Idea about partners mode + skills

[Dirjel]

I'm thinking next time I play I will deal out three characters and draft five skills.

Then, everyone will have a choice. Either play a solo character with three skills, or play a partners game with two characters and no skills (basically vanilla Alliance rules).

I've always kind of felt like Partners mode was kind of overpowered, and I've thought of ways to fix that. There are also some characters that would be fun to play by themselves during a partners game from the beginning, but I couldn't really think of a "fair" way to implement it; some sort of advantage a solo character would get that a partnered character would lack.

What do you think?

[135forte]

Yeah, but the guy who draws HUNK takes three skills and HUNK's level 2.

[Dirjel]

Obviously, that guy gets an advantage xD

Honestly, I don't think it's that big a deal. He has a +2 cards ability. That's really good, but it's not game-breaking. It's also a higher-level skill, and it's the only thing he has going for him. Other characters get extra explores, bonus damage, damage dodging abilities, weapon specializations, and there are some partner combos that are just obscene. There's a reason that nobody ever wanted to play that HUNK in partners mode - having a partner and a full set of 4 useful skills is (significantly) better than no partner and +2 cards.

Of course, there are some skill combos that can get pretty ridiculous, and HUNK's +2 cards ability will help with that, but I think it will work out okay.

[Khrest]

Too balance the alliance issue I have weapons used by your partner discarded after they are used. Gets rid of the whole I have this gun for ever bs.

[Dirjel]

So I got to play one game last night and we tried this out. It was actually pretty fun, and everyone had a pretty fair setup.

I had Invincible Ada + Reversal Lv1 (2 xp for 10 damage and PLUS FIVE CARDS OMG), my buddy had HUNK with skills, and my brother got Josh Stone and a partner - he ended up winning (hard) because equipping four weapons is ridiculous.

It was a fun game and I think this will be the norm for character selection in the future. Lay out the resources, then everyone is dealt three characters and drafts five skills, then choose partners/skills.

Also, I didn't think this through at the beginning, so I"m going to say it here - If you don't have skills, you DO NOT EARN EXPERIENCE. I let my brother use the Custom Lightning Hawk. That was stupid of me.

[T4S]

This sounds like a very good compromise; a simple trade-off, but I love it

Have more stories or game results to share? I feel partners should have the advantage far more often than the other, but do you think your brother only won b/c of Josh Stone?

[Dirjel]

I've only gotten the opportunity to play one more game. I ended up using partners this time (I got TERRIBLE skills to pick from), but I had Mysterious Mask + Sergei. With the Mine Thrower on the table. I was raking in explores like nobody's business, so I mopped the floor with everyone else (the other two players used solo + skills).

So far, Partners has beaten out Skills 2 out of 2 games. I still like the idea, and everyone at the table still feels like it's a fair compromise, so we're going to keep playing this way. I don't think it's going to change any time soon, if ever.

[Dirjel]

I've played a number of games now with this particular partner/skill compromise rule, and it's a blast. We are able to play every resource every game - no redealing because Cornered shows up in a solo play game. I think Partners mode is generally going to be more powerful than solo play, but certain skill selections and resource cards can turn the advantage pretty quickly - Great Ambition comes to mind immediately, but it's not the only one.

Also, it's important to put out all the resources before choosing characters and skills, obviously, but thought I'd throw that out there.