Aetherstream: Leviathan Developer’s Blog #3
I apologize for the delay in writing these, but the good news is that time not spent writing these has been spent in revisions of the draft rules set for Leviathan. Development has reached a stable playtest level where major revisions are no longer happening. That means we can now start massaging the numbers a bit and hopefully I can get approval to start showing some of the game elements that we are working on and some rules previews. I am ready to start discussing some more specifics in the rules though and give some more hints as to how the game plays.
Basic / Advanced Rules Split
Similar to Interceptor, we are splitting the rules between Basic and Advanced. As game elements and ideas come along, my idea for a basic intro game quickly spiraled out of control, so this revision’s (R3) I am focusing on making sure all the updated terminology is correct and focusing on where rules can be split.
Basic Rules are going to focus on interacting with the core dice mechanic of the game, which will be very familiar to Interceptor players. No Maneuver Template though, these ships, while extremely maneuverable by giant spaceship game standards, aren’t THAT maneuverable. They are still some nuances to maneuvering the ships that will be easier to illustrate without worrying about too many things moving around in the engagement area.
As a wargame, combat will of course be another important focus of the Basic Rules. Learning all the terminology, using weapons and recording damage are the main goals here. Seeing how the different weapon systems can be used and interact with the various defensive systems will help illustrate how to best position the ships.
Outside of combat mechanics, power allocation is one of the most important aspects of the Basic Rules to master. Most, if not all, ships will not provide enough power to do all the things. The first decision is how much power to spend on maneuvering the ship. Spend too much and you’ve wasted power that could be used for defense. Not enough and you won’t be able to get your ships into good positions. Decisions will need to be made on defense and offense. In order to force the opponent into more of these difficult decisions, positioning will be a key factor. The more shields and defense systems you force them to use, the less they have for weapons, or they need to choose to depend on luck and save that power for weapons.
Of the Advanced Rules, fighter groups would probably be the most important of them that I will recommend as part of a Core “game as intended” option. Many of the ship cards will have launch bays and carry fighters, and using fighters adds another depth of tactics and game play. Fighter groups can help screen against enemy missiles, fly torpedo runs, and perform strafe attacks that get inside the shields of their opponents (at some risk), and intercept enemy fighters. Fighters will be able to force more decisions into the power management game.
The other key one is the Stress Management System. Captain cards have a stress monitor, which indicates not only the captain’s calm under fire but how they are managing their crew as well. As the ship takes damage, if the captain poorly manages themselves and their crew, they lose efficiency AND become more likely to quit the fight. A good captain calmly evaluates the situation and saves the trillion dollar asset by calmly repositioning to a more tactically advantageous battlefield, hopefully in coordination with the rest of their task force. A panicked captain slams the main drives into flank speed, powers up the jump drives, and leaves the rest of the task force in danger. Panicked captains make easy pickings for the enemy.
That’s probably enough for this week, but I reserve the right that any of the above may change between now and the final draft. One thing I want to state is that ALL of the Basic/Advanced Rules will be included in the core rulebook. The purpose of the split is in helping to learn and master the rules in sections rather than all at once.
Feel free to drop in to the FASA Games Discord channel or the Aetherstream Facebook group to continue the conversation.
Until next time, Todd out.