Last year my brother-in-law, Jeremiah Aldrich, told me about an idea he had for a game. His thought was that the funnest part about role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, is leveling up. You get better at the things you do, and learn new things that make the things you already do even better. Translation: you get to kill your enemies in funner, flashier ways. The bliss of leveling up is no more tangible, perhaps, than for spellcasters, who get bigger and better spells. I mean really, everyone who has ever played a wizard looks forward to level 3 if only to get their first fireball!
The downside to playing RPGs, of course, is that you only get to level up once every 4 or 5 sessions (depending on the speed of your experience track). Even then, if your sessions are spread out as far as ours tend to be, that might mean hurling your first fireball is literally months away!
Jeremiah said he wished there were a game that would let you level up several times in one session, and only take 45 minutes to play. We talked about the idea for several hours. After discussing what said hypothetical game would be like, we both stared at each other meaningfully. Holy crap, I thought. We just made up a game. This thing could be real.
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| Jeremiah Aldrich and LeAnna Herrmann at the first playtest. |
Then, last weekend, I went to Planet Comicon.
Read more about our brain-child after the jump.
I think the most rewarding thing I got out of playtesting Wizard's Tower at Planet Comicon was a moment when the players realized they were 10 minutes away from missing a panel with Jewel Staite of Firefly fame. One of the players, a GM for his gaming group, convinced the others to stay and finish playing.
I was honored. (And silently sided with those who wanted to go see Jewel Staite. Play a crummy game or see the actress who played the most endearing and attractive mechanic of all tv and movie history? Kaylee, please.)
But they stayed! And what was more, some guy came by with a camera and pretty much gave me an interview about the game on the spot! (As soon as I get the link, I'll post it here.) He asked me if we had a website, a Facebook page, Kickstarter page? Three no's from me and I realized for the second time: Holy crap. This thing could be real. And, my brain added, it's about time it was.
I got some really good feedback from the three sessions I ran at the con, and I had another solid conversation with Jeremiah as soon as I could manage. This time, we talked about the logistics of getting everything we needed together to actually get this thing done.
On one thing we agreed: we've earned enough experience, now it's time to level this thing up! That means getting the word out that our game exists, playtesting it on a mass-scale, and talking to game manufacturers about cost of getting everything made. Eventually, we plan to get a budget run up and start a page on a crowd-funding site like Kickstarter. From there, we'll let the people decide how much they want it.
And so, I'm pleased to introduce to you Wizard's Tower (working title). The following is a fairly comprehensive description of the game including some basic rules. Please leave your thoughts in the comments, and if you like this idea, please share it with the world through your favorite social media outlet (in the footer below).
WIZARD'S TOWER
Game Description
Wizard's Tower (working title) is a board game for 3 to 6 players ages 8 and up who have an interest in fantasy and magic. The goal is to be accessible to those who have never played RPGs, but still entertaining to those who have. Estimated time to play: 45-60 minutes.
You and your rival Archmages are engaged in a power scramble to recover the hidden pages of the former Headmaster's spellbook, the Arcanum. Pages have been scattered throughout the city, and many are trapped. What is more, they can only be collected in numerical order (encouraging the combat element of the game). Bringing a page of the Arcanum back to your tower will level it up, giving you access to more (and more powerful) spells. Be the first to collect three Arcanum pages (bringing your tower to Level 4), and you win!
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| An early version of the game board, featuring its signature hexagonal shape. |
The board consists of seven districts. Academy District is always at the center of the city and is always the location of the first page. Academy District is also where Archmages go when they are defeated in combat or fall victim to one of the Headmaster's traps. The remaining six districts circle Academy District, and each belongs to one of the six Archmages. Each player starts the game in their Tower space, located furthest away from the center of the board. Each district is its own hexagonal tile, and can be positioned on any of Academy District's edges, making the layout of the city (and therefore the turn order) fluid.
Basic Rules
On your turn, you can move and attack in any order. You may always exchange an attack for another movement.
Move: Roll 1d6 and move up to that many spaces. This number can be modified by school knacks and spells.
Combat: The attacker and defender both roll 3 six-sided dice. Values are compared highest-to-highest and so on, with defender winning ties. These values can be modified by school knacks and spells. Best two out of three wins the combat. If attacker wins, defender is sent to the Academy.
Spells: You start the game with three spells and gain more spells each time your Tower levels up. You get spells from your school sooner than other players. Any player can cast or activate their spells at any time (except in the middle of movement or combat), with priority going to the active player and so on in turn order. Spells are recovered each time you return to your tower.
Wizard's Tower game design, including concept, format, rules, gameplay mechanics, and all other associated intellectual property are copyrighted.
© Jay Carter III and Jeremiah Aldrich, 2013–2014. All rights reserved.
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