full image - Repost: Mistborn: House Wars - A gripe and a solution? (from Reddit.com, Mistborn: House Wars - A gripe and a solution?)
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So, I play quite a few board and tabletop games. One game that we have played several times is Mistborn: House Wars. (Disclaimer: we have the expansion, The Siege of Lithadel, but have yet to incorporate it.) For anyone unfamiliar with the game (though it will be hard to give input if you aren’t, but just to try and keep everyone on the same page), Mistborn: House Wars is a sometimes/semi-cooperative game where each player takes on the roll of one of the Noble Houses (or the Steel Ministry) during a (wait for it) House War. Ostensibly, players “choose” wether or not to support The Lord Ruler (TLR for short). At the endgame (which has multiple possible triggers) if TLR wins, the player with the highest score wins; if TLR is overthrown, the player with the lowest score wins.Now on to my gripe(s)……The fact that players get to “choose” wether or not to support TLR is thematically wrong. Seriously, TLR would never allow a house to OPENLY oppose him. Also, there is zero penalty for choosing to defy TLR OR for being open about it. This ultimately builds to my conclusion/the biggest/real problem: ANY game I have participated in where ANYONE opposed TLR, openly or not, resulted in TLR losing and the opposition winning. (Of note, the games where NO ONE opposes TLR have been closer and more fun by orders of magnitude.) This bothers me because now, not only is the game not accurate to the source material, but it has also directly impeded enjoyment, so something needs to change…..SO….Proposed Fix(es?):1) Unquestionably, if a Player draws The Steel Ministry (your house is randomly drawn/assigned) you MUST support TLR, and must support him openly.2) All other houses must at least attempt to maintain pretenses for supporting TLR.3) When/if TLR is flipped/in play/on the board, any Player with negative Favor/more Disfavor than Favor is immediately eliminated: TLR may turn a blind eye to the day-to-day goings on of the noble houses, but he does NOT ignore failure/open opposition.4) Any Player may “hold an assembly” to attempt to reveal a traitor. If the Player can get all other Players (excluding the potential traitor) to vote that the target IS a traitor, then there are two choices: openly reveal the treachery and immediately receive 25 Disfavor (if this puts the Player in the negatives, then TLR eliminate rules take effect, so if TLR is in play they are eliminated) OR “prove their loyalty.” The assembly then votes (simple majority) on what task the Player must complete: if failed, Player receives 25 Disfavor (and risks elimination); if passed, they receive the standard rewards AND returns all Disfavor.5) Any Player that supports TLR MAY NOT work with any Player that is KNOWN to oppose TLR (obviously before their elimination). Working with a known traitor earns the same results as being a known traitor.I am open to input/suggestions (though that is best from people that have played the game). I haven’t tried these changes yet, but I intend to next time we play, and I THINK this will fix my issues.Just wonder if anyone else felt similarly.
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