Play fan faction
RootJam 2023: The Vanguard Water-front's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Use of this year's theme | #6 | 3.951 | 4.176 |
| Creativity/Uniqueness | #10 | 4.006 | 4.235 |
| Clarity of Rules/Mechanics | #17 | 2.560 | 2.706 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Includes Law of Root?
No
Includes PnP?
Yes
Includes TTS files?
No
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
I'm a sucker for unique crafted effects. Cats also love water now:
Cats: Double crafting, wood, recruits
Birds: double crafting
WA: nothing?
Lizards, Moles, Badgers: Double crafting
Rats: double crafting, recruits
Haha thanks! Yeah, I think WA gets the short end of the stick for flood benefits, which is unfortunate. I couldn't figure out an elegant way to help them out, since doubling all token effects seemed... troublesome, and very powerful. Another version I was/am considering is making all crafting pieces able to activate twice instead, but that would hamper the Water-front's main source of recruits, so the recruit action would need a change too.
I love these guys! Really creative use of the theme. I do have a question though, what happens when your special crafted improvements get hit with saboteurs? Are they removed from the game permanently like faithful retainers? Also, I couldn't quite figure out how scrap and scrounge are meant to be used. Can you play them as a 'free' action as long as they're at the top of your stack, or do you need to use the craft action in daylight to use them? Regardless, I really like how the dam is implemented, and the infographic is really helpful!
Good question! They get removed, like faithful retainers; I low-key designed this faction supposing the use of Exiles and Partisans, because I love that interaction :)
Scrap! and Scrouge! are definitely a bit weird, and I intend on adding better text. Your former guess is correct: they're supposed to be a free action, as long as they are on the top of the Blueprints stack.
I'm glad the infographic is helpful! And thanks so much for the great comment :)
I really like the theme and feel of this faction. The Dam is such an interesting idea, I love another faction having their own version of the Keep.
One part that I wasn't sure about is put to paper. Can you put any cards into the blueprints stack? Also, with only 15 blueprints, what is the blueprint deck makeup since there are four types of cards?
Thanks so much! The Dam is definitely an homage to the Keep (it should totally be a landmark).
In Put to Paper, you can place any cards from your hand atop the stack, which means the Blueprints stack can start to get non-blueprint deck cards in it. Reading that over, I should probably change the name of the starting cards for clarity!
As of the RoomJam version, the composition of the deck is 6/3/3/3 for birds/fox/mouse/rabbit cards, which means bird cards should get drawn about 40% of the time, increasing over the game as cards are crafted and added. I plan on shifting this breakdown closer to an even split, both to make piloting better as well as to balance their progression.
I love the theme, and the execution so much. I cannot stress enough how helpful it is to see how the dam taking hits works! Being able to visualize it in that way reeeeeally bring the faction to life!
I think if you wanted to save a bit on board space, you could move your diagram of how the dam taking hits works to a separate card, but I think it's up to your opinion. You're doing well on space and board layout already, just think that once you've got a few games under your belt, that info might be important for other factions to see!
Still though, the card layouts, abilities, and thematics are all super unique and the heart and theorycrafting really shine through on this one! :D
Your point about Dam damage being seen by other players is great, I'll definitely make sure to add some informational cards! Thanks so much for all the compliments!!