Ok. So my first group completed scenario 1 of Hook Mountain Massacre last night. We found 2 henchmen high up in 2 locations, so we've got about 12 cards to banish when you add in the basic boons we didn't acquire and the basic banes we defeated.
My question to all you other forum members that are already farther into this adventure and are also playing with multiple parties, is what have you decided to do to keep track of the basic cards you've banished for each specific group of characters you play? i.e. I play Sajan and Ezren while my wife plays Merisiel and Amiri, but I also solo play a 6 character game, and I also play with my brothers and a friend, all from the same box. We'll all have different cards banished and need to keep track of that some way. I'm hoping some of you who have already experienced this can way in on what you tried and how you feel its worked. The things I've thought of are:
- Using a modified version of the card inventory on BGG to make 2 spreadsheets, one for boons, one for banes, listing the card names in column A and putting a heading for each of my groups in columns B, C, and D then marking how many of that card I've removed for each group. The problem here is I would be required to search through all the cards before building locations to remove the ones that applied to that group when ever I switched from playing one group to another, and the setup takes long enough as is. Though it would incentivize me to play more scenarios in a single session with my group.
- Putting a tiny piece of colored paper (like the punched out hole from a hole puncher) in the sleeve on the card on the face side. Each group could have a different color. Build the locations without removing cards, but if we ever encounter or summon a card that has already been banished for that group, we set it aside right then and draw randomly from the box until we have a card of the same type that hasn't been removed. This seems like it would be quicker, but it would maybe loose some of the feel of the game. Plus if we end up with a lot of removed cards, we would be drawing for a while each time this happens.
- Get a third job, buy a copy of the game and all the decks for each group, and not have to deal with the problem. Of course, having another job would probably mean I'd no longer have time to play the game, so that seems counter productive.
Its a pickle. Mike, Lone Shark Games, Paizo, I blame you for this. Why did you have to make such a great game that I'd want to play it over and over again with multiple different groups of friends and family so we could all enjoy the experience and have an excellent time? Couldn't you just leave well enough alone?
Anyway, as I said, I'm looking for other things you are thinking of trying but more so feedback on things you've already tried and how it effected the game for you (were you bummed by the longer setup? did it mess up the feel of the game?). Thanks forum friends.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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Yeah I don't have a good solution for this either. I've got a solo Merisiel working her way up through the adventure, a two player game with my girlfriend, and a group of 4-5 that wants to start sometime soon. Writing down all the cards and reseperating them seems tedious but it might be the best solution for now.
I've got two groups going right now, both with 6 players. Last night I went through the cards to reset the game from the one where we've gone through the base plus the first two sets to the group where we are finishing the base. It took about 15 minutes to do by myself. I know that the further along one group is compared to the other it will take longer but I don't think it will be two much. I say go through them each time, but I'm cheap and uncreative, unless it involves being creative not to spend money.
Thanks for the link on the card list. I was going ask about one anyways.
Um... make a list of cards that have been banished. You know, write it down, e.g. "2 Skeletons", "3 BotGods"
When you go back to build your decks for the characters you remove these cards whilst you're at it.
It's like building an extra (really big) deck.
But that's it.
There's a lot of card management in this game. A LOT. But we'll have to put up with that until the online version appears... ;)
Now that Mike ruled in on the siren, I have a compiled list of banes and boons that are basic or elite. I will make it look pretty and post on bgg later today.
Ok. I made a PDF version and an Excel version. I added it to the other things in the packet I have on BGG:
http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/98267/game-accessories
Version 2 is awaiting approval. Last time that took less than 24 hours. If you can't want that long, PM me here and I'll send you a link to download it via dropbox.
I'm guessing it balances out a little more in the player's favor than the game's. Maybe not so much in RoRL, where Short Sword +1, my nemesis, never goes away. But a lot of those +1 weapons in S&S are Elite and will eventually leave.
Still, as far as we've played S&S with two groups we're just ditching basics with both. It's too much work to keep a list of how many Skeletons we've beaten and Daggers we've knocked out of the game. Banishing the same cards against two groups makes it more likely I'll encounter a Werecroc instead of a Crab Swarm, and I'm down with that. And even if you're more likely to have better cards on hand to deal with the harder banes you more-regularly encounter, making them a bit easier, there's only so many times I wanna see the same Zombie when I know there's scary Giant Jellyfish waiting in the wings. :D
Maybe not so much in RoRL, where Short Sword +1, my nemesis, never goes away.
I found in S&S the Coral Capuchin fills that role quite nicely.
Barefoot Samms Toppins might bother me in a similar way, if her name wasn't so fun to say every time she showed up. :3
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In my home game we just write down how many of each category were pulled out (i.e. Basic Weapons, Elite Weapons, Basic Spells, Elite Spells, etc.)
After the session (about 2-3 games), we put all the cards back in the box for ease of storage/not knowing which campaign we'll play next time. Then pull out a random set of those cards that we've pulled out for that campaign the next time we play.
Maybe not so much in RoRL, where Short Sword +1, my nemesis, never goes away.I found in S&S the Coral Capuchin fills that role quite nicely.
Aldon Foxglove was that for us in RotR. We haven't even gotten to Adventure 3, and Coral Capuchin is already our nemesis, owing largely to his role in ruining Charm Animal draws everywhere.
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I guess I don't understand the question. Why would you care?
As far as I know (feel free to correct me here), banished means "put it back in the box". It's removed from your deck for this specific time you're playing, it's not removed from the game forever.
In fact, you could banish as card and then draw it as plunder in the same session.
Beginning in adventure 3, when a bane with the Basic trait is banished, it is removed from the game (i.e the rest of the adventure path). The same applies to boons, but is at the player's discretion.
In fact, you could banish as card and then draw it as plunder in the same session.
By the book you could, but we house rule that banished cards are kept apart and only reshuffled in the box at the end of the scenario, even after rewards and cards needed to complete character decks for next sceanrio are taken from the box.
This is more fun because it ensures more variety of boons from one game to the other AND makes you really think twice before banishing that weapon for extra power because you know you won't have it back until next scenario at the earliest.
... but we house rule that banished cards are kept apart and only reshuffled in the box at the end of the scenario, even after rewards and cards needed to complete character decks for next sceanrio are taken from the box.
This is more fun because it ensures more variety of boons from one game to the other AND makes you really think twice before banishing that weapon for extra power because you know you won't have it back until next scenario at the earliest.
I do this too. I've found it really ups the enjoyment for my groups, but it also makes the game slightly easier because you're more likely to get boons you want.
To get nitty gritty: I shuffle all the decks at the beginning of each scenario, but leave them in the box during gameplay. When I'm required to banish a card, I put it in the front of the deck. When I'm required to draw a random card of that type (plunder, large chest .etc) I draw from the back of the deck so I can't see what card it is, effectively 'random'.
You "could" use the organized play methodology for removing banes and boons.
In fact, you could banish as card and then draw it as plunder in the same session.By the book you could, but we house rule that banished cards are kept apart and only reshuffled in the box at the end of the scenario, even after rewards and cards needed to complete character decks for next sceanrio are taken from the box.
This is more fun because it ensures more variety of boons from one game to the other AND makes you really think twice before banishing that weapon for extra power because you know you won't have it back until next scenario at the earliest.
We only do that for convenience because it's too tedious to shuffle the boon deck either every time you pull out a boon or when you return one via banish.
We only do that for convenience because it's too tedious to shuffle the boon deck either every time you pull out a boon or when you return one via banish.
I basically do the same thing here. I typically shuffle the banished cards back into the box when I'm done with the character re-builds. I have on one occasion shuffled cards back into the box prior to a "random [card-type] from the box" reward: Olenjack really wanted that Venomous Dagger.