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I just glossed over your post, so I’m not going to comment on the details, but this caught my eye: the # companions they can retain is dependent upon their Presence stat the # of (revealed) Items they can retain is dependent upon Shadow stat the # of (unrevealed) Equipment items they can retain is dependent upon their Muscle stat. This is all news to me. And now I think I finally figured out why…
Today I sat down after a ~2 week hiatus and “loaded a saved game” so to speak. I had (a) taken the photo shown just below (plus another of the map tiles I had placed, not shown), (b) kept all the cards in my Hero Tableau in one stack in the box, and (c) kept all the Quest/Threat cards in another stack in the box. [1] I was able to get things back in order quickly, and actually proceeded to finish…
Reading through the comments, the main criticisms of skill checks seem to be: they’re too punishing (on average, the hero suffers) they’re too random (or swingy ; the results can vary dramatically) Both observations are, to a large extent, true . They’re deliberate design choices. Before condemning the humble Ziggurat skill check, I’d encourage you to play a few quests. Make note of the moments…
Genghis-Pawn: CQ1 : Is there ever any way that a Denizen can be in pursuit and Revealed besides the case where the player has previously entered combat with them and fled? (Vixen’s ‘peek’ ability doesn’t count, as it does not Reveal them). Yes. You may be asked to Reinforce in Pursuit (see RB p.31). Genghis-Pawn: CQ2 : Is the intention that you only ever get 1 chance to Parley with a Denizen, the…
Hm. Clarification Questions: CQ1: Is there ever any way that a Denizen can be in pursuit and Revealed besides the case where the player has previously entered combat with them and fled? (Vixen’s ‘peek’ ability doesn’t count, as it does not Reveal them). CQ2: Is the intention that you only ever get 1 chance to Parley with a Denizen, the very first time you encounter them? I cannot encounter,…
modius: We could place Exploration and Backtrack tokens into their own “Map Token” section or equivalent, but then they would be wholly disconnected from the most likely point of interaction in the rules. That’s why I’m suggesting that you put all information about map tokens under the Move section. Most of the time, you will interact with the token during or after a move/explore. But even if you…
Ambush Genghis-Pawn: Q1: This de-synchronizes the Time pools on Denizen cards from the Time pool on the Threat card, correct? The former may decrement many times in a single Ambush, the latter decrements only once at the start. Assuming this is correct, it is a little odd, thematically… for me it raises theme-oriented questions like (a) whether it might be appropriate to give the player a “free”…
Genghis-Pawn: The QR for Parley starts with “Discard the matching offer.” The QR-in-card-form (“player aid”) also includes a cryptic blue circular (1) icon, whereas the “cheat sheet” format does not. S1: It would be ideal if the QR for Parley started with “ Rummage (Optional)” just as the QR for “Hero Phase” does. Agreed. Genghis-Pawn: Q3: What is the blue (1) icon meant to indicate? “Do this for…
Perhaps its the formatting of the rules that is causing confusion. The Backtrack section in the RB is a “call out” which would be typeset as a kind of information box. It’s listed next to the Move action because this is the most likely place you will encounter a Backtrack token; either when you are forced to place it or move onto it. This is similar to placing the exploration token descriptions in…
Matches When you roll a skill check and doubles appear on those 8-sided dice… it just feels right that something should happen. Yeah, baby! tabicat: But the chances that two D8s are the same is almost 13%. 1 in 10 means its going to happen. And from a cognitive stand-point it feels like it happens a lot; you remember doubles. As a consequence, the reward or punishment can’t be too dramatic. So the…
So today, the rulebook has three entries: Move Backtrack Explore Move and Explore are actual movement actions, and Backtrack is what happens when you encounter a backtrack token. Instead, just have two actions: Backtrack Explore And don’t consider encountering a backtrack token as an action. Rather, list it as one of the possible tokens that you can encounter and just describe to do if you do…
I don’t entirely understand the question, but hopefully additional information will help. Movement around the explored map is possible using: Move action; moving between explored tiles Escaping from combat; retreat to an adjacent explored tile Items that may effect some sort of translocation or teleport to an explored tile The only way of entering an unexplored tile is using the Explore action.…
There are several encounters where this might be used. Also, it forms the basis of some hero’s actions – though none of those heroes are in the base game. Not every skill check is life and death. Sometimes its just a good benefit or nothing Also, having a grit of 5+ makes any roll probable .
I was wondering if it would make sense to make it clear in the rulebook that there are only two types of movement: Backtrack – move among three explored tiles Explore – move onto one unexplored tile This makes it clear that you cannot mix explored and unexplored tiles in one movement. It would also mean that “Move” is removed as an action. Instead, it would be renamed to “Backtrack”. Under…
What is the situation where the push-your-luck rules are used? They seems to be of limited value, since unless you have a +2, it’s unlikely that more than two rolls will succeed, so I would never chance it unless it was a live-or-die situation.
I am now excited to finally be in a position to get started with this! I had a paw through the box, but decided to print the rules before I go any deeper. This week is the week
This may spill over the topic of QR, but I’m trying to minimize threads. “Ambush” and “Parley” questions (QR/RB v0.13) Q=Question. S=Suggestion. The QR for Ambush starts with: “Time Passes. If needed, remove 1 Time from all denizen groups in pursuit. Repeat until one or more groups have no time.” RB 21 is nearly verbatim. Q1: This de-synchronizes the Time pools on Denizen cards from the Time pool…
I agree with ths sentiment of this post, even if it is a bit terse. What seems most fishy to me about hit-matches is that they don’t always deliver the kind of epic bonus that is (as I understand it) characteristic of a critical hit in D&D. If I roll a check with Action Score=2 and both d8=1, I have a hit-match but the two results still only get me +2 towards the tally. Nowhere near as powerful as…
Skill checks… many a treatise was written on skill checks I’ve been through many different cycles of dice mechanics and mitigations of over the years and have settled here. That’s not to say “here” can’t be improved, but it should be viewed in the context of the game as a whole and not on the maths of individual skill checks. Mechanically the odds are against you – life is hard, especially for a…
Genghis-Pawn: but notably, not in Equip(x) as best I can see – it is very un-intuitive to my ear to use the imperative verb “Equip” to mean not “actively assign/distribute equipment” but instead “trigger an ability if a sufficient amount of equipment has already been equipped.” I agree with the general sentiment of this post, even if it is a bit rambling. One suggestion I was going to make in the…
So I’ve been thinking a lot about skill checks in Ziggurat. I was going to make a video about it, but after working on a few drafts, I realized that I wouldn’t have a whole lot to say that hasn’t already been covered. I’m a little concerned about the high randomness of skill checks in Ziggurat. The only factor that you can use in advance to determine whether you will succeed in a skill check is…
I’m not a fan of the “matches” rules. I don’t have a problem with the concept of a critical hit or miss, but in Ziggurat, it just feels like it overly complicates skill checks. In D&D, critical hits and misses have a 5% chance of occurring, and result in some minor benefit, if anything at all (the latest edition does away with critical missing altogether). But the chances that two D8s are the same…
Genghis-Pawn: Pick either “cumulative result value” or “progress tally” and eradicate the other one entirely. Since it is titled “skill check with result” I recommend the former… or, perhaps best: start calling this a “Skill Check with Cumulative Result” or a “ Cumulative Skill Check ”.. or I guess a skill check with tally if you like but that doesn’t have a lot of oomph. I’m trying Tally on for…
Ahoy hoy, I was enlisted to the the ~v0.13 playtest via the forum for “ The Dungeon Dive .” I’ve been trying to playtest at least once a week since the game arrived in July 2026, and I shell out a lot of feedback here on the assumption that it’s useful. I’m a strange duck, hobby-wise. Dipped a toe into MTG a long ways back but never really played a modern boardgame until COVID when I jumped into…
A thread for introductions.
Overall I think is is a great streamlining of the core rules for stat checks! But I wouldn’t be doing my “job” if I didn’t keep poking at it. I need to make sure you get your money’s worth for sending me the game! You might consider saying in the RB explicitly that “Many Skill Checks With Result have a target of only (1), meaning that you only need to land a hit once to succeed.” Probably best at…
Have had a crack at rewriting the section on skill checks: Basic skill check and skill check with result only. Skill check with result and skill check with progress are combined into one. The concept of difficulty x . A simple skill check with result, such as a hero attack, becomes something like check MUSCLE(1) So no mechanical change, but simpler to grok. What do you think? PS. Google v0.14 doc…
Doh! I think I had understood at at one point looking at the inset image on RB 23. But it is not suggested to my ear by the rule on RB 22 “Like doorways must connect; for example, only secret doors can connect to secret doors.” This suggests to me that (e.g.) red and yellow doors may not be alike.
There’s only standard or secret doors. Any colour change between biomes is for contrast only.
modius: I wonder if you caught the On Death action. I did indeed, and interpreted it just as you say.
modius: all excess spheres can be converted to the mastery cache; a universally useful resource. The mastery cache cubes can be added to ANY mastery track. That is a helpful reminder – might I suggest that the LTP might underscore this with an example? The current examples of converting memory to mastery on an item card all take the “direct” route where the memory matches the logo on the item…
modius: However, I’m not sure that I understand what you mean by a soft-lock. During the LTP the map stack is highly constrained, and if I build this map in the order J4,J1,J3,J2 then – unless I am misunderstanding – when I draw the next tile Z3, there will not be any legal placement of that tile anywhere on the map, even if I apply the rule you cited that tries to handle the exception where there…
Genghis-Pawn: In my experiences with the LTP, I have noticed that it seems to be relatively rare that the Memories I acquire by completing Encounters and fighting Denizens enable me to place Mastery cubes on items. Most of the attainable memory icons are shades of green and yellow, but only 4 of the 16 “starter” loot cards (with the sun icon) have corresponding icons. You might consider tweaking…
Genghis-Pawn: I believe this positioning of the LTP’s first 4 Map Tiles is allowable by the rules of map tile placement, but will lead to a “soft lock” when the next tile is drawn, since there will be no valid placement for that tile. This is totally legal placement and weird and wonderful map placement is 100% encouraged! However, I’m not sure that I understand what you mean by a soft-lock. You…
Genghis-Pawn: I am finally starting to feel like I understand the systems well enough to see how they will click together and how they’ll form the backdrop for thematic/story/narrative stuff. That’s great! The Ziggurat is supposed to feel like a rich, solo RPG that evokes an epic and unique narrative. I wanted it to feed the nostalgia of playing old school D&D back when I was a teenager.…
Genghis-Pawn: Question: Does time generally pass in a Location-Specific Hero Action, or not, or does it depend on the case (with the Location Encounter Card telling me authoritatively if time passes)? For hero actions only Explore, Rest and Ambush require Time Passes. Location actions vary greatly. Time Passes usually aligns thematically with a failure or the hero performing a difficult and time…
Genghis-Pawn: “Unequip” probably should not be included in the QR section on Status or Conditions, however a reminder might helpfully be added to the Enemy Attack section of the QR. Noted. A reference under enemy is attack is not a bad idea at all. In terms of theme, Unequip is a denizen using some of their equipment. Mechanically, it prevents a powerful attack from being over utilised by an enemy…
I believe this positioning of the LTP’s first 4 Map Tiles is allowable by the rules of map tile placement, but will lead to a “soft lock” when the next tile is drawn, since there will be no valid placement for that tile. At time of writing RBv0.13 contains one rule for how to handle “illegal” map tile placements (leading to a “Backtrack” event) but I don’t believe it will cover this case. <<EDIT:…
In my experiences with the LTP, I have noticed that it seems to be relatively rare that the Memories I acquire by completing Encounters and fighting Denizens enable me to place Mastery cubes on items. Most of the attainable memory icons are shades of green and yellow, but only 4 of the 16 “starter” loot cards (with the sun icon) have corresponding icons. You might consider tweaking something here…
One of the annotations I have made on the QR that I have found helpful is to add notes on the “Hero Phase” box/card indicating which of the Hero Actions require “Time Passes.” A small Hourglass icon would be sufficient… though that is not strictly what those icons mean at the moment, so maybe that would create an ambiguity Question: Does time generally pass in a Location-Specific Hero Action, or…
The “Unequip” keyword is defined clearly in the Glossary/Index_v0.13, but on Denizen cards it often appears under their “POWERS” description, alongside/after the Combat Status and Condition that the power might trigger. “Unequip” probably should not be included in the QR section on Status or Conditions, however a reminder might helpfully be added to the Enemy Attack section of the QR.
A place for questions/comments 'bout them things (abbreviated “QR” hereafter).
Back at it with the LTP today, and I think it includes an important clarification of how Defence rolls work. (Incidentally, there are a couple places where the US “Defense” spelling is used.) In short, RBv0.13 never quite specifies that a defence roll is a Skill Check with Result , and that the result determines the amount of damage blocked (along with Armour). RB leaves open the interpretation…
Took another stab at the LTP tonight – possibly my 4th? That’s on me, I’m a slow learner. Iterating through the LTP has been the best way for me to get my arms around it all. I stalled out near the end of the map stack and had to walk away, but I am finally starting to feel like I understand the systems well enough to see how they will click together and how they’ll form the backdrop for…
I am beginning to think that the apparent economy of the “(x)” construction is illusory, and that the space it saves is not worth the cost it demands in player memory/attention. Feel free to move this into the RB thread if you think it fits best there, but as it’s more UX/UI than rules intepretation, I thought to open a new thread and sketch out my experience. The “(x)” construction saves (often…
Genghis-Pawn: So the subsections currently titled “Peril Events” in LTP become, instead “Peril Phase” with the brown banner/background. A note at the top of the document can explain that mapping to the player once and leave lookup to them. (Again, the same might be done in the Rulebook). At this stage it’s difficult as the rulebook formatting in Google docs is lost when it gets typeset for print.…
Genghis-Pawn: Revise the text on RB 34, §“Using Items” for clarity. It currently reads: “You may activate a Quick or Combat item card once per combat round.” Loot items are defined as consumables that are discarded for their ability. In the combat section I’ll update the statement to reinforce this. You may discard a single Quick or Combat item for its action once per combat round.
Genghis-Pawn: So is the idea that I can use Gizmo one round to bump the clockwork spiderwing +4HP, and then (because the “OR” does not allow me to do it simultaneously) the next round I can use the Gizmo to re-set the spiderwing’s target so that it damages my enemies rather than me? (By default it would target me, right?) No. The OR means you can do one or the other, then discard the card. ie. one…
modius: All item cards are consumable. They are discarded when their power takes effect. In that case: Revise the text on RB 34, §“Using Items” for clarity. It currently reads: “You may activate a Quick or Combat item card once per combat round.” and I do not understand the Tic Toc Tick example, since I do not understand how I can use the Gizmo to both bump the spiderwing’s HP and set it to target…
I think you could get nearly all the benefits of the embedding, without using the space, by using the titles and colored banners of the Player Aids or the Quick Reference (a.k.a. ‘cheat sheet’ in filename) as the titles of specific subsections in the Learn to Play document. So the subsections currently titled “Peril Events” in LTP become, instead “Peril Phase” with the brown banner/background. A…