CUTTHROAT CAVERNS
Create an Encounter Contest
The results are IN for the Cutthroat Caverns Create an Encounter contest!
Let me just say at the outset that we were absolutely blown away by the response the contest received, as well as the quality of the submissions. With nearly 100 entries, playtesting and evaluating them all was an overwhelming task - which we thoroughly enjoyed. The hardest part was choosing among them for the top spots and the Grand Prize Winner. But choose we did.
So, how did we make that call? Here is an insight into the judging criteria:
1. Viable:
Was the Encounter playable- or was it broken, unbalanced or unsatisfying?
Most passed this filter with flying colors, though not all. We looked for every opportunity to fix those unbalancing elements if a clear fix was available that did not change the overall thrust of the idea. We did not simply kill ideas, but worked with them to make them better. Even some of the top-ranked entries have been adjusted slightly in this way.
2. Fun:
This is pretty straightforward. Entries that were more fun to play, that lead to higher energy game play and memorable player interactions scored higher with the judges. Most of the entries (almost 1/2) fell into this category, in that they were solid, playable ideas that were fun to play.
3. Innovative:
In selecting the cream of the crop, we looked for entries that evolved the game play experience in unique ways. We were delighted to find that so many had really tried to push the envelope. Sometimes this led to broken cards, but a few times it led to genius.
4. OMG Factor:
Now, we had to separate the great from the good. Any Encounter that we put in the top echelon would have to make a big impact on players when they encountered it. It might be the OMG! reaction upon just reading the card- or it might be more subtle as players realize in mid-play just how different their strategy needs to be in order to win. Either way, the top ranked Encounters needed to have a Holy Crap! moment.
5. Hammer Factor:
This was a final, necessary, but dispassionate filter. It was a measure of how much work we felt we needed to put into the Encounter to make it as good as it could be. Those we felt needed less or no tweaking at all did better than those we had to adjust a bit more.
So, without further ado, let me introduce the Top 6 FIRST PRIZE Winners:
#6 MERCURY by Claus Jensen (slated for inclusion in CC: Relics and Ruin)
The Idea: Hit the big blob and it divides into two half as strong medium blobs, hit a medium blob and it splits into two quarter strong small blobs - and you can only kill the small ones. If two same size blobs are in play at the end of the round, blorp, back into a larger full strength blob they go.
What was so impressive in this Encounter was that it took some real planning and team strategizing to defeat it - and it was not easy. A thinking man's Encounter, this was a great entry to challenge the way people work together - or suffer together.
#5 HIVE MIND by Benjamin Jaberg (slated for Cutthroat Caverns: Tombs and Tomes)
The Idea: 7 Big tough insects. The first time you kill one in a round, they all attack that person. That first kill causes 30 points of damage.
At first blush, this Encounter doesn't seem so different, but by having the whole hive strike one person the first time a bug dies leads to some very interesting player interaction. The spread the damage out until someone nails ya factor gets ratcheted up nicely with dramatic results.
#4 VAMPYRE by Phyllip Chapman (slated for Cutthroat Caverns: Tombs and Tomes)
The Idea: Yep. It's an old-school vampire. He enslaves Players as thralls and pits them against the rest of the party- and if you knock out the main vampire, they all revert back.
There is no question that being able to directly attack other players is something the fans love and this one is not overly deadly - assuming the last vampire hunter can live long enough. Add in the fact that your friends lose Prestige for attacking you but gain health as they drain you, it is just cool as heck. Very innovative.
#3 VENOM SLINGER by Greg Dapkus (slated for inclusion in CC: Relics and Ruin)
The Idea: Big ugly spider poisons you when you get hit. The poison weakens your attacks and damages you every turn. And it may not end when the Encounter does. You only remove one poison token at the end of each ENCOUNTER.
Talk about innovative. By creating a new play condition, being poisoned, that had lasting effects into other Encounters, with its on-going damage and weakness effects, the Slinger is one bad, bad critter. Get one too many poison tokens and you are in for a world of hurt.
#2 WEREBOAR by Fred Barnard (slated for inclusion in CC: Relics and Ruin)
The Idea: If you get hit by the Wereboar, you draw a Am I a Wereboar? token. It stays secret until the end of the final encounter. One of you may be come the last Encounter to battle a duplicate of Wereboar!
Talk about drama. The odds are that a good third of the party will get bitten- and then have to wonder the entire game if they will transform into a Wereboar and face the party AS the last Encounter. It won't happen every time, but when it does, it always makes for a killer story the next day. That's an OMG factor that cant be ignored. Now, you cant win on Prestige as a Wereboar, but if you kill the whole party at the end, you win. NICE!
#1 GREED by Bracken van Ryssen (slated for Cutthroat Caverns: Tombs and Tomes)
The Idea: You can use any other Attack card in your hand as a Critical Miss, spoiling their attack and doing 10 damage to them. YIKES!!!
What is it about Incarnation Encounters? They always seem to push it to the brink and Greed is no exception. Honestly, we wonder if this may prove to be too powerful - and it definitely will be game changing if it pops up late in the game, but it is one of those Encounters that at some point someone has to step in and shake people, yelling cmon, we have to start killing this thing or we are all done for. To which someone responds, I Critical Miss your Feint.
And please join me in congratulating the GRAND PRIZE Winner:
GLUTTONY by Miles Armstrong (slated for inclusion in CC: Relics and Ruin)
Well, there has to be a top dog and this one was ours.
The Idea: Before setting your attack, you can draw cards, up to a 14 card hand- but for every card drawn in this way, Greed adds 5 Life Points to its total. Oh, then it attacks the person holding the most cards.
Like Greed, it is a powerful Incarnation Encounter. It's draw a huge friggin hand mechanic is not only fun, not only amps up play because so many Action Cards surface, not only dooms you for getting too Gluttonous, but is a temptation that no one seems to be able to lay off, especially as Gluttony dwindles in life points. It works beautifully no matter when in the game it comes up and never disappoints. In short, a game with Gluttony is sure to have a very memorable, raucous moment that reinforces and underscores the whole theme of the game, Without teamwork, you'll never survive. Without betrayal, you'll never win. And that is what pushed it over the edge, into our hearts and into the winner's circle. Congratulations - and well done!
We would also like to recognize the following Finalists, who will also see their work appear in print in the near future as Second Prize Winners:
Blak Stark - Ashkara, Ragnarock, Barrier Magus
Ben Jaberg - Master Swordsman, Holy Scale
Uriah Otting - Spike Pods, Jelly Hive, Mirror Crystals
Titus France - Globulon
Henry Chi - Muck Monster
Bill Hand - Emperor Lich
Marshall Pyle - Betrayal
John Coble - Killer Mimic
Patricia Antonetti - Diminishing Draygon
Jose F F Bueno - Bloody Dreadnought
Jukka Hoysniemi & Bryant Brown - Assassin's Shadow (a merged concept w/Nemefish)
Jukka Hoysniemi - Trickster
Jacob Zimmer - Magic Genie
Tom Vasel - Events that let you pick your Initiative
In addition, the Cutthroat Caverns Create an Encounter contest will be awarding an Honorary Grand Prize. One entrant submitted three very unique, interesting ideas as Encounters (discovered items with a resolution component over the course of several Encounters and an NPC mechanic) but they lead somewhere altogether unexpected.
In fact, the discussions that the entries sparked at S&D ended up being the inspiration for a whole new mechanic in the game, Events. This will be a new card type that is drawn along with an Encounter, which may trigger additional challenges and rewards. Full details will follow in the coming weeks, but here is the Encounter that got us thinking - and got translated into an Event for our next expansion CC: Relics and Ruin.
Honorary Grand Prize Winner: DIMITRIOS KANOS for Treasure Chest
TREASURE CHEST
The idea: You find a chest with a riddle lock. Over the subsequent future encounters, the first player to play 3 specific Attack Cards in a particular sequence, will unlock the chest and claim the contents: a Relic Card (our addition), 3 Prestige and two extra cards at the beginning of the next encounter.
Cool - you find treasure. But now as you are battling you have two things to keep in mind. Play cards to best kill the creature or play cards that bring you closer to unlocking the chest. Use a screw card to secure a kill or to foil them from taking the chest.
And of course, this one entry lead to our creation of a whole set of Events of both helpful and dire natures. Now even the same encounters you've seen before will play like new, as new challenges are added to the scenario. Sure, Spite can be a pain to deal with - but now try it with the walls closing in and reducing your hand size every turn. And the rewards are greater too. Sure, you'll find the same potions in the deck - but now when you face Ashtongue the Cruel you may draw an event that gives a Relic of power to the person who played the most Action Cards in the final Round. Then there's the Relics themselves. Try on a Ring of Storing and be able to store an Action Card you play from your hand - for one more use. Cuthroat Caverns: Relics and Ruins will boast a lot of cool stuff you will not want to miss.
CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN TO ALL OUR WINNERS!
We applaud you.
-Curt and Justin