Golden Prince: Brainstorming Mechanics and Ideas

Just going to start throwing stuff against the wall and see what sticks!

• The king died, and now his son the Golden Prince is coming to take the crown
• But two dukes are much closer, and are eager to have the throne for themselves
• Asymmetrical strategic war game
• 3 Players: 1, the Golden Prince will have an extreme advantage of numbers
• The 2 players must cooperate to beat the third, while also working to beat each other
• Some kind of 'flag' to be captured, probably the crown, placed between the two small teams
• Stats for units printed out onto easy reference cards for each player
• Large team's army consists of stronger units and the widest diversity
• Small teams have specialized soldiers, and must work with each other to use them best
• T-shaped board layout
• The crown starts within easy reach of the smaller teams, but is far enough that if they try to rush for it they will be crushed by the bigger team
• Prince must advance through a long field
• Dukes have small towns on each "branch"
• Simple combat: Each unit has a Swordplay stat which indicates the dice they roll against each other in combat, along with added bonuses for the various unit types. The loser is killed regardless of whether they are the attacker or defender.
• No ganging up; combat is always 1 on 1
• Simple movement: Each unit has a Speed stat that determines the number of squares they can move. No diagonals; must move through adjacent squares
• Unit types: Soldiers (basic troops), Archers (not killed by failing swordplay at range, penalized in melee), Pikemen (bonus against cavalry, penalty against soldiers), Knights (heavy cavalry special to the Prince)
• The 2 players have a weak palisades to defend themselves with, but the Prince's Soldiers can quickly knock them down if they get in range
• While the 2 players' goal is to get the crown into their keep, the Prince needs to eradicate both players to win.
• The chances of the Prince being totally destroyed should be non-existent; the goal is not to defeat him but to get the crown away from the other duke
• Each faction has some blanket bonuses to their soldiers
• The Prince: Strong armor, Knights
• Duke 1: Woodsmen: Archers have extra reach, Soldiers get a bonus against archer attacks
• Duke 2: Light Infantry: Pikemen aren't penalized against soldiers, Faster troop movement
• Manageable troop count: 20-25 for small teams, 50-60 for Prince