Entropy City: Making a Wargame

Long time since I got a decent update done on the game’s development, a lot of this is because the big changes lately havent really existed, its been a lot of little things. I am very much in the crunch period of small little tweaks everytime I find something, small answers to questions that I can just I did xyz or abc but everytime I went to write a post I felt like it would be boring to read and so I hesitated.

The most recent design of the cards was one I was very very happy with, though there was definately parts I needed to update, parts when printed in real life were far too small and almost unreadable, thats been fixed and so I am sharing again. These have been available on the podcast discord since Saturday and have been uploaded to the facebook group today as well..  They’re formated in a 4×6 design for only one reason, for me to print i found it easier to cut to size because a lot of the templates I had even though they were measured to literal size never came out the size they should be.

At the very bottom you will find a few files, firstly im sharing the rulebook again, simply just to keep everything easy to find, same with the updated version of the Quick Reference sheet and then finally an image gallery will all the current cards (10 in total), I had hoped to share them via a zip file but the project doesnt allow it for security reasons Im guessing.

As you will see my font choices have moved to something far more generic looking on the cards, this has happened for 2 reasons, 1 dull and another annoying. I did however change the name to a more interesting choice, this isnt final more a point of concept, does the card work and look like its right with the different fonts I think it could IF the design is right. The other major change to Komodo some may have missed if they no longer have access to any fire arms, this is a deliberate choice to help differentiate them from the other factions and one for balancing as well.

In the earliest days is development I was trying to stage development to prevent myself from over stretching, for a long time I believed it was helping avoid the pitfalls Ive seen elsewhere but it was also something of a self defense mechanism for me given I’ve not only not done this before but also that I hoped it would help me prevent finding a gl;aring error in the development of the game near the end that caused a whole heap of issues. For a long time I believed it was the right call however I have been moving more and more away from the small steps into the larger picture for some time now as I began to see the issues it also created, the largest of those issues being the somewhat deliberate choice of keeping the factions largely the same until I felt the rules were strong enough to start splitting the groups up and making them more individualistic.

My first steps for this were giving each faction a weapon of their own and changing how speeds worked for bike types but ultimately that didnt really achieve much and I knew that at the time. More recently you may have seen that each gang has their own base stats to help differentiate them further but the biggest change I made recently actually came from a different issue entirely and when trying to fix it I realised it was my chance to instead use it to my advantage.

I’ve been having some balance issues with the sword, largely that it was supposed to be one of the defining characteristics of The Komodo but I was struggling to keep it balanced without it feeling like there was no point it being in the game. So how do I do both?

Well in the end I’ve realised that it was a far easier solution which was stop trying to fix the sword, it worked the way I wanted it, that wasnt the problem. The issue was that they had access to both the Sword and the guns and by removing their access to ranged weaponry and giving them a storyline reason for it helps the way they act on the table to feel more unique and means I can have my cake & eat it too. This makes The Komodo more of a close combat faction and helps the others access to weaponry feel more unique.

In turn I feel making something like the Molotov Cocktails being something only Mutiny use helps with this as well, afterall it leans in to the grouod guerilla tactics I want to centre their playstyle around and overall helps the game feel more fleshed out mechanically (if it continues to go well.)

Do you like the direction this took? Do you think its silly I didn’t think of it sooner? Do you have other questions, throw it in the comments and I’ll try and answer it or create an entry to.

For a long time, because its all for playtesting a lot of the components have been kept deliberately simple, it makes them easy to edit when it comes to updating time and whilst its in playtesting it really doesnt matter how things look right?

Well I’ve started to think that maybe isnt entirely as true as I thought, afterall aesthetics are as important to a games components as they are to the table and the miniatures themselves, and theres more chance people seeing us playtesting might ask what the game is if it doesnt look like it was made by a 5 year old on microsoft word.

So I’ve instead tried to do my best as a 42 year old in my image editing software to create a template for the cards themselves. Its still simple, most definately not a finished piece but I feel its a BIG step in the right direction.

Especially for a game without a single piece of art yet.

Updated: 26/02/2025

Rather than updating the earlier post and expecting you to find it, I felt it was time for a proper update of the rules so that people can find it easier.

My quick reference guide is the first ‘successful’ version of it I feel like Ive made, certainly doesnt mean it wont be updated a million times like everything else has been. But have a look, its very pretty, made all of it including the background myself.

Its important to know that for the ease of playtesting all images being used are simply pictures of the miniatures I am using for playtesting, theyre all from rather random lines. Infinity, 40k and some other places but please dont think I am attempting to claim them as my own theyre just things I have converted for my own use.

If you ever come across something you dont think works, or doesnt make sense to you then please reach out, either I might be able to explain what my thoughts were, or why I am trying it that way or you may actually have noticed something I hadnt.

Thanks as always.

Lets all be honest for a maybe, generally speaking on social media most people have extremes, either its “I will only show the stuff Im proud of” or “I will seeth with rage and tear apart this person I believe wronged me” and I kinda feel that in some ways we’re similar with our hobby at times, if something doesnt turn out the way we wanted it to, most of us tend to hide it and not update until either its “fixed”  or we move on to the next thing in hopes it goes better. But if this game is ever to become a sucess I kind’ve feel I should be sharing atleast some of my disapointments without ever reaching that point of pointing fingers in rage.

Although I’ve somewhat mocked up a few pieces of “art” I am not an artist, and I am not actually good at drawing and this isnt me being all down on myself I’m merely aware of my flaws and drawing is a skill I do not have. I have certain images in my mind but I’ve never had the skill to complete them.  I continued to put off art largely due to lack of budget but I decided to start getting small stuff done, starting with commissioning some concept sketches, it felt like a smart idea. So where do I do, well I started with a popular platform Fivver becasuse it felt like the safest place to start.

I has asked for a sketch for a Hades character based losely around a miniature that I customised because I felt it was an easy place to start. Had things gone well the plan was to start doing a few here and there until I had a decent amount for each faction. Sadly however it seemed that good reviews arent everything, 2 days after the order the artist went quiet. I wont name them as I said I dont want to be that person, Fivver ensured I got most of my funds back, all in all I lost around $15, it could have been much worse.

Ironically I finally heard for them an hour after the review I submitted, Id left it WAY longer than the deadline offered before submitting the query and it was another 4 days before I took it further.

So why share this? I guess the thing is that its important to always be careful with your funds, and to not allow moments like this to deter you from moving forward with a project. I will certainly be continuing to explore options for artist options, I have a lift of options saved and have had for sometime.

I do have a friend Ive reached out to work on the logo’s that Ive done until now, again I started with the Hades as I feel thats the closest to me being happy it just needs to be reworked to be completely my own and have its ‘borrowed’ assets replaced.

Edit: Wall of text incoming..

s 2024 comes to and end I’ve not been working on this game for 2.5 years and that of course doesn’t include the years of putting off and/or brainstorming prior to that.  And as much as this project blog may include a lot of the thoughts and work that’s gone into it this project still isn’t covering everything the thing I haven’t spoken on as much is my process and whether I’ve been enjoying the experience, would I still recommend it after all this time?

When I first started this project blog it was to prepare for a guest role on the Weekender XLBS an honour I still can’t believe I received and at that stage the process was extremely early in development it was largely theoretical I had ideas of how I wanted the game to work, I knew I wanted but how to achieve it was missing with the exception of the core elements, I hadn’t even tried my own solo testing if I’m remembering correctly (I could be mistaken).

Very very early in the process I knew that development was far more difficult than ANY of us truly understand but it wasn’t until at least 12 months later than I realised just how far in the deep end I had jumped in, now personally I don’t regret that because it’s the passion I had and the project I wanted to create but if you were tempted to try something I think starting smaller with some custom scenarios and altering a game to achieve something might be a smarter development process. A smaller board game or card game will help you develop skills you will want. Something to test and play to learn how that process can work on a small scale before moving into a larger one.

I always knew this was going to take a while because I’ve just had never do anything like it before, however I always wanted to do my project with the vision I had in mind. I wanted a game where the motorbikes FELT like motorbikes, I wanted to use something other than d6s and I didn’t want to just steal a ruleset and make it my own but I wanted to develop a game that truly felt like it was mine, something I could genuinely look people in the eye and say “yes this is mine”. And I can say proudly that I’ve achieved that so far, don’t get me wrong this isnt me saying that doing it the other way makes anyone less, Im only explaining what I set out to do to explain my mindset. It might not be finished and I might still have a LOT of play testing to do but what I have right now is completely my own. I’ve found inspirations but everything I’ve developed had been given my rework to work for my game. For me that was the important part.

In this coming year my goal is to reach a point where the balance for all 4 factions feel right and accurate enough that A character’s with individual stats can be implemented, skills can be tested in game and I have started genuinely looking at the points cost for the work I’ve done.

I’d like to have finished final faction logos created that are mine to use and not just placeholder materials to inspire. Will I achieve this? Who knows hope you will enjoy finding out.

First and foremost yes there is an Entropy City Facebook page, yes it’s controlled by me HOWEVER it’s a placeholder to ensure I didn’t lose it to someone stealing it away. There’s also a blue sky account and an Instagram as well.

I’ve created a Facebook group around 12 months ago where I am also sharing updates but I am trying not to just flood it with updates all of the time. Ideally I’d love for it to become the official group later when the game is complete and those people that joined early have that feeling of having been there from the start. This of course is a project I am always trying to keep updated as well. Ut the first place at least at this point for all updates remains the Getting Tabled discord channel, there’s a private channel for our supporters. This isn’t because this is a Getting Tables product it’s mine however I wanted to share it with them first. That will eventually change as I feel I am approaching a complete state where marketing needs to begin but I don’t want to count my chickens a before they hatch.

And as always Id love to hear from you if you have questions or comments just reach out.

I started my wave by wave play testing development almost 2 years ago now, to start with the original test was pure and simple. I had a d10 blackjack mechanic but was it fun? Well thankfully the answer to that question was yes, Im not going to lie I kinda felt like I stumbled into some succes early on. Even the turning templates were originally created as a guess for what would work for the intended scale.

From there testing slowly introduced new stuff here and there constantly right up until around this time last year when I felt like I hit the wall. The issue I reached was I got to a point where until I went all the way things only felt half done in certain aspecs of the game.

I’ve always intended the game to introduce some form of stats beyond weapons target numbers and stuff, ideally Id love to add skills at some point as well, I even have some listed in the ruleset of ideas for the future. But it was time to work out WHAT the rider stats should be.

Strength: Assists your rider in recovering from a crash.

Dodge: Assists your rider dodging an incoming attack.

Protection: Essentially intended as a armour save, your biker gear maybe saving you from the incoming wound.

Max Stress: The maximum stress you rider can handle. Should you reach this any test requires 21 to pass. Forcing you to reduce your stress if youve been taking too many risks.

Wounds: How much damage can you take?

It took a while to put together a reason for everything, I always knew I wanted protection to be a thing and yes part of that is because I am a rider myself and Im someone who believes you should wear the gear.

Strength was a hard one because at first it started as an addition to an attack, but then that didnt work because maybe I didnt want to add that result so it becomes optional, it was just stupid… And then I realised it could be used elsewhere.

Its probably not even fair to call Max Stress and Wounds stats but I mean they are, theyre just used differently.

Adding these in to playtesting finally allows me to test how the game works as intended in my head, especially with those questions answered. Give each faction a base stat to test with and then work on their balance before moving to more individual stats for each rider.

I thought I would share the placeholder cards for the Komodo and Hades factions. More than happy to also share Mutiny and the RFPD cards at a later date but I dont currently have them finished. And the RFPD are completely untested on the table at this time..

Images on the cards are all placeholder and or miniatures from other worlds I have repurposed for the sake of playtesting.

I’ve given throught to adding a stat for riding skill, within the law its acknowledged that not everyone has spent a lot of time on bikes. And this in theory would assist with cornering or make it harder.. At this stage I havent implimented everyting as I am unsure if its a good idea or not. If I feel the need to up the difficulty of cornering then it may come into play then.

So the Police force in the earliest days of the game started as a simple idea, ironically an idea that many years ago I was told would never work. That idea was simple, what is randomly the police interfered in the gang war. At the time I thought it was a really clever idea but Id never done this before so I listened to my friends. A few years later Frostgrave happened and Id never been happier to discover I was right to think the idea had merit.

Truth be told it didnt take me long to realise that there would likely be poeple that would rather play as the law as opposed to a gang regardless of the background of the gang in question, shades of grey is all well and good but sometimes people just want to play the “good guys”.

It wasnt until this project re-started that the true fleshing out start with the RFPD, hell at that point the city didn’t even have its true name yet. Before I could realistically make a true faction out of a simple idea I had to work out what on earth to bring a city into the state needed for the game in my head to exist. When the assasination took place the chief of police made it his personal mission to see the gang responsible saw justice but there was one problem, Hades claimed it wasnt them and fought back this is ultimately what led to the fall of the city.

Truth be told the RFPD today is nothing of what it once was and that fact of is those that claim superiority within the forces now were mostly juniors at the time and not all of those that joined since are as clean as they make out to be. The idea behind this is allowing players to theme their forces around their own personal idea’s. Maybe they want to play the true heroes or maybe theyd rather play some crooked cops, either way the city is big enough to allow it.

I’m not going to lie, although all of the logos have been intended as placeholder for now theres none of them I hated more that the original version of the RFPD logo. I’ve mentioned before that Im not an artist and as much as I try to sound playful I actual mean it, its never been a strength of mine to draw, painting I can do but not draw its just not a skill that that I’ve ever had. And thats where this rough idea came from, it was me tracing over something and it didnt matter because it was temporary. That was atleast 12 months ago and I dont think this change could have gone any better… Its still placeholder but to me atleast this is probably the visual update I am the most proud of and the one I consider the biggest improvement overall.