5+ Manoeuvre Roll

Instead of a manoeuvre roll succeeding if a 6 or better is rolled on two dice, it succeeds on the roll of a 5 or better.

It is highly recommended that this rule be used in games with lots of players, lots of terrain, or using the broken lances and unicycle damage house rules.

Tompkins Major

A players first lancer is his best. This lancer gets a +1 to his manoeuvre roll and +1 to his Hit roll. This bonus does not apply to replacement lancers (Tompkins Minor).

Updated Tables

The game tables have been updated. Here are the new tables:

Hit Adjudication Table

The attacking lancer rolls 2D6.

2 - 3	Pig's Ear
	No hit, lose a rump for bad style!
4 - 5	Missed By That Much
	No hit.
6 - 10	A Palpable Hit
	Gain one rump.
11 - 12	Pig's Arse
	A stylish hit, gain two rumps!

 

Porcine Molestation Table

The lancer being attacked by the pig rolls 2D6 in an attempt to evade.

2 - 3	Utter Molestation
	Lancer resigns through complete shame.
4 - 6	Squeal Like a Pig
	Lancer is wounded.
7	Crash!
	The unicycle suffers a point of damage! (If not using the Unicycle Damage rules, treat as a "Squeal Like a Pig" result.)
8 - 10	Oink!
	No effect.
11 - 12	They Don't Like It Up 'Em
	The pig is fought off. Gain a rump.

 

Hot Coals Table

The lancer being hot coaled rolls 2D6 to evade.

2 - 3	Bang On!
	Hot coals shower the lancer, wounding him.
4 - 6	He Went That-Away
	Lancer being attacked is randomly moved by the current player in a similar fashion to randomly moving the pig.
7	Mallard!
	The lancer ducks out of the way but falls off his unicycle. He must make a manoeuver roll before starting his next turn.
8 - 10	Fresh Air Shot
	No effect.
11 - 12	Immediately, Sir!
	The stoker is confused because all men in uniform look the same. He runs over and showers the current player's lancer instead, wounding him.

 

Wound Recovery Table

A wounded lancer rolls 2D6 at the start of his turn.

2 - 3	Alas, Poor Tompkins
	Nothing can be done - Lancer dies!
4 - 5	Doctor's Orders
	Lancer misses this turn, roll again next turn.
6 - 12	Wire Brush and Anticeptic
	Lancer is fit enough to go back on.

Design Notes

Pig Tickler is a fast paced, fun game that's easy to understand. The only problem is that there are an awful lot of dice rolls that result in nothing happening. In particular, the Hot Coals Table and the Porcine Molestation Table are particularly forgiving. The variant here gives these two tables one more result where something interesting happens. In the case of the Hot Coals table, 1/6 of the time the lancer is knocked off his unicycle and must make a maneouvre roll next turn to get back on it. With the Porcine Molestation Table, 1/6 of the time the unicycle will take damage (if using those house rules, otherwise the chance of being hurt by the pig goes from 1/3 of the time to 1/2 of the time). These two tables increase the amount of chaos in the game.

Normally the manoeuvre roll fails about 28% of the time. Many times a player manoeuvres his lancer around the table only to fail that last roll needed for a run at the pig. This lengthens the game. In playtesting, increasing the roll needed to succeed from a 6+ to a 5+ speeds up play with virtually no other affect on game play.

These rules belong together because the increased chance in making a maneouvre roll is needed to offset the greater chance of being wounded or delayed.