Glyph Developer Journal: 3/20 Playtest Results
Nate is a good friend and we've played numerous games together. He was intrigued by my concept and wanted to try it out, so we cracked it open before playing a round of Android: Netrunner.
My Champions: Soul Eater, Warlord, Stone Golem
Nate's Champions: Necromancer, Priestess, Fire Guard
Duration: 2.75 hours (improvement!)
Rounds: 15
Victor: draw with one hero each (Nate was the spiritual victor at 2:25, before I double healed with elixirs)
Main Issue: While time is still an issue, the main issue tonight was healing. My move pretty much took the wind out of Nate's sails, as my last Champion went from only 2 HP to almost full health. That's no good. I want there to be surprises, but not something so gamebreaking that it spoils the mood for the other player. After one more round, we decided to call it, as it seemed like it was going to drag on. Good thing, too, as Nate showed he had a Holy Scepter as a back up (Holy Scepter fully heals a single target and then the item is destroyed). That would've really made it go on.
Thoughts:
- Had I not used the elixirs, I would've lost by 2:30 easy. Healing needs to be a strategic tool, not a cheat code.
- However, the Champion health definitely helped speed up the game. the reduced health also added some urgency to fight and be aggressive as you didn't have time to mess around.
A few notable changes/breakthroughs:
- All healing will be reduced significantly.
- Holy Scepter removed completely from game.
- Tried out the unused sword [War] glyph mechanic. It worked alright, but was too strong. Maybe reduce to a single +1 War Glyph on next activation.
