Inspired by Barbarian Prince (1981)

[Anderas]

Did you take a look at my current project?
I rewrite the base quests to have four difficulty steps. That way they can be played in any order, but are still adapted to your group.

[Big Bene]

Marking movement cost on the tile itself is a good idea Big Bene. By the way, Where did you get the farmland tile you have here?

It's the farmland tile from Settlers. I just cut out a square middle section of the hex tile.
Why did you not add the diagonal movement costs, too?

I thought about making an additional set of "exploration" cards. When a player draws a map tile, he also draws an exploration card. This would contain information about ways, plus special information such as encounters and settlements.

Possible exploration card:

If you have entered this tile on a way, this way makes a turn of 90 degrees to the right (other possiblities: this way divides into two, forming a T-crossing / this way comes to an dead end here). If you have entered this tile cross-country, a new way starts here, at a direction of your choice (other possiblities: there's still not way / a new way starts X degrees to the right from the direction you were coming).

Throw a red die
If you are exploring a tile of:
- Farmland:. 3-5 = You found a village. 6 = You found a town.
- Mountains: 5 = Mountain cabin. 6 = Monster encounter
- Plains: 3-4 = town. 5 = city. 6 = Merchant
- Forest: 5 = Dungeon. 6 = Monster encounter
- Wasteland .....

etc pp.

[Big Bene]

A more graphic idea of an exploration card:

Beispiel.jpeg

Of course this is only an example. The chance of (for example) finding a village or monster in a given terrain should be diferent on every card.

[Big Bene]

Push

This thread was pretty active for a number of days, but interest seems waning now...
I was just interested how the project developes, so I'm trying to bring it back to attention.

[GimmeYerGold]

Thanks Big Bene! Appreciate your support on the project!

To answer your earlier question about diagonal movement, I decided to keep the movement as true to regular movement as possible, so only horizontal and vertical.

Work continues, and I have revised my rules for the tiles, and a deck of 24 "Realm" cards are forthcoming. The player draws from when exploring the tile they're standing in. Functions similar to treasure cards, bad ones go back in, good ones stay out, however there are some unique additions, like finding a stable and buying a horse for faster overland travel, etc.

Overall I anticipate approximately 70 realm tiles total, and a Hero can reveal up to 3 tiles each time they move into an unexplored area. Based on this, the Heroes are likely to reveal the location of at least one dungeon and settlement within 5 to 7 player turns, or about one and a half rounds. Playing with these realm tiles will function as a sort of puzzle/strategy game as Heroes find and determine the best routes to travel to and from, while offering rewards and challenges before they even enter a Quest, thereby increasing game tension and fun. (At least, that's how I hope it will play out! )

So anyway, here are the revised and simplified rules:

Rules of the Realm

Zargon places the Ruins tile, and four random wilderness tiles adjacent to it. The wilderness tiles are: Plains, Desert, Forest, Swamp, Hills and Mountains.

Zargon then shares enough of the first Quest’s script to encourage the Heroes to seek out the unknown location of the Quest’s dungeon, however, any surprise elements are saved for when the Heroes actually begin the Quest. Then, the Hero to go first places their figure on top of the Ruins tile, and begins their turn.

As usual, a Hero may move, perform an action, or perform an action, then move. The following actions may be performed while in the realm: Attack, Cast a Spell, Change Equipment, Run, and Explore. When a Hero explores, they draw a card from the realm deck.

Each Hero rolls their red movement dice, and may move onto any adjacent tile, so long as their movement allows. Moving onto a realm tile subtracts that number from the Hero’s movement roll. The Hero’s remaining movement must be equal to or greater than that number for the Hero to move onto that tile.

Each realm tile is marked with a number; Plains = 1; Desert = 2; Forest = 3; Swamp = 4; Hills = 5; Mountains = 6; Ruin, Settlement, and Dungeon = * (The * is a number determined by rolling a red die each time before a Hero moves onto that tile.)

If no tiles exist adjacent to the tile a Hero has moved onto, the Hero then places a random tile in each empty space adjacent to that tile. The Hero may continue to move through as many tiles, and place as many new tiles as their movement roll allows.

Each time a Hero moves onto a realm tile, they roll a combat die. Rolling a black skull means a wandering monster appears in an adjacent tile. However, the monster may move and attack on Zargon’s next turn.

Each tile has a corresponding wandering monster: Plains = Goblin; Desert = Mummy; Forest = Skeleton; Swamp = Fimir; Hills = Zombie; Mountains = Orc; Dungeon = Chaos Warrior; Ruins = None; Settlement = None.

When a Hero moves onto a settlement tile, the Hero enters the settlement, and their figure is removed until they exit. While a Hero is in a settlement, on their turn, they may visit the armory to purchase and/or sell a number of items, and as an action, they may explore the realm, and draw a card from the realm deck as usual on any other realm tile.

When a Hero moves onto a Dungeon tile, that Hero enters the Quest, and their figure is removed until they exit. However, nothing is placed on the game board, and the Quest does begin until all Heroes enter the Quest. Then, they place their figures at the starting point of the Quest, and the Quest script is read in full. The Quest now begins according to the usual rules.

After each Hero exit the Quest, and returns to a settlement tile, they may collect any reward, and the Quest is then complete.

[GimmeYerGold]

Attached is a set of 25 "Realm" cards. They may be used with any overworld map system like this one here, or whatever you have for your own adventures. They may also be used independently, as a deck that a Hero may simply draw one card from before any Quest, to represent what they might encounter between town and the actual Quest.

Any feedback is encouraged and appreciated, as always

[Anderas]

I like the design and i like what they do. They are really beautiful!

I get all the effects last only for one quest? Rerolling a combat die is strong! I didn't understand if you reroll all the time or only one time during the next quest?

[GimmeYerGold]

I like the design and i like what they do. They are really beautiful!

I get all the effects last only for one quest? Rerolling a combat die is strong! I didn't understand if you reroll all the time or only one time during the next quest?

Thank you! The effect is for only one quest, and for the cards that allow you to reroll, it is intended for one reroll "all the time," like you say here. (Temple is for anytime you defend, and barracks is for anytime you attack.)

[slev]

Slightly off-topic, but I did a rather spiffy P&P build of the Todd Sanders recreation of Barbarian Prince. I even painted-up some 15mm barbarian figures for it!

[clmckay]

This may be a little late, what about Catan tiles?

They are hex, though not square. On the plus side you wouldn't have to print them and Kosmos editions come with little plastic bits in a variety of colors.

On second thought....there may not be enough diversity in pieces to make it work with additions.