My buddy and I finally played our first adventure (3 scenarios). He was the sorcerer and I was the rogue. We changed our names and character pics to protect the innocent. Our starting deck was also built using the suggested cards from the rulebook as we didn’t want to spoil any surprises by reading all the cards first.
The first scenario had my buddy’s sorcerer wiping out monsters easily by discarding cards (turning them into spells) while I sat at another location evading monsters and henchmen trying to get all the boons. After a while we realized this was a terrible plan as my buddy’s sorcerer was now almost dead and we were running out of blessing cards with no idea where the villain was. Not to mention that any encounter I was involved in I couldn’t roll higher than a 3 on the dice (the dice gods hate me). Speaking of which, I (as the rogue) was a victim of the Ambush and I failed my check to avoid it, so I assumed that I couldn’t evade the monster that appeared because of the failed check?
Anyway, through some crazy miracle, we were able to close two location and with each of us hanging out at the remaining two locations. The remaining two locations had one with no cards that we failed to close and the other location with a deck that was untouched (but through the process of elimination we knew the villain was there, somewhere)…needless to say we figured we had lost. My rogue had the final turn and we were just going through the motions to end the game when I drew a spyglass. After easily acquiring the spyglass I used it to look at the next two cards and was shocked to see the villain as the second card. I quickly put the villain on the top of the deck and my buddy and I went from a low (losing the game) to a high (we’re going to win the game).
I used an ally to explore a second time and, to my lack of surprise, I found the villain. This time, unlike so many other times during this scenario, I remembered that I could add dice to my combat check as a rogue. We were unsure how many dice I can get. Recharge to add 1d6 or discard it to add an additional 1d6. So is that 2d6 for discarding? We went with 2d6, though it didn’t matter since I rolled max on every one of the dice and slaughtered the villain (the dice gods love me). We won and celebrated like mad men. Now remember how I said we went from a low to a high? Well apparently we got so high that halfway through the second scenario we recalled that we didn’t close out the other location because we were so focused on killing the villain, so technically we lost that game. However, since we were already halfway through the second scenario and we figured closing the location would have been easy, we chalked it up as a beginner mistake and accepted it as a win while preparing ourselves to never forget that again.
The second scenario was much easier, especially as a rogue with thieves’ tools. I had no problem finding and disabling all the traps myself, leaving mostly harmless areas for me and my buddy to take all the cards since we found the traps early and decided to not close the locations until we took as many cards as possible from them. We were a little confused on if the check for the ally was more difficult or easier, we assumed that it only made story since if it was easier to gain allies in the city and went with that. My buddy got a dog that he absolutely loves for some reason, I don’t see the coolness of the dog, but to each their own I suppose. We did discover another question at this time that we couldn’t figure out. The dog gives a bonus to a perception check, but his sorcerer doesn’t have perception so when a card came up that he wanted that required a wisdom perception check does he roll d6 for the wisdom plus the dog’s bonus, or does he roll a d4 since he doesn’t have perception skill, and then adds the dog’s bonus? We never answered this question ourselves as we then noticed that he had a potion of visibility that he used to automatically pass the perception roll.
Anyway, everything was going good, we were watching our time, using the one closed location ability to stack our hand, and we set the last open location’s deck up to the point that we knew the next card was the villain. Everything was going our way, right? Wrong. Our plan was this; with two turns left in the blessing deck, I would make the first attempt to kill the villain since I had plenty of ways to reduce damage if I screwed up and if I didn’t succeed in killing him, my buddy would finish the job next turn. Except we found out by reading the card that his attacks are poison attacks and we can’t reduce damage! In addition, I couldn’t stack my hand with the dagger I wanted and was stuck with some kind of bow that I wasn’t proficient with. We then got confused again. Not being proficient means we increase the difficulty by 4, but does that mean if we fail the roll, we take damage based off the new difficulty or off the villain’s printed difficulty? The logic being that our lack of bow skills doesn’t mean the villain hits us harder. We ruled in our favor again, not increasing the damage dealt. Now that I’m thinking about this, I think it may have been a bad ruling. This turns out to be a crucial decision, since I failed the roll and had to take damage. If we ruled in my favor I would live, if we ruled in the villain’s favor I would not be able to draw my hand size and would die. Since we ruled earlier that I would live, I lived and my buddy went up and zapped the villain with a bunch of magic, blessings, and hocus pocus stuff to kill the villain.
The third scenario was pretty quick, at this point my buddy has a spell that allows him to name a card type and check the top three cards of the deck for the card type and place those cards on the top or bottom of the deck, he named villain and found the villain quickly. We then pillaged the temple for all its boons and quickly closed out the remaining two locations after killing the henchmen. Killing the dragon was easy for me, I walked up to it by myself, used a dagger 2d4, class power 2d6, and used my blessing of the gods to copy a blessing that gave me 2 dice to my dexterity based combat attack for 3d12, and the dragon had no chance. Though there was a slight scare right before when I lost three cards from my hand due to a breath weapon attack, but ultimately the dragon was toast.
We figured that at the slow rate in which the new adventures are released, that we would quickly fly through the adventures and then have to wait forever to continue the story. So instead we are setting our characters to the side and taking two different characters through the same 3 scenarios next week. He’s taking the barbarian and I’ll step out of my comfort zone and play the druid. Then the next week we will take two more characters through the adventure, he’s taking the bard, and I’ll be the fighter. This will slow down how quick we go through the adventure, hoping the complete path will be released by the time we get all three set of characters advancing through the campaign at the same time. During the points in the adventure when everyone has done the same adventures, we can interchange characters, and if a character dies, we will quickly have a back up to use to continue the game.
Having lots of fun.
Glad you're having fun and welcome to the community!
One thing I suggest to mix up your experience a bit is to try playing 2-3 characters each. The game is a very different experience with 2 compared to 6 characters - you'll find more time pressure and less time for sight-seeing with six, but more flexibility to deal with whatever you find.
In response to your queries:
Speaking of which, I (as the rogue) was a victim of the Ambush and I failed my check to avoid it, so I assumed that I couldn’t evade the monster that appeared because of the failed check?
Merisiel can always evade any card she encounters, so you could have evaded the monster which Ambushed you and just considered it a great scouting opportunity.
Recharge to add 1d6 or discard it to add an additional 1d6. So is that 2d6 for discarding?
Yes, if Merisiel discards a card she gets to add 2d6.
We were a little confused on if the check for the ally was more difficult or easier, we assumed that it only made story since if it was easier to gain allies in the city and went with that.
You were correct - the checks get easier.
The dog gives a bonus to a perception check, but his sorcerer doesn’t have perception so when a card came up that he wanted that required a wisdom perception check does he roll d6 for the wisdom plus the dog’s bonus, or does he roll a d4 since he doesn’t have perception skill, and then adds the dog’s bonus?
If you don't have PERCEPTION listed on your character card then you just get 1d4. You do not get to use Wisdom or anything else as a 'base stat' unless it's written on your card as a base stat. (Note that different characters sometimes have different 'bases' for certain skills).
As such the dog would give you "1d4 + 1d10".
Not being proficient means we increase the difficulty by 4, but does that mean if we fail the roll, we take damage based off the new difficulty or off the villain’s printed difficulty?
You should have died ;) You take damage based on the difference between your roll and the required roll, including any difficulty modifiers.
...a spell that allows him to name a card type and check the top three cards of the deck for the card type and place those cards on the top or bottom of the deck, he named villain and found the villain quickly
Note that "Villain" is not a card type. "Monster", "Barrier", "Spell", "Weapon", etc are card types. Villains are (usually) a sub-set of Monsters (but they could in theory also be Barriers). In the top-right corner of the villain and henchman cards it says something like "Type: Monster".
Chief Technical Officer
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Note that "Villain" is not a card type. "Monster", "Barrier", "Spell", "Weapon", etc are card types. Villains are (usually) a sub-set of Monsters (but they could in theory also be Barriers). In the top-right corner of the villain and henchman cards it says something like "Type: Monster".
Villain is absolutely a card type.
To the left of the letter or number, you’ll find the card type. There are more than a dozen different card types in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. Among them are character cards, roles, and tokens; story cards, which include an Adventure Path, adventures, and scenarios; locations; banes, which include villains, henchmen, monsters, and barriers; and boons, which include weapons, spells, armors, items, allies, loot, and blessings."
Henchman and villains (and loot) have an *additional* type, but it doesn't replace the original type—it adds to it. So an Ancient Skeleton has two types: henchman and monster.
Type: Most banes are either monsters or barriers. Most villains and henchmen have the “monster” type and count as monsters; a few henchmen have the “barrier” type and count as barriers.
Also, loot cards list a type, such as “weapon”; apart from the way loot cards are acquired, they behave just like other boons of that type and count as cards of that type.
To the left of the letter or number, you’ll find the card type. There are more than a dozen different card types in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. Among them are character cards, roles, and tokens; story cards, which include an Adventure Path, adventures, and scenarios; locations; banes, which include villains, henchmen, monsters, and barriers; and boons, which include weapons, spells, armors, items, allies, loot, and blessings."Henchman and villains (and loot) have an *additional* type, but it doesn't replace the original type—it adds to it. So an Ancient Skeleton has two types: henchman and monster.
Vic,
Does this also apply "abstract" henchmen like "Poison Traps" for the second scenario in the base set? The Poison Trap henchmen cards also serve as multiple types?
...and that's why I spend so much time helping others - sometimes it helps myself :)
That's what I get for not reading the actual rule-book again since I played the second time.
Thanks for the clarification, @VicWertz. Makes Augury even more useful than I thought it was!
Speaking of Lem... does that mean he can choose "Loot" as his starting card type?
Speaking of Lem... does that mean he can choose "Loot" as his starting card type?
From personal experience, I can assure you he has done so many times.
Poison Traps are both henchmen and barriers.
So just to clarify...
Assume you're playing the Pillbug scenario, and you play Augury to reveal the top 3 cards in your location: Long Sword (weapon), Pit Trap (barrier), and Poison Trap (henchmen & barrier).
If you declared "Henchman" you could target only the Poison Traps, but if you declared "Barrier" you could target both the Pit Trap and Poison Trap?
Similarly with Villains and Monsters, I would assume?
@Mike - interesting, very interesting!
@FlatTheImpaler - yes, that's what I understand.
Speaking of Lem... does that mean he can choose "Loot" as his starting card type?From personal experience, I can assure you he has done so many times.
Just so he can have a specific card in his hand? I can see that - Sihedron Medallion is okay for him, though I'm not sure any of Skinsaw Loot is as good. Medusa Mask could be really good if you can encounter the villain.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Just to make sure I am understanding this correctly, this means that Lem could use his power to exchange one card of a type in his hand with another card of that type from his discard pile with Loot cards, correct?
Yes. There *are* cards that use phrases like "choose a type of card other than Loot" (Black Fang's Dungeon, for one). Lem's power has no such restriction.
Is there any chance that could maybe go into the FAQ? I feel this is the sort of little detail a lot of people will miss.
Like particularly effective card combos, this is the type of thing we want people to have the joy of discovering for themselves.
So does that mean that when a Story card offers a reward of a random item any loots that are also items should also be in the mix?
So does that mean that when a Story card offers a reward of a random item any loots that are also items should also be in the mix?
Absolutely not. Just because a specific loot is an item doesn't mean it should be in the item deck when you draw your reward.
This might be worth a FAQ entry, though, since the relevant rule in the rulebook is:
The other boons can be found by exploring locations, but loot cards are only given out as rewards for completing scenarios.
and your specific question concerns rewards.
One thing I suggest to mix up your experience a bit is to try playing 2-3 characters each. The game is a very different experience with 2 compared to 6 characters - you'll find more time pressure and less time for sight-seeing with six, but more flexibility to deal with whatever you find.
If we had it our way, we’d each just stick to one character throughout the entire adventure path, however we don’t want to get to the point where we’ve finished the currently released adventures and now are just sitting around waiting for the new release. Our plan to play multiple characters is really just to slow us down from playing all the released adventures too fast. Playing multiple characters defeats this purpose. However, once we’ve finished everything, playing with multiple character through the entire adventure path could be a good idea while we wait for Skull & Shackles to be released.
[The rogue] can always evade any card she encounters, so you could have evaded the monster which Ambushed you and just considered it a great scouting opportunity.
Nice. I didn’t realize it was any card, I was thinking it was only monster encounters.
Yes, if [the rogue] discards a card she gets to add 2d6.
My confusion on this is because I had a tough time trying to figure out that if you recharge a card you get 1d6 but then how do you discard a card that you already recharged in order to get the additional 1d6?
Anyway, thanks everyone for the response. Our next scheduled game is for Monday. I can’t wait, seriously, I’ve watched every video on youtube about this game during the week while trying to wait for our scheduled game. Which made me realize that I’m not the only person who also hates the bunyip.
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Chief Technical Officer
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...I had a tough time trying to figure out that if you recharge a card you get 1d6 but then how do you discard a card that you already recharged in order to get the additional 1d6?
You didn't already recharge it—it says recharge it for the smaller number *or* discard it for the larger number.
Actually since the other character was hanging out at the other location that was left you could have kept the villain from being able to escape to it by temporarily closing it when the villian was defeated. You wouldn't have automatically lost it's just you forgot to roll for that. I'd definitely not let that get you down too much as it was not impossible.
Take a look at "Encountering a Villain" in the rule book.
EDIT: Would also like to add this was a great read. I think watching other people play is just as fun as playing. :)
Thanks for the response. I had a great time just watching other people on youtube play. If we didn’t already start our game, I’d be tempted to record our game. We played again tonight, which I may post another play experience with tomorrow. In response to your response about the villain encounter. I believe you missed the part where I mentioned that the rogue had the final turn. I probably didn’t make it clear enough in the post, but basically we were on our last blessing for the blessing deck and if we didn’t defeat the villain, we would have no more turns left and would have lost when the villain escaped because we forgot to temporary close the location, which, if I remember correctly, was summon a random monster and defeat it, which could have went either direction at this point. We learned from our mistake and haven’t made the same mistake again.
You didn't already recharge it—it says recharge it for the smaller number *or* discard it for the larger number.
Well, here was my thought process when I encountered the power. Take note that this is coming from a new player of the game who had to teach himself how to play.
I looked at the card and saw two numbers that are the same, recharge for 1d6 or discard for 1d6. And I thought to myself, what’s the difference? There must be something in the game that is beneficial to being able to choose if you recharge or discard and the rogue has the ability to choose which one she can do to gain the 1d6.
Then I notice the word additional. Well what does that mean? Additional 1d6 to the damage I’m already doing? If that was the case then why isn’t the word additional used for the recharge part? Is the word additional even important or am I reading too much into it? I don’t see anything in the rulebook that says the word additional is important, so I must be just reading too much into the word.
So I look through the starting rogue deck and don’t see anything that stands out as a defining reason why the rogue would gain any benefit between choosing to recharge or discard and that recharging would be the optimal choice in any case. So there has to be some reason why discarding is an important option. So maybe it in an additional 1d6 to the 1d6 I would get for recharging the card. So how do you recharge a card to get the 1d6 and then discard it to get the additional 1d6? I was stuck on this part for a long time.
Wait a minute, there is a comma in the sentence. This power’s wording isn’t set up like other powers, like blessings. Blessings have discard to do something, space, discard to do something. This power has a comma. So maybe it really is discard to add 1d6 to the 1d6, for a 2d6. So that’s how we decided to do it, discard for 2d6. Then I said if I post a play report, I’ll question the decision, just in case because I’m sure someone will lead me in the right direction.
So I did figure it out, and I was letting h4ppy know a shorthand version of my thought process with the card.
@KingNate - taking time to write up your thought process like that is bound to help Vic, Mike and the Paizo team in future. Thanks!
That is indeed very helpful, Nate. This is a great way to submit a "bug report"--let us know exactly what happened and what your thought process was when you tried to figure out what to do.
A type is a type, whether or not it's a common one. So playing Augury, you could specify "Villain," but there's no Villains that aren't Monsters that'd be a lot less helpful than just saying Monsters. At least then you can put whatever you find on the bottom of the deck.
Same with Lem. The medallion's both a Loot and an Item. But just like you couldn't say "I Augury for Villains AND Items," you can't say "Lem's favorite card is Loot AND Weapon," so you gotta choose.
Though frankly I can't think of a lot of Loot that'd outweigh just saying "Weapon." Maybe Emerald Codex, or if he had a Loot Weapon and a non-loot Weapon in his deck, though since there's no Dexterity Loot Weapons in RoR (Merisiel says THANKS >>>>:|), that's less likely to come up with Lem.
It looks like someone is looking forward to playing the Necromancer in Organized Play...