The Lake

[JPutt927]

I have one more new expansion that seems to finally be ready for sharing! But first, I'd like to get a few thoughts out of the way. First of all, I have been somewhat hesitant about this expansion as I know that many of you are already such big fans of Martin Storbeck's lake tiles, even though they're not an official Carcassonne Central expansion.  That being said, as you will see, this is not a copy of that as it simply bears resemblance only in the idea of it being a lake. Secondly, do not be alarmed by the number of "water tokens" posted for this expansion. Half of them are for the backs of the tokens. Furthermore, if one didn't want to go to the trouble to make all of them, they could easily use a substitute (such as blue cubes from meeplepeople.com).
So!...with all of that said...I introduce MY version of the lake. I would love to hear your thoughts.  

The Lake Rules:  http://www.mediafire.com/?ejynzmmnmjq
The Lake Tile:  http://www.mediafire.com/?jiwjkm2nyn2
The Water Tokens:  http://www.mediafire.com/?vqtzmwtydgm
Color Tokens:  http://www.mediafire.com/?dm2i5oczyiy

and, as always, a picture of the lake!

[Whaleyland]

I am very impressed with this visual graphic and the lighthouse on the top-right side. It looks right in-line with Carcassonne art and overall looks great. I also like using one tile to stand-in for the larger tile in the tile deck. That really opens up the ability to introduce double+ tiles into the mix, without making it obvious when drawing. My observations concerning the rules:

1) The Lake graphic in its file seems to have scanning lines running across it, making it not as good quality as the version previewed here.
2) Change the word "bound" in the story; for some reason it doesn't seem to read well with me.
3) I think the followers that are "racing" should have some sort of disc or something under them, so everyone knows that they are not claiming the features they may be on.
4) Does the "Seduction" token from Catapult allow a player to swap our an opponent's "racer" for a second of their own followers (or re-enter a race if both of theirs have been knocked out)?
5) I think the primary rule should be that the Lighthouse Keeper receives +20 points at the end (or perhaps more, like +25), and the secondary rule should be that they can keep the King or Robber Baron card for the remainder of the game. That way, it is vanilla + I&C +/or A&M first, and other expansions second. I mean, this expansion suggests using pretty much all the major expansions, which takes a long time to play.

Okay, I think that's it. Nice expansion. I like the race element and also the water supply element. Both are well-thought out and new to the game.

[JPutt927]

Thanks for the analysis! I've since made a few changes, and the links should be updated to reflect those changes. I've changed the rules so that a racer no longer needs to be a big follower or a mayor. Also, I've added some color tokens for each player to place underneath their racer. That was a good suggestion...and something I originally had written into the rules, but had later decided to scrap (shouldn't have done that!). I think I understand what you are trying to say on your 5th point...in which case, I think I've changed the rules to reflect that. Let me know if that's not what you meant!  Other than that, thanks for the compliments...I always do appreciate it. 

[Whaleyland]

That looks much better. Much cleaner and without the scan lines on the lake tile. The rules look better too. I am glad you allowed the use of regular followers, since I prefer expansions to be playable without other expansions. My only remaining issues are:

1) Do all players have to race, or can they choose not to? (It's not clear)
2) In the Race for the Lighthouse section, you say: "seduction tokens will have no effect"; it should be "seduction tokens have no effect". There is no need for it to be future-tense.
3) Two sentences later, you say: "to deploy racer"; it should read "to deploy a racer".
4) If a player has, say, the Robber Baron already (from a longest road), can they still take the King token? Or does the person just keep the Robber Baron permanently?
5) The second paragraph of The Water Supply reads: "water tokens to supply to the surrounding cities"; it should read "water tokens to supply the surrounding cities".

Other than that, it looks good. I like it quite a bit. I still haven't had a chance to play Seasons yet, but it's on my to-do list. Cheers!

[JPutt927]

Thanks for the editing. I'll make the necessary changes and hopefully clear some things up. It's not hard to overlook some of the little mistakes and grammatical errors when you've been staring at nothing but a page full of Carcassonne rules for hours. I do NOT enjoy writing the rule pages!...a very necessary evil I suppose! 

[CKorfmann]

I do NOT enjoy writing the rule pages!...a very necessary evil I suppose!

I'm with you on that.  I find it tedious and I seem to have a lot of trouble keep the format intact.

[JPutt927]

Once again, corrections have been made and the link has been updated!

[Whaleyland]

Thanks for the editing. I'll make the necessary changes and hopefully clear some things up. It's not hard to overlook some of the little mistakes and grammatical errors when you've been staring at nothing but a page full of Carcassonne rules for hours. I do NOT enjoy writing the rule pages!...a very necessary evil I suppose! 

Seriously. There is more than reason why I am taking a break from writing and formatting the Catan CARAS rules. Those things take forever to format, especially when I have to add more footnotes that bump images onto the next page. MS Word hates images and really doesn't like to work with them.

[CKorfmann]

Finally had a chance to look at this one.  It looks good.  I like the racing, I think it's something that a player would have to strongly consider, especially if playing with the King and Robber because they might need to protect those tiles.  There will likely be enough other things going on in the game so that not everyone will move their racer every time, so the winner won't be that predictable. 

Actually, you might consider adding two magic portal tiles.  This might encourage players to enter the race if their is an increased opportunity to get back what they might have passed up to participate.  Something to think about.

[Bubbasco]

I have printed out this expansion and played a game with it. (3-players) I thought the race aspect was extremely fun. We played it in combination with the Tower and the Princess & Dragon, and the race was extremely tense since the racers had to avoid all of those. One of my new favorite expansions!

[meepleater]

You've mentioned builders, pigs and wagons, but where do barns fit in? I'm presuming that they can't race? Can a racer enter one of the four tiles occupied by a barn? Can racers move onto one of the wheel of fate starting tiles (when that expansion comes out)?

Other than that, looks fun!

[JPutt927]

The rules have been updated to answer the questions you asked regarding barns.  As far as the Wheel of Fortune expansion...I have yet to really look at that and what it's starting tile consists of, so I wasn't able to comment on that. Other than that, I think this thing is ready to be posted!

[Novelty]

Wow, looks good.  Questions (maybe some of these have already been answered):

1. If a player plays a tile that completes 2 or more cities, must he/she places water tokens on each completed city, or just 1?
2. "However, the pig herd will provide a +1 per completed city bonus to the farm in which it belongs to."  Is this +1 the normal bonus, or in additional to the normal bonus , i.e. does the pig give a +2 bonus if the farm that it is on is next to the lake?
3. Is the racer considered to be part of the feature that it is on when the feature is completed?  I.e. if my racer is on a city tile and I complete the city, does the racer count towards who has control of the city?
4. Does the lake tile (the 3x3) count as 3 tiles or 1 tile for scoring purposes?  e.g. if I place a shrine by the lake and it is completed, do I still get 9 points for completing the shrine?  or if I have a tower next to the lake, does it count as 1 tile or 3 tiles for tower capture purposes?
5. What happens when the shrine challenges the cloister on the lake and wins, does the shrine gets 9 points as usual or 12 points?
6. Can a follower (or any wooden pieces other than the racer/dragon) be deployed to the lake?
7. When does the player get the coloured token of their own colour?  I presume each player should also receive a coloured token of their own colour at the beginning of the game?  Or is it when the lake tile is played?  (Oh, and it would be nice if colour was spelt the normal British English way)
8. What happens if the racers do not reach the lighthouse before the end of the game?

Edit: After going through Chariot Races, here's 2 more questions:
9. Can I use a magic portal to deploy a racer or a lighthouse keper
10. What happens when the tile is drawn, but there is no place to place it?

Thanks.  I look forward to the answers.

[JPutt927]

1. If a player plays a tile that completes 2 or more cities, must he/she places water tokens on each completed city, or just 1?
2. "However, the pig herd will provide a +1 per completed city bonus to the farm in which it belongs to."  Is this +1 the normal bonus, or in additional to the normal bonus , i.e. does the pig give a +2 bonus if the farm that it is on is next to the lake?
3. Is the racer considered to be part of the feature that it is on when the feature is completed?  I.e. if my racer is on a city tile and I complete the city, does the racer count towards who has control of the city?
4. Does the lake tile (the 3x3) count as 3 tiles or 1 tile for scoring purposes?  e.g. if I place a shrine by the lake and it is completed, do I still get 9 points for completing the shrine?  or if I have a tower next to the lake, does it count as 1 tile or 3 tiles for tower capture purposes?
5. What happens when the shrine challenges the cloister on the lake and wins, does the shrine gets 9 points as usual or 12 points?
6. Can a follower (or any wooden pieces other than the racer/dragon) be deployed to the lake?
7. When does the player get the coloured token of their own colour?  I presume each player should also receive a coloured token of their own colour at the beginning of the game?  Or is it when the lake tile is played?  (Oh, and it would be nice if colour was spelt the normal British English way)
8. What happens if the racers do not reach the lighthouse before the end of the game?
9. Can I use a magic portal to deploy a racer or a lighthouse keper
10. What happens when the tile is drawn, but there is no place to place it?

1. A water token gets placed into any completed city, even if it is more than one at a time.
2. The +1 is the normal bonus that any pig herd adds.
3. Straight from the rules, "A racer’s placement will have no impact on the scoring of any features, and will not count towards
occupying a feature if they are standing on one during the race."
4. Consider the lake tile as if it were 9 separate tiles (3x3). This applies in all situations.
5. The shrine would only receive 9 points as usual.
6. I'm not sure I understand the question, but the player who places the lake may deploy a follower to one of the features on the lake. A magic portal can also warp a follower to any unoccupied feature on the lake. NO pawns, including the racer and dragon can actually walk INTO the lake.
7. Similar to the chariot race betting tokens, I figured that was up to the player. They won't be used until the lake is deployed, so I suppose there is no need to pass them out prior to then. (I'll change the spelling)
8. If no racers reach the lighthouse before the game's end, no player receives the ability of the Lighthouse Keeper. This allows players to gauge whether or not they think they will have enough time before the game's end to make it worth their while.
9. No to both.
10. Although I would consider this extremely rare, the draw tile should be reshuffled with the rest of the tiles until it is drawn again.

[Novelty]

Could you do me a favour and add all those clarifications into the rules document?  Thanks.