Background: the basic idea of the game is that you and the other players are a fledgling deity. Each character has certain powers and abilities as well as a pool of generic "miracles" from which all players may utilize. The point of the game is to defeat the other players by removing their worshipers somehow. The more followers you have the more powers you gain, and the fewer followers your opponents have the weaker they are.
the Situation: I've decided that any given tile on the map may have three folowers (total of all players) on it, so of course at some point these entities would enter some sort of conflict to drive one group of followers away (or destroy/convert them).
the Problem: how can I resolve these conflicts? Originally I had the idea to simply have the two opposing players roll a d6, highest total wins. This number would be modified if one player had more followers on the tile than their opponent. This works pretty well and it places a large risk on both parties (Thus making conflict between groupd of followers risky). The problem with this is that it seems rather static and doesn't quite evoke the mood I want for this game. I don't want this to seem like a giant Holy War type game, but one of strategy.
How can I resolve this without making is seem static or too combat-based?
If that would be too overpowering, have stages: Belief A -> neutral -> Belief B. So, on the first round you bring two of your followers to a square with someone elses follower, they move to 'neutral' - If a neutral follower is in a square with two of your guys, they become followers of your belief.
No dice rolling whatsoever, just automatic success.
If a tile has one A, one B, and one neutral, nothing happens. You must have the 'voting majority' to enact change.
Thinking it might be interesting to lengthen the process here a bit, in order to give the opponent a chance to react. Adding decisions in the process. How about 2>1 equals neutral, and 3>1 equals conversion? That way the opponent has to decide wether he'll shore up the endangered area, or abandon it? Although there is a limitation of three followers on a tile, how about 4 being permissable for no longer than one round? Excess followers have to be moved to another adjacent tile at the end of the conversion action. Consider it going on an evangelical mission.
Of course that complicates things a bit, and could turn the game into a real brain burner, as you'll be trying to set up chains of events to dominate the board. Maybe this is heavier than what you had in mind.
Respectfully
Falloutfan