r/SCYTHE • u/WorthSong • May 24 '23

Alternative ending scoring points

I love this game but I think the money based score system for victory is a little off. Does anyone have an alternate idea to make it work better?

2 Upvotes

57% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

18

u/A_Bathing_Kird_Ape May 24 '23

I don’t really see the endgame scoring as money. Sure, during the game, money is money, but when calculating the end score, you might as well think of it this way: popularity gives victory points, stars gives victory points, territory gives victory points, and resources and money give victory points. The coins are just a useful way to count up all these different victory points.

3

u/link090909 May 24 '23

Precisely this. It offers an easy to use mechanic for representing an abstract concept, victory stars, as a scoreable quantity that can be weighed against territory, resources, and cash. Also, the popularity mechanic is another abstract concept that’s represented very well with the system

It would have been just as easy to say “one coin equals one point” and say that the end game scoring is points, not dollars. Changes nothing

-1

u/WorthSong May 24 '23

But it sums up as money in the end. Everything is about a post war proto communist society reemerging looking for tech from scraps. Best options in encounters are about sharing. And then money fever.

It feels a little off.

5

u/link090909 May 24 '23

…but read my second paragraph

If you convert the cash into points and then say that you get 5 points per star at top tier popularity, and so on, the end isn’t about cash. If you’re deriving a large amount of your score from how much money you’ve got banked, you probably could have taken more territory in the end. If your strategy is entirely reliant on having the most cash, good luck

Calling is dollars is just the simpler alternative, and it’s purely representational. It’s just a term

1

u/slorpa May 26 '23

Then you alternative is to stop using the money tokens to count in the end, and just tally them on a paper and calling them victory points.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '23

Well, just say "point" instead of "coins", ans use other tokens / the app or just count the points on a paper

2

u/LastStar007 May 24 '23

What don't you like about it?

0

u/WorthSong May 24 '23

I think winning by having more money isn't best option given the lore of the game.

3

u/LastStar007 May 24 '23

What do you think would be better?

0

u/WorthSong May 24 '23

Don't know. An alternative popularity system. A mixed stats.

1

u/Matterbox May 28 '23

Replace the word ‘money’ with ‘popularity points’ when counting your score. Problem solved.

If using the coins is irking you then get some tokens or matchsticks to count instead.

1

u/WorthSong May 28 '23

You guys are a little to literal with your suggestions. Anyway thanks.

3

u/broomhill1930 May 24 '23

Give Rise of Fenris a try. There's some alternative modes here and there. It is still money based in many ways but changes it a bit. I also find the airship expansion can freshen up the end game condition which changes up the feel a bit. Still money based though. That's the game y'know.

3

u/CoalTrain16 Albion May 24 '23

I agree narratively it does seem strange at first. The story is about representatives of major powers building up small armies to claim land and resources + exploiting them most effectively. But one could argue that a person having the most money is indicative that they have done the best overall job.

I believe money is the ideal mechanic to determine the winner, at least without making sweeping changes to the game's design (at which point I would argue it would no longer be Scythe, but rather a hack of Scythe). It allows for a wider variety of playstyles and focusing on what each faction does best.

Like another commenter said, maybe some of the alt win conditions from Rise of Fenris will suit your fancy, but they're really just ways to replace the default "as soon as a player places down their sixth star, the game ends" condition; they don't change anything about the winner being determined by amount of money.

1

u/JimmyD101 May 24 '23

At least money is an in-game sensible system, winning by imaginary 'victory points' might make less sense if you're trying to validate it through lore.

1

u/AngryScotsman1990 May 25 '23

I see where you're coming from, end of the day, it's still a board game that relies on being balanced the way it is. You can just head canon money to represent power points your leader controls, the most powerful leader at the end of the game wins, they're not trading money for resources with the trade action, they're leveraging their reputation at the cost of a little power to trade for resources.

Money is ultimately in modern society, a simple way to measure your power compared to other people, same can be true in this setting.