There are 30 (now 28) cards in the siege deck. There are 30 (now 28) turns in this game. We cannot afford to do a one-and-done turn; we have to use available resources to get ahead of the siege deck (which we have to empty) so that if just one of us messes up a bane encounter, we don't lose.
I don't want to lose. Let's do more than one combat per turn, please, if at all possible.
Looks like I forgot to mention it here, but since the Retrocon pbp convention has begun, my attention is divided between more games at once. I know at least several of you are also involved. I would like to keep this game going in the meantime, but it may move a little slower than normal. Is that acceptable?
I would also like to continue. I do think the nature of the Siege Deck complicates this particular scenario a little, but once we're in a normal scenario, the slower updates shouldn't be a problem.
I'm all good to continue with the caveat that this game will take a back seat to RetroCon.
This shouldn't be a problem.
Ok, I think I've figured it out. I propose to do a partial retcon. I'm ignoring the poison damage taken by Aric, because that was too far back. I did a hypothetical processing of all the cards that would have been banished from Celeste's poison, and the damage done by the wizard twice to Oloch, and Enora's loss to that trap. You can keep any cards that you have actually acquired. All of Celeste's examines would have been altered, but I'll leave marked all the cards that you have seen. It ends up being not as harsh as it actually would have been, but your actions would definitely have been different based on what was happening during these turns.
The end result is bad enough.
Brickworks: emptied, location closed
Scorched Ruins: emptied, location closed
Surgery: has one card left
Quarry: has one card left
Earthworks: has one card left
Tarworks: has one card left
It's not a perfect solution, but I think it's the best we can do at the moment. If you do end up failing we can play it again and try to get it right next time. That's not a sure thing, though - you were doing really well at the beginning, and you're so close to the bottom of the siege deck!
Let me know what you think; if it's an acceptable compromise I'll go ahead and post the update.
Alternatively, we could 'forfeit' by riding out the blessings or somehow else losing intentionally, and then restart the scenario right now. I can do that if you'd be more comfortable with it. You'd still get upgrades from whatever cards you have acquired so far.
I think I vote for a mulligan. I know I would have changed some of plays had I remembered that scenario power.
We would have 9 cards left in the siege deck and only 4 cards left in decks.
Actually you’re down to five cards in the siege deck. But the point still stands.
What we have is fine.
I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do you want to quit this scenario now and restart after upgrading decks?
Sorry. *I* knew what I meant.
I'd rather finish this one, rather than restarting, even if it means a limited number of upgrade cards.
I don't know what a "mulligan' means, either.
I vote for redoing the scenario.
I was voting for a redo, but if there are only 5 in the siege deck and 4 cards left we still have a chance to finish this one.
I think I'm with celeste on pushing through to the end. It is a bit of a mess but I think we can do it. I'm going to be MIA for the next 2 or 3 days, but I'll be back Sunday night/Monday morning.
It sounds like consensus is leaning towards pushing on with the current setup (well, once I post what that is). Are you okay with that, Dinketry?
Sure thing! I've not got strong inclincations that way. Press on!
Ok, I posted the update, picking up at Oloch's turn. Good luck!
Here's what I have for acquired cards:
Fire Gecko (Ally B)
Embalmer (Ally B)
Embalmer (Ally C)
Tomb Raider (Ally B)
Filter Hood (Armor B)
Blessing of Pharasma (Blessing B)
Djinn Favor Amulet (Item 1)
Mumia (Item 2)
Seer's Tea (Item B)
Holy Water Grenade (Item C)
Black Marsh Spider Venom (Item 2)
Helpful Haversack (Item 1)
Staff of Minor Healing (Item 1)
Kohl of Uncanny Discernment (Item B)
Scimitar (Weapon B)
Whip (Weapon C)
This should also have been your fourth scenario in tier 2, so everyone gets a card feat.
I’m taking a.....wait for it......Item card feat.
Yuck not a lot of options for me through these levels other than weapons, and I tried to hard to save that Weapon 2 :(
I'll take a Blessing Card Feat and take a Blessing of the Samurai.
My end goal is to have a hand size of at least 5 filled with Blessings and Weapons for a +10 to go around :) :)
Aric/Red Raven: card feat Item, deck upgrade Item 2
Celeste: card feat Spell, no deck upgrade?
Enora: ?
Oloch: card feat Blessing, no deck upgrade?
I will take the other Item 2 if no one opposes, and I'll be using my card feat for a blessing I believe
Tyler is doing a survey of people who play PACG online, about the game and its future and how you interact with it. The instructions and link to the survey are here, so do fill it out if you get a chance. It only took me a couple minutes.
Does someone else want to try out Cordelia as a cohort for this adventure? If not, I'll happily take her again.
I think she's grown quite fond of you Aric, so it would be a shame to break you two up :)
I've preposted Celeste's turn, since I don't think it will interact with anyone else's turn.
We are awaiting Celeste's turn, I believe.
Crazy turn time, I believe.
Hmm, I'm pretty sure you can't close a location if you're not there. From the rulebook: "You can never attempt to close a location that is temporarily or permanently closed, or that your character isn't at."
The 'never' makes it a rule that can't be overruled by the scenario card.
Ooof. Yeah, I swear I saw a discussion on closing locations you're not at, but I can't seem to find it now. The one post I did find is an older post with Vic basically linking the FAQ that says exactly what Elinnea quoted.
I thought Mummy's Mask might have changed the rule, but looking at the old rulebooks, it looks like Mummy's Mask added the line that Elinnea is referencing. That's unfortunate, because that would have been an epic turn.
Well, then, that negates the turn.
I had thought that
When you defeat the henchman Lurking Spy, you may attempt to close the location it came from.
... broke that rule, since otherwise it would make no sense to include the phrase "it came from".
I'll go back and rewrite my turn then.
The scenario power is just giving them the typical henchman ability to close the location they come from, because normally Lurking Spies don't give you that opportunity.
Correcting Celeste's turn.
The easiest way is to defeat both henchmen, but not attempt the closings.
I disagree.
This is potentially disastrous as we now have no way to close the locations in question quickly since both of the henchmen were defeated without someone being there. I am going to suggest that Celeste does NOT defeat the henchmen, otherwise we will have 11 turns to clear out all of the cards at those two locations. There's no villain in this scenario and we win only when all the locations are closed.
This would mean significant damage for Celeste after the first henchmen encounter. It might be that you do not have any cards available for the second examination.
I'd strongly advise, given this result, that we avoid using Celeste's exploration powers for this scenario. Hindsight and all.
I agree with Aric. Having you lose both the Henchmen fights will actually be better for the long term. If this were a normal beat the villain scenario, we would probably be OK with you beating the Henchmen, but since we have to close every location losing the Henchmen will make that very difficult.
We might still be fine as long as you guys have a bunch of allies you can explore with. I don't have a single ally that I could use for an extra explore so keep that in mind.
And so, we won’t be ok. I don’t think we can win this scenario with two locations that need to be completely emptied. I think Celeste needs to lose the henchmen battles.
Ok, folks.
Let me retcon my turn.
This may take a while.
... 24 minutes later ...
Done.
Good one, Celeste. Probably for the best.
Aquired cards:
Terhk Fourwinds (Ally C)
Fire Gecko (Ally C)
Porcupine (Ally B)
Pahmet Clansman (Ally C)
Tomb Raider (Ally B)
Embalmer (Ally B)
Tomb Raider (Ally B)
Dhabba (Ally B)
Falto (Ally C)
Druid of the Storm (Ally 2)
Aunty (Ally C)
Crocodile Skin Armor (Armor B)
Blessing of Thoth (Blessing 1)
Blessing of Ra (Blessing B)
Blessing of the Ancients (Blessing B)
Flame Staff (Item C)
Fireblade (Spell B)
Cure (Spell B)
Augury (Spell B)
Toxic Cloud (Spell 2)
Good Omen (Spell B)
Immolate (Spell C)
Augury (Spell B)
Unshakable Chill (Spell B)
Lightning Touch (Spell C)
As your fifth scenario in tier 2, no new feats.
At this point you could advance to tier 3, but there's still one more scenario in the tier 2 adventure so personally I wouldn't. You're ahead by one game because we played the promotional scenario.
Coolness. Looking forward to a die bump next time round!
I'm interested in the Blessing upgrade over the Ally, but I am interested in both.
If I don't get either of these, I'll abstain from other upgrade choices.
The only one I would be interested in is the Spell 2, but only if neither caster wants it.
I'm intersestd in the Spell 2 and a Blessing 1.
If I don't get that, then
I am also interested in the Spell 2 and Blessing 1
Guess I'll take the blessing 1
Is this acceptable? For 4-2D: Cinders' Truth:
Aric/Red Raven: Ally 2
Celeste: Spell 2
Enora: Blessing 1
Oloch: no upgrade
Sure thing. I'm happy with an Ally 2. I'll swap my Psychic Detective out for a Mindblade magus.
BR, I'm a bit confused at the wording of the scenario's powers. Does it mean that if the top card of the hourglass is non-Basic that you DON'T have to bury a card or use a power to explore, or does it mean that you CAN'T bury a card to explore?
Asking for a friend.
If it's not a Basic, your turn goes as normal: you get one free explore and then any more from whatever other means. It's only when it's a Basic on the discard that you have to either bury the card or forfeit your free explore.
Gotcha - I assumed that it wasn't as evil as my second interpretation painted it to be.
Ok, let's talk strategy. It appears that the villain and most of the henchmen have checks that make you lose more cards if you fail before or after their defeat. And of course, there's the lack of a free explore when there's a Basic blessing on top of the hourglass. I think we've got two main goals to start:
1) Spread out as much as possible, and
2) Close two initial locations so we can then trap the villain
If we can find the location of the villain, that's also a bonus. I don't think that the villain or the henchmen have triggers, so we're safe with Celeste's scouting abilities.
Any other thoughts, team?
My thought is my usefullness will be based on luck. I'll have very few opportunities to explore if I get a basic blessing, so if we need me to park somewhere just for temp closes I'll be the Orc for the job.
I can also just be heal-bot. On turns I can't explore, I can just move and heal.
It looks like the Blessing 1 falls to you then, Celeste.
If you don't take the Blessing 1, then I will drop the Ally 2 upgrade and take that instead, as it was my first upgrade choice.
Are you talking the Spell 2 from the trader or from the deck upgrades Celeste? I think Enora wants the Spell 2 from the trader. Hopefully, they'll have time to post tonight for sure.
Actually, question on that: Do cards that we get from the traders count as deck upgrades at the end of the scenario or no?