The Lost Tower

An itch which deserves scratching is the creation of an expansion for Magic Realm.

My hope is to create a coherent expansion which retains the medieval / faerie feel of the original game. I won't be looking to increase the number of characters available to play, there seem to be a plethora of these in existence.

So far the plans are all a bit vague, but I know where I'm heading. This expansion will hopefully be a little more challenging than the basic set. It's core is two sets of 5 tiles, one for travelling and one for looting. These can either be added to the basic set to give a larger realm (maybe appealing to players who want to spend more time in the realm) or could be used as alternatives to the Woods and Mountains in the original game (maybe appealing to players who simply want a change of scene).

A major part of the plan is to have as little impact on the way the game currently works... Hopefully a revision to the setup rules and to the appearance chart will be all that is required. I also don't want to mess too much with what can be expected on the basic tiles.

I am aware of the 'lost expansion' by the original developer... I'm certainly not trying to replicate that in any way. I have at least one idea in common with that, but that is purely due to finding the same solution to a problem.

If successful another expansion in the same format could be devised which was a little less challenging for use with the development game.

So, what've I got so far:

Title: Having a title "The Lost Tower" is a good start.

New Chits: I wish this expansion to makes as few changes to the basic game as possible. Warning chits will simply be two more sets of 5 (smoke, stink &c.). There will be 4 new treasure locations, 1 'Lost Tower' and a set of the standard Sounds. [ Remember to think about clearing numbers for sounds/treasures, also consider how sounds/treasures are setup - more counters => more chance of 'clumping']

New Tiles:

1. Forests: These are the new travelling tiles. 5 in all, just like the basic woods. The unenchanted side may well be the same as for woods, but I am toying with having something a little easier to navigate, perhaps having 4 exitable side. The enchanted side will be harder to cross - I envisage dead end entries each to a single clearing but with hidden paths connecting these. They will enchant to Gold, as Woods do. Smoke/Stink warnings will summon dwellings... Lodge and Hovel. Other warnings will summon monsters.
2. Bleak/Barren/Broken land: These are the new treasure bearing tiles. 5 in all, just like the basic mountains. Other than adding a six clearing valley which enchants to grey, I expect these will be mostly mountainous with one or two small cave bearing tiles. They will enchant to purple.

Dwellings / Natives: There will be a Lodge and a Hovel (permanent grey magic source) appearing in the forests. There will be at least two new native groups - The Huntsmen and The Coven (3 spell casters). I like the idea of these being garrison style natives - so unlike the various visitors to the campfires, finding a forest dwelling will guarantee finding its occupants. If they are to be occupied by prowlers only, then another one or two native groups will be needed and perhaps some new destinations for Bashkars, Woodfolk and Lancers added. 

Weapons: No new weapon types will be added. Obviously the Huntsmen will be armed... presumably with bows and spears, so a few new  counters will be required.

Monsters: With another Flutter and another Slither in the game, snakes, dragons and bats will need some reinforcements. These can just be extra boxes and repeats of the counters [ eg. if the new tiles are added to the game then bats might be 1,2,2,3,3 rather than 1,2,3. New monster boxes will be added to the Treasure Locations table for the four new treasure sites - each with an appropriate new Tremendous beastie. Then a new "Lost Tower" section can be added for encounters in the new (F) and (B) tiles. Another wolf pack will roam the (F) tiles, possibly in a different configuration and a Worm/Wyrm will guard a new treasure site, but I don't know what the other monsters will be.

Treasures / Spells. Some will be required. Without knowing what the treasure sites will contain it's not possible to even count them. I don't really want to add new spells to the game, but there may well be a new spell bearing treasure site or treasure... maybe duplicate spell cards could exist?? Treasures are difficult to design - I don't see any point in looking for and filling in blanks in say move chit/fight chit/extra phase items. Some treasures, especially Potion types may well be used to fill in the gaps where invention fails me.

Visitor/Mission. I never really seem to use these. Either of the two new native groups could be point to pick up a visitor/mission and a new chit added. But only if being used to expand rather than alter the realm  .A mission to take something to/from the Huntsmen (as per Food/Ale or Escort Party) seems a good choice (certainly better than a campaign). As for a visitor, maybe it's time to give the fighters a break and have a blacksmith/tinker visitor to mend armour. [ Now I'm wondering whether he might extra-sharpen weapons for a hefty fee... ]

Well, that's the itch scratched for today. I can now let these ideas compost... With only a vague idea of how (B) tiles might look (I don't even have a proper name for them), the next installment will most likely be a first draft of the Forests and their inhabitants.