I'm making a maritime trading game (set in the 18th Century Caribbean) and with the mechanics I've come up with, I'll need a few different dice. I would really appreciate advice on the dice I have, and any improvements I could make to my combat mechanic (described below).
But first, let me give a brief explanation of each dice, and perhaps you can give advice of how well it works/doesn't work, and if I can improve it or if I even need it.
Movement Dice
The board is made up of hexes, allowing the player to move in any one of six directions on any one turn. This is almost a standard d6, however it only goes up to three (i.e. two 1s, two 2s and two 3s). Later in the game players will have more than one ship in their fleet, and I'm not sure whether to only have one movement die and they control one ship at a time, or have more than one dice (3 or 4) that players roll all at once (one for each ship they own) and then choose which roll they want to correspond to their ship?
Wind Dice
One of the other mechanics I have implemented is that of wind. There is a compass on the board (sort of like a spinner) that keeps track of which direction the wind is blowing. The compass is divided into North-East, East, South-East, South-West, West and North-West (to match the hexes of the board). If you travel in the same direction as the wind, you add +1 to your movement total. If you travel one either side of the wind direction you keep your movement total the same. If you go directly against the wind you -2 to your movement total, and either side of directly against it you -1 to your movement total.
Every time you roll the movement die, you also roll the wind die, which is a d6 with 2 West movements (move the compass one space counterclockwise), 2 east movements (move the compass one space clockwise), 1 no movement (compass stays on current space) and one reverse movement (wind changes direction 180 degrees).
Hazard Dice
Whenever you enter a hex that has a land mass occupying it (either a coast line or island), you must roll the hazard die.You risk causing damage to your ship every time you roll the die. The idea is to discourage players from hugging coast lines and taking "shortcuts" to different ports. For example, you can hug the coast line of Jamaica and make it to a port on Cuba and make it in three movements, but must roll the hazard dice twice, or you can go around, taking 5 movements, but you only need to roll the hazard dice once. The player has the choice to go the fast way and risk damage, or play it safe and minimise that risk. It should be noted you do not have to roll the hazard dice to enter a port hex.
The dice is a d6, comprising of 2 damage sides, 3 safe sides, and an event side, which means the player takes an event card. These can either help or hinder a player/opponent, and often effects the prices of the market and/or cargo a player is carrying.
Combat
I wanted a simple combat mechanic because it is only a side part of a game that is designed as a trade game, not a war one. So far I have the attacking player and defending player roll three dice each.
Attacking dice: a d6 that has two 1 hit sides, one 2 hits side, one 3 hits side and 2 miss sides.
Defending dice: a d6 that has three 1 defence sides, one 2 defence sides, 1 miss side and 1 hit side.
The attacker adds up hit points and the defender adds up defence points. The difference (assuming there are more hits than defends) is the amount of damage the defending player takes. If the defender rolls one or more "hits", the attacking player must take that damage.
For every hit a player suffers, they must take a hit token and place it on their hull. Players have a grid representing their hull and how much cargo they can carry. A player cannot carry cargo on top of a damage token. If a hull is completely covered in damage tokens, the ship is sunk. If a ship is full of cargo, a unit must be thrown overboard to make room for the damage token. Ships can be repaired at friendly ports (as long as they are not sunk).
I think this system is simple enough. The only thing I would like to include is possibly a way for the defending player to retreat from a battle (the attacker can call it off at any time).
If this is the system I use, that's a total of 9 (or potential 12) dice in each game. Is that too many? If so, which ones can I get rid of? I'm also aware they might be pricy because they will all need to be custom made, but I'm prepared to take that on.
Any input would be greatly appreciated! :)
Thanks a lot for all your input, I really appreciate it! :D
... I'm not sure whether to only have one movement die and they control one ship at a time, or have more than one dice (3 or 4) that players roll all at once (one for each ship they own) and then choose which roll they want to correspond to their ship?
I would think it would be easier to keep your fleet together with the "roll them all and apply them as you see fit" approach. Otherwise, a series of bad rolls could leave a ship floating in the middle of the ocean for several turns (unless you want that, of course :) )
Thanks, you raise a good point and I'll think I'll stick with more than one movement die.
Every time you roll the movement die, you also roll the wind die, which is a d6 with 2 West movements (move the compass one space counterclockwise), 2 east movements (move the compass one space clockwise), 1 no movement (compass stays on current space) and one reverse movement (wind changes direction 180 degrees).
This could create some interesting situations in a battle where direction of the wind is changing rapidly. Could the wind direction be set for the entire round so the players aren't adjusting for the wind each turn?
hmm... that's true. The wind (statistically) will change a lot if every player rolls the wind dice at the start of their turn. Would players alternate rolling the dice at the start of each round, or would it fall upon the first player?
Whenever you enter a hex that has a land mass occupying it (either a coast line or island), you must roll the hazard die...
I like this rule; another good one for playtesting. I am assuming I wouldn't roll for hazards if I am moving into a land area with a port?
Indeed that is true. Ports are considered "safe" from hazards, because well that's the sort of place you'd build a port :P
I wanted a simple combat mechanic because it is only a side part of a game that is designed as a trade game, not a war one...A player cannot carry cargo on top of a damage token. If a hull is completely covered in damage tokens, the ship is sunk. If a ship is full of cargo, a unit must be thrown overboard to make room for the damage token...
I like the cargo rule; is the damaged ship also slowed? do ships need to be adjacent to attack?
I imagine that the attacking player would need a movement total great enough to physically reach the hex that the defender occupies, but does not enter it, they fight (like you said) adjacently.
As for slowing down. I never actually thought of that, and it's a really great idea. If a ship is damaged enough, it will never have a movement total high enough to move against the wind, for example, which is a neat little representation of sails being destroyed. One possible problem is deciding how much damage corresponds to how much you are slowed down...
I hate to answer a question with another question, but where do you picture the price point of the game being? Are there any places where the same die could have multiple uses? Could any of the custom dice be converted to standard dice?
Off to a great start here - good luck with your design!
Not too sure really. I imagine it to be more on the expensive side due mostly to the sheer amount of components I'll need (including the dice, ship pieces, hazard cards and pieces representing both cargo [I worked it out to be about 260 pieces] and damage, as well as game board, rule set and other things like market price and ship ledgers).
So during the play testing phase, I'm sure there will be a lot of cuts, but presently I'm not too worried about cost, as long as the components make sense.
Once again, thanks so much for your input, it really really helps!