>
> > - grazelanders need something a little better than just the horse
> herds
>
> I would give them a Nomad Gods-style shaman plus a couple of spirits.
Yes, but I would use a similar limitation to that which we used for Praxian shaman leaving their homelands in the old TRD scenario. ie (s)he would have full shaman/fetch powers within grazelands, but be more limited outside. Perhaps when stacked with the tribal medicine bundle they retain their full powers. A lot of ideas like this were discussed in the past e.g. medicine bundle can carry one spirit out of Prax that can subsequently be released, staying for one full round (perhaps departing on a die roll).
A full NG style shaman/fetch counter without limitations would be too much of a boost for the Grazelanders. Anyway I think Shaman should be very powerful on their homeground, but weaker away from their familiar spirits.
>
> > - cragspider becomes useful with the addition that the dragon can go
> > anywhere once allied, but goes away if she dies
>
> Can't the dragon go anywhere once she is allied? Anyway, I would
> definitely change things so the Black Dragon is NOT automatic with
> Cragspider. Makes allying her too powerful, IMO.
IIRC, this goes back to a misreading of an ambiguous rule. The entry for allying to CS says something like the black dragon cannot leave her territory. This is intended to mean on the turn of alliance, subsequently the dragon can leave. But I think some folks had mi-interpreted this as a game long restriction, which they (of course) ignored as being silly.
> > - dwarf is good - almost always the pivotal point as the sides vy for
> > the alchemical or at least the canon cult. I'd change one of the
> > stone men to something else exotic/exciting
>
> I had always planned to add a strange flying machine.
Having weaker/duller gifts makes the dwarf motre of a gamble and keeps it interesting. IMHO. (I have played _much_ fewer games than Robert et al, mind).
> > - ironhoof needs a shaman counter or something
>
> I don't think so -- I had always planned to add a Foxwoman magician unit,
> with spirit.
>
> > - the barbarian horde (DP only) are usually a waste of time since
> it's
> > 3-4 turns before they get towards the battle and, in general, it's
> > mostly over by that time. Sometimes they're useful but they do take
> > up a lot of counters that could be moved into a DP-NG combination
> > pack and replaced with some other Sartar units (or at least let
> them
> > deploy into the smaller sartar area from the start!)
>
> I would go for the latter -- in scenarios where they are available, they
> should be a normal part of the Sartar battalia.
>
> > - thunder delta slingers seem pretty weak to me given their
> reputation
>
> I was asking for deletions, not changes. :) In fact, is there anything
> you DID suggest deletion of?
Thunder Delta in Glorantha may be powerful, but each side has to have _some_ weaker units in the game.
> > - how about some juicy chaos for the lunars to ally/control from
> > Snakepipe Hollow?
>
> I think that one of the Random Events options should be "Chaos Eruption".
> You take every single chaotic unit available to you, from every game you
> have, take out the ones that are location restricted (like Hydra, not
> like Cwim), pick one or two location-specific ones at random to add back
> in, then have every single player draw one of the Chaos units from a cup,
> and all of those Chaos units are placed randomly in Snake-Pipe Hollow. I
> mean, come on -- having Cwim, Thed, the Hydra, Hungry Jack, and the
> Crimson Bat all appear in SPH at once, what's not to love? :)
> >
> >
> > I'd like to see more rules like independents transfering allegiance
> when
> > something annoys them (like in WBRM when capturing capitals), and
> single
> > indepedents which make a big difference but only last a short time
> (like
> > burning the travelling stone).
I have a marginally related point in respect of the newts.
In the game I played with Robert (5? gosh! years ago) I allied Cragspider. I knew Robert always went for the newts, I planned to use Cragspiders special to hit the dragons eye _before_ the alliance took place. Absolutely no basis in the rules, but bearing in mind the (then recent) devastation markers from tRD, I planned to suggest that the eggs were destroyed and discuss whether the renmaining non-eye newts automatically allied with Robert (the eye gies being fried) possibly minus their rebirth ability. Or whether Robert got the lot but the eye having been destroyed none had rebirthing.
That was the plan. Newts arrived as cragspider was en route, and there priests wiper her and the trolls out :-(. Still the Black Dragon had eaten half of Sartar on an earlier turn :-)
Anyway: The newts, according to Roberts testimony elsewhere, are trmendously powerful. They get allied late and re-birthing combined with the ememy players already depleted armies and the DN roads make them almost unstopable. BUt the Dragons eye should be vulnerable to specials _before_ the alliance takes place.
> Yes, I'd like a change of this nature as well. Once an independent is
> allied, can't you continue to burn diplomacy points to try to bribe them
> away or ensure no one else does? What I would do would be to make sure
> this IS the rule, then give certain events or Random Events a point value
> for appropriate independents. Thus, if you ally with a Chaos entity of
> any kind, you get -X DPs wih the Exiles, the Beast-men, etc. If a capital
> city is sacked, that's an automatic -20 DPs; any lesser holding of that
> nation sacked is -10 DPs; etc.
Or start with different DP targets for each side? eg it takes more dps for the exiles to ally with lunar rather than sartar? Although, whilst this came to mind as a "obvious" e.g. thinking about recent tarsh supplements, maybe going with the Lunars is more understandable as an option for the exiles. At least I can now see the dynamics at work a bit better : look, we're starving & they have corn.
Perhaps if they go lunar, instaed of the erthshakres & moonhaters, the lunar player should get "Corn Dancers" and maybe some other imported priestesshood counters. The earthshaker & moonhaters being eliminated or going to Sartar in disgust (minus their special abilities, due to the temple being profaned). CD should have some mesmerising special like similar to hyena, or 3 bean. If this is not good enough to replace the ES special for the lunars, maybe the new red earth temple (replacing the shakers) functions as a glow spot?
ie, perhaps certain independents have a slightly different format depending on what faction dominates and decides which external power to ally to. Just a thoight, not sure I'm convinced myself :-)
> Each turn, as normal, you have to assess diplomacy points. But, you might
> lose an ally simply because of some random event that happened, if you
> haven't continued to spend diplomacy points ensuring they remain your
> ally. The independents might switch sides (depending on the opponents' DP
> spending), or they might just be removed from the board, ready to be
> replaced if they become allied again.
>
> Steve
>
Cheers - Chris
Chris Ward
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