Hey! This was a really fun experience for me, even solo. Probably took me about 1.5 hours for the standard one using hextml.playtest.net to do my map and add brief notes.
My game summary is at the end of the post, but here's what I loved:
- The game feels emergent as settlements change hands, are destroyed, and rebuilt. I could tell you the histories of various locations on the map, which is really cool. It feels alive.
- I really like how each era gets progressively more dangerous. It meant I was invested in my kingdoms; I wanted to keep playing.
- It's smooth, simple, and fun which is great. I could get lost in simulating these little kingdoms forever and recording their histories.
- Because it generates deep stories, it's a great way to develop a setting for a campaign of another system. I can already come up with conflicts and problems my players could get drawn into.
My suggestions would be:
- The minor factions didn't do much in my game except expand or get attacked by me (as player one and two). Instead of just expanding a neighbour at the end of each era, could you do a roll for neighbours instead with more interesting results? e.g. two minor factions go to war, two minor factions form an alliance etc.
- Because of how the 3d6 probabilities work, I kept getting the same results in a row. I just house ruled it and re-rolled, but I could imagine this might get a bit annoying with a long group game. You're eagerly waiting your turn... then get the same thing you got last time.
- Is there a mechanic you could add where you can choose to attack/go to war/build things rather than just relying on dice?
In my game, the hill dwarves in the west were almost wiped out by the accumulated pirate and bandit gangs (Sandstrider, Saltbeard, and Lazark). Their mithril gates were destroyed, their capital almost taken, but still they persist. Meanwhile the northern orcs spread peacefully.
In the east, the savannah orcs fought with the lizardfolk of the southern isle in a thrilling war campaign that bounced between 1s and 6s for a few turns. The demon cult on the island to the north grew in power, serving the vampire demon Ultruxya. They razed and took over a couple of orcish settlements, while the orcs drove out pirates on the eastern most isle to solidify their grasp.
Really, really fun.