Okay,
so Ive been thinking whether the Cataclysm really is the final expansion or a new one will emerge and if it will be the Timescape.
We wont probably know for sure for quite some time so I thought about an POD expansion that could be done and it could be the Timescape but this time everyone would like it because everyone would contribute to it.
Why not make a POD expansion that we will all make together and that in the end will be a product that everyone agrees on and will please (almost everyone)? Its worth a shot, isnt it?
Well there are two possibilities:
a) the FFG is not making any other expansions so we will make this one to really finalize the whole game in a manner that Ill explain later in this post,
b) the FFG IS making the Timescape expansion (as was hinted in the lore story of the Cataclysm) so they can at least use any idea they will find in this thread..
What Ive learned so far there are some things that many people are missing in the previous expansions or dont like that much and I would like to implement all those changes and tweaks in this expansion so everyone would be happy. Some of them are:
- the base Adventure deck too big so the single little expansions get lost in it,
- the City is too soft (even though I addressed this one somewhere else before)
- there are no cards that bind different expansions together (except for the Wanderlust ending and the Deep Realm expansion) and no cards for other than the base Adventure deck,
and many many other that I want to address with everyones help.
So Ive come up with this, a new Timescape expansion, that is nothing similar to the old Timescape. Its a concept really, two days old:) But I was thinking with everyones contribution and playtesting and all that we could have a nice expansion in the end, that we could POD and make it official that way.. As I said, its a construct that I want everyone to build on, remove what you dont like, add what you want. I havent even made any single cards, I just came up with the basic mechanics that Im about to explain.
Okay, so the expansion could consist of these:
- 1 timescape board
- x timescape cards
- x deities cards
- x spell cards, x adventure cards, x dungeon cards, x city cards, x denizen cards, ...
And the rules would be something like this:
In the setup you would place only the base game board and the timescape board, but all the decks from every possible expansion would be put on the table too, with enough space for the other boards that would make their way into the game later.
The timescape cards would be a deck of about 40 cards put on table facedown after shuffled.
When you would draw from any adventure deck to a space instruction, you could instead draw 1 card from the Timescape instead.
The timescape cards would consist mostly if not only of special events that would not trigger anything (harbinger or day/time) called for example Time Events and they would do all sorts of funny things that would change the gameplay in game, so there would be cards like:
Enter the Dark
Put the Dungeon board into play.
Death is upon us
Move the Grim Reaper to your space and roll on her chart. If the Grim Reaper is not in play, put her in play.. Or something like this,
The Eternal Flames
When you would draw from the base adventure cards deck if the card drawn is from any other expansion that the Firelands discard it and draw until a Firelands expansion card is drawn. If you draw an event from any other adventure deck put a Fireland token on your space. This event remains in game until discarded by any other means, or something like this..
The Final Twilight
Remove the day/night card from the game until a Lunar Event is drawn. Discard any cards drawn that utilize the day night mechanic. Everyone discards all objects and followers and all adventure cards on the table that utilize that mechanic.
The threat from below
When you would draw a city adventure card draw a dungeon card instead.....
See, I mean cards that would change the gameplay in game and at the same time would make use of single expansion so you actually feel the fear of the Ifrit even with the whole big adventure deck, for example. The options are limitless, these were just to show what those cards would be about.
There would have to be some mean cards that would affect the individual that drew them so everyone doesnt just draw from this deck to get rid of a bad card in an adventure deck they know about while at the same time there would have to be some good events so they draw from the deck at all:)
Now, about the board. It would be a separate board with one circular region around one space that Ill talk about later. The spaces would consist of spaces that would go like "Draw 1 card. Do not draw... bla bla, you know that one" But in this region if you draw 1 card you draw from any adventure deck (and the Dragons decks possibly) that is on the table (which should be all of them). Dont know if it should be random or you could choose which one. But there would also be some bad and good spaces and the most important spaces would be these:
I call them the Shrines but its just a working title. Its spaces where you can do a quest of sort that enables you to change gameplay to your liking. The quest would consist of something easy to hard ones, depending on what you want to be done. The effects would vary from:
- change day to night
- discard an omen card
- discard a terrain card anywhere on table..
- close a city shop permanently
to some effects with more impact:
- look at the hidden ending
- change alternative ending
- change character (while retaining all your stuff)
to some heavy impact game changers
- remove a corner region from the game (move any characters there to the space you cross to that region from)
- or something like that
Havent thought up what kind of thing you would have to do to finish such quests but it has to take some time while not that much so you dont spend so much time on it unless you want to achieve something..
Youd get into the Timescape region through the Runes Gates I guess (theres so many of them:), by the Horrible Black Void, possibly, or something anyone comes up with...
And my favourite, the deities.
That would be a character size card deck (about 6 or something cards), that you would draw one randomly or willingly from at the setup phase and put the card faceup to the center space of the timescape region where it stays for the rest of the game (possibly..) as the Talisman deity for this game. And they would do funny things like:
Some bad god of war, that would do that you need only 6 strength or craft worth trophies to turn in for the relevant stat to increase, for example, and something else..
Some good sun deity, that would keep the day card up for the whole game so it would be day for the whole game, or something like that...
And....
The Old Wizard
To finalize the game, you could meet the ultimate final boss, the legendary Wizard that created the Crown of Command (and as FFG hinted is not truly dead..) Who if placed as deity, could change the goal of the game somehow, for example that everyone would play together (as in Lightbearers ending) to defeat the Wizard... That would be a nice final touch to the game we have all loved since 80s...
So these were some of my ideas. Feel free to comment if it has any chance of getting published and if there are any of you who would like to come up with the single cards and their names and the rules, and who would like to playtest it and I will probably keep all the ideas somewhere to look on until it will have been finished as an expansion that everyone contributed to and everyone is pleased with the result..
So what do you think???