Robbers' Roost: Interrupts - Gameplay Changes

The goal behind interrupts was to make BANG! more enjoyable out of turn: reducing boredom and deepening strategy through increased interactivity and teamwork. Interrupts are event-triggered cards that could only be played out of turn. When you think of it, cards of the Missed! family function this way.

Triggering Event: *You are banged!* (not necessarily out of turn, but primarily -- Julie Cutter's ability and Backfire changed this)

Effect by playing: Missed! for oneself

This was an extension of that concept, except that most interrupts only indirectly help you. Mostly you further another player's goal that happens to coincide with yours. However, there problems arise by enabling this:

a. Just like Missed!, your hand can get cluttered with cards you can't play, because the triggering events have not occurred. Yes, you can discard when over your card limit, but this is not great because:

• This still clutters your hand until you are at your card limit
• The point is not to discard interrupts, but to play them
• It empowers Gary Looter and weakens Suzy Lafayette even moreso

To solve for this, the first version of Robbers' Roost allowed you to store any number of interrupts, so they did not contribute to your card limit. But this negatively allowed a player to store up potentially too many interrupts. True, they did have to wait to use them, but it could allow them to do a lot out of turn. The bigger problem with storing interrupts was it combined with the substitution function below.

b. Aiding other players no longer makes sense in a game where your allies are killed and in a game that can easily get down to just 2 players (player elimination). To obvious solution for this was to find a way so that interrupts do not "get in the way" when your team is eliminated. How would this be executed, however?

The first version of Robbers' Roost did this via a substitution function when certain conditions (state of currently roles) were met (such as for an Outlaw when the other Outlaws were dead). The interrupts could then be played as a different card. As I reflect on what I did:

 - This effectively revealed your role when you substituted, although I felt at the point that you could unlock the substitution function, the roles were very easily understood. That said, it could negatively impact a Renegade.

- Secondly, the substitution combined with the fact that you didn't have a card limit impact on interrupts, enabled the substituting player with a significant way to do a lot on their own turn (in ways they could not before). Perhaps this was seen as a way of adjusting the game a little more in that player's favor, which isn't all bad. But I hate OP sheriffs, which this made worse. I just felt it was creating loop holes I didn't like.

- I had to still create tack on rules for Suzy Lafayette. The cards became busier with the substitution function.

I now propose a more elegant solution:

• Once on their turn, players during the play phase may freely discard an interrupt and draw another card from the deck. Any role may do this; roles remaining/# players has no effect on this capability. It is open to all.
• Note how this will help Suzy from getting blocked at least on her first interrupt. The question will be if that is enough.
• Players can store 2 interrupts as a card that does not contribute to their card limit.
• I have also eliminated cards where the triggering event simply took too long to occur to want to store it -- I'm looking at you, Stand Off (Duels just aren't that common).

The only risk I see here is players not valuing an interrupt enough to not just discard it for the chance of getting a card that benefits them more directly. Yes, that other card would contribute to their hand limit, but what if it's that much needed blue or equipment card? I feel like the interrupts are powerful and have enough applicable conditions now that one won't immediately do this. They are a deterrent against some player actions when they see the extra interrupts on the table, and they allow players to coordinate with others in a way they couldn't easily before. But that is the risk. Would love to hear any feedback on this approach.

Robbers' Roost: Revising Interrupt Design

As I've been evaluating my Robbers' Roost proof and rulebook, I've been thinking more critically about the design and rules of the cards, particularly as relates to the interrupts. The windups I consider pretty solid and easy to understand, while the interrupts have these giant walls of text, and understanding when they can be played is less immediately discerned. They also introduce multiple new gameplay concepts, which I should seek to simplify or remove the number introduced.

As a result, I've been working on redesigning the content of these cards, so that they are more intuitive, within BANG!'s pre-existing symbolic language. I will need to add a couple new symbols (as I had with the line of fire concept) to best adopt the language. Here are some of the reworks I'm envisioning:

You can see on the left the originals, and on the right hand side the modified cards. The right side cards have a top text area, which indicates the condition on which an interrupt can be played out of turn. The bottom area describes what happens by playing this card when the condition is met. I think this reads much better to the eye.

Unfortunately, there are ramifications to using the symbolic language. This is because the BANG! symbol does not equate to a BANG! card. With abilities contingent on a BANG! card being played, this ability is lost when leveraging the interrupt (think Slab the Killer's). There really are only 3 options here:

a. Ditch the symbols.

b. Keep the symbols and add text that clarifies these count as BANG! (adding to text clutter)

c. Modify the original intent of the cards so that they no longer are BANG! cards and so do not trigger player abilities.

I'm leaning towards c, simply for the simplicity that it adds to understanding the cards.

Along those lines, I am enjoying the work I did to align Join Arms with the Buffalo Rifle's discard card cost, as a way to circumvent distance. I personally think I should nix distance restraints on all other interrupts, and just include that as a cost for executing on the ability. This change would then remove the need for noting distance modifications for a card or other limited constaints. This balances the lack of distance constraint, while also furthering the original intent of the cards (team work), which is essential in larger games where distance is all the more problematic. It's frustrating, for instance, that it is harder to help a team mate with Toss because they have a Mustang.

Other examples of changes:

I think these are look much cleaner -- these don't show the originals, but just the modified cards. Hit Me and Bleed Out are the only cards that completely align with the prior cards. Here are some of the challenges I have with these cards:

1. Bandages: Symbology is equivalent to Tequila, but there's a problem: in the original you can't play it on yourself, while Tequila you can. This reads as give 1 player a life point, while I need "give any player but yourself 1 life point." Ways to solve for this are:

a. Add clarificatory text (creates extra text, which is a downside).

b. Create a new symbol (I should only do this where needed; the "anyone else but you" concept is not often used)

c. Change original intent to align with symbol clarity, so you can play it on yourself.

I'm inclined, once more to side with C for simplicity.

2. Confiscate: This loses the notion that you are able to put the card yourself into play upon confiscation. I'm trying to determine if that is worth it. In this case, it probably is. I'll need to add, "that player's card in play. Put it into play."

3. Hit Me is good.

4. Bleed Out: I can't tell if I'd need to note "draw!" in the bottom area or not. I feel like it's intuitive Barrel, Jail, etc. I think I'll add just rulebook explanatory text. I added the lost health symbol (which I used for Moonshine before) that I think is clear. I'm not certain about the crown symbol for royals, as royals are not a suit, they are a subset of any suit. I probably either need to scratch any suit symbol and just create a "J-A" text, or create a pan-suit symbol to mean any type that value. I'll experiment with both.

Next example of how this is evolving. Quick Draw in particularly has proven tricky. One of the problems with the original Quick Draw is the concept of "using" a card. Green cards are discarded to use their effect, which is what this was intended to block. But discarding to use is different from using in general. Would this apply to a gun card already in play (i.e. a Volcanic)? To what else? I found this "use" concept as not clear enough to really put in place. Playing a card is clearer -- it happens when a card is put in play or played from the hand and discarded, so I've made that the new condition. I recognize the conceptual difference of how this now really only hinders defensive green cards, versus offensive ones (they're already disabled until their next turn anyway), but for the gameplay clarity, I consider that sacrifice worth it.

Beyond the playing condition, there is the effect of playing it which could also use rebalancing. I think it was too weak before -- It at best discards a BANG!, or delays use of a card for a turn. In addition, I think the card contributing to a card limit while disable, if a hand card, is an extra layer of complication that is unnecessary to manage/explain. I've tried to simplify it in the 3 examples (top left is original). 

1 - Top right is the simplest -- make it a straight discard the card played. It adds a card cost for that definitive removal. This makes the hand limit issue no consideration. However, one of the challenges for this and option 3 (bottom right) is that discarding a one-time use card may seem non-intuitive, as it is already naturally being discarded. What is really going on is a discard of a card put in play or a cancellation of a one-time use card played. Cancellation and discard are similar but not equivalent concepts. The discard card symbol may not carry that concept. I may need to put "(or cancel) that card." This is my current preferred option.

2 - Top left is closest to the original. It is more powerful in not allow a BANG! alternative; the targeted card will be disabled. For that, it requires a discard card cost. Frankly, this is weak enough that it should need no discard cost. The main challenge here is disabling is a new concept, and how it interacts with hand limits needs to be accounted for. It's probably best to just through disabling in a wastebin.

3 - Bottom right is a nice halfway point. It allows a BANG! to be played to avoid the discard, but if not, it's a true discard. It still has the problem with cancellation/discard, so this might end up even wordier: "They must discard a BANG!, or that card is discarded/cancelled." The symbol here is more flavor than standing in for a word, which is less stylistically consistent.

If I encounter other challenging one's, I'll note them here. I'll be tackling this as well: the whole concept of substitution as relates to the roles and role revelation. I received some criticism here, and I think there's some validity to the criticism, at least in going against the "spirit" of the game, even though any reasonably good BANG! player can infer roles extremely easily by the time that substitution would come into effect. I also have concerns about interrupts and impacts on the hand limit.

Robbers' Roost Redux POD Proof Arrived

My proof for Robbers' Roost arrived last night, and I was eager to open it up and see the results. Here's my assessment, with lots of photos!

What worked well:

- The size is fantastic as I'd fully expected, but it's still super rewarding to be able to order BANG! cards that are in the card size necessary to fit into the BANG! playing deck on demand. It's a giant leap forward for modders.

- New border designs turned out really well.

- Character design looked really crisp.

- Cards shuffle well.

- Did well on border spacing -- which I was worried with as related to the closeness of the borders to the edge in the BANG! cards v. the game crafter's template. I exceeded their recommended area ever so slightly to limit that design variance. Turned out well.

- The rulebook from game crafter turned out really nice too. I'm happy to offer this alongside the cards that you can print out. I caught a couple typos, but that's what proofs are for, right?

What needs work:

- Colors: These always print differently than you suspect on a monitor v. your home printer v. the POD's. And they also differ slightly on printing runs. You can notice some significant differences between the official BANG! card prints in between the expansions -- Wild West Show character borders are lighter, for instance, and their backs have a more orange hue. So I suspected differences here, and knew they would lack the linen texture that the official cards have. That said, I didn't expect the level of variation I saw in my proof. They're perfectly playable, but I'd still like to get this closer if I can. In general, the cards were darker:

- Borders too dark

- Card backs too dark (see far right cards):

- Bullet life points too dark (and a little small; this is on the front of the character card)

- A couple pieces of card art were darker than I'd like (Q&A, Pay Day, Disarm; only Q&A was really too dark, but I should still lighten all of them up)

Other observations:

- The printing, while pretty good in the quality of the prints, is a little blurry in some print areas. It's not a result of the media files, but the printing process itself. This is a minor quibble, but something I noticed.

- Design side -- I should make my icons slightly bigger. Some of the borders of my character art should be more feathered (gradient to white). Spacing between suit and value should be a little larger.

- Tuckbox definitely needed! This will compliment the cards and rulebook really well, so you can store Robbers' Roost and cart it around easier. I'll want a divider too.

I am pretty sure I can leverage this material:

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/publish/product/SmallProBox

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/parts/box-insert-pro-small

I've got 88 cards (44 to each side) plus a 20-page saddle-stitched booklet, which I think will work great. The 128 card limit for the box (64 to each side) gives me a 20-card thickness for the booklet, so I should be good. The wild card here will be how the divider works with the booklet. I'd hate for the cards to be completely loose, so divider is a must. Time to get cracking on some art. I'll make it pretty generic, but at least somewhat aesthetically pleasing.

Ideally here, you can "build your own" Robbers' Roost with all needed components, even if you have to somewhat assemble them once shipped to you.

- Curious if I can create a standardized way for the POD to print all of the "Dying Ain't Living" and then the "That'll be the Day" modules sequentially, so that no card sorting is needed.

Robbers' Roost Redux

It's been 9 years since Robbers' Roost released. BANG! has added new expansions (and spin offs, dice games), forcing a revision of Robbers' Roost if it's to remain compatible and distinct. Some cards are too similar to official expansion cards (Tomahawk), orange borders conflict with the orange borders of Armed and Dangerous cards, other cards or abilities are too devastating when put in conjunction with Gold Rush rules (Bulldog).

Integration elements aside, I've evaluated flaws in Robbers' Roost, both imbalances and confusing aspects of it. This has forced a rehaul of Robbers' Roost.

One positive is that years later we have printer on demand (POD) providers that can print the BANG! card size. Before you had to (a) sleeve extra BANG! cards, and slide the paper print outs inside the sleeves, or (b) arduously get a custom print deck and cut off excess length. Now, I can provide updated files and you can print them off at thegamecrafter.com in the BANG! card format. Yes, the colors won't match 100%, but it shouldn't be much of a problem as you cannot infer much from it (frankly, official BANG!'s own cards between the different expansions have color variances too, and that doesn't make me detect elements unfairly). I consider this an exciting development.

I put my order in today with rehauled Robber's Roost -- it just ships in 1 month (such is wait during COVID-19). I want to see the production quality of it, and see how I did on the borders with the edge of the cards. If all is well, I'll provide a step by step guide with files to create your own project and order a copy.

Here I'll break down the updates in the following order: (1) aesthetic updates, (2) general gameplay updates, and (3) card updates (which includes 2 new cards -- Flee and Duke Out). These updates will carry over into the cards and rulebook.

1. AESTHETIC ADJUSTMENTS

To update and future proof Robbers' Roost, I've reworked the borders of the new card types. Prior orange cards are now called "interrupts", and adopt a gun metal color with the streaks cut through the border to distinguish them. This should keep them from getting confused with Armed and Dangerous cards. Purple cards are now "windups", retain their purple color but have a barbed wire overlay. I'm tempted to make these colorless so I won't have to revisit color again in the future... I updated the icons on the 2 modules, adopting a pocket watch for the windup module ("That'll be the Day"), and a masked bandit for the interrupts module ("Dying Ain't Living"). The pocket watch divider for the windups was also reworked. On many cards, I updated the art and/or the name of the card (if it was used in a different expansion).

2. GENERAL GAMEPLAY UPDATES

a. Windup ("That'll be the Day") module:

No adjustments, but clarifications for windups for existing official characters and cards:

Vulture Sam: If a player is eliminated with windups in play, those cards are drawn into his hand.

Pedro Ramirez: Windups are resolved immediately after the drawing phase, so he cannot pick up his own expired windups with his ability.

Pat Brennan: Can pick up windups before the latent effect is resolved.

Mick Defender: his ability extends to windups, but to their initial effects only. Once in play, he cannot avoid the latent effects.

Ms. Abigail: can ignore the effects of windups with values J, Q, K, and A (royals) if she is the only target.

Lee Van Kliff: May play BANG! to repeat initial effect of a windup. The latent effect is not repeated

Cat Balou/Panic! style cards (inc. Whip/Squaw): Can steal and discard windups.

b. Interrupt ("Dying Ain't Living") module:

Clarifications for interrupt cards for existing official characters and cards:

Jesse Jones/Flint Westwood: Jesse/Flint cannot directly target an extra interrupt card. It is taken into hand, shuffled and randomly selected.

Molly Stark: She gains a card for playing interrupts out of turn. Substitutions used in turn provide no such gain.

Black Flower: Can use interrupts of clubs as extra BANG!.

Elena Fuente/Doc Holyday/Sid Ketchum/Porter Rockwall: Interrupts can fulfill card discard requirements.

Belle Star: Interrupts are not considered in play and so are not affected by her ability.

Suzy Lafayette: So that interrupts do not overly handicap Suzy, she may always use an interrupt’s substitution function. Thus, if she had a Volcanic in play, an interrupt’s BANG! substition could be leveraged.

Gameplay changes:

Interrupts adjust hand size limit rules, so that every player is allowed 1 extra card to their limit, as long as that card is an interrupt. This is indicated by an interrupt card (and only 1) being stored face down in the “in play” area, although still considered part of one’s hand. Once face down, this card is locked until used or discarded, when it is revealed. To consult the card, set the rest of your hand down before reading the interrupt.

The interrupt cannot re-enter the rest of your hand except when your hand is targeted for stealing (Panic!) or discarding (Cat Balou). In that case, add it to your hand, shuffle your cards, and let a card be chosen. If not stolen or discarded, set the interrupt back down.

Substitutions may be used (but are not required) for the following roles at the following times:

• An Outlaw when he is the last of his team remaining.
• A Sheriff when there are no Deputies or Renegades remaining.
• A Renegade when there are no more Outlaws or other Renegades, or only 2 players are remaining.

3. Specific Card Changes 

PLAYING CARDS

Ambush: Reworded and changed requirement to play.

Prior: "When a player attacks someone besides yourself, play this card to bang! the attacker."

Now: "When another player bangs! any other player but you, play this card and discard another to bang! the attacker."

Notes: "Besides yourself" could be confused as adjacent to, which was not the intent. Added activation cost for Ambush to align with the activation cost for Buffalo Rifle for the infinite reach of Ambush.

Artillery: Updated art.

Back Up: Tightened text, same meaning.

Prior: "When another player uses a card or ability to avoid an attack aimed at himself, you may play this card to fire a BANG! at that player if he is in range."

Now: "When another player cancels a bang!, play to fire a BANG! at that player if they're in range. For this card, they're seen at a distance -1."

Notes: Aligned it with current "cancellation" language of BANG!. Made it easier for team mates to work together with slight sight modification. 

Bandage: No change. Added symbol for the card to discard to play it.

Bronco: Slight immaterial rewording and art clean up.

Bulldog: Rebalanced. 

Prior: "You may discard a BANG! and another card to Gatling."

Now: "Once a turn, you can discard BANG! and another card to bang! all players in range."

Notes: "Once a turn" so not too many hits are delivered per turn. With Gold Rush rules, this was getting obscene. "All players in range" further limits it. It's a weaker Gatling, only able to hit by default players seen in distance 2.

Cannon: No change.

Confiscate: Updated art.

Disarm: Rebalanced.

Prior: Initial. Provides a missed! Latent. Discard a card from your attacker.

Now: Initial. Provides a missed! Latent. Discard a random card from the attacker's hand.

Notes: "Random card from the attacker's hand" makes it a more limited, but responsive Cat Balou. It was too powerful before.

**Duke Out: New Card. This card is similar to Duel, but the result is not loss of a life point, but a card in play (which is gained by the victor). The cards discarded are non-BANG! cards (you don't duke it out with gun shots!).

Text: "A target player discards a non-BANG! card, then you, etc. First player failing to discard loses a card they have in play to the victor, victor’s choice."

NOTE: Removed a Panic! from the RR deck as a result of this.

**Flee: New Card. This is a "run away" card; a temporary sight modifier. It gives the Missed! and increases your distance so that subsequent attacks in the round you may be harder to hit. However, as a result on your turn you will find it harder to shoot others as well.

Text: Initial. Provides a Missed!. Others see you at a distance +1 (unit your next turn). Latent. This turn you see all other players at a distance +1.

NOTE: Removed a Missed! from the RR deck as a result of this. 

Fur Trade: Added clearer text, so that there was no question of who would draw the cards.

Prior: Initial. Swap a card in play in front of you for a card in play in front of another. Latent. Both of you draw 1 card.

Now: Initial. Swap a card in play in front of you for a card in play in front of another. Latent. You and that player traded with draw a card.

Gaping Wound: Slight wording change. Now titled "Bleed Out."

Hit Me: No change.

Investment: Changed symbol in initial effect to remove confusion.

James Dougall: No change. This card is still sufficiently differentiated from other shotgun type cards that have come out since in Valley of Shadows and Armed and Dangerous.

Join Arms: Reworded.

Prior. "When a player fires a BANG!, play this card and discard another to shoot a BANG! at his target if he is in range. If you kill that player, split the potential spoils: both draw 2 cards."

Now. "If a player plays a BANG!, and their target’s in range, play this card and discard another to shoot a BANG! at the target. If you kill that player, split any spoils: both draw 2 cards."

Loan: Added clarificatory text.

Prior: Initial. Give a card from your hand to another player. Latent. Take 2 cards from that player's hand.

Now: Initial. Give a card from your hand to another player. Latent. Take 2 cards at random from that player's hand.

Molotov Cocktail: Renamed as Molotov.

Moonshine: Rebalanced.

Prior: Initial. Lose a life point. Latent. Gain 2 life points and draw a card.

Now: Initial. Lose a life point and draw a card. Latent. Gain 2 life points.

Notes: Offset the initial sacrifice and risk one took while one could have the card swapped/stolen/discarded by having the player draw the extra card in the initial phase.

On the House: Updated art.

Pay Day: Convert symbols in latent effect to text to clearly mean, "All other players draw a card" (It's not a mass Panic!).

Push: Significantly reworked. Defensive or offensive card depending on context.

Prior: When a player seen within distance 2 is about to take a hit, you may play this card to push him out of harm’s way.

Now: When another player is banged!, play Push to draw a card and either provide a missed! if they're adjacent; or have a player to you and them get banged! instead.

NOTES: In the latter case, this means the original bang! is redirected to hit the pushed play (you pushed them into the way of the bullet). Adjacency and next to was meant to circumvent some of the distance constraint impacts from Hideout, Mustang and Bronco.

Q&A: Rebalanced.

Prior: Initial. Provides a missed!. Latent. Your attacker is banged!.

Now: Initial. Provides a missed!. Latent. If the attacker is in range, they are banged!.

NOTE: The attack is still affected by sight constraints.

Quick Draw: Reworded to clarify what does contribute to the hand limit.

Prior: Play after a player uses a card. Unless he discards a BANG!, he must place the card sideways in front of him and cannot use it until his next turn. It does contribute to his card limit.

Now: Play when a player uses a card. Unless he discards a BANG!, he must set the card aside, unable to use it until his next turn. If a hand card, it still contributes to his card limit.

NOTE: The intent was not for cards in play to suddenly contribute to a hand limit.

Rob: Clarified to original intent.

Prior: Steal a card from a player's hand.

Now: Steal a card at random from a player’s hand.

NOTE: Intent was not for card to be of robber's choice.

Dive: Renamed as Get Down! with new art. Didn't make sense to me that you could dive distance 2, so rethemed it to you warning someone of danger with no distance constraints. That no longer made sense for taking a hit, so that function was moved to the Push card instead.

Prior: "When a player you see within distance 2 is going to take a hit, play Dive to take the hit for him. Draw a card from the deck."

Now: "When a player is about to take a hit, you may play this card and discard another as a Missed! on their behalf."

NOTE: Functions as a Missed! for another player.

Standoff: No change.

Taunt: Reworked to restrict cheating possibilities.

Prior: "Force the player whose turn it is to attack you if he can."

Now: "Force the player whose turn it is to attack you if he can. If he cannot, retain Taunt."

NOTE: Taunt as written before led itself too much to cheating to waste the Taunt. While I recognize all board gaming has some reliance on an honor system, it's good to reduce the reliance on it. Now the player can retain Taunt, and if the target draws a card in the middle of the turn, he can play it again, so he can't "claim he had no BANG!, but does have it now" and so shoots another player. 

Tomahawk: Renamed as Kick with new art. Tomahawk exists as its own card in Valley of Shadows.

Toss: Slight changes.

Prior: Give a card you have in play or in your hand to a player seen within distance 2.

Now: Give a card you have in play or in your hand to a player seen within distance 3. You cannot toss a Jail in play.

NOTE: Cannot use Toss to put someone else in Jail when it has been placed on you. Lengthened distance of Toss.  

Track Down: Added clarificatory text.

Prior: "Play on top of a player’s Mustang, Hideout, or other defensive sight modifier. Its effect is negated until that player discards 2 cards during his turn to remove Track Down."

Now: "Play in front of any player to decrease the distance by which they are seen by 1. The target may discard 2 cards during their turn to remove Track Down."

NOTE: Sight modification was intended regardless of whether or not a sight modifier was in play. Now it's an inverse of Bronco.

Warpath: No change.

CHARACTER CARDS

Anne Rogers: Reworded.

Original: "At the start of her turn, Anne can copy the effect of a blue card in front of another player, so that it is as if she possesses its benefit. At the start of her next turn, this benefit disappears."

Now: "At the start of her turn, Anne copies the effect of a blue or orange card in front of another player, as if she now has it in play. This lasts until her next turn."

NOTE: Broadened to incorporate Dangerous cards.

Crazy Wolf. Changed to Crazy Bull -- nothing wolf-like about the ox mask. Slightly nerfed.

Original: "When attacked he may discard a card from his hand to avoid the hit. Add the value of the card played against him with the value of the card he discards. If this value is greater or equal to 13, it counts as a Missed!; 17, a Dodge; 20, a Missed! and a BANG! against his attacker."

Now: "When attacked he may discard a card from his hand. Add the card’s value played against him with the card’s value he discarded. If ≥ 13, it counts as a Missed!; 17, a Dodge; 20, a Missed! and a BANG! against his attacker (if in range)."

NOTE: Rulebook clarifies values are blackjack rules -- K, Q, J = 10; A = 11. BANG! against attacker requires attacker be in range.

Eva Place: Rebalanced.

Prior: 4 LP. "She may lay a trap once on her turn: put a brown or green card face down in front of Eva and turn it sideways. If a player acts against Eva, she must flip a trap over and the card immediately affects that player. She may have 2 traps out, but only 1 trap activates at a time, her choice."

Now: 3 LP. "She may lay a trap once on her turn, placing a brown or green attack card face down in front of her and turning it sideways. 2 traps can be out at a time. If a player acts against Eva, she may reveal 1 trap. Use and discard it."

NOTE: Several nerfs occurred here as she was a brutal Sheriff. Notably, her health dropped and only attack cards can be laid as traps (more in line with the nature of a trap). BANG! no longer can affect at any distance. However, her trap activation is now her decision, versus necessarily occurring. 

Flint Dixon: added clarificatory language.

Original: "Whenever Flint plays a BANG!, he chooses whether his target must discard a BANG! or a missed! to avoid it. Barrel still may be utilized to avoid his shot."

Now: "Whenever he plays a BANG!, he chooses whether his target must discard cards with bang! or missed! to cancel it."

NOTE: Barrel/Jourdonnais' ability can still cancel it; I just didn't put it on the text. Saved for rulebook.

Job Musgrove. Clarified values of royal cards.

Johnny Pope. Reworded.

Original: "Once per turn, he may lose a life point and either give it to a player or make a player “draw!” On reds, Johnny steals a card from him. On blacks, that player must use 2 cards with missed symbols or lose a life point."

Now: "Once a turn, he may lose a life point and either give it to a player or make a player “draw!” On reds, Johnny steals a card from him. On blacks, that player must supply 2 missed! or lose a life point."

Josey Bassett: adjusted to make her slightly more interesting.

Original: "If Josey does not play any cards during her turn, she can draw 2 extra cards at the end of her playing phase. She can always hold as many cards in her hand as her max health."

Now: "If Josey plays no cards, or only puts cards in play (blue, green, etc.), she can draw 2 extra cards at the end of her playing phase. Her hand size limit always equals her max health."

NOTE: Josey can create a really efficient hand, but it was brutal for her to do nothing and be subject to targeted attacks, cat balous, etc. She was simply too boring to play. This offsets that some. It is a passive turn, but not a necessarily ineffectual one. 

Julie Bulette. Changed slightly.

Original: "Once on her turn, Julie may discard a card that she has in play or in her hand to draw a card. If it is a diamond, she may do so again, but Julie must show the card as proof."

Now: "Once on her turn, Julie may discard a card she has in play or in her hand to draw a card. If a diamond, she may reveal the drawn card to discard and draw 1 more card."

NOTE: Second draw also involves a discard. Her ability is all about hand efficiency. Her diamond bonus only occurs once on a turn.

Laura Billion: Changed when she draws the bonus cards.

Prior: "After she uses a green or brown card, or her purple card expires, place the card in a stack in front of her. At the end of her turn, she bids on a color: red or black. “Draw!” If correct, she selects 2 and draws them into her hand at her next drawing phase."

Now: "Instead of discarding her used green, brown, or purple cards, stack them by her. During her next draw phase, she bids on red or black. “Draw!” If correct, she selects 2 to draw, and discards the rest."

Lela Devere: Slight nerf.

Original: Whenever she would hit a player (except with Indians!), Lela may choose to steal a card from that player instead. The card may either be in that player’s hand or in play.

Now: "When she bangs! and would hit a player(s), she may draw a card from them instead of them taking the hit(s). The drawn card may be from the hard or in play."

NOTE: Doesn't apply with Arrow, Bleed Out, etc.

Lil' Sure Shot: Reworded.

Original: She carries 2 guns by default (2 Colt .45), and can fire both on her turn. She can play 2 gun cards, even if they are duplicates. Once she has 2 gun cards in play, only 1 BANG! is needed to fire both.

Now: She carries 2 guns by default, and can fire both on her turn. She can play 2 gun cards, even duplicates. Once she has 2 gun cards in play, she only needs to play 1 BANG! to fire both.

Maggie Mae. No change. 

Pat Barrett: Changed name and art to "Bill Hickmann", my gunslinger ancestor. Reworded ability:

Original: "Whenever a card is played or used against Pat that targets him alone, and resolved, he may immediately discard a card of the same color to draw that card from the discard pile."

Now: "After a card played exclusively against Bill is discarded, he may immediately swap 1 of his cards of the same color with the card in the discard pile."

Porter Rockwall: Reworded due to confusions.

Original: "He may discard 2 cards to produce a defensive or offensive BANG! directed at any player, regardless of distance. When he creates an offensive BANG!, it does contribute to his BANG! limit."

Now: "He may discard 2 cards to discard a BANG! or play a BANG! at any player, regardless of distance. This BANG! contributes to his BANG! limit."

NOTE: Made it more clear this can be used in Duel or Indians! if he lacks a BANG! card. Offensive/defensive language was confusing to some. 

Turd Ferguson: Slight changes to ease tracking. Adjusted wording.

Prior: "Once per round, Turd has a free Missed! that does not add to his card limit. Turn Turd sideways to indicate when he has this Missed!. When it is used, turn him back to the normal vertical position. These Missed! do not stockpile."

Now: "At the start of his turn, he gains a free Missed! that doesn’t add to his hand size limit. Turn Turd sideways to track if this Missed! is used. On his next turn, orient him vertically to refresh this Missed!. These Missed! do not stack. 

Queen Anne. Rebalanced.

Prior: She may discard a BANG! with another card to discard a card from any player at distance 2.

Now: Once on her turn, she may discard 2 of her cards (in play or in hand) to discard a card from any player.

NOTE: Her ability is now more efficient and in line with Pat Brennan's.

____

These are a lot of changes to soak in. I'm wrapping up a rulebook that you can enjoy soon.

General News Update (August 30, 2011)

I apologize that I have not posted on the blog lately with no word of explanation. I have had a wonderful event in my personal life: the birth of my first child, which is definitely (and rightfully) taking the majority of my attention. He is an awesome little guy, and I am a very proud dad (weird word to apply to myself still). However, I did want to post some updates:

Robbers' Roost: I have got Superior POD to commit to developing a color profile for the backs of the playing and character cards. I will mail my copies of cards for them to match this week. This should insure matches to the official card backs as best as possible. As for the custom cutting of the cards, I may have come up with a solution. I will try to front the cost for the cutting of 5 decks to lower the cost of the printing. You will upload the files for your personal copy as a "custom job," which will allow custom pricing to apply to your personal copy (it will add in your share of cutting the cards). Finally, I am trying to convince my sister to draw some awesome art for a tuck box for the expansion.

Death Mesa: Still working on the 12" x 18" French and Spanish translations, and I am working on 8.5" x 11" cardsheets for the Italian translation. A guidebook update should be underway sometime too.

Modding Tools: I am hoping someone will convert the IDML file of the BANG! Master Template for InDesign CS3 using InDesign CS4. Besides this, I have been working on a spreadsheet presenting a detailed analysis of the playing cards used in BANG!, Dodge City, and Robbers' Roost. Should be useful for modders.

Miscellaneous: I am still trying to finish up character guides and card explanations. Lee Van Kliff was put up today as a witness of this.

Robbers' Roost: Reassessing and Balancing Cards

I have been play testing Robbers' Roost with some friends, which have made me want to reconsider the use of some cards, and also made me want to expel certain cards from an expansion. I had a huge wave of creative energy, but not it is time to settle down and balance some of the ideas. The problem wasn't mostly with the orange cards (although I have some slight modifications to add to them), but the excessive amount of blue and green cards I have added to the game. I have not even posted many of the blue cards I added, and I don't believe I have shown any of the brown cards. Anyway, I have generally concluded that my expansion adds too many cards to the game, which required adding tons of original game cards (BANG!, Missed, Cat Balou, Beer, Panic, Indians!, Jail, etc.) to balance the probabilities. While I am sure that I will still have to do that to some extent, as did the Dodge City expansion, I want to curtail how many have to be added. More problematically, Robbers' Roost seemed to allow players to have too many cards in play in front of them, creating Sheriff Fortresses. I am thinking of instituting a blue/green card limit: max 4 blue (Jail, Dynamite, and Calamity cards excluded), and max 3 green cards.

Perhaps I might even do a "basic" edition, and then an "extended" edition that will have to a different amount of cards. So far as I have been assessing the cards, I have grouped them in three groups: the good, the bad, and the questionable. I have also made some modifications to cards in these groups. Let me break down these cards now. I won't be showing the art for them this time for pure efficiency's sake, but I do have art for each of them. Where cards have already been explained on the Robbers' Roost page (or some other post), I will not add the card descriptions unless I am making a change to them.

The Good:

Orange Cards.

Quick Draw. Originally the card claimed that "Immediately after a player uses a card, you may play Quick Draw. Unless that player discards a BANG! he must take the card just played back into his hand. He cannot play this card until his next turn." I generally like this card, but feel that encourages a little too much cheating. A player could claim that was not the card he had suspended by Quick Draw for instance. Now, people can always find ways to cheat, but it is good to create a way of player that does not encourage it. Thus, I have changed the card so that if the player does not discard a BANG!, "he must place the card face up in front of him, in a horizontal position. He cannot play this card until his next turn." Now, everyone can see the card that was suspended by Quick Draw, so that he cannot cheat so easily.

Rope. For thematic reasons, I decided to change the name of this card. I don't like the idea of "roping away" ammo from people (had to imagine), and Lasso is also a card in one of the official expansions. The new name will either be "Disarm" or "Frisk." Let me know if you have any opinions on that matter. I still like what the card's effect, however.

Confiscate. Thinking of renaming to "Commandeer." Not sure.

Rob. Good; no changes.

Bandage. Good; no changes.

Push. Push originally read, "When a player at distance 1 is about to take a hit, you may play this card to push them out of harm’s way (the equivalent of a Missed! for that player)." I like this card in a thematic sense, but it has some gameplay problems. As we play tested with this card, it was found that you couldn't reach your team mates that often due to the 1 distance reach, and so this card didn't end up being that useful. While it is thematically problematic, I think Push will now reach to distance 2. And scope/binoculars will extend it, just as it extends the reach of a Punch (which was already thematically silly, so I guess I am just following suit!).

Toss. As with Push, this card will now reach to distance 2.

Taunt. Good; no changes.

Ambush. Good; no changes.

Track Down. Good; no changes.

Hit Me. Good; no changes.

Old Nag. Good; no changes.

Gaping Wound. This card read, "When a player takes a direct hit (Indians! do not count) use this card to make them “draw!” On royals, they lose another life." During a play test, an Outlaw used this card when he was shot on himself, "drew!", and killed himself (thus negating the 3 card bonus for offing him). I didn't intend for this card to function this way, but I don't know whether this should change. It was sort of cool. What do you think?

Dive. As with Push and Toss, this card will now reach to distance 2.

Join Arms. Good; no changes.

Back Up. This card read, "When another player plays a Missed! to avoid taking a shot fired by a different player, you may play this card to fire a BANG! at the player who played the Missed! as long as you are in range." I like the idea, but I am adjusting it so that it applies more often. The new condition is "when another player plays or uses any card or ability to avoid taking a hit." Thus, it will apply also to playing a BANG! to Indians!, successful (and even unsuccessful?) barrel "draws!"

Lastly, amongst the orange cards, I have thought of adding one other offensive card (I fear there are too many defensive ones) called at the moment, "Mug." This card does the following, "When another player is attacked, you may play Mug to discard 1 card at random from their hand before that player can respond to the attack." By the time I am done balancing the orange cards, I plan on adding 32 of them in the deck total.

Brown Cards.

Tomahawk. Bang a player at distance 2.

Cannon. Bang all players within a line of fire. This is the brown card version of Artillery.

Transcontinental. Draw 2 cards, all other players draw 1. This is the brown card version of Pay Day.

Evade. Missed! and also BANG! back your attacker. Thinking of renaming this to "Q & A."

Blue Cards.

Cowboy Boots. All you Missed! count as Dodge.

Bulldog. Weapon with distance 2. Discard 2 BANG! to Gatling.

Robert Wheeler. Weapon with distance 1. You may play 2 BANG!, but they must be shot at the same target.

Hammock. Good; no changes.

Lucky Dice. Good; no changes.

Distracted. Calamity Card. Good; no changes.

Empty Purse. New calamity card. It states that "at a target player's next discard phase, they must discard down to 2 cards below their card limit (to a minimum of 1 card remaining in their hand). Discard Empty Purse afterwards."

Poison. Calamity Card. Good; no changes.

Drunken Haze. Calamity Card. Good; no changes.

Green Cards.

Pay Day. Good; no changes.

Charm. Good; no changes, except changed "play this card" to "use this card." Fits better for a green card.

On the House. Originally this card said, "Gain 2 life points. All other players gain 1." Essentially, this was a souped up Saloon, but I couldn't help but feel that it was too powerful. I have changed it to being a green card Saloon (All players gain 1 life point."

Face Off. Good; no changes.

The Flop. Good; no changes.

Artillery. Good; no changes.

The Questionable:

Orange Cards.

Stampede. There are enough defensive orange cards and I am not sure if this is that useful.

Standoff. While play testing, many players found this card initially confusing. It reads, "You may join a duel when it begins. You choose your position (second or third). Playing Standoff counts as your first BANG! In a standoff, 2 players must take hits. Only 1 Standoff can be played at a time." I need to word it better apparently. Standoff basically initiates a duel between three players. Since the Duel is originally initiated by one player playing "Duel" against another, and that player responding next, Standoff allows its player to join this Duel in the order he chooses. Thus, if Player A initiates a duel with Player B, Player C can choose to be second or third in line (respond before or after Player B). So instead of playing BANG!s that shoot at Player A by being at the end of the duel triangle, the Standoff player can shoot BANG!s at Player B. This can be beneficial in (1) changing who gets a card bonus from eliminating an outlaw, or (2) in a defensive measure you could shoot at one player in a duel, and after having him receive a hit, not playing a BANG! against the other player and taking a BANG! yourself. This will likely need a manual explanation with some diagrams, so the question is whether or not I should bother with Stand Off at all.

Brown Cards.

Wander. Change spots with any player who is directly to your left or right. While interesting, not sure if it should be added to the game.

Sweet Talk. Avoid any card played against your by another player.

Blue Cards.

Ammo Belt. Allowing players to hold more cards in their hand seemed to unbalance certain characters and aided greatly to create a Sheriff Fortress. Perhaps it could still be added, but I am skeptical.

With the many cards added to the game, I thought it important to add some new distance modifiers with a few twists. The problem is that they stack with the others, and so it might just be best to add another Hideout and Binoculars to prevent the stacking. Anyway, the 2 under question are:

Rattlesnake. The distance by which you are seen by a target player is increased by 1. Rattlesnake only affects the distance with this 1 player and cannot be adjusted to target another player until the originally selected player is eliminated.

Stake Out. The distance by which you see a target player is decreased by 1. Stake Out only affects the distance with this 1 player and cannot be adjusted to target another player until the originally selected player is eliminated.

The Bad:

Brown Cards.

Ricochet. If a player avoids your attack through a card or ability, you may play this card for another chance for the player to be hit by your attack.

Ghost Town. Reveal as many cards a players from the top of the discard pile. Each player draws one in a clockwise order, starting the player who played Ghost Town. You cannot pick up any card in this that you used earlier this turn. NOTE: While I do not like this card in Robber's Roost, I am thinking of adding it to Death Mesa, where only the ghosts participate, and add these cards to their buried goods.

Blue Cards.

Tree Stump. Discard a club from your hand to play a Missed! This card was problematic as it stacked with Barrels, and was much better than a Barrel IMO. It also helped create the Sheriff Fortress.

Some of these next cards I eliminated for being too close to character abilities or cards in High Noon, A Fistful of Cards, or Wild West Show.

James Dougall. Weapon with distance 1. 2 Missed! must be played to avoid BANG! fired from this gun. Too much like Slab's ability, and the gun seemed unnecessary. Robert Wheeler already added a shotgun.

Headhunter. Whenever you eliminate a player you draw 2 cards. While a bit like Herb Hunter's ability, the biggest problem was that it seemed to give obscene bonuses for offing an Outlaw (5 card bonus).

Colt Lightning. Weapon with distance 2-5. Interesting idea, but adding the card to the game seemed of limited value.

Handcuffed. Too much like scenario card.

Bound. Too much like scenario card.

Departed.. This card stated that "After dying, the target player will return to life starting with 3 health at his next turn. All cards in play in front of him or in his hand are discarded like usual when he dies. He will lose 1 health at the end of every one of his turns. There is no card bonus for killing him again." I made this card while I was trying to deal with BANG's IMO player elimination problem. However, since then I have made Death Mesa, which I think addresses this problem much better. If player elimination is a problem for you, then use Death Mesa. I think this card becomes unnecessary.

Green Cards.

Show Time. Discard a card from all other players. I think this card is just too strong. Brawl requires discarding another card to play it, and I am not sure if a 1 round wait is good enough.

Anyway, those are the main card adjustments and reassessments I have been making with Robber's Roost. This should give you a good idea of what will be in the expansion, and let you know that I have still been diligently working on it. I may also have to scrap down on character cards, but those are less problematic in my opinion. So I might just created a "recommended set" of characters that I have play tested hard, while the others will just be a "bonus set." If you have any questions or thoughts about the cards I brought up here, please post a comment.

Robbers' Roost Characters: Chuck Parkhurst, Fannie Porter, & Big Nose Kat

NOTE: Now that RR has gone through significant revisions, all these characters have been eliminated. This post is kept here for historical purposes (tracking RR's development) alone. For the characters actually in the RR expansion, go the official page.

Today I thought it might be nice to take a break from the strategy guides and add some more Robbers' Roost characters. I am adding so many I will probably have to widdle them down, or I suppose I could just leave that up those who want to play with the characters. Anyway, I have three female characters to showcase now. I particularly like Chuck Parkhurst. You will have to let me know what you think. Oh, and the art used for these characters is borrowed; not my own.

Chuck Parkhurst. 4 Life Points. Once per round, she has a free BANG! that does not add to her card limit. Turn your character card sideways to indicate when you have this BANG! When it is used, turn the card back to its normal vertical position. These BANG! do not stockpile.

Fannie Porter. 4 Life Points. Anytime she is attacked by a card where she is the sole target, "draw!" On clubs, discard a card from the player who attacked her.

Big Nose Kat. 4 Life Points. Anytime she hits a player who was her sole target that player must discard a card from his hand.

Visit the Robber's Roost Expansion Page

Robbers' Roost: More New Characters for the week

NOTE: Now that RR has gone through significant revisions, all these characters except Maggie Mae have been eliminated. This post is kept here for historical purposes (tracking RR's development) alone. For the characters actually in the RR expansion, go the official page.

As I mentioned that I probably would, I have some new characters to introduce this week. One is pretty different (Gunplay Maxwell), and I hope you will enjoy it: his ability is unlocked based on his gun range in comparison to another person's gun range. Besides him, the other 2 characters' art is not my own. I just found these sketches online (and I thought they fit the BANG! style enough), so don't give me credit for them! I hope you will notice that I have added a lot of female characters to BANG! They were a little lacking in the original game and its expansions. And the discerning reader to my Robbers' Roost characters may have noticed that all of my characters are actually based upon real historical outlaws, lawmen, horse stealers, etc., or on some pun (such as "Loan Arranger" for the Lone Ranger), or on some Western actor (Charleston Heston for Charlton Heston). I'll give their inspirations when I finally get to doing Robbers' Roost character guides, but Dodge City, Wild West Show, and the Bullet characters have precedence there (not to mention the original game characters that I am still plowing away on). Anyway, I hope you'll like these new characters.

Gunplay Maxwell. 4 Life Points. Whenever he plays a BANG! against a player who has a gun with a greater range than his, that player cannot play or use any spades or hearts to avoid his attack (this nullifies successful Barrel "draws!").

Bella Siddons. 3 Life Points. Whenever she has less than 2 cards in play in front of her, she may discard a card from her hand to draw the blue or green card from the discard deck that is closest to the bottom. This card can immediately be brought into play.

Maggie Mae. 3 Life Points. If the second card she draws is red, she may swap a card in play in front of her for a card in play in front of another player. She must show that the second card that she drew was red immediately if she wishes to use this ability (she does not need to show the card, only its suit).

Robbers' Roost: Additional Green Cards

NOTE: Now that RR has gone through significant revisions, most of these cards have been eliminated. Artillery remains as a green card, while Pay Day, On the House, and Show Time have become purple cards (with some changes). This post is kept here for historical purposes (tracking RR's development) alone. For the cards actually in the RR expansion, go the official page.

Robbers' Roost will add several new green cards to the deck (14 total). Many of these will already come from Dodge City, but half are new. Those I will introduce today.

Pay Day. Draw 2 cards from the deck. All other players draw 1 card.	Charm. Play this card to avoid any card played against you.	On the House. Gain 2 life points. All other players gain 1.
The Flop. Reveal 3 cards from the top of the deck. All players may choose 1 or 2 cards from their hand to complete the flop and make the best poker hand; these cards are to be placed face down in front of them. When all players have decide whether or not they are going to participate (and the participants have selected their cards), all participants reveal the 2 cards they selected. The player with the best hand wins the cards in the flop. The other cards are returned to each player's hand.	Show Time. Discard a card from all other players.	Artillery. BANG! all characters within a line of fire. In other words, select a player who you wish to be the end point of an attack. Select a direction from which to attack him (from your right or your left). All players up until that end point are banged! As you can imagine, Artillery can function as a Gatling as you wish: just select the end point to be the player immediately to your left or right, and then have the attack proceed from the opposite direction.
Face Off. Duel.

Robbers' Roost: Another Day for New Characters

NOTE: Now that RR has gone through significant revisions, all these characters have been eliminated. However, Madam Moustache may reappear late. This post is kept here for historical purposes (tracking RR's development) alone. For the characters actually in the RR expansion, go the official page.

I introduced some new characters to Robbers' Roost yesterday, and will do so again today (and perhaps later on this week). Behold 3 new ones! 1 (Eva Place) is based on an earlier Boot Hill character with some modifications.

Eva Place. 4 Life Points. Instead of "draw!" she may play a card in her hand as the effect of "draw!" She may also "draw!" first, and if the result is undesirable she can play a card in her hand as the effect of "draw!" but must discard another card with it (from her hand or in front of her).

James Reed. 4 Life Points. Once a round he may call the name of a card during another player's drawing phase. If that player has that card in his hand, he must give 1 to him.

Madam Mustache. 4 Life Points. When she is about to have card stolen or discarded from her hand, in play in front of her, or from amongst her orange cards, she chooses which card to lose, but it must be from the area originally selected (ie, from her hand, in play in front of her, or amongst her orange cards).