Using Catapult Chits without the Catapult

[Whaleyland]

We have all been thinking of ways to counteract the ridiculousness of THE CATAPULT and so far we have the quickly finalizing Jester and Minstrel expansion, as well as a couple suggested expansions on BGG. But all of these have neglected everything the expansion includes except for tiles. While I see little use for the actual catapult or the comic ruler, I think that the 24 chits (4 types x 6 players) could be used for additional functions.

Rules
At the beginning of the game, each player is given one of each of the four catapult tokens. Whenever a Fair tile is drawn, the active player may use one of his tokens in one of the following ways prior to scoring:

Collision
The active player may remove one follower from the board and return it to its owner.

Seduction
The active player may exchange one follower on the board with a follower from his supply or one already played on the board.

Target
The active player may place the Target Token on a road, city or farm. To score for that feature, any player must have at least 3 follower strength.

Catch
The active player may place a Catch Token on any of his incomplete features. When that feature is completed, the player who scores for the feature may draw and place a second tile.

Once a token is used, it is removed from the game. A player may not use the same token twice.

Okay, what do you all think? Too basic? Too simple? Not enough fair tiles to adequately work. Give me your opinions and, if anyone wants to, start up a CAR-style sheet for it (I don't really have the time right now).

[koolkat]

For me, it seems fine. Perhaps some adjustments from the experts... or not!

[Novelty]

I feel that one should really have to do something successfully to remove a follower from the board (Collision), and maybe Seduction.  Otherwise, it's sort of "griefy" and I would say unbalanced, eventhough it's just one token a player.  Currently, the tower requires you to play a tower piece instead of playing a follower, and that the follower must be in range of the tower piece; the dragon requires you to move the dragon to the square.  Both of those have restrictions related to the total number of tiles per turn that a follower can be removed.

With regards to the Target token... how does one get a strength of 3 on a cloister?

[Whaleyland]

Rules
At the beginning of the game, each player is given one of each of the four catapult tokens. Whenever a Fair tile is drawn, the active player may use one of his tokens in one of the following ways prior to scoring:

Okay, so perhaps I needed to think through some of this more. It is only a start, anyway. Let's correct this to read: "Whenever a Fair tile is drawn, the active player may choose to use one of his tokens, instead of placing a follower, in one of the following ways, prior to scoring:"

Collision
The active player may remove one follower from the board and return it to its owner.

I think this one can remain the same.  It is powerful, but somewhat replicates the ability of a good catapult user.

Seduction
The active player may exchange one follower on the board with a follower from his supply or one already played on the board.

I've tweaked this slightly to make it a requirement that a player exchange two pieces on the board, reading as thus: "The active player may exchange one follower on the board with another follower from the board (regardless of color or type). If the active player has no followers on the board, he may not use this token."

Target
The active player may place the Target Token on a road, city or farm. To score for that feature, any player must have at least 2 follower strength.

If you note, I don't mention cloister in this option intentionally, because it would be impossible without the count or magic portals. But I have also reduced the strength down to 2 since, without using some expansions, a strength of 3 is sometimes difficult.

Catch
The active player may place a Catch Token on any of his incomplete features. When that feature is completed, the player who scores for the feature may draw and place a second tile.

This I think can remain the same. It is slightly different than the ability of the builder in that only the player who scores the feature can continue, thereby being (at least initially) a bonus for the player who placed it. The builder allows a player to expand every turn regardless of ownership.

[Novelty]

Catch
The active player may place a Catch Token on any of his incomplete features. When that feature is completed, the player who scores for the feature may draw and place a second tile.

This I think can remain the same. It is slightly different than the ability of the builder in that only the player who scores the feature can continue, thereby being (at least initially) a bonus for the player who placed it. The builder allows a player to expand every turn regardless of ownership.

Question: What if the player completed the feature with the second tile from the builder.  Does he get a third go?

Edit:

Target
The active player may place the Target Token on a road, city or farm. To score for that feature, any player must have at least 2 follower strength.

What if that player has 2, but another player has a strenght of 3 on the city?  Does the player with 2 still score?

[Whaleyland]

Question: What if the player completed the feature with the second tile from the builder.  Does he get a third go?

We could play that way, but I was just thinking one extra tile, not a continuous series.

What if that player has 2, but another player has a strenght of 3 on the city?  Does the player with 2 still score?

No, hence the "at least". If a player has more than 2, they still have the majority, it just sets a bottom limit.

[Whaleyland]

Okay, finally did a full play test of the scenario with my girlfriend and corrected some problems, but some still remain. Collision now requires a player also bump off their own follower. Romance remains unchanged. Target works alright. Catch works alright too but needs a bonus to incite players to use it. Also, we think that the game would play better if farms were immune to all tokens, although I am not sure if that is a good idea personally. I will update again in a bit with improved rules ideas for comments.

[Novelty]

Collision now requires a player also bump off their own follower.

I'm glad about that!

As for catch, how about the player that completes the feature gets 1 point for every tile of the completed feature or something?

[Gwommy]

Though this thread seems to have died, I still think it's a good idea.  I was wondering if there has been a final decision made for the catch token?  I would think that giving one point per for every tile is a bit powerful, especially if the player that finishes the feature also has the majority.  My idea for this would be to allow the player that finishes the feature to draw an extra tile to hold on to and in the future may use it instead of drawing a tile.

[Scott]

I can't remember if this was already suggested, but the catapult chits could be put into a bag and drawn when a catapult tile comes up.

[loganmann1]

So I know this thread is forever old but I was wondering if this ever got finished in any way.  I don't see a rule sheet so I figure that didn't get done, but Whaley did you ever tweak this to your liking?  Is this something that could be written up?

I like these ideas and I really like that it uses already existant components.

[Carcking]

I'm currently working on an idea I have. It will include the use of the tiles, tokens and the measuring board. A little more thought and testing and I'll have it. Will post soon.

Here's my effort: The Catapult Catch

http://www.mediafire.com/?rfsh5y45i2eii

[CARC_Zoner]

Here's my effort at using all the Catapult components:

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/60906/carcassonne-court-jester-catapult-variant

CARC_Zoner 

[Whaleyland]

Totally forgot about this variant idea. I should try it again! Too bad I hardly have time to play the official expansions right now. Ugh...