[ACG][Outpost I]JohnF's Season of Plundered Tombs Adventure 1: Serpents in the Deep

Game Master JohnF

My first pick was getting "The missing eye", Mavaro's signature weapon, simply because it's a 1d8+1 base weapon and Erasmus is all about fixed numerical modifiers from what I can see.
My second choice was so that I could "Talisman Crafter". When I use her, she draws a random item from the box and it gets displayed. For as long as the item is displayed, I can consider it to be in my hand and play it as such, so lots of versatility, which is Erasmus other specialty.

I thought I couldn’t start with it because it wasn’t listed on the back of my character card. The PACG guide specifically calls out the promo cards for the miniatures set but The Melted Blade is not one of them.

Yeah, the promos and cohorts do make things a bit murkier than ideal.

In this case, something having the Owner trait on it makes that card count as Basic for the specified owner. So, it's already in the deck and tagged as Owner, so when you choose cards you can consider it as Basic. For comparison, Erasmus was not able to start with Mavaro's Missing Eye since that's Owner: Mavaro.

Anyhow, no big deal either way; just wanted to let you know.

Deane Beman wrote:

I thought I couldn’t start with it because it wasn’t listed on the back of my character card. The PACG guide specifically calls out the promo cards for the miniatures set but The Melted Blade is not one of them.

Yeah, the promos and cohorts do make things a bit murkier than ideal.

In this case, something having the Owner trait on it makes that card count as Basic for the specified owner. So, it's already in the deck and tagged as Owner, so when you choose cards you can consider it as Basic. For comparison, Erasmus was not able to start with Mavaro's Missing Eye since that's Owner: Mavaro.

Anyhow, no big deal either way; just wanted to let you know.

Must have missed this in the rules and/or guide...I admit it makes sense but in my experience you oftentimes need to check common sense at the door when it comes to rules for expandable games!

Sorry for the delay - real life intervened. I'll get the next scenario set up and posted tomorrow.

When it comes to traders, there's no reason not to visit one, is there? It's more a question of which one to pick for the present scenario?

Exactly. Even if you're positive that you won't trade, it's good to go to somewhere that someone else might, to give them better selection.

Also unless someone more knowledgeable advises me otherwise my plan is to take a +1 to my Wisdom rolls as my skill feat. For me first card feat I intend to select a spell (most likely Cure) and the skill bonus will help with the recharge roll.

Salim has a lot of difficulty recharging Cure, since he starts at 1d6 and needs an 8. It turns out that being an atheist is sometimes a problem for a Divine caster. :)

On the other hand, when he defeats a monster he can heal a random card. I suspect you'll be happier with a Dex feat (for combat checks) than a Wis feat if your goal is recharging Cure, weirdly.

That said, Salim is able to do a lot of things (especially once he can add 1d4/1d8 to his non-combat checks against banes) and I'm pretty sure you'll benefit from the +1 anywhere you put it.

Boosting my strengths as opposed to trying to round out the weaknesses. A solid plan. +1 to DEX it is!

I almost always assign my first Skill feat to my primary skill - it's rarely a bad choice

@Keith, out of the weapons that came out of the trader, I was looking at the Chakram. I imagine you will be similarly interested in that weapon however. We can do a roll-off if you'd like. I'm also ok with conceding it. It's not like we get to keep it anyways.

It is all yours! I am sufficiently fragile that I was already questioning taking it.

I will trade away my Censer of Awakening for an Elemental Treaty, though.

When the scenario says to also shuffle an Aspis agent into each location, does that mean there are two henchmen in each location? Meaning two opportunities to close?

I was thinking of bringing the chameleon cohort this time so I can explore in a difficult-to-close location and then evade the henchman if I have to, but if that's not such a concern then I might stick with the ankylosaur and trade away my armor and something else to get a new spell.

There are two henchmen in each location; only one of them gives us the opportunity to close the location, though.

Ah, ok. Sounds like the chameleon is a better choice this time then, especially since that would also give me the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2. Sneaking around the camp rather than charging in ready to attack everybody in sight.

I will refrain from taking either of the trader's offers, and will draw my hand shortly.

@Everyone, asking my question here as well to make sure everyone sees it. Erasmus found an Item 1 with Intelligence DC 8. He has a 1d8 intelligence, so with 1 blessing we would have an even 50% to acquire it. Should we try to get it?

Hmm, more like 2/3 chance. Happy to contribute a blessing, since I have 3.

I'm assuming _someone_ would take an Item 1, anyways. I'll admit that we're pretty likely to get a bunch of item upgrades this scenario.

Deane:
On Salim, you're a bit better at combat checks than in your recent post:
When wielding the Melted Blade, because it has the Finesse trait, you can use your power -
For your check that invokes the Finesse trait, you gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2.

Also, because you are the Owner of the Melted Blade, you can use this power -
If you have a role card, or if you are the owner of this card, you may additionally add the scenario’s adventure deck number and the Magic trait

Overall, that increases you from 1d6+2d4 to 1d8+2d4+4 (average of 5 higher). You totally didn't need it, of course, but it's still nice :)

That first power in particular makes your Finesse melee options in the Class Deck considerably better. For instance, the Rapier is 1d8+2d4+3 for you, while the Light Crossbow is 2d8+1 and the Dagger is 1d8+1d4+1.

That’s good to know...I wasn’t sure if the Finesse trait needed to be part of the bane/boon in order to be invoked. Still have a few things to learn...

I was waiting for Rivani's turn to be fully resolved before taking my turn, but I can take it now if you guys prefer.

Up to you. I just need a new spell to try and acquire... and I'll draw a Silver Balladeer and maybe 1 other card (if I fail to acquire the new one).

So, I might get something like Stone Skin or Good Omen that might prove helpful, but otherwise my hand is pretty well known.

For reference, it is Salim's turn. (hard to tell with all the chaos)

Does anyone have Fortitude as a skill? Because if not then I should probably go grab a melee weapon from the smiths of Waiti and put spirit relatives' marker on Strength. I imagine we will otherwise have a hard time closing a good number of locations.

I have a d10 Constitution, though if you're worried I could take the Python cohort and then I'd have Fortitude 1d10+2. I also have Melee 1d10+2.

Actually I don't see any location I couldn't close, so if there are any particularly bad for the rest of you I can focus there. (Sorry, I don't really know everyone's skills)

Note to Self: Preview is not an adequate substitute for actually submitting your hand/turn/post. Sorry for the delay.

Fwiw, I wouldn't want to close the Precious Mine (d4 Str) or Quarry (d6 Con), but I feel fine at closing everything else, even if I'd use a blessing to close the Stonework Passages (d8 Wis).

@JohnF: I think the database incorrectly kept marking the location of the Caravan Raider after the villain escaped and shuffled my location (it is currently showing that it is the 3rd card at the Stonework Passages.

@JohnF: I think the database incorrectly kept marking the location of the Caravan Raider after the villain escaped and shuffled my location (it is currently showing that it is the 3rd card at the Stonework Passages.

Thanks - I spotted that (and re-shuffled the location - that's the only way I can fix it). So it's probably not the third card anymore :-)

@Salim:My apologies for not having the Graven Guardian of Nethys details available. Fortunately you seem to have found them.

(BTW, you mis-identified the skill in your check against the Acid Pool - it was actually an Intelligence check, not a Knowledge check. But the dice roll seems to match Intelligence, and was more than high enough, so no problems there.)

Well done on finding Blightwing, too.

And to both of you - congratulations on closing two locations!

I just re-checked the post...it was time stamped at 5:40am which means I had been awake for approximately 10 minutes prior to posting. I guess I'm lucky it was comprehensible at all! But yes..even though I called it a Knowledge check I still rolled it as an Intelligence check so all is well! 8-)

I just realized something: I could have used my power to bury a card and add 1d4 to the check to defeat the Mining Construct after rolling, with a 75% chance of success.

Is it too late for me to take back recharging the Stalking Armor to instead use it to fuel this power?

Hum, I think you might also be forgetting that if you attack with bludgeoning, slashing, or fire you have to subtract 1 from every die.

... because we're fighting in the water! Woah, I only just figured out that that's what they're going for in this scenario. It makes so much more sense now.

Yeah...I was forgetting that. In that case I actually would have taken 4 damage which means my chakram was also discarded and it was actually impossible to succeed with my result. Oh well!

So while I wasn’t a huge fan of the Samurai or the Ninja when they became playable classes in the RPG...what I’ve seen so far from the Ultimate Combat deck has won me over to the point where I’ve put in an order for it. Hayoto looks like he’ll be fun to play...so I guess now it’s just a matter of which class deck I’ll pair him with.

Yup! I'm excited for ultimate magic and ultimate equipment.

It does look like a really fun deck. I’m excited to see the other ultimates now too.

Wow, completed in 12 turns! And we only barely made it onto the second page for that scenario.

Do the summoned cards count as available deck upgrades (like from the charm animal and charm person spells)? If yes, I came away with three boons:

Camel (Ally B)
Osirion History Guide (Item B)
Whip (Weapon C)

Yes - anything remaining in your hand, discard pile, displayed, buried, ... counts toward deck upgrades.

Erasmus got the following boons on this mission:

Chakram - Weapon B
Blessing of Pharasma - Blessing B
Acid Jet - Spell B
Blessing of Ra - Blessing B

Salim most turned over Banes this time around...however I did manage to pick up:

Noxious Bomb, Item B

Are we waiting for something or someone? Just asking to make sure I'm not inadvertently stopping the game (also because I love playing as Erasmus and want to keep going :-) )

I think we need to choose our upgrades next. I believe this is what Keith picked up:

Embalmer (Ally B)
Burglar's Buckler (Armor 1)
Knock (Spell 1)

Confirmed. That is in fact what I typed this morning and apparently never submitted. Sigh.

1st: Spell B
2nd: Blessing B
3rd: Item B

I'll take a peak at my cards when I get home from work in an hour or so...but for the sake of making things neat and orderly I have this for our current tally:

Ally B
Ally B
Armor 1
Blessing B
Blessing B
Item B
Item B
Spell B
Spell 1
Weapon B
Weapon C

Thanks Deane. I'm on the same boat as you. I'll post my wishlist when I get home in a couple hours.

Hm, for me I think my priorities would be:

1st Weapon B
2nd Armor 1?
3rd Ally B maybe?

I’m already pretty happy with my current deck, so upgrades are more like minor tweaks now.

1st: Item B
2nd: Blessing B
3rd: Armor 1

(although in all honesty Blessing B and Armor 1 could go either way for me...)

I'm also fairly happy with my deck...there are a few shortcomings I'd like to bolster but I'm afraid we'll need to get some higher level loot for that to happen!

The lists above include all the cards I have marked as acquired from locations
(plus a whole lot more from summoned cards, which aren't as easy to keep track of).

You only get one card upgrade from this scenario - no bonus upgrade.

@JohnF, did the scenario include any other rewards? Out of curiosity.

Scenario Reward (Loot Access) details have been posted in the Gameplay thread

Alright, so my choices would be:

1 - Armor 1
2 - Spell 1
3 - Weapon B

It looks like we can all get our first picks, so I suggest that we do.

Sounds good to me.

As far as the scenario rewards go...I will take the Scarab Bucker only if no one else wants it.