significant revisions

 Following from the playtest notes I got a couple weeks ago (see my previous post), and subsequent solo testing, I've spent a good chunk of time over the last few days updating the rulebook and all of the Exploration cards.  The big changes I'm implementing are 1) exploring a new hex is a free action that happens automatically when you move into it, and 2) Loot is based solely on your action, not on the card that you drew.

I really liked the way (1) worked out in my solo test after the feedback I got, since it meant that more exploring could get done each turn, and there was no more of the hassle with someone moving into a new hex with their last action and then needing to wait until next turn to actually explore it.  This was a relatively small revision in terms of changing the text, though a much bigger one for how it affects the game.

(2) should be unpacked in a little more detail.  The old rule was that when you drew a card it would tell you how much Loot was attached.  Beating it with Fight meant you got all the Loot, beating it with Evade (which used to be called Escape) meant you might get some of the Loot if you rolled high enough, and beating it with Negotiate meant you got no Loot, in exchange for whatever the other bonus is that that card gives.  If the card is still there at the end of your turn, and still has any Loot left, then the Loot cards stay with it for others to plunder later on.  Now the new rule is that Exploration cards do not have any Loot attached to them.  Instead, beating it with Fight means you get Loot cards equal to the Zone that you're in, beating it with Negotiate means you get 1 Loot (plus whatever is the Negotiate benefit for that card), and beating it with Evade means you get 1 Loot, plus the possibility of more if you roll high enough.  Testing so far shows that this runs faster and helps address the balance issues I've been struggling with, since players who emphasize Negotiate or Evade rather than Fight aren't going to be falling so far behind now with collecting Loot.  With regard to updating the text, this one is considerably more work since it means almost every single Exploration card needs to be changed.

Besides that, there's also the usual round of cleaning up errors and ambiguities that I didn't catch before, since there are always a handful of those.

Next step - Fame adjustments based on the Zone.  Other player suggested that it should be printed on each relevant card instead of being a flat +2 for Zone 3 and +4 for Zone 4, both so it will be easier to remember and also so I can fiddle with the numbers for individual cards.  The more I think about it the more I'm on board with this idea, but it is going to be significantly more work to figure out the details and update the cards accordingly...