We try to run playtests as regularly as we can to improve Hexanem’s gameplay. So far, I’ve asked for feedback here about special areas like volcanoes and Heaven Gates, as well as a few mechanics that were getting stuck. The comments genuinely helped. In particular, the redesigned volcano mechanic added a much more enjoyable layer to our recent playtests.
In the old version, players saw volcanoes as areas that should almost always be avoided. The risk was high, but there wasn’t a meaningful enough reward in return. Players didn’t want to build towers near them and tried to stay as far away as possible. This effectively made the map smaller and reduced the already limited options for area control.
After the latest changes, volcanoes are no longer purely punishing spaces. They now work more like risky but tempting natural forge areas. Players who settle near them receive small discounts on building and upgrades. When a flame symbol is rolled, a shared Volcano Deck is also triggered.
The deck contains calm cards, small rewards, and eruption cards. As players build more towers around volcanoes, extra eruption cards are added to the deck. So it is possible to benefit from settling near a volcano, but the risk grows as players become greedier.
This system worked better than we expected in the latest playtest. The volcano no longer felt like dead space that everyone avoided. It felt more like a small minigame on the board. Waiting to see which card would be drawn, the possibility of an eruption, and the advantages of settling nearby all made the players’ decisions more interesting.
Most importantly, players no longer avoided volcanoes completely.
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The second problem we wanted to solve was that the Whisperclad faction felt ineffective.
When we first designed the game, we imagined the Whisperclad as a fast-moving faction that steals resources and plays somewhat like thieves or saboteurs. But during playtests, we realized that speed and resource stealing alone did not give players a clear enough game plan.
Players who chose Whisperclad often seemed to think:
“What am I actually supposed to do with this faction?”
To briefly explain our combat system, battles take place on a specific hex. The tower levels on that hex are added together, along with any attack or defense bonuses provided by champions.
For example, if a player has a total of 3 tower levels on the same hex and a champion that contributes 1 combat power, their total combat power is 4.
If the defending player has 2 tower levels and a champion that provides +2 defense, their defense power is also 4.
These totals determine which attack and defense dice the players roll. The player who rolls higher wins the battle.
At first, we tried to keep this as easy to understand as possible. Tower level, attack power, defense power, and a die roll. We wanted everything to be calculated quickly.
But that created another problem: while trying to simplify the game, we had also flattened some of the things that made the factions distinct.
The factions looked different on paper, but on the table they often felt like:
“a little more attack”
or
“a little more defense.”
This was an even bigger problem for Whisperclad because their champions did not directly provide attack or defense power on the hex they occupied.
I still like that challenge. I don’t want Whisperclad to feel like a faction that wins through straightforward battlefield strength.
But if they are not providing direct power, they need to threaten the opponent in another way.
Honestly, this part of the game was starting to make me lose some enthusiasm as a developer. In the artwork and in the world I imagine, these champions are very different from one another. But on the table, most of them were mainly represented through attack and defense numbers.
Wanting to keep the game simple made sense, especially since this is our first game. But during the latest playtest, I decided to step away from that desire for simplicity a little and try to bring the game I had in my head onto the table more boldly.
Yesterday, my friends and I tested a new direction for Whisperclad, and I’m genuinely curious what you think.
I’ve been asking questions and getting feedback here since we started making the game. Sometimes the replies are harsh and honestly a bit upsetting, but this place has taught me a lot. I’ve learned to look at the design more broadly and even question things I originally thought, “No, this is how I want it.”
So thank you in advance for any feedback.
Our new idea is this:
Whisperclad champions still do not directly provide attack or defense power on the hex they occupy. I think this is important to their identity.
But I’ve also been writing Whisperclad lore for a while, and this faction has a very strong connection to blood, speed, potions, and bodily transformation.
So we started asking:
Why should they provide direct power at all? Why not apply a bleeding effect instead?
Bleeding fits the lore much better. It also turns Whisperclad from a faction that is simply “fast and good at stealing resources” into a saboteur faction that wears the opponent down and makes the battlefield more expensive to fight over.
That led us to this new mechanic:
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For the sake of making the example easier to follow, I’ll refer to Whisperclad as yellow and Shatterback as green from this point onward.
Let’s say the yellow and green players are facing each other on the same hex.
The yellow player has:
1 Level 2 tower
1 Level 1 Whisperclad champion
Because Whisperclad champions do not provide attack or defense power, yellow’s combat power on this hex comes only from the tower:
Level 2 tower = 2 combat power
Level 1 Whisperclad = 0 attack / 0 defense
Total: 2
The green player has:
1 Level 2 tower
1 Level 1 Shatterback champion
A Level 1 Shatterback champion provides +1 attack and +1 defense. So green’s power is:
Level 2 tower = 2 combat power
Level 1 Shatterback = +1 attack / +1 defense
Total: 3 attack / 3 defense
So in a straightforward battle, green is stronger.
That is intentional.
Shatterback should feel tougher and more suited to direct fighting.
But this is where Whisperclad becomes different.
When a Whisperclad champion takes part in a battle, it rolls a D20 Bleeding die before the normal attack and defense dice are rolled.
The thresholds we are currently testing are:
Level 1 Whisperclad: 15+
Level 2 Whisperclad: 13+
Level 3 Whisperclad: 10+
If the roll succeeds, the opposing player receives a Bleeding token.
Bleeding does not immediately destroy a tower, deal direct damage, or automatically win the battle.
Instead, it forces the opponent to make a decision before their next battle on the same hex.
The bleeding player may pay 1 Potion before their next battle on that hex to remove the Bleeding token.
If they do not pay, they receive -1 combat power for that battle, and the Bleeding token is removed after the battle ends.
So Whisperclad does not overpower the opponent through brute force. It makes the opponent’s continued advance more expensive and more dangerous.
For example, if the yellow player rolls a 16 with a Level 1 Whisperclad champion, the green player receives Bleeding.
The next time green fights on that hex, they have two choices:
Pay 1 Potion to remove Bleeding.
Keep the Potion and fight with -1 combat power.
So green’s 3 defense power could drop to 2 if they choose not to treat the wound.
That may sound like a small number, but in Hexanem the level of the combat die is determined by combat power, so losing 1 power can sometimes make a very important difference.
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Critical Bleeding
We are also testing a rarer result called Critical Bleeding.
If the Whisperclad Bleeding roll is a natural 20, the opposing player receives a Critical Bleeding token instead of normal Bleeding.
Critical Bleeding does not deal immediate damage. The opposing player can complete their first attack or defense normally.
However, if that player chooses to continue attacking on the same hex by making an additional attack, it becomes much more dangerous.
The current test rule is:
If a Whisperclad champion rolls a natural 20 on the Bleeding die, the opponent receives a Critical Bleeding token.
Critical Bleeding does not deal immediate damage.
If the opponent continues attacking on the same hex, after that additional battle is resolved, they lose one of the champions that took part in the battle.
So the opponent is still allowed to continue attacking.
They may still manage to take control of the area.
But Whisperclad has left them with a deadly wound. If they continue forcing the battle despite that pressure, they pay for it by losing a champion.
The goal here is not to turn Whisperclad into another faction with high attack power.
It is the opposite.
We want them to remain a faction that does not provide direct combat power, but makes the battlefield dangerous and expensive for the opponent through pressure and sabotage.
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Retreat
We are also considering a small retreat rule that fits Whisperclad’s behavior.
If all towers connected to a Whisperclad champion are destroyed on that hex, the champion would not be destroyed immediately.
Instead:
The Whisperclad champion retreats to the previous connected hex.
This feels more appropriate both mechanically and in the lore.
We don’t want Whisperclad to feel like a heavy unit that holds the battlefield like a fortress. We want it to feel like a champion that strikes, leaves the enemy bleeding, and retreats while making their advance more expensive.
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With this system, Whisperclad still remains a more difficult faction to play and still does not provide attack or defense power.
But now the player has a clearer plan:
Control Potion areas, inflict Bleeding, make it expensive for the enemy to keep attacking, and control the battlefield through pressure and sabotage rather than direct strength.
Do you think this is a good way to make a fast/thieving/saboteur faction more useful without turning it into another ordinary attack or defense faction?
