NaGa DeMon is a slight exception to that rule for me, since at the end of the month, I've committed to sending prototypes to the three most helpful competitors in TGWAG. So I need to make my copy plus three more. Since those three competitors will (hopefully!) invested their valuable time and effort in helping me, the least I can do to show my appreciation is to give them a signed, limited edition prototype that doesn't totally suck. So I want to splash out a little and make the prize a neat little package. So I need some components. Times four.
As I mentioned on Friday, I'm expecting the game to feature cards (which I'm a dab hand at, if I do say so myself), dice and counters. Some dice for St. George and some for the dragon, plus some counters for St. George and some for the dragon.
When I think dragons I think big scaly red beasts guarding a vast hoard of gold (thanks J.R.R. Tolkien!) and when I think St. George I think white and red - the colours of the flag of St. George, the national flag of England which is incorporated into the Union Jack of Great Britain.
So, to separate the dice between players, I've gone for white dice for St. George and red ones for the dragon (the dragon is a bit wordy, he needs a name. Bonus PIPs for the best suggested name in the comments). I went to Travelling Man after work on Friday to get the dice and they had some nice Chessex ones in two different sizes. Since I need more white than red (I think!), I've gone for smaller white ones (bonus: St. George is smaller than the dragon) and nice marbled red and gold ones for the dragon.
For life counters, I recently bought some red wooden hearts from BoardGameExtras.co.uk for pimping my copy of Love Letter. Thinking ahead I bought a load more for Codename: Dragon purposes. That's St. George sorted, and it fits well since lots of computer games use hearts as the iconography for lives. Which just leaves the dragon. Dragon = hoard of gold. As it happens I've a load of yellow wooden disks left over from the limited edition of It's Alive I published back in 2008. I've hung onto them knowing they'd come in handy sooner or later. Their time has come!
Which give me this:
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7 comments:
Hola Jack,
Well, it seems that the dragon is nameless in the legends. So I'd suggest to go for a name from mythology rather than a tolkien-ish one.
There's an interesting wikipedia entry: a list of dragon names from different mythologies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dragons_in_mythology_and_folklore).
You'll see one Indonesian/Malay dragon called Naga, which can be quite appropriate for this game :-)
Joking apart, the list can give you some ideas. Another source that could help is http://www.20000-names.com/dragon_names.htm.
Or you can create an anagram using your wife and/or daughter's names.
Saludos,
Roberto
Hiya Roberto,
Thanks for those links, very helpful! Naga has a certain appeal because of NaGa DeMon, but I quite like Longwitton (or LW for short), since that was a dragon from Northumberland (near where I live) who was vanquished by a clever knight...
My mate Sam wants to call him Kevin.
Two PIPs for the research and helpful links.
Cheers,
Jack
Boris. Definitely Boris.
Hiya Mal,
Boris has a certain ring to it. Sounds very Russian. Have a couple of PIPs for the socialist dragon.
Cheers,
Jack
Don't take this the wrong way, but ... why St George? If you're naming the dragon, then why not the hero too? Could the hero actually be - gasp! - St Georgina? (I am always reminded of the Faous Five books from my more innocent childhood). Or at least let the player choose...
Since Georg is my second name (I was named after both of my Grandfathers, and quite happy and proud of that) I am not very objective in this matter.
I feel that Longwitton, has a nice ring to it... although it might be better to leave the name of the Dragon (or possibly of both characters) blank, so that the players can fill in their favorites in each play - making the game a wee bit more personal.
Component wise: hearts rock. And gold seems fitting as well.
I was before hand, unaware, that you would actually incorporate more components into the game (than just cards and dice)... which now gives you more abilities to use on the cards. Such as: "Dragon: throw scales: deal D3 damage to knight, by sacriving three times as much from your gold horde."
About my own game, I still need a few days to get some affairs settled, then I can dabble a bit myself in this glorious November.
Derek & Konrad,
That's two votes for nameless hero and dragon (even if I refer to them as George and Boris for brevity). Two PIPs a piece.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your efforts too Konrad!
Cheers,
Jack
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