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#Post#: 175--------------------------------------------------
Escalate!
By: Knight Errant Date: January 12, 2013, 12:40 am
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Escalate!: The Cold War Card Game
Designed, tested and produced by Knight Errant
HTML http://www.foreignaffairs.com/files/images/ColdWar_411.jpg
HTML http://www.foreignaffairs.com/files/images/ColdWar_411.jpg
Escalate! is a card game of diplomacy, intrigue and conflict set
during the cold war. Players compete to amass points by
manoeuvring through diplomatic incidents, spy wars and proxy
conflicts in order to prove the superiority of their national
ideology.
You will need:
-A standard pack of 54 playing cards
-A piece of paper
-A pen
-2 to 4 players (one of whom is also the dealer)
The Cards:
-Incidents:
>King = Proxy Conflict
>Queen = Spy War
>Jack = Diplomatic Incident
-Agents:
>10, 9, 8 = Soldier
>7, 6, 5 = Spy
>4, 3, 2 = Diplomat
-Other:
>Ace = U.N Resolution/Veto
>Joker = Nuke
Object of the Game:
To prove your idealogical superiority by being the first to
amass 30 (2 players), 25 (3 players) or 20 (4 players) victory
points!
To Play:
1) Shuffle the deck. The dealer hands cards face-down to each
player until all have 5 cards.
2) The player to the dealer’s left begins by placing down any
Incident card. If they do not hold an Incident card, they must
‘defer’ to the next player. If all players defer, then each must
return one card to the discard pile and be dealt a new one until
at least one player can play an Incident. If they do hold an
Incident card but wish to play tactical, they can ‘pass’ the
play to the next player. If it turns out that only they hold an
Incident card, they must then play it.
3) Playing an Incident card sets up an Incident. The other
players must then try to manipulate the incident in their favour
through the use of Agents. Different Incidents require different
combinations of Agents:
-A Diplomatic Incident (Jack) can only be resolved by Diplomats
(4, 3, 2 of any colour)
-A Spy War (Queen) can be resolved by either one Spy (7, 6, 5)
or two Diplomats at a time
-A Proxy Conflict (King) can be resolved by one Soldier (10, 9,
[nobbc]8)[/nobbc], two Spies or three Diplomats at a time
Going clockwise from the instigator of the Incident, players
must try to ‘turn’ the Incident by placing down the necessary
Agent/s. The last person able to lay down the necessary Agent/s
‘wins’ that Incident and reaps the Victory Points from it.
4) V.Ps are as follows:
-Diplomatic Incident = 1 point
-Spy War = 2 points
-Proxy Conflict = 3 points
After an Incident is won, the dealer deals cards to bring each
player’s hand up to 5 cards again. The victor of the previous
Incident begins the next turn.
5) At any time during an Incident, a player may choose to
‘escalate’ the conflict to turn the cards in their favour or
stave off defeat. This is done by placing a higher-value
Incident on top of the current pile. All players must
subsequently ‘play against’ the new Incident unless somebody
else chooses to escalate it further. Each Incident card on the
table adds up for the final Victory score; e.g a Diplomatic
Incident, Spy War and Proxy Conflict won at the same time would
give 6 V.Ps to the winner. Thus, escalation risks placing more
points into your opponent’s hand, but gives you the chance to
score big as well.
6) Aces are United Nations cards. An Ace can be played against
any Incident at any time as a U.N Resolution and can only be
beaten by a Veto – that is, another U.N Ace played on top of it.
7) Jokers are nukes. A nuke card can be used to instantly knock
another player out of the game. If a nuke card is played and
another player also holds a nuke card, the first nuker is
knocked out of the game along with his target. In 2-player games
this equals M.A.D (both players win/lose), but in games with
more players this effectively eliminates half the field, leaving
the remaining player/s either victorious or in a final duel. If
nobody else has a nuke card, however, then only 1 player is
knocked out (unless the nuker holds both nuke cards, in which
case they can knock more than one player out). In M.A.D games
where all players are nuked, the player with the highest
pre-nuke score wins posthumously.
[nobbc]8)[/nobbc] If all cards from the deal pile are expended,
the discard pile is shuffled and put back into play.
Special/Alternate Rules:
-3+ Player Passes: In games with 3 or more players, players can
declare ‘pass’ at any time to avoid playing a card and thus wait
to see what others put down. You may want to put a pass limit on
every Incident, however, to avoid a circle of passers with no
plays.
-S.A.L.T: Remove the Nukes from the deck before playing. Players
can only win via victory points.
-M.A.D: Aces are Nukes, Jokers are U.N resolutions.
-Gunboat Diplomacy: Remove the U.N cards from the deck before
playing.
An example Escalate! play (based on actual random hands):
HTML http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/378/cardsc.png
-Player 2 would start, as they are technically to the left of
the dealer.
-Their opening move, unless they chose to pass, would be to lay
down their Queen to initiate a Spy War Incident.
-Player 1 has 1 Spy (6), so they can respond to this. In this
instance they do, placing the Spy on the Queen to turn it in
their favour.
-Player 2 can counter this with one of their own Spies (5 or 6),
which they do.
-Player 1 has no Spies left. They do, however have a King, so
they escalate the conflict into a Proxy War by placing it down.
-Player 2 has a Soldier (10), so they set this atop the Proxy
War to turn it.
-Player 1 also has a Soldier (9), however, so they counter
Player 2 by setting this down.
-Player 2 cannot respond with a single Diplomat or Spy on their
own, so the Incident goes to Player 1, who receives 5 Victory
Points (2 from the Spy War and 3 from the Proxy Conflict).
-Both players are dealt 3 cards to replenish their hands, and
Player 1 (the victor) begins the next turn.
#Post#: 176--------------------------------------------------
Re: Escalate!
By: PsychoBunni Date: January 12, 2013, 2:45 am
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thats actually awesome.
Also.
This has to go here.
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