Prayers Answered—Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Deck 5

Woo hoo. Loving everything about Wrath.

It always annoyed me that Iomedae never bothered to send any of her servants to directly help the "heroes of Mendev". If I were a deity of courage and valor and half of my clergy was in a war defending against encroching demon hordes, you'd be damn certain I'd at least send a few angels or archons to help my knights, clerics, and paladins turn the tide.

Some great looking stuff in this one!

And not to go all errata right from the jump, but do you suppose you roll for how many cards you have to bury for the Corruption Demon before or after you decide if you bury them? ie: if you roll a 4 and you've got 3 cards in your hand, did you just lose those cards for nothing?

Also... it looks like Elemental Bombardment was once a Displayed card, given its "At the end of your turn" text?

So hype to hang out with Imomoamdae, so sad it won't happen for a couple weeks. :(

Anyone else think Baphomet should have the text, "When defeated, remove all Blessings of Baphomet from the game."?

I think I'll make it a priority to use his Blessings against him when I get to part 5 :D

I noticed that there were no checks to acquire allies in this AD. That's really cool.

Out of curiosity, was Book of the Damned created with the possibility of rebuilding with loot cards from the box in mind, or would it likely look a little different if that ruling had been made earlier? Because I see a lot of our party's Arueshalae playing that thing 2+ times a scenario as needed, with all the loot cards already in her deck, available for easy recovery :).

Also, my Courtier Siwar approves of her future Runelord buddy in the banish-into-my-discards club once she gets to epic play.

Speaking of Book of the Damned, want to make sure I'm reading this right:

If the card is Corrupted, you only discard non-corrupted from the 1d4 each character pulled and not every non-corrupted card in the blessings deck. And those cards are discarded to the blessings discard pile instead of being returned to the box (order of your choice? random order?).

Book of the Damned looks like it will rock in OP if it comes up, as it's easy to recover banished loot in the next scenario.

Out of curiosity, was Book of the Damned created with the possibility of rebuilding with loot cards from the box in mind, or would it likely look a little different if that ruling had been made earlier? Because I see a lot of our party's Arueshalae playing that thing 2+ times a scenario as needed, with all the loot cards already in her deck, available for easy recovery :).

Do you really think you'd play it more than once a scenario? I mean, that's probably a _lot_ of blessings.

Book of the Damned looks like it will rock in OP if it comes up, as it's easy to recover banished loot in the next scenario.

It's not bad, but you'd have to acquire it every time; so banish a blessing to get it, then banish a loot (including the underlying item/weapon/etc). Doing so largely removes the crunch of the blessings deck, though; so it's great for more resilient teams who aren't as worried about the damage aspects.

philosorapt0r wrote:

Out of curiosity, was Book of the Damned created with the possibility of rebuilding with loot cards from the box in mind, or would it likely look a little different if that ruling had been made earlier? Because I see a lot of our party's Arueshalae playing that thing 2+ times a scenario as needed, with all the loot cards already in her deck, available for easy recovery :).

Do you really think you'd play it more than once a scenario? I mean, that's probably a _lot_ of blessings.

Well, yeah, it's probably overkill in terms of *winning* most scenarios , but having the option is nice in terms of allowing extra-cautious play, and lets you do things that ordinarily would take too long, like burning turns farming the closing check on marketplace/armory-type locations (purging basics/elites, and fishing for something you really want), or having your Mythic Archmage use the 5-charge ability to fully scout multiple locations and have enough time to use Blessings of Ascension/Restore Mythic Power (or, in our party's Corruptor-Seoni's case, anything in the corrupt half of her deck) to refuel.

You'll need heavy healing for the latter, but heal-instead-of-explore powers like using Pillar of Life (or cleric/warpriest heals) can help convert extra turns into healing to make the engine go. (Sword of Iomedae's full-heal should get some good use, here, too, once we reach it.)

I've definitely been thinking too much about this (how to make use of excessive numbers of turns) as I've started using Imrijka's 'reshuffle the current blessing discard when you play a blessing that matches it' power in Wandering Judge. I'll give a full report once I'm through AD4 with her, but the first few scenarios she's netted 6-7 extra turns each (with at least half the blessing deck left). Since her power gets better (more chances to match) the larger the blessing deck, you could say I'm excited about combining her with the Book :).

Oh my goodness I've been waiting for this so I could rave about my adventures (I love being a subscriber!)

It always annoyed me that Iomedae never bothered to send any of her servants to directly help the "heroes of Mendev". If I were a deity of courage and valor and half of my clergy was in a war defending against encroching demon hordes, you'd be damn certain I'd at least send a few angels or archons to help my knights, clerics, and paladins turn the tide.

Well, she sent the Herald of Iomedae, who's an angel. That went poorly.

Well, she sent the Herald of Iomedae, who's an angel.

Only when a cleric cast a spell to summon it. Iomedae waited for her worshipers to do something instead of taking the initiative.

That went poorly.

Because it was a CR 15 angel against a freaking BALOR LORD (aka a CR 25+ encounter). Not a smart choice to send into battle against the Storm Lord! A Solar with a few class levels might have been smarter to send.

Use Ally Runelord to permanently close your location. What do you do if the villain is in that location?
Or is it just close after henchmen defeat?

Use Ally Runelord to permanently close your location. What do you do if the villain is in that location?

Or is it just close after henchmen defeat?

[See correct answers below.]

Myfly wrote:

Use Ally Runelord to permanently close your location. What do you do if the villain is in that location?

Or is it just close after henchmen defeat?

Note that nothing prevents you from exploring at a closed location, if there are still cards in it. See: Letter of Marque, Family Tomb, Fringes of the Eye, etc.

So, if the villain is at the closed location, you'll just have to plow through it eventually anyway.

The steps for permanently closing a location makes you banish all the cards in the location deck. These same steps also say if you find a villain in those cards then you banish all the non-villain cards and shuffle the villain(s) back into the location deck and the location is not permanently closed.

Use Ally Runelord to permanently close your location. What do you do if the villain is in that location?

Or is it just close after henchmen defeat?

The same thing you've always done. Banish all the cards, except the villain if he's there. If he's there, don't close it. If he's not, close it.

Myfly wrote:

Use Ally Runelord to permanently close your location. What do you do if the villain is in that location?

Or is it just close after henchmen defeat?

The same thing you've always done. Banish all the cards, except the villain if he's there. If he's there, don't close it. If he's not, close it.

So it is a henchmen auto-defeat? Because you need to defeat the henchmen prior to permantely closing the loc.

Magic ray barrier

"Then" means it is separate damage, if you have an armour protecting everything.
Does it suck up all damage or just ONE THeN?

Hopefully not only my prayers, but also my questions are answered :-D

Magic ray barrier

"Then" means it is separate damage, if you have an armour protecting everything.
Does it suck up all damage or just ONE THeN?

They are separate instances of damage, so playing a card to reduce damage only reduces it for that one instance, then you take the next damage and play another reduction card if you can, go to the next, etc. till you're done. Unless you have reveal to prevent elemental cards, you'll need 5 cards to prevent it all.

Andrew L Klein wrote:

Myfly wrote:

Use Ally Runelord to permanently close your location. What do you do if the villain is in that location?

Or is it just close after henchmen defeat?

The same thing you've always done. Banish all the cards, except the villain if he's there. If he's there, don't close it. If he's not, close it.

So it is a henchmen auto-defeat? Because you need to defeat the henchmen prior to permantely closing the loc.

There is a blessing which gives you 2 dice for closing. Far better than the ally.

Not quite. He doesn't say you succeed a check or anything, you just close it. No henchman needed. You can start your turn, flip the blessings, and before even exploring play him to close the location (following the usual rules, like not getting to close if the villain is there, but still banishing the other cards).

They are separate instances of damage, so playing a card to reduce damage only reduces it for that one instance, then you take the next damage and play another reduction card if you can, go to the next, etc. till you're done. Unless you have reveal to prevent elemental cards, you'll need 5 cards to prevent it all.

Even nastier than that, the first 4 all need to say "you may play another armor on this check" otherwise you'll run headfirst into the "only one card of each type per check" rule after the first damage instance and be very sad when the others hit.

Thanks

Andrew L Klein wrote:

They are separate instances of damage, so playing a card to reduce damage only reduces it for that one instance, then you take the next damage and play another reduction card if you can, go to the next, etc. till you're done. Unless you have reveal to prevent elemental cards, you'll need 5 cards to prevent it all.

Even nastier than that, the first 4 all need to say "you may play another armor on this check" otherwise you'll run headfirst into the "only one card of each type per check" rule after the first damage instance and be very sad when the others hit.

I don't think so, I think each instance of damage would be a different check.

I don't think so, I think each instance of damage would be a different check.

I wondered about that, but the rules for attempting the check (against the barrier) says:

Attempt the Check... After you attempt the check, deal with any effects that were triggered by the check.

The damage described by the card all occurs as part of the check against the barrier.

skizzerz wrote:

Andrew L Klein wrote:

They are separate instances of damage, so playing a card to reduce damage only reduces it for that one instance, then you take the next damage and play another reduction card if you can, go to the next, etc. till you're done. Unless you have reveal to prevent elemental cards, you'll need 5 cards to prevent it all.

Even nastier than that, the first 4 all need to say "you may play another armor on this check" otherwise you'll run headfirst into the "only one card of each type per check" rule after the first damage instance and be very sad when the others hit.

I don't think so, I think each instance of damage would be a different check.

All instances of damage are caused at the same time (as part of the Resolve the Encounter step). See also this post by Vic about a similar scenario with the Poison Spiked Pit Trap.

Correct.

Magic Ray Fusillade basically just laugh a at you. Again. And again. And again. And again.

And then you laugh back when you roll five ones.

So for say the black robe (redeemed) it does say you may play another item on this check. Could the robe protect against all instances of the magic ray ?

So for say the black robe (redeemed) it does say you may play another item on this check. Could the robe protect against all instances of the magic ray ?

No. Another item, not the same one. So not that exact same card.

Zenarius wrote:

So for say the black robe (redeemed) it does say you may play another item on this check. Could the robe protect against all instances of the magic ray ?

No. Another item, not the same one. So not that exact same card.

Also, as skizzerz linked above, Vic mentions that you'd need different card types for damage reduction since damage is happening on the same step. (Unless the card says you can play more than one of that type.)

So for say the black robe (redeemed) it does say you may play another item on this check. Could the robe protect against all instances of the magic ray ?

You can never play the same card multiple times on a single check / power.

So if you have a relevant shield and armor, and roll 4,3,2,1,2, you'd be taking 3,2,1,0,1 - so perhaps Enora discards a spell to reduce the 3 to 0, you reveal/recharge the shield and armor for the 2 and a 1, and then discard a card for the final 1.

Or, y'know, you just end up discarding your hand, cause high level traps hurt!

So if you have a relevant shield and armor, and roll 4,3,2,1,2, you'd be taking 3,2,1,0,1 - so perhaps Enora discards a spell to reduce the 3 to 0, you reveal/recharge the shield and armor for the 2 and a 1, and then discard a card for the final 1.

Or, y'know, you just end up discarding your hand, cause high level traps hurt!

Unless I misunderstand how this works, you would roll the first roll and deal with that damage before rolling the next.

This gets really tricky when you have only one or two ways to mitigate damage and roll a 2 on the first roll... Do you want to take that as damage and save your damage mitigation cards for future rolls or negate that one and hope you don't follow it with two 3s? This is a painful trap, especially for the characters who are rolling nothing but d4s to hit that 18. My table won't hate it quite as much as Arboreal Blight and Demon Horde, but it will be a close 3rd place.

...My table won't hate it quite as much as Arboreal Blight and Demon Horde, but it will be a close 3rd place.

It's way cooler than Arboreal Blight and Demon Horde cause it only hurts one character! And then someone else can cure.

The other two nearly TPK'ed us, because they wipe both your hand and the cleric's one.

Unless I misunderstand how this works, you would roll the first roll and deal with that damage before rolling the next.

Not trying to imply otherwise.

My table won't hate it quite as much as Arboreal Blight and Demon Horde, but it will be a close 3rd place.

Death of Righteousness has felt more dangerous to me in play, but that may also be the case of coming up more often at critical times.

Death of Righteousness has definitely almost killed me :(

I'm really loving this Adventure Path. If you guys had given us a 45 THEN 55 THEN 65 villain in Adventure 5 Runelords, it would have been very concerning and definitely something to be careful with. In Shackles, I might have just cried because he probably would have included a Con/Fort check to avoid banishing every card in your deck, hand, and discard. In Wrath? Psh, that's slightly above average.

I'm definitely curious how you encounter Baphomet, because the blog wording indicates you do (unlike the win-or-die demon from B). He's brutal for casters. Fail a check? Draw 6-8 cards. Oh, and you have to complete all the checks whether you pass or not, so you'd better hope those 6-8 cards help you win the 55. Good, you live. Oh, now there's a 65. Can't handle that? Dead. Dead dead dead dead dead.

I'm definitely curious how you encounter Baphomet, because the blog wording indicates you do (unlike the win-or-die demon from B). He's brutal for casters. Fail a check? Draw 6-8 cards. Oh, and you have to complete all the checks whether you pass or not, so you'd better hope those 6-8 cards help you win the 55. Good, you live. Oh, now there's a 65. Can't handle that? Dead. Dead dead dead dead dead.

One of the scenarios tells you how. And, like mentioned in the blog, it isn't required for victory. It is just how you get the loot (and bragging rights).

Andrew L Klein wrote:

I'm definitely curious how you encounter Baphomet, because the blog wording indicates you do (unlike the win-or-die demon from B). He's brutal for casters. Fail a check? Draw 6-8 cards. Oh, and you have to complete all the checks whether you pass or not, so you'd better hope those 6-8 cards help you win the 55. Good, you live. Oh, now there's a 65. Can't handle that? Dead. Dead dead dead dead dead.

One of the scenarios tells you how. And, like mentioned in the blog, it isn't required for victory. It is just how you get the loot (and bragging rights).

Not required for victory? Friend, we are mythic heroes! You come home with Baphomet defeated, or you don't come home at all!

skizzerz wrote:

Andrew L Klein wrote:

They are separate instances of damage, so playing a card to reduce damage only reduces it for that one instance, then you take the next damage and play another reduction card if you can, go to the next, etc. till you're done. Unless you have reveal to prevent elemental cards, you'll need 5 cards to prevent it all.

Even nastier than that, the first 4 all need to say "you may play another armor on this check" otherwise you'll run headfirst into the "only one card of each type per check" rule after the first damage instance and be very sad when the others hit.

I don't think so, I think each instance of damage would be a different check.

Taking damage is not a check

It does seem that are armours that reveal would do best.

Hawkmoon269 wrote:

Andrew L Klein wrote:

I'm definitely curious how you encounter Baphomet, because the blog wording indicates you do (unlike the win-or-die demon from B). He's brutal for casters. Fail a check? Draw 6-8 cards. Oh, and you have to complete all the checks whether you pass or not, so you'd better hope those 6-8 cards help you win the 55. Good, you live. Oh, now there's a 65. Can't handle that? Dead. Dead dead dead dead dead.

One of the scenarios tells you how. And, like mentioned in the blog, it isn't required for victory. It is just how you get the loot (and bragging rights).

Not required for victory? Friend, we are mythic heroes! You come home with Baphomet defeated, or you don't come home at all!

Yeah... not sure my solo Zarlova can beat Baphomet...

Andrew, more than 1 character can take that check. It doesn't help iammars' Zarlova.

When I was turning over AD5 for Season of the Righteous, I remember advising a disclaimer for solo play that in some instances it is going to be really, really hard.

That said, I think I'm okay if it's really, really hard for a character to solo a demon lord like Baphomet. Especially given how you get a chance to fight him. Bring some friends along for that one.

When I was turning over AD5 for Season of the Righteous, I remember advising a disclaimer for solo play that in some instances it is going to be really, really hard.

This is intriguing. I have a solo WotR Seelah going through Season of the Righteous for funsies. She's made it through AD3 with little problems (I just need to remember not to play her as aggressively as I played solo Heggal through Season of the Shackles.) The challenge will surely be interesting.

That being said, I'm not that worried. If I have to miss out on the amulet I will. I'm not sure Zarlova would have space in her item slots for it anyway. Defeating Baphomet is what the Seelah/Shardra team is for!

This is intriguing. I have a solo WotR Seelah going through Season of the Righteous for funsies. She's made it through AD3 with little problems (I just need to remember not to play her as aggressively as I played solo Heggal through Season of the Shackles.) The challenge will surely be interesting.

It's not every scenario, but there are a couple that could get very tough for solo characters.

Seelah is actually a very good pick for solo this season (as she should be), since she's got solid melee, armor and heals when damage can't be avoided, and a great chance of coping with before you act nonsense. I suspect you'll make it through, but if AD5 + AD6 is actually all easy (some scenarios will be), please let me know so I can recalibrate my estimations :)

Andrew, more than 1 character can take that check. It doesn't help iammars' Zarlova.

True. Baphomet will gladly kill more mortals.

Zenarius wrote:

So for say the black robe (redeemed) it does say you may play another item on this check. Could the robe protect against all instances of the magic ray ?

No. Another item, not the same one. So not that exact same card.

Thanks hawk! Hey how about other mitigation abilities like arushelae's fire resistance ? Those aren't items/card types right? So can apply several times in the same check for different damage hits?

Do after-the-encounter card effects still happen if you evade a bane (namely, Lady of Valor)? I'm trying to figure out if Adowyn trivializes this scenario the same way she does other summoning-based ones (like the one with the dragon's lair), or if her anti-summon power instead amounts to "hey guys, I saved you from having to face Iomedae...oh, I guess she's done with us...sooo, might as well loot the joint and try again later?"

As an aside, I have mixed feelings about the giant down-swing in difficulty Adowyn brings to some scenarios. On the one hand, it's cool to have characters that shine in certain situations. On the other hand, when that means that parties with Adowyn never have to face large chunks of the game (basically all summoned henchman/servitor demons/bonus villains), it feels like you're missing out on content/intended difficulty level. As in, I was glad to swap out Adowyn for Arueshalae, so that a subset of scenarios wouldn't feel like I'd just turned on no-clipping mode and sprinted past the big monsters.

I don't know the text of Lady of Valor, but if you evade the card, you don't resolve anything on it. Evading preempts the encounter. I don't know if there's something in hers that addresses that.

Generally yeah, Adowyn's power is pretty crazy. We only ever encounter one tree during an Arboreal Blight, and while you can't beat a Demonic Horde by evading its demons, it comes in handy if you blunder into one unprepared. In AP4 it seemed like there were more unevadable things (and there have been villains that penalized you if you didn't defeat their summoned monster). Adowyn preeetty rarely encounters servitor demons, and that's the way she likes it, with these recent ones that require BYA checks to play weapons or avoid burying cards. It's surprisingly strong, but Evasion for me is always classified under "The Best Power You Hate To Use."