From the Raging Heart of a Swirling Sandstorm Comes... the Mummy's Mask Preview

It begins!!!!!!

Looks like the last character is Simoun.

And she's a Janni.

So excited for next month! Now I'm ready to read the rulebook!

Looks like the preview curse strikes again. Kafar reads in part, "succeed at a Charisma Diplomacy 4 check to acquire this card." instead of "Charisma or Diplomacy".

I have yet to see a character in this game that does not look awesome.

I'm really looking forward to this. Those scourges look like they will throw in some interesting challenges.

Hopefully my group decides to give this a try, the last scenario of Adventure 4 in Wrath has done nothing but aggravate them immensely.

I am so, so excited. Elemental damage interactions, Trigger effects, and Yooooooon! This set is going to be awesome.

So excited to reignite my love of this game.

I am really excited to get this. My group is already talking about it. With all the nasty triggers, will there be any added incentives to examine cards or is it just nerfing oracles, spyglasses, etc.?

I am really excited to get this. My group is already talking about it. With all the nasty triggers, will there be any added incentives to examine cards or is it just nerfing oracles, spyglasses, etc.?

Luckily, it only includes nerfing.

I don't know - a lot of the trigger cards that I've seen force you to encounter the card when you examine them. This isn't really that bad of a thing.

Ubashki looks very much like a TP'd Lying Cat from Saga.

Looks Great!

Looks like the preview curse strikes again. Kafar reads in part, "succeed at a Charisma Diplomacy 4 check to acquire this card." instead of "Charisma or Diplomacy".

We were sure it would be something.

What fun you can have with the magnifying glass when there are trigger cards in your deck. Kafar can cause you to acquire him again (or banish him and another card). With banes in your deck things can get even weirder....

Very impressive!
Now I'm curious which kind of card traders allow you to trade for. Any card currently in the box, or are there restrictions?

I wonder that no one commented on the power feat as a reward for the basic adventure! Seems like everyone would check all their power feats before getting their role - interesting!

I wonder that no one commented on the power feat as a reward for the basic adventure! Seems like everyone would check all their power feats before getting their role - interesting!

Considering that in all 3 sets thus far, there are maybe like 4 heroes I was interested in all 4 pre-role powers for, this is not a big deal for me (not that I'm complaining; it's almost certainly better than a Skill feat).

On the other hand: LOOT in Base scenario! Yee-haw! Come to pappa, you little Scarab Buckler...

This is gonna be fun.

I see questions coming on some of the wording though. I'm not an-Elvish-native-speaker so on Dry Quicksand for example, it took me a few seconds to understand the underlying words : When your token is returned "from the location deck" to the location "it came from"...
At first glance returning to where you already are didn't connect in my brains :-)

jones314 wrote:

With all the nasty triggers, will there be any added incentives to examine cards or is it just nerfing oracles, spyglasses, etc.?

Luckily, it only includes nerfing.

I may not be understanding the initial question, but I would point out that some cards (like the Blessing of Bastet, for example), rather than giving you a straight-forward explore, give you a Shalelu-like ability to examine the top card of the deck, and then (with varying degrees of "optional") encounter it. This will, indeed, trigger triggers.

Yeah, it seems that maybe since your token card gets shuffled into the location deck that in effect, your character is in there. So you can't move until your character or another character explores and finds your token card? Crazy.

Theryon Stormrune wrote:

jones314 wrote:

With all the nasty triggers, will there be any added incentives to examine cards or is it just nerfing oracles, spyglasses, etc.?

Luckily, it only includes nerfing.

I may not be understanding the initial question, but I would point out that some cards (like the Blessing of Bastet, for example), rather than giving you a straight-forward explore, give you a Shalelu-like ability to examine the top card of the deck, and then (with varying degrees of "optional") encounter it. This will, indeed, trigger triggers.

I guess my original question was this: this set now has disincentives for scouting with the triggers (mostly bad, but not all bad, kinda like barriers). So are there counterbalancing benefits to examining? Are there more rewards to scouting to match the new risk?

I notice that Zadim has a very strong scouting ability, recharging any card.

Yeah, it seems that maybe since your token card gets shuffled into the location deck that in effect, your character is in there. So you can't move until your character or another character explores and finds your token card? Crazy.

I guessed that maybe that's the intent, but I'm still unclear, due to the wording.For example, nothing tells us that encountering your token card "returns it to the location". Also, nothing tells us if we can explore, play card and powers, etc. while we lack a token card (I would *assume* we can, because 'cards don't do what they don't say" - but this is the very same reason I can't just assume we return the Token when we encounter it). Who knows, maybe there's something new in the Rulebook...

As it is, I have a feeling this card lacks a "When your token card is encountered, return it to the location" wording, and even then the distinction between 'location' and 'location deck' will probably trip up people.

...it took me a few seconds to understand the underlying words : When your token is returned "from the location deck" to the location "it came from"...

I've never used the words "token card" to refer to token cards before, so it took me a minute to realize what they were saying, as well.

Just note that Dry Quicksand means that even if you use minis, you need to keep your token cards handy.

I'm trying to figure out Dry Quicksand too...is the character still at the location? Are they "missing" until they are found again? Do they still get turns? What happens if an effect forcibly moves them?

Maybe this is explained in the new rulebook.

So that's settled: I'm thoroughly excited about the new Set, and the Trader mechanic in particular.

On quick question for those more versed in the RPG lore: Simoun's card states she's a 'Janni', while the blog also calls her a 'Djinn' - what is a Janni and how (if) does it differ from Djinn?

I'm trying to figure out Dry Quicksand too...is the character still at the location? Are they "missing" until they are found again? Do they still get turns? What happens if an effect forcibly moves them?

Maybe this is explained in the new rulebook.

It is. Once Vic is back from vacation, I'll talk to him about getting the new rulebook up Real Soon Now™. It will have all the explanations.

Briefly thought the flavour text on the Curse of Poisoning began "Lol!"

...One quick question for those more versed in the RPG lore: Simoun's card states she's a 'Janni', while the blog also calls her a 'Djinn' - what is a Janni and how (if) does it differ from Djinn?

Hi Longshot,

Actually all of those, long ago, used to be called Genies (big sand giants "à la Aladin" from the 1000 nights). Then I guess some Elves got bored of using French names and reviewed the idea. Just kidding, they just decided to make a whole family of Genies with different looks and feels. So there it goes: there are many kinds of Genies, but the main ones are:

Djinn: 10 feet tall coming from the Plane of Air, magic-users that change into whirlwinds. A noble djinn is called a vizier and can grant wishes.

Efreet : 12 feet tall coming from the Plane of Fire. A noble efreet is called a malik and uses a bit of magic.

Jann : weakest of all genie. Human size and formed out of all 4 elements. A noble jann is called an amir or sheikh and uses a bit of magic.

Marid : 16 feet tall coming from the Plane of Water. A noble marid is called a shahzada and uses a bit of magic.

Shaitan : 11 feet tall coming from the Plane of Earth. A noble shaitan is called a pasha and uses a bit of magic and can grant wishes.

For those thinking/implying that triggers are all bad, notice that the check to acquire Kafar is a lot easier when you trigger him than when you encounter him through normal means, unless you were hoping to acquire him with Wisdom.

I'm curious about whether triggers apply on cards in your deck (because acquiring a card you already have is weird; failing to acquire it is weirder), and whether his "If you fail to acquire..." only applies to the trigger power, or any time you fail to acquire him (I guess the former because it's not a separate paragraph).

I'm curious about whether triggers apply on cards in your deck.

That would be quite a concept... From what I start to envision/decipher of the Sharks, pretty sure at least one of them tried it...

Briefly thought the flavour text on the Curse of Poisoning began "Lol!"

Only in the developers' minds.

If you're prepared enough, you can turn trigger examines into encounters (aka more explores). That's amazing.

I'm also curious about the mechanics of traders - so look at Hadden up there. He says he offers spells, and costs 2 boons. I'm assuming that means you can somehow exchange two unwanted boons from the group pile at the end of the scenario to get a spell. But we don't know if it's a random spell pulled from the box, or if you get to pick in some way. I presume it's random; picking seems super powerful. If we get a crap spell can we pair it off with another boon and try again? Are boons given to traders banished, possibly triggering a perma-banish for Basic boons after AD3 starts? That would let us acquire boons during the scenario and then still weed them out after.

All stuff I'm sure is in the rulebook, just curious about it now.

The Dry Quicksand rules seem to be moved into the rulebook instead of being partially on the card (in the demo). I see quite a bit of confusion in the future regarding this, because people don't really read the rulebook as it is.

I also have questions, but they can wait, because I love this. Everything looks amazing

I'm also curious about the mechanics of traders - so look at Hadden up there. He says he offers spells, and costs 2 boons. I'm assuming that means you can somehow exchange two unwanted boons from the group pile at the end of the scenario to get a spell. But we don't know if it's a random spell pulled from the box, or if you get to pick in some way. I presume it's random; picking seems super powerful.

Read the flavour text for Hadden. It is pretty clear that it is a random draw. Traders with decent organization systems have probably sold all the good stuff before your campaign starts.

Regarding the unclear rules, I'd guess any non-banes that you encounter are acquired automatically (takes care of loot and the token) and triggers can only trigger if the card is inside a location deck.

I'm really curious about the traders. Not only about the mechanics of getting new boons, but also about the offers.
Most likely, all types of boons (maybe except allies and/or blessings) will be covered with the first few merchants for 2 boons each, but that leaves a lot of other traders. I'm positive it will be more ingenous than another round of just each type of boon for 1 boon each, so there will surely be some interesting tweaks.

Then there is also the question whether traders are rewarded in the base adventure (being the first time to have a permanent effect on the AP itself) and whether traders will be missable. I never played SnS, but I guess there were ships that were optional to acquire, yes? I wonder about the ratio of ships you got no matter what you did.

From what we've seen so far though, this set looks rather difficult to me. The shown henchman scale roughly like most henchman in wrath, and there seem to be a lot of opportunities to eat elemental damage when your starting hand doesn't include any protection. Of course, without seeing the basic boons, thats mere conjecture, but I would be surprised if a starting deck has more than 3 cards to reduce damage.

I also wonder about the number of scourges the box has to contain in order to cover a party of 6 people. When most of them work like the daybane, there will be 6 necessary (where I guess 2 copies will be in the add-on deck), but being able to have multiple curses of poison might rack up those curses fast with a bit of bad luck.

Also, with the final character being a rogue, that probably only leaves drelm as being able to use heavy armor, so it's plausible that there won't be much (if any) in this set.

Looking forward!

I guess my original question was this: this set now has disincentives for scouting with the triggers (mostly bad, but not all bad, kinda like barriers). So are there counterbalancing benefits to examining? Are there more rewards to scouting to match the new risk?

Scouting location decks was already too powerful (gone are the days of multiple Augury and Scrying spells), so there is no need to compensate for the much-needed additional risk. What the designers have done is add more opportunities to examine decks. (Don't forget that in addition to all the spoiled examine cards, Alahazra returns in this set.)

I had a momentary flash of confusion with my first scan of Dry Quicksand, but I think I lot of that comes from us (and many people, I'd think) abstracting out their character token to a standee. But if the "token" is treated as a mechanical card, in this sense, as your character card or deck or anything in your hand is, then it makes sense implicitly: you can't move your character token to another location if you don't have your character token to move.

Of course, we've all seen what people will and will not understand "implicitly" about Pathfinder rules. So I expect a lot of rules confusion, because while the intent of the card is to stop you from moving around until you get your token back, it doesn't say anything about moving at all on the card. I feel like a lot of people are gonna come around with cards like this and be like "So... Dry Quicksand does nothing? Or...???"

Scouting location decks was already too powerful (gone are the days of multiple Augury and Scrying spells), so there is no need to compensate for the much-needed additional risk.

I respect your opinion, but it is the sort of opinion that brought WotR on our heads, so...yeah. I'll guess we'll have to see how player enjoyment is affected.

In particular, I'll point a finger to the Agash henchmen. In a typical 6-player game, this gives you the unique opportunity to trash 7 player turns, just for playing a hero like Alahazra. I can see how in such game, her player will be relegated to twiddling their thumbs, while the rest of the players trow their powers around; doesn't sound like fun times, and the Veteran trait doesn't inspire confidence that it'll be a single-scenario occurrence. (For the record, in 6-player, where each hero gets only 5 turns, I don't consider all "encounter if examined" cards to be a proper compensation for an entire player turn lost)

Regarding the unclear rules, I'd guess any non-banes that you encounter are acquired automatically (takes care of loot and the token) and triggers can only trigger if the card is inside a location deck.

I'm really curious about the traders. Not only about the mechanics of getting new boons, but also about the offers.
Most likely, all types of boons (maybe except allies and/or blessings) will be covered with the first few merchants for 2 boons each, but that leaves a lot of other traders. I'm positive it will be more ingenous than another round of just each type of boon for 1 boon each, so there will surely be some interesting tweaks.

Then there is also the question whether traders are rewarded in the base adventure (being the first time to have a permanent effect on the AP itself) and whether traders will be missable. I never played SnS, but I guess there were ships that were optional to acquire, yes? I wonder about the ratio of ships you got no matter what you did.

From what we've seen so far though, this set looks rather difficult to me. The shown henchman scale roughly like most henchman in wrath, and there seem to be a lot of opportunities to eat elemental damage when your starting hand doesn't include any protection. Of course, without seeing the basic boons, thats mere conjecture, but I would be surprised if a starting deck has more than 3 cards to reduce damage.

I also wonder about the number of scourges the box has to contain in order to cover a party of 6 people. When most of them work like the daybane, there will be 6 necessary (where I guess 2 copies will be in the add-on deck), but being able to have multiple curses of poison might rack up those curses fast with a bit of bad luck.

Also, with the final character being a rogue, that probably only leaves drelm as being able to use heavy armor, so it's plausible that there won't be much (if any) in this set.

Looking forward!

I'm going to give some vague hints on some of these things, just because I can and I love making you guys salivate for more information. :-P

Traders are awesome, and the cards they give you are not always truly random.

You gain new traders as you go through the game, with more exciting choices for what they'll sell you.

Difficulty I feel is right where it should be with this set.

Scourges do not necessarily allow for all players to have the same scourge. Trust me, that's a good thing.

Heavy armor is definitely not as prominent in this set as it has been in previous. I think Liz's text above really highlights why that is... you're in the desert, and you're not gonna want to wear full plate in 100+ degree temps. :)

In particular, I'll point a finger to the Agash henchmen. In a typical 6-player game, this gives you the unique opportunity to trash 7 player turns, just for playing a hero like Alahazra.

It doesn't just discard a blessing, it discards a blessing AND replaces it with a sandstorm card. That doesn't cause you to miss a turn (unless you know something about the sandstorm card that I dont), instead it throws an obstacle in your way.

Doppelschwert is right - the traders, the BOONS! A whole new avenue to wallow in fat stacks of boons the way Scrooge McDuck swam in his big vault of gold! I am going to have to figure out which character I'm going to want to play...it will almost certainly be the one that allows you to better acquire the good stuff.

DISREGARD TRIGGERS; ACQUIRE BOONS!

Wow, this set looks amazing so far; I'm looking forward to what will likely be the best PACG set yet. Finding some time to play it in the near future might be a little rough, though; my wife and I will be going on our honeymoon to Australia / New Zealand in early November. Maybe someone will have a base set (or at least an updated demo deck) at PAX AUS...

I'm very curious about what this villain "Sandstorm" that goes in the blessings deck looks like. Seems like it might be the first time we've seen multiple of a villain.

Longshot11 wrote:

In particular, I'll point a finger to the Agash henchmen. In a typical 6-player game, this gives you the unique opportunity to trash 7 player turns, just for playing a hero like Alahazra.

It doesn't just discard a blessing, it discards a blessing AND replaces it with a sandstorm card. That doesn't cause you to miss a turn (unless you know something about the sandstorm card that I dont), instead it throws an obstacle in your way.

It's also possible that the Agash henchman is a one-off henchman, and not a henchman that is in up to 7 locations. In this case, you might even get away with only having one Sandstorm villain in the box. If for some reason you Trigger the Agash a second time while the Sandstorm is in the deck, you ignore the impossible thing and just discard the blessing. Who knows, maybe you'd get lucky and discard the Sandstorm.

So there it goes: there are many kinds of Genies...

Beaucoup merci pour le renseignement, Frencois! :)

It doesn't just discard a blessing, it discards a blessing AND replaces it with a sandstorm card. That doesn't cause you to miss a turn (unless you know something about the sandstorm card that I dont), instead it throws an obstacle in your way.

You're correct. In fact, I don't know anything about the Sandstorm, I just *assumed* it will be "encounter, then advance the blessings deck" deal. Of course, with MM, it seems assumptions are the wrong way to go altogether.

I'm also curious about the mechanics of traders - so look at Hadden up there. He says he offers spells, and costs 2 boons. I'm assuming that means you can somehow exchange two unwanted boons from the group pile at the end of the scenario to get a spell.

From the "at end of scenario, EACH player can visit ONE trader, I'd make the assumption all players can trade BEFORE forming the 'group pile' and exchanging cards.

I'm really curious about the traders. Not only about the mechanics of getting new boons, but also about the offers.

Most likely, all types of boons (maybe except allies and/or blessings) will be covered with the first few merchants for 2 boons each, but that leaves a lot of other traders. I'm positive it will be more ingenous than another round of just each type of boon for 1 boon each, so there will surely be some interesting tweaks.

I'm thinking they're more likely to evolve in terms of inventory, rather than price ("Sells: Items AND Spells")to reduce impact of the "one trader per scenario" limitation; if anything, such traded may also have a HIGHER cost.

Joshua Birk 898 wrote:

Longshot11 wrote:

In particular, I'll point a finger to the Agash henchmen. In a typical 6-player game, this gives you the unique opportunity to trash 7 player turns, just for playing a hero like Alahazra.

It doesn't just discard a blessing, it discards a blessing AND replaces it with a sandstorm card. That doesn't cause you to miss a turn (unless you know something about the sandstorm card that I dont), instead it throws an obstacle in your way.

It's also possible that the Agash henchman is a one-off henchman, and not a henchman that is in up to 7 locations. In this case, you might even get away with only having one Sandstorm villain in the box. If for some reason you Trigger the Agash a second time while the Sandstorm is in the deck, you ignore the impossible thing and just discard the blessing. Who knows, maybe you'd get lucky and discard the Sandstorm.

The scenario listed says to replace 4 blessings with sandstorm villains. So there have to be at least 4...

The scenario listed says to replace 4 blessings with sandstorm villains. So there have to be at least 4...

It also crushes your hopes for a "single Aghash" theory :)

Frencois wrote:

So there it goes: there are many kinds of Genies...

Beaucoup merci pour le renseignement, Frencois! :)

De rien (you are welcome).