Playtest #2 – Unshuffled Decks, Card Timing & Setup Friction

Began a full-ish solo playtest, simulating the different players. Finding it a little hard to keep up with all of the individual players, but I want to break it a little myself before I let other people break it!

Test Set up Via PlaytestParlor.com - Sept 27 2026

Focus: Testing opening hand balance, hazard resolution timing, and movement edge cases across Rounds 1 & 2.

1. Setup & Opening Hand Density

During initial setup, dealing 2 starting Fate cards to 4 players yielded 5 "On Draw" hazard cards across the table.

• The Issue: Resolving that much mandatory activity before Round 1 steals momentum and creates a pre-game bookkeeping bottleneck.

• Root Cause: A digital interface oversight left the Fate deck unshuffled at game start, clumping high-impact hazards right at the top.

• The Fix:

  1. Reduce "On Draw / Play Immediately" hazards to ~10% of the deck.

  2. Convert several longer-term hazards to "On Turn Start" (~15%) to act as looming threats rather than instant disruptions.

  3. Optional Set Up Rule : Filter out initial "On Draw" hazards during setup so every Traveler begins Round 1 with 2 playable, non-hazard cards.

2. Session Log

ROUND 1

• Turn 1 (WV): Drew Cracked Prism (Play on Draw) > Moved Relic 3 spaces. D6 Roll: Result 2 (Landed on Nature Space) > Drew The Fog.

  • Design Note: Clarify The Fog duration to "Keep in play / Discard at start of next turn."

• Turn 2 (DE): Drew Shared Collapse (On Draw) > No player met qualifications. D6 Roll: Result 1 (Landed on Ship's Wheel). No Action Cards Played.

• Turn 3 (PM): Drew Boundary Regression (On Draw: Retreat 3 spaces).

  • Design Note (Edge Case): Pre-entry retreat is impossible since PM isn't on the board yet. Rulebook needs a universal rule: "If forced to retreat before entering the board, ignore the movement penalty."

  • Design Note (Abilities): Clarify Traveler abilities as explicitly (Optional) using "You may..." phrasing.

• Turn 4 (YW): Drew Echoes from Below (On Draw). Confirmed the need to lower hazard frequency in the master spreadsheet.

ROUND 2

• Turn 1 (WV): Shuffled the digital deck to fix the hazard grouping. Drew Total Volatility (passed Burdens per text). D6 Roll: Result 2 (Landed on Memory Space) > Triggered Flashback. Played Action Card: Shared History.

• Turn 2 (DE): Drew A Twist of Fate (Reversed board movement direction; kept in play). D6 Roll: Result 3 (Reversed direction to Memory Space) > Tradition.

• Turn 3 (PM): Drew Harmonious (On Draw / Kept in play). D6 Roll: Result 2 (Reversed direction to Memory Space).

  • Design Note (Game Modes): Consider adding a "First Journey / Quick Start" variant that strips out Traveler Encounters and Suppression penalties for new players.

• Turn 4 (YW): Drew Body’s Wisdom. D6 Roll: Result 5 (Landed on Nature Space) > Hurricane.

  • Design Note (Terminology): Update card phrasing from "Attach to board" to "Attach to play area, etc" to clearly distinguish individual player mats from the central concentric board.

3. Action Items for Next Full Playthrough

• [ ] Update Master Spreadsheet timing tags (On Draw / Play Immediately vs. On Turn Start).

• [ ] Add the Pre-Entry Retreat note to the Movement section of the manual. (Impossible moves section?)

• [ ] Re-export card templates with updated "Attach to Play Area" phrasing.

• [ ] Outline rules for the "Quick Start/First Journey" variant.