TOPIC: PvP drafting ideas

Mike Steele wrote: You might have to leave out or modify certain character classes. For instance, characters with area attack damage spells can throw the balance way off.

I agree. I considered just having area effects hit everyone. You could use them, but you would suffer a penalty. Assume the 'arena' is a small area, so that would make sense. Maybe make an exception for Bard's Song.

Might consider reducing damage so the combat last a bit.
Maybe apply some flat penalty to all damage.
Or cap damage somewhere.
Not sure.

valetutto wrote: Might consider reducing damage so the combat last a bit.
Maybe apply some flat penalty to all damage.
Or cap damage somewhere.
Not sure.

You could also design new classes for pvp with more hp and fewer "all" spells. The bring your own characters build might be helpful as well, and state a "rares and lower" builds are allowed. This could be an amazing idea.

After looking at the character cards, I think I have some of the 'nerfs' I would like to introduce when it comes to spell casting. The fights could end quickly with some of the higher level magic, or last a bit long with some of the higher level healing. Losing the level 2 spells across the board seems the easiest way to go, with some minor changes below that for some classes.

Bard-Loses Daze and Mute
Druid-One use only on each Level 1 spell
Elf Wizard-2 uses of Acid Splash and 1 Magic Missile
Wizard-2 uses of Fire Ray, 1 Ray of Frost, and 1 Magic Missile

The fights aren't meant to last long, maybe 4-5 rounds top. Combat will happen simultaneously, so initiative isn't helpful. Each team will not know what the classes are of the opposing team until abilities are used, so the first round or two of combat is a matter of tactics. After each round, I can let each team know how much damage they have taken and what, if any, they have noticed outside of normal combat.

I am open to suggestions, like lowering the HP of some of the beefier classes.

balthasar wrote: After looking at the character cards, I think I have some of the 'nerfs' I would like to introduce when it comes to spell casting. The fights could end quickly with some of the higher level magic, or last a bit long with some of the higher level healing. Losing the level 2 spells across the board seems the easiest way to go, with some minor changes below that for some classes.

Bard-Loses Daze and Mute
Druid-One use only on each Level 1 spell
Elf Wizard-2 uses of Acid Splash and 1 Magic Missile
Wizard-2 uses of Fire Ray, 1 Ray of Frost, and 1 Magic Missile

The fights aren't meant to last long, maybe 4-5 rounds top. Combat will happen simultaneously, so initiative isn't helpful. Each team will not know what the classes are of the opposing team until abilities are used, so the first round or two of combat is a matter of tactics. After each round, I can let each team know how much damage they have taken and what, if any, they have noticed outside of normal combat.

I am open to suggestions, like lowering the HP of some of the beefier classes.

Sorry, I hadn't read the latest chain on this for a while, looks like it has gone awry. Are we talking about PvP or TvT (Team versus Team)? PvP is where the fun is at. Basic rules like before, fighter class only. IMO.

Donald Rients wrote:

balthasar wrote: After looking at the character cards, I think I have some of the 'nerfs' I would like to introduce when it comes to spell casting. The fights could end quickly with some of the higher level magic, or last a bit long with some of the higher level healing. Losing the level 2 spells across the board seems the easiest way to go, with some minor changes below that for some classes.

Bard-Loses Daze and Mute
Druid-One use only on each Level 1 spell
Elf Wizard-2 uses of Acid Splash and 1 Magic Missile
Wizard-2 uses of Fire Ray, 1 Ray of Frost, and 1 Magic Missile

The fights aren't meant to last long, maybe 4-5 rounds top. Combat will happen simultaneously, so initiative isn't helpful. Each team will not know what the classes are of the opposing team until abilities are used, so the first round or two of combat is a matter of tactics. After each round, I can let each team know how much damage they have taken and what, if any, they have noticed outside of normal combat.

I am open to suggestions, like lowering the HP of some of the beefier classes.

Sorry, I hadn't read the latest chain on this for a while, looks like it has gone awry. Are we talking about PvP or TvT (Team versus Team)? PvP is where the fun is at. Basic rules like before, fighter class only. IMO.

I have zero interest in PvP, sorry. I would prefer this not to be simple the better slider being the winner. With a team, you have to spread your drafted tokens out for the best effect. It also adds a layer of strategy in that you have to decide which classes you can use most effectively with the tokens that you get.

Still brainstorming ideas, but began work on one that I think is a keeper.
I am going to use cards for the drafting portion of the event, so that I can eliminate useless tokens, like GP or Gear, and make sure that there is a decent spread of tokens for all classes. It will work similar to Magic Cube drafting in that there will be more rares than would be seen in a normal eight man draft, but I will only use 24 of them when making packs for drafting. The only physical tokens needed will be weapon tokens, which will limit me to what I have or can pick up easily.

I am looking for suggestions for common tokens, preferably everything but weapons, to add to the pool.

balthasar wrote: Still brainstorming ideas, but began work on one that I think is a keeper.
I am going to use cards for the drafting portion of the event, so that I can eliminate useless tokens, like GP or Gear, and make sure that there is a decent spread of tokens for all classes. It will work similar to Magic Cube drafting in that there will be more rares than would be seen in a normal eight man draft, but I will only use 24 of them when making packs for drafting. The only physical tokens needed will be weapon tokens, which will limit me to what I have or can pick up easily.

I am looking for suggestions for common tokens, preferably everything but weapons, to add to the pool.

A token cube is an awesome idea! You could even have a group come in and agree to the tokens in the cube before hand from their personal stash (that would involve the whole group begin wiling to split into two teams).

It would be two teams of 4. I am trying to come up with stuff that is common to rare, for now. I have a pretty good idea for the rares and uncommons, but want suggestions on the commons. I will probably make 2-4 of each common, shuffle them out, and deal 24 packs worth. This will result in some randomization and keep the pool from being too predictable. Currently at 35 rares, which will get 24 into the packs, and 123 uncommons, of which 48 will get into the packs. There are some dupes in both of those pools, stuff like +1 Ring of Protection and the Ogre Power items.

OMG! So many great ideas! I am ready to PVP! Love the idea for classes made specific for PVP, aswell as the AOE tweaking idea along with many others.. I hope that ideas here are heard by the top.

Interesting, I would see this as a more of a side game/event than pure pvp/tvt. I like the idea of a defined pool/cube of tokens for semi random distribution. Definitely go with edited or custom character cards for simplicity/consistency of play. Since this is a side event maybe black/white cards to save cost?

Prize keep it simple, i would look at either a few packs or if Jeff could be brought on board maybe uncommon/older completion tokens?

The other train of thought is not cube/pool but instead a true draft with random packs, that could also be really cool and allow players/teams to keep what they draft (raising costs obviously). Depending on the years set interaction character cards would still need adjusted to make it more balanced.

Matt wrote: Interesting, I would see this as a more of a side game/event than pure pvp/tvt. I like the idea of a defined pool/cube of tokens for semi random distribution. Definitely go with edited or custom character cards for simplicity/consistency of play. Since this is a side event maybe black/white cards to save cost?

Prize keep it simple, i would look at either a few packs or if Jeff could be brought on board maybe uncommon/older completion tokens?

The other train of thought is not cube/pool but instead a true draft with random packs, that could also be really cool and allow players/teams to keep what they draft (raising costs obviously). Depending on the years set interaction character cards would still need adjusted to make it more balanced.

My initial plan was for random packs, but there would be issues with GP and gear not helping. Also, too many empty slots makes for hard times.

Ideally, it will be two teams of four, seated every other spot to draft. The two teams can then pick their classes and build the best tea, they can with what they drafted. Players would go into combat without knowing what the other team was playing until the first few rounds of combat went by. Each team would choose, in secret, who they were going to attack before each round of combat. Combat would essentially be simultaneous, but the slides would happen separately. I would tally damage and announce how much each player had taken.

Prizes would probably be packs that would be purchased by the players, or maybe GP from an entry fee.