Quest for the Rings 2010!

[Gabriel]

The following is intended to add a bit more depth to a session of fighting games. I find it gets boring for just two people to select characters and beat each other up time and time again. I like it when games provide some kind of framework for the action, like Mortal Kombat Chess on the MK: Deception disc does. I dreamed this little game up this afternoon while looking over my Quest for the Rings Odyssey 2 set. A friend and I played it using Soul Calibur IV as the fighting game of choice, but we purposefully made it generic so the game within the game could be Tekken or Soul Calibur or King of Fighters or whatever.

 

What You Need:

 

Quest for the Rings components including:

gameboard

10 Ring tokens

1 Quest token

3 dragon tokens

3 nightmare monster tokens

23 castle tokens including dungeons, crystals, infernoes, and shifting halls.

 

1 six sided die

 

1 cup

 

2 miniature figures (1 for each player, can be pennies or chess pawns or RPG miniatures)

 

a fighting game which supports player versus player and player versus CPU battles.

 

 

Setting up.

 

Randomly set all the castle tokens on city spaces, but do not put any tokens underneath them. Place all the ring tokens and the quest token in the cup. Each player rolls the die and the high roller gets to move first. One player claims the dragon tokens and the other player gets the nightmare monster tokens. These are the player's Life Tokens and represent how many times they can be defeated before they lose.

 

Playing the game

 

Each player takes their turn with the high roller above going first. The player rolls the dice to determine how many spaces he may move his miniature. His first movement point must be to one of the ships surrounding the landmass. After that, it costs one movement point to progress each space along the map. The player may move on to a ship whereupon it costs 1 movement point to move to an adjacent ship. Any time the player moves his figure into the same space occupied by the other player's figure, he must stop moving.

 

If the figure lands on a castle token, the player must flip it over and face a match of combat in the fighting game. If the player emerges victorious, he may claim the castle's reward.

 

Dungeons & Infernos = The player draws a token out of the cup. Most of the time, this will be a ring. The player takes the ring and keeps it. If it is the quest token the player receives no reward and the token is placed on the board in the space where it was found. The castle token is discarded as soon as the castle's combat round is defeated.

 

Crystals = Crystals are "Shields". Defeating a Crystal square allows the player to claim the Crystal Castle Token. The Crystal Castle Token allows the player to not suffer a loss of life or a ring from a defeat. After it is used for this purpos, the Crystal Castle Token is discarded.

 

Shifting Walls = Defeating a Shifing Walls Castle allows the player to claim the token. Whenever the other player lands on a castle, the player can spend the Shifting token to control the castle's defender rather than leaving it to the CPU. After using it, the Shift token is discarded.

 

When Players fight Castle defenders:

 

If the Castle Defender wins: the player must sacrifice a Shield/Crystal Token, drop a Ring Token, or lose a Life Token. The Castle Token remains on the board and the player must leave it during his next turn. Any dropped rings are left in the square to be claimed.

 

If the Player wins: the player receives the reward the Castle Token indicates and any potential bonus treasure dropped there previously.

 

Whenever a player lands on another player, they fight. The loser must either spend a Shield/Crystal Token to protect himself, give a Ring token to the winner, or lose a life, in that order of priority.

 

 

Ending the Game

 

The game immediately ends when one player runs out of life tokens.

 

It can also end by completing the final battle.

 

Once all ten rings and the quest marker are discovered, the players should move toward the quest marker for the final showdown. The first player to the quest token claims it and immediately triggers the final battle. The players then fight a number of matches. A player can only lose as many matches as the formula below indicates:

 

Basic: can lose 2 matches

 

The player with the most rings can lose one additional match.

 

The player with the quest token can lose one additional match.

 

Shields/Crystals and Life Tokens are irrelevant at this point.

 

Once the other player is defeated, the still living player is the victor of the game.

 

 

Notes:

 

That's it. After playing it once I think the shields may be a bit too powerful and discourage player vs player conflict. There also needs to be more of a planning and skill component. I'm thinking about making the Inferno squares allow you to not only claim a ring but also take a peek somewhere else on the board. Also, maybe the Shifts should allow the person playing them to claim the treasure of the square if they win the fight.

[Vic George 2K3]

Sounds interesting.