Carcassonne Central

Here are some direct links to the pdf versions of the variants that I have compiled:

Bishops and Dioceses (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/bishopsanddioceses.pdf)

Carcassonne Prison (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/carcassonneprison.pdf)

Tax Collector (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/taxcollector.pdf)

Trading Posts (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/tradingposts.pdf)

(Gantry, you are welcome to host at CC if you so wish)

Ah I recognize those! Kevin Graham (lil misfit on BGG) made them, they are I believe already in the Variant database. I don't have plans to host variants here unless absolutely necessary, I think it's sufficient to link to them. Since you have some notes in the pdfs, I'll made an additional link to them. Thanks!

Bishops and Dioceses is based on an original idea by Jonathan Brown

Carcassonne Prison is based on an original idea by Kevin Graham

Tax Collector is based on an original idea by Kevin Graham

Trading Posts (my favourite variant)  is based on an original idea by Kevin Graham


Kevin Graham's variants have been expanded upon, updated to fit the new expansions and reformatted by me with kind permission from Kevin. Although Jonathan Brown's Bishops and Dioceses has been updated in a similar way, I have been unable to contact him as yet regarding my changes.

Try one in your next game, you might well like how they play.

These are really cool and it's nice that the rules have a 'professional' look to them! Any suggestions as to where one might purchase corresponding extra pieces?

See this thread: http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=433.0 (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=433.0)

Okay I've added Bishops & Dioceses as well as another original variant by Olivier, it's getting late so I'll continue these after some sleep! Maybe you can check over the Bishops entry (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=49) and let me know if it needs anything.

Bishops and Dioceses, Carcassonne Prison (Update), Tax Collector (Update), Trading Posts (Update) have all been entered, and a note has been placed in the description field of the original author's versions.

As well I added a variant called Dirtroads (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=392) by wellidesigns.

I have produced a draft version of 'The Variants Guide'. This will hopefully collect together some of the best variants, which are not too complicated to include in a game of regular Carcassonne. What I require is for you to suggest inclusions (preferably those that do not need loads of tiles to be constructed). Although you will see that Families is included, I am not sure about this inclusion because of the amount of tiles that need to be made for it. Perhaps it could be 10 of the best variants from CC members?

The purpose of this draft version is to give you an idea of how it will look. Any suggestions, comments, let me know :)

For the pdf of the guide: www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/Variants_Guide_05_draft.pdf (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/Variants_Guide_05_draft.pdf)

Acknowledgement is spelled wrong on the last page.

I think it is good to have this as a separate document from the CAR, to make it clear that they are unofficial.

I concur. This also has the benefit of allowing the two seperate documents to have different release schedules. Varianst will likely require more frequent updates. This is a great idea and I appreciate your efforts in this.

I love this document!  Can you add every variant?  Theres a number over at boardgamegeek, such as "friar and farmhand (probably what I'll be doing with my 2 blank tiles)" "designer cities" and "fruit trader" that I would love to see consolodated into one document.

I personally think that including every variant would be overwhelming. There are a number of variants that may not hold wide appeal. The variant document could/should be the hall of fame document for "great" variants. Perhaps there could be a mechanism by which a variant is nominated for consideration and requires x number of votes for inclusion in the document. This could end up being a document that lists the best of the best variants and also lets the world know that it is "CarcassonneCentral" approved. Perhaps in order to be able to vote for the variant, you have to have played with the variant and written a brief session report.

By adding a sanction to the document indicating that CarcassonneCentral members have endorsed the variant will have the added benefit of lending credibility and more widespread appeal to these forums. In addition to being a great resource site and discussion forum, the site can become the vetting mechanism for high quality variants. This could possibly direct more traffic and participation on these forums.

Pardon the rambling, I was just sharing my stream of conciousness. :)

Well, doing every variant would be an mammoth task!!!

I prefer variants that do not need a lot of preparation (making tiles, etc). I like those that just add a few simple rules and perhaps an extra meeple/token. However, looking at the tiles that Novelty is producing, perhaps variants that are created by CC users would be nice, or at least a section devoted to them :)

True, there are currently 78 variants in the Variant Registry, some many pages long. This document would be in the hundreds of pages as well as undergo frequent updates, and frankly would not, in my opinion, be suited to a static document.  Thus a database or wiki, similar to the Variant Registry, would make more sense.

There are some variants which are not very good, or are similar to an expansion that has since been produced rendering them obsolete. There are also some variants that are similar to each other. I think there should be some sort of limitation on which are included in a published variant guide. Human approval by Carc Central members seems to be the best way to go; attempting to establish some sort of testable criteria would be near impossible.

Friar and Farmhand seems like a good candidate, though there exists at least two versions (the original, and a revised version by Elderbarry). Most of the variants that Joff has already included required a certain amount of rewriting, and I suspect most others will too. Need to bring them up to quality standards and make sure they fit together with other expansions and variants.

Yay, I get named in Acknowledgements :)

I think all the variants in one document might be a bit too much.  I'd prefer to have each variant with its own document.  Then all the documents can be printed out as a compilation of sorts.

This is more of a question for Gantry and the admins:

Process for Variants to be included in a the CCCCC Compendium of Carcassonne Central Cool Customizations. (Variants).

---

(1) A member of CarcassonneCentral Forums recommends a variant to include in the CCCCC.
(2) Two other members support the recommendation for this variant to be included in the CCCCC document of Variants.
(3) The admins set up a poll to have members vote. There must be at least X votes to have a variant deemed worthy enough for inclusion.
(4) All variants with X votes get added to the CCCCC.

---

This is just a draft of the process, but I am curious to see if others see merit in this.

OK, new version is up. Still just a draft. Some of the rules, especially Assassins need work, but as I said this is only to give an idea of how it would look. I'd like to persue a CC member authored variants section as well as those that CC members find are the best. Perhaps compile the best and then take a vote on them.

www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/Variants_Guide_02_draft.pdf (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/Variants_Guide_02_draft.pdf)

Where can I find this database? Looked everywhere but simply just can't find it here on the forum.

Go to the CC Homepage (by clicking here: www.carcassonnecentral.com (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com)). Then mouse over the Variant Registry menu. This will give options, such as List View, Detail View etc. Just click on the drop down menu you require :)

Thanks!!!

This is just my own opinion and thus I don't speak for Matt or anyone else, but I believe that all sufficiently-unique variants should be included in the Variant Registry.  By this I mean that we're not going to include the obviously silly submissions such as these:

- Carc Minus One: remove 1 tile at the start of the game, now play!
- Better farms: make farms worth 100 points!
- Dangerous Rivers: Placing a river gets you two extra turns!

Take another look at this (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=56.0), especially the section "Does it qualify as a variant?", as well as my last post.  I really don't want CC to be a filter for people's creative ideas, otherwise people would stop posting their variants here for fear of rejection.

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with rating variants, which is a future feature of the Variant Registry.

I completely agree with what you are saying Gantry, What I was proposing had nothing to do with the Registry, I think it is perfectly fine. I saw some efforts to create a PDF file of collected variants and the comments were that all varianst were not going to be included. I do not think all of the varianst in the registry should be included in a PDF collection. That begs the question, what vraiants SHOULD be included in a collection of variants?  A couple of reasons really:

I think this is a great website and a wonderful resource for all things Carcassonne. The first time I wondered into the Variant registry it was a bit overwhelming. There are so many. That is good and that is bad. For the casual Carcassonne player, it would be helpful to have a list of variants that have been well received and thoroughly playtested. That is likely to lead to a happy first experience with variants which would lead to further exploration and use of more variants. Have a "Hall Of Fame" of Varianst would only act to showcase variants in the registry that have received accolades and been lauded by the Carcassonne Community at large. They would be variants that have proven to integrate well with the core game. THis is just an approach that a number of members took on another game website I am a member of. 

Hope that explains my thought process a bit more. If you think this would not be well received, that is fine. I do not get too personally attached to any ideas on the web. :D

Cheers,
Matt

Sounds like you are suggesting we should have a CarcCentral Seal of Approval.

*stamps approval*