> Donald Oddy:
> > Many of the other suggestions for adapting Eurogames for Glorantha run into the problem
> > of matching the mechanics to something that is significant in Glorantha.
>
> That's quite painless when the basic theme can translate into a Gloranthan theme. Which
> makes Settlers of Catan ideal for a Resettlement Era game. All that is missing is magic
> and cattle theft, and that's what I am trying to implement.
Yes, you've chosen a good match there. The majority of existing games aren't so easy to match though.
> My current concept for magic starts like this: There are rune priests of the five elements
> who get placed on the board like the knights from Cities and Knights. Each rune can
> draw magic in the shape of its rune from two types of terrain: Storm from Pasture and
> Mountains, Darkness from Mountains and Hills, Earth from Hills and Grain Fields, Fire
> from Grain Fields and Forest, Water from Forest and Pasture.
>
> Magic can be used to research your temples' magic (just like in Cities and Knights), to
> increase cattle herds, to help attacking or defending, and to develop special buildings
> or units. Some actions require specific runes, or two or more of the same, others
> require several runes of different types.
>
> > From what I've seen of the game design process it's better to work out what you want to
> > do and then find the mechanics to achieve it. The result is also more likely to be
> > publishable as it doesn't run into the same copyright issues.
>
> Looks like you're thinking big, rather than quickly playable and enjoyable.
I'm thinking ultimately publishable. The biggest chunk of work is playtesting and tweaking so that the game works. That's similar whether it involves introducing a significant change to an existing game or designing something from scratch. In either case it can vary from a couple of games to a year or more's work.
> Settlers of Catan has a similar fan publication policy as Glorantha, merging both should be
> no problem for a non-profit web publication.
That's unusual for board games. More commonly fan publications are restricted to addons such as alternative maps and the policy isn't explicit. Web publication is also the only viable non-profit route as printing and component costs make budgeting for a profit essential.
I'm not intending to be discouraging, just looking to get good Gloranthan games available to as many fans as possible.
--
Donald Oddy
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