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Heroes VS Villains

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Thu, 04/14/2011 - 20:33
larienna
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I just want to make a little survey.

If somebody asked you to make a game about Batman, or a similar universe (without super powers), and you were asked to design a game where the villain and heroes are played by players, Which of the option below would you use.

1 villain player VS multiple Hero players
1 Hero player VS multiple villain players
An equal number of Hero and villain players.

My first though was 1 villain that control all the crime and the hero that tries to stop it. But thematically, there is generally more crime than heroes so it would make more sense to have 1 hero and many criminals.

I am just not sure anymore this is why I am asking.

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Thu, 04/14/2011 - 23:42
#1
genericm
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I would go with an equal

I would go with an equal number of both, other wise your just designing a dungen crawler with a DM

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Fri, 04/15/2011 - 11:20
#2
Dralius
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I like option 1. One ultra

I like option 1. One ultra powerful Villian vs. several moderatly powerful Heros.

The trick is to scale the Villians abilities to the number of heros. You could also give the Villian henchmen.

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Fri, 04/15/2011 - 11:30
#3
Yamahako
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I love the idea of a game

I love the idea of a game where one player is a super hero, and the other players are all villains trying to take over the city.

It would be especially fun if the villains didn't work together so much, as have to collaborate to stop from losing - and each villain had to win in their own right - but the super hero could beat them all...

The super hero is more powerful, but has to beat all the villains, each individual villain just has to complete their particular goal.

Someone make that game before it takes over my brain and I have to design it myself... I'm working on too many already!

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Fri, 04/15/2011 - 12:47
#4
drktron
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Yamahako wrote: Someone make

Yamahako wrote:

Someone make that game before it takes over my brain and I have to design it myself... I'm working on too many already!

Don't worry! Superheros are on their way!

Superheros/villains seem to be an emerging thematic trend in board games. There's this idea, Midnight Men, and our BGDF leader Seth's own Alter Ego (which sounds awesome btw).

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Fri, 04/15/2011 - 16:10
#5
CloudBuster
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I like option two...

I also like the idea of one, powerful hero fighting against a bunch of villains. <--I like the idea, but I'm not sure how to implement it. The one game I played that reminds me of this was Scotland Yard. I think that was reversed, though. One player was the bad guy and the other players had to catch him. I remember not liking Scotland Yard very much, but it's been so long since I played I can't remember why I didn't like it. I think maybe it was too easy for the bad guy to get away...was that it? The game wasn't balanced enough? I'm sure someone will help refresh my memory.

Also, I REALLY like the idea of the villains not necessarily working together to defeat the Hero. Perhaps you've got a "Nefarious Plans" deck that the villains pull from. This becomes their objective and the Hero has to stop it from happening. Perhaps the Villains have henchmen and if the Hero can capture one of those, the learns what that villain's plans are, THEN he has to stop the villain from carrying them out. <--thanks to Dralius and Yamahako for throwing these ideas into the mix. I think they're great ideas.

Hmmm...maybe each villain has a certain number of henchmen. Everyone knows that the Main Bad Guy has minions to do his bidding. So...the Hero has to get past all the henchmen somehow. With each henchmen captured, killed, etc he learns a bit more of the Nefarious Plan. Once he captures all the henchmen, he can go after the Main Bad Guy. If he captures or kills him, that player is out. However, if the Main Bad Guy can see that he's about to be captured, he has the option of working as a henchmen for one of the other players.

OR...maybe if the Main Bad Guy is captured, he automatically works as a henchmen for one of the other players. If he CHOOSES to work for another player...he's a more powerful henchmen? Perhaps he can do more things than your average minion? Maybe he could even become a Treacherous Slimeball and take over as the Main Bad Guy? (there is no honor among theives). Bad guys don't often work together. They may have a common enemy in the Hero, but that's not always enough to form a strong alliance.

-CB-

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Fri, 04/15/2011 - 18:28
#6
InvisibleJon
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Deliberately going outside the question...

Two other options that hopped in my cranium...

1) Each player plays a villain and a hero. At the end, take your lowest score (hero or villain) as your final score. The player with the highest final score wins. Team-ups are likely to happen organically as some players gather to "beat on the leader", but you could also reward team-ups with bonus points, or create missions that require team-ups (or heroes fighting heroes - that always happens in comics).

2) Control of the villain passes from player to player. Points you earn as the villain go toward your total score. Control of the villain could be something you bid for, or it could pass randomly, or it could go to the player with the lowest score (Oh, I like that one.).

...just thinkin'...

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Sun, 04/17/2011 - 06:19
#7
red hare
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ditto on 1 villain and 1 hero

Interesting topic :)

I have the similar suggestion as InvisibleJon, that a player controls one villain and one super hero, because it would create interplay between the characters that could simulate the stories in the comics. There's always some heroes that have friendships or deals or whatever relationship with the villains, and vice versa, where you've got good guys helping out bad guys. So sometimes a player might thwart the heroes at a critical moment because his villain would be hurt.

Hey, you could even mix it up more where a player might control some combination of heroes/ villains/ and henchmen so that you have to weigh competing interests and outcomes....

red hare

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Sun, 04/17/2011 - 08:52
#8
tomg
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Hero or Villains?

Here are my thoughts:
1) many of the current co-op games are one vs. many so that model works and is accepted by gamers. It is true that you may want to avoid the 'dungeon crawl' feeling. I like the idea of one hero vs. many villains. It is kind of opposite of the current trend.
2)I like the idea of passing the villain around is a intriguing one. This is an idea used in indie rpgs a lot and it can be very fun. Earning points as you go is a very cool idea. Implementation and acceptance will be difficult though I think.
3)Equal villains and heroes - this doesn't spark me right now.

I hope that helps. Keep us posted.
tomg

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Sat, 04/23/2011 - 08:36
#9
Badger
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Especially in a game with

Especially in a game with more villains than heroes, I think Cloudbuster's point that the villains' victory conditions require accomplishing something other than just beating the hero(-es) is an important one. If there's a strong imbalance of numbers (markedly more villains than heroes), and maybe even if it's only slightly imbalanced, those villain victory conditions should somehow provide incentives for villains to NOT cooperate, and probably even stab each other in the back.

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