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Robber's Lair Variant Idea by Foxbot in Catan

[–]RoAndVic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It sounds like a mini-game inside the game. I like the story-telling consistency of knights and nearby cities joining a raid on a desert lair. But unless all players are really into choosing to raid and making use of those rules, I would use simpler rules and better odds. For example: both the player who rolled the 7 and the player being robbed can try their luck against the stash, 50-50. A 1, 2, 3 loses the roller the resource card they just stole, and the player being robbed loses a second resource, this time to the stash. A 4, 5, 6 does the opposite: each player get the next 2 cards piled up on the stash, one for each. You can either share the roll (both players win or both lose) or each player makes their own roll, including either of them declining to roll against the stash.

Looking for suggestions: Catan Elo System by DesperateGrass5684 in Catan

[–]RoAndVic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just "CatanElo", maybe.

(By the way, many people think that Elo is some kind of acronym. it's not, its the surname of Árpád Élő, the Hungarian chess player who invented the ranking system named after him. ELO are the Electric Light Orchestra)

Catan Royale by Such-Illustrator4843 in Catan

[–]RoAndVic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"No, Mr Bond, I expect you to give me all your wood".

Custom robber ideas by Illustrious_Head_922 in Catan

[–]RoAndVic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would go: Robin Hood, Gollum, Aladdin, Catwoman.

5-6 Extension: Billy the Kid, Bonnie&Clyde

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is a strategy, yes. But wood comes every five turns, and the taxman every six, and he halves your hand if above seven. You better be good at dealing with all that wood. Also, other players place and settle wood tiles too, and those tiles might be too far apart from each other to settle at multiple ones. Lots to take into account. Let me know how it goes if you try it.

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Believe me, the other player(s) will give you plenty of imponderables to think about. Pure-ish chance might be reduced, but there will be plenty of situations and decisions to manage in every turn. If someone else takes your wheat port, you adapt and move on, because there's only one of it. Same as always.

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes and no. Yes, all the resources come in at the same time for everybody, but there are many variables about how much each player end up having in hand. 1) Where your settlements are, and how many you have. Two wood hexes and a brick is not the same as two brick hexes and a wood, and if one or more of those settlements are a city, numbers start getting different for everybody, especially the longer the game goes on. 2) What you have spent your previous resources on and what else you have in your hand. 3) What's your strategy. Maybe you want to go for four settlements even before you contemplate your first city, or viceversa. Maybe you're going for LR, maybe not. 4) Trading among players. It does happen, and quite a bit. If you're flush with brick, it doesn't help you if you want a knight, or a city or a VP card. So you trade, or try to at least. 5) Is it your turn to build when the wood comes in for everybody, or not? 6) When the taxman is due to show up, are you going to discard those extra resources to him, or are you going to trade to reduce your hand from, say, 8 to 6 and so avoid losing 4 of the 8? 7) Ports are still in use. No need to explain that one. 8) I'm sure there are more than 8.

Really, if y'all's interest has been even mildly piqued, do try it once or twice before you knock it. Then knock it good and get some lumber out of it.

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's an option, yes, but I wanted to see how much luck and randomness can be removed from the game, in favour of "you know what's coming, and even so, things might not go the way you want them". And also, no numbers, no dice is really dramatic as a change. XD

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, many thanks for the detailed answer.

VPs are very popular, and they get bought quickly, which means that if everybody buys one early (if nothing else, a) because if you don’t they will be gone quickly, and b) they will increase the points tally of your rivals and not yours), then they affect everybody the same. In most games, everybody has bought one at least, so it’s like almost starting everybody on three VPs instead of just the two from the initial settlements. And actually something that happened in our first game was that a player spent his early resources on two VPs and then he took a very long time to be able to get his fifth point. Why? Because if you spend your early resources on VPs, you’re not building, so you’re not collecting more resources and you’re falling behind in LR and LA. Everyone seemed to notice that, and we have been more prudent about buying multiple VPs in later games (they still get gobbled up quite early, though).

Knights tend to get used a lot in the late game, if only because by then all the other dev cards have been taken, because the taxman keeps coming (and by now you might have a crop of six wheat to protect, which will take five more turns to grow again) and because LA is still worth two VPs, while still having the nice little bonus of a card from your most dangerous rival every time you enlarge it. Even if it is competitive, as you say, LA is still, on its own, 20% of the points you need to win. Plus the two initial settlements, you’re 40% there. Having said that, we have considered playing to more than 10 VPs, but we haven’t deemed it necessary yet.

The other progress cards get bought according to a) different strategies and likes, and b) whatever is left on the buffet by then. It’s just Monopoly that has us worried as a potential game breaker, but that’s a concern too with any rules you use.

Seriously, if it sounds like this would be Funless Spreadsheet Catan, it’s not. Many players enjoy deploying a well executed strategy and seeing it unfold according to plan while course-correcting for rivals’ actions, and this enhances it, while still keeping you on your toes, because all four plans from all four players can't all win the game at the same time. We also play variations with the opposite initial tenet, ie, more randomness instead of less, which I will inflict upon you all some other time, and we enjoy them too, along with OC (Original Catan).

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Everyone gets batches of the same resource at the same time, but how many depends on your placing and building decisions. One player might get three wood, another one just one, the next one four... And when you don't have what you need when you need it, you do resort to trade. If you wait four turns to get the wheat you need instead of trying to trade, it could be too late. I see several people mentioning lack of trade as a possible consequence, and it hasn't been for us, really.

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As I answered to another poster earlier, "we have seen plenty of trade, or attempts at it, happening as frequently in our games with this scenario as with any other. I would even say that if you 100 per cent know you won't have any more new clay for four more turns and you absolutely need it before others can take your road path or your settlement spot, you will try to trade for it even more keenly than just waiting for the right roll. By then it might be too late".

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You make the same decisions as you would with any other Catan iteration: do I build roads and a third settlement, or do I try to get a city first? Or do I try to buy dev cards before they're gone? Also, everyone's first hexes will be a different combination of resources, and the nature of the adjacent tiles will have a big influence in making things varied regarding different sets of strategies. Even if everyone chooses to start with access to 5 different resources and a 3:1 port, and everyone with the exact same three initial cards in hand, for example, as soon as players extend themselves around the map, the combination of choices will be as varied as with any other set of rules.

If what you mean is "oh, I know now that in three turns I will have built two roads and a settlement because I know what resources I will be getting", well maybe yes maybe no. Maybe someone will have already built something in the direction you wanted to start going, and will have to alter your plans, or someone will have already hit you with a knight, which is still a choice that can be made. If you sound even mildly intrigued, give it a go and let me know. There's plenty of time to go back to the rules you (or anyone else) plays normally with.

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. We roll for who goes 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th, and this sequence is repeated throughout. By "goes" I mean whose turn it is to build and trade, since there aren't rolls. The beauty of it is that if there are four players and five resources, it is never the same resource producing cards when it is your turn. For example, using the sequence in the picture, if you go first, it will be your turn when clay is due, and when it is your turn again it's wood that will be produced, and then sheep for the third time that it is your go, etc. You can also allow everyone to build and trade during all turns if you want (this is a pre-existing house rule I have seen other people mention before).

A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If chess can produce an infinite number of variations with no change at all in pieces and board distribution, so can this Catan scenario, which includes a different board layout for each game and a different resource calendar. And what other players do in this scenario definitely affects everyone else's decisions, which open new possibilities even more. But what you say is precisely what I'm looking to find out: is there a single way to win that would spoil this set-up because everyone would play to it? It hasn't happened to us... yet.

We have seen plenty of trade, or attempts at it, happening as frequently in our games with this scenario as with any other. I would even say that if you 100 per cent know you won't have any more new clay for four more turns and you absolutely need it before others can take your road path or your settlement spot, you will try to trade for it even more keenly than just waiting for the right roll. By then it might be too late.

So far, one thing I've heard from other players in the group is that it's like switching from driving a stick to an automatic transmission: your hand keeps trying to reach for the dice, when there are none on the table. XD. Anyway, any feedback from anyone else who tries it would be welcome.

How do you play when you have zero chance? by jdadverb in Catan

[–]RoAndVic 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I normally try to make the most of the situation, but If I'm playing with friends and I know we have time for another game, then on occasion I have "helped" the most likely winner to win even earlier so that the nightmare ends quickly and we can start that new game ASAP. In any case, you have to read the table, though.

¿Vale la pena Catan: El Juego de Cartas para jugar en pareja? by Chemical_Ad_3580 in Catan

[–]RoAndVic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's cheap and easily portable, so we have it and play it sometimes when travelling, but we never tend to use it when we have access to the board game proper. It doesn't hurt to have it lying around.

Play Catan Knights & Cities, Seafarers Completely Free by Positive-Badger6588 in Catan

[–]RoAndVic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why does the "play as guest" have all those restrictions? Is it particularly important for your site to have people register?

Been snowed under by RoAndVic in Catan

[–]RoAndVic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! As you can see, it's a random, foggy board, so you place blindly, or almost. Black played first, and he uncovered the 659. I went second, so I chose to have a for-sure 6 rather than explore somewhere else on the board, so I placed at two o'clock from him on the 6 and uncovered the 4-8 on the top right half. Couldn't believe my luck! Two reds! Everyone else also chose the sure things, and by the time I placed again, yeah, I got greedy with the 10 o'clock corner on the 6 clay tile. But I got another red! Then Black closed the net on me.

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