Arroyo Playtest 1: 7/30/2012

Printing out the Arroyo cards for the first time was a weird experience. I was suprised at how well they turned out. Having access to a printer and paper cutter and little supervision may be enough to keep me working in offices for the rest of my life.

Character Creation!

I was really happy with how this went. Selection was fast, it only took about 5 minutes for people to go, and everything was fairly self evident. As it stands, your Background Card and your Apprenticeship card each comes with 3 skill choices, of which you can take two. It might be better to have one "utility" skill (one to discard cards to get rid of counters, one to put junk cards to use), and you choose between the two remaining. This might be a good way to make sure you don't have a character who every skill uses one suit. 

Combat:

Our first combat was super-easy, since we were fighting two monsters that had all "support" skills. The second combat was super-difficult, because all the monsters could do damage to everyone at the table. Might need to separate monsters into two piles to make sure there's a good mix.


The Biggest Problem - Turn Order

Solution 1: One Speed Per Card. All monster actions are at the same speed. All attacks based on the same skill have the same speed. Speed is a big number, visible from a distance.
Solution 2: Using space to establish turn order. Because monsters will always act at the same speed, they can serve as an anchor for turn order. Players place the skill cards they intend to use, and the cards they're paying to use them (necessary?) along the same Left-to-Right or Top-to-Bottom totem pole. When drawing cards for monsters, flip them as they go, to create a sense of tension.

The Other Problem - Its Really Hard to Get the Cards you Want

Solution 1: Players can discard 2 cards to draw 1 more. This gives them a smaller hand, but another chance to draw a good card.
Solution 2: Assist - Players can add their cards to other players attacks (penalty? 2:1 ratio?)
Solution 3: Start with 6 cards instead of 5

To do before next playtest:
Map out the play space
Unify speeds
Tweak card draw rules
Update manual to reflect above changes, make manual publicly available, ask others to read it to see if it makes any goddamn sense.
Optional:
Modify backgrounds - You start with a defense skill, chose 1 of 2 attack skills
Add "utility" skill to apprenticeships.
Desired end result: characters have 1 defense skill, 1 support skill, and 2 distinct attack skills, along with their career skill.