"Hurry up!" and "On the double!"

[ATOEtalGeek]

This variant really perks up the game for us. Sometimes you feel really stuck in the mud when you roll 1 or 2 for movement a few times in a row. This was intended to give another option to get you out of that rut. (We recently played a game where one player rolled a 1 four turns in a row - rare? yes, but a couple times in a row is not unheard of.)

This variant is actually in two parts "Hurry up!" where a player may roll two dice for movement, and "On the double!" where there is a benefit to rolling doubles when moving.

We've played several games using this variant with a watchful eye on game balance. We find no problem with game balance - we've still been about 50/50 defeating the villain. We play co-op. The two dice roll is not as beneficial as you would think at first - there are minions stopping your movement at every turn and investigation is somewhat limited (we play advanced rules where you have to test to collect investigation) so movement and splitting your turn is more limited than you would guess. But yet players don't have that sense of dread and feel a little more in control of their movement. Even if it is just perception then this variant is successful.

“Hurry up!” – Instead of rolling 1d6 for movement a Hero may instead move on his turn at up to a 2d6 pace, for a cost. The cost is paid in investigation and is determined to be half the number of spaces he actually uses on the roll, rounded up. The cost therefore maxes out at 6 investigation, and the amount he may move is capped at two times the number of investigation he holds. On a roll of 7, for example, he may move up to 7 spaces for a max cost of 4 investigation. He may choose to move only 4 spaces of that and pay only 2 investigation. For realism, the farther he travels the higher the cost of the fare. Note that a 1 rolled on either die allows the player to collect an event card. If snake-eyes are rolled the player may look at the top two event cards, keep one, and discard the other. He may roll 2d6 and decide to linger for no investigation, however his lingering roll must then be a 2d6 roll. In such case he is attacked by a minion if a 1 is rolled on either die. If snake-eyes are rolled for lingering he is still only attacked by a single minion – not two. Plus movement bonuses provided by items or allies are added to the player's movement and may reduce the amount of investigation the player must pay to move. If he rolls a 12, for example, and holds a horse from the town items he may move just the one space from the +1 bonus and pay no investigation. He would be able to move 13 spaces for the cost of 6 investigation, etc.

“On the Double!” - If the hero rolls doubles on his “Hurry up!” roll he may split the roll and take an extended turn, moving up to the number of spaces on each die for each part of the split turn. The cost for splitting the roll is a fixed fee of half the roll, no matter how many spaces of it he uses. If he rolls a 12, for example, his cost to split the roll is 6 investigation even if he only plans to move 2 spaces then 3 spaces. If he is unable to pay the fixed cost he may not split his turn. Each part of his turn is treated like separate turns for the purposes of movement, fighting, taking actions, encountering, lingering, performing actions, etc. Character abilities, or other mechanics, that apply a certain number of times per turn are not extended however – the turn, including extension, is still one turn. If a player is KO’d during the first part of his turn he forfeits the extension. Plus movement bonuses may be added to either part of his move, or each part of his move if he has two such bonuses.


I would love to hear what you think and what game experiences you have with it.

[Old Dwarf]

Interesting,this appears to be well thought out,I'll give it a try when AToE makes my Game Table again.
But does it mean I'll have to drink my Beer faster?

OD

[ATOEtalGeek]

Ha ha! Only when you roll doubles!