Pimpcron: Making Threesome Games Work?
Pimpcron has fun ways to make a 1 vs 1 vs 1 game work.
Your Pimpcron is here to cure all your tabletop relationship issues. So, you and your gaming partner have been playing 1 vs 1 games for as long as you can imagine. The game doesn’t seem as fun and exciting as it used to be. Both of you players know of all of each other’s moves and mindset, and the passion has gone out of rolling dice. That special surprise you used to pull on them just isn’t that you have played each other for ages.
You have both probably tried a three-way game before it never works out. If one player brings it up, then the other immediately feels inadequate because they must not be good enough to play against anymore. They feel like they can’t meet the demands of the other player’s needs anymore. If you do get a three-way game organized, it immediately runs into problems. One of you gets jealous that the other is spending too much attention fighting the new player, and then feelings get hurt. It always seems like one player is left in the lurch while the others duke it out, or two players gang up on one player and things get rough. You want a fair and balanced game, but you feel like three people just can’t work. That’s where you’re wrong sucka!
Jeff and I just aren’t excited about playing each other anymore. (sigh)
Three-way games can be enjoyable for all participants as long as they feel like they had a fair chance and don’t get ganged up on or left out. So let’s give you some tips on making it work, your gaming relationships will thank you!
Positions Are Key
Before you even start talking about the nitty gritty of fighting on a tabletop, the success will begin and end with deployment.
- Make sure that all players are positioned in such away that they can see, target, and interact with the other two equally.
- Make sure that all deployment zones are equidistant from each other.
For instance, it obviously wouldn’t work well if one player deploys in the center with the other two at each end of him. The front and back players probably won’t exchange more than eye contact as they gang up on the center army.
Once they exhaust themselves on that center army, the game is pretty much over by the time they get to each other. Meanwhile, the middle player has had a rough game and feels like it wasn’t fair.
My bro doesn’t think I’m chill anymore. Does he even think I lift?
Spread The Love
The problem with three-person games is that two players will often times tag team the third one whether they mean to or not.
- One way to fix this is to have each player only able to target one player per phase.
Meaning, if that player is in two melees, one with each player, he can only choose one melee to fight in this phase. That helps mitigate the focus of each player somewhat, and for the record, this idea is from GW’s Triumph and Treachery but it is still a good idea. Borrowing more from Triumph and Treachery…
- It is also a good idea to use Victory Points as currency to bribe players to do your bidding or even not attack you.
I actually prefer having a set number of bribing points generated each turn as follows: The player with the best score earns 1 Bribe Point, 2nd place gets 2, and last place player gets 3 Bribe Points. I would use Bribe Points as Command Points that could only be used for the non-army specific Stratagems.
My Deep Striking isn’t a surprise anymore. . .
Spread It More
I also like this idea for 3 way games:
- Rolling for initiative at the start of each game round whether you are playing 40k or AoS.
This way, if you are the last player to activate each turn, you aren’t just taking it on the chin all game before being able to retaliate. You might even get back to back activations! This would greatly level the playing field.
- Another way to spread player’s focus is to roll the direction of their attacks each turn.
What does that mean, you say? At the start of each Battle Round, roll a dice. One a 1-3, all players can only target the player on their left, on a 4-6 all players may only target the player on their right. Retaliating in close combat as normal, even if the “direction” that turn didn’t go that way. This makes the action much more diverse and spread out, and while some of you won’t like this idea, it completely kills the option of two players double-teaming the third.
You’ll Notice the Difference
When the game is over and all three players are smiling, you’ll be happy you took the risk and played a three-person game. You don’t always have to include a third person in our escapades, but doing it once in a while can really liven-up your gaming life.
Any other suggestions for three-way games?
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