Strongholds (card & dice game)

Also on the subject of Focus...

The current Focus mechanic has really changed throughout the design process.

Version 1
Initially, there were 16 "action" cards in the game. If you couldn't use any of your 5 action dice you could draw 2 of these cards. This proved to be very clunky and slow.

Version 2
The action cards were scrapped and a "Rallyhorn" die set to "6" again could be gained by using all 5 action dice. This was very close to the current version of Focus. Each time a player wanted to reroll a die, they decremented the Rallyhorn by 1.

Version 3 (current)
A focus die is given to each player at the start of the game. The start player sets theirs to "1", the next player sets theirs to "2", the next to "3", and last to "4". This slightly offsets the disadvantage of going later in the round.

Now, ANY unused action dice are converted to Focus at the end of a player's turn.

Not only can Focus be used to reroll dice as before, they can remove negative conditions caused by hero class abilities. Additionally, some weapons and shields have abilities that interact with Focus.

Examples:
Focal Point (Main Hand Weapon)
1 Attack
1 Ability
Spend 2 Focus to gain +1 Attack this turn.

Mind Ripper (Main Hand Weapon)
1 Attack
The defending hero loses 1 Focus.

Wisdom's Hold (Off Hand Shield)
2 Defense
Whenever you Stagger, gain 1 Focus.

So a few tweaks I haven't put in yet because while they do add decision it may or may not add to game.

1) Adrenaline Die

The Adrenaline die is a special type of action die that replaces the [Hand] result (use for equipping items) with another yellow [Energy] (wildcard resource for attacking).

This is rolled along with the standard 5 action dice. But It can only be rolled if you only have 1/3 heroes left or you spend 3 Focus to roll it.

It is a cool idea and mini catch up mechanic but is it extra bloat? We will see...

2) The Ability Die (alternative)

Many players start out with little to no Ability stat. Others would possibly like an alternative to rolling the Ability die if seems unlikely it'll activate their class ability anyway.

That alternative could be if you forego rolling the Ability die, you'll earn 1 Focus at the end of your turn.

This already fits with earning focus for unused action dice at the end of turn.

Is this one extra decision every turn that isn't necessary?

Last, right now the rogues can disarm opposing heroes.

I need to convey on the card text (without being wordy) that disarming means you can't use on your turn. This means:

A) can't apply the attack/ability stats to your attack b) can't activate any of its abilities or effects but c) any defense stat still passively applies while disarmed.