The Rule of Carnage

Tabletop Miniatures Game Prototyping Toolkit

Write a new tabletop miniatures game in seconds!

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What is this?

This toolkit is as a rapid prototyping tool, allowing you to generate the skeleton of a tabletop miniatures game in moments. It also exists to make the point that if a design simply reorganises common mechanical tropes into a new order, it is unlikely to be an effective design. Effective game design tightly integrates its core ideas with mechanics to shape the players' experiences.

This toolkit builds on the ideas found in our upcoming book: The Fundamentals of Tabletop Miniatures Game Design.

This toolkit doesn’t create interesting games, it creates functional ones. It can be used as a starting point or as an inspiration. It isn't quite finished yet and will be developed over the next few months.

Public Domain

This toolkit Tabletop Miniatures Game Prototyping Toolkit by Glenn Ford and Mike Hutchinson is offered in the public domain via CC0 1.0 Universal. We waive all of our rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform either the output or the code of this toolkit, even for commercial purposes, with no permission or attribution required. Download the code on Github.

Your new miniatures game is called: Ruinous Throne

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Rules Conventions

• More Specific Rules: The text of a specific rule can conflict with the general rules. In case of a conflict, the text relating to the more specific circumstance overrides the more general rule.
• Simultaneous Effects: If the effects of multiple rules appear to occur at the same time, the player whose turn it is decides the order of resolution. If this is unclear for any reason, roll-off and the winner of the roll-off decides the order of resolution.
• Roll-Off: Whenever a roll-off is required, both players roll a D6 and the player with the highest result is the winner of the roll-off. In the event of a tie, the players roll-off again.

Golden Rule

[Bias to realism] In this game, if a rule is unclear, choose whichever reasonable interpretation appears most realistic.

Units

Units in this game are:

[Squads] Units in this game are models grouped into loose formations. All models in a unit are activated with a single activation but perform actions individually. When moving, every model of the unit (after the first) must end within 1” of another member of the unit.

Stats

Units in this game are defined by the following stats:

• Speed: the maximum distance they can travel in a single Move Action
• Ranged Skill: the number of dice rolled when making Ranged Actions.
• Close Skill: the number of dice rolled when making Ranged Actions.
• Morale: the number of dice rolled when making Morale Tests.
• Defense: the difficulty of aggressor's Ranged and Close Actions.
• Wounds: the number of wounds the model can suffer before they are removed from play

Resolution Mechanic

[Dice Pool] When called upon to make a Difficulty X [Stat] Test, the unit's controller rolls a number of D6 equal to the named stat. Each dice that rolls 4+ equal is a success. The Stat Test is a Success If the controller rolls a number of successes equal or above that the Difficulty, else it is a Failure.

Re-roll Tokens

At the start of each turn, each player receives 5 Re-roll Tokens.

After rolling a Stat Test, if the Stat Test was failed, the rolling player may discard a Re-roll Token to re-roll the Stat Test.

Line of Sight

[Abstracted] If it is possible to draw a straight line within the viewing model’s arc of sight from any part of the viewing model’s base to any part of a target model’s base without that line crossing a visual blocker the target model is within line of sight. Visual blockers are enemy models of a height equal to or greater than the viewing or target model, and terrain designated as blocking.

Arc of Sight

The arc of sight is a sector of a circle with its arc centred on the designated front of the model and radiating from its head (or other visual apparatus) of: 180 degrees.

Round Structure

Phases

A Game consists of Rounds. A Round consists of Turns. A Turn consists of Phases in the following order:

1. Initiative Phase
2. Action Phase
3. End Phase

Initiative

[Bought] At the start of the game, the player who spent the fewest points at force selection becomes the First Player for the whole game. If points are equal, players roll-off and the winner of the roll-off becomes the First Player for the whole game.

Action Phase

Activation Order

In the Action Phase, units are activated using the following rules:

[Push Your Luck] Starting with the First Player, each player selects a unit and declares a number of activations. They rolls a Morale Test, with a Difficulty equal to the declared number. If they succeed, they activate the unit the declared number of times. If they fail, the unit does not activate, but counts as having activated. Once all units have activated, the round ends.

Each unit may only be activated once.

Action Points

[Two Unique Actions] When a unit activates, in may take any two of its listed actions, in any order, but no action twice.

Actions

Units have the following actions available to them:

• Move Action: move using the rules given below
• Close Action: target an enemy model with one of this unit's Close Actions
• Ranged Action: target an enemy model with one of this unit's Ranged Actions
• Special Action: perform a one of this unit's Special Actions
• Focus Action: this unit reduces the Difficulty of its next test by 1, until the end of its activation.

Movement

When a unit takes a Move Action, follow these rules:

[Restricted Movement] Pivoting up to 90 degrees counts as reducing the unit’s Movement by ¼. Moving backwards or sideways counts as taking double the distance moved. The line of movement need not be straight, but when curved distance moved is measured by the point that travels the furthest. Move the unit until total distance moved equals the unit’s Speed stat or the player wishes to stop.

Ranged Actions

Each Ranged Action has a Range, which is the maximum range of the action.

Target a unit in line of sight and range. Make a Ranged Skill Test with a Difficulty equal to the target's Defense stat. If the test is successful, resolve the effects of the Ranged Action.

If the target is obscured, discard the one successful dice roll before resolving the test.

Example Ranged Actions

The following are generic examples of possible Ranged Actions within this system:

• Handgun: Range 8". Target suffers 1 wound.
• Shotgun: Range 4". Target suffers 2 wounds.
• Rifle: Range 24". Target suffers 1 wound.
• Machine Gun: Range 18". The attacker adds 5 to their Ranged Skill stat. Target suffers 1 wound.
• Grenade: Range 4". May target any number of models within 2" of a point on the tabletop within range. Resolve each attack separately. Target suffers 2 wound.

Close Actions

Each Close Action has a Range, which is the maximum range of the action. A Range of zero or "-" means the maximum range of the action is base-to-base contact.

Example Close Actions

The following are generic examples of possible Ranged Actions within this system:

• Punch: Range 0. Target suffers 2 wounds per success rolled.
• Shove: Range 0. Target suffers 1 wounds per success rolled, and is pushed directly away from the attacking model by 1" per success rolled.
• Sword: Range 1". Target suffers 3 wounds per success rolled.

Damage

[Certain Death] If a model has wounds equal to or above its Wounds stat, remove it from play.

Special Actions

Each Special Action has a Range, which is the maximum range of the action. A Range of zero or "-" means the maximum range of the action is base-to-base contact.

Example Close Actions

The following are generic examples of possible Ranged Actions within this system:

• Shout: Range 8". Target makes a Move action, under their controller's control.
• Interact: Range 0. Scenario dependant.
• Patch Up: Range 0. Target removes 1 wound.

Morale

[Fleeing] When a friendly unit is removed from play within 6" and line of sight of a unit, the surviving unit must make a Difficulty 5+ Morale Test. If they fail it, they must make a standard move, ending as far from all enemy units as possible.

Terrain

Terrain can be Difficult or Impassable, and also might be Obscuring or Blocking. If it has none of these traits, it is Open.

• Open terrain has no effect on the game, other than to look nice.
• Difficult terrain causes models to move at half speed through it. This might be because it is dense, like a wood or a swamp, or requires climbing, like rubble or a fence.
• Impassable terrain prevents movement into or across the terrain.
• Obscuring terrain does not block line of sight but increases the Difficulty of a Ranged Action that draws line of sight through this terrain by 1.
• Blocking terrain blocks line of sight into or across the terrain.

Models count friendly models as Open and enemy models as Blocking and Impassable.

Force selection

TODO

Deployment

Play on a 4-foot square table. The winner of a roll-off chooses one table edge as theirs, the opposite table edge becomes their opponent's. Alternate the deployment of units, starting with the winner of the previous roll-off. All units must be deployed within 8 inches of their controller's table edge.

Game Length

[Uncertain Round Limit (3-10)] As the final act in each End Phase, the First Player rolls a D6 and adds the current Round Number. If the total is 9 or more, the game ends.

Objectives

[Points removal] At the end of the game, count up the point values of the units each player removed, and the most removed wins.

Victory

When the game ends, the player who has the most victory points is the winner.