I probably should have started with this instead of having multiple posts talking about details of it without giving the summary, but oh well, better late than never. So, what is this game I've been focused on lately?
The Grand Expedition is a fantasy exploration board game, in the style of old D&D hexcrawls. Each player controls a team of adventurers competing for the most fame. The teams all have different starting abilities and upgrade options, thus giving advantages to different strategies or play styles. And while each player is doing their own exploring, there are also ways that they can interact with other players who are nearby - granting bonuses or penalties on die rolls, triggering special abilities that each team gets if another player is nearby, and even outright attacking or stealing from each other.
The basic procedure of exploration is that, upon entering an unexplored hex, you roll to determine if it is the same type of terrain as your starting hex or if it's completely random, and then you draw a card to see what you find there. The reason for that first roll is to give somewhat more realistic results than if it was completely random all the time - you can still get a desert right next to a forest, for instance, but you're at least more likely to get larger regions of adjacent forest tiles and adjacent desert tiles as well. Some of the things you find can give you bonuses in all adjoining hexes of the same terrain type, so it's definitely helpful to have the rules skew toward giving you more usable areas. It also creates a different strategic angle, as entering a new hex from different directions will shift the odds of finding different terrain there, and that might be something you can use to your advantage.
Things you can find when you explore a new hex include are Dungeons, Settlements, Threats, Wondrous Sites, and Hazards (it's also possible to find nothing of interest). The first three are groups of creatures; Dungeons and Settlements are static, and Threats will move around the board until defeated. For any of these three, players can choose to Fight (successful roll gets you some Fame and whatever treasure they had), Negotiate (successful roll gets you some Fame and a different bonus, but no treasure), or Escape (successful roll just gets you out of there safely, though you can also steal some treasure on your way out if your roll is high enough). Wondrous Sites are particularly impressive and/or magical parts of the landscape, which give you some Fame for discovering them and maybe also another bonus of some sort. And Hazards are environmental threats - maybe take some damage, and probably nothing good.
Rolling poorly, regardless of what you're rolling against, means you take some damage. There is no player elimination; instead, when you've taken too much damage you are forced to return to town so you can heal up, but then you can get right back out to the wilderness after that.
One other element that adds strategy to the game is Legends. The idea is that even though this vast area is unexplored, there are old stories, faded maps, and so on that give some hints about what might be found in the wilds. This is represented by cards that players can take ahead of time and then choose when they find whatever is on it. Or choose to have someone else find it if you prefer ("uh oh, Jim is in the lead, it sure would be tragic if he found a lich king in that hex he just entered").
Current status of this game - let's call it 90% complete. Maybe even 91% if you're feeling generous. The rules are pretty much set (and a copy of the rulebook by itself is available here), there's plenty of stuff to find, and there's a virtual prototype that you can play for free on Tabletop Simulator. What it still needs is lots of testing so I can refine what's there.
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