Josiah Leis
United States
Merino
Colorado
I spent 100 GG and all I got was this stupid overtext.....
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Down with Sean the Sorcerer King!
Introduction
Well after the butchering at my hands in the last campaign, the heroes weren't too eager to continue with our game, but wanted to start a new one to employ the lessons they had learned. Also a new player was to join us, and we thought he'd like to start from the beginning of a campaign since we weren't very far in, rather than jump into an existing one.
Sean was wanting to give being the overlord a try, and since I've never been able to play a hero in any of the advanced campaigns I've played in I agreed. All of these players were Doom: The Boardgame veterans, and Sean had played as the Invader (Overlord in Doom basically) for both the base game and expansions campaigns, so he was the most logical person besides myself to play as the Overlord.
This session took place over a week ago and as such I'm mostly going from my very limited notes here, so forgive me if its more of a summary than a detailed report. I hope to take more notes from our next session. The report will follow the format I've seen others use here on the forums.
Game events will be described in normal text.
Rules questions or errors will be in red text like this.
My own commentary will usually be in blue text like this.
Gold gains will be shown in yellow with plus or minus symbols like this {+400}, {-50}. I know, it should be yellow or golden in color, but the green is far easier to read.
The overlord's conquest gains will be shown like this [+1] while the hero's will be shown like this (+1).
Setup
There was going to be a total of 3 hero players for this campaign, so I was chosen to take control of two heroes for the duration of the campaign. After our initial hero\skill draws and buying starting equipment the party looked like this:
Landrec the Wise (played by Roy): Wind Pact Immolation, Leather Armor
Roy always liked the magic users for their balance of damage and range, and he was very happy to draw Landrec the Wise. However, his skill draw was completely craptastic, with Earth, Fire, and Wind Pacts, plus Mata and Kata. Wind Pact was the only skill that we thought would be even remotely useful (especially for LT encounters, it seemed like a must have), but it wasn't really what you want on a starting skill. Especially on a character that you are wanting to turn into a damage powerhouse, not a utility character or runner. But, the skill has proven useful, so I'm glad we got it, I just wish it could've been on another character.
Laughlin Buldar (played by Richie): Weapon Mastery Hammer, Morning Star, Chainmail
Every party needs a melee hero, and one who's capable of dishing out serious amounts of damage is even better. I don't think I would have bought the Hammer if I were him, probably would've gone with the Axe or Walking Stick instead, but it's his character and I don't like telling people how to play. Plus it did prove pretty useful a few times, and he had some real fun with it so it was all good.
Runewitch Astarra (played by myself): Quick Casting Immolation, Wizard's Robe
I always want to have at least 1 good runner in a party, and I didn't think the advanced campaign would be any exception. Plus I knew Runewitch's ability to activate Glyphs without even standing on them would prove very useful (even though it is limited to only 3 spaces in the advanced campaign). As a result I knew the moment I drew her I'd want to keep her. Unfortunately, she didn't really draw much for skills besides Quick Casting (I can't remember what, I think Willpower, Holy Aura, and something else). Though a fantastic skill, I really wish her and Landrec could've been able to swap skills, plus Quick Casting is now denied to Landrec for the duration of the campaign. It is a great skill, I just wish it was in his hands and I could have Wind Pact. Oh well, I suppose that's why they make you draw instead of choose  .
Ispher (played by myself): Born to the Bow Bow, Leather Armor
You want to have someone who can use every kind of weapon in your party so treasure isn't wasted. But we hadn't really drawn any good ranged heroes, and Ispher was one of our few options. Richie and Roy just suggested we go without one (I think I had a pretty good melee hero instead, though I can't recall whom), but I didn't think it'd be wise to have no ranged character. Plus Ispher is pretty quick so I thought he'd make a good backup runner. I remember with him it was down to choosing Born to the Bow or Swift, but I wanted to save Swift for Runewitch Astarra. As for choosing the Bow instead of the Sling, in hindsight that was a mistake. The bonus damage from a Green die would've been more useful than Pierce 1. I think the combination of it being 25 coins cheaper and being worried about having enough range to hit things were what convinced me to take the Bow instead. Like I said, a mistake, but I guess you can only live and learn  .
We as the heroes also bought several starting potions, but I don't remember how many or who got them. I'm pretty sure they were all Vitality Potions (we ended up making a "rule" for our hero party to follow, all heroes must carry at minimum 1 Vitality potion at all times,  )
The Sorcerer King (played by Sean): Siege Engines, Ascension Plot
After we'd chosen our heroes I explained to Sean his different options for choosing an Avatar and plot, as well as how buying upgrades and ordering LTs around worked. He pretty much already understood how actually playing as the OL worked (due to Doom experience and watching me play when he was a hero). He really liked the look of the SK's ability, and the fact that the Ascension Plot costs no XP. I gave him a bit of advice on how to spend his starting XP, stating that the Sniper upgrade for Skeletons was very nice, and that Siege engines could be useful for his Ascension Plot. He looked at all the upgrades available, but ended up choosing the Siege Engines. I don't think that was a bad choice, but I probably would've take the Sniper upgrade, but like I said I don't like telling people how to play and we just kind of let everyone due what's fun for them.
Game Weeks
I had explained to the heroes the concept of blitzing, and after their last defeat in the previous campaign they were eager to give it a try. In the future when I teach the advanced campaign to new heroes, I am going to make sure they read some strategy articles before we play, the excellent overview of the blitzing tactic by Stephan Hackenbracht http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/325622/rtl-the-art-of-bl... helped me understand blitzing a lot and I'd recommend it to new heroes.
Week 1
Sean gains his first conquest [+1] and moves Alric to the Bitter Downs. The heroes meanwhile explore the Starfall Forrest (+1) and enter the dungeon there.
Level One: #24 Eternal Prisoner
This level features a Master Demon trapped in a summoning circle that the heroes can unlock, which also unlocks the Red Runelocked door at the same time. Attacks can be made into and out of the circle however.
Sean, underestimating the Runewitch's Speed leaves a treasure pile unoccupied and she quickly picks it up {+400}, and uses her ability to activate the glyph (+3), while hiding in the far corner of the room away from the demon. Everyone else in the hero party heads back to town, and purchases a couple of potions (-100). Sean attacks with everything he has, but had no spawn cards in his hand. Runewitch used a combination of Feat cards and terrible luck by the overlord to survive, albeit with several wounds. I can't remember exactly what happened, just that the Demon either missed due to lack of range or she'd hid out of his LoS, some of the monsters couldn't reach her, she played a feat card to gain stealth and made one attack miss with it, another missed naturally and the others did only average damage. She did end up with only 2 wounds remaining however.
On the next turn, the remainder of the hero party burst into the dungeon from the newly activated glyph. With several attacks, they managed to basically clear out any monsters close, and Runewitch ran and opened the chest {+250} which did contain an item {Staff of Punishment} and a potion. Runewitch was badly wounded and hid behind the rest of the party on the glyph as the entire party stood around it. A Protect Thyself feat from Landrec affected the whole party and really saved us from a lot of damage. Sean played a Beastman War Party spawn and attacked. He managed to kill Ispher [+3], but failed to kill Laughlin by 1 single wound! It was of course only after his turn was over I pointed out to him that if he'd kept the two master beastmen close to the boss their command would've allowed him to finish off Laughlin,  painful lessons to learn as the Overlord!
At this point the heroes decided not to press their luck any further. There was still a treasure pile to be had, but it was thoroughly guarded by monsters and very near the boss. The overlord had hordes of enemies coming into the room, a Master Demon boss at full health, and a large pile of threat. The whole party simply fled back to town, Runewitch and Laughlin healing at the temple a combined 5 times to get all their health back (-125) before the party announced it was fleeing! The market IIRC, had a treasure cache and some rather worthless item we didn't want to shell out 250 for.
Overlord CP:3 Hero CP:3 Total Party Gold Acquired: 650
The party had gotten pretty lucky on this level, with Runewitch only surviving by 2 wounds and Laughlin by 1. Had the overlord's luck been a little bit better or if he'd been a little more experienced (so as to not move the Master Beastmen away from the boss), things could have been very rough. As it was though, it was a simple 3 to 3 exchange of conquest and the party got 650 gold and a new item (Staff of Punishment I think, given to Runewitch for her Quick Casting ability, I tried to get Roy to take it but he insisted  ).
Week 2
Time passed [+1], and Sean moved Alric toward Dawnsmoor (to the Misty Plains), while he purchased Lawlessness [-5]. I've always thought that it was a pretty crappy upgrade, but since he'd heard me tell the heroes that we wanted to avoid encounters at this stage, and so we should stick to trails with low chances of having encounters I think he was trying to counter that. The hero party meanwhile, wasted no time in getting to Thelsvan Highway (+1), avoiding an encounter despite having to roll 4 power dice (is "die" the plural of "dice" or vice versa?).
Level One: #37 Web of Lives
We'd played this level in our last campaign, as the heroes barely poked their heads into the 2nd level of a dungeon "just to get the loot" but wound up getting caught in a pretty drawn out fight for conquest, so I was glad we'd gotten it as a first level. Basically the level has 4 villagers in need of rescuing (they occupy 1 hand of a hero who carries them out), with the heroes scoring a conquest for each villager they rescue, and the overlord scoring 2 conquest for each one they leave behind.
My notes are fairly sketchy on this level, so most of what I'm going off of is memory. The party advanced slowly into the first room, killing the skeletons Sean had placed in it. The Runewitch activated the glyph through the door (Is that legal? I know there's a lot of confusion about what goes through doors and what doesn't, but my understanding was that abilities like Command and such did, so I didn't see why hers wouldn't.). The party kept moving, opening the door to the north and killing the Troll there, as Ispher ran up to open the chest which contained no items (+1), {+350}. As the party moved into the eastern room, it was Landrec who ended up scoring the killing blow on the boss (+2), {+100}, although Laughlin had done a large amount of damage to it as well. Those two together are already making for a pretty potent combo.
Laughlin was hurt very badly and loaded with poison (we'd positioned ourselves so that he was usually the overlord's only available target), but managed to head back to town through the glyph to heal at the temple (-25). Ispher managed to grab the two villagers up in the north room and fled the dungeon with them (+2), while Astarra grabbed the two in the east room and headed out the door after the boss' demise (+2). Landrec also went out through the door, while Ispher bought two potions in town (-100). Sean also got Doom into play at some point in this level, rather early on IIRC.
Overlord CP:0 Hero CP:10 Total Party Gold Acquired: 450
The hero party did exceptionally well, getting through the level without a single death. I remember Laughlin came very close again (down to only a few wounds and loaded up with Poison markers), but the OL is still learning that targeting 4 conquest heroes is usually a very bad idea. Ispher got hurt several times to, but his healing ability kept him alive. I also seem to remember us burning through the feat cards on this level, playing lots of them to avoid taking damage. I know there was at least 1 more Protect Thyself (he'd drawn two at the start of the game) from Landrec that affected the whole party in another critical situation. I also remember he spent a large amount of his threat to get Doom into play. These things, combined with the fact that Sean is still learning the ropes as the OL, and that the dice were a bit more on our side than his (nothing terribly drastic, I just seem to remember he missed a bit more often than we did, and our feat card rolls always succeeded) meant that the heroes got out of the level with loads of Conquest Points, though the treasure on the level was rather lacking.
Level Two: #38 Throwing Stones
This level features quite a bit of treasure, as well as a Master Giant boss who can sacrifice his attack to "throw" the many rubble markers on the map around to attempt to kill the heroes. In reality, all this really did was affect hero positioning, with us making sure we weren't ever in a spot we could be hit by the rubble. None the less, the heroes weren't really wanting to continue the dungeon as Sean's power was growing, and so were merely on a sort of "snatch and grab" mission.
Laughlin returned to town to heal at the temple as he was still hurt from the previous level {-25}. Landrec stepped up and killed a skeleton on a nearby treasure pile, allowing Ispher to run out and snatch it up {+400}. Meanwhile Runewitch ran toward the Glyph and activated it (+3), searching a Bone Pile on the way that turned out to be empty. Runewitch Astarra was then promptly killed by the boss and his minions [+2].
The next turn Landrec again killed a skeleton on a treasure pile, freeing Ispher to grab it {+400} while they both headed back to the Glyph, being careful to try to position themselves so the OL couldn't spawn anywhere close. Laughlin continued to heal at the temple {-25}, while Runewitch ran out of the newly activated Glyph to open the treasure chest that Sean had been kind enough to vacate while he was killing her last turn (again, Sean's a pretty quick study but is still learning the nuances of playing as the Overlord). The chest contained pure treasures (+1), {+400}, and Sean again promptly killed her with his minions [+2].
Laughlin healed yet again at the temple finally returning to full health {-25}. The other heroes made it safely back to town, and purchased the Staff of the Wild {-1500}, at the market along with a Copper item {-250} which I believe was the Archer's Charm for Ispher (who had been unable to kill hardly anything by this point). The other item was yet again, a treasure cache. The heroes then announced that they were fleeing the dungeon.
Overlord CP:4 Hero CP:4 Total Party Gold Acquired: 1200
Although the heroes hadn't done as well in conquest ratio on this level, it was a great level for treasure, with them managing to amass a lot of it for very little conquest given. Sean moving his monster off of that chest was a mistake as it allowed Runewitch to run out and grab it, which basically traded 2 CP to the Overlord for 1 CP and 400 coins for the heroes. A worthwhile trade I think.
Week 3
Sean collects another conquest [+1] and purchases Lord Merrick Farrow [-5] who moves to the Bitter Downs while his brother enters Dawnsmoor. The heroes meanwhile used their new Staff of the Wild to move to the Gardens of Tarn (+1), only having to roll 2 power dice they again had no encounter.
I would've thought after how effective my Silver Eldritches had been against the heroes in the last campaign that Sean would've started saving for them right away, but I think he wanted to get his LTs out and about so he could begin his mission of raising cities. None the less I talked to him about it after this 3rd week, and he agreed that saving for them was the best course and decided to start. Even if he would've been saving for them from the start though, he still wouldn't have had enough to get them yet.
Level One: #20 Two by Two
This level is pretty awful for a hero party intent on blitzing. Basically it consists of two halves, with the heroes having to stand on four encounter markers scattered in each half in order to unlock the door to the next half\portal.
I don't remember a lot of what happened on this level. Basically the heroes came in, poked around for a bit before deciding to leave since it had taken them so much time getting as far as they had, but yet they hadn't even cleared out the room enough to stand on the first four encounter markers. Sean kept both treasure piles well guarded with monsters, and I believe he kept the heroes from getting either of them. Though no one died, the heroes did waste quite a bit of time before giving up as Sean continued to pile up the threat and cards.
Landrec did end up pawning his Immolation in order to purchase a cursed Staff of the Grave {-150}, the item would soon prove it was well worth the curse though. Also, I believe Runewitch sold her old Immolation weapon to buy a couple of potions.
Overlord CP:0 Hero CP:0 Total Party Gold Acquired: 0
This level was pathetic for the heroes. Sean was getting smarter and playing better, the heroes failed to acquire either of the treasure piles thanks to him very annoyingly spawning monsters and placing undying skeletons on both. This combined with the fact that the level is a real witch for blitzing heroes anyhow meant the heroes came up with nada. Though the heroes escaped with no deaths, it was still a pathetic showing as they wasted a week and a dungeon and got nothing for it.
Week 4
Another week, another conquest for Sean [+1], while Alric placed a Siege token and Merrick moved to Smokeblue Hills. The heroes then took the long way to Blackwing Swamp (+1) so has to avoid having to roll on a red encounter trail. With no encounters, they arrived safely and entered the dungeon.
Level One: #15 The Crypt
If the last level is a very bad one to draw for a blitzing hero party, this one is a perfect level for such a purpose . Basically the level starts out completely devoid of any monsters or bosses, but at the start of the Overlord's first turn, 3 undying bosses spawn on the 3 sarcophagi in the level. The 3 bosses are a Beastman, a Skeleton, and a Sorceror, all with Undying and Knockback. Getting knocked into a Sarcophagus basically causes the hero to take 1 wound and miss out on his next turn.
Laughlin ran in and opened the door to the south for Runewitch, who managed to Run and grab the southern treasure {+400}, activate the glyph (+3), and open the again treasure-less chest (+1) {+300}, despite having a pit trap played on her. Landrec then managed to reach the northern treasure {+400} while Ispher activated the northern Glyph (+3). The overlord then placed the bosses on the map and attacked with each, I can't remember if LoS was basically covered so he could not spawn or he had no spawn cards. The bosses using their combined Knockback managed to throw Landrec into the Sarcophagus making him miss his next turn (as well as severely wounding him).
Laughlin then managed to either battle or Advance with a hurry card up to the Skeleton boss and using his Hammer's knockback two times, threw the Skeleton into the pit to put the very last wound on him and kill the boss (+2) {+100}! The Skeleton thankfully failed its Undying roll. Astarra ran to the temple {-25}, while Ispher (who was less than useless in combat) returned to town to buy potions {-100}. Sean attacked Laughlin, including spawning some monsters, but a Feat card by Laughlin combined with a miss by Sean meant that he lived and Sean couldn't quite get him into the Sarcophagi.
On the following turn, Laughlin battled, hitting each boss one time in order to damage them. Ispher and Runewitch both advanced out of the north glyph and hit each boss one time in order to damage them further, putting them near death (Runewitch I think also used Quick Casting to kill some other monster). Landrec then battled from atop the Sarcophagus now that he was back on the board, and killed both bosses (+4) {+200} avoiding their Undying with his new staff! Sean then managed to use his remaining monsters to kill Laughlin [+4] (no near escape this time  ), and put Doom into play.
The heroes then ran through the portal, I believe without further incident.
Overlord CP:4 Hero CP:13 Total Party Gold Acquired: 1400
This level was a major victory for the Hero Party. It's really a nice level to draw early in the game when you are blitzing, with loads of treasure and no starting monsters your runners can just go wild. Plus with 3 bosses if you can kill them that's a nice amount of gold\conquest to. Landrec cursed staff proved very useful in avoiding the leaders Undying abilities. Sean did finally manage to kill Laughlin, but still made a couple of mistakes (like forgetting about the Master Beastman's command once or twice).
Level Two: #3 Dragon's Lair
This level consists of a rather wimpy Dragon boss (only 4 extra wounds) who has the ability to destroy the heroes potions when he attacks them. This level also has 2 treasure chests which is nice, but is a very large level for an RtL dungeon, and everything starts out very far away from the heroes.
Sean has indeed learned much about how to play the OL. He took the setup that included two Grappling Nagas plus a Master Hell Hound. And rather than simply stacking them on the treasure, he placed them at the two choke-points before the treasure so no one could get through. As Sean had Doom and Brilliant Commander and the heroes were no where near any treasure, we simply decided to flee, with Landrec stopping off at the temple {-25}, and someone buying him some Heavy Leather Armor {-250} from the market, to try and protect our cursed comrade.
Overlord CP:0 Hero CP:0 Total Party Gold Acquired:0
This level didn't even get played on. I think on future levels the overlord may just allow the heroes to look at the map in the book (assuming there is no sensitive information), ask how they arranging themselves, and then tell them which minions he's taking and where he's putting them. If the heroes don't want to play the map, it would save the time of setting it up, anyone else out there tried that or something similar? Also we made a minor rules error, forgetting that Alric was reinforcing Sean didn't have Doom in play at first. He played it on the first level pretty early, but I realized our mistake on the second level and told him, refunding his threat and letting him draw an extra card. He asked if he could then put Brilliant Commander in play and I agreed, although I really don't think that power card is worth much RtL (or really Vanilla either except in special circumstances).
Week 5
Sean collected his weekly conquest [+1], but was wanting to save it for Silver monster upgrades (and didn't have enough to spend anyway). Alric placed his 2nd siege token on Dawnsmoor, while Merrick moved to Mountains of Despair. The heroes needed to buy a boat and head to Dawnsmoor to stop Alric, but having the time decided to blitz one more dungeon before doing so. Hence they headed to the Gate to the North (+1), yet again having no encounter they entered the dungeon.
I was a bit surprised to see Sean send Merrick to Vylenvale instead of Riverwatch, since with Siege engines Riverwatch would have a pathetic 2 defense, it was closer, and it would give one conquest per week which Vylenvale would not. But he'd heard us discussing how we needed to stop Alric and could do so with just 1 week's travel from Tamalir, and I think he wanted to get someplace farther away from us to besiege it. He'd also heard us talking about how badly we wanted the Leadership skill and how it was available in Vylenvale. Plus his plot gives him 5 conquest for any raised city so I think that's why he headed that direction.
Level One: #40 Shreds of Night
This level has a Master Dragon who has a chance to destroy armor or shields that heroes have equipped when they attack him. It also places a condition that all ranged attacks get -1 range and -1 damage unless aimed, thankfully for us all of Ispher's attacks were aimed thanks to Born to the Bow . We also played that this meant only "ranged" type of attacks and thus magic was unaffected, also the Dragon has a ranged attack and thus was affected (though Breath needs no range to hit). I believe we were right in doing so, but Sean was a bit disappointed that it would affect his boss' damage.
Sean went with a setup that included large numbers of Kobolds which he used to block the hallway toward the boss and further treasure. None the less, Ishper managed to pick up a closer treasure pile {+400}, while the other heroes took care of most of the monsters and maintained LoS down the hall. Sean then spawned Dark Priests back by the Dragon, and moved several of his monsters to attack, but since most were Kobolds accomplished little.
Note that Sean could have spawned the Dark Priests back at the Glyph near Landrec due to an error on our part concerning LoS, but chose not to since he didn't want them getting killed. I think this was a mistake, since he probably could've done serious harm to Landrec and created more problems with them behind us rather than slowly advancing them behind a wall of Kobolds. Still, they did get in some attacks and put a curse on Laughlin when he later killed the master because they were too far from the pits to be thrown in.
Much fighting ensued in which the heroes slaughtered several Kobolds and killed two master monsters {+100}. Laughlin advanced down the hallway and stood close enough the prevent the dragon from advancing through him to the rest of us, so only he was hit by its attack. It failed to destroy his armor, but did cause some damage along with the two Dark Priests who I believe hit him pretty hard as well (they were too far away to hit anyone else).
Laughlin, Landrec, and Runewitch managed to kill the Dark Priests (giving a curse to Laughlin), and severely hurt the boss. Little Ispher finally managed to do some good in combat, moving in and finishing off the boss with a couple of wounds (+2) {+100}  . The overlord had no monsters left to attack with, though once again put Doom! into play. A running Runewitch managed to grab the chest {+250} which had a Falcon's Claw for Ispher (though it'd see limited use due to the Born to the Bow skill), a treasure pile {+400}, and the Glyph (+3). The rest of the heroes moved around to prevent spawning, and then on the following turn ran through the portal to the next level.
Overlord CP:0 Hero CP:5 Total Party Gold Acquired:1250
A very profitable level for the heroes. Sean still continues to learn as the overlord, but he is much better than when he first started. As a hero party we've learned the value of speed and Vitality potions, and our blitzing is proving very effective. Sean also seems to really like the Doom card, which I don't think is all that good unless the heroes are in the dungeon for a very long time, and even then it is still of very limited use at best. Still his luck hasn't been the greatest at drawing cards, he has yet to get either Evil Genius or Dark Charm into his hand (another advantage of blitzing, the Overlord has a limited chance of getting certain cards).
Level Two: #44 The Ice Tunnels
This is the first Tomb of Ice dungeon level we've gotten to play. It features a Wendigo boss that has the Frost and Breath abilities, as well as a very large amount of ice terrain (which would ultimately prove far more troublesome for the Overlord than the heroes). Also, the key is locked in an Ice Pillar with 30 wounds, 5 armor and Ironskin which the heroes must destroy to get the key.
Landrec and Laughlin both returned to town to heal at the temple as they were both quite beat up from the previous level {-50}. Ispher and Runewitch cautiously advanced, killing a nearby Normal Wendigo who was blocking the choke-point forward and preventing any nearby spawns. The overlord moved in with the other normal wendigo attacking Runewitch.
Landrec continued to heal in the temple {-25}, while Laughlin headed to the Alchemist and bought two potions {-100}. Runewitch managed to use Quick Casting to take down the Wendigo, and Ispher used a Vitality potion and a lot of movement to jump over the ice and grab a treasure pile {+400}. The following turn the overlord spawned Kobolds of all things, but rather far in the north near the boss and Manticore.
Ispher snatched up the other treasure pile {+400}, while Runewitch tried to get close enough to trip the Glyph (made difficult by all the ice). She decided to jump there, but didn't have enough movement to get close enough. Sean attacked with the boss, but missed from a stealth granting Feat card, the Manticore tried to move forward on the ice to attack but slipped ending its turn. This was a rules error, according to the FAQ Sean could have chosen to not be effected by the ice, this was my fault as I told him he had to roll for it (was caught up in a Soar vs. Flying debate with him at the time and the differences between them, hence why Soar wouldn't help him in a dungeon). Still I don't think it would've mattered, Copper Manticores do pathetic damage and the Runewitch was still at full health.
Landrec stayed in town to and bought a Belt of Strength {-250} to give to Laughlin later, while Laughlin ran out of the southern glyph to cover LoS in the rear. Ispher managed to take down a master Kobold {+50} (a small miracle for him), while Runewitch did finally get close enough to activate the glyph (+3), though she slipped and couldn't go any further. Runewitch was standing next to the manticore and played a Sparks of Pain feat card. The manticore couldn't move away due to congestion from all the stupid Kobolds and it took 4 wounds after failing to do anything to Runewitch (missed once, rolled 0 damage the next time). The boss wendigo did hit her and Ispher, wounding them both and giving them Frost tokens. The kobolds couldn't get close due to her Aura card without being killed (though one was destroyed by the bosses breath attack).
Landrec the Wise battled through the glyph, killing the manticore and a master Kobold {+50}. Ispher (who'd ditched the Frost token) wounded the boss, and then Runewitch with Quick Casting finished him off (+2) {+100}, risking her weapon Staff of Punishment, but thankfully not breaking it. Laughlin may have managed to get close enough to help with the boss a little to. The following turn Runewitch died to the hordes of Kobolds [+2].
While Landrec cleared the way with a Battle action, Runewitch came out of the glyph and opened the chest, which contained {+250} and a treasure (which my memory escapes me as to what exactly that was). There was some furious hacking at the Ice Pillar which contained the key which the heroes managed to get and escape with. The only reason the heroes didn't die from spawns was poor rolling by Sean and some nice feat cards (such as one granting Ghost to Ispher for an entire turn, right after a Beastman War Party spawned and was about to kill him). Laughlin managed to kill the master beastman who attacked him with a Riposte feat card (the Beastman was Raged and would've attacked twice ) for {+50}. The heroes then continued on to the next level.
Overlord CP:2 Hero CP:5 Total Party Gold Acquired:1300
This was our last level of the night, with the heroes about to enter the 3rd and final level of the dungeon. The heroes are doing really well this dungeon, and whether they complete it or simply loot it and leave will depend on the level drawn and its setup. The rules ommission on my part hurt Sean, but he got Runewitch in the end anyway. There is definitely a learning curve to playing the Overlord, more so than I would have expected there to be (I always thought playing the heroes was actually more challenging to learn how to play well), and I think Sean's inexperience as the overlord compared with the hero party's experience as playing heroes is part of why the heroes are doing so well. The blitzing tactic certainly plays a huge role as well, and Sean's luck hasn't been to great. Nothing totally abysmal mind you, just that he hasn't gotten the greatest of cards or dice rolls on the whole in comparision with the heroes.
Still, the campaign isn't won in a single session, and it will be interesting to see how the campaign progresses, the conquest totals for each side were:
Overlord: 18 (8 unspent) Heroes: 45 (45 unspent) Party Treasury: 3125
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Corbon Loughnan
Singapore
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Kartigan wrote: killing the skeletons Sean had placed in it. The Runewitch activated the glyph through the door (Is that legal? I know there's a lot of confusion about what goes through doors and what doesn't, but my understanding was that abilities like Command and such did, so I didn't see why hers wouldn't.).
FAQ pg7/8
Q: Can abilities with a radius that don't require Line of Sight (Command, Word of Vaal, Spiritwalker, Kirga's hero ability from Altar of Despair, etc.) go through walls and/or doors? When checking the distance for these abilities, must the target space or figure be reachable by moving a number spaces less than or equal to the radius, or
do these abilities work like the Breath example (fly to anywhere within a template, in this case a square of edge length 2xradius + 1 centered on the figure)?
A: Abilities, not attacks, with a radius may go through doors, but not through walls. These abilities work like the Breath example. Note that attacks cannot go through closed doors.
It's an ability, so yes, officially it goes through doors.
I think it is a bad ruling personally, but its there and its official.
Quote: It also places a condition that all ranged attacks get -1 range and -1 damage unless aimed, thankfully for us all of Ispher's attacks were aimed thanks to Born to the Bow :D.[/COLOR] We also played that this meant only "ranged" type of attacks and thus magic was unaffected, also the Dragon has a ranged attack and thus was affected (though Breath needs no range to hit). I believe we were right in doing so, but Sean was a bit disappointed that it would affect his boss' damage.
You were correct. 'Ranged' is only ever used in the rules in one context, and that is the attack type noun. Even 'range' used to describe distance is a noun. There is no adjectival usage of 'ranged' which combines magic and range attack types.
Quote: Sean also seems to really like the Doom card, which I don't think is all that good unless the heroes are in the dungeon for a very long time, and even then it is still of very limited use at best
I'm with you. Doom is a colossal waste of Threat in RtL.
Quote: card, the Manticore tried to move forward on the ice to attack but slipped ending its turn. This was a rules error, according to the FAQ Sean could have chosen to not be effected by the ice, this was my fault as I told him he had to roll for it (was caught up in a Soar vs. Flying debate with him at the time and the differences between them, hence why Soar wouldn't help him in a dungeon). Still I don't think it would've mattered, Copper Manticores do pathetic damage and the Runewitch was still at full health.
Note that Soar only works in outdoor encounters. It does not apply inside dungeons.
RtL pg 30
Soar
This ability is only used during outdoor encounters. ...
Manticores do not have Fly (Flyers get Soar - RtL pg29, Soarers do not get fly. Their wings are too large for dungeons) so you were in fact correct, he did have to roll for ice.
Nice writeup, thanks.
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Josiah Leis
United States
Merino
Colorado
I spent 100 GG and all I got was this stupid overtext.....
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Thanks for the comments\clarifications.
I didn't make this clear in the report, but I wasn't actually referring to the Soaring ability as to why Sean didn't need to roll for the ice with the Manticore. That was what we were actually caught up debating, with Sean thinking that Soar meant he ignored terrain in a dungeon. I explained to him that Soar only works in outdoor encounters and therefore did not apply in dungeons. So he ended up rolling for the ice and slipped on it.
It was only after our session that I remembered that the manticore was a large figure and had only stepped onto a single piece of ice. Therefore it did not have to roll for the ice unless Sean wanted it to (which of course he wouldn't).
From the FAQ pg. 2:
When large monsters move, they can sometimes find themselves moving across hazardous terrain (lava,scything blades) twice as often as other figures. Further, it can often be confusing whether or not beneficial terrain (trees, elevated terrain) should affect a creature only
partly standing on it.
Use the following guidelines to arbitrate these instances. The overlord may choose to have a monster affected by any terrain it partially occupies. A monster MUST be affected by any terrain it completely occupies. If the monster is completely occupying multiple
terrains, the figure has to be affected by one of the terrains (Overlord's choice).
Since the manticore only stepped on a single space of ice with his first movement he shouldn't have had to roll for it being a large monster. I should've known this from the base game's rules, let alone the FAQ. But when Sean stated he didn't have to roll because the monster had Soar that made me get caught up in explaining how Soar functioned and why it didn't help him in a dungeon. In the process, I forgot all about the Manticore being a large figure , oh well my mistake.
I was probably thinking along the lines of that old FAQ ruling awhile back about the "front" half of monsters entering terrain.
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Corbon Loughnan
Singapore
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Fair enough.
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Jerry Rhodes
United States
Elgin
South Carolina
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The OL is already down 30, during the time he is suppose to be stronger. I wonder if he has any chance at all now.
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Scott Giles
United States
Unspecified
Virginia
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Kartigan wrote:
(is "die" the plural of "dice" or vice versa?).
"Dice" is the plural of "Die".
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Brian Thomas
United States
Herndon
Virginia
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It looks to me like the feat cards are playing a very large role in your game - it seems like you probably prevented 6 or 7 hero deaths throughout this first session with feat cards.
Given that Sean is inexperienced as an Overlord, you might want to make the feat cards a little less powerful - maybe restrict how or when you draw them. I think you'll all have more fun if the game is closer.
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Josiah Leis
United States
Merino
Colorado
I spent 100 GG and all I got was this stupid overtext.....
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The Feat cards have indeed played a very large role in our campaign. It is true that Sean is inexperienced as an overlord, but I think his luck is also been pretty bad. On more than one occasion he's had his only Dark Charm card removed from the deck by drawing it into his starting hand and having Wind Pact remove it. His rolling has been pretty bad at key points to.
Still in order to help him out I've been trying to give some pointers and help him with an overall strategy. Such as saving for silver eldritches, and then telling him about the Crushing Blow feat card which he's gone straight for. I'll try to post our 3rd session report soon, though the heroes are still winning Sean has closed the gap by quite a lot.
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I spent 100 GG and all I got was this stupid overtext.....
