I'll be buying them, but they still have the same problem with the combat mechanics that found in To The Strongest. Since players each draw cards from their decks, the chances of success and failure change with each card drawn. Unlike a die roll, where each possible outcome has the same chance of occurring, pulling 8 cards from a deck in a single action will raise or lower the chance of future successes or failures.
Some players, myself included, resort to reshuffling the deck frequently, some reshuffle once they get to about half the deck remaining. However, the basic problem remains.
Now, this may not bother some people, we/they just accept it for what it is and play it out. Yet, the I do have a hard time accepting that if I have a bad run of cards in the first half of the deck and then reshuffle, I'll not get to the "good" run of cards before I do.
Using a 10 sided die is a partial solution, as Simon pointed out to me, there needs to be some marker, even a die, left next to the unit, to determine what the target number is for the next action in the turn.
Anyhow, from what I saw of the playtest rules, I do like the rest of the rules as written.
Like I said, I like everything else, except the card draw mechanic. I'll be buying these when I am next paid.
If one uses a card shoe, with each individual deck shuffled on its own and then placed in the shoe, then this will reduce the issue I identified by a large margin. As draws are done from one deck at a time, then one will go through the entire range of possible successes and failures and then proceed to the next deck of cards. It would be more fair.
Thanks very much for the post! If you are at Salute, please do drop by and say hi.
ReplyDeleteI'll be buying them, but they still have the same problem with the combat mechanics that found in To The Strongest. Since players each draw cards from their decks, the chances of success and failure change with each card drawn. Unlike a die roll, where each possible outcome has the same chance of occurring, pulling 8 cards from a deck in a single action will raise or lower the chance of future successes or failures.
ReplyDeleteSome players, myself included, resort to reshuffling the deck frequently, some reshuffle once they get to about half the deck remaining. However, the basic problem remains.
Now, this may not bother some people, we/they just accept it for what it is and play it out. Yet, the I do have a hard time accepting that if I have a bad run of cards in the first half of the deck and then reshuffle, I'll not get to the "good" run of cards before I do.
Using a 10 sided die is a partial solution, as Simon pointed out to me, there needs to be some marker, even a die, left next to the unit, to determine what the target number is for the next action in the turn.
Anyhow, from what I saw of the playtest rules, I do like the rest of the rules as written.
Hi Justin, perhaps a really big deck? I like to use at least 120 cards for FK&P, but you could go 160 or more. I am picturing a card shoe, now... :-)
ReplyDeleteHey Simon!
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I like everything else, except the card draw mechanic. I'll be buying these when I am next paid.
If one uses a card shoe, with each individual deck shuffled on its own and then placed in the shoe, then this will reduce the issue I identified by a large margin. As draws are done from one deck at a time, then one will go through the entire range of possible successes and failures and then proceed to the next deck of cards. It would be more fair.