This is from a few weeks back but I never did the write up. I managed to sit down with the kiddo and run through a full game of Fate Carvers, the silly game I’ve been drafting over the last month or so.

For a recap: the basic idea of the game is that you alternate activating single models, roll 5 dice for them, and use those dice to command them. They come with cards that have abilities listed, which you apply the dice to to activate them. There’s an emphasis on area of effect, template abilities, and movement. We tried out a match as a 3v3, across 5 rounds.

It took him a bit to get used to the idea of placing templates and thinking through the more “geometric” combat than what he’s done in the past, but once he got in the swing of it he started to do quite well. I, on the other hand, did not. He asked me to rework the teams, so I did, which gave him a flatly better force. He had considerably more damage output than I did and I quickly started to fall apart as a result.

My concept at the moment is to try and keep the game structure 3v3–maybe 5v5–without points. This means you have to construct a force with a balance in mind. I’m pretty attached to avoiding points for now, to the point where I’m considering using a roster system. You select your roster with no repeats, then set your force after you arrive on the battlefield and settle the mission.

This game actually reinforced that for me. The game overall went quite well, with some fun moments and great tension. Our objective was a simple one: hold the magic circles. This led to some use for my manipulator (Elementalist) who was able to push enemies around. It also led to some fun moments where he would charge in with his brawler to take the objective as much as to attack me.

What I found, especially given the ill fated shift in team composition, was that you likely need some amount of damage output in your party alongside some amount of manipulation, buffing, and tanking. This is what I wanted to see. I’m trying to feel out, mechanically, what general categories of characters exist. For those who have played online MOBAs, that’s very much the framework I’m using. For instance: my Elementalist was very useful for manipulating positions of models on the battlefield. As was my son’s ranger, which managed to pin my Elementalist in place so far from the action that it couldn’t really do anything for a full turn. My Cleric was there to heal the Elementalist so at least it didn’t die, while also buffing the Captain so he could get onto the objective that turn.

This form of combo-oriented team work, where you have a lot of tools and just have to think of how to use them, is exactly what I’m going for.

The irony, then, is the very base mechanic: the dice. They work as a restriction on action, but getting what you need to roll is so easy right now that you may as well not be rolling. I need to analyze the odds here–but I immediately realize I need to question the mechanic. Is this a darling I need to slay? Why does it exist? Would a simple energy system be better? What if every turn, models just started with 3 energy and skills cost anywhere from 1-3 points of that energy? That would be faster, simpler, and easier to balance, without sacrificing what I enjoyed about the game.

I’ll continue to wrestle with this. Otherwise, most of my changes have to do with damage output and skill tweaking now that I understand the play of the game better. We had fun: that’s a great starting point. I also confirmed what I feared: this is a complex environment and will take a lot of playtesting and thought to build out. My goal is to have around 25-30 total “Classes” in the game if the system can warrant it, but that might also shift toward more of a “However many make sense” concept.

Either way: it’s fun. I’m having fun and I’m looking forward to painting more of these minis. Per usual: that’s the point. Always funny how easy it is to forget that.