darkSpyro

So forgive me if something like this has been posted before, but here goes:

After checking out Krosmaster Arena and deciding I didn't want to buy another 100 figures, I was thinking about a Skylanders twist on the tabletop/board concept. It seems like a lot of the machinery is already there:

• We have the figures
  
• We have stat cards
  
• The powers are known
  

I think a tabletop game is just a hex-board away. There are many things to consider though:

• Mechanics - Most important, obviously. How do stats translate into movement speed, does board position matter, things like cover, are there dice rolls for critical hits, or is it just attack vs defense? Should a rock/paper/scissors mechanic be employed? Magic strong vs tech, etc.
  
• Point-values for figures to limit army size: Giants are 100 points, swappers 80, cores 50, limit of 500 total for example
  
• Portal mechanic to switch out characters and losing a turn?
  
• Can figures level up - how is this tracked (notebook, use game levels, etc?) Damage could level up this way as well.
  
• Hats??? Because, hats! Just as cards though...
  

It would be cool if this became a collaborative project, as there are lot of creative people on here. It would also obviously have to be free and not impinge legally on the franchise at all, which seems easy enough as long as no money is gained from it.

Good Portal Master i dont think anyone under the age of 18 knows what the Sheep you are talking about . you gonna need lots and lots of space for this one


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How do stats translate into movement speed

Base of a core skylander can translate into 5 feet . The cores are medium . Swoppers and Giants are large .

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does board position matter

Yes

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things like cover

Yes

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are there dice rolls for critical hits

If you roll d20 dice then crit hits and fails are always yes .

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it just attack vs defense

No. There is bombers and mages etc you need Fort / Ref and Con saves .

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Should a rock/paper/scissors mechanic be employed?

Its there so use it . 2X damage i would say .

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Point-values for figures to limit army size

Players get one character possibly a summon or cohort . DM gets as many as she wants . Dm also gets to play with any monster she wants not just Skylanders. All hail the DM

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Portal mechanic to switch out characters and losing a turn?

If players are roleplaying as skylander hero , then they have no say over that relic of the Portal Masters whom i assume would give them missions . I suppose it could be used as a healing area on a castle siege type extended scenario. I assume the portal or portals are back at their base hub and not available for every fight scenario.

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Can figures level up - how is this tracked

Of course they must level up . Leveling up is a game hook . They use their custom Hero stat sheet . This is the boardgame yes ?

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Hats???

Not just hats . Players like having lots of goodies . Its another game hook . I suppose you could add in hats as super magic goodies or something but you also need to give em everything else too . Heroes are only half as good as all their goodies.

Thanks for all the input! I am hoping for something a little more streamlined than D&D, maybe more of a dueling-armies type game where portal masters are competing rather than DM versus a party. D&D for kids maybe?

It could be cool to have power upgrades tied to both loot (purchase) and level. Maybe soul gems as well for the top-tier abilities. Need to be level 20 and have the soul gem or something like that. Stat sheets would be good, but again should be simple, with things like HP taken from the console game, and hats and Legendary Treasures as additional gear.

This seems to be getting more complicated again though - I guess I am still deciding whether you are going to need a whole lot of stuff to play a really deep game, or just some figures, a board, and a few cards and dice to play a basic game.

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I am hoping for something a little more streamlined than D&D, maybe more of a dueling-armies type game

Have you seen Warhammer and how much space is needed for inch high armies ?

A DND type game lasting months is so much more memorable and fun then 1 day , 1 session warhammer game. Of course the PM needs mountains of stuff to play a deep game. I am not sure about the usefulness of the stat cards. You want a DND game or Warhammer game , you need to stick to DND /Warhammer rules and try to translate it onto your skylanders.

Oh note to self , The Dungeon Master is now called a Portal Master .

Its not complicated if you know DND or Warhammer .

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Need to be level 20 and have the soul gem or something like that.

LVL 20 is probably never going to happen unless you sit and play DND skylanders for about 2 years.

I guess my original inspiration was both to replace PvP in the console games as well as provide another fun outlet for character use. D&D and Warhammer are not that complicated for adults, but I'd like to play something like this with my 9 year old. A true D&D campaign would need chompy figures and so forth. You could get those with MegaBlocks sets, but then the game wouldn't be accessible to the average Skylanders fan.

I basically want people to grab maybe 4 figures per side and duke it out in an arena battle without a big hassle. Games could take 30 minutes instead of months. I appreciate the other path as something really cool as well, but my particular vision for this project is really more a way to have fun with toys we already have.

Maybe I will try to do something basic to start with the Elite 8 (Spyro, Chop Chop, Trigs, Whirlwind, GG, Stealth, Eruptor, and Prism Break) [ last 4 speculation] just to prototype out abilities and such.

Still, the feedback is great, keep it coming!

If you just wanna attack each other in 4 vs 4 fight not a problem. Draw up an info sheet eezy peezy. You could nab basic human stats for humanoid skylanders and basic animal stat for animal skylanders and introduce magic later.

In the end its just numbers and dice rolling . make adjustments to this info as you see fit .


You just have to teach your son about Initiative , attack and damage dice rolls and thats all you need for combat . He will understand it in 30 mins . This is a complicated or easy as you choose.

No you dont need chompy figures . You could just print out chompy faces and paste them on card board tokens the same base size as a core base .That would be considered an above average prop . You could use chess pieces also .

fancy overpriced Props are fun but not essential .