Hair of the Dog is an inclusive pub. Thanks to some generous backers, we’re letting cats and chameleons mingle with the doggie clientele. While it’s cool to see different looking pets in the bar, it’s important to us that they play differently too. Petting a dog is all about set collection. As the likelihood of a getting a certain pet card goes up, the difficulty also increases. It’s a system that rewards patience and information sharing, but also supports an occasional bout of luck. The other animals need to give players a different angle for completing their point-based objectives.
Cats have a reputation for being more fickle and temperamental than dogs. Our module leans into that premise. While dogs consist of three pet cards (one for each petting style), cats have an extra three “scratch” cards. Petting a cat is inherently riskier because you could use your whole turn and get nothing to show for it. To incentivize this, cats’ pet conditions work differently. For a dog, each pet adds a condition that must be met in order for the next person to pet that dog. Cats also get conditions added as pets or scratches happen, but those conditions don’t need to be met. You can always pet a cat and take one card. If you happen to meet some conditions, you’ll get one extra pet card per condition met. This means you can not only avoid the scratches, but potentially get the pet card you need to complete your set. The randomness of a cat changes the risks and rewards for the player.
Chameleons work completely different than their furry friends. Instead of trying to pet the chameleon, players want to hold it. First, they need to find it. The chameleon starts the game camouflaged. Players need to lure it out of hiding with cricket treats. Players can also lure the chameleon from other players using the same crickets. If you have the chameleon, it’s a large amount of points. If you ever held the chameleon (but aren’t holding it at the end of the game), you get one point. To help encourage early chameleon searches, having the lizard also gives the player bonus actions: they can use its long tongue to startle away players and dogs, giving them far more area control in the pub. Each player should want to try to hold the chameleon; getting it too early makes you a target, but going late risks missing out entirely. Basically, the chameleon adds a little side game to the game.
Both new pets are optional and intended for experienced players. Those groups can enjoy another mental puzzle to tease out while still trying to pet the most dogs. One of our goals with Hair of the Dog is to accommodate a large variety of players. From player count to player style, we want different gaming groups to enjoy their time in the pub.