Just thought you guys would like to know your slippery pig led to Merisiel and Kyra's near-demise.
My wife and I came home tonight after a great dinner with friends to find AP3 waiting for us in the mail room. Best day ever!
Well of course we dealt the cards out as quickly as possible. Kyra heads to the Woods and plays Augury on our first turn. One of those new Ogrekin henchmen shows up. Perhaps against our better judgment, we say "hey, we're not in the habit of losing on time; let's put him on the bottom of the deck and see if we get a chance at any of those new cards." Later, Kyra encounters the slippery pig and promptly loses. No big deal! She's got armor to deal with the combat damage, and, after double checking to make sure we don't banish it, Squealy Nord goes back into the pile.
Soon, after a defeated henchman and a failed check to close, the deck is whittled down to three cards: the Ogrekin (we rolled a 4 for his power, and so he retreated to the bottom of the deck after his defeat), the non-henchman Ogre with the same die rolling power, and the Squealy Nord. With only three cards on deck, our bad luck keeps pulling the swine from the pile, and nothing will kill this frigging pig! We try blessings, we try discarded weapons. We try Wisdom checks, we try Combat checks. The pig won't die, and my wife's Khan-like screams of "Piiiig!" get louder each time. Even with +4 to her rolls from magic weapons, Strength skill points, and Melee bonuses, she just can't manage it. To make matters worse, every time one of the Ogres shows up we roll a 4 and they trot right back to the bottom of the pile!
Meanwhile my Merisiel is closing locations left and right. Farmhouse done, Wooden Bridge done, Turtleberry Ferry whittled down to a slim stack of cards, and still the plaintive cries of "Piiig!" echo from the woods. Kyra's still throwing good discards after bad, and that pig keeps slipping away, but at least we're making progress!
Eventually Merisiel flips over the villain. A 19, wow! And with 3 added henchmen, she'll have to roll a 22. By now her hand is pretty stacked, and Mama tips over without a problem... but what's this? The first time Mama is defeated, turns out she really isn't!
Mama retreats, and with her she takes 2 of the 3 remaining blessings from the deck. Looking at the three still-open locations in front of them, the team decides to call it a day. As Kyra emerges from the Woods -- the location she started the game in -- Merisiel can't help but ask "What the hell were you doing in there?" Kyra looks away with an uncharacteristically sheepish expression. "You see," she says, "There was this pig..."
On the plus side, at least we removed a crapload of Guards, Burglars, Potions, and Slings from the game! Thanks for the early Christmas present, Paizo!
