One final post on the changes made to Aethermon to accelerate the player’s adventure.
Special Characters were originally balanced at around 1XG per round, equal to an easy battle, but the player wouldn’t lose moves or HP. This figure has been moved to about 2.5XG.
For example the Fortune Teller character who previously asked a player to pay 1XG to gain a new Friendship Moment (a personal quest that when achieved gives your Aethermon a new ability), now gives players a new moment for free.
Assuming players have 15 standard encounters per play through, and 20% of the standard encounters are Special Characters, + 1 Special Character through other means, we estimate about 4 Special Characters per player per play through. Each of these encounters is now worth about 1.5XG more than before, for a total about 6 XG boon for players – or a 3-turn (9-minute) reduction in play time.
Combine this change to special characters with changes to defeat penalty and item costs, we estimate a 28XG saving over the length of the game, translating into a 45 minute reduction in playtime without compromising the overall experience,
It’s hard to perfectly measure this through playtests as these improvements have coincided with the implementation of Quality of Life improvements. But in total playtest times are now below the target max length of 3 hours!!!
Stay Speedy AetherRen