After spending the last 4 months defending Pantaloonia's precious toilet paper supplies at holy Monastery Island, it has become clear that the 20-year-old rule set my brothers and I designed as tweens could use a few things:

Balance.

The ability to be unpantsed in combat.

(It's like being unsworded, but to your pants. Also, you can be unsworded. It's bad, but not as bad as being unpantsed.)

Advanced Pantaloonia Plans

Here's a quick overview of the improvements: 

• Dramatically reduced scale
• Suggested moves
• Regular update day (MONDAY)
• More interesting results than dead/not dead
• Random tables for controlled chaos
• Campaign rules
• Randomedes Vox Populi for people who want to try playing but don't want to commit to their own character

Dramatically reduced scale

Instead of controlling multiple big squads against dozens and dozens of enemies, each player controls a single Knight who is followed everywhere by between 1 and 3 sidekicks. For example, a cavalier and his squire, or a Lord and his 2 bodyguards. Battles are small, character-focused skirmishes between a handful of memorable units.

Suggested moves

Every posted update will include suggested moves for each player, so you can just pick a sensible looking option from a list if you can't think of what to do.

Updates on Mondays

Updates are posted on Mondays, orders are due on Fridays. Regular scheduled times keep the game moving quickly and help us avoid getting bogged down in choice paralysis. (If you haven't submitted your orders by Friday night, your character gets taken over by CHAOS for the round… More on that later.)

More interesting results than dead/not dead

The game uses a new dice mechanic with scaling levels of success. If you fail to outright kill your enemy, you can still clobber him pretty good – inflicting random effects based off of your weapon. OR he parries you and inflicts a random effect based off of his weapon! Shields shatter, helmets smash, guys get shoved off cliffs, pants get shot off – every roll means change.

Random tables for controlled chaos

When two soldiers' dice rolls tie, their cataclysmic clash creates random battlefield events ranging from the mundane ("you tangle and separate, having swapped all held items") to the serious ("the clamor of your battle opens a sinkhole beneath your feet!") to the incredibly rare and epic ("the sound of your blows attracts the attention of a LASER DRAGON, who enters the battlefield for his own randomly determined purpose.") Every die roll has a chance to dramatically alter the battlefield. Prewritten tables with specific triggers means that when chaos breaks out, it breaks out for a reason.

Campaign rules

The game's new smaller scale fights are followed by "downtime" story choices. What will you do now that the battle is over? Visit the Hermitage to pray for your fallen comrades? Construct a fort to hold of the contested territory? Journey the countryside in search of new allies? Challenge your hated rival to a duel? Suggested post-battle actions and new rules for playing off the battlefield let your character do more than just ride off into the sunset. Plus, small-scale fights can be strung together for a persistent story-campaign. Your decisions – on the battlefield and off of it – can change West Luau forever.

Randomedes Vox Populi

Recently released from The West Luau Medical Center For Young Knights Who Have Deflected Cannonballs with Their Heads, Sir Randomedes Vox Populi brings both CHAOS and ACCESSIBILITY to Pantaloonia. Both on the Battlefield and off, Sir Randomedes Vox Populi is controlled by RANDOM SUGGESTIONS FROM EVERYONE. (When multiple suggestions are in disagreement, each suggestion gets a die roll – Sir Randomedes listens to the winner!) If you want to try the game out but don't want to commit to your own character, Sir Randomedes is a great place to dip your toes in the water and get a feel for the game. Or, you know, just sow chaos across West Luau.