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Scenario for "Deceived" Trailer Options
FlyingArrow
Posted: Thursday, January 5, 2012 2:45:53 PM
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I'm sure most of you have seen this. Either way, watch it:
http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/deceived-cinematic-trailer

We're going to start a campaign that begins by trying to recreate that scene (somewhat). Here are some proposed rules, but I'd like to get feedback.

====

Story: Four Sith Lords and their attack force are storming the Jedi Temple in a surprise attack. Many of the most powerful Republic defenders have been lured away, leaving only a few Jedi masters at the temple. The Sith's goal is to destroy the planet's defense grid mainframe, which is inside the Jedi Temple. They also hope to catch the Jedi off-guard and kill a few high-ranking masters before they can escape. Heavy firepower will arrive shortly. The Jedi inside the Temple are caught off-guard but quickly engage the enemy. They will defend the Temple, but quickly realize they cannot hold it and attempt to escape to fight another day.


Map: AC MP4: Royal Palace (representing the Jedi Temple)


Definition: Any character with a lightsaber that has "Master" or "Lord" in their name or cost 45 or greater is considered a Jedi Master or Sith Master.

Dark side: 450 points, 16 activations max, 4 commanders max. Available factions: Sith, Mandalorian, Fringe. At least 10 characters with a lightsaber. At least 4 Sith Masters. Epic characters are legal.

Set up in the two eastern-most columns outside the Temple. Dark side sets up second.

Light side A (security patrol): 100 points. Available factions: OR, Republic. Only non-unique non-force users are allowed in Squad A. (Notice no Fringe.)

Setup anywhere outside the temple that is not in the dark side setup area. Characters in Squad A must stay outside the Temple as long as there are Dark Side characters still outside the Temple. Light side sets up first.

Light side B (Jedi): 350 points, 10 activations max, 3 commanders max. Available factions: OR (any), Republic (force users only), Fringe (any). At least 8 characters with lightsabers. Exactly 5 Jedi Masters. Epic characters are legal.

Set up inside the Temple in the Archives, Office, Noble's Office, or Council Chamber.

Defense Grid Mainframe: 5x7 Power Station tile in the northwest corner of the map (oriented east-west). It is destroyed if it takes 200 damage. Defense: 20 and Damage Reduction 10. It is targeted using the targeting rules, but enemies may choose to ignore it when determining the nearest enemy.

Door Control: Characters with lightsabers gain the following special ability:
Destroy door: Replaces turn; designate an adjacent door as open for the rest of the skirmish if an ally with a lightsaber is adjacent to the same door. The door may not be closed.


Dark Side winning conditions: Destroy the mainframe within 4 rounds, or defeat 3 Jedi Masters. (Note that Sith "success" in eventually destroying the mainframe is guaranteed. Victory for the Sith player in this skirmish is defined by an overwhelming success as described here - quick destruction or defeating high-value targets.)

Light Side winning conditions: Defend the mainframe for the first 4 rounds, giving the planetary defenses a few extra minutes. Then escape with 3 Jedi Masters. Beginning in round 5, Light Side characters may escape by exiting the eastern edge of the map.


===

Does this scenario seem balanced? If not, what would you change?
Does this scenario seem fun? If not, what would you change?

Note that all of the Unique characters in this scenario would be stand-ins for other characters, since we do not (yet) have character cards for anyone in the trailer.

===
Edit: Added door control rule.
Edit: Added 5th Jedi Master requirement; noted that Epics are legal.
Edit: Changed the victory conditions to better match the mission of the Sith assault squad. Increased the size of the Sith squad.
Edit: Changed the size of the Light Side squad. Reduced rounds of protecting the mainframe from 5 to 4.
StevenO
Posted: Thursday, January 5, 2012 3:42:45 PM
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Shouldn't a Force user with "Darth" in the name qualify count as Lord or Master or are all of them over 45 points?

I wonder if the definition of "lord" would be better based around hitpoints or some stat other than just cost.

I worry a little if a lock-in or lock-out strategy will work here.
urbanjedi
Posted: Thursday, January 5, 2012 3:51:53 PM
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I would say that 6 rounds might not be long enough. You might want to change to 10 rounds. This gives the jedi 5 or so rounds to escape while also makes sure the sith can't just hide out no engaging to secure an easy reinforcement win.
FlyingArrow
Posted: Thursday, January 5, 2012 4:16:30 PM
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StevenO wrote:
Shouldn't a Force user with "Darth" in the name qualify count as Lord or Master or are all of them over 45 points?

I wonder if the definition of "lord" would be better based around hitpoints or some stat other than just cost.

I worry a little if a lock-in or lock-out strategy will work here.


Hm. Without "Darth", it eliminates Darth Bandon, Darth Traya, Darth Nihl, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Maul, Sith Apprentice. The names don't really matter all that much - characters represent "unnamed Sith" anyway. But perhaps another definition would work better. Maybe just Melee/Force Rating/Cost 35.

Lock-in or lock-out shouldn't be a problem, I don't think. Light Side can have a Juggernaut War Droid. Dark Side has room for a couple Uggies if they want. Not room for too much door control either way, though, so excessive Override shouldn't be a problem.

EDIT:
Better yet, add a scenario rule... all characters with lightsabers gain the Special Ability:

Destroy Door: Replaces turn. Destroy an adjacent door if an ally with a lightsaber is adjacent to the same door.
FlyingArrow
Posted: Thursday, January 5, 2012 4:24:07 PM
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urbanjedi wrote:
I would say that 6 rounds might not be long enough. You might want to change to 10 rounds. This gives the jedi 5 or so rounds to escape while also makes sure the sith can't just hide out no engaging to secure an easy reinforcement win.


Escape is pretty easy if they get to the courtyard - the whole eastern edge is open as an escape route. After 10 rounds, I would expect that one side is completely destroyed. Note that there's almost no hindering terrain on this map, and part of the Light-side setup area is nearly is 10+ columns from the western edge of the map. 6 might not be enough - that was part of why I was asking for feedback, but I think 10 rounds would be too many... that would just make it a fight to see who first kills 3 Masters from the other side.
AndyHatton
Posted: Friday, January 6, 2012 3:44:48 AM
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I like adding the ability to destroy doors for Jedi (it is something I think they should have always had.)

I'm wondering if when the Jedi Masters can escape is a necessary rule. If the Light Side player decides to start sending Jedi out he is going to be losing activations and firepower so I think that might be enough of a disadvantage that they will attempt to keep them on the board for long enough that the rule maybe isn't necessary. If they want to cut them out in round 3 that is a gamble I think they should be able to take.

I like the Master and Lord requirements, I think that will make it feel like this a battle of true importance.

Balancing the right amount of rounds for an escape is hard. Too many and it is far too easy, too few and it might be impossible. Last time we played there were just enough for the NR to squeak out...I think 6 rounds is fair, especially with a squad of this size, anything longer will just make the game long.
FlyingArrow
Posted: Friday, January 6, 2012 4:00:05 AM
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AndyHatton wrote:
I like adding the ability to destroy doors for Jedi (it is something I think they should have always had.)

I'm wondering if when the Jedi Masters can escape is a necessary rule. If the Light Side player decides to start sending Jedi out he is going to be losing activations and firepower so I think that might be enough of a disadvantage that they will attempt to keep them on the board for long enough that the rule maybe isn't necessary. If they want to cut them out in round 3 that is a gamble I think they should be able to take.

I like the Master and Lord requirements, I think that will make it feel like this a battle of true importance.

Balancing the right amount of rounds for an escape is hard. Too many and it is far too easy, too few and it might be impossible. Last time we played there were just enough for the NR to squeak out...I think 6 rounds is fair, especially with a squad of this size, anything longer will just make the game long.


The victory conditions here are different from the generic Escape scenario we played before (from Ultimate Missions: Rebel Storm). Instead of half the squad, it's just 3 of the Jedi Masters that have to escape. If they can leave immediately, it would probably be easy for them to escape since they will have a bunch of HP. Plus, I think it wouldn't capture the feel of the trailer, since there should be a real battle before anyone leaves. Also, I got rid of the "Hold Your Ground" rule where you aren't allowed to move 12 squares unless you have LoS to an enemy. That rule was kind of annoying, but it was necessary to prevent characters from running off the map right away.

I expect the 100 point security squad to be destroyed pretty quickly since they're facing off versus 400 points of enemies before the Jedi squad can join the fight. That puts the Light Side at a disadvantage, so they probably will need to escape.

Another idea - what about "Light Side characters may escape by leaving the eastern edge of the map if it is round 5 or later, or if they have half-HP or less."
AndyHatton
Posted: Friday, January 6, 2012 5:02:29 AM
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You are right, I forgot about the annoying Hold your ground rule slowing everyone down. So I think a round limit (or less than half HP...heck even less than 50 HP) is a good limitation.
FlyingArrow
Posted: Friday, January 6, 2012 5:42:24 AM
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Okay - door control added. Clarifications made regarding definition of master. Added a 5th Jedi master to the light side. So now it's best 3 out of 5... 3 Jedi escape = Jedi win, 3 Jedi defeated = Sith win.
FlyingArrow
Posted: Friday, January 6, 2012 11:54:59 AM
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Bah!

That's what I get for just watching the trailer and never reading the plot of what's going on there.

I read the plot about the purpose of storming the Jedi Temple. The story and victory conditions above have been changed so that the Sith need to destroy the mainframe. Please take another look and let me know what you think. Thanks.
StevenO
Posted: Friday, January 6, 2012 4:53:37 PM
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I kind of like the up dated victory conditions but think it favors the Sith far too much as you're likely to see 400+ points of Sith attacking into just 300 points of Jedi.
FlyingArrow
Posted: Friday, January 6, 2012 5:02:24 PM
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StevenO wrote:
I kind of like the up dated victory conditions but think it favors the Sith far too much as you're likely to see 400+ points of Sith attacking into just 300 points of Jedi.


What numbers would you suggest? I like the general scenario outline, but yeah - I'm not sure about the numbers. I think Sith squad needs to be bigger - they should overall crush the Jedi. Just a question of whether the Jedi can hold out long enough and then escape before they're completely defeated.

Where would you put the numbers? I do think both sides should have at least 300 points total so that it has the "epic" sort of feel, plus to have room for an epic character if desired.

Sith squad size: ???
Light side security squad size: ???
Light side Jedi squad size: ???
Rounds the Jedi have to defend the mainframe before they are allowed to escape: ?

I like having 5 Jedi Masters, where if they successfully defend the mainframe for the specified number of rounds, either 3 will escape or 3 will be defeated so victory is determined that way.
StevenO
Posted: Saturday, January 7, 2012 10:51:51 AM
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I don't know what good numbers would be and don't really have a way to figure it out. I guess my concern is that if the Jedi need to protect the mainframe for FIVE rounds they're likely to lose a master or two back there and any remaining masters would then need to run a gauntlet of fully prepared Sith if they want to escape.
FlyingArrow
Posted: Sunday, January 8, 2012 3:51:07 PM
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FlyingArrow wrote:


Where would you put the numbers? I do think both sides should have at least 300 points total so that it has the "epic" sort of feel, plus to have room for an epic character if desired.

Sith squad size: ???
Light side security squad size: ???
Light side Jedi squad size: ???
Rounds the Jedi have to defend the mainframe before they are allowed to escape: ?



We played it tonight and went with the following:

Sith squad size: 450
Light side security squad size: 100
Light side Jedi squad size: 350
Rounds the Jedi have to defend the mainframe before they are allowed to escape: 4

Fun? Yes - with a huge mess of lightsabers running into each other, it really evoked the feel of the trailer, imo.
Balanced? I'm not sure, but I think so. If anyone else has a chance to run it, let me know what you think. In our game, the Sith won. I hope to have a detailed write up soon.
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