Card Game Update: Villainous threats! What are they?

 Welcome back! Time for another preview of my new card game! Recently I received my prototype in the mail from TheGamecrafter.com so I can start really fleshing out the rules with playtesting. This will involve a lot of gaming over here and I will be posting more information as that goes! 

Here is what the game looks like right now!

So exciting!

Today I'm going to tell you about another card type. This would be enemy creatures or characters I just call "threats" or "enemies". When revealed from the deck, you are in combat and must hope that your d6 rolls are better than theirs! Hopefully, you'll have one of those allies from last post to help you out! So let's see what they look like, starting with a generic creature.

As you can see, this is the same layout as your player card, bosses, and allies. The stats mean exactly the same as with all of them. You have the name, affiliation or identification type, the stats, then health and special abilities. 

"Hey, you keep mentioning health, Dave, but how do you track it?"

Glad you asked! Sorry I haven't explained this one yet! See that number in the shield? That is the health points. Damage is tracked consistently with either dice or tokens (however you prefer). Nothing heals without something to trigger the healing effect. So if you hit the Skeleton for 2 damage, it will stay at 2 health until either hit again, or healed by another effect, or its ability kicks in and you have to fight it again. Skeletons are funny that way. You might notice that this enemy has a zero for mentality. That not only means that it cannot use mentality, but that it cannot be controlled. Combat is explained in prior post, so if you are new to this, you may want to go back a bit and read up.

Let's look at an enemy character:

As you can see, Railroad has all the same stats and his affiliation gives him a special ability that is listed on an additional card. They get the same bonuses for additional members being in play as allies do, so +1 to all stats if there are other Foundation members in play. Railroad has a bonus if a certain location is in play that could make him even tougher if another member is around as well. One thing about Railroad however is his drawback. In the novel, Chaos Rising, the hero Nyhtwulf, scrambled Railroad's mind and it took 6 months to recover. He fears Nyhtwulf as a result. Right now, he is the only character with such a drawback, but it may rarely happen in play. We will get to locations more later but I will say, if you choose to make your players face this guy, make sure he gets his trainyard bonus.

Now for a special look at a really nasty enemy who ties down the game:

When building your game, you won't want more than one of this sort of threat for your players because more than one in play at the same time, will definitely end the game. Yes, there is another one. Maniac's attacks count for every player and ally active and all have roll defense against him. Other threats in play remain active, but no more cards can be revealed until Maniac is defeated. He is immune to mentality effects and spells so save them to help your friends. Who knows, maybe you'll have King Falcon for an ally and he'll help you take down that foreboding 15 health. Being immune to mentality and magic also works in your favor because the current boss can't use them on him to buff him either.

And there you have it. Pretty straight forward and next time we will over the challenge cards, the third and finally card type from the event decks! Thanks for joining in!

Board Game Preview: CARD TYPES and COMPONENTS!

It's time for another awesome preview of what's in the New York edition of the adventure game, Galaxy Zento. For those who need a little catch up, it's a 2-6 player game that utilizes an event deck and interactive board to simulate an adventure where you are trying to complete a random goal for good or evil before anyone else. So much has gone into the creation of this game that gives nods to classics like Talisman and other event deck games. If you liked Talisman you will love GZ. The game is packed with action and options. Even as today's post gives you a solid view of that, it only scratches the surface. So lets dig in! (click on image for better view)

Player Characters: The first thing you get when you set up for play is a random player character type. There are 18 of them with GZNY and they all have cool abilities to help you on your journey. Some of them are even predetermined to be good or evil (otherwise you would have a choice). Some of them have special cards that go with them to boost them even more. The symbols are for attack (star), defense (shield), recruit (speech bubble) and evade (arrow). While red and green are part of their color scheme, the symbols are colorblind friendly. Next you have stats for Spells, Traps, and Obtain. Not all PC's can start by playing spells, but all have a stat for them should they become able during game play. Traps are for escaping trap cards and obtain is for artifacts. Each of the numbers, except defense are your modifiers to add to d20 rolls where they apply for each type of

encounter (traps, artifacts, combat, etc). Ways to build on your stats are all over the place and most players wind up pretty huge in just a few rounds.

PC Specials: These are identified on the back of the card by the word "special" and you only get them with certain player characters. There is another type of special card, but we will get to that in a few. The best specials are for the Elemental in this case with four cards. Each one is powerful but can only be used once per game. There are 11 specials spread out to 4 PCs. So there is a good chance of seeing them in play in a six player game.

Goals: These are the win conditions that are dealt randomly to players. Some team play options will be included. Goal cards also back you up with built in rewards as you play and earn your goal tokens. You can read much more on goals in my last post, linked HERE. In the next newsletter I will be spoiling more of the goal cards so be sure to sign up for that! If you can't get the link in the upper left to work, hit the links in the upper right and visit the Facebook page. You can't miss the pinned sign up link there! The newsletter comes with character spotlights, game spoilers and more! Resends of the first 3 editions will start next week and will only go to people who either are new or didn't open them in the first place.

Powers: These also have their own deck and there are lots of ways to get yourself a cool power. With 36 powers available and a limit of 3 in play per person, the combos are nearly unlimited. There are even a few you might call "broken". But fear not, nearly everything has a balancer in place. No matter how powerful you are, something out there thinks you're a snack. You'll be getting a solid example of that soon. The first two expansions had powers in the main deck and those are still good depending on how you want to run your game. Remember that the game is totally customizable so you can play it any way you want. Play or don't play any card you want.

Spells: The spell deck contains 90 powerful cards that make spell castors special in their own right. But there are several ways to wind up able to play spells. If you can play spells, at the beginning of your turn, you draw a spell card that you don't have to reveal. Spell cards are the only secretive cards in the game. You only have to reveal a spell when you actually play it. Everything else is full reveal. Spells serve nearly every purpose you can think of to the point of duplicating some effects. Spells can really be easy come easy go however as the game changes pace over and over again. Be careful when hoarding spells that something doesn't make you lose your hand. Spells can be used both in and out of combat with specific rules for each way of play.

MAIN DECK CARDS:

As if all that weren't enough, you still have the card types within the event deck itself to contend with. GZNY comes with a main deck of 126 cards that you can adjust to your whim. Want to play all death effects and see how far you make it? Go ahead. Want to make it super easy with only the simplest things? Same deal. These are the types of cards that you will have jump out you as you wander New York City.

Items: A simple freebie card. Who leaves a laser rifle laying around? Whatever, it's yours now. Found a power potion? Cool! Only at focal points do you have to worry about them not being a free pick up for your turn (if you reveal a threat with it because you reveal 3 cards at focal points- see the board explanation HERE).  Items can be weapons, armor, or just some cool gimmick. Either way, they add to your play abilities and help you on your journey.

Specials: Another freebie that can accent your play. There's one to help reveal more cards and another that allows you an extra ally. There aren't very many specials hence the term, but they are handy.









Artifacts: These are more powerful can common items and require a dice roll to pick them up. If you fail the roll, they vanish. If you make the roll, you have a new powerful trinket. Artifacts do all sorts of a awesome things to enhance game play but watch out for....

Cursed Artifacts: There is no roll required for one of these. In fact, they will attach themselves to you as soon as you reveal them. They will block you from using any other weapon items or artifacts. Some will send away your allies. Some will turn you into a monster. There are ways to get rid of cursed artifacts, but your best bet is to get your PC killed in action. Most of these will make you a danger to the whole table and a target anyway.

Event: An event card triggers as soon as it is revealed and before any other actions can be taken. They can be both good and bad when it comes to the game environment. In some cases, more than one event can trigger at a time. In those cases, the player whose turn it is gets to decide which is first. Many of the events mirror things that happened in the novels the game is based on. Check those out via the links in the upper right.

Gods: A god card is a permanent effect with special rules. Gods have a powerful effect on the game and offer a little more if you succeed at praying to one. You can appease a god with a sacrifice of a power or artifact followed by a dice roll, but be wary. Fail, and you still lose your offering. Just like events, some gods are beneficial to the table. Others raise the stakes considerably. There is an event and spell to help clear them out, but you have to draw it first.

Traps: Trap cards require a dice roll to escape. Failure to escape causes bad things to happen to you. Pretty simple.

Training Cards: A training card is another freebie that gives you a boost or two. They can affect nearly any of your stats and allow you to play spells, attack better, or hunt for monsters.

Beasts and monsters: These two types serve many of the same purposes with a few differences sprinkled in. Some have different rewards for defeating them in combat. The same to be said of the repercussions of failure. As you look at the card you see several stats like your own. They have their own attack and defense before giving a number to roll if you think you can evade them. Failure to evade any threat means going into combat. Sometimes, failure to evade makes the enemy stronger because they noticed you. Some rare beasts can be made into allies either by spells or special ability.

Good and Evil characters: This is where your alignment really matters. If your alignment matches a character you reveal, you may roll to recruit him or her as an ally. Allies give you bonuses listed on the card. If they don't match, you can either try to evade them or fight them. Combat involves being the first to hit the opposing defense three times. If a player loses, they take 1 damage (per combat, not hit) and sometimes, something else bad happens. When it comes to characters, you want to be careful who you fight. These are the heroes and villains of the GZ stories. There are plenty of them.

Team Memberships:  If you look closer at that character above, you will note a word under her name. That word is the super hero team she belongs to. There are a few teams represented both good and evil in the game. When you reveal a membership, it's a freebie and you belong to that team, making it easier to recruit them as allies when you come across them.

Special Enemies: Special enemies have no alignment requirements and are general enemies to everyone once they are triggered to a point. Some will attack everyone no matter who reveals them. Some will start with the player who revealed and move on to everyone else afterwards. All of them are dangerous and challenging.







Other components: Do you love lots of components? Well, this comes with colored tokens to keep track of your goals, health, achievements, and poison. There are special cardboard chits for the special enemies that you put right on the board when they appear. There are 38 cardboard chits and they represent some spells and some threats. The game comes with 2 d 20s and a d6. It comes with a fleshed out rule book and alternative play methods. The best part, as I write this, is that it's almost available! All I can say is to stay tuned. Hope you enjoyed this very revealing post! Got questions? Hit me up in comments anywhere!

Board game preview: HOW TO WIN!

Isn't that what everyone wants to know? How to win the game is the single most important key to nearly any game out there. Well, it's time for these previews to heat way up as I show you just a few ways to win at the Galaxy Zento adventure game!

As I've explained before, in game set up, each player is given a random goal. The first player to complete their goal wins. But not all goals are created equal. Thanks to the game being heavily customizable, the host should make sure the main deck is built to support the goals being used. There will be 18 goals with the New York edition, but you don't have to use all of them. For a 6 player game, having 7 to 8 goals possible is plenty. I will get more into main deck arrangements later. For now, let's look at just a few of those 18 new goals!

Achievement Hog:  Of course, the first one I show you is kind of a dirty trick. You might look at the player with this goal and think, "why bother playing any further?". Well, don't let a guy with a ton of achievement tokens deter you. There is a good chance this guy will have a bull's eye on him all game long. Since players can take damage and 5 damage kills a player, you know how to nerf this goal. Getting achievement tokens only happens when you win combats, escape traps, or obtain artifacts. And getting a lot of tokens isn't that easy to build up. But with the right build up of powers or spells, the achievement hog can do a lot to interfere with other players while building up their stash. He'll force you to pay attention around the table as you make way for your own win.





Archaeologist: Gain three artifacts from the deck. Seems simple enough right? The best way to win goals like this one are to utilized force points on the board to make those cards come out for you. If you caught the last posting of this blog, you got to read about them all. There are 7 points on the board that can up the ante for revealing cards from the main deck for any goal like this one. So what's to get in your way? Threats from the main deck and other player's goals of course. There are similar goals for hunting beasts, or fighting enemies. Of course, cursed artifacts don't count. Note that when you start pulling off your goal you get bonuses. Every time you obtain an artifact, you put a goal token on this card to keep track. The bonus allows you better chances at dice rolls to obtain artifacts. But some artifacts you have to fight for.

Combatant: First of all, please not the dedication to our nation's veterans. Then note the goal itself. It's simple. Just win combats. These can be from any assortment of enemies in the deck or other players. To get in combat with a player, you just move adjacent on the board and challenge them. With but a few exceptions, they can't say no. Then hope you win the combat via d20 rolls.

Power Monger: Remember what I said about goal tokens. Well, there are two goals that give them a slightly complicated twist. You will have to track your goal tokens two ways on this card. One is for the bonuses you gain and the other for what actually will apply to win. Powers come from their own separate deck and there are several ways to get your hands on them. Of course, if you get the original game and the expansion, powers can come from the main deck too. Totally up to you when you host a game. Power monger can get really beefed up once he starts cycling powers. The limit to powers is 3 so you have to have 3 before you can start changing them.

Serial Killer: When a player character dies, the player isn't out of the game unless they want to be. If they think they still have a chance. They can continue with their goal and player character card or change them both at random to try again. The Serial Killer is there to help players make those choices (I know. ha ha ha). As you can see, this goal also affects a player's alignment of good or evil. Also note the effect on achievement tokens, allowing this goal to challenge the Achievement Hog. The Serial Killer has to be very opportunistic to win, watching for players to build up toward fatal damage before diving in to take them out.

Strange Addiction: Some effects of the game will poison a player character. Apparently, some of them like it. With this goal, you want to see about getting poisoned without actually killing yourself. Watch out if the Serial Killer is on the table while you try this goal. Getting killed means starting all over again.

King of the Hill: For the last one today, I bring you one more dirty trick. The player of this goal will literally spend the entire game beefing up with items, artifacts and spells for the last combat of the game. Past that, it's wait for someone to call "winner" so the title bout can begin. The winner of that combat is who really wins the game that time around. It's not a guaranteed win, just a different one.











Want to know what the other goals are? Well, you can only find out two ways. One, wait for the game or two, sign up to the mailing list!  See upper left corner or links in upper right. Because that is where I will be spoiling some more of them.

About the artwork. You might wonder, in my universe of heroes and villains, why more of them aren't represented in these cards. That's because the seemingly random people in the cards are meant to represent YOU. You, the player who is exploring this aspect of the GZ universe. Thanks for reading. More to come soon!

Board game preview! MONSTERS!!

It's time for another board game preview! This time I'm going to share some monsters that will come for you out of the event deck as you search New York city for your goal to win the game. If your goal card says you have to fight monsters, this is what you'll face!

This is for the Galaxy Zento Adventure Game: New York City. The game is tied into two other expansions that can be mixed and matched for how you want to play and is based on the stories and novels (see links in upper right of page).

 I know you can't see exactly what they do yet, but I will explain the card layout. The symbols are for the monster's stats.
Star:  Attack power added to a d20 attack roll
Shield: Defense you have to roll on d20 with your own attack power.
Arrow: Evade level you have to roll on d20 to escape it without fighting it.
Naturally, each monster will have perks and challenges of their own.

The Were-beast is a combination threat that you treat as a monster but can count as a beast. If it defeats you in combat it passes its curse to you and you become the next were-beast and a special enemy to everyone else in the game. You can count on it not being a pushover in combat too.













The Chimera can attack you three times in a row before you get to attack once. That means it rolls to hit your defense three times in a single attack turn. You should hope you've built up your defense or can make just as many tries yourself to even it out. Thanks to its snake tail, its also venomous and will poison you if you lose a fight against it. Poison has multiple effects in the game to include hindering movement, blocking powers or abilities, or blinding you so you can't make ranged attacks. Fortunately, poison is somewhat easy to get rid of since all you have to do is be healed of any amount including zero.

The Harpy is a mean monster that can attack twice in combat. If you beat it, you get to keep its card and gain a special artifact weapon called the Harpy Feather. It grants you a boost to your own attack for future combats.

Power Ghoul is a pretty basic monster with a very straightforward effect. If you beat him, you get a new power from the power deck. If you lose, you lose a power if you had one in the first place. Since New York comes with a full deck of powers, there are more chances to get powers than in any expansion so far.

New York comes with a slew of spider cards thanks to what happened in Chicago in the novel Chaos Rising. This one comes with two attacks in combat and is venomous. Thanks to other effects in the game (traps and events) spiders can pop out at you nearly anywhere or anytime during game play.













That isn't all the cards that count as monsters, but it's a nice sharp view of what is coming. I have some artwork left to do and a rule book and hope to release New York this summer! In my next edition I will spoil the game board itself! For now, here's some links to the other expansions!

CHESSMEN or first edition

EXP 1

Hey, want to know what comes after this? The all new Chessmen card expansion will have all the characters from both Chessmen Novels! All the heroic Chessmen, their allies and enemies will be on hand to merge with your gaming experience. All new special edition cards, team memberships, and more still in planning stage! 

Check out the Chessmen and a Contest!

It's time for another GZ update blog and I have more for you than just Chessmen. I have a preview for you too. First I want to show you brand new artwork for the Chessmen. For those who don't know, the Chessmen are a team of heroes from the world of Chyssia. They were forced to flee their home world with the infant princess in order to protect her life. The story has been called a space opera with super powers and you can get your hands on the first book of the series for just 99 cents HERE. Some of this art has only been seen in the email newsletters so far so don't hesitate to sign up for that at the end of this post or in the upper left of this blog page.

Here's Falconer and Sersi, the leaders of the team. Falconer is a powerful elemental capable of commanding any element or weather. He can reshape stone, convert it to water and back to stone, summon lightning, and create storms of any magnitude. Sersi is a mystical falcon with spell casting abilities. Watch out for her thunder dive, it can wreck a tank!

Next we have Helshred, the unlikely hero. Despite his fearsome appearance and odd behaviors, he is the most loyal member of the team and heroic to boot. He is an amnesiac due to the wound on his head and he can never remove those bladed gauntlets. Helshred desperately wants to regain the knowledge of his past and hopes that Falconer can one day help him do that. Helshred is agile and acrobatic, capable of short distance teleportation. Since the gauntlets are indestructible, he's practically a living weapon. They can slice through nearly anything. His tail is prehensile and can grasp a weapon or a person.

Reigndale is a soldier of Amnath and a highly experienced marksman. He knows military tactics and strategies. He is also  a solid hand to hand combatant. Reigndale is ashamed of his people because they are part of the coup that forces the Chessmen from their home. He turns his back on them to serve the princess. Reigndale has a secret that even he doesn't understand. Somewhere within him is another person.

That person is Daxeon the Vengor (vengeance) Angel. At certain times of need, Reigndale's body will disappear and be replaced with Daxeon who is so fearsome on sight, lesser beings flee. He fights with cosmic energies and a blue diamond sword. He can exist in the vacuum of space. Daxeon is super strong and can lift well over 100 tons. He fights in raging fury and when any threats are eliminated, he vanishes and brings back Reigndale.

Viro was an astronaut from the planet Ruwano. He was investigating energy readings from a small star when his ship was overcome by strange radiation. He was rescued by a race called the Cyborians but they had to seal his body in armor. Viro is always encompassed in a green gas within his armor. He can create viruses that can do nearly anything he imagines. He can heal, dissolve, strengthen, weaken, or alter the properties of nearly anything. His power is limited and he often has to rest and recharge. Viro lives in constant caution of anything that could break open his armor for he could destroy and entire world.

Halley is the guardian of the Halley's comet shield. The powerful artifact allows him to fly in space just like a blazing comet. With it's power he can smash through enemies and even the hull of starships. The shield also collects and stores energy from attacks that it protects Halley from. Once enough is stored, the shield can fired a powerful energy blast that can clear trees or knock a space craft out of the sky. Halley is the only human member of the team. He was abducted as a child to be studied, but found the shield and escaped into space.

Major Xeroh is a cumulative mimic. He can use the cumulative physical attributes (strength, speed, endurance,) and powers of any beings within about 50 yards. Even without other people to boost him, he can fly in space and has his own physical strength. The eye piece is a scanner that tells him what sort of powers people have at a distance before he gets close enough to register them with his power. He also uses it to scout long distances ahead for danger. Xeroh is boisterous and often comical without intending to be. Like Viro, he comes from Ruwano.

Messiah is quite possibly the most powerful member of the team. He carries the power of Faith. It is the only power that Xeroh cannot copy. He can use faith to heal or accomplish amazing feats. He can fly in space and boost the abilities of others to astronomical levels. He can be stronger or faster than nearly anything he faces. He has even used his power to stop the cannon blast of a starship from killing his friends before he knocked the ship out of the sky with a gesture. Even if it weren't for faith, Messiah is a master martial artist. His past is as much a mystery as Helshred, but only because he doesn't speak of it.

There you have them, the Chessmen! Now for that preview I promised. It's nothing less than the board for the next edition of the adventure board game! Check it out!

The new board is far more interactive in the game than the first one. There are spaces where a roll of the dice can force a card you want to come out of the event deck. Each location has built in dangers depending on what you draw for your turn. For example, the Bronx is the "Monster zone". Monsters revealed in this area cannot be evaded and have +2 to their attack for combat. But if you are looking for monsters, just hang around the cemeteries. You're bound to find them. Worried about distance across the board? Don't. Just land on one of the airplane spaces to instantly go to any other same space on the board and continue your move normally. The starbursts are starting zones for up to 6 players. Much more will be coming out on the game in the newsletter so be sure to sign up!



Finally it's time for that contest! How would you like to have you or someone else drawn as a super hero or villain? Well here's your chance! It's a coloring contest. All you have to do is color the picture and send it or a photo of it to Galaxyzento@gmail.com by April 30! Easy! Print it out or color online and send it to me! If you win, I will draw the person of your choice from a photo you provide! Have fun! And that's all for this edition!

SIGN UP!
 

Late Summer Update!

It's amazing how easy it is to try too hard. Social media is a brilliant tool, but you sure can stumble it up. I know I do. Some people forgive it, others don't. Either way we can only go forward. That brings me to this update!

My awesome son is about to go back to school. While that may not excite him, it means more time out of the day for me to work on my schedule of cool stuff! Hey, it's not easy being an autistic parent raising an autistic child. Boy do I have stories! Sometimes we make for downright comical. Other times we trigger each other in just the wrong ways. My son has  renewed interest in Magic the Gathering. He's learning quick too. It's good to be a gaming family.

Ah, but I need to get on to what's going on GZ!

Several guest artists came forward about a month ago and they selected works off a list to put into the upcoming expansion set for the board game. They are going to be getting back to me around the end of this month (Aug). I'm still doing a  lot of work myself and the pics with this edition are works in progress. The new cards are going to allow you to rebuild the main deck with all sorts of fun and crazy stuff. I've already spoiled some awesome monsters. New spells are on the way now and sneak peeks are forthcoming.

I'm still working on the combat system in side time. It's a system that will allow for up to four (maybe six?) characters in combat with customized decks. That means you can build your deck for just one character (to take on a deck of another character) or form a team!

Also in design is the board for the next expansion: New York! The board is going to have various special effects on cards from the main deck depending on where you are. It will be based on the novel, Chaos Rising with amazing new character types and cursed artifacts.

Finally, I'm working on something else very very special. You won't be able to buy it. It will be a reward or prize. I call it the God Pack. It will be a special set of cards representing the gods of GZ. The special effects they have on the game will be like no other.

So, as you can see, there is a lot of busy work for creation. Gotta keep building and growing. Always more to come.

Another awesome game preview!

Today I'm going to answer a question that a few have been guessing at and show you some more of what is coming to the expansion set for Galaxy Zento the board game. First, lets start with that question.

Folks have tried to guess what the art meant for this goal and now you can see for yourself. That's right, the goal is to get your character killed twice. That means collecting five damage (or getting assassinated) twice in a row. You see, getting killed in GZ doesn't mean you're out of the game (unless you opt out). It only means you have to start all over again. With all other goals, dying removes all your progress, but not with this one. Playing out this goal will allow you to be the craziest player on the board, bar none.

With the addition of monsters, there are some new effects that may help that goal along! Take the Acid Slime for example. Normal combats only deal one damage to you at the end of combat. Not so with this monster. You get a damage token every time it hits you and then get one for losing the combat (if you lose). It's possible to rack up 4 damage facing this creature and that could kill most players. A definite threat.

The Wraith isn't as thorny a foe as the Acid Slime, but losing a combat with it can still be costly. Powers and artifacts are some of the best character support in the game. Taking an additional damage from combat if you can't pay up with one of them may be expensive.

The instant kill possibilities don't end there when you can play as the Assassin. If your first attack in any combat is a natural 20, you win. If it's against a player, you just killed them. Watch out if you get into a combat with the person playing Glutton for Punishment though. You might inadvertently help them win the game!

With 16 new player character cards there will be lots of possibilities for cool character play. I'll be back with more info soon. Till then, keep up the good fight and game on!