Lucifuge Dragon has been playtesting his board game re-imagining of Ultima 7: The Black Gate recently, and after a pair of rather disastrous playthroughs began to make some changes to the game’s mechanics:

…proceeded to remove many of the annoying cards, leaving less than half of them which reduced the frequency of their recurrence. Then we dissected the encounter deck, divided the cards into four difficulties to finally enforce this “staged encounter deck” that has been discussed to death. It was quick and dirty but we set the game back up for another play through. I wouldn’t say we fared much better but it felt not quite as ruthless.

As well, in an effort to address some of the “sloppy” rules of the game concerning items and their usage, he has added a new playing piece:

The latest addition I’ve come up with is a “belt item”, this last game was the first trial run of them and it actually worked quite excellent. Essentially each player has a token that looks like a belt buckle. The players can now choose any item to put on their belt whether it’s a potion, scroll, special item or weapon. Because this item is technically equipped, and not in your inventory, it won’t be lost if you are ripped apart by a Balron, so it’s kind of a safe place to keep items but it is also the only way it can be used during combat.

When crawling through a dungeon, players are able to swap items on their belt but when engaged with an enemy you are not able to access your backpack without sacrificing a precious turn. So if you feel you’ll need a health potion, better put it on your belt. If you feel you might need some firepower, maybe a Glass Sword or a Deathbolt Scroll would be a better idea

Of course, thieves can steal belts as well, when they are encountered in the game. Players have to be wary, and balance between the utility and value of items they choose to store on their belt.

Mounts have also recently been added to the game:

Mounts are another element that we play tested. Mounts add both movement and damage boosts. The more mundane mounts, such as the llama and horse, can be purchased in town for 800 and 1200 gold pieces. More exotic animals (and the magic carpet) can be found somewhere out in the wilderness. They seemed to play pretty well, we each eventually had a llama, they felt like a luxury but it also gave a significant increase to combat. After purchasing one I felt like a bit of a bad ass like I was gearing up for war. One problem is that we both kept forgetting to utilize the movement boost. Not a big deal, I guess it is optional.

Click on through to read the rest of the update at the Sixth Circle website; there is more yet to be told!