At The Table: Castle Panic: The Wizard's Tower

After what seems like an extended lull, our game table has really seen a lot of action of late. Either that or, I have suddenly had a lot more free time for gaming.. Most likely a little of both. Which ever way I look at it though, to get back to leisure of gaming is nothing but a good thing.

Castle Panic: The Wizard's Tower

After long term ownership and what I can only really describe as a fanboy-esque appreciation of it's predecessor I finally got around to breaking out the expansion yesterday and, WOW! Is this ever a horse of a different color.

The mass appeal of the original game I suspect and indeed, it's personal  appeal to me was the sheer speed and simplicity of play.. Which has gone right out of the window. In fact the whole dynamic of the game changes when you introduce the Wizard's Tower.

If I had to compare it, I would say that the original game is a lot about playing a 1st level Warrior. Things are straight forward. You hack, you slash and, more often than not, you prevail. Playing the expansion though is a lot more like playing an epic level magic-user straight after the fact. You have a lot more power (and BOY can you feel it) but, the challenges that the GM throws at you are a lot more life and death, with no clear path to victory.

In fact, I would go as far as saying that the original game would be more aptly named "Castle Don't Sweat It", a claim which I could never make of the expansion. The expansion really ramps up the difficulty level of the game, which isn't a bad thing. It makes victories a lot more meaningful and I always relish a challenge.

The only real downfall with this add-on is the sheer volume of rules it adds. Don't get me wrong, it's not a lot but, to go from what is realistically a casual level game suitable for the whole family to, a gamer level game with a virtually vertical learning curve is going to be a bit too much of a leap for a large chunk of the folks who invested in the original.

That aside though, speaking as a gamer who appreciates a challenge (and a fanboy of the original), I'd highly recommend adding this one to the collection. It's not an expensive buy in and, it's worth every penny.

Alchemy's Workbench #15: Even More Panic!

It's official, I am hooked on Castle Panic. Tunnels and Trolls, obsessed and, it seems that when I'm not homebrewing for one of late, I'm tinkering with the other.

It's no surprise though. Both systems are elegantly light (although it has to be said that the Wizard's Tower expansion is far too convoluted for it's own good) and, welcome said tinkering.

Convolution aside, The Wizard's Tower expansion has certainly given me some food for thought though. Particularly the new rules that it introduces that allow some cards to strike certain monsters at ranges they normally couldn't given the right circumstances. It's a simple tweak (although you wouldn't think it looking at the rulebook) and, a great idea! It adds some real depth.

This set me thinking, why not go the whole hog and completely redesign the deck, and if I'm redesigning the deck, why not the monster tokens and theme too.

So after a quick brainstorm, I came up with what I think are two ideal candidates. Doom and Resident Evil, of which I decided to run with Doom. Not that Resident Evil isn't a fine game but, with Fireside Games already having a zombie style panic game in the works, creating my own when I had a choice seemed a bit moot. Not to mention, I know a damn sight more about Doom. :0).

The New Board

The board itself won't change much, other than the names of the rings, which will become Short (S), Medium (M), and, Long (L).

The New Deck

The new deck will keep the color codings of the original game but, the actual cards themselves and their capabilities will change vastly. Each card will have a value after S, M and, L, showing how many points of damage that it will deal to any one target within that ring (of the appropriate color). If it has no value, it cannot hit a target at that range and, a value of zero means that it can be expended (should you just want to remove the card from your hand) but, will do no damage.

Each card can be used to hit only one target at one range regardless of the number of various values and ranges listed on the card before it must be discarded.

Weapon cards will include Chainsaw, Pistol, Shotgun, Super Shotgun, Chaingun, Rocket Launcher, Plasma Rifle, BFG9000. Doubling up on the original four "Hit" cards (Swordsman, Knight, Archer, Hero).

The New Horde

Like the weapons, I am still working on the special rules and values for the monsters but, I expect them to include the Zombie Man, Shotgun Guy, Commando, Imp, Demon, Cacodemon, Mancubus, Revenant, Lost Soul, Pain Elemental, Baron of Hell, Hell Knight, Arch Vile, Arachnotron, Spider Mastermind, Cyber Demon.

First Look: The Wizard's Tower

It's here! It's here! It's finally here!!

After a long wait for it to come back into print, The Wizard's Tower expansion for Castle Panic is available once again.

But was it worth the wait?

From an initial look over the box contents, I'm going to go with a resounding yes. In fact, it's better than I expected! Initially I was hoping for maybe a few new monsters and, I knew that the inclusion of the spell cards would add another dimension to the way that the game played but a brief read through of the rulebook reveals that they have done much, MUCH more.

The strategy is a lot deeper once you add the expansion, you get to make more meaningful decisions and, the introduction of immunities and "mega boss" monsters really takes the whole experience to a new level. Well, I assume it will but, I'm yet to give it a whirl.

I'm also impressed that the aesthetics of the game have remained just as appealing with the expansion too, as the look of the original game was a large part of it's appeal.

Really looking forward to breaking this one out. :0).