Notes on The Creature That Ate Sheboygan Gamebox

Extras

A few markers and two extra 'boards' (actually record sheets) have been added to the game for playing with Cyberboard.

The Monster Chart - This is an alternative to using paper to record the intial statistics and abilites of the Monster and to keep track of them during play. The Monster Player can keep the chart's information hidden by using the 'Hide Pieces' toggle after any adjustments. During replay, the Human Player will see the outlines of markers being moved, but not the values. Unfortunately, replay WILL show what markers were selected before they are moved to the Monster Chart.

To get around this, I've created a Monster Numbers board. In the Sheboygan.gsn there are a number of markers already on this board. The Monster player can take the markers from this board to use on the Monster Chart. As long as the Monster Player toggles 'Hide Pieces' on for both the Monster Numbers board and the Monster Chart after moving markers, then the value of the markers will be a truly hidden from the Human Player. An especially tricky Monster Player can move around some 'dummies' as well (exchange one marker for a marker of the same amount on the Chart, for example) so the Human Player won't know exactly which characteristics are being altered, either. This involves some amount of trust, of course - but so does the original game.

Monster Markers - Markers used for record-keeping on the Monster Chart. There is also an 'I' marker included that can be used to mark Human units that Fear Immobilization has been successfully used on, and a 'M' maker that can be used on a Mind Control victim.

The Monster Numbers board solution is rather inelegant, so if any of you Cyberboard designers know a better way to have truly hidden markers, let me know. My Email: jjsonick@earthlink.net

Setup & Play

If the Monster Chart is being used, here is the suggested method of setup:

The Monster Player opens Sheboygan.gsn and decides on the characteristics and abilities of the Monster, marking them on the Chart, and then toggles the pieces on the Chart and the Monster Number board to be hidden. The scenario should then be saved under a different name - be sure not to write over the 'blank slate' Sheboygan.gsn

The Monster Player should note in a text file which mapside the Monster will enter, and then use WinZip or something similar to zip the file with password protection. For verfication purposes, the initial characteristics of the monster can also be noted in another text file that should also be zipped and password protected.

The Monster Player emails the just-created scenario and the password-encrypted textfiles to the Human Player.

The Human Player opens the scenario, picks and places the Human units, then saves the scenario and sends it back to the Monster Player.

The Monster Player now begins the first real game turn, entering the map, moving and destroying things. When the Monster Player sends this first turn to the Human Player, the password to the 'mapside entry' textfile should be sent as well, so the Human Player can verify. The password to the 'initial Monster characteristics' textfile should be given at the end of the game.

The Players should decide beforehand how to handle the Human Player's ability to ask about the Monster's Defense Strength and Victory Points at any time. One suggestion is for the Monster Player to include a short message at the end of every Monster turn that simply states what those two values currently are, but, again, this is up to the Players.

Enjoy!