[ACG] [OutPost I] Cartmanbeck's Season of Plundered Tombs Adventure 3: In Search of a Sage (Inactive)

Game Master cartmanbeck

So, today is OFFICIALLY the last day of OutPost! I think overall it's gone very well!

I plan to continue to run the last scenario of this adventure for you guys, if you're up for it.

I'll be reporting these scenarios as part of OutPost, so I will try to get chronicle sheets to you all sometime in the next week or so. For those of you continuing on, I'll then edit those chronicle sheets to add the next scenario once you complete it.

If you have any feedback at all about how OutPost was run, how these scenarios worked for you, or on my own box-running, please let me know (or if you're uncomfortable giving me direct feedback, you can let Jesse know at ironhelixx@orgplayonline.com)

Thanks for running for us, Tyler!

So now that we know where the villain is, could we spread out to try and corner it by temp closing everything?

Don't we need to close a few more locations? Perhaps we could hit Towering Obelisk? When we close it we can banish Ostog's curse.

I think we have already closed 2 locations, so we should be able to have 1 person at every location.

We've only closed one at the moment - Howling Sands.
Windswept Chasm didn't close because the villain was lurking there.

Towering Obelisk would be a good choice to close - it's only got three cards in the location deck, and we know the top one is a Sandstorm Roc (the henchman), so there's a closing opportunity on the first exploration.

Also, I'll see if I can cycle my deck a bit. In the next 5 cards I have to draw there are 2 Cures.

I finally got my Ultimate Combat deck!

Can I attach the deck to Bekah in the middle of the scenario? That is to say, can I use the Ultimate Combat deck for upgrades when this scenario ends?

So what's our end game strategy?

1) You should be fine attaching Ultimate Combat whenever you like (as long as you don't already have an Ultimate deck attached).

I did that with my Ranzak character (in another game CartmanBeck is running), and nobody seemed to think there was any problem.

2) End game strategy.

Ostog's first priority is to get his hand up to more than two cards :-)
Once he's done that he's quite prepared to deal with pretty much any combat situation.

Yep, there's no restriction on when you can add your Ultimate deck to the character... you don't do any changing of your deck until the end of the scenario anyway.

Ostog, you've gotten your curse cured away, so that'll help hopefully :)

I plan on attaching my Ultimate Magic deck to Feiya now that I have that in as well.

As for endgame, I'm unfortunately pretty useless unless you want to wait for another full round (and risk another Sandstorm moving us away from our locations to temp close).

At present we need to temp close three locations as well as fight the villain in order to win.

That means everybody has to be perfectly positioned (and able to make the closing check). That could be a problem if we run into a Sandstorm.

We're not that tight on time, so we could spend a round setting ourselves up (and possibly looking for blessings). While we're doing that we could try to finish off another location. Tarworks only has seven cards, so could be a good candidate for that. If we do manage to close another location we've got a little more flexibility.

I'd be happy to move over to Tarworks on this turn and explore - now that I'm no longer cursed I'll be able to draw back up to five cards at the end of the turn. Next round I could go over to Windswept Chasm and take on the villain (assuming we're ready for that - if not, we can make new plans).

That sounds like a good plan.

I'm not sure I can beat the Giant Sand Eel if we try to close this round.

If Salim went to Oloch's location and Oloch took on the villain on his turn we have the potential to win (right?); it's just a question of if we have the firepower at this moment.

AFAIK we're not trying to win this round. I thought the current plan is for everybody else to get into position to temp close, and then for Ostog to take on the villain on his next turn. Of course any Sandstorms that show up are going to delay this plan ...

Where do ppl want me?

Humm, hard to say. Shifting Dunes is probably the best bet? It looks like Beckah might have trouble temp closing to defeat the Giant Sand Eel if it comes to that.

Kk! To the Shifting Dunes I go!

Allllllernately, how many blessings do we have on the table? If I can have that Torag (for the BYA) and my Erastil, and we pile blessings on Bekah, we could just win now.

I have a blessing of Gozreh.

On the other hand, I’m not feeling great about 3d6 to get an 8 as a sure thing. So I’ll just go to the Dunes.

Unfortunately the plan we were working to has been at least complicated by the introduction of the Rolling Sphere.

If Oloch explores now there is a 50% chance that he will encounter the Rolling Sphere. That pretty much means Ostog will bury his hand - it's unlikely that he can make the check to avoid that (d6 to make a DC 12).
Oloch may have to bury his hand, too. But at least in that case the rolling sphere would roll off somewhere else, and we probably wouldn't have to encounter it again (it doesn't have the trigger trait, so even if we had to deal with the final sandstorm and somebody ended up examining it it would stay where it was).

We've got 11 turns left, and one sandstorm somewhere in the mix.
My suggestion is that we do no exploration until Ostog can move off to the Shifting Dunes.
I'm not entirely happy about that - any delay makes it more likely that we'll run into the sandstorm - but we'll still keep Ostog's three blessings available.

On the other hand, though, if Oloch does explore we've eliminated the uncertainty of the rolling sphere.

If Ostog buries his hand then he'll draw one blessing (the five cards in his deck will be the two cards he healed - a Mastiff and a Greatclub +1 - plus two other weapons and a Blessing of Lamashtu), so he'll at least be able to fight.

Any thoughts?

Well, Oloch's hand can stay at 2 cards this turn for his potential encounter with the rolling boulder to minimize his exposure, as he would certainly fail the check to defeat the bane (instead of recharging his hand at the start of his turn using his power).

I think that is preferable to having to not do anything for 5 out of our remaining 11 turns, but I also don't want to risk killing Ostog. If you guys think there's a chance we might kill him in the process, then I'd prefer to wait until he is out.

The biggest risk to Ostog comes if we encounter the Sandstorm - we don't know what will happen to us when we are forced to examine the top card of a location deck. It's also possible Ostog will get dropped onto the Lightning Storm. That's why I'd rather not run Ostog down to a deck size of zero.

If Oloch moves away now, and Ostog examines on his turn, we've still go the problem of Ostog being left with a deck size of zero if he encounters the Rolling Sphere. The best way I can see to keep Ostog alive is for us to wait until Ostog can move away (or, possibly, until we hit the sandstorm).

The problem is that the two people who could most easily defeat the villain - Oloch and Ostog - can't make the check to avoid burying their hand if the Rolling Sphere is encountered while they are there. We don't want both of them there to risk that.

But - can anybody else defeat the villain if they explore there?

Looking at my current hand, I think I could probably beat the villain with a blessing or two. I could use the Ruby on the first check then discarding the rapier, recharging Inflict and the Duelist would bring me to

d8+2+3d4+d4+1+d6

I have Stone Skin handy to block 4 damage to anyone at any location for the entirety of their turn, so that can keep Ostog alive if required (it'll fully block Lightning Storm, and hopefully any nasty surprises from Triggers as well although that is less certain).

For villain fight, I have Sapphire of Intelligence to give me a d12 on the Strength/Melee 8 to not have it be evaded. I'd like some blessings on that if I was fighting the villain to make that a sure shot (I have my own I can spend, but having another for 3d12 wouldn't be remiss). I don't need any blessings on the combat check itself; I'd be looking at 1d12+2d4+7 to get a 12 which is pretty much guaranteed. (That said, knowing my luck from earlier, I'll take the spare blessings if I can get them should everything else be temp closed just to make it 100%)

I also have Augury, so I can rearrange Windswept Chasm to put the villain on top of Rolling Sphere, since neither have Triggers.

The problem is that the Rolling Sphere doesn't do damage as such - it forces you to bury your hand. That means Stone Skin won't help.

We have three locations to worry about.

Shifting Dunes
Closing check - fight a Giant Sand Eel - Combat 17.
Currently here: Salim ; Elemental Treaty, Lightning Storm.

Volcanic Vents
Closing check - everybody here takes 1 Fire damage.
Currently here: Bekah, Feiya.

Windswept Chasm
Closing check - defeat the Villain (Strength/Melee 8, then Combat 18)
Currently here (banes): The villain; Rolling Sphere (in some order)
Currently here (party): Oloch, Ostog.

But we have a very useful option!

I also have Augury, so I can rearrange Windswept Chasm to put the villain on top of Rolling Sphere, since neither have Triggers.

That's incredibly valuable, as we can use that to guarantee the Rolling Sphere won't come into play!

Turn order is:
Oloch
Feiya (skizzerz)
Ostog
Bekah
Salim

I suggest that Oloch simply moves to the Shifting Dunes, so we have two people there who can try to defeat a Giant Sand Eel.

Feiya then moves to the Windswept Chasm, and uses Augury to get the villain to the top of the location deck. If she's up to it she can then fight the villain.

For reference:

Ostog starts out at d10+5 for the Strength/Melee 8 check;
for his combat check (discarding his greatsword) he starts at 2d10 + 2d6 + 5

He can also bury a card to add 1d12 to any of his strength-based checks.

He has three blessings in his hand:
A Blessing of Achaekek (2 dice to any check to defeat a villain/henchman)
A Blessing of Gozreh (2 dice on any closing check - not applicable here)
A blessing of the Gods.

He can use the Blessing of Achaekek to assist whoever fights the villain, and one of the other blessings on a closing attempt at the Shifting Dunes, leaving one blessing available (for the villain pre-check, or for a second attempt to close the Shifting Dunes).
And, finally, if he's the one fighting the villain he can bury his Topaz of Strength to add that 1d12 to one of his strength checks.

I think we can do this (as long as the sandstorm doesn't turn up ...)

Further thoughts: It may be better to use the Blessing of Achaekek on the Giant Sand Eel rather than on the villain fight.

I can take a fire damage if it wins us the game. But I have fewer cards in my deck than my hand size, so bad luck with a Sandstorm could kill me as well.

I say we go for it.

I think this might be our best chance.
My biggest concern is the villain pre-check; if the villain ends up being evaded then he might end up on the bottom of the deck again, which wouldn't be good.

Feiya starts off at 1d12; Ostog at 1d10 + 5. The DC is 8.
But if we wait for Ostog's turn there's a chance we get Sandstormed (always assuming we didn't run into the sandstorm on Oloch or Feiya's turn).

I can use my Merchant to give whomever is taking on the villain my Spiny Shield. That would add another d4 to the combat check.

If we get Sandstormed on Ostog's turn, we'll have plenty of time to set things up again (as that is the last Sandstorm in the blessings deck), so I think I'll let Ostog take the check as 1d10+5 is way better at hitting an 8. My Daji ally can reduce the Combat check from 18 to 12, so that will make the final check rather easy as well. So, I think it should go down like so:

1. I end my turn, maybe trying to dig up another blessing from my deck.
2. During Ostog's turn, I Augury to get the villain on top, he encounters it.
3. Everyone else temp closes. Use a blessing or 2 on the Giant Sand Eel fight to ensure victory.
4. I throw Daji for -6 difficulty on the Combat check and my blessing on one of the two checks (I'd like the first check to have at least 1 extra blessing for 2d10+5 to make the chance of failure only 1%)
5. Bekah gives a Spiny Shield to Ostog for another d4 on the combat check.
6. Ostog uses his own remaining blessings on himself.
7. ???
8. Profit.

The risk is that a Sandstorm sends one of us somewhere that gets us killed.

@skizzerz: That pretty much matches what I was thinking of.

I hadn't thought of the wrinkle of waiting for Ostog to start his turn before using your Augury - that guarantees it will only be used if we're not interrupted by a sandstorm!

On the pre-check, Ostog will bury his Topaz of Strength.
This (without a blessing) gives 1d10 + 1d12 + 5 to make a DC 8 check.
That's better than a 99% chance of success. If he uses a blessing as well it's an auto-success.

Ostog will then use his blessing of Achaekek on the Giant Sand Eel check.
If Oloch takes the first check that's already a fairly good chance.
With another blessing from Feiya the odds can only improve!
If anyone else has a blessing, this could be a good place to use it.
(I'll work out the exact probabilities later - it's time for bed).

The closing check for the other location is guaranteed.

For the villain fight, Feiya will use Daji to decrease the difficulty by 6.
Bekah will contribute a Spiny Shield to add 1d4 to the Combat check.
Ostog will fight using his greatsword (discarding it to add 1d10).

That's 2d10 + 2d6 + 1d4 + 5 to make a DC 12 check.
He's still got one blessing left, so he can use that to add another die.
(He'd probably use his power and bury the card to add a d12).

That's not quite an automatic success, but the only way to fail would be to roll all ones on six dice.
And I don't think I've used my re-roll in this scenario, so if everything does turns up ones I may be able to reroll the d12!

The risk is that a Sandstorm sends one of us somewhere that gets us killed.

That's true. If the sandstorm turns up on Ostog's turn then people will get shuffled around. Ending up at the Shifting Dunes is the only place that might be dangerous - the other two locations are known to have banes without the trigger trait as the top card, so examining there is safe.

The question is whether it's more dangerous to do that than it is to have Feiya attempt to handle the villain. The biggest problem is whether she can make the villain pre-check - even using one more blessing than Ostog has a possibility of failure. And if she fails that then there's a 50% chance that the villain ends up hidden beneath the Rolling Sphere. If that happens then we're back to where we were without the Augury - a situation where there doesn't seem to be a good way of winning. And if we don't win, we're guaranteed to encounter the sandstorm!

Note, too, that we're already at risk if the sandstorm shows up on either Oloch or Feiya's turn - there's nothing we can do about that.

Oloch and I just took our turns (I got an extra blessing!), and it looks like your blessing is Bastet so no Sandstorms gumming up the works. Bastet works pretty well actually, because you can save your Blessing of the Gods for a reroll in case someone has bad luck.

Sadly, if you use a 2-handed weapon, the Spiny Shield won't help you.

If anybody could benefit from any of the cards in my hand (except the Merchant naturally) just let me know.

Sadly, if you use a 2-handed weapon, the Spiny Shield won't help you.

Actually, any card can help Ostog on a Strength-based check; he can bury it to add 1d12.

Bastet works pretty well actually, because you can save your Blessing of the Gods for a reroll in case someone has bad luck.

That only works at my location, unfortunately, and the only person at my location rolling dice is me

Well, I can discard the Merchant to pass you a card, probably the Duelist, though if we win it won't matter.

I'm now only making one check, and I've got a (non-blessing) card I can discard for that one. But thanks, anyway!

I think I’m going to bow out of the last game. Salim’s already played it, and I have too many pbp games going on. Thanks for playing, all!

Anyone else want to chime in on upgrades for the previous one?

And who hasn't chosen sides yet?

I had forgotten to post my upgrades. I just did in the gameplay thread. I believe you are the only one left to pick a side.

I'm going to stick to a Thrie Hive. Should I move to a location with someone else? Oloch and I make a good team.

Oloch, why don't you join me.

Sorry! I didn't see this until I had posted. That is, however, a great idea. I'll make sure to join you on my next turn, or you can come on to this location. They will both be the same.