Fantastic Scuffles - messing about with hidden movement in dungeons (and a sneak peek at rules progress)

The most challenging part of creating a fantasy skirmish game is building mechanisms to make dungeon crawling fun and challenging, while still engaging all players with smooth mechanics. The dungeon crawling rules for FS have been through multiple iterations now, switching between matched and asymmetrical parties, from hidden movement, to free-flowing visibility and back again. At this point, we feel the balance is about right, although further testing is, of course, going to be required!

 Last week we played a three-player dungeon crawl, with two parties of adventurers attempting to raid the same dungeon through different entrances. Re-instituting hidden movement, my poor denizens were represented by mini playing cards until an adventurer came withing line of sight, when their true nature was revealed.

Jim took a 100 point party of gnomes (top centre), Andy T controlled 100 points of Japanese bandits (centre right), will I had 200 points of kobolds dispersed throughout the dungeon.

Both Andrew and Jim split their parties, sending half of each into the same room (accessible to both from their entrance corridors), where they encountered my poor loot golem. Meanwhile, other adventurers moved out to explore other areas.

The golem was ultimately dispatched by a chain lightning spell cast by the gnomish sage, which then passed through all the Japanese bandits in the room and adjoining corridor. I tried to capitalise on this throughout the game, reminding Andy of the gnomish treachery, but their informal alliance seemed to hold together regardless.

Against seeming insurmountable odds, the stealthy Japanese rogue held his own in a room full of kobold minions. While he held out, various comrades can in to assist him but all fell below the hail of kobold sling fire. Only the rogue walked out of that room - bloodied but unbroken.

As kobolds fell left, right and centre - as minions are want to do - the adventuring parties were also worn down. Judicious spell casting and fast blades managed to slay three of the gnomes, forcing the last to flee right the way back out of the dungeon.

However at the final moment, the last two Japanese bandits broke through into the third treasure room, slaying to last kobold defenders in the final turn of the scenario, and clinching victory!

So while the testing continues, the rules themselves are now very stable with only minor changes happening now and then. Typesetting has therefore begun on the rule book itself. A couple of wee teaser shots below while I wait on illustrations and fine tune the little niggly bits!