cards, but played by your opponents. There's a fair bit of strategy to playing monster cards, though. You will not want to blindly lay the biggest monster in your hand. Among other things, many monsters have abilities that are better used against some players than others. And other monsters have abilities that stack with monsters of certain types. The Goblin Necromancer, for instance, is tougher to beat when there are other goblins or undead on the same dungeon level. And the more goblins and undead there are, the tougher the Goblin Necromancer is.

The number of monsters played in rooms on each level is normally equal to the level, though players only ever encounter one monster at a time (on lower levels when there are more monsters, there will be more opportunity for abilities to stack, and so each monster has the potential to be more powerful.)

Players don't have to go it alone, though. They can ask for assistance from other players by offering them loot that they can use. Loot has pictures of the characters that can use that loot. The Neclace of Severed Ears, for instance, can be used by Belkar. Again, strategy must be used to figure out what loot you need to give other players, and how much of it. For example, can you beat the Black Dragon by rolling a 7 combat roll (on the 12-sided dice) or should you give out some loot to knock that number down to a 5, or a 3? If Haley already has a lot of loot and is close to winning, you might think twice about giving her loot - especially if it's loot that gives her an ability (oh yeah, I forgot to mention that some loot gives you abilities that help in battles, enhance your shticks, etc.)

The bottom level of the dungeon is Xykon's Lair. The player that finds and defeats Xykon is awarded big-time loot, and causes the end-game trigger - the collapse of the dungeon! Players then race to the dungeon entrance, picking up any loot they can on the way out.

Once all of the players have escaped the dungeon, the game ends. The winner is the player who has the most loot.





The books will definitely be available on APE Games after GenCon in August but before they are on bookstore shelves in September. We have to work out some details still, so that's as good as I can guess right now.




It's a fairly light game, so I think that just about anybody could pick it up. A good part of the appeal is the humor, which not everybody is going to get. But I think non-OOTS people could still have fun with it, and it might draw them into the comic (probably not an accident).

Gameplay-wise, my impression is that the OOTS game is one part dungeon crawl, one part Munchkin (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1927), and one part Kung Fu Fighting (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/13172). I don't really like Munchkin though (because of the end-game), so that might not be fair to the OOTS game. We didn't play clear to the end, but from the way the end-game was described, I don't think it will be a problem like in Munchkin.

Strategy-wise, my initial impression is that it's one of those light games that's deceptively strategic. There's a fair bit of randomness, so you could play everything "right" and still lose. You could also play more or less randomly and still have fun, maybe even win. But I think (from very limited play experience) that a good player would do better over time than a random player.

As to "how does it look": it looks like a prototype. The artwork is all there, but the components are not production quality. If I recall correctly, the cards were all in sleeves. It's complete enough that you can tell that's it's going to look great once it's done.




Thanks again apegamer (I think your real name was kevin, right?) I really enjoyed the demo I played on Thursday. (Last one of the day!)

As for comments on the game, Basically everything good said about the game already- I would echo.

As for "bad" things- it seemed like the game might be really hard to actually beat. Now I'll admit that I was playing sort of silly-stupid as a front-line exploring Vaarsuvius, but if the other players had decided to play a powerful monster in one of the rooms on the first level, It seems as though I could have quite easily have been destroyed.

Then, on the second level where two monsters per turn emerge, I'd have been even worse off.

Then, the third level with three... that would have been challenging- to say the least.

Then, personally... I dread the 'special' Zykon-led monsters of the fourth level. It seems nigh on impossible to defeat the lich lord.

Basically, It seems like the game will take a good deal of cooperation to slug through. Also, it almost seems necessary to have a full contingent of players- that is all five members of the Order of the Stick to actively succeed in the game.

Although we were assured that we didn't need all the members (since the other players are actually 'there'... they just don't actually come into play except for giving points for scticks)- it seemed like having merely Belkar, Durkon, and Vaarsuvius (played by moi) wasn't quite going to cut it if we had been allowed to descend to another level.

The game also seemed as though it might take at least two to three hours to play... make of that what you will. It's a good substitute for actually playing dungeons and dragons... if your gaming group is tired of dungeoncrawling or you're introducing people to the hobby it seems to be a great game.

---
That being said, once again, I have never played a game quite like this- and the humor on the cards was amazing. It will never be the same game twice, and is a strategic marvel. I'm definitely considering purchasing it when it appears in a local game shop!





Re: Game Difficulty...

One of the interesting things about the game is that it encourages cooperation early on just to survive. Yes, it is very easy to get a powerful monster on level 1, but then, there's no such thing as dying in the game--you just flee to the entrance, dropping some of your Loot. And if you are on level 1, the entrance is right there. On the other hand, if players help each other, then it builds a cooperative environment where you can beat even fairly powerful monsters on the first level--or where players choose to save powerful monsters for when they are needed to stymie another player, rather than playing them as soon as possible.

You definitely do NOT need all 6 players just to survive, because you do not actually gain combat benefit from there being other players around unless you offer them Loot. And you can offer Loot to players that are not "playing". We found the game works best with 3-4 players, even through the endgame.

Trust me, though, when you get 12-14 shticks in play, those groups of 3 and 4 monsters start to fall more easily. In a demo, you probably didn't get to see the power of multiple Boosts on the same shtick, but Roy with all three of his Greenhilt Sword cards, both his Great Cleavage cards, and the Starmetal Chunk loot card in play is a monster killin' machine. It's all a matter of making sure you have the right cards in play before choosing to explore further down the dungeon.

Enaloindir
2006-07-28, 01:48 AM
Some info I hadn't seen yet...perfect! ;D


Enaloindir

Sholos
2006-07-28, 10:00 PM
This does look very interesting. Unfortunately I don't have the money right now to buy it, but I'll probably get it eventually.

pup3k
2006-07-29, 09:30 AM
It's actually quite fun, I enjoyed backstabbing my *ahem* partners.

Fualkner Asiniti
2006-07-29, 04:52 PM
Awesome looking game, and FIRST PAGE!! WOOT!

tgva8889
2006-08-10, 02:20 PM
I definately want to play this game, not only because I am a big OotS fan, but because I love strategy games in general, especially board games, and I love being able to mix two of my favorite things into one. Watch, once they make OotSopoly, they'll be raking in the bucks!

Justin_Miller
2006-08-10, 10:57 PM
I myself am VERY excited about this game... and am so close to BEGGING for more info about it... shots of the cards.

Posting the rules... ANYTHING!

Oh... and saying "First Page" on a topic which takes 2 weeks to get to the second page isn't that big of a deal. ;)

WampaX
2006-08-15, 06:21 PM
I myself am VERY excited about this game... and am so close to BEGGING for more info about it... shots of the cards.

Posting the rules... ANYTHING!

Oh... and saying "First Page" on a topic which takes 2 weeks to get to the second page isn't that big of a deal. ;)

Now owning a copy and having played the game, what would you like to know?

The floor is open to any and all questions.

Justin_Miller
2006-08-15, 07:41 PM
Now owning a copy and having played the game, what would you like to know?

The floor is open to any and all questions.


Is it feasable to play the game with only two players? I hear that the monsters get too tough in the lower levels and you almost NEED to work together with other HUMAN players (even though the other characters are there) to team up to beat the monsters.

Favorite card so far?

Favorite character to play as?

Send me your copy of the game now?

Overall comments?

caestepp
2006-08-16, 01:31 AM
Yes, you can play the game quite effectively with only two players. We did this a few times during playtesting and it seemed to work just fine.

On the plus side, your turn comes around a lot faster in the two player game. Also, because the other four characters are still available as NPCs, you can still handle the tougher encounters as you build up your loot stash and use it to ask for assistance.

One difference is that you are less likely to see the really deep monster stacks. In the two player game, the opposing player plays the first 2 monster cards into a room and then you alternate after that. This means that the initial monster AND the supporting monsters must both come from a single battle hand. This tends to decrease the chances of coming up with a match for the Support and Horde abilities.

Because of these differences, the game tends to move a bit faster and the time required to play through the levels and get to Xykon is somewhat reduced. (I can't remember exactly how much faster it was, but I do remember it being faster.)

Other than that, the gameplay is pretty normal for the two player game. You still compete with each other when picking up loot and you still make brutal use of the Screw This cards to slow down your opponent.

tgva8889
2006-08-18, 01:53 AM
I am wondering about the whole "Teamwork" element and the whole "stabing each other in the back" element working together as one. I think playing the game will enlighten me quite a bit. If anyone's played Betrayal at House on the Hill by Wizards of the Coasts, then that's kinda what I imagine the game being somewhat like in a small sense. That's a good game, by the way.

I'd also like to know a bit about what each character can do with their Shticks or what not. I also am intrigued by the idea of these "Screw This!" cards. What affect do they have on gameplay?

Traveling_Angel
2006-08-21, 01:44 PM
Based on the Screw This card that's on apegames.com, I'd say they're monster boosters.

Even though I've never played House on the Hill, I have read just about everything off wizards, and I think some large differences would be obvious.

1) the goal is know from the beginning, and everyone is competing.

2) Monsters show up early rather then later.

3) cooperation/pvp is a choice, not a mandate.

WampaX
2006-08-21, 02:47 PM
Based on the Screw This card that's on apegames.com, I'd say they're monster boosters.

Not really.
They are just cards that change the way the game works, almost always in your favor (or against your opponents). They come in many flavours.

The Giant
2006-08-22, 07:19 AM
Basically, Screw This! cards are the "Instants" of OOTSAG. Some make it easier to beat monsters, some make it harder for others to beat monsters, some boost your character, some screw another player. At least one helps every player but the one that you specify.

The decision to cooperate or PvP is entirely up to the player. PvP is not inherently required, though a certain degree of hampering other players is likely, even if only indirectly. Cooperation is usually a good idea in the beginning, when the monsters are more likely to overwhelm the players.

tgva8889
2006-08-22, 06:48 PM
Oh, that's a lot easier for me to understand. Instants...ok, that makes sense. So they do all sorts of things, mainly help you or hinder them (whoever them might be).

Yes, it is true that House takes a while to get going (unless one player rolls a 0 on their haunt roll for the first haunt...so wrong...), but it's pretty fun once it does. Just a lot of running around and away.

Looking forward to this game, but I unfortunately don't have access to a credit card, so I'll be unable to buy it (:() so I guess I'll have to either convince my friend to buy it for me or convince my brother to get it for me for chirstmas.

jasonc
2006-08-22, 09:07 PM
I unfortunately don't have access to a credit card, so I'll be unable to buy it (:()

I'm getting off topic, but I'd like to add to that - I was disappointed to find APE Games didn't have a PayPal payment option, which would effectively allow for payment of OotS goodies from straight out of a bank account.