Scenario 7: Plagues and Disasters

I was intrigued by developing a scenario fundamentally different from the others, focusing not on additional rewards but rather on repeatedly taking away resources and options from players. As a special element, I wanted to include a cooperative component where players could collectively overcome these disadvantages – but only together, so no player could succeed alone.

 

I initially set the number of negative events (plagues, disasters) to 6, with one plague entering the game each round. I quickly changed this to have 2 plagues at the start, with 2 more added at the beginning of each epoch. This way, the last plague would enter the game well before the end, remaining active for at least two rounds.

 

The number 6 seemed to become a magical number: 6 plagues in 6 rounds and 6 different professions on the population board. It fit well that each profession could be assigned to a plague to serve as the basis for combating it.

 

I developed 6 negative impacts on different aspects of the game, trying to link them thematically to the professions:

·         Nobles help against internal unrest, blocking card functions like the Shipyard or the Scriptorium.

·         Soldiers fend off barbarians who take pioneers hostage.

·         Merchants hire mercenaries to repel pirates that affect city functions etc.

 

The test games' requirements were to adjust the values needed to definitively defeat a plague and determine the individual rewards for players.

 

Since the plagues are dealt with before the rounds, players are unprepared in the first rounds. To counter this, players also receive the "Favor of the Gods" (see Scenario 2: Tribute) and start with additional prestige points – after all, players may lose points due to the plagues. Initially, there were different rules for the "Favor of the Gods" compared to Scenario 2, but I soon adjusted them for consistency, making the rules easier to follow.

 

 Scenario 8: New Era

This scenario required the longest development time due to its concept of providing different abilities for players. This is the most complex scenario with asymmetric starting conditions. Additionally, players should not only collect prestige points traditionally but also cultural points. Each player represents a civilization with its own cards and cultural point requirements. Cultural points limit the prestige points at the game's end, making it a challenge to balance two different types of points.

 

I first divided the 54 civilization cards into 9 groups of 6 cards each, defining 9 civilizations with a set of 6 cards each. I then assigned cities to these civilizations, trying to adhere to historical contexts. For instance, the Egyptians would obviously have the pyramids and the Sphinx, along with Memphis and Naucratis, while the Phoenicians would have Carthage, and the Greeks would have Athens etc.

 

I then drew from historical characteristics of each civilization to develop their in-game advantages. Historically, the Egyptians were primarily located in Egypt and did not spread across the Mediterranean, unlike the Phoenicians or Greeks. For these and many other aspects, I created unique options and rules, such as additional master trainer actions, more pioneers, or a restriction that the Egyptians could only build adjacent to their existing cities, naturally preventing them from building cities in Gaul or Iberia. The Egyptians should excel early on, having already flourished before other civilizations rose. Conversely, the Romans appeared later on the world stage and should therefore have a delayed start. The Greeks, with their philosophers, should be strong in education, while the Phoenicians excel in commerce and trade post distribution.

 

Trade posts? As an additional layer of complexity, I introduced game pieces placed on blockade markers during preparation, requiring not just the removal of the markers but also the placement of new game pieces on the board. Two pioneers are needed for this. It was important to me to reflect the character of the civilizations. Generally, there is a general who can control a city, a trader who can move across the board, and several trading posts providing access to local resources (like other figures and cities and pioneers that control the area). The Egyptians received no ocean-going ship, and the Carthaginians got an additional trading post.

 

It's time to discuss access to resources and cultural points. The scenario includes a new type of card called "Panem et Circenses." These cards depict 4 requirements, 3 goods, and 1 specific type of city. Goods are available in the provinces and can be purchased there if you have "access," such as a trading post.

 

How these cards should be acquired and fulfilled was the subject of long discussions in the test groups and many trials. The same applies to the various advantages and abilities of the civilizations. Balancing asymmetric conditions is always challenging. It repeatedly became evident that the ability of civilization X was too strong or weak compared to the ability of civilization Y.

 

 

During the tests, I decided that the well-optimized 6 civilizations with starting cities in the inner part of the game board would be included in the final game, while the 3 civilizations in the outer provinces, not fully developed and tested, would be left out. Thus, the Gauls, Numidians, and Assyrians/Sumerians did not make it into the final game.