I posted this on BGG and thought I'd share it here as well...
I recently started learning how to play Magic Realm and it got me thinking of some fun variants to try out. For example, what if instead of a scenario-based victory, players determined victory conditions based on fame, notoriety, gold, or treasures acquired? After reaching the final day of Act II on the time track, the players that have met their victory conditions are the winners. To that end, I roughed out the following scoring system and named it "Fortune and Glory." Yes, I know, very original.
To begin, you setup the game as per normal rules, but leave out all scenario cards, you won't be using them. Note: the time track will still be used as a two-act time tracker as per normal rules (just ignore the scenario card tiles).
Next have each player determine their victory conditions. Victory conditions are divided between Fortune and Glory. Under Fortune, there are two subcategories of Assets and Gold. Under Glory, there are two subcategories of Good and Evil. Each player must choose one subcategory from Fortune AND one subcategory from Glory. For example, a player may choose Fortune: Assets and Glory: Evil, while another player chooses Fortune: Gold and Glory: Good. This will dictate the play style objectives for each player throughout the game, and will also determine who wins at the end of the game.
Scoring
To win, players must complete their chosen Fortune objective and Glory objective by the end of the game (i.e., the end of Act II):
Fortune : To complete a Fortune objective, the player must possess...
Assets - All five (5) types of asset cards; or
Gold - Twenty (20) gold coins
Glory : To complete the Glory objective, the player must earn five (5) good Lore Tokens (white side) or five (5) evil Lore Tokens (dark side). A player earns one (1) Lore Token each time they...
Good - Defeat two (2) enemies; learn a skill from the "Favor of the Gods" skill set; or successfully complete an Event by choosing the moally good option; or
Evil - Defeat a hero (only one per hero); learn a skill from the "Friends in Low Places" skill set; or successfully complete an Event by choosing the morally evil option.
Note: Most Event cards have morally "good" or "bad" completion options; however, feel free to use player consensus when the choices are morally ambiguous. If an event option is deemed neither good or bad, then consider it neutral. Neutral Events do not reward Lore Tokens.
Note: If a player possesses a good (white) Lore Token and later completes an Event by choosing the "evil" option, rather than earn an evil (dark) Lore Token, the player will flip over the white token to its dark side. And vice versa.
Winning the Game
At the end of Act II, all heroes will tally their scores as determined by the victory conditions they chose at the start of the game. Players that have met their victory conditions for both Fortune and Glory are considered to have "won." The player with the best overall score - most Lore Tokens and highest combined value of Assets and Gold - is the victor. Use accumulated trophies earned by the players as a tie breaker if needed.
That's all I have for now. As I said, the numbers I have for each victory condition are rough estimates. Only playtesting and your feedback will improve these over time. Let me know what you think...
Edited by Lincoln10