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the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
Hello everyone! I'm looking for volunteers for a PbP playtest of an election themed game I'm working on throwing together. The draft rules are here, but here's a quick rundown:

-The game is played with two teams, Red and Blue, two players to a team. Each player is attempting to coordinate with their partner for their side's victory, but doesn't get to communicate privately, so you have to balance signalling your intentions to your partner vs. letting your opponents know what you're up to.
-Each side competes for control of various issues on a back-and-forth issue track, as well as local support on an electoral map.
-Each turn, players play issues to a card track representing various news stories, events, and other factors at play in the election. Each card has an effect when played and also represents one of the issues at stake in the election.
-Voters are informed in part by what issues are represented in the current events track, so the goal is to time your cards to get all your best issues out right before major decision points (while playing other issues that may have greater immediate benefit at other times when voters are paying less attention.)

Here are the "boards" you'll be looking at:



(issues and regions have been selected and sprinkled about somewhat arbitrarily; the electoral map is in no way intended to be definitive or accurate, just more or less balanced.)

Looking for 4 players (PMs required) who can preferably post at least once per day. Post interest and/or any questions in this thread.

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CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

I'd be down for trying this out.

DivineCoffeeBinge
Mar 3, 2011

Spider-Man's Amazing Construction Company
Sure, why not?

Capfalcon
Apr 6, 2012

No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Looks neat.

Jump King
Aug 10, 2011

This looks neat, I'd be interested if you did a second round of it.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
Why not. In it to win it.

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
Ok, looks like we have our players. via random.org, CirclMaster and DivineCoffeeBinge are playing as the proud and patriotic Red team against the America-hating communazi Blue team of Capfalcon and Krunge. MMM Watcha Say, I am almost definitely going to be running additional playtests in the future so I'll keep you in mind.

I'm sending out your initial hands for the deck draft via PM. My intention would normally be to have a two-round draft, but in the interest of getting things moving I'm going to be doing both rounds simultaneously. So you'll each be drafting from two separate hands.

Some reminders and clarifications so you know what you're looking at:
-Most cards only do something when played. Cards that have ongoing effects have ATTACH: or EFFECT: in their rules text.
-"Gain 1" and "Lose 1" on a specific issue refers to moving that issue one step towards or away from your end, respectively.
-The issue associated with a card is typically not relevant until the showdown at the end of every 4th round. Cards do not necessarily affect their own issue and can be played regardless of where their issue stands (although some cards' effects may depend on it.)
-Under normal play you're not going to play (or even draw) every single card you draft into your personal deck, so drafting a nasty-sounding card just to keep it away from your opponents may be worthwhile even if it's too dangerous for you to play.
-There's nothing stopping you from playing cards and gaining on issues of the opposing team's color, they just get a head start there.
-I realize the rules text doesn't really spell this out explicitly: the "third party support tokens" that some cards mention out are essentially "-1" support tokens (generally when you place them they're -1 for your opponent), with the added wrinkle that they can potentially take points away from a region.

the holy poopacy fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Oct 23, 2016

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
I just realized I have a very important question related to the rules:

Gabriel's Poop posted:

2. PLAYER TURNS

Players take turns beginning with the player who has the Starting Player token and moving counter-clockwise around the table. During a player's turn, they may do three things:

1) Move one issue a single step in either direction
2) Add a support token to one region
3) Play a card from their hand

It is possible that a player has no cards left in their hand. In this case they still get to move an issue and add a support token, then their turn ends. Otherwise, if a player has cards in hand they must play one; they may not voluntarily pass their opportunity to play a card.

At the end of the round, whoever has the Starting Player token passes it to their right and moves the turn tracker up a space.

It is never explicitly stated, but a turn and a round are separate constructs, right? If so, how many turns are in a round? If not, this means each player will only have three turns?

edit:

Goober Pope posted:

The game proceeds in 3 acts of 4 rounds each. During each round, each player gets an opportunity to play one card from their hand, plus an additional card is drawn and played randomly from the main deck to represent outside events.

Reading this, I am assuming that this means each player's opportunity is one turn?

Emmideer fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Oct 23, 2016

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
Each player's opportunity is 1 turn. One round is 1 turn for all players. Each player will wind up going a total of 12 times.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
Oh, and I just thought of something to increase the fidelity of your play test. If you were to release an un-ordered list of all cards in the game, it would more closely approximate an actual game, since as-is the first two card picks (one for each draft hand) are overwhelmingly important for information control because it's something nobody else will see. Whereas, if this game were actually developed, any player would be capable of knowing all the cards available anyway.

edit: When I say all the cards in the game, I am of course referring to the game as a whole, not this specific game, assuming there are media cycle cards that get excluded from a specific game's pool of 72.

Emmideer fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Oct 23, 2016

DivineCoffeeBinge
Mar 3, 2011

Spider-Man's Amazing Construction Company
I would like to apologize in advance to CirclMastr for how bad and clueless I will almost certainly be. I will be the Paul Manafort of this election game, and he will almost certainly end up having to be the George F. Will who tries ineffectually to get me fired.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer

DivineCoffeeBinge posted:

I would like to apologize in advance to CirclMastr for how bad and clueless I will almost certainly be. I will be the Paul Manafort of this election game, and he will almost certainly end up having to be the George F. Will who tries ineffectually to get me fired.

I'd also like to apologize to CirclMastr in advance for running roughshod over him. :coal:

Another rules question by the way:

Straight White poo poo posted:

2. ELECTION DAY

For the Election Day showdown (Act III), each region gets evaluated to determine which side gets its electoral votes. For each region:

1) Start with the national showdown score calculated above.
2) Each side adds 1 for each support token of their color, and subtracts 1 for each third-party token of their color.
3) For each regional issue that a side controls, add 2 (or 4 for the main regional issue.)

If a side wins a region by 2 or more points, they gain 2 electoral votes. If they win by only a single point, they only get 1 electoral vote. In a tie, neither side gets any votes.

Pursuant to the boded, support tokens are evaluated per region, so this should be "each side adds 1 for each support token of their color in that region", correct?

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe

Krunge posted:

Oh, and I just thought of something to increase the fidelity of your play test. If you were to release an un-ordered list of all cards in the game, it would more closely approximate an actual game, since as-is the first two card picks (one for each draft hand) are overwhelmingly important for information control because it's something nobody else will see. Whereas, if this game were actually developed, any player would be capable of knowing all the cards available anyway.

edit: When I say all the cards in the game, I am of course referring to the game as a whole, not this specific game, assuming there are media cycle cards that get excluded from a specific game's pool of 72.

Good point. Here's the complete list being used for this playtest.

Krunge posted:

Pursuant to the boded, support tokens are evaluated per region, so this should be "each side adds 1 for each support token of their color in that region", correct?

Correct. Please call out any other ambiguous language.

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
Also, I just realized I forgot to post the turn order, which is technically relevant for the draft.

Starting order:

Capfalcon (blue)
CirclMastr (red)
Krunge (blue)
DivineCoffeeBinge (red)

the holy poopacy fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Oct 23, 2016

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

I thought DCB and I were red team.

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
poo poo, you're right. My bad.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
Alright, I've finished my quick-n-dirty probabilistic modeling of all card values. I now know with relative certainty the best cards in the game and can adjust valuations on the fly based on the current board state to determine which cards to play. I'll release my strategy document to our Lord and Creator S.W.A.M. after the game is over.

How you feeling, Capfalcon?

Capfalcon
Apr 6, 2012

No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Ready to usher in 1000 years of Liberal Darkness, though I might have some ideas on triangulation.

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
Sorry for the delay, folks--I done hosed up and a few cards got duplicated in C&P errors my PMs have been hacked by FOREIGN STATE ACTORS in RUSSIA who are trying to INFLUENCE OUR ELECTION PROCESS for their own benefit. Everything should be straightened out now (I keep a record of all RNG rolls so I was able to revert the mistakes) and I've triple-checked the hands to make sure there are no more mistakes, so on with the draft.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
I think everyone here can agree: drat you Russia!

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
I found another Russian hack!

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
Nah, that one already got sorted. I meant to include this in my previous post, but for reference, here were the three cards that accidentally got overwritten with duplicates:

ENVIRONMENT (Blue) Green Party: Whoever is behind on Environment may place 3 third party support tokens of their opponent's color.
FOREIGN POLICY (Green) Policy Wonk: Whoever controls Foreign Policy gains 1 on all green issues and loses 1 Popularity. Move all green cards to the end of the media cycle, in order.
INDUSTRY (Green) - Special Interest Groups: Lose 1 Credibility. Move all green cards to the front of the media cycle, in order.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
Some surprisingly difficult choices this game, I'll say. I think I've changed my card choice every hand but the first. Doesn't help that my probabilistic models were off in the sense that they ignored having 5+ cards in hand to choose from means many cards can be selected for their best case instead of average gain.

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
And the card draft is complete! Everyone should have a PM with their complete deck and starting hands.

Per the rules, everyone has some choices to make to finish setup:



1. Capfalcon gets to arrange the 4 blue issues in order: one in the +3 column, one in the +2 column, one in +1, and one at zero (undecided.)

2. CirclMastr gets to arrange the 4 red issues similarly (one in +3, one in +2, one in +1, and one at zero.)



3. Krunge gets to pick 3 regions and place 3 blue support in one, 2 support in the second, and 1 support in the third.

4. DivineCoffeeBinge gets to do the same with red support (you are allowed to place support in regions that Krunge already placed support in.)

Technically these choices are made in sequential order. If you really want to see what the other team is doing you can wait until your "turn", but since none of the choices technically depend on each other you can post your choice out of order if you want. Feel free to discuss strategy with your partner in thread (out-of-thread communication between players is still verboten.)

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
E: double post

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
I don't care where you put our things, Capfalcon, with one exception. Please put Social Justice as undecided. I hate social justice.

Capfalcon
Apr 6, 2012

No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

In that case:

+3 Environment
+2: Healthcare
+1: Immigration
+/- 0: Social Justice

Global Warming will drown all the gays and immigrants if we don't do something about it fast!!!

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

+3 Budget
+2 Deregulation
+1 Security
+/-0 Religion

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
I'll place 3 support in California, 2 in Northwest, and 1 in North Plains.

DivineCoffeeBinge
Mar 3, 2011

Spider-Man's Amazing Construction Company
3 in Southwest
2 in Florida
1 in... I'm gonna take a flyer on a longshot that might pay off. 1 in New York.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
Biased Liberal Media Media, Inc.:

The country is watching today as our presidential race begins! The entire northwest is in a righteous liberal frenzy as a candidate announces from Portland, Oregon. In an un-president-ed move, they have already announced their vice president as well.



Don't miss their first speech on Global Warming, only here on BLM.

Emmideer fucked around with this message at 00:25 on Oct 29, 2016

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
And we're off! Round 1 starts with a media story drawn randomly from the remainder of the deck:

SOCIAL JUSTICE (Blue) - Radical Leftists: Lose 1 Popularity. EFFECT: When this card is in the discard pile, any player who controls Social Justice may pick it up from the discard and add it to their hand.

As Capfalcon is the current starting player, the card is played as though he played it. Blue loses 2 popularity. (Remember that during the first third of the game, numerical movement on issues is doubled.)

As primary season kicks off, both parties quietly distance themselves from the culture wars that have defined American politics for the past several decades. The post-Republican coalition casts off the religious right to focus on a streamlined message of smaller, more efficient government while their blue counterparts build a similarly practical platform tackling climate and healthcare crises, leaving many of their longstanding minority constituents out in the cold. Not all of them go quietly, however--some, accurately perceiving that the party machine is ignoring them, loudly and angrily complain that their issues are being ignored. Public opinion on the blues begins to sour.




Media Cycle:
SOCIAL JUSTICE (Blue) - Radical Leftists (EFFECT: When this card is in the discard pile, any player who controls Social Justice may pick it up from the discard and add it to their hand.)

Capfalcon, it is your turn. You may move a single issue 2 steps in either direction, place 1 support in any region, and play a card from your hand (in no particular order.)

the holy poopacy fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Oct 29, 2016

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer

Straight White Shark posted:

Capfalcon, it is your turn. You may move a single issue 2 steps in either direction, place 1 support in any region, and play a card from your hand (in no particular order.)

This means he, and anyone, really, could play a card for its effect and then trigger the issue move after?

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
Correct.

Capfalcon
Apr 6, 2012

No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Play:
BUSINESS (Green) - Corporate Donors: Gain 1(2) Business and lose 1(2) Credibility. EFFECT: Whoever controls Business may place 1(...2?) support whenever a green card gets played.

Influence:
Florida

Move:
Charisma +2

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
Support counters don't get doubled, just issue moves.

The blue party's campaign operatives embark on a fundraising blitz, pumping their business connections for all they're worth as they begin laying the groundwork for operations in critical swing states. The already disgruntled radical left cries foul, raising concerns that the party they helped build has sold out.





Media Cycle:
1. BUSINESS (Green) - Corporate Donors (EFFECT: Whoever controls Business may place 1 support whenever a green card gets played.)
2. SOCIAL JUSTICE (Blue) - Radical Leftists (EFFECT: When this card is in the discard pile, any player who controls Social Justice may pick it up from the discard and add it to their hand.)

CirclMastr is up and may move an issue, place a support, and play a card (again, in any order.)

the holy poopacy fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Oct 29, 2016

CirclMastr
Jul 4, 2010

Move Business back toward the good (red) side.

Place support in Northeast.

Play:
CONNECTIONS (Yellow) - Media Allies: Draw 3 cards.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
If the media cycle ended and election was decided today:

Biased Liberal Media Media, Inc. predicts: Red team wins, even with their fairly conservative action. Was establishing corporate donors really the best possible option for the blue team? In a bubble, it's one of worst political moves available to candidates. Only time will tell if its true potential pays off.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
Straight White Shark, rules question because I can't remember off the top of my head. Do I draw a card at the start of my turn, aka I need to wait for you to the process the current turn before I act?

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the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
No, there's no drawing cards round-to-round. Hands only get refreshed every 4 turns; outside of cards that affect your hand, what you have is what you get through the conventions.

Also, just for reference I'm going to assume that all issue move choices are towards your own side unless otherwise specified.

Round 1 continued

The red party matches their blue counterparts dollar for dollar as they crank up their fundraising machine. Their old strongholds in cable news and radio talk shows prove to be valuable allies in these endeavors; no doubt their media empire will be instrumental in spinning the news their way.

CirclMastr draws 3 cards and pumps Northeast and Business.





It is now Krunge's turn.

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