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I'm trying to put together some AI cards for Super Dungeon Explore, so that it could be played cooperatively, without anyone having to play the Council. The system is heavily based on the Gears of War (board game) AI cards. How it works is each hero takes their turn, then draws an AI card from the deck, and performs the action on the card on behalf the Council. Each card has an if/else then statement on it. This is a break from the normal turn order, but I think it works quite nicely since the Ai gets more actions when there are more heroes so the game should stay balanced even if the number of heroes changes.

This is my initial idea for what could be written on the Kobold Ai cards. There are 4 cards for each type of minion, and then 4 general cards. I would like to put them onto cards that could be printed later. But it would be good to get some feedback first...

Dragon Priest Cards:

1: (Group) If 1 or more Dragon Priests are in play:
Each Dragon Priest moves towards the nearest hero, and attacks her with magic 8, immediately when in range. If no attack can be made, run towards the nearest hero.
Else:
Spawn 1 Dragon Priest from the spawning point nearest you.
(If no spawning points exist draw another AI card).

2: (For each Dragon Priest) If other Kobolds within range are able to attack a hero:
Cast Dragon Rage, and move to where it will augment the most attacks.
Else:
Move towards the nearest hero and spawn a random Kobold from the Spawning point nearest the Dragon Priest. If no Spawning points exist, attack the weakest hero within range twice with magic 8.
(If no Dragon Priests are in play draw another AI card).

3: (For each Dragon Priest) If other Kobolds within range can be attacked by a hero with a ranged attack:
Cast Shadow Breath and move to where it will protect the most Kobolds.
Else:
Move towards the nearest hero, and attack her with magic 8, immediately when in range.
(If no Dragon Priests are in play draw another AI card).

4: (For each Dragon Priest) If any heros are within range:
Move towards the nearest hero, and attack her 3 times with magic 8, immediately when in range.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no dragon priests are in play draw another AI card).

Ironscale Cards

1: (Group) If 1 or more Ironscale are in play:
Each Ironscale moves towards the nearest hero and attacks.
Else:
Spawn 2 ironscales from each Spawning point within 9 spaces of you.
(If no spawning points exist draw another AI card).

2: (For each Ironscale) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the nearest hero and attack twice.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no Ironscales are in play, draw another AI card).

3: (For each Ironscale) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the weakest hero in range and attack twice.
Else:
Run towards the weakest hero.
(If no Ironscales are in play, draw another AI card).

4: (For each Ironscale) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the nearest hero and attack once, then cast Shieldwall.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no Ironscales are in play, draw another AI card).

Flinger Cards:

1: (Group) If 1 or more Flingers are in play:
Each Flinger moves towards the nearest hero and attacks immediately once in range with missile 6 using the hot pot ability.
Else:
Spawn 2 ironscales from each Spawning point within 9 spaces of you.
(If no spawning points exist draw another AI card).

2: (For each Flinger) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the nearest hero and attack immediately once in range with missile 6 using the hot pot ability.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no flingers are in play, draw another AI card)

3: (For each Flinger) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the weakest hero and attack immediately once in range with missile 6 using the hot pot ability.
Else:
Run towards the weakest hero.
(If no flingers are in play, draw another AI card)

4: (For each Flinger) If other Kobolds within range can be attacked by a hero with a ranged attack:
Move towards the attacked Kobolds and cast Smoke Pot immediately once in range, where is will protect the most Kobolds. (ignore Kobolds already protected by stealth)
Else:
Move towards the nearest hero and attack immediately once in range with missile 6 using the hot pot ability. If no heroes are in range, run towards the nearest hero.
(If no flingers are in play, draw another AI card)

Gouger Cards:

1: (Group) If 1 or more Gougers are in play:
Each Gouger moves to 2 spaces from the nearest hero (or as close as possible), and attacks.
Else:
Spawn 3 Gougers from each Spawning point within 9 spaces of you.
(If no spawning points exist draw another AI card).

2: (For each Gouger) If a hero is within range:
Move to 2 spaces from the nearest hero (or as close as possible) and attack.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no Gougers are in play draw another AI card)

3: (For each Gouger) If a hero is within range:
Move to 2 spaces from the weakest hero within range (or as close as possible) and attack.
Else:
Run towards the weakest hero.
(If no Gougers are in play draw another AI card)

4: (For each Gouger) If a hero is within range:
Move to 2 spaces from the most mobbed hero within range (or as close as possible) and attack.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no Gougers are in play draw another AI card)

Knucklehead Cards:

1: (Group) If 1 or more Knuckleheads are in play:
Each Knuklehead moves towards the nearest hero, and attacks.
Else:
Spawn 3 Knuckleheads from each Spawning point within 9 spaces of you.
(If no spawning points exist draw another AI card).

2: (For each Knucklehead) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the nearest hero and attack.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no Knuckleheads are in play draw another AI card)

3: (For each Knucklehead) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the weakest hero within range, and attack.
Else:
Run towards the weakest hero.
(If no Knuckleheads are in play draw another AI card)

4: (For each Knucklehead) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the most mobbed hero within range, and attack.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no Knuckleheads are in play draw another AI card)

Rex Cards:

1: (Group) If 1 or more Rex are in play:
Each Rex moves towards the nearest hero, and attacks.
Else:
Spawn 1 Rex from the Spawning point nearest to you.
(If no spawning points exist or the power gauge is below 16-bit, draw another AI card).

2: (For each Rex) If a hero is within range:
Move to 2 spaces from the nearest hero (or as close as possible) and attack twice, then use thwomp.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no Rex are in play draw another AI card)

3: (For each Rex) If a hero is within range:
Move to 2 spaces from the weakest hero within range, and attack with Rex Smash.
Else:
Run towards the weakest hero.
(If no Rex are in play draw another AI card)

4: (For each Rex) If a hero is within range:
Move towards the most mobbed hero within range, and attack once then use Rex Cuddle.
Else:
Run towards the nearest hero.
(If no Rex are in play draw another AI card)


General Kobold Cards:

1:Swarm : Each Kobold that is more than 10 spaces from a Hero moves until it is 10 spaces from the nearest hero.
Then draw a new AI card.

2: If 1 or more Kobolds are within their range of you:
Each Kobold (within range) moves (closest first) towards you (no closer than they need) and then attacks you with their best attack. (fligers use hot pot. Ironscales attack once then cast Shieldwall).
Else:
Spawn 1 Knucklehead, 1 Flinger and 1 Gouger from the nearest Spawn point. Each Kobold then moves 7 spaces towards you.
(If no Kobolds or spawn points are left on the map draw another AI card).

3: Each Kobold moves (closest first) towards you (no closer than they need) and then attacks you with their best attack (if in range). (fligers use hot pot. Ironscales attack once then cast Shieldwall).
(If no Kobolds are in play, draw another AI card)

4: Spawn 1 Ironscale, 1 Knucklehead, 1 Gouger and 1 Flinger from each spawn point within 9 spaces of you. Then draw another AI card.

Looks good! Keep us all posted on this! I had looked into doing something like this a long while back but never got round to putting too much effort into it.

Are the cards going to take priority over rules? Throwing an "Ace" card in may add a little spice to it. For instance like the Epidemic cards in Pandemic, the Ace cards could make 3 Consul cards come into effect, or give the minions some sort of upgrade for X amount of turns. My thinking is that the Consul are effective because of human control. If they're being left down to luck, they're gonna have to be lucky to give the players much threat.

Also whats the draw limit you're thinking of each consul turn? Activating 4 skulls worth can work either way with cards, and activating Rex 4 times in a row may be hilarious but difficult, but on the other hand the consul moving a single flinger is a bit...pants.. (Also applies to Starfire and the Spawners. His whole threat was getting multiple activations in a row if you didn't take his spawners down)

I wish more games were designed from the ground up for co-op play as scripting enemies is work-intensive and needs a lot of play testing. That said, I like that you seem to have the KISS principle to heart.

Is the normal turn order one side acts with all their minis and then the other side does the same?

 Manchu wrote:
I wish more games were designed from the ground up for co-op play as scripting enemies is work-intensive and needs a lot of play testing. That said, I like that you seem to have the KISS principle to heart.

Is the normal turn order one side acts with all their minis and then the other side does the same?

SDE works differently, 1 hero moves and then the consul can move 4 skulls worth of monsters, 1 hero, monsters etc and any loose monsters move in one go at the end.

How much monster movement does that work out relative to one hero move?

 Manchu wrote:
How much monster movement does that work out relative to one hero move?

It depends, the monsters vary. Think of the skulls as monster rating. 1 Skull are the weakest mooks that go down in one hit, but by moving 4 of them at a time they suddenly start mobbing up. 4Skulls is the Bosses and are generally tougher than anyone 1 hero. The 2 and 3 skull monsters are "generally" more support types. The kobolds work by mobbing and supporting each other, as they literaly get bonuses when mobbed together. The mid level stuff is there to give the mob stat boosts.

 doc1234 wrote:
Are the cards going to take priority over rules? Throwing an "Ace" card in may add a little spice to it. For instance like the Epidemic cards in Pandemic, the Ace cards could make 3 Consul cards come into effect, or give the minions some sort of upgrade for X amount of turns. My thinking is that the Consul are effective because of human control. If they're being left down to luck, they're gonna have to be lucky to give the players much threat.

Also whats the draw limit you're thinking of each consul turn? Activating 4 skulls worth can work either way with cards, and activating Rex 4 times in a row may be hilarious but difficult, but on the other hand the consul moving a single flinger is a bit...pants.. (Also applies to Starfire and the Spawners. His whole threat was getting multiple activations in a row if you didn't take his spawners down)

I figured they would need to take priority over rules, for example the General Kobold Card 'Swarm' would allow all the Kobolds to ignore their movement limit. Also drawing multiple cards for the same Kobolds would allow them to ignore their actions limit.

I hadn't really planned on a draw limit. After you draw a card it should go on the discard pile. So drawing Rex 4 times in row would be evened out by not drawing him again until the deck has been reshuffled. Of course if he is the last enemy after all the spawning points have been destroyed, he will always gets 4 activations in a row...

I tried a quick play test. The first problem I encountered was that you have to discard a lot of cards before anything spawns. So it might be good to have a few bad guys automatically spawn at the start to get things rolling. It's only possible to spawn 1 Rex or Dragon Priest, which works well if you only have 1 Kobold warren, but if you have 2 you would need some way of distinguishing between them (Or I need to change the cards to work differently).

I'm not really sure how Starfire is going to work yet, but he might need his own separate deck. I'm also not sure what to do when there aren't enough models to spawn. I quite like the Zombicide mechanic where each enemy of the given type gets an extra activation. Though spawning a random minion, or just drawing an additional card might work better.

 Manchu wrote:
I wish more games were designed from the ground up for co-op play as scripting enemies is work-intensive and needs a lot of play testing. That said, I like that you seem to have the KISS principle to heart.

Is the normal turn order one side acts with all their minis and then the other side does the same?

Yeah normally all the heroes act, and then the council gets a turn, that would still be possible actually. In fact it might work better if all the council cards were drawn at the end as then the game could be balanced by drawing more or less cards.

I don't think cards are your best bet. The trouble is, you need multiple draw piles since you have multiple monster types. How about a rolling on a table?

Have you tried looking at the card AI system for Zombicide? It's a bit dumbed down, but it escalates the monster actions depending on the level. May be a good use of the Super meter too. Keep things slow to start and ramping things up as the heros go to help balance things like the 4 rex actions?

In Zombiecide, the cards just direct you to place X further of whatever types of zombies. Enemy scripting has nothing to do with the cards.

 Manchu wrote:
In Zombiecide, the cards just direct you to place X further of whatever types of zombies. Enemy scripting has nothing to do with the cards.

I meant like a second deck for monster spawning specifically. Monsters get spawned every turn anyway, its why the consul have a chance. 1 deck for actions and 1 for spawning. Sorry its been a long day and im a little ramped up on Monster >.<

 doc1234 wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
In Zombiecide, the cards just direct you to place X further of whatever types of zombies. Enemy scripting has nothing to do with the cards.

I meant like a second deck for monster spawning specifically. Monsters get spawned every turn anyway, its why the consul have a chance. 1 deck for actions and 1 for spawning. Sorry its been a long day and im a little ramped up on Monster >.<

YES! actually that's a much better idea. having spawning and AI somewhat septate would solve a lot of issues. And having it linked to the power meter is a great idea.

Okay so I had a think about spawn cards. My idea is pretty simple. At the beginning of each turn, you draw a card for each spawn point. The cards then tells you either the exact enemies to spawn (and under what conditions), or gives you a priority list of of enemies which you have to spawn in order of priority (if possible), up to a value of 4 skulls. So for example if the list reads:

Knuckleheads (1 skull each)
Dragon Priests (3 skulls each)
Ironscales (2 skulls each)
Flingers (1 skull each)
Draw Again ()

You would start at the top of the list with Knuckleheads and keep spawning them till you run out of skulls (4 Knuckleheads). However if you don't have enough Knuckleheads left in reserve to spawn 4, then you would Spawn as many as you can (lets say you manage to spawn 2), then you would move onto the next enemy on the list. In this case a Dragon Priest. Since you have already Spawned 2 Knuckleheads, you don't have enough skulls left for a Dragon Priest, so you would go down the list to the next enemy: Ironscales. You can afford one Ironscale, but you don't have any Ironscales in reserve, so you move down again to Flingers. You can afford 2 Flingers, but you only have 1 Flinger left in reserve. So you would spawn 1 Flinger, then move down the list again. This time instead of an enemy it says 'draw again'. So you would draw another spawning card. The new card is Drake Denizens card. You have 1 skull left, and end up spending it on a whelp. So in the end you spawn 2 Knuckleheads, 1 Flinger and 1 Whelp.

Here are some example of what cards could say:

Kobold Spawn
If the spawning point is closest to the heroes then spawn:

Rex (4) (16-bit)
Ironscales (2)
Knuckleheads (1)
Gougers (1)
Draw again

Else spawn:

Flingers (1)
Dragon Priest (3)
Gougers (1)
Knuckleheads (1)
Draw again

Kobold Spawn
If possible to do so, spawn:
1 Ironscale and 2 Gougers

Else spawn:

Ironsacles (2)
Gougers (1)
Knuckleheads (1)
Draw again

Kobold Spawn
If the power meter is below 16-bit, then spawn:

Gougers (1)
Knuckleheads (1)
Flingers (1)

Else Spawn:

Rex (4)
Dragon Priest (3)
Ironscales (2)
Flingers (1)
Gougers (1)
Knuckleheads (1)
Draw again