Tron - Grid Games - Disc Battle - basic rules

Here are the basic rules. They are pretty fleshed out at this point. I'm still in the process of making counters and advanced rules but this is the gameplay from which I'm basing it.
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Tron - Grid Games - Disc Battle


Each player controls a program in the games. They must battle each other until only one remains.
Alternatively, they can play as teams of 2 - 4 programs until only one team remains.


Components:
Programs - Each Program has unique icon to represent it. You may either use a figure or even one of the 2" program discs. You will need one Program for every player.

Action Base - Each Program also has a 4" Action Base. These are the same for all Programs. You will need one Action Base for each Program plus at least one extra Action Base for movement.

Disc Marker - Each program has a corresponding Disc Marker to represent a thrown Disc. You will need one Disc Marker for each Program. In the advanced game some Programs may have two Discs instead of just one. The Disc Marker is 1" wide and 2" long with an arrow pointing to one of the smaller ends.

Disc Movement Base - You will need at least one Disc Movement Marker in order to move thrown Discs. The Disc Movement Base is 1" wide and 6" long.

Grid - The playing surface is known as the Grid. This is a clearly defined area that can be as small as 12" x 12" for a quick two-player game to 4’ x 4’ or even larger for a multi-team battle. A Grid with sides between 2’ - 3’ long is big enough for up to 6 players.

Action Cards - You will need 5 Action Cards for each Program.

Direction Die - This is a die with arrows on the faces. If you don’t have a Direction Die, every time you would have to roll for random movement of the Disc instead use the direction back to the owning Program instead.


Setup:
Set up the Grid.

Each player takes an Action Base and a Program as well as the corresponding Action Cards and Disc Marker.

Each player places their Action Base on the Grid and places their Program on top of their Action Base. Try to place the Action Bases so that there is room for at least one Action Base between them. If you cannot decide how to place the Programs on the Grid, take an Action Card from each program and shuffle them. Flip the Action Cards over one at a time and place the corresponding program on the Grid at that time.

Each Program starts the game with one Action Card held for reactive actions and the remaining cards are shuffled together and placed face down.


Turn Sequence:
Flip over the top Action Card. The corresponding Program may either perform an active action at that point or hold the Action Card to perform a reactive action later. Players may only hold a maximum of three Action Cards. Actions Cards may be held from turn to turn but once held they cannot be discarded unless used.

After every active action played, any Discs that are already being thrown move. A Disc that was just thrown this action does not move again.

Once all the Action Cards have been turned up and either used or held, reshuffle the used Action Cards and start the next turn. Action Cards that are being held are not reshuffled. Action cards belonging to De-Rezed Programs are removed unless they still have a Thrown Disc in play.


Winning:
The last player or team with an active Program when the others have De-Rezzed wins.


De-Rez.
If you unable to Block or Dodge a Thrown Disc or are unable to Dodge an Attack you are struck by the Disc. You are De-Rezzed and your Program is removed from play as well as you Action Base. If you De-Rez and your Disc is being thrown it De-Rezzes after it hits a wall or another Program or after another Program Blocks it. A Program struck by a Disc belonging to a De-Rezzed Program will still be De-Rezzed before that Disc also De-Rezzes.


Actions:
Each Program has five Action Cards. Each Program starts with one Action Card held for reactive actions. Shuffle the remaining Action Cards.
Programs take actions as their Action Cards are turned over. They may either perform an active action at that point or hold the Action card to perform a reactive action later. Programs may only hold a maximum of three actions. Action Cards may be held from turn to turn but once held they cannot be discarded unless used.
Once all the Action Cards have been turned up and either used or held, reshuffle the used Action Cards and start the next turn. Action Cards that are being held are not reshuffled.

The actions are:
Attack, Block, Catch, Dodge, Move, Stand, and Throw.
The active actions are Attack, Move, Stand, and Throw. These actions may only be preformed when the Program’s Action Card comes up.
The reactive actions are Block, Catch, and Dodge. In order to perform one of these actions you must have an Action Card held already and have your Action Base crossed by a Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base or by another Program’s Action Base.

Attack - If you have a Disc and your Action Base overlaps a portion of another figure’s Action Base you may Attack them. They may Dodge your Attack if they have an Action Card held as above.

Block - If you have your Disc and another Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base crosses your Action Base you may spend an action to Block it. Roll the Direction Die and place the small end of the Disc Marker against your Action Base in the direction shown on the die.

Catch - If your Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base crosses your Action Base you may catch it by using an action. If you don’t have any actions you may dive for it - you catch your Disc but now are Prone.
If you moved your Action Base over your Disc Marker you still need to spend an action to make to the catch or you may dive for it. If you dive for it you catch your Disc but are now Prone.

Dodge - If another Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base crosses your Action Base you may spend an action to Dodge it. If you have no actions and want to Dodge then you become Prone. If you are already Prone you may not Dodge.

Move - Place a new Action Base adjacent to the one that your Program is currently on and move your Program to that base. If you are unable to place a new base adjacent or you don’t want to move that much, you may place the new base partially covering your current base. If your move causes your Action Base to cross a portion of your Disc Marker you may also attempt a Catch if you have a held action.

Stand - If your Program is Prone, the only action it can perform is to stand up. If you are using the program discs, flip it over to indicate that the Program is no longer Prone. If you are using a figure to represent the Program, then stand the figure back up to indicate that it is no longer Prone.

Throw - If you currently have a Disc you may throw it. Place the one of small end of the Disc Movement Base adjacent to your Action Base in the direction you wish to throw and place the Disc Marker flush at the other end of the Disc Movement Base with the arrow pointing in the direction of the throw.


Disc Movement
When you Throw a Disc, the small end of the Disc Movement Base is placed adjacent to your Action Base in the direction you wish to throw and Disc Marker is placed flush at the other end of the Disc Movement Base with the arrow pointing in the direction of the throw.

After every active action played, any Discs that are already being thrown move. A Disc that was just thrown this action does not move again. Starting with the Program who just played an action, move the Thrown Discs of the Programs clockwise around the table. To move the Disc place a Disc Movement Base flush with the end of the Disc Marker by the arrow. Then move the Disk Marker flush to the other end of the Disc Movement Base.

If a Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base crosses a Program’s Action Base and the Disc belongs to that Program they may attempt to Catch it.

If a Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base crosses a different Program’s Action Base they may attempt to Block or Dodge it. If they successfully Dodge it then it has no effect on the Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base. If they successfully Block it roll the Direction Die and place the small end of the Disc Marker adjacent to that Program’s Action Base in the direction of the arrow on the Direction Die.

If a Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base crosses the another Program’s Action Base and that program is Prone then that Program is hit and they De-Rez. Roll the Direction Die and place the small end of the Disc Marker adjacent to that Program’s Action Base in the direction of the arrow on the Direction Die.

If a Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base crosses the edge of the Grid then use geometry to match the incoming angle with the angle of reflection. If this is too hard then roll the Direction Die and place the small end of the Disc Marker adjacent to that Program’s Action Base in the direction of the arrow on the Direction Die.

If a Disc Marker or Disc Movement Base crosses the another Program’s Disc Marker then nothing happens in the basic game - Thrown Discs ignore other Thrown Discs.

Recalling a Thrown Disc - If a Disc Marker is more than 3 Action Bases away from the Action Base of the owing Program, that Program may choose to Recall it. When the Disc would normally move, place the Disc Movement Base flush with the end of the Disc Marker by the arrow. Instead of moving the Disc Marker to the other end of the Disc Movement Base, turn the Disc Marker around and place the other end of the Disc Marker against the Disc Movement Base. Then turn the Disc Marker so that it points toward the owning Program.


Prone
If a Program is Prone the only action it can perform is to Stand. If a Program is Prone and Attacked by another Program or hit by a Disc then that Program De-Rezzes.
If you are using the program discs, flip it over to indicate that the Program is Prone. If you are using a figure to represent the Program, then lie the figure down to indicate that it is Prone.


- - -
Notes
Still working on the size of the Disc Markers and Disc Movement Bases - originally 1"x4" and 1"x8".
Also originally allowed holding 3 Action Cards but changed to 2 as too hard to De-Rez a program that turtled.
The ‘advanced’ rules include more dice rolling for skill tests - Block, Dodge, Prone as well as the ability to gain levels for bonuses - like using 2 Discs, being able to hold more Action Cards or even starting with more Action Cards held, as well as getting more than 5 Action Cards.

The Monty Hall problem.

The set up is based on the old Let’s Make a Deal scenario. You are given a choice of three doors. Behind one door is a new car! Behind the other two are zonks – dummy ‘prizes’ – usually a goat or animal or a wrecked tractor.
You pick one of the three doors. The host (Monty Hall), who knows what is behind which door, then opens one of the doors to reveal a zonk. He then turns to you and offers you a chance to switch your pick to the unrevealed door.
The question is, should you change your pick?

As proposed on Mythbusters, in the movie 21, and in various YouTube videos, they say that you should.

The key thing is in the explanation - in picking originally you have a 67% chance of being wrong. After being shown the zonk door, in switching to the other door you now only have a 33% chance of being wrong (or if you don't believe the math, a 50% chance of being wrong). Both beat the original 67% chance you had.

I still believe that the assumption is wrong though. Once you open that extra door, why would your 1/3 odds still remain at 1/3? Once a door is shown, why would it not change to 1/2? Think of it this way, at the beginning, whether you have picked a zonk or a car, Monty will still show a zonk, leaving the other door either a zonk or a car. The fact that you only had a 1/3 of guessing the car right from the start does not change the fact that when he offers you the choice to switch you now have a 50% chance of the car being behind either unshown door – one of which you have already picked. The key point in this is that you can now not pick the one door that he has shown you not to be a zonk.

Another example is flipping an unbiased coin heads 3 times in a row. At the onset, you only have a 1/8 chance of success or ½ x ½ x ½. However, after already flipping heads twice your odds of the third flip also being heads doesn’t remain at 1/8 but now becomes 50%.


Since the internet seems determined about this think of it this way - Try reversing it - pick two doors at the start instead of one. This gives you a 33% of not picking the car. Monty then opens one of your doors and shows a zonk and offers you a chance to switch.
Since you haven't done anything to the other door that you originally picked you are now being offered a 50/50 chance again between the remaining two doors - one of which you had picked at the onset.
- - - - -
update
Nope - turns out they were right all the time.
After arguing on the Mythbuster forum I come to this:

You pick door 1 - you have a 1/3 chance of being right at the start and a 2/3 chance of picking a wrong door. Monty removes 1/3 of the doors - 100% of the wrong one and 0% of the right one, 0% of being the door you picked.

However, at the time of the choice, you now have two doors each of which was originally only 1/3 a chance of being the car.
If you had picked the car to start (1/3 of the time) and now switch you have 0% chance of winning. If you hadn't picked the car to start (2/3 the time) and switch you now have a 100% chance of winning.

That's what I get for questioning Mythbusters.

Tron - Disc game - figures

There are two sizes of Tron figures that would work for the Tron – Disc grid game. Both the poseable 4” figures as well as the 3” figures would work. You could conceivably use the 6” or even the 12” figures for added realism, but you would need a lot more space. The rules will scale upwards without too much trouble.

While the 3” figure sets never made their way up here I did get one through the mail in a pack with a light cycle. The figures (and cycles) in these packs come on 2” hexes. I did pick up a bunch of the 4” figures at Dollarama when they appeared for $2 each. Now that I want more I can’t find them anywhere. Although after checking 4 stores I was finally able to find two more Clu Sentries that I can repaint for the Grid. These 4” figures also come with a stand that is 2” in diameter.

Since I plan on making zone-of-control discs to put under the figures, the same ones will work for both the 3” and 4” figures. You could even use counters if you wanted to. I suppose I could always make a 2” counter to replace the figure if needed – like the pogs in Heroclix or Crimson Skies. But, since any figure that would fit on the disc could be used, you can use Star Wars figures, superheroes, or even the small GI Joes.

While I could use the discs that come with the 4” figures for the game discs, I will probably end up making some out of either layered styrene or even cardboard. If I was more proficient with molding I could make a gang mold of them and cast up discs to use.

Tron - Disc Battle - first thoughts

Because you never know when an idea will strike you, I keep a small notebook in the car. This way when I am out and about, I can jot down notes. Case in point, coming home on Friday I got stuck in the traffic who had forgot how to drive in the fresh snow. While waiting I came up with a foundation for a Tron disc battle game.

Whenever I come up with a game the tipping point is usually how the movement works.

In this case, since I already have to make a game grid for the Light Cycles game I am making I was thinking about how it would work for figures on a disc battle – especially with how the discs would move. The figures could move on hexes or squares (or even triangles like my Jugger game) but the discs would need to be more freeform.

I was thinking about how they would move on the grid when I realized that they didn’t have to move on a grid at all. They could move independent of the board which would allow the board to remain in a nice grid pattern.

To interact with the figures I decided that the figures would be placed on a separate base that would define its zone of control and that the discs would be on their own counters. Movement would work by putting a new zone of control marker touching the current one and moving the figure to the new marker.

This is what I started with:
Tron – Disc battle

Disc
Thrown – return after 10 spaces

Move – 5 spaces per turn

Can catch own disc

Dodge

Can Block if have disc.


Actions
Figs – [move up to 3 bases?]

5 actions per turn

Move, Throw, Catch, Attack, Block, Dodge

If Dodge and no actions then prone.

I also had drawn a little sketch of a figure on a round base and a disc on a bent wire attached to a rectangular base.

Figure painting Oct - updated

So I was able to count the Dreadfleet figures to add to my October list.

As packed as the box is, it only contains 42 paintable figures.

There are 10 main ships, 7 small ships, a dirigible, and a dragon.
There are 6 islands and 5 shipwreck pieces.
Also included are three extra figures - a leech wyrm, sea giant, and bone hydra.
As well, there is a wind gauge, 2 ship's wheels (for turning), a navigation rod, and 5 mini trophies.

Once put together, they may even be able to fit back in the box without too much trouble.

Oct figures bought – 285+42, figures painted – 0
Running total 2011 – figures bought 536, figures painted 0

Oct Figure buying / painting total

So the buying total takes a big hit due to Arcane Legions purchases. If I could figure out a proper number for the Dreadfleet, it would be in here as well.

40K Tau Devilfish - 1
Arcane Legions – starter – 120
Arcane Legions – Roman infantry pack – 40
Arcane Legions – Egyptian infantry pack – 40
Arcane Legions – Han infantry pack – 40
Arcane Legions – Roman Cavalry – 14
Arcane Legions – Egyptian Cavalry – 15
Arcane Legions – Han Cavalry – 15

Oct figures bought – 285, figures painted – 0
Running total 2011 – figures bought 494, figures painted 0

Shopping for Tron

So I finished cleaning up my stuff out of the kitchen last week and moved it downstairs. But I just didn't shift the mess, I also sorted a bit more so I now have my stuff contained. I'm still in a bit of a pile on my desk, so I need to move a few boxes before I can work and move them back when done.

While shopping last week I picked up a Tron Recognizer on Tuesday for $15 at Zellers and the Tron racetrack at Winners on Thursday for $10. This now gives me 4 of new light cycles for the racetrack game.

I also picked up Light Bikes online. It looks simple enough but not quite what I was looking for. I'm still going to modify my SNAFU rules.

I also popped into Games Workshop. It seems that, even though I have a subscription, I had missed the June issue. Mark was nice enough to hook me up with one - at no charge. I picked up a water pot and would have snagged some liquid green stuff but they were out.