Quote:
Originally Posted by robotrevolution
The idea we had was to run the largest game of Munchkin we possibly could - one table, possibly dozens of players.
I've seen threads about limiting tables to six players and competing in rounds, which is a great way to run a tournament, but we really love the idea of a giant Munchkin table with 20, 30, or more players.
- two or more players take turns at the same time, which would work well with the next item
- sphere of influence: you can only affect players a certain number of seats away from you (3 on each side, for example)
- go below level 1 and you're out (though this could reduce the fun factor)
- play for exactly 1 hour, plus enough times around the table so everybody has the same number of turns
|
I would take very seriously MM's advice to keep players at 8 or under.
I understand your desire to have massive players in the same game, but the basic problem is keeping a player interested while he waits for his turn with so many other players. You propose to do this with multiple players going at once and Sphere of Influence, but as noted above, this adds considerably to the confusion and effectively cancels any interactivity between players on opposite sides of the table, so what is the point?
It seems like you want to do something *different* and you plan on having lots of (presumably experienced) players.
Let me throw an idea off the top of my head...TEAMS. Or, to put it in munchkinese, competing adventuring parties.
For example: divide players into teams of between 3 to 6 (as evenly distributed as possible).
Two teams play against each other at a time. (so you could have multiple tables going at once).
Rules as per standard munchkin, but initiative alternates between teams and circulates among members of the same team.
If a munchkin whose combat it is, is forced to run away from a monster, he is eliminated from the team (helpers are immune to this - you can only be eliminated on your turn). (Bad stuff would not apply)
Round ends when one team has been reduced to only one munchkin. The other team claims victory. That team is now reconstituted (all players return) to face another victorious team.
What typically happens in a "large" game is that players hold on to their cards and don't oppose other players until the end. (Why should I waste my "ancient" on player X's monster when there are X+5 other players?) Then whichever player is unlucky enough to be first to level 9 gets dumped on. This means a lot of time spent cooling my heels while waiting for my turn to come around because it isn't worth it to oppose another player until the end. This problem would increase dramatically in a game with 10, 20, or 30 players.
But by playing on teams, each player stays "in the game" because they have an incentive to help every player on their team and oppose every player on the other team. It would create lots of table-talk as players on one team decide which opposing players they want to eliminate and in which order, and how to optimize builds with the classes/races/items in play. Even after a player has been eliminated, he would want to stick around to help with strategy and see if his team wins so he can come back in the next game.
Also, by playing on teams a player can be assured of a helper, which would help keep players from being eliminated early through bad luck.
Interestingly, the game would stay balanced up until the end even if one team is losing more players. For example, start with two teams of 5 and 5. After several turns they are at 4 and 2. The team of four has more options to oppose the team of two. But the team of two is taking twice as many turns individually, so they will be leveling faster, because the turns pass between teams.
For example, if team one was Sam, Sarah, Seth, and Sally, and team two was Rob and Rex, turn order would be:
Sam
Rob
Sarah
Rex
Seth
Rob
Sally
Rex
Sam...
I would further allow a player that had to run away and was thus being eliminated to "drop" one item of his choice while running, with that item then being retrieved by the teammate whose turn it is next.
You would need to put some sort of restriction on giving/trading items, so that members of a team would not just cycle their best gear to the next teammate in line. Perhaps only allow one item to change hands per turn (thieves etc. could still use their powers) or while items can be traded downstream they can only be given upstream.
You could play the tourney until one team emerged victorious, through elimination or round-robin, or you could let the victorious team play one more round of standard munchkin, with all the former teammates backstabbing each other.