dustin_00

Almost had a working turn, but then ran into this major bug:

 //$$$$$ todo: How to Save/Restore Rnd objects in toons???

Each Toon (Heroes and Armies) gets their own dice pool at creation. Once created these are put into the archive for the rest of the game to access.

Then I saw during turn processing that the battling Toons were rolling the same value every time. Very strange.

After some exploring around the Toon dice pools I realized that serialization/deserialization of the archive process was resulting in all Toons having the same dice pool.

The fix was to save the serialized binary state of the dice pool in the Toon. When the game accesses their dice pool, the state reconstitutes the Random object, provides the next die roll in the series, then serializes that new state instead of keeping the Random object.

Now each Toon is rolling its own dice.

Onward to reporting turn results to the player!

Characters are made up of the attributes:

Reflex — how accurate you are with melee weapons, how well you dodge melee attacks
Strength — increase damage with melee weapons
Dexterity — how accurate you are with range weapons, how well you dodge range attacks
Guile — increase damage with range weapons
IQ — how accurate you are with spells, how well you dodge directed spells
Will Power — increase power with spells, how well you resist area affect spells

Attributes are built rolling four 6-sided dice and dropping the lowest, resulting in a possible high of 18. Races get different Advantage for different attributes. Advantage means it get an extra 3 added to it, resulting in a possible high of 21.

Melee Classes
Berserker
Champion
Reaper
Knight

Range Classes
Blackguard
Druid
Hunter
Gunslinger

Caster Classes
Monk
Spellsword
Wizard
Slayer

Descriptions

All classes have a Hit Point (HP) adjustment and a Stock number. A character’s Stock is how many spells they have available to choose from to cast at any time. The larger your Stock, the more options you have.

Melee Classes
All Melee classes get +15 HP, and have 2 Stock spells

Berserker
A front-line battler that also likes to charge into the enemy zones.

Leather and Mail armor
Can use all fist and melee weapons with a range of 0 to 2 zones
Initiative Advantage
Charge Advantage (+2 AC when you charge)
Dirty Tricks

Champion
A front-line battler that can use their shield to block advancing enemies.

Mail and Plate armor
Shields
Melee weapons with 0 to 1 zone range
Defense Advantage (+1 AC each round)

Reaper
A second-line battler that can attack from 2 zones away and can help defend rear characters by pulling enemies away from them when needed. Alternately, if you favor 0-range battle, they can pull enemies out of their zones into yours.
Leather and Mail armor
Can use all fist and melee weapons with range of 0 to 2 zones
Mystical Demon Claw attack: 2 zone reach, can pull target toward you

Knight
Another second-line battler, better armored than Reapers, but unable to handle enemies in their own zone with their heavy 2-handed pole arms.
Mail and Plate armor
2 handed melee weapons with 1 to 2 zone range
Defense Advantage (+1 AC each round)

Ranged Classes
All Ranged classes get +10 HP, and have 4 Stock spells

Blackguard
When at range, Blackguards use thrown weapons often combined with magical affects. When enemies get into your ranks, their Dirty Tricks can trip and push enemies away from your party. Or an aggressive Blackguard getting into the enemy ranks can cause havoc — as long as they don’t make themselves a target.
Cloth and Leather armor
Fist, Melee weapons with 0 or 1 zone range,
Thrown weapons, 0 to 2 zone range
Dirty Tricks

Druid
With heavier armor than Blackguards, they are legendary for their mystical attacks that pull enemies more than repel. Good for protecting your casters from infiltrating enemies, and once pulled into the same zone, their Fist and 0-zone range weapons serve them well with magical enhancements.

Leather and Mail armor
Melee weapons with 0 or 1 zone range
Fist weapons
Mystical Bear Claw (pulls enemy to
Mystical Cat Pounce (similar to Berserker’s charge)

Hunter
Light on armor, heavy on the ranged weapons, Hunters avoid all melee combat while dealing out heavy damage from afar.

Cloth and Leather armor
Ranged Weapons with 1 to 9 zone range

Gunslinger
More heavily armored, and packing more dangerous artillery, Gunslingers can be helpful when enemies break into your zones.
Leather and Mail armor
Explosive range weapons (these all have a 2 to 9 zone range)
Hand Explosives
Demolitions Expert (allows them to avoid damage and push from 0-range explosives)

Caster Classes
All Caster classes get +5 HP

Monk
Light, fast, and good at dealing heavy damage.
Stock: 8
Cloth and Leather armor
Fist weapons
Dirty Tricks
Tiger Strike (”burn” a spell from your Stock to gain +1 attack die, +1 damage die, +2 AC bonus)
Range Drain (spells with a range of 1 or more drain 2 extra from their web nature)

Spellsword
Armed and Armored, Spellswords are functional melee fighters while relying more on magic either for more protection or to increase their deadly attacks.

Stock: 6
Leather and Mail armor
Shields
Melee weapons 0 and 1 zone range
Fist weapons
Tiger Strike (”burn” a spell from your Stock to gain +1 attack die, +1 damage die, +2 AC bonus)
Range Drain (spells with a range of 1 or more drain 2 extra from their web nature)

Wizard
The ultimate spell caster, like Hunters, avoid melee as much as possible. The staff may look like something they hit people with, but it’s only for show.

Stock: 10
Cloth armor
Staff only
Arcane Rain (when casting, use a self or 0-range spell to give a bonus +1 damage die and +1 attack bonus)
Close Drain (casting spells with a range of self or 0 range drains 2 extra from their web nature)

Slayer
Similar to wizards, but able to wield weapons and drive enemies away that get too close.

Stock: 8
Cloth and leather armor
Melee weapons with 0 to 1 zone range
Mystical Eagle Claw (attack that pulls enemies away from the Slayer)
Explosive range weapons (these all have a 2 to 9 zone range)
Arcane Rain (when casting, use a self or 0-range spell to give a bonus +1 damage die and +1 attack bonus)
Close Drain (casting spells with a range of self or 0 range drains 2 extra from their web nature)

4:33: 38,509

10:31: 30,446

9:00AM word count: 25,249

I will remember my lanyard this year.
I will remember my lanyard this year.
I will remember my lanyard this year.
I will remember my lanyard this year.
I will remember my lanyard this year.
I will remember my lanyard this year.

Boss's boss email: "I am proud when I can overcome the challenges of getting to work on snow days. It will soon turn to rain and you should all be here by noon."

Work IM: NOBODY is even online, and it's still snowing... just snow... I think it's his fault.

At least I was online working from home.

Defense Grid The Board Game

I'm a sucker for Tower Defense games (the good ones are pure Aspy candy) and am really enjoying all the Co-OP Board Games that have come out these last few years.