Mauve Manticore #2

Since I may eventually get around to updating the Lava Bridge, does that rule extend to "alternative use" of tiles / decals so that they appear to be unreleased content? (e.g., the lava is actually red carpet from Lord Batford's manor; and I have an alternate version of the map which doesn't use any volcano tiles but still looks like a cavern...)

I guess the question I'm really asking is, should we try (more or less) to make our custom maps fit thematically with the current set of released content?

 

Thanks for the clarification. It's good to know this tile thing the next time I make a map.

I understand the logic here but I don't necessarily agree with the method it's applied.

The thing is that we don't play MM only once, we play it multiple times, some even play it daily. This "experiencing its wonderful replayability" might not happen the first time you play it, but it will happen eventually, so I don't see a reason to kind of force feed the scenario to us 3 times in a row, when we could have some more variation instead, and eventually learn all the fun complexities of those scenarios.

To me personally this happened with the second scenario of MM#1. This scenario was "ok" when I first played it, but I've since grown to like it a lot more because I've realized all the different ways to win. I'm however sceptical that Games would ever reach the same level of replayability because it's 1 vs 1, which seriously limits your strategy options, and even worse, you always have the same 5 creatures. If it chose random creatures from all possible options, that would be a whole different thing.

But this is of course just my opinion (which might even change over time) and I'm sure others will disagree.

 

Now that I understand what the clever idea of the scenario is I understand the inclusion. However it did not work at all when I was playing on the test server. I kept thinking why do I have to play the same map three times and why did the designer put such terrible matchups in it? I got wyvern vs wyvern twice, zombie vs archer and similar unspectacular offerings. I think it is absolutely necessary to make the randomness clear to the players, it should be very clear in the introtext that the spawns are random.
I still think that the monsters chosen for the map are decidedly suboptimal and that the map would work a lot better with more interesting characters.

 

Yes, the concept is definitely awesome, but like I said in that other topic, it could have been executed a bit better imo. I think all 10 characters should have been different (no wyvern vs. wyvern) but roughly the same power level. I also think that there shouldn't be any perfect counters, like an armor (or any card) that basically makes you invincible against one or more of the enemy creatures.

 

About the teams being equal, my idea was like to be some sort of games where the teams are prety much the same. Didn't want 10 different creatures.. but ye should have picked some better creatures. i know the zombie is subpar, but my idea was that in all teams there is someone good and someone not so good..so decided for it. it can put a fight, the brains card is quite useful. but ia admit, this was the first draft of the idea of random fights each time, usual the idea pops out and then i fail a bit on the execution :\ , i think i did improve it on the games-tag team edition with the 2v2 random battles and dividing it on 3 different parts. well random spawns and battles are a cool concept, lets improve on it and make something cool

 

I started playing the Mauve Manticore #2 supplement just now, and the intro text has a few grammatical errors.



I point these out so that BM can further polish its MM offerings. I know these are user-submitted modules, but I imagine Mary Myrax would ed. their text elements into slightly better shape!

EDIT: The outro text had an error too.

 

+1 for taking the trouble to ss and fire up what... powerpoint and taking the trouble to show the error visually. I'm guessing Mary Myrax should fire her gnomish proofreaders.

 

Skitch! It's a screenshot program that includes a very simple editor and upload functionality
Whatever I can do to help!

 

You have been warned, I expect a detail report on the Peasant Tournament to be featured in the wiki.

Yh, sorry...not quite MM2 related.

 

You can post the video footage links on the wiki

 

I like the concept a lot. Five battles to track at once makes up to some degree for the much simpler 1-on-1 tactics. I agree with Scared Little Girl that three times through wasn't necessary, though it doesn't hurt things that much either: unless we're hardcore about the loot drops, we can just treat this as a single-scenario adventure and quit whenever.

The poor zombie is never going to get a chance to use that Brains! if anyone else has anything to say about it, and the wyvern is going to fly around laughing at everyone except maybe another wyvern or burning skeleton, so yeah...not nearly enough parity in the matchups. Just fix those matchups, even with something as simple as the named warrior/priest/wizard types, and this could be lethally good.

 

Actually the AI uses the wyvern really in a sub par way.. I manage to take it out with archer, and almost with monkey .




The Zombie can do prety good on the volcano map, alot of cover,so he can get closer to the target.
well thanks to the output, it always helps me to improve for future maps

 

Just thinking about this map concept just now:

If you had an even number of maps, and just needed half of them to win, it might make a scenario like this more interesting. The reason being that now there would be some virtue in surviving a long time without dying, even on a map that is ultimately hopeless. It would increase the value of skill.

In real terms this would help the human player, of course, but I'm thinking of a scenario where the AI has slightly superior monsters. The maps should be designed so the AI is discouraged from sitting in one place, as it will often do if it cannot see a quick way to attack.

 

Mauve Manticore #2! First scenario took what felt like forever due to the prevalence of Bashes and Healing cards...13 rounds for me. It was really starting to wear a bit thin near the end. Second battle was quick and a bit too easy, but I loved how the story set up for the next map, which was hilarious in all it's fractured-reality madness. That third battle was definitely my favorite.

The Supplement...wow, that's a neat idea, but the map is way too big and the monster choices are terrible. Battle #2 took me 19 rounds, as I had to wait for my Wyvern to draw bite attacks to damage his opposing Wyvern, who started the battle with the electricity-proof armor. Then he drew a second copy of the armor, which meant the majority of the damage I inflicted was from poison. Both battle 2 and 3 I had my Archer paired against their Skeleton, which is an automatic loss unless you can kill them before they draw Only Bones, which I could not. Discarding cards for the characters who are done fighting is also tedious (particularly in that battle that took 19 rounds). I feel like with a smaller map and a better selection of monsters that could have been fun to replay to see the different pairings, but one pass through it as it is pretty much used up all of my patience.

 

hwango seems you really had some bad pairings..next time just better reset it, usul you can easly win 3 of the 5

 

but it says on the module introdution, that teams are placed randomly ..but ye should have chosen better creatures

edited: just got a Robes Of White Wylla from the games after a hard battle between my monkey and enemy zombie

 

I'm sorry if I came across as overly harsh - I really did think it was a neat idea, and I was very excited by the module initially. The individual rooms all look great, and have a nice variety of different layouts. But yes, I did get some awful pairings, and was disappointed that I could see the likelihood of other poor match-ups on possible replays. As frustrating as the Wyvern mirror match is, at least it was winnable. My Bowman had lost as soon as his first shot ran into Only Bones, and the Zombie seems doomed against Wyverns and Bowmen. On the plus side, I felt a real sense of accomplishment when my Zombie actually managed to beat the Monkey or the Skeleton.