Post by jimchris on Jan 17, 2007 16:17:10 GMT 1
I just posted this on BGG, and decided to put it up here as well. Any comments, just shoot.
--
WotR is one of the best (perhaps the best) two-player games I know of, but I think there's a common consensus on that the 3- and 4-player rules are not as good as the could be. So, I decided to stick my neck out, and try to graft a variant whereby Saruman would be a truly independent character, and have victory conditions separate from those of Sauron's. Most of the rules here add or change things in the base game; unless otherwise stated, the basic game still controls the field. I'll walk you through the rules, and add my thoughts as we go along.
***Losing or winning as Saruman***
First of all, Saruman's fate was not tied to the ring as much as Sauron's. It is concievable that Saruman could win in two ways: first, by taking the Ring and then setting himself as equal or superior to the Dark Lord, or by overcoming the Free Peoples after the Ring was destroyed. Therefore,
Saruman wins if:
-After the Ring has been destroyed, he controls 10 VP of FP settlements
-The Ring has been captured by him AND Shadow wins a military victory, at which point Saruman has more FP VPs than Sauron
Saruman loses if:
-The game ends in any other way than above
-He is destroyed
***Dice for the Dark Lord(s)***
As Saruman and Sauron are playing a separate game, it makes sense to separate their dice pools. Sauron, of course, is the stronger of the two; however, for the interests of play balance, it is necessary that Saruman gains a good number of dice, as well.
Special rules for the Dice:
-At the start of the game, Saruman player rolls 3 dice, and Sauron player 4. Saruman can gain one die for his declaration; Sauron player can gain two more dice, one for the Witch-King/Balrog, and one for Mouth of Sauron. Order of play is first the Free Peoples player, then Saruman, then Sauron. Players may pass if the next player has more dice.
***Battles Between Orc and Orc***
It would seem possible that Sauron and Saruman might have come to clash, had the Ents not ravaged Saruman's home and his armies. Also, in the course of the game, it might be a good idea to destroy one another's troops, or take control of a stronghold. Also, their ability to move each other's troops should be considerably lessened.
Special rules for interaction between Shadow Players:
-Using normal attack and siege rules, both sides may initiate attacks against each other, which are then resolved normally. Neither side may build defensive siege engines.
-Saruman may not move the Nazgul, or any army with a Nazgul in it.
-As long as Saruman is alive, Sauron may not move armies which have Isengard troops, or move Nazgul to such armies.
***Ents and Sauron Allies***
Here are two things that might seem a bit strange, but both are in line with both Tolkien and game balance, in my opinion.
First, if Ents can kill Saruman, the game will be very painful for the fallen wizard. Also, Saruman wasn't killed by Ents in the book, even though they did short work of Isengard. Hence, the Ents special rule.
Second, south and east. Both Sauron and Saruman would have seemed insanely powerful creatures for those who worshipped the Dark Lord, and therefore it seems that they would follow directions from both sides. This might lead to interesting conflicts between the two.
Special rules for the Ents
-The Ents' ravaging of Isengard does not destroy Saruman. However, if Orthanc is succesfully invaded or moved into by Ents, Saruman loses his Voice of Saruman ability, as well as his Action Die. Leave an Ent in Orthanc as a reminder of this, even after their force is spent.
Special rules for South & East
-Both Sauron and Saruman can use the proper dice to move, attack or muster with the S&E. Strongholds are credited to the player who moved in the troops, or captured it from the enemy.
***Hunting the Ring***
If Saruman is to be able to capture the Ring for himself, it means that the hunt rules need to be looked at carefully. The assumption here is that Sauron seemed a lot more willing to put his faith on military and the Nazgul, whereas Saruman put his Uruk-Hai to work in finding the Ring. Therefore, Isengard troops have special abilities in this.
Further, in order to keep the game interesting, the FP must be able to have an objective of some sort if the Ring is captured by Saruman. In this line of thinking, it would mean storming Isengard, and enabling the Ringbearer to continue his quest (in terms of a story, trying to wipe out Saruman would make strategic sense, too).
Special rules for the Hunt
-If an Isengard or S&E army is not farther from the FSP than the spaces they have moved, Saruman may use a Character die to roll dice equal to the amount of units present (max 5). For every Warg present, a re-roll is made. Target number is the same as with a normal hunt; any successes do not draw a hunt tile, but force the FSP to declare.
-If an Isengard or S&E army is in the same area as a declared Fellowship, Saruman may use a Character die to attack the Fellowship, or any die if the Fellowship is revealed. Saruman player makes Combat rolls and Leader re-rolls as normal; all damage must be taken as corruption and/or casualties. More than one Companion can be chosen to be taken as casualties in this way.
-If, after taking casualties, Corruption would reach 12 as a result of an attack by Isengard or S&E troops, do not add Corruption; Saruman is considered to have captured Frodo and the Ring instead. Place the FSP marker in Orthanc. Any companions that were not destroyed are left at the position of the battle. As long as Saruman lives, FSP cannot move.
-If Saruman is destroyed while Frodo is in Orthanc, roll a die, and subtract that amount of Corruption. Frodo (& Sam) can take on the route towards Mordor again.
***Destruction of the Ring***
If the Ring is destroyed, and Saruman is still alive, he still has a chance to make Middle-Earth his own. He would be worse off in doing so, of course. There are several notes about this all.
If the Ring is destroyed while Saruman survives:
-Any surviving FP Characters that were with the Fellowship are placed in Gorgoroth. The Fellowship is removed from the game.
-Galadriel can move as part of an army, same as FP leaders.
-All Elven Rings are removed from the game.
It seems only reasonable that Frodo & Sam are given reprieve after all they've been through; Gollum should also perish. The rest of the Fellowship (if any) are left standing on Gorgoroth.
-All Nazgul are removed from the game. If Balrog and the Mouth survive, they will remain onboard until destroyed or seduced by Saruman.
-Morannon and Barad-Dur are no longer considered strongholds.
-Mordor troops cannot be mustered anywhere on the board.
-All existing Mordor troops are left where they are. They do not play any cards, and retreat after one round of combat to a direction chosen by the Saruman player.
Mordor troops will be devastated and leaderless; Morannon and Barad-Dur will tumble as the Ring goes up in flames.
-If any Isengard troops join or are with the Mordor troops, Saruman can use them as if they were his own troops. This benefit is lost if Isengard troops are eliminated from the army.
-Saruman can use Eye dice as either Army dice for any S&E troops, or for the purposes of advancing them on the political track. Saruman cannot muster S&E troops.
It would seem feasible that as long as there are directions from Isengard, Mordor armies would follow the lead of a new master. Also, while Saruman's power isn't enough to bring in troops from far-away countries, it should be sufficient for convincing the troops that are there to fight. Also, this would mean that once S&E troops are killed off, Saruman will be in a bad situation 1/6 of his dice start being useless. This would force him to act fast.
-Saruman can use an Eye die to recruit the Mouth of Sauron (if he is still alive). This brings Saruman one additional die.
-If Saruman's army controls Moria, he can use an Eye die to recruit the Balrog (if he is still alive). This brings Saruman one additional die.
Both Balrog and the Mouth might well be convinced to side with the new commander.
***Conclusions(?)***
I've tried these rules solo two times, and all in all it seems hard to tell whether these rules would benefit either of the SPs, or the FP. Saruman would be hardest to play most likely; on the other hand, he can just let the ring go, and go for the land-grab. This does make a very different gaming experience, however.
Any ideas, comments, praise or reprimand is most welcome. I reserve the right to modify this post; however, I'll make a clear note of it on both this post and the thread.
--
WotR is one of the best (perhaps the best) two-player games I know of, but I think there's a common consensus on that the 3- and 4-player rules are not as good as the could be. So, I decided to stick my neck out, and try to graft a variant whereby Saruman would be a truly independent character, and have victory conditions separate from those of Sauron's. Most of the rules here add or change things in the base game; unless otherwise stated, the basic game still controls the field. I'll walk you through the rules, and add my thoughts as we go along.
***Losing or winning as Saruman***
First of all, Saruman's fate was not tied to the ring as much as Sauron's. It is concievable that Saruman could win in two ways: first, by taking the Ring and then setting himself as equal or superior to the Dark Lord, or by overcoming the Free Peoples after the Ring was destroyed. Therefore,
Saruman wins if:
-After the Ring has been destroyed, he controls 10 VP of FP settlements
-The Ring has been captured by him AND Shadow wins a military victory, at which point Saruman has more FP VPs than Sauron
Saruman loses if:
-The game ends in any other way than above
-He is destroyed
***Dice for the Dark Lord(s)***
As Saruman and Sauron are playing a separate game, it makes sense to separate their dice pools. Sauron, of course, is the stronger of the two; however, for the interests of play balance, it is necessary that Saruman gains a good number of dice, as well.
Special rules for the Dice:
-At the start of the game, Saruman player rolls 3 dice, and Sauron player 4. Saruman can gain one die for his declaration; Sauron player can gain two more dice, one for the Witch-King/Balrog, and one for Mouth of Sauron. Order of play is first the Free Peoples player, then Saruman, then Sauron. Players may pass if the next player has more dice.
***Battles Between Orc and Orc***
It would seem possible that Sauron and Saruman might have come to clash, had the Ents not ravaged Saruman's home and his armies. Also, in the course of the game, it might be a good idea to destroy one another's troops, or take control of a stronghold. Also, their ability to move each other's troops should be considerably lessened.
Special rules for interaction between Shadow Players:
-Using normal attack and siege rules, both sides may initiate attacks against each other, which are then resolved normally. Neither side may build defensive siege engines.
-Saruman may not move the Nazgul, or any army with a Nazgul in it.
-As long as Saruman is alive, Sauron may not move armies which have Isengard troops, or move Nazgul to such armies.
***Ents and Sauron Allies***
Here are two things that might seem a bit strange, but both are in line with both Tolkien and game balance, in my opinion.
First, if Ents can kill Saruman, the game will be very painful for the fallen wizard. Also, Saruman wasn't killed by Ents in the book, even though they did short work of Isengard. Hence, the Ents special rule.
Second, south and east. Both Sauron and Saruman would have seemed insanely powerful creatures for those who worshipped the Dark Lord, and therefore it seems that they would follow directions from both sides. This might lead to interesting conflicts between the two.
Special rules for the Ents
-The Ents' ravaging of Isengard does not destroy Saruman. However, if Orthanc is succesfully invaded or moved into by Ents, Saruman loses his Voice of Saruman ability, as well as his Action Die. Leave an Ent in Orthanc as a reminder of this, even after their force is spent.
Special rules for South & East
-Both Sauron and Saruman can use the proper dice to move, attack or muster with the S&E. Strongholds are credited to the player who moved in the troops, or captured it from the enemy.
***Hunting the Ring***
If Saruman is to be able to capture the Ring for himself, it means that the hunt rules need to be looked at carefully. The assumption here is that Sauron seemed a lot more willing to put his faith on military and the Nazgul, whereas Saruman put his Uruk-Hai to work in finding the Ring. Therefore, Isengard troops have special abilities in this.
Further, in order to keep the game interesting, the FP must be able to have an objective of some sort if the Ring is captured by Saruman. In this line of thinking, it would mean storming Isengard, and enabling the Ringbearer to continue his quest (in terms of a story, trying to wipe out Saruman would make strategic sense, too).
Special rules for the Hunt
-If an Isengard or S&E army is not farther from the FSP than the spaces they have moved, Saruman may use a Character die to roll dice equal to the amount of units present (max 5). For every Warg present, a re-roll is made. Target number is the same as with a normal hunt; any successes do not draw a hunt tile, but force the FSP to declare.
-If an Isengard or S&E army is in the same area as a declared Fellowship, Saruman may use a Character die to attack the Fellowship, or any die if the Fellowship is revealed. Saruman player makes Combat rolls and Leader re-rolls as normal; all damage must be taken as corruption and/or casualties. More than one Companion can be chosen to be taken as casualties in this way.
-If, after taking casualties, Corruption would reach 12 as a result of an attack by Isengard or S&E troops, do not add Corruption; Saruman is considered to have captured Frodo and the Ring instead. Place the FSP marker in Orthanc. Any companions that were not destroyed are left at the position of the battle. As long as Saruman lives, FSP cannot move.
-If Saruman is destroyed while Frodo is in Orthanc, roll a die, and subtract that amount of Corruption. Frodo (& Sam) can take on the route towards Mordor again.
***Destruction of the Ring***
If the Ring is destroyed, and Saruman is still alive, he still has a chance to make Middle-Earth his own. He would be worse off in doing so, of course. There are several notes about this all.
If the Ring is destroyed while Saruman survives:
-Any surviving FP Characters that were with the Fellowship are placed in Gorgoroth. The Fellowship is removed from the game.
-Galadriel can move as part of an army, same as FP leaders.
-All Elven Rings are removed from the game.
It seems only reasonable that Frodo & Sam are given reprieve after all they've been through; Gollum should also perish. The rest of the Fellowship (if any) are left standing on Gorgoroth.
-All Nazgul are removed from the game. If Balrog and the Mouth survive, they will remain onboard until destroyed or seduced by Saruman.
-Morannon and Barad-Dur are no longer considered strongholds.
-Mordor troops cannot be mustered anywhere on the board.
-All existing Mordor troops are left where they are. They do not play any cards, and retreat after one round of combat to a direction chosen by the Saruman player.
Mordor troops will be devastated and leaderless; Morannon and Barad-Dur will tumble as the Ring goes up in flames.
-If any Isengard troops join or are with the Mordor troops, Saruman can use them as if they were his own troops. This benefit is lost if Isengard troops are eliminated from the army.
-Saruman can use Eye dice as either Army dice for any S&E troops, or for the purposes of advancing them on the political track. Saruman cannot muster S&E troops.
It would seem feasible that as long as there are directions from Isengard, Mordor armies would follow the lead of a new master. Also, while Saruman's power isn't enough to bring in troops from far-away countries, it should be sufficient for convincing the troops that are there to fight. Also, this would mean that once S&E troops are killed off, Saruman will be in a bad situation 1/6 of his dice start being useless. This would force him to act fast.
-Saruman can use an Eye die to recruit the Mouth of Sauron (if he is still alive). This brings Saruman one additional die.
-If Saruman's army controls Moria, he can use an Eye die to recruit the Balrog (if he is still alive). This brings Saruman one additional die.
Both Balrog and the Mouth might well be convinced to side with the new commander.
***Conclusions(?)***
I've tried these rules solo two times, and all in all it seems hard to tell whether these rules would benefit either of the SPs, or the FP. Saruman would be hardest to play most likely; on the other hand, he can just let the ring go, and go for the land-grab. This does make a very different gaming experience, however.
Any ideas, comments, praise or reprimand is most welcome. I reserve the right to modify this post; however, I'll make a clear note of it on both this post and the thread.
