I found an easy way to insert more decision making into my game: change the combat values of the spells to numbers other than “3″. Right now the decision of whether to cast a spell or use it as a combat card is too obvious. If the most powerful spells were also high numbers, the decision whether to use the effect or the value could be a hard one. I’m also hoping to create fewer ties in combat, but that issue is more complicated.

I’ve solicited feedback from a few players and compiled the results in the list below. Next step is to track down the odd men out on the few where there were large discrepancies between the suggested values (in bold). I actually find it re-assuring that we are disagreeing about the values of the spells, if it was easy to evaluate the value of cards (magic bullet +2 vs. fire breath +3) then the game would be pretty boring.

Oh, and I’m also re-adjusting the maneuvers (excluding Flight) to have combat values that more closely reflect their worth. It breaks the Page, Knight, Queen, King order of the original tarot cards, but I’ll live.

• Dive (4)
• Counter (10)
• Inferno (8)
• Wingover (6)
• Wander Cure (8,8,6)
• Inspiration (7,7,7)
• Void Pocket (5,5,5)
• Healing (9,9,5)
• Halt (3,8,5)
• Foresee (6,5,5)
• Unite (4,3,4)
• Teleport (2,3,?)
• Strength (8,7,6)
• Escape (7,3,?)
• Wheel of Life (4,9,1-3)
• Justice (10,9,8+)
• Psychic Whip (6,7,7)
• Drain (6,8,7)
• Temperance (5,7,4)
• Pact (7,5,5)
• Charged Lightning (6,3,1-3)
• Scrying (7,5,8+)
• Illusion (5,8,6)
• Fire Storm (6,9,5)
• Reckoning (6,3,4)
• Renewal (1,3,1-3)
• Blank (0,3,5)

Healing

…

Halt

The thought here was that this spell is extremely circumstantial, therefore less powerful. Were it a higher value the tendency would be to wait as long as possible to cast it, holding out for a great spell to counter, but knowing that you could always fall back on using for defense. Then again, maybe that would be better than the current “Halt anything that moves” strategy, since you don’t want to get screwed by having to defend yourself with a 3.

Teleport

…

Escape

…

Wheel of Life

…

Temperance

…

Pact

In a game where a common tactic is to flush low cards out of your hand on attack (where you aren’t as likely to get hurt) and save the better cards for defense, being able to consolidate a lot of power into one concentrated attack is often what it takes to do significant damage. But it was also pointed out that Pact, presuming that you succeed in doing damage, only gives you a 1 or 2 point life advantage. And that’s in 2 player, with more players it’s worse. It also totally sucks on defense. Compare this to Strength, which gives you +3 for free, in any situation, and the value of this card drops more.

Charged Lightning

This spell is still in the works, and requires further playtesting. There are certain setups in multi-player where the latest version could allow you to attack each of your opponents a couple times. But, given the rarity of these situations the value should probably be on of the lower suggested values. Its cousin Fire Storm can more often be used in a directly offensive manner.

Scrying

…

Illusion

…

Fire Storm

…

Reckoning

Here’s another one that’s significantly more powerful in multi-player. In single player it’s justa weak Unite/Teleport, in multi-player it’s a free pot-shot at everyone else without having to get close to them. So, which case do we use for evaluating it? Clearly the lack of 2 player utility, and the no-flying penalty were considered heavy enough penalties to bring down the value by the majority of those interviewed.

Blank

This one’s tough because nobody really agreed, except that it ought to be low. I guess it just depends on who has a permanent effect in play.

Introducing the game to new users has highlighted some of the cards that I knew were confusing, and some new questions that I hadn’t thought of before, like what happens when somebody Halts a Justice, does combat continue? Getting this game ready for a larger audience (Cybil tells me there’s a playtesting group in LA) means that I need to address all known issues, so here goes…

Dive

Use in combat when attacking before playing your combat card, but only if you have at least 2 remaining movement. Forfeit 2 movement to gain a +2 bonus on your attack. Aerial combat is a 3-dimensional affair, the dragon with the greatest altitude has the advantage. view old wording of Dive

Timing and conditions of play come first, then the cost and benifit, and last a bit of flavor text. I had it pretty much backwards.

Justice

Cast during combat when defending. Combat ends. Your attacker takes damage equal to 1/2 (rounded up) the card they played against you, not including any bonuses. You take no damage. view old wording of Justice

I believe it was Jeff who Halted Josh’s Justice. The question then was, does combat continue? Since the Justice card was being played instead of a combat card, not during the appropriate phase prior to the defender playing a combat card (see latest rules) the answer wasn’t obvious. I hope it’s more clear now, that if Justice were discarded as if it had never been played, the defender would be forced to play a card in defense.

Escape

Cast during combat when defending. Combat ends. Neither dragon takes any damage. Pick up your dragon and place it on any unoccupied dot. view old wording of Escape

Same deal as Justice.

Counter

Play during combat when defending, before your defense card. At the end of combat if your defense is higher than the attack, your attacker takes damage as if you had attacked them. You still take damage if the attack is higher. view old wording of Counter

Again, as with Dive, the appropriate time to play the maneuver comes first, followed by the effect. Any abstract description or flavor text comes last, if at all. I’m still not 100% sure about the wording of this one, explaining the whole “as if you’re attacking eachother” concept. Drop your suggestions in the comments if you’ve got any.