I introduced a couple of new elements in this game, namely Heist -cards and limited visibility. The cards were well received and the visibility rules also seemed to work pretty well.

Ironically, it was the aspects that have been used much longer that seemed to warrant a little change. The obstruction system is basically good, but the dice rolling mechanic needs a change. It is too cumbersome to pre-assign the dice. I think I have an idea for this.

Another thing that needs a little ironing is reactions. As the game is based almost entirely on action-reaction interaction, it needs to flow really well. I will streamline and clarify it even further.

The game is getting very close to its final form. I think it is important not fall prey to eternal tweaking. You must be able to call it good enough and let it be. That does not mean that the rules will be set in stone -- just that the feedback loop needs to get longer. Once the blatant mistakes are ironed out, it takes more and more playtesting to reliably detect problems. If things are constantly changed, it becomes impossible to say whether something is a persistent problem or just a fluke dice roll or badly designed scenario.

I will make some final adjustments and then lock the rules down for some time. We will play a narrative mini-campaign and review things again after that.

Speaking of scenarios, I experimented with basing scenario maps on photographs and found it substantially faster and easier. Perhaps because I am not really a graphic artist, doing a complete map with Visio or other drawing program takes considerable time for me. Taking a photograph and simply adding some text and arrows is much faster. I will be using that approach in the future. That also has the additional benefit that I know I have all the stuff necessary to set up the game...

Next I will also need to paint up a few more figures. I have masked criminals and more police ready to be painted, and maybe I should source the two stars for the campaign as well. Anyone know a good source for figures of balding middle-aged men in suits with shotguns?

maxxon