Arcane Wonders Forum
Mage Wars => Alternative Play => Topic started by: silverclawgrizzly on February 06, 2014, 10:45:37 PM
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I'm planning to hold an event next month in my home town of Charlotte NC. We're all sort of new in my group, which consists of about 15-16 Mage Warriors. Most of us started around the end of the year so I had an idea to test what we've learned.
Each round I was thinking of requiring players to change Mages from the previous round. 3 rounds, 3 different Mages. No different flavors of Wizard don't count.
What do people think of this idea? It'd stop any one type of build from just dominating and teach new players to diversify their strategies. Obviously you give people a chance to move cards from one book to another if they need due to having only limited Elemental Wands for example.
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I'm not sure about your wizard rule. Different wizards can have very different playstyles. Do you really consider the fire wizard and earth wizard to be that similar, for instance?
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Depends on the wizards. Fire and earth can play quite different, as can water and air. However they could indeed be very similar. I think requiring a change of mage is a cool idea. Do not tell them who or what they are up against until after they have completed the switch in books. Or even better, have them preregister all of their spell books to be used. You don't want them customizing books to meet their opponents between matches.
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I agree spell books would certainly be registered before hand. No making a book from scratch in the middle of the tournament.
And yeah I'm actually pretty solid on the Wizard idea. Different types may play different but it's still kind of against the idea of the tournament.
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I agree with your approach, Silverclaw, though have no tourney experience in MW anyway
I would go as far as to say...
You must play 3 mages which do not share training in any schools
Assuming it is 3 rounds, I see no need for pre-registered books as nobody knows what their opponent will play
Registering books is a faff and this sounds like almost helping players learn newe mage styles etc
The main decision you have to make is
(a) time limit (I think players new to the game will need 90 minutes to possibly win with some mage builds)
(b) tie-breaker or do you go with draw results (my preference with, say damage on opponent as tie-breaker)
I am assuming it will be swiss draw rounds
Good luck and tell us how it went!
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I have a few logistic concerns about the event.
I will not ask unless you want me to.
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Ask away Shadow. I've never held one of these events and as I'm going to do this for charity I want it done right.
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Points for matches are as follow:
Win=2 Points.
Tie=1 Point.
Lose=Nadda.
I'm running the event so I'll judge and not play. Hopefully my ambassador stuff should come in the mail soon so I can make this thing legit.
I don't really care if they play mages in different schools. Druid and Beast Master are different enough in my view.
I come from clix where you gotta register your team for honesty sake. So I say register books too.
I read up on the format from a local convention last November and the 75 minute thing seemed to work for them.
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Ask away Shadow. I've never held one of these events and as I'm going to do this for charity I want it done right.
Ok
Setup and break down between games will take about 5-10 min without changing your books over.
Have you figured this into your time frame?
Tell all your player (if your are going the multi book route. They must have all books ready before the event. No moving cards between books. ) That is done due to time concerns.
Have you clearly stated this?
About book prereg
Let players know when reg will open and close.
Who if anybody will be confirm the books are legal?
When we did the legality checks at Gencon players got a match loss for being over cost and I required the book be corrected. then I marked the removed spells off the list.
I could go on but I think you get the idea
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These are all good points. I'll be checking book legality.
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Another option for this type of format is to have the tournament master specify the set of Mages and each of the spellbooks to be used. This removes the book design element from the tournament, but still gives players a choice of mages to play.
This has a few logistics benefits.
Spellbook legality checks are known.
Players have less preparation time and knowledge of spellbook design required to participate. This makes it easier for new players to join and play.
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Another option for this type of format is to have the tournament master specify the set of Mages and each of the spellbooks to be used. This removes the book design element from the tournament, but still gives players a choice of mages to play.
This has a few logistics benefits.
Spellbook legality checks are known.
Players have less preparation time and knowledge of spellbook design required to participate. This makes it easier for new players to join and play.
I keep 1of all starter books for that reason
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Half the fun in a game like this is spell book design. That is as important as how you actually play it. Removing that element would take away a lot of the enjoyment of the game I think.
I've already started batting the idea around among the local gamers and I figure about 16-18 will show up. I feel confident in my ability to check their spell books before hand. Any extras who show up can be checked at the door. If need be I got a buddy who owns a game store who can help with checking.
I will most certainly be doing some demo events at my local game stores where I'll keep some intro books on hand though :)
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Half the fun in a game like this is spell book design. That is as important as how you actually play it. Removing that element would take away a lot of the enjoyment of the game I think.
I've already started batting the idea around among the local gamers and I figure about 16-18 will show up. I feel confident in my ability to check their spell books before hand. Any extras who show up can be checked at the door. If need be I got a buddy who owns a game store who can help with checking.
I will most certainly be doing some demo events at my local game stores where I'll keep some intro books on hand though :)
The starter books are for people that want play but forgot a book.
To do 24 book checks took an average of 3rounds after reg sheets got handed in.
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Half the fun in a game like this is spell book design. That is as important as how you actually play it. Removing that element would take away a lot of the enjoyment of the game I think. [...]
I too enjoy the spell book design aspect of the game, but I don't believe that removing that element detracts from the games enjoyment. I also believe that many potential players of the game are not taking the plunge BECAUSE of the time and knowledge needed to take part in the design element of the game. When tournaments feature this element in the event, it can create a barrier for new players to join.
For a tournament setting it really depends on the desired outcome of the event. Is the intention to
(1) introduce the game to new players and encourage those new to the game to play or
(2) provide experienced players a way to compete
Either way it sounds like you will have a great turn out.
Good luck with your tournament!
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I will most likely have most of the books checked, days before the event actually takes place. I understand your concerns on this issue. However each and every person who is likely to attend is a close personal friend of mine and I will have more than ample time to check the books ahead of time. Alternatively I can have people bring in written copies of their books for me to go over. :) I can see the value in having extra books on hand in case someone showed up without one.
Wtcannonjr you make a good point about the intent. I would have to say my intent is to raise money for my charity and provide players a fun environment to play the game against other players. This is not a recruitment event however, I've already done plenty of those locally and will do more.
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Well an update on this there was a complication in my event I hadn't planned for: I had more newer players sign up than I expected. By "newer" I mean those who don't own their own copy of the game yet, none of my group are hardened veterans by any means. So I can either supply two newer players with 3 competitive books each or I can supply 6 with 1 each. Not, a hard decision.
I'm gonna do a normal 1 mage per player tournament instead. This was a good idea I think but success has foiled my plans again.
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It is a good way to be foiled though. Congrats on the turn out. I hope it goes well and you recruit many new combatants to the arena.
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Always good to bring new players to our community.
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I'm tempted to make the trip to come to this, depending on when it is and what my school schedule looks like that week and the week after.
Only a 4 hour drive for me... And it'll probably be the event that's closest to me for a while. Don't think anything will be held in GA too soon.
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Probably gonna be held on the 9th of March. That's what I'm shooting for anyway. That lets me get space reserved, get newer players feeling confident enough to attend, and all the good jazz.
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I just realized this is in my neck of the country. I live in Thomasville, NC. So I'm only like an hour and half away. When you set a time in stone let me know and I'll see if I can make it.
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You live in Thomasville? That's awesome, I've been to Mace a bunch of times, especially when it was up in High Point.
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Yeah, I wanted to attend MACE this year for my very first convention ever...but life got in the way.
Also, if I am able to attend I am willing to act as an additional judge since you seem to be generating a large gathering. I don't have any actual experience in such a capacity, with any game, but I am pretty comfortable with the rules. Just thought I'd put that out there incase you felt overwhelmed.
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Hey that'd help a lot! I've judged clix tournaments for years so I get the gist of judging but I'm still learning this game. I got prize support donated from a local store.
Mace moved to Charlotte, and in fact moved to a hotel that's right at a mile from my apartment. I'm also pretty familiar with the guy who runs the gaming as he's an alumni from our guild on campus. It's a good little con to cut your teeth on.
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No problem, I'd be more than happy to help. Just give me some pointers on how to actually punish violations. I can spot them but not certain what to do about them. Like at the recent bash con tournament where a brand new player enchanted his mana crystals with harmonize. A common mistake, but clearly illegal. What to do about it though?
If he had been caught in the act, I would guess the spell is cancelled due to illegal target. He loses the spell and mana but the game continues. However, if he wasn't caught till a few rounds later, it's not really possible to back track. The mistake has already had an impact on the game that can't be fixed, so would he receive a loss?
What actually occurred was he got a warning after the match. They said this was due to passive judging, which I am guessing means you don't intervene in a match unless requested.
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This kind of thing happens A LOT in tournaments. First decide one thing: Did they mean to cheat or not? This is a tough one but if they have a habit of this then react stronger. Generally speaking you are right if they are caught in the act while it's happening then it just didn't happen.
If it's been a few rounds, I'll probably penalize them Mana for the turn they are on in this case. If it was something that took out a creature or conjuration though then it gets tougher. You give em a warning first offense, cost them the match second offense.
What you gotta realize is honest mistakes will happen and with this game being sorta new and all they're going to happen more often. What I will probably do if you can assist is have you watching a few matches while I'm watching a few matches and we'd do our best to catch stuff as it's happening.
You also want to make sure the players are more than comfortable calling a judge over at any time for a rules question. Keep some rule books and condition sheets handy. Just be sure they're actually needing a ruling and not running down the clock cause they're in the lead.
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I have the rulebook, FAQ, and combined codex on my tablet that I can bring. I agree 100% that mistakes happen, and with the format of only one game per match, due to the length of games, I don't want to ruin someone's fun by being too harsh. I think the important thing is to try and have everyone enjoy the event.
So as a general rule, warning first, loss second, and it is okay to penalize them in other ways, such as mana, to try and balance the mistake.
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I'll also bring some spray bottles of soapy water we can squirt in peoples eyes if they screw up too much, or just shoot people with if they're stinky.
Maybe if they mess up rules a lot we'll upgrade to shooting them with hot sauce.
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Lol, now that could be fun.