After pretty extensive playtesting of the beta, I complied and emailed a list of changes I would like to see in the final product. For the most part the game was really good, however, the game had some major mechanical problems. FFG had made several changes during the beta but because they were focusing on different topics each update, it was difficult to ascertain if they had a solution to the problems.
The following are areas I am hoping are addressed in the final product.
1. Outbursts and unmasking: The penalties for outbursts aka "strifing out" were almost irrelevant (maybe during some 'outlying' scenes it would be catastrophic).
- Outbursts were player chosen at character creation and while they could carry some role play elements, they typically were irrelevant to the game.
- Unmasking cleared all strife (a full heal so to speak) and "the player and GM" chose an appropriate method: some of were losing a bit of honor(negligible), giving the next attack against you +1 success(also very minor impact), exposing a disadvantage/weakness(and losing honor). Basically no penalty.
- Lastly, because the beta rules read the player had a say in the matter, this has potential to create conflict. An optional randomized table by scene or possibly making unmasking require something, rather than just instant cast free full heal with virtually no penalty.
- Because of this, fire stance(on a successful roll, all dice with a strife add a bonus success) and equipment with the "wargear" trait is extremely overpowered.
2. War gear: While I understand previous versions had little or no restriction on armor use, the game almost encourages any character with access to the best armor (lacquered I believe) to wear it as often as necessary. For those of you who don't know, all strife totals as a result of dice you roll are increased by 1 per piece of war gear you are using. So a crab bushi with 2 pieces of wargear(armor and weapon) adds to his strife totals he causes to himself or others.
- Accumulating bonus strife is virtually a non factor(see above) and many enemies in the beta were "immune" to outbursts or had no mechanical effect.
- Because of everyone having a static to hit number for Strike, mitigation becomes extremely valuable. This was partially addressed(which I like) with the new critical hit table damaging armor, but until there is a requirement/penalty to use it, and strife becomes meaningful it will remain overpowered.
3. Advantages and Disadvantages: One of the most enjoyable parts of character creation in previous editions was advantages and disadvantages. In the beta, most of these are all the same but simply apply to different situations. This puts the burden on players and GM to deploy them in the game.
- Makes the GMs job much more difficult tracking every characters Adv/disadv and employing them in a fair and constructive way.
- My players either completely forgot about, had no interest, or constantly argued for using advantages on every roll.
- Severely less interesting character creation/creation economy as a player cannot take on disadvantages in exchange for better traits/rings/skills or more advantages.
4. Repairing weapons and armor: After the update to the critical hit table, repairing weapons and armor became invaluable.
- While myself, and most GMs can easily implement requirements for various rolls, this should have clearly defined parameters because it will be an absolutely essential skill to most groups. Sure repairs can be done in lands of your Lord and perhaps your clan at request, or requested/purchased in other lands(no price listed). But because of the necessity many players will want this skill, and defining this is easy, and more importantly, avoids another potential conflict.
5. No limit Spellcasting: Currently in beta rules spell casters had no limit to spellcasting.
- While I would assume this will be added in the full rules, it is still a major concern.
- Kihos and some spells are limited by how many can be active at any given moment. (Strike as earth, Strike as fire, katana of fire etc.)
6. Strife outbursts for creatures/monsters/enemies: In the current rules every monster/enemy should fire stance every round(maybe air if they are front line, or water if they need extra movement).
- Trait for monsters immune to psychology and thus do not take strife.
- Special outbursts for enemies that have mechanical importance, perhaps making them easier to defeat(expose a weakness, berserk, flee), changing stats(morale penalty, enrage), unpredictable; the possibilities are endless and not only make encounters feel fair and real but also reward different character builds/strategies against different encounters.
- Another item that seems obviously left out, hopefully on purpose. Again, I would assume this would be addressed in the full rules
7. Duels: duels saw a lot of changes through beta. This is a major area players are hoping is done well.
- In a gaming group, a duel between 2 characters shouldn't take 1+ real life hours to complete. There was a strife per round effect that was added to put a timer on duels so it will be interesting to see what makes the final cut.
- The critical hit update really helped with the duel issues, but heavy armor is still broken in duels. While many formal duels may not allow or frown upon any type of armor (honor loss), if it were me I'd take almost any honor loss because the benefit is so great. Again, this may need clearly defined mechanics to avoid conflicts.
- Iajutsu offered no advantage in dueling at first. This was addressed later by altering the rules of when a weapon was actually drawn; initially it was the assessment then later changed. It will be interesting to see the final rules on drawing a weapon and if Iajutsu is worth investing points into.
8. Mass combat: the beta rules for mass combat were interesting, but incomplete.
- This was something that was purposely left out as it was likely in development.
- Something to watch for in the new book: Does FFG add a fleshed out system, or leave it bare bones for a commercial product in the future?
- Will the system be logical and easy to implement? How will it compare to heroic opportunities and rolling on engagement tables? I am really excited to see what they do with this and hoping they can deliver both a player focused and "command" focused approach.
9. Skills: The beta grouped skills in broad categories but expanded with an optional rule for more detailed skills. I liked the idea that certain campaigns won't need to breakout each category, but some cleanup needs to be done here.
- It appears(hoping) this was only to minimize page content of the beta.
- Balancing and reasons for investing in different skills (Iajutsu is the primary example)
- Clearly define that approaches are to be determined by the gm after the player describes their action. This is for players who opt to game the system rather than describe or role play what their character does. The game is much more enjoyable (for everyone) when players do not focus on the mechanics of the game.
These were my major issues with the game, some of them just left out purposely, others seemed to be in development. Hopefully the core book has at least attempted to solve these issues, but worst case scenario some house rules can be laid out before character creation.
Let me know what you guys think!