MAB> I would like to ask for help
MAB> here. Everyone please read
MAB> the rules for Chariots
MAB> (current available in the
MAB> Rule-sets-in-progress folder,
MAB> soon to be on
MAB> www.piecepack.org) and make
MAB> suggestions for additional
MAB> special actions in the game.
MAB> I will of course give credit
MAB> for any suggestions used in
MAB> the rules.
First, I must say that Chariots looks like great fun. I can hardly
wait to play it.
One thematic question before my suggestion: In Chariots, would you
rather cast the players as chariot drivers or as team owners? If the
former, my suggestion may not fit your theme very well, but if the
latter, then I strongly agree with Phillip's suggestion to add betting
to the game. There's a relatively easy way you could do this.
First, you'd need to add money to the game somehow, possibly using the
piecepack money expansion, poker chips or whatever is available. Each
player starts with some arbitrarily chosen amount of money, with the
rest in the bank. Each player would also need a play mat or something
to track bets. Each mat could be as simple as having an area for each
chariot in the race where players could place bets on the race
outcome. All bets are against the bank, and bets can be placed at any
time before the finish of the race, but may not be withdrawn until the
conclusion.
Earlier bets should probably be made to have a higher payoff, possibly
using the following method, or something similar. As soon as each
chariot finishes its current lap, every existing bet for that chariot
is matched with money from the bank, placed on the play mats. When the
winning chariot crosses the finish line, anyone who bet on that
chariot collects the winnings from his or her play mat, and all other
bets go to the bank. So for example, in a three lap race, a $1 bet
placed on Red/Suns before the finish of the first lap would grow to $2
in the second lap and $4 in the third and final lap. A $3 bet placed
on Blue/Arms during the third lap of a four lap race would grow to $6
in the fourth and final lap.
Races longer than three laps are probably broken under this system;
just bet on everyone, and you're mathematically guaranteed to come out
ahead. I also wonder what adding betting would do to the game play.
Would players betting on chariots owned by other teams intentionally
try to help them instead of advancing their own chariots? Maybe part
(half? one third?) of the winning bets need to go to the team owners
to encourage them to try to win even when betting on other teams, and
to repair bets on races longer than three laps? And what you do with
the money between races is another story altogether. Players could
agree to run a series of races, with the richest player at the end of
the day winning. Or something like that. These are just suggestions
off the top of my head. Feel free to take them or leave them.