The Leper

[Joff]

and I was just about to release the final version...

Yes, you could intentionally do that. Once the first city is complete and scoring has taken place, the Leper is placed within the city.

[Novelty]

Well, if that is not allowed, then a statement saying that the leper cannot be moved the turn it is placed might be sufficient.  Then again, there's nothing stopping it from being moved twice a turn in an extended turn, so... the question is, do you want to allow these scenarios?

I also think there should be a means to heal the leper so that it can reappear when the next city is completed.  That though would need both the above restrictions, or otherwise, it may become too "griefy".

[Joff]

a bit of food for thought from Novelty there...

Ok, here is a draft release of The Leper. I have decided to keep it as a one piece expansion as opposed to a two piecer like 'Jester and Minstrel'.

Changes in this version include:

I have decreased the point deduction value from 2 to 1. The Leper was deemed far too powerful.
Used Novelty's suggestion that the Leper cannot move more than once during a player's turn.
The Leper can be moved to a newly completed city instead of a player 'moving the wood'.

I hope these changes are clear.

Draft rules (ver 0.2): The Leper 0.2 draft

[Novelty]

My comments and proofread:

Text could do with some justification.

It would be nice to use the image from The city instead of the white meeple.  Do you want me to 'shop up the meeple from the city for you?

Must the leper be placed on the completed city?  If so, why would there still be any meeples in that city?  If not, the text is unclear that it could be on any city.

Bold text = additions, strikethroughs = deletions required

"The Leper is a nomad playing piece. Now that When the Leper is on the playing surface you have the option a player may, instead of usual ‘moving the wood’,4 movinge the Leper instead, or taking no action. Remember, the Leper cannot move during the same turn that it has been placed."

"If a player you decides to move the Leper, the Leper you must be moved him 5 tile spaces, unless it is illegal not possible to do so (i.e. a dead end is reached)."

General comment: Try not to use "you" because what happens when someone else (not the reader) does something?  It is ambiguous!  I've replaced the "you" above were appropriate, but I think the rest of the document needs the same treatment.

"For every follower5 that the Leper comes into contact with during the course of his movement, theat player owner of the follower loses 1 point."

Can the leper cross rivers that have no bridge across them?  With the dragon and the fairy, they are flying, but the leper doesn't have such an advantage does it?  and unlike the jester and the minstrel, nobody would want to ferry it across a river.

[Joff]

It would be nice to use the image from The city instead of the white meeple.  Do you want me to 'shop up the meeple from the city for you?

That would be good... I prefer the meeple from The Castle though

[Novelty]

I'll see what I can do.  The one from the castle is the conehead meeple right?

[Joff]

Text could do with some justification.

Agree

Must the leper be placed on the completed city?  If so, why would there still be any meeples in that city?  If not, the text is unclear that it could be on any city.

Yes, the Leper must be placed on the completed city. There would be no followers in that city, but there might well be a follower on a road which appears on the tile of the city segment that the Leper is moved to.

Bold text = additions, strikethroughs = deletions required

"The Leper is a nomad playing piece. Now that When the Leper is on the playing surface you have the option a player may, instead of usual ‘moving the wood’,4 movinge the Leper instead, or taking no action. Remember, the Leper cannot move during the same turn that it has been placed."

"If a player you decides to move the Leper, the Leper you must be moved him 5 tile spaces, unless it is illegal not possible to do so (i.e. a dead end is reached)."

General comment: Try not to use "you" because what happens when someone else (not the reader) does something?  It is ambiguous!  I've replaced the "you" above were appropriate, but I think the rest of the document needs the same treatment.

"For every follower5 that the Leper comes into contact with during the course of his movement, theat player owner of the follower loses 1 point."

Agree. I will update where necessary.

Can the leper cross rivers that have no bridge across them?  With the dragon and the fairy, they are flying, but the leper doesn't have such an advantage does it?  and unlike the jester and the minstrel, nobody would want to ferry it across a river.

Yes, he can. Otherwise the Leper movement becomes far too complicated. The Leper does go for a swim in the river in the deaperate hope that the river will wash his leporsy away... cool water also eases the itching.


Edit:

I'll see what I can do.  The one from the castle is the conehead meeple right?

Yes, you have it as the picture for The Leper in the Developments thread

[Novelty]

I was trying to get white when I got gold, so here's the Leper and the King (or whatever you're gonna rename King since that would clash with King and Scout).

[Joff]

I love the gold effect!

[Scott]

This would be a very appropriate AotC expansion too...

[Joff]

Draft rules (ver 0.3): The Leper 0.3 draft

[Novelty]

Some more comments:

"That is a terrible cry to hear for the residents of Carcassonne."
would probably be better phrased as
"That is a terrible cry for the residents of Carcassonne to hear."

"comes into contact" is a bit misleading when you mean "is on the same tile as".  As the rules are written, if I move the leper piece carefully so that it doesn't touch (i.e. come into contact) any followers when it is moving through the square that the followers are on, then the followers do not lose any points.  This I think is outside the intention of the rules.

Minor quibbles:
* The term "neutral piece" is a bit vague - neutral towards what?; "not owned by any player" might be a better description.
* Likewise with the "nomad playing piece" statement.  What exactly is the purpose of this statement?  Neither the fairy or the dragon or the wagon has this description, at least not that I know of.
* There is no clarification as a footnote that the Leper can cross rivers (or city walls)
* "Boundaries do not affect the Leper's movement" can be read to mean that the Leper can skip over tiles or move into a "hole" not occupied by a tile, since the only "boundary" in the game is the tile edge.


Also, I notice the "Rule format..." comment on the margins.  Do you want us to put that into all our rule documents as well?

[Joff]

Some more comments:

"That is a terrible cry to hear for the residents of Carcassonne."
would probably be better phrased as
"That is a terrible cry for the residents of Carcassonne to hear."

"comes into contact" is a bit misleading when you mean "is on the same tile as".  As the rules are written, if I move the leper piece carefully so that it doesn't touch (i.e. come into contact) any followers when it is moving through the square that the followers are on, then the followers do not lose any points.  This I think is outside the intention of the rules.

Minor quibbles:
* The term "neutral piece" is a bit vague - neutral towards what?; "not owned by any player" might be a better description.
* Likewise with the "nomad playing piece" statement.  What exactly is the purpose of this statement?  Neither the fairy or the dragon or the wagon has this description, at least not that I know of.
* There is no clarification as a footnote that the Leper can cross rivers (or city walls)
* "Boundaries do not affect the Leper's movement" can be read to mean that the Leper can skip over tiles or move into a "hole" not occupied by a tile, since the only "boundary" in the game is the tile edge.


Also, I notice the "Rule format..." comment on the margins.  Do you want us to put that into all our rule documents as well?

Thanks Nov. I will have a look at all these in due course and update the rules accordingly.

With regards to the rules format comment. I have issued the majority of my rules documents with this comment (when a few otheres had had my template)... it has just stayed in them on the template since, but there is no need for others to follow suit. I am quite happy with other rules documents not containing the comment. It is a non issue for me really.

[Joff]

Draft rules (ver 0.4): The Leper 0.4 draft

[Novelty]

I think everything is in there now!  Looks good.