Silent Death League
This is the meta-game league designed for Silent Death. The league system is copyright 1999 Mad Scientist Games.
The general way the league works is that each player has some resources, which give victory points (or campaign points) based on the outcome of their games. The player with the most points at the end of the league wins.
Based on whether you win or not, you gain more resources as time goes on. However, the resources only affect the victory points you get, not the actual games you play. Thatway, losers may be in a worse position to win the league, but they won't be in a worse position to win the next game.
I designed this league in reaction to the leagues being run at Iron Crown, which were really campaigns. In a campaign, the outcome of one game affects your chances of winning the next one. The losers get in worse and worse positions, until they can't win games. This makes many players (like me) not want to play anymore. Why start a game you know you can't win? So I designed a league system that makes each game interesting, but gives rewards to the winners.
The league is in three sections:
- The rules for playing the league.
- The resources availabe in the league.
- The tables to roll on for getting resources.
Generalizing
If you look at this league, you realize that it could easily be generalized to other games. Feel free to do so, I just ask that you point out to your players that the league system is copyright MSG.
There are a couple important aspects of the system. First, you need resources based on the game, that give points based on the way the game plays out. This usually includes points for achieving various sub-goals in the game. Some resources should also affect other resources, to give some depth to the meta-game. The resources should come in levels, so that you can upgrade and improve through the course of the league.
Second, you need some flavor. Each player needs an "alignment" of some sort, like the houses of Silent Death. This may not be obvious for the game, but work something out. For Magic the Gathering your alignment could be based on the five colors, and you can pick a different one each game if you have that color in your graveyard. For Settlers of Catan, the alignment could be the color you played in the game, or you could have the players pick a resource type (wood, stone, sheep, etc.) at the beginning of the league. The alignment is used to restrict the mix of resources available, and to make some resources easier to get.
The league system works well for Silent Death, but it can be problematic for shorter games. In a game that can be played in less than an hour, the mid-game book keeping can slow the game down a lot, and the sheer ammount of resources gained can unbalance things. When adapting this league system to such games, have the resources give points depending on the state of the game at the end of the game, so that the players don't have to keep track of things during play. Also, give out resources based on the player's win-loss records each week. This slows down the gain of resources to a reasonable level. I strongly recommed a set schedule of games for the meta-game league, especially for faster games.
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Last Modified 6/21/99
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Created 6/21/99
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