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Hmmm just checked my big box of spare dice D6s, D10s, D12s and D20s not a single D8 :( I'll have to pick up a few tomorrow.

streetsamurai wrote:

Earth Dragon wrote:
Huh......why would you need them to 'write' an open campaign. You just use the missions and play them at your leisure. When 'writing' a campaign, there is a story attached.

an open campaign gives you rules to play unlimited number of games with progressing squad, while a campaign with a story only gives you a number of encounter that are effected by the previous ones.

Don't understand why you find it weird that I'd like it better

He's not commenting on liking one better than the other, the point is that you don't need a writer to plot out linked narrative scenarios for an open campaign, you just roll up from some generic ones ( which I believe are being included) and away you go. I don't believe the XP/advancement part of the game is going to be exclusively found in the Nexus Psi campaign. It's an addition to what you want, not a replacement for it.

Once rules are released/previewed and gameplay vids unveiled, it usually does mean a surge in one direction or the other for a campaign.

Haven't had a chance to read the rules yet, but hoping for the best!

 Riquende wrote:

streetsamurai wrote:

Earth Dragon wrote:
Huh......why would you need them to 'write' an open campaign. You just use the missions and play them at your leisure. When 'writing' a campaign, there is a story attached.

an open campaign gives you rules to play unlimited number of games with progressing squad, while a campaign with a story only gives you a number of encounter that are effected by the previous ones.

Don't understand why you find it weird that I'd like it better

He's not commenting on liking one better than the other, the point is that you don't need a writer to plot out linked narrative scenarios for an open campaign, you just roll up from some generic ones ( which I believe are being included) and away you go. I don't believe the XP/advancement part of the game is going to be exclusively found in the Nexus Psi campaign. It's an addition to what you want, not a replacement for it.

oh, if xp and progression are already oncluded in the main game, then disregard my previous comment


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Riquende wrote:

streetsamurai wrote:

Earth Dragon wrote:
Huh......why would you need them to 'write' an open campaign. You just use the missions and play them at your leisure. When 'writing' a campaign, there is a story attached.

an open campaign gives you rules to play unlimited number of games with progressing squad, while a campaign with a story only gives you a number of encounter that are effected by the previous ones.

Don't understand why you find it weird that I'd like it better

He's not commenting on liking one better than the other, the point is that you don't need a writer to plot out linked narrative scenarios for an open campaign, you just roll up from some generic ones ( which I believe are being included) and away you go. I don't believe the XP/advancement part of the game is going to be exclusively found in the Nexus Psi campaign. It's an addition to what you want, not a replacement for it.

oh, if xp and progression are already oncluded in the main game, then disregard my previous comment

EB recon and Strike team open

I'm hoping that XP and Progression like Streetsamurai wants are in the basic game.

Just did a quick read of the rules. They seem simple enough with some tactical depth to them.

The cards are interesting because they give you two options on each card; seemingly one offensive and one defensive option. Forcing a decision not only on when to play the card, but also how.

I'll hopefully be able to get a game or two in sometime in the next two weeks.

~Eric

No D8s ?
No D8's ?

How do you guys play D&D without D8s ?

 adamsouza wrote:
No D8s ?
No D8's ?

How do you guys play D&D without D8s ?

My character is built around throwing buckets of D6 at my target, its like I'm playing 40k!

Not really impressed with the next goal but at least it's only 10k more after the merc so it's like stretch for a single good model.

the main game already includes the experience an faction progression type campaign (open I think you called it). it's listed ont he main page as a feature.

This campaign is in addition to the pick up and kick the crap out of other game style and the linked games where your team advances. a third way of playing if you will.

i heard they're considering solo play and multiplayer rules as well so hopefully there's a game style that suits everyone.

Kickstarter comment question from me:
@Mantic: Will there be an XP And Upgrade system in the full rules? Something that allows us to keep the same characters from game to game and change/improve them as we go?

Kickstarter comments from Mantic wrote:
Yep - already in the rulebook!

Thought they said it was already there in one of the various sources of info, but I thought I would ask anyway.

Pretty happy with the answer.

~Eric

Well, in the comments they have said that there will be an XP system in the rules, so the Nexus Psi campaign seems to be more of a narrative campaign extra with the Necro-style campaign stuff being baked in to the rules (at least from the sounds of it). Edit - Scooped above!

As for the rules themselves, they look great.

I was a tad worried about the LOS system but they have done a few interesting things to make TLOS work for them. So while you LOS is determined by the binary check of "can I see any bit of the model?" the LOS itself doesn't determine cover (though a 100% unblocked LOS grants a "clear shot"). Cover is determined by the square you occupy. So LOS is only really used to determine if you can attack a target.

So you never end up with the scenario of two people arguing whether that bit of cover really covers 33.33% of the model in question and thus grants cover. If you can see it, you can shoot it, but if it is in cover it gets cover. The only time LOS gives you a bonus to hit is if you get a shot where not one bit of the model it blocked, covered or obscured (again, a really easy test with a clear answer). The clear shot should be relatively rare outside of something flanking around in a way you weren't expecting. And of course, if you don't want a model to get shot at, keeping it hidden is an easy proposition as well.

So while it starts off making you think it will have the downsides of TLOS it ends up being that that is left almost entirely as the target acquisition rules with cover basically being handled 100% by area terrain. This should be involved enough to get war gamers to like it without being byzantine and argument-laced in a way that would scare off board gamers.

The dicing mechanic is pretty awesome as well (never played Dreadball, so it is new to me). Opponents roll a pool of dice against the opponent (or aiming for a set difficulty), usually three dice. Modifiers are added as dice instead of modifying the individual TN of the dice (which is determined by stats).

In the case of shooting the shooter rolls three dice (Shooting stat) vs. the opponent's three dice (Survival stat). If survival wins then the shot misses, if shooting wins it deals a point of potential damage (armour modifies damage downward). If shooting doubles the result of survival then it deals a number of potential damage points equal to the difference. Nice and concise but with a lot of room for special rules to fiddle with things.

The game contains concepts like Overwatch as well as having a fairly nice morale system involved (along with proper suppression fire rules!). Basically models have one of three "aggression" levels from Pinned, to Alert and up to Enraged. Alert is the default state, enraged gives you a boost to assault but decreases shooting ability, and pinned decreases combat ability while upping Survival (and forces you to waste one action trying to become unpinned). Suppression fire is conducted like a shooting attack, but it decreases aggression instead of dealing damage.

This sets up interesting dynamics with assault troops wanting to keep aggression pumped and with troops trying to get them pinned to negate the assault buff and get them to keep their heads down. I also love the name of the Aggression bolstering action: "Get Mean".

At this stage all models have three wound states. Undamage, injured and dead. Injured models take penalties to various tasks. And this of course interacts with the damage system quite well because armour modifies damage taken downward (so a successful hit can cause zero damage), thus making Armour Piercing weapons quite important for taking out well-armoured foes.

Still only just skimmed the surface of the rules, but they sound like loads of fun. Can't wait to see more (like that XP system).

Looks like there will be Secret Weapon 2'x2' tiles offered on Mantic's KS. I'm holding off until they show up there so that the money goes into the DZ campaign.

~Eric

Good summary Ronin, I was about to type up something similar but I think you've covered pretty much everything I was going to say (except I have played Dreadball so knew what to expect from the dice mechanics).

Oh, you didn't mention grenades. Love the fact that they blow everyone in a square off in a random direction, and can having them slamming into walls from the blast, or flying clean off walkways.

I think the suppression mechanic (with the cool action name 'Blaze Away') is the hidden gem in this ruleset, it forces you to think about how you want to use your fire, rather than just rolling dice against the closest models.

sweet going to check out the rules. I hope it is on the level as necromunda or better.

Broke 50 new backers again today. I don't think it'll often dip below that mark if ever. I'm making sure people know about this one. This is too good to miss out on. My Sister has a chunk of Christmas shopping covered!!

 Riquende wrote:
Good summary Ronin, I was about to type up something similar but I think you've covered pretty much everything I was going to say (except I have played Dreadball so knew what to expect from the dice mechanics).

Oh, you didn't mention grenades. Love the fact that they blow everyone in a square off in a random direction, and can having them slamming into walls from the blast, or flying clean off walkways.

I think the suppression mechanic (with the cool action name 'Blaze Away') is the hidden gem in this ruleset, it forces you to think about how you want to use your fire, rather than just rolling dice against the closest models.

Good catch on the grenade rules! Didn't read 'em that hard. But 80's action movie explosion physics? Yeah, that is all kinds of awesome. My friends and I will be shouting "railing kill!" many a time.

And I found and bought some D8s in town. Looks like I will get to try out the Alpha rules tonight after all.

 Ronin_eX wrote:

 Riquende wrote:
Good summary Ronin, I was about to type up something similar but I think you've covered pretty much everything I was going to say (except I have played Dreadball so knew what to expect from the dice mechanics).

Oh, you didn't mention grenades. Love the fact that they blow everyone in a square off in a random direction, and can having them slamming into walls from the blast, or flying clean off walkways.

I think the suppression mechanic (with the cool action name 'Blaze Away') is the hidden gem in this ruleset, it forces you to think about how you want to use your fire, rather than just rolling dice against the closest models.

Good catch on the grenade rules! Didn't read 'em that hard. But 80's action movie explosion physics? Yeah, that is all kinds of awesome. My friends and I will be shouting "railing kill!" many a time.

Damn that sounds really cool

Got an impression of several different games in my brief look through the alpha rules, chiefly Dreadball (which I guess it a bit of a no-brainer, considering the author!) but also Ambush Alley/Tomorrows war as well.

Certainly very promising, and the clean-up of ambiguity will no doubt be popular with gamers who don't like the far less clear-cut rules in some other games.

Tried out "Deadzone" via the Alpha rules.

Enjoyed the hell out of it. Kudos, Mantic.

So.. Enforcers or Plague win?

Enforcers--but the Plague can have some nastiness.

Miniatures look great, and at the $150 level it's ~45 miniatures now? In, like it, hope for the best.
The "optional add-ons" seem like a mix of "included in pledge" and "add-on only" options? Anyone have a clear breakdown of what is what yet?

^ I'll write up a list for the first post to make the add-ons easier to keep track of.

Edit - done! Seperated by category, and the ones that don't come with Strike Team pledges are marked.

There's over 30 add-ons already, so a simple text list should definitely be useful for reference.

Alright, $315k broken. The Helfather is ours (well, those of us who added him). Now just $10k to the next stretch. We should be able to do that tomorrow.

Finished the traq day with 80 new backers. Absolutely amazing.

Little question. Are additional scenery available? First post says yes but no pricing. Nothing in kick-starter page also.

There will be scenery add ons and a pledge level but not until Mantic get a price from the manufacturer.

 Alpharius wrote:
Do we know if the Deadzone rules will easily accommodate lager board sizes, like 4' x 4' or 4' x 6'?

You'd hope so, but then you'd need more grids.

I don't like this 3" grid thing, or the fact that the delux mouse mat is only 2x2. You need 6 of the damned things to make up a 4x6 table and of course they only sell them in 3's and 5's. Can't just sell a 6 pack, have to sell them in a way that makes us buy 2.

BYE

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:
Do we know if the Deadzone rules will easily accommodate lager board sizes, like 4' x 4' or 4' x 6'?

You'd hope so, but then you'd need more grids.

I don't like this 3" grid thing, or the fact that the delux mouse mat is only 2x2. You need 6 of the damned things to make up a 4x6 table and of course they only sell them in 3's and 5's. Can't just sell a 6 pack, have to sell them in a way that makes us buy 2.

BYE

Strike team gets 1 free. 1+3 = 4x4. 1+5 = 6x4

If you're below strike team buy 1 for 20 and get one of the bundle for your desired size.

Not really rocket science