Unstitching Puppet Wars: Unstitched

[ThePandaDirector]

Even though PWU is not officially released, and I have yet to give it a thorough playthrough, I wanted to start a thread to share homebrew rules and expansions.

In my review of PWU I stated that it is a combination of the original and the beta, leaning slightly more towards the beta. I quite like it, but if there's one thing I've noticed is how suitable PW is for customisation. So whether you want to pull it more in line with first edition, want to tweak a rule you think could be better, or just want to add more awesome features to an already awesome game, this is thread to throw ideas around.

So if you've got any ideas, whether you own the game or not, let's have them =D

Edited April 29, 2013 by ThePandaDirector

[ThePandaDirector]

Just wanted to post this separately to de-clutter the first post (also revised my idea).

My first rule is a change to how attaching upgrades work. For those who don't know, upgrades work like this:

There are two actions, Scrounge and What Pretty Buttons You Have. Scrounge lets you Attach an Upgrade from your Scrap Heap anywhere on the board. WPBYH allows you to Tear Apart an Adjacent Friendly Puppet and Attach its Upgrade. Neither require you to pay the Attachment Difficulty, while WPBYH does not cause an Exhausted Counter to be placed (for some reason). On top of that is a rule/ability referred to as I Need This, which allows a Puppet to Attach an Enemy Puppet's Upgrade after it is Torn Apart. They have to pay the AD as "normal". There's no mention of Attaching Upgrades from an Enemy's Scrap Heap.

I quite like how it works, but I still think it could be better, since there are other ways upgrades could be attached and the whole mechanic could do with a bit more player interaction and tactical depth.

So here's my idea:

Homebrew Rule Revision - Attaching Upgrades

Remove all the actions, abilities, whatever, and replace with two rules - Shiny! and My Shiny! Attachment Difficulty and Necessary Characteristics are still there though.

Shiny!: Once per Animation, a Puppet may Attach an Upgrade; if it meets the Attachment Difficulty (AD) and Necessary Requirements (NR). Attaching an Upgrade does not cause an Exhausted Counter to be placed, however a successful Attachment does end the Puppet's Animation regardless of whether it has Moved or performed an Action. There are two ways a Puppet may Attach an Upgrade - from a Scrap Heap or from a Puppet Torn Apart in the Game:

• Upgrades from a Scrap Heap - A Puppet may Attach an Upgrade from a Friendly Scrap Heap anywhere on the board. To Attach an Upgrade from an Enemy Scrap Heap, it must be adjacent to an Enemy Workbench.
  
  
• Upgrades from a Puppet - During a Puppet's Animation, it may automatically Tear Apart an Adjacent Friendly Puppet and Attach its Upgrade. After Tearing Apart an Enemy Puppet, it may also Attach its Upgrade.
  

Design Note: I realised that there was no way to represent all the cool ways you could Attach Upgrades through Actions; they'd just be too many. So instead I combined them into one big, yet surprisingly simple, rule. Also, I think there's a nice bit of symmetry to representing it like this (with two categories each applying to both players). Attachment Difficulty is still there, because it balances stealing Upgrades. I removed the part where you ignore the AD of Friendly Upgrades, because I feel that it will lead to players Attaching Upgrades just to deny their opponent. However, Shiny! doesn't really change much, and there is still a lack of player interaction. So I created the Upgrade equivalent to Dodge - My Shiny!

My Shiny!: Any time a Puppet declares it will Attach an Upgrade, whether from a Scrap Heap or a Puppet, any Puppet Adjacent to the source of the Upgrade may declare My Shiny! Each player Flips a card for every Friendly Puppet that declared My Shiny! After playing cards from their hand, the player who meets the Attachment Difficulty (AD) of the Upgrade may select to either Attach the Upgrade to a suitable Puppet or place it in the owning player's Scrap Heap. If more than one player meets the AD then the player with the highest Numerical Value wins.

Design Note: I always felt that the Attachment Difficulty alone was too one sided with no way to oppose the Attachment of one of your Upgrades, regardless of how many Puppets you had surrounding it. It just seems right for Puppets to fight over these scraps, and even steal them from under each other's noses. Now, if you want to Attach an Upgrade, you're going to need to be aware of your surroundings; stealing Upgrades from the Enemy becomes a much more engaging challenge (as does holding onto your own). While I initially didn't want to use AD, I think that it helps balance My Shiny! because it forces players to think and prioritise when they are going to make a grab for an Enemy Upgrade, rather than challenging every single one and slowing the game down.

Anyway, let me know what you think, and maybe give it a try when you get your copy of PWU.