Sails & Sorcery playtest: plunder follow-up

After a nice 4-player 1/2 test (had to cut the game short half way through), I was able to compare the plunder card row (which I had tried previously) with the version I used last time (1 card per island, cost based on opponents present), and yeah -- the card row just played better.

Other than having to quit early, this test was pretty good all around: the players had fun, and most everything worked well. On the down side, after about 30 mins of rules and setup, we quit an hour and change into the game, and we were only 1/2 way through -- but most of that is down to Tabletop Simulator (and a learning  game), I think. I don't love dismissing problems by saying "it's just a learning game" though, because everyone's first play will be a learning game!

Here are a few notes I took down after the playtest and discussion:

* when coming out of hiding, deploy 1 from bag, not from ship

It's just lame to be unable to use the benefit if you don't happen to have pirates on your ship when the Kraken gets you

* maybe add immediate effects for all tokens (like drawing a card when you get the Hand Size one)...

It's a bit of a bummer to gain control of an icon, only to have it wrested from you before you even get a chance to use it. For the Monsters, you get their immediate effects when you summon them, so it's not so bad if you don't also keep control of the icons some of the provide. For the Hand Size icon, it bugged me whenever you would get the token, then lose it before the end of the round, meaning you had no chance to benefit from it. Because of that, I added the rule that when claiming the token, you immediately draw a card. With the rest of the icons, perhaps that would help as well.

Recruit and Deploy have obvious immediate effects (recruit a pirate, get 1 deploy icon to spend), but the rest don't have anything that makes obvious sense. Maybe collect a silver for Plunder? But what about Build and Summon? They could also be "get a silver," but that's kind of lame.

* OR, instead of permanent bonuses that pass around, maybe get a 1-shot icon each time you gain control of the area?

This idea has some merit along the lines of what I was saying above - nobody can take your bonus away from you. However, it changes the dynamic a bit, removing any reason to continue to hold control of an area, and I don't think I like that very much. Maybe a 1-shot icon could work for Summon and Build (and a silver for Plunder)

* Maybe extend the 2p variant to all player counts, ensuring the areas go up in value over the course of the game (instead of doubling the values half way through)

In the 2 player game, in order to maintain some tension, I add neutral pirates to the board each round, in the areas that will score. This way you can't just siphon points by dropping 1 pirate in each scoring area, and as some of the neutral pieces are buildings, it also serves to increase the value of certain areas. Perhaps this should be extended to all player counts, even if just to make 1st place worth more than 2nd by enough to matter via neutral buildings.