Munera Sine Missione - Update

Things have been quiet on this blog for a few days. But they haven't been quiet on the gaming front, as Victor and I have been thrashing out the latest set of changes to Munera Sine Missione. The changes are sufficiently radical for us to consider the next update, when it comes, to be a brand new version - Version 3.0.

So what can you expect to see?

Well, the core game is still basically the same, so rest assured that you'll still recognise the game of gladiator mayhem you all know and love. The biggest change we have made is to how Fatigue is managed. this had a knock-on effect into most of the core mechanisms, and gave us a chance to tweak and refine a few things there that weren't quite right. At present Fatigue is something a gladiator acquires randomly, and is a figure which is compared against their stamina to see if the gladiator is fresh, tired or exhausted. In the new version a gladiator chooses to acquire fatigue in order to gain extra actions. However instead of the fatigue total being compared against the current stamina, there are situations where the fatigue is cancelled and converted into stamina loss. In other words we have (i) made fatigue something a gladiator chooses to acquire and (ii) combined the effect of wounds and fatigue into one statistic. This opens up extra choices for gladiators, and makes the bookkeeping easier as well.

The new mechanism allowed us to change some of the Special Events, and also led to a method by which lighter gladiators can try to avoid damage by dodging. Where possible we have tried to use existing die rolls to drive any changes, rather than adding in new tests and checks. This means that the game still flows quickly and smoothly.

The recent optional rules for the referee and for gaining favour with the crowd have been made part of the core game, as we found they add significant colour and that we weren't ever playing without them.

As ever, there have been several tweaks to weapons in order to better depict a range of gladiators from all eras of Rome's history. Victor has put together a list of gladiators by historical era, including their equipment and opponents. But the game still allows you to quickly determine game stats for any figures you have, even if they aren't entirely historical.

The biggest addition will be the campaign rules. Victor and I have both developed a system for running a single gladiator through a career in the arena, and regular readers of this blog will know that I have a similar system which allows a number of players to run gladiator schools against each other. Neither system is that sophisticated, but we thought that the time had come to at least include them in the published rules.

I'm very excited about these changes, and think they greatly improve the game, whilst keeping its original flavour. And you'll be the first to know when we finally get around to publishing it.