Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Robbers' Roost: Last Day of Release

Today I made the final touches on Robbers' Roost. I edited and reuploaded all of the previously released cardsheets to include changes I made in the guidebook. I edited the guidebook, and added some more information, such as expounding further on Porter Rockwell's ability. I fixed some typos in there, although I am sure there will be plenty more for me and others to catch. The guidebook has also been uploaded. Besides this, I am also releasing the final cardsheet, as well as the sheets containing the backs for playing cards and characters.

Robbers' Roost BANG! Playing cards


This cardsheet simply has the last few cards to balance out the expansion, including another dread Jail. Some cards have not had as many added because many orange cards might provide similar functions, so bear that in mind. And don't forget to also consider the optional functions in the bottom right hand corner of many orange cards.

Here are some quick shots of the character and playing card backs:

Robbers' Roost BANG! Playing Card Backs
Robbers' Roost BANG! Character Card Backs


Anyway, all 56 playing cards and 16 characters have been released! I hope people will enjoy this expansion and help playtest it to make it better than I was able to in this alpha release.

Download the 9th Robbers' Roost Cardsheet (Playing Card Set #7)

Download Robbers' Roost Playing Card Backs

Download Robbers' Roost Character Card Backs

23 comments:

  1. Thanks Martin for all the great work.

    I read in the Guidebook, that maybe you will find a way that people can directly buy all the new expansions.

    I already printed out the Death Mesa expansion and this one too. Unfortunately I don`t have those blank cards you recommend. So I had to print it out on a thick 300g paper. It looks ok, but it is not that perfect as I wish. When I followed the link to purchase death mesa from the company I had a shock, cause additionally to the 8.99 Dollars I have to buy about 100 Dollars of shipping costs.

    Is there another cheaper way to buy these unofficial expansions.

    It would be great if you could help me out here.

    Thanks a lot

    Stefan

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  2. Hey Stefan, I appreciate you trying out these expansions, and also having such high standards of quality. I also like things looking as perfect as possible. I imagine the problem was not just with your paper, but color management for your inkjet printer. I figured the easiest way for people to get these expansions was through a POD where printing would be done for them and the colors would at least be standardized.

    As for the large shipping costs, I have been working with the POD on this. In my e-mail correspondence I communicated:

    "Finally, I sent a question a little while ago about overseas shipping. I was surprised to see shipping to Slovakia cost over $100. I am sure this is to have a shipment that can be tracked and insured. People don't want to lose their shipments, so I see that benefit. However, since Death Mesa is only a deck of cards costing under $10, anyone willing to pay over $100 shipping costs to get a product shipped to Slovakia is not going to care if he has to pay around $17 (card deck cost + First Class international mail shipping costs from USPS) more than once in case the shipment happens to get lost. It seems unlikely that the deck would be lost 7 times, which is what it would take to rival the one $110 insured shipment. Is there anyway to ship uninsured, and just have the person who orders it check some disclaimer box? Just a thought. There are about 10 people in Slovakia/Czech Republic that want to order this expansion, and I know that $100+ shipment won't cut it."

    I was told in response, "I will make sure the shipping is right."

    This seemed like a vague response to me, so I asked, "As per the shipping, you mentioned that you would make sure that it is right. Does this mean that it will be able to be shipped under first class international mail, or are you doing something else?"

    Then I received this response, "I have edited the shipping settings. Try an overseas address and see what comes up for the shipping. Email me the address you used so I can test it from my end."

    My tests still showed shipping costs to be around $80-$100. They are still tweeking it on their ends. If this does not get fixed, the best idea will be either (1) to order in bulk for countries with several interested persons in them, or (2) to order a copy of Death Mesa and mail it to me, as well as mail me via money order (or perhaps some other deposit method) the First Class Priority Mail shipping costs. Then, I can mail it to you for much cheaper. Irritating if it has to go that way, because the benefit of having it online with the POD is to cut out all of these middle man steps. I will keep you and others posted on any developments regarding international shipping.

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  3. Now the price is 15.50$ to Portugal. I think that the price must be the same for all countries overseas at the moment

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  4. Hey Soulrazor, I did talk with the POD and get the shipping moved to $15.50 for all international countries. Unfortunately, this includes Canada too. If I can get the price dropped for shipping more, I will let you know. Nonetheless, $15.50 is a huge improvement.

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  5. Hey, is Robbers' Roost going to be able to be bought as POD or whatever it is? I really want this expansion but its too much hassel to put it together and i would fail misserably at doing it. Also, about when would we see the realease of a version we can buy?

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  6. Good question, Justin. I am trying to make sure everything goes well with Death Mesa at the moment. This has meant having the guidebook updated, putting out the player aid, and checking to see if everything goes well with the printer. I want to make sure people are satisfied with the product they get there. The first 13-14 copies of Death Mesa have been ordered and so I want to make sure those customers are as happy as possible.

    Then, I will turn to Robbers' Roost. You could help me some in getting it up sooner by checking for typos, poor phrasing, etc. in the current cards. I should make sure that they are as clear as possible before setting up a POD version. Are there any issues with the rules as well? After this, I will have to spend some time with the POD making a prototype. Color management on the backs of these cards is key for this expansion, otherwise you will be able to tell which cards they are. Perhaps this isn't too problematic as it only reveals that is amongst 1 in 56 cards, but I would like this to be better if possible. So I will have to ship them some of the original BANG! cards and get them to match colors as best as possible.

    Then, there is the issue of the custom cutting of the cards. The POD can do this, but it is expensive. People could do this themselves, but it is annoying. I am trying to find a good solution for this at the moment.

    Anyway, to answer your final question, I don't really see Robbers' Roost being available before June. I will post updates and information regarding the POD Prototype as I did before getting Death Mesa online.

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  7. thanks for answering, would ou say it would get out before Summer is over

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  8. i was reading over the cards to see if i can help by seeing if there are any things that don't make sense or spelling mistakes and this is what i noticed:

    The ability description for Laura Billion makes no sense to me

    Distracted description on card makes no sense to me

    on the orange card toss, do you use it when a cat balu is used? so does it give a card to the person being cat baluo? I understand wh Missed! and Beer are written under push and bandage but i don't undertsand why cat balois under toss? also the other toss card has panic underneath and i don't understand why?

    for the orange card quick draw, does it only apply to lay down (blue and green cards) cards?

    the jail card should say exactly what the original jail cards should say

    i did not find any speeling errors

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  9. also i just remembered a question i had, i assume orange cards can't be panic and can- canned or can they?

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  10. Hey Justin, thanks for looking over the Robbers' Roost cards. It seems like many of your questions are addressed in the Guidebook: did you check that out? I believe that things should be as clear as possible on the cards too, so I will work on that, but I hope that at least the Guidebook makes things clear. Let me know if these items that I share with you are clear from the guidebook:
    (1) Orange cards can be directly discarded (using Cat Balou, Brawl, Can Can). They cannot be directly stolen (with a Panic!, Rag Time, or Conestoga). When a player attempts to steal an orange card, the orange cards in front of a player are taken into his hand. His hand is shuffled, and then a card is stolen at random from his hand. If there are orange cards in the hand that were not stolen, they are placed back down in front of the player.
    (2) The names of cards on the bottom right hand side of some orange cards corresponds to the alternate function under specific circumstances. These circumstances are generally when a player no longer has a team mate to aid with the orange cards. In those instances the orange card would generally be useless, and thus it has the alternative function listed on the bottom right. For details of these circumstances, see the guidebook.
    (3) Unless an event is specified on an orange card, it can be played anytime during another player's turn, but not in the middle of a transaction (Toss is one of these). Thus, a player couldn't play Toss just after a player is banged. The banged player would have to resolve the BANG! by first avoiding it or taking the hit. Then, the Toss would come into effect.
    (4) Quick Draw applies to any card "used" -- thus to cards both in play in front of a player and cards in a player's hand.
    (5) Distracted. Here is the Guidebook's extended description: "Distracted. If a heart is “drawn!”, discard Distracted; play normally. Else you can use offensive cards that affect the player who laid Distracted alone. Discard at your next turn. Distracted is played very much like Jail, and is phrased like it. On a player’s turn, he may play Discarded on any other player. At that player’s next turn, he must “draw!” after resolving both Dynamite and Jail. If he dies because of Dynamite, discard Distracted (Distracted is not picked up by Vulture Sam in case of player elimination). If he is in Jail, wait until his next turn for him to “draw!” on Distracted. Otherwise, he “draws!” for Distracted. If the “drawn!” card is a heart, Distracted is discarded. If not, that player may only use offensive cards that affect the player who played distracted alone. Thus, he not only is the sole potential target of the distracted player’s BANG!, but this also nullifies his ability to play Gatling and Howitzer, and potentially Cannon and Artillery (they could be played only if the player who played distracted is adjacent to the distracted player). Since Distracted will only be discarded at the beignning of the distracted player’s next turn, all offensive orange cards (Back Up, Ambush, Joins Arms, and Gaping Wound) can also only be played against the player who played distracted until that next turn." Does this make sense?

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  11. (6) Laura Billion's ability. The card states, "Anytime she uses a green, orange, or brown card, “draw!” If the card is royal the card’s ability is used, but then the card is placed in front of her. At the beginning of her next turn, Laura draws all these cards." The Guidebook adds, "Anytime she uses a green, orange, or brown card, “draw!” If the card is royal the card’s ability is used, but then the card is placed in front of her. At the beginning of her next turn, Laura draws all these cards." Is this any clearer, or is it still confusing with the guidebook's explanations? Is there a better way to word the card?
    (7) Toss. The card reads "Give any card from your hand to a player within distance 2." So you can play this card at anytime during a player's turn, not during a transaction, to give any card in your hand to another player that you see within distance 2. It does not give a card to a player being Cat Baloued. I think you are confusing the event with the optional function at the ottom right hand corner of the card.

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  12. thanks for all the explinations, i just read the guidebook not that long ago but thanks for these, everything is clear except for Laura Billion. i think i got it but not sure, so if it is a royal, the ability is used plus she puts it in front of her and draws it again next turn? if its not a royal do you still use the ability and get rid of the card?

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  13. Hey Justin, you got your Laura Billion's ability. She uses a non-blue card, and then "draws!" On royals, the card's ability is used and she puts it in front of her to draw again the next turn. On non-royals, the card's ability used, but then the card is discarded.

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  14. ok, thank ou so much for all the help. it is much appreciated. thank ou so much

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  15. Thanks for these expansions. Me and my friends tried out Death Mesa last week on cards we printed on regular paper (we were just picking them out of a plastic bag :P) and we really had a blast!

    I ordered the deck for 8,99$. Shipping cost was a bit expensive for Canada, but that's alright, could be worse :). Haven't received it yet though!

    I'm really looking forward to Robbers' Roost Beta. There's still a few green card missing in the current version that I would really like to see in action! (The Flop!! :D).

    I think it is going to be a very original expansion in the end. Of course, the back of the playing cards should be as perfect as possible since they're going to be merged in the original deck.

    Thank you again, wonderful work so far!

    Kevin

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  16. I am glad you had a great time with Death Mesa, and thanks for being willing to order it! If you ever have time, I would love for you or others to review it and give suggestions for improvement.

    I too look forward to Robbers' Roost, but as you mentioned, I have to be a lot more careful with this expansion than Death Mesa. I need to match both the size and colors of the cards pretty darn closely! I have noticed that dv-giochi's own BANG! expansions have some color differences, but they are only slight, so mine better only be slight too!

    As for certain cards missing, I'm afraid they won't make it to the Robbers' Roost POD release. However, as I have mentioned in the past, I plan on releasing a bonus pack that includes a few of the cards and characters that I placed in Robbers' Roost during the conceptual phase. Who knows, maybe another expansion will grow out of it, or a special edition of Robbers' Roost?

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  17. i commented on a couple of wa old posts saying that some cards should still be included so you should really try to include them like Kevin said or do what you said add some cards as a bonus pack, because some of the cards work well and i would love to play with them

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  18. I am glad that you want to use the other cards; it looks like not all my ideas were bad! We'll see what happens. But I will focus on getting a prototype of RR out first.

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  19. No problem! If these are gonna be the final cards for RR, I wouldn't mind trying to have them printed out at a local specialized store in order to see how it goes when merged in a regular deck :).

    I'll keep you guys updated! Thank you again!

    Kevin

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  20. Kevin, I am positive that the card backs will need some tweeking. And this is not necessarily because there is something wrong with the images, but rather each printer will print the colors out slightly differently. You have to adjust them, sadly, for each different kind of printer. I tend to print out a series of tiles with slightly different changes to darkness/lightness, hue, saturation, etc. And then I see which one best matches the cards. This is the best I have been able to do so far! I wish I knew more about color management.

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  21. Yes I know : )!

    That's why I will bring them a sample card from the original game so they can make sure the printed back colors are similar in the end ;). Hopefully it's going to be possible!

    Kevin

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  22. hey, i was wondering if you take ideas for cards. like not too include in RR but maybe a future release. I have some ideas and it would be cool if you could look at my ideas

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  23. Sure, I am always willing to look at card ideas and give my feedback. It is nice to see other excited BANG! fans and modders.

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