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Neil Edmonds
United States
Washington
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My two friends and I closed out 2011 with a victory in A Touch Of Evil. We randomly drew Karl the Soldier, Brother Marcus, and Captain Hawkins to square off cooperatively against the Delion Dryad. The game was almost over after Captain Hawkins' first turn. Instructed to roll on the cooperative mystery chart, a roll of 2 triggered a surprise attack by the villain. Karl and Captain Hawkins were knocked out by the Dryad while Brother Marcus survived with one wound remaining. Shadowbrook would have been completely engulfed by evil if all the heroes were knocked unconscious.
Karl recovered during the Mystery phase and managed to make it to the windmill on his next turn. He found a hunting rifle. The rifle allowed Karl to attack first and apply the results just like Arianna. It was a fortunate find, divinely inspired Brother Marcus might insist, because the Dryad unleashed her full fury on Shadowbrook. Living Trees wandered from the Old Woods and appeared close to town each Mystery Phase; frequently at the Church, Crossroads, and Magistrate's office or moving in swiftly from the Abandoned Keep and Windmill courtesy of Mystery cards.
The heroes were bottled up in town fending off wave after wave of attackers. Captain Hawkins and Brother Marcus were often knocked unconscious. Even Karl succumbed once; however, his frequent victories and defense of the Magistrates' office meant opportunities to pass the honor test and reach the required 8 points of cunning & spirit to attack the Dryad without penalty. Karl even had enough points to buy silver shot and a pistol.
Results of Murder! on the cooperative chart meant the town elders were too ensorcelled to trust in a showdown. Brother Marcus had trouble passing his Spirit test at the Church until Karl bestowed an Honor boost event card on him. Marcus's prayers weren't completely ignored; however, because twice he canceled Mystery cards with dire consequences. One would have advanced the Shadow track each time a hero was knocked out. The other card would have advanced the shadow track each turn and provided a small investigation bonus.
The siege on Shadowbrook was broken after Karl and Brother Marcus placed 3 militia units courtesy of event cards. Captain Hawkins spent his investigation points redirecting the militia to attack the remaining Living Trees. This gave Captain Hawkins and Brother Marcus the time they needed to make purchases at the Blacksmith Shop and complete their remaining trials at the Magistrates' Office and the Church to get their scores up to 8.
Brother Marcus triggered the showdown at the Doctor's office while the Shadow Track dwindled. Karl played an event card allowing him to add his cunning to his attack roll and got to roll 17 dice on his first attack. Karl had figured out the Dryad was hiding in town and asked Brother Marcus to hold a prayer meeting for the ensorcelled town elders. When everyone gathered he told them to set every tree near the Doctor's office alight with their torches. Karl inflicted 14 wounds on the Dryad leaving her with 10 left. The Dryad attacked furiously knocking Karl out. The heroes didn't have time to confront the Dryad with Event cards or location cards that could cancel wounds because of the siege on the town. Captain Hawkins and Brother Marcus were able to inflict 4 more wounds and Brother Marcus was knocked out in the process. Captain Hawkins wisely fled the following attack round. Marcus and Karl awoke during the mystery phase. Marcus realized on his turn that the smoldering Dryad couldn't have gotten far and organized a showdown at the Blacksmith's shop with Karl. Karl got the Dryad to within 2 wounds of death and Marcus finished her off with an additional 5 wounds of damage.
This was the most exciting game of A Touch of Evil I've played in a while. We barely held out during the siege and managed to pull victory from what looked like a certain defeat.
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George
United States
Pennsylvania
You can take my game… when you pry my cold, dead fingers off the board!
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There's something about ATOE that makes for very interesting session reports. Thanks for the great read!
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Posted Thu Jan 5, 2012 11:28 pm
