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Fantasy MMO Board Game?

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Mon, 09/02/2013 - 02:45
yamizero
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Joined: 08/28/2013

Wanted to know if there is an existing game like this already.

Basically, it takes the concept of an MMO and puts it in a boardgame/card game. So there is:

1. Adventuring/Exploration/Questing - you move your hero/party to a location to gather resources(ores/crystals) or collect monster drops(rare weapons/claws and the likes)

2. Forge weapons/armors or refine ores (convert #x -> y)

3. Flexible Character Growth
- mix and match Class (Merchant, Fighter) and/or can multi class
- Race bonus (elfs +1 magic, orcs/dwarfves +1 hp)
- Skills/Talents

4. A city location where you can:
-buy and sell weapons
-buy and sell drops

Possible Win Conditions :
1. Boss Defeat - there's a big bad that needs to be killed or a number of them, first to kill X number
2. Max Level - first to get his character to Level X
3. Massive Wealth - gold + Equipment Level (your gear has a rarity value) First to X amount

There are already a number of games that does one or more of these but i never found or played a game that does all of them.

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Mon, 09/02/2013 - 03:10
#1
yamizero
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There might be a possibility

There might be a possibility that a non-fantasy theme version of the game exists but i don't know what that is.

ex. prepare a dish for a restaurant

1. Adventuring/Questing -
basically a gather resource phase. go to the market to buy meat or fruits
a. there could be some challenge or check to get the resource OR
b. more commonly, go to a spot get X resource
-limited # of players per area OR
-first to the spot gets a more/better stuff

2. Forging/Crafting -
Convert [Resource X] to [Resource Y]. 4 fruits = 1 jam
Spend #Y + #Z = VP . 1 jam + 1 Peanutbutter = P&J Special (customer order worth points/money)

3. Character Growth - Learn a skill
[skill] Improved Jam Making Classes = Jam creation only needs 3 fruits
[class] Sushi Chef - bonus money for making sushi dishes or Japanese Cuisines

4. City
- buy Knifes and other kitchen improvements
- There could be an Expo or Convention you cater/deliver the food to
ex. Green Movement Convention requires X#salads + X#fruits. salads you need to make but you can basically "gather"/buy fruits from the market

You could swap it with a medieval theme, resources are gold wood iron and so forth. This is just an example of how the features of a game i'm thinking of could already exist but just not as a fantasy theme.

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Mon, 09/02/2013 - 08:25
#2
laperen
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Joined: 04/30/2013
ive told this to countless

ive told this to countless other ppl, that any idea, that involves adventuring of any sort, is basically DnD with a more comprehensive combat system

what made any RPG game worth playing was the story, levels and equipment were for progressing the story

what makes most MMOs tick is the social aspect, which ironically is expressed through PvP, and drives players to get better at combat

in both types of games, the combat was a component that was a means to an end, not the focus

i also do not see how you can make an MMO into a boardgame since it will make the MMO lose its O. and if you are talking about putting a boardgame online, it would just mean another turn based combat MMO like Dofus/Wakfu perhaps

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Mon, 09/02/2013 - 09:47
#3
Corsaire
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laperen wrote: what makes

laperen wrote:

what makes most MMOs tick is the social aspect, which ironically is expressed through PvP, and drives players to get better at combat

in both types of games, the combat was a component that was a means to an end, not the focus

People often think everyone has the same motivation in games as they do. Socializing is not the prime and certainly not the only mmo motivator. If you read about the Bartle Test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test, you can see more along these lines.

To the OP, it seems the question is about resource gathering fueling equipment for characters. Lords of Waterdeep has some of the flavor, but the resources are characters. I'd think you'd have to pick a focus as trying to have it all would seem to make a huge and unfocused game.

You could be pretty literal and see the player as the player of an MMO and they do worker placement representing how they spend their ingame time. But it sounds like you are more oriented towards having a questing game with a crafting component?

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Mon, 09/02/2013 - 11:51
#4
laperen
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maybe im just tired of seeing

maybe im just tired of seeing boardgame ideas which involve micro managing a character.

while player customisability is something people no doubt enjoy, focus on variety of customizations, over goals in customization, is a grave mistake.

you want to feel that your choices impact what you can achieve from the paths before you.

a little broad in my previous reply but this is what i meant when i said combat is a component and not an end in itself

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Mon, 09/02/2013 - 12:16
#5
yamizero
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Corsaire wrote: To the OP, it

Corsaire wrote:

To the OP, it seems the question is about resource gathering fueling equipment for characters. Lords of Waterdeep has some of the flavor, but the resources are characters. I'd think you'd have to pick a focus as trying to have it all would seem to make a huge and unfocused game.

That's exactly why i was asking if someone already did it or is working on one. Though i would agree that having all of those in one game would make for a very long game.

Great suggestion for Lords of Waterdeep as such. Quests with ongoing rewards as the "Equips" you "craft" with characters as "materials".

Corsaire wrote:

You could be pretty literal and see the player as the player of an MMO and they do worker placement representing how they spend their ingame time. But it sounds like you are more oriented towards having a questing game with a crafting component?

yes that's what i'm looking for. Is anyone working on that questing game with a crafting component? Of the games i've played, crafting is a feature almost never included. Games usually simplify it to a single resource conversion for items (eg. gold to buy equips).

There are some games in Kickstarter i found that focus on crafting or at least has it, one is a straight up gather resource then craft, the other is 2-player craft your weapon then duel and the last one actually is fight monster-> get monster parts ->craft new gear but it is a co-op game. none of them though has parts 1-4.

if such a game exists i would imagine it to be an engine building type of game. that's the reason why i mentioned MMO in the first place because to me MMOs feel they have this pattern of fight monster -> earn money/exp and get loots -> buy/create better equips and level up skills-> unlock new areas to fight stronger monsters. Most i know MMOs don't really have an ending or a way you can win in it (just more patches to increase level caps and new gear) but board games have those.

i'll try to write-up the concept/pitch i have and perhaps that would point me to an existing game or project of that sort.

Thank you very much for the reply!

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Mon, 09/02/2013 - 19:06
#6
Meddros
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How much can you fit in...

I too have a similar idea for this type of game but I am not sure you can really fit everything you want into a board game from an MMO. Most MMOs have so much content it would take a game 4 hours long just to touch on any of it with a board game and the setup time plus amount of materials to make all the pieces to me would be very immense plus expensive.
I am not trying to dis wade you I am just letting you know what I have been up against in my design of such a game. I want most games to play in an hour or two. You can't truly do that with an MMO inspired game without cutting a lot of the fat. Crafting is one of those things but no MMO is complete without crafting.
I am not going to drag on and on about it but I would really love to hear your ideas on what you do with it should you start making an MMO board game. Plus I, like many be happy to help you in such the endeavor here on this Forum.

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Mon, 09/02/2013 - 19:23
#7
Corsaire
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Ignoring theme and looking at

Ignoring theme and looking at mechanics, I think Eclipse has a lot to draw from. The techs resemble armor/skill upgrades, planets become spawns or raw material locations, the central hex could represent the main quest. Etc. Not saying everything fits, but the scale is there. You could add some conversions on the raw materials to add that layer (mid level armor requires metal bars rather than ore, so you need to do that conversion.)

Not saying to utterly emulate it, but look at it as a baseline with some good constructs also as the max limit of complexity.

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Tue, 09/03/2013 - 06:38
#8
yamizero
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great find

this is exactly the kind of feedback i'm looking for.

the ships as you mentioned could be the heroes and their equipped gear are the upgrades. the technology, income and (forgot the third one) could be their level in a particular class/job. warrior, smithing and so forth.

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Tue, 09/03/2013 - 06:53
#9
yamizero
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Joined: 08/28/2013
the City

so here is a very rough draft of what i imagine the game would look like at this point in time:

The goal of the game is to be the first one to do one of the following:
1. Kill 3 Bosses
2. Forge 3 Legendary Equipment
3. Accumulate 1000 gold

Gameplay proceeds as follow:
1. Up-Keep Phase
2. Choose Action:
A. Move (X time determined by speed)
B. If in the City:
-Visit local merchants (3)
-Forge/Refine (6)
-Train (12)
-Recover (6)
C. If in the Fields:
-Gather (3)
-Hunt (6)
-Rest (2)
-Special (x)
3. End of Day Phase

There are basically two main areas in the game, the [City] and the [Fields], each having sub-areas.

Based on the action you choose you can visit the following areas in the City.

[Visit local merchants]

Open Market – buy and sell 2 materials. The market every 3 days refreshes. Roll a 1d6. And depending on the result affects all commodities. 1= -3; 2-3= -2; 4= -1; 5-6=+1
This would basically be a grid system following supply and demand. The fewer the items the more expensive it is.

Shopping District – buy and sell 1 gear. There should be max number items displayed, for example 6. The market should always have at least 3 face-up gears displayed for sale. Adding gears to the market through player selling or game generated means, slides the available items displayed to make room for the new gear. When the market is full, the 7th gear pushes the last gear off the queue into a discard pile.

[Forge/Refine]

Refinery – process 5 ores to become 1 refined item.

Design Note: Not sure if there should be specific conversion rates for different ores. though a fixed number is nice and simple.

Forge – Craft a gear

[Train]

Academy/Archery Range/Mage Tower – can fit 1 player per sub-area. Pay requisite XP and Gold.

Library – Choose from the face-up selection of available recipes for crafting.

[Recover]
House – recover all HP, Mana and Stamina. Deposit loots. There should be a limit of how many items you could keep at your house.

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Tue, 09/03/2013 - 08:25
#10
yamizero
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the Feilds

Out on the [Fields] is where you go to gather resources either through fights or harvesting. It is divided in 4 random map pieces which for starters i would say Woods, Mountain, Lake, and Dessert. This makes the game slightly modular wherein you could swap in areas so it never feels the same. 2 maps are on placed on the left and the other two on the right of the City board. So the layout would become: [Woods] [Mountain] [City] [Lake] [Dessert]. Thinking there should be a special thing for each map. ex. staying on the dessert map makes you take 1 dmg.

Each field map is divided in two parts. The first part is for the lower level monsters. The second level is where better resources are and of course stronger monsters. Let’s take the Mountain as an example.

Lose 1 HP when entering the Mountains

1st level
Monsters: Lesser Golems. Def 3 HP 1 Attack 2 Drops [unrefined earth core] Max Spawn:4
Gather: Iron Ore [success on a 3 or better; succeed on 2nd attempt]

2nd level
Monsters: Statue of Pride. Def 6 HP4 Attack 5 Quick Strike Drops [pristine earth core] and 2 gold Max Spawn:2
Gather: Iron Slab [success on a 4 or better; succeed on 2nd attempt]

Design Note: Not sure if it would be wise to randomize the drops. Any MMO player would know that not every monster drops something. Some of them you just kill… for fun. Though it’s easy enough to add a die roll to determine if you got something. Doing this though would make the game more luck based but then we could introduce skills and job bonuses to compensate. Ex. Swordsmen could recover more HP or have larger hp pools than other job classes. Thieves on the other hand can attempt to [Steal] drops even before fighting or could re-roll the drop die.

If you don't wish to gather or hunt you may choose to use a special class ability or rest to recover some hp and +movement speed.

The Move action basically allows you to move from one part of the map to another. To move to a Lvl2 of any area, you should come from its Lvl1. Say you are in the city and you want to go to Level 2 dessert map. you need to take 3 move actions.

City->Lake Lv1
Lake Lv1->Dessert Lv1
Dessert Lv1 -Dessert Lv2

Design Note: This allows for some minor planning and player indirect interaction. Somewhere along the lines of "If you're farming for something but i can get to the city faster to buy that item i could do it."

The number after each action is the amount of time it takes for a player to do that actions. A game day is only 12 units of time line. So a player can only train once a day. basically that's all he does. The first player to consume all 12 hours or fore go the remaining time becomes 1st player next turn.

Character Customization is always a big draw, and that's why i like Descent 2nd Ed. Mixing and Matching Classes and skill to make that sweet combo is always fun.

As of now i can vaguely picture the classes and skills as such:

Class: Swordsman
Skill: Body Training +2hp
Skill: [Bash] - 1 mana. Add +1 dmg to attack

Class Upgrade: Swordsman->Defender
Skill: Iron Body - Def +2
Skill Upgrade: Greater Bash - 3 Mana. Kill Lv1 creature or add +2dmg

Class: Hunter
Skill: Track Master - able to hunt Lv1 monsters even if they map is clear
Skill: Piercing Shot - 1 mana ignore 1 def
Skill Upgrade: True Piercing Shot - 2 mana. ignore 3 def

Class: Merchant
Skill: Charmer - +1 gold when selling, -1gold to cost of buying
Skill: Packer - max loots carried +2
Skill Upgrade: Master Packer - max loots carried +5

You can choose to multiclass and and learn different skills from different branches. You can also level up your class to access more skills and upgrades.

It's a fairly simple game: choose 1 action, resolve it. The real challenge is assessing how to best make do of what is on the board and then adapting. If most players are fighters, why not specialize in gathering or crafting. Do you farm low level fields and sell drops to just outright buy stuff or do you go to the library and look for an awesome weapon you can use. Those are the decisions i would want to make when i play a game of this scale. There should never be one path that determines the winner.

Obviously, the biggest challenge in creating the game is trying to create that much content. Major areas for that are:

How many classes should be there? how does the skill tree look like? Mages are going to be a nightmare.

What are the areas and monsters? how can they be made to feel unique?

How involved should the fighting criteria be?

How many tiers of equips should there be? how many weapon types?
What are the special abilities of the weapon. Costing and craft requisite.

Balancing...

So basically that's how i see the game to be at this point. At least one version of it. i have another idea to go with but it focuses much stronger on the crafting/forging idea. once i get it down i'll post how that goes. Clearly there's a lot and i most likely did not clearly explain the whole thing as clearly as i would imagine it in my head. Feel free to comment or point out a similar feeling game. Thanks!

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Tue, 09/03/2013 - 08:20
#11
yamizero
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Fights

Monster: Statue of Pride. Construct. Large.
Def 6
HP4
Attack 5
Quick Strike

Character:
Class: Defender
Skill: Iron Body - Def +2
Skill: Greater Bash - 3 Mana. Kill Lv1 creature or add +2dmg
Weapon: Hammer of Zudomon
Damage 5
Accuracy 5 + 1d8
1-2 Miss
3-5 +1 dmg
6-8 +2 dmg
Special: Accuracy +1 and Damage +1 against Constructs.

Armor: Runeplate. Def +1. Additional Def +1 when targeted by Magic Atk

Monster rolls 1d6 + Def = Def rate must be exceeded
Player rolls [weapon die] + weapon accuracy = player accuracy

Is this combat system overly complicated?

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Tue, 09/03/2013 - 10:54
#12
Corsaire
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Depends on the game focus

It's too complex if you want crafter/trader to be a viable strategy. You'll make the adventurer strategy players' turns too long. It is unfun to consistently wait 10 minutes to take a 30 second turn.

Somewhere is the design decision of whether you are making a combat game with crafting or a crafting game with combat.

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