Card Revisions
First, an update: I've decided to definitely go with fixed bonuses for enemies and traps based on what row you're on. It feels perfect for this game. Specifically, I've been playtesting with the harder bonuses (1–5 for level 1, 2–10 for level 2, 3–15 for level 3), and they just work. That top row before the Heart is a crucible, as it should be.
But now I'm doing a complete run-through of all the cards in the tabletop version of the game. After I don't know how many playthroughs, it's pretty clear that there are some items that are just not nearly as good as the rest. And yes, there will always need to be cards you decide not to keep, to use as XP, but it shouldn't be because the item is obviously worthless for any other purpose.
"Begin at the beginning." I started with Starter cards. The +1 XP and Heal a Wound cards have always been excellent. Well worth foregoing the +1 attribute on the other side. But the rest were almost always a detriment. Half a gem, it turns out, is not nearly as good as a whole attribute point, and move one extra space or add one extra tile? Not a chance. The whole idea with Starter cards is that you can take +3 to attributes, or you can trade each of those points for some other benefit. The benefits have to be enough to be worth considering, but if you take all three then you'll have a really hard time winning battles. Interesting choices, that's the point.
So I've reworked them. Instead of half a gem, 6 of the cards now have full, basic gems on the flip side: +1 on the right, an attribute on the left. 6 more have advanced gems: 3 have +2 on the right but offset that with "Enemy Bonus" on the left, and another 3 have two attributes on the left offset by -1 on the right. Those might be a bit too powerful, we'll see.
Heal a Wound and +1 XP are still in there. I've completely removed the single-use cards that let you add an extra tile or draw an extra card. Instead, I have ones that let you Discard an Enemy (which is functionally almost equivalent to Heal a Wound, but thematically quite distinct), and Defeat a Trap. Since most level 1 traps give you items that are barely better than Starter items, I figured this would be an acceptable trade for +1 attribute.
Finally, I have two sets of movement cards. First, a group of single-use cards that let you Move to Any Adjacent Space. So if you get trapped in a loop early in the game you can walk through a wall. That one might be the weakest of the new Starters, I'll have to see how it does in testing. Is it worth taking if you have no idea whether you'll need it?
And then there's Move One Extra Space. Straight up. Not single use, no limitations, just move two spaces per turn right from the start of the game.
I already know that this is too powerful as a player power. Having extra movement with no consequences all the way through the game is almost insurmountable: you may not use it much at first, but later in the game when you're powerful, it's basically an instant win. But as a Starter card, I think it might work. First, it takes up an item slot and gives no other bonuses, including gems. You're not going to want to keep it through the entire game. Second, with the new board layout, the higher you go the tougher the cards get. You can't just go racing across the board straight from the start without getting slapped down. There are consequences to skipping rows before you've had time to build your strength.
So we'll see how this goes. I'm moving on to Level 1 cards now, where I'll make changes based on what I've done with the Starters, and cascade everything forward. When I've gone through them all, I'll go back to playtesting, and see how I did. I'm also hoping to play it once or twice with others this weekend, which is always when I get the best understanding of where everything stands, and those discussions always bring out the best ideas for improvement.
What I haven't added yet is anything involving player proximity. I'm still a little iffy about how to make that work. But now is the time to figure it out. Ooh, maybe instead of moving to any adjacent space, that batch of starters can be Move to Any Occupied Space? It's a bit harder thematically to think of what you could carry into the mountain that would let you do that, but whatever, we're not exactly going for perfect realism here…
I feel like this is getting very close to what will be the final version of the game.