As an older dad with a teenage son and plenty of fur-babies, I rarely have time to indulge on a long-winded RPG. “Dragon Age”, “The Elder Scrolls”, “The Witcher”…I try to play them but often never finish them because of how busy I can get. “RPG Battles: The Card Game”, an upcoming Kickstarter project, aims to curb the long play times with a quick 15-30 minute play session. It also supports 2-6 players and has a recommended age limit of 14+. Before we get into the specifics I’m required by FTC regulations to disclose that I was paid to cover this game, though any and all recommendations are my own.
“RPG Battles: The Card Game” is typical of an RPG in the sense that there are various character classes from which to choose. There’s a fighter class, for example, if you prefer something a bit brawny. On the other hand, you could play as a sorceress or monk if you’re into spell casting. The game features six different classes each with their own unique abilities to give them their own personality. I typically play a Ranger or a Paladin in any RPG and I’m happy to see that this game offers both.
The object of “RPG Battles: The Card Game” is to be the last person standing. You are eliminated if you lose all of your hit-points. The game comes with six characters, six abilities, two d20 dice, twenty health tokens, and a deck of various cards.
To set up the game, players will roll a die to see who gets first pick on choosing a character. Each player then gets their associated special ability card and three health tokens. Each player also gets a dagger card (equipped face-up on their character card) and a teleport card (which will eventually go into a player’s five card starting hand). There’s a bit more on preparing the deck but I’ll leave you to discover that on your own…just know that players start with five cards as their starting hand. Another die roll determines the starting player.
A player’s turn has three phases: Play, Draw, and Discard.
1. Play (Optional) – The active player can play a card from their hand. You can equip armor and weapon cards to your character, but note that players may only have one weapon equipped at a time. To replace a weapon, you’ll either discard it or place it back into your hand. The active player may also play cards that are discarded for an effect. There is no limit to how many cards are played.
2. Draw – The active player draws a card to be placed into their hand. If the player were to draw a monster, a battle begins. If the player draws a trap then it is resolved immediately.
3. Discard – The active player discards down to five cards.
Monster battles are the primary way a player gets defeated, so it’s important to load up your character with helpful cards as quickly as possible. Monsters are controlled by another player (highest roll gets to control it).
At the start of a monster battle, dice are rolled to determine initiative…highest roll goes first. The exception to this is the case of a ranged weapon which often gets to fire first regardless of initiative. The active player will roll a d20 to attack, adding their weapon modifier to their base. If this total meets or exceeds the defender’s armor class then the defender loses one health. Critical hits (a natural 20 on a d20) cause the defender to lose two health points. The defender, if still alive, may attack back. The battle will continue back and forth until either the player or monster is eliminated.
Turns continue until only one player is left standing, at which point they become the winner.
Editor’s Note: The above doesn’t cover all of the rules found in the manual, but should give you an idea as to how the game is played.
Creating characters for any RPG is a real balancing act. I dabbled in RPGs when I was younger and no matter how I swung my proverbial sword (my pencil) one class was usually more powerful somehow, someway. Games like this that take 15-20 minutes to play won’t be perfect, but I do appreciate the diversity.
Take the human fighter for example. It has 16 base armor and 6 base attack. The human sorceress has 17 base armor and 3 base attack. In a fight against a monster, I can imagine it would be difficult for the latter to land a hit without a good weapon. That’s where those special abilities come into play.
The sorceress can fire a magic missile (limit once per battle) that automatically hits a monster for one HP/health, making it easier to roll high and vanquish it in the future. The human warrior gets a bonus +2 to the first attack but ONLY if they are first in initiative order. Since die rolls often determine initiative, it’s unknown how often the fighter will be able to actually use their ability.
The other classes are for the most part mid-line…15-17 base armor and 5-6 base attack. In fact, the sorceress seems to really be the only one with a noticeably low stat. It would have been interesting to see a wider variance of said stats, though I do appreciate the that each has a different ability. Perhaps the paladin could have a higher armor rating in exchange for lower attack value, or possibly even give each class a different hand limit based on their “intelligence”. Just a thought.
It would have been cool to see some kind of currency system implemented as the game is heavily luck based. Combat requires you roll well. Yes, you can mitigate that roll by equipping armor and weapons but again, you have to be lucky enough to draw them in the first place. Having a public pool of cards available for purchase would have helped mitigate that. The deck of monsters could be pre-ordered so that easier ones were on top, giving gold when defeated…something along those lines.
“RPG Battles: The Card Game” has a lot of untapped potential. As evidenced above there are a lot more mechanics I’d add to a game like this, but you’ll also have to consider the time limit the developer aimed to set in the first place. This isn’t meant to be a long winded RPG…rather a quick romp of sorts with some familar (but light) RPG mechanics. I personally prefer games that are “middle of the road” so to speak…”Fantahzee”, just to name an example. Not too heavy but not too light…something Goldilocks would approve of.
All that said, “RPG Battles: The Card Game” is an interesting idea that I would love to see developed further. This could serve as the “base game”, for example, and future expansions might introduce some of the mechanics I outlined above. In this way, the game could appeal to both the super casual and casual to moderate player, depending on how many optional mechanics they want to add to their play session. As it stands it’s light and easy on the eyes, making it an ideal travel game or a very quick filler in between longer play sessions. The quality of my prototype was superb and if the final production copy turned out to be just as good then I’d totally recommend it at a fair price tag (I’d estimate it to be $20-25 based on the size and caliber of the game, but that’s ultimately up to the developer).
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Kickstarter: To Be Determined
Website: https://rpgbattles.com/shop/rpg-battles-the-card-game/
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