Edouard Imbert - Game design

The Round Table

"The Round Table" is the working name for my board game project, on which I've been working for several months now. The initial intention was to mix what's fun in RPGs - feeling of progression, immersive situations, strategic choices, epic fights - and in the game of the goose - randomness, and competition -, while keeping the result of this alchemy as simple and accessible as possible. The game accepts up to six players.

The board has the form of a snake that has six curbs. Each curb is a different environment: the plains (level 1 monsters), the forest (level 2 monsters), etc. The objective is to be the first player to defeat the Mage that lives on the last square of the snowy mountain (level 6).

Please remember that this is a prototype. The board is a piece of cardboard and the cards are white paper on which the values are written in pencil (for later balancing). The plastic figures we use are Dungeon & Dragon miniatures.

The board (1)
The board (2)
Monsters

Items are bought with the gold received from monsters. We currently have 24 different weapons and shield (if your weapon is one-handed), 36 pieces of armor (12 armors sets, each with different attributes), 12 magic items, and 40+ spells and social interactions (force another player to sing, hire mercenaries, play mandoline, etc).

Item cards
Locations

Players can choose to play the Warrior, the Cleric or the Vagrant, each class having a unique spell to use during battle. Of course, players can group and share the loot.

Typical interface
Character sheets

I can't go into much more detail, but a game lasts for about 5 - 6 hours and has its treasons, thefts, assassinations and usually ends up in open wars between level 6 players. The game was designed to encourage interactions between players (fights, trade, treachery, etc.) and it works quite well, people having no trouble learning the combat system which is based on very, very simple mathematics.