Why the change to cards? Player Reaction?

[komradebob]

Hopefully, after having bought PTA months ago, I'll be getting to actually play soon.

I did have a question about the change from dice to cards, however.

As I understand it, the idea was to make the game more accessible to non-gamers, right?

Here's the thing:
Has anyone had an experience with non-gamers and using the cards? What I'm wondering is what their reaction is to using cards as randomizers?

Most card games involve holding, collecting, or trading the cards in some fashion. PTA doesn't use them this way. How do they react to that fact? Was there any confusion over this?

The thing is, I'm almost tempted to got back to dice if I can find the original rules from 1st edition PTA because of this concern.

Anyone have insight?

Thanks,
Robert

[IMAGinES]

The switch to cards was for two reasons: 1) to make tiebreaking a little easier, and 2) to eliminate the need for a flat dice-rolly surface. Now you can play in the car, or while balancing on a tightrope. Wait, three reasons: 3) speed: for most, it's easier to spot red vs. black than to find odd numbers on dice.

[IMAGinES]

See also the Car Chase example in the Appendices (page 43 of the PDF). The reveal-in-stages as described, which adds tension and some neat pacing to the overall conflict, would be harder to do with dice. To my mind, at least, face-down cards waiting to be turned over makes players more tense than dice waiting to be rolled.

[Lisa Padol]

Some folks, definitely including me, tend to instinctively add up dice, which causes a break in the flow of PTA, since that's not how the system works. But, we don't have that problem with cards.

-Lisa Padol

[gwangi]

I love using cards instead of dice on occasion. I really like the flow of the card-based Marvel Superhero Action Game (1998). (It was an update of the Saga system.) Everybody talks about card counting like it's something horrible. I like adding the card counting strategy to a game because it gives players another way to try and influence the ebb and flow of the game. They can try to reserve big cards for big actions (or predict their chance to pull of a big card for a big action). I will admit, though, that I don't know how the cards are used in PTA. I just purchased the game today and am waiting on my print and pdf copies.

[Arturo G.]

Hi, Robert!

The PtA card mechanism is so simple that everyone understand it perfectly on the first explanation. I have tried it at least three times with non-gamers around and no one was questioning anything.

As Lisa says. You know who has won the conflict having a quick look at the cards.

Don't worry and try it.
Arturo

[IMAGinES]

Everybody talks about card counting like it's something horrible. I like adding the card counting strategy to a game because it gives players another way to try and influence the ebb and flow of the game. They can try to reserve big cards for big actions (or predict their chance to pull of a big card for a big action). I will admit, though, that I don't know how the cards are used in PTA. I just purchased the game today and am waiting on my print and pdf copies.

It's a wonderful anticipation, eh? :-)

I don't think it's explicitly stated how the producer manages the deck during a game of PtA, but I believe that the cards are re-gathered and shuffled after each conflict is resolved, so card-counting (assuming what you mean and what I mean by card countign are similar) should never become a factor.