ryanshowseason2's page

So I think anyone who's been to these forums a while can remember the buzz of activity that surrounded some of the earlier base sets.

I wasn't around for ROTR but it doesn't seem like it was that big of a blip forum wise, at least more than it warranted.

SAS was a jump in difficulty but still largely enjoyed and praised.

WOTR though was a Billious Bottle of activity. The difficulty shot into the stratosphere out of the box and many harsh words were typed. It didn't seem like it was for everyone. Entire threads were dedicated to scenarios that were difficult to finish.

So we're two AD's into MM and I haven't really seen a whole lot...

Or maybe it's just that I haven't seen a whole lot of complaining and registering that as something being wrong. I mean if you do something, anything someone out there isn't going to like it!

Is it being played in the volumes it was before and during WOTR?

I dunno, but I do know when I put something out there I like to get feedback on it to know if what I did works and what didn't.

So I'll just come out and say it...

Mummy's Mask is the best base set Paizo has done.

Seriously this is the #$%^. I was worried with the direction WOTR had taken especially in the beginning scenarios but good golly this blew away all my worries and expectations.

The scenarios are challenging but not punishing, or at least it feels that way. We've failed a couple but it was less of a crawling struggle to stay alive and more of a hurried sprint that we came up just short of winning. We gave it our all and didn't get to the goal instead of just enduring punishment and getting nothing for it.

The trader mechanic is amazing and I'd love to port it to other sets. Plunder was alright but you ended up with just as many or more wooden shields as valuable boons. Trading serves a dual purpose in making you want to acquire boons you'd like to use as trade fodder as well as giving a far more controlled reward system.

The banes sting, but don't obliterate us. It's more death by a thousand cuts rather than getting utterly annihilated by a flesh golem in the B scenarios or a Billious bottle blowing you away turn after turn. Or the flip side of barriers not being challenging at all with temptations that were anything but tempting, instead we got the trapped box that lets you take more damage for items *maybe*. I'm actually more willing to take that trade off because of the trader mechanic.

The boons have taken it to a new level as well. Weapons that provide utility out of combat, early armor that reduces multitudes of damage types and blessings that have me drooling for more blessing card feats. Seriously these blessings continue to shock me with versatility. The increased recycl-ability with the basics is interestingly balanced. As we add new and more powerful non basics the ancients become less and less useful.

Triggers are the medicine I know I needed but didn't want to admit I had a problem. Adding a scouting ability to any of the other base sets made them very predictable. You'd walk into any location with the tools you needed since you knew what was coming. Now though I don't scout unless I know I can handle whatever may arise. Even taking alhazzra's power feat to examine 3 instead of 2 was a calculated risk... For a power feat! Who knew a power feat could be risky?! Well outside hand size that is.

The set is just superb and I'd love to hear how everyone else is loving or hating it. I was disappointed not to see so much buzz about this beautiful thing.

As far as being brutal, I find that descriptor to be extremely subjective.

Brutal in the space of this game for my group consists of:

Multiple banes that deal damage in such a mechanic as to make any armor or damage mitigation useless. Like Discard/Bury/Banish from the top of your deck, or discard hand etc. Armor is already a tough sell, this didn't make it any better.

Banes that have no skill check to defeat but continuously deal damage for possibly infinite duration. Like Billious bottle or S&S storm (although storm was far more painless and a good challenge as opposed to an unavoidable pain generator for all present on each turn.)

Banes that necessitate a certain party makeup. In AP5 a villain had only a high charisma check and required a 4 person party with no high charisma to rebuild a couple decks to reliably handle the villain, it wasn't met with enthusiasm that some would have to get items/blessings banished so that it would be possible to take her on. This is fine for monsters or barriers! Siren is good fun and fair play! It's great when banes, especially villains reward characters for having a high check in a skill, but outright requiring it for progression in a villain is a line in the sand.

Along that same vein the army checks were great fun but encouraged certain parties over others, and the acrobatics check on one of them was baffling. We were fine with them but I can see how some parties might be very boned. My group liked them but were also ready for them.

Also magic fullisade. Ouch. Only one copy of something like this pls.

Also demonic horde's capability to gang up on one or two party members. Especially if they are casters this was trying since it could happen outside their turn.

Those are the easiest to remember parts of Wrath that were 2spooky4me

I don't have a lot of sympathy for the permadeath mechanic.

We discussed it in my group before and decided that we don't have the time to replay scenarios and bring a character back up to speed, and starting something like AD6 with a character who has no decent boons or card feats would be a drag for the person playing.

In short, we're not looking to punish anyone for not playing "correctly" or just having plain bad luck. (caster vs flesh golem)

Even with that understanding that death would not be permanent we still avoided it as if it were an undesirable consequence. We stocked heal spells and were excited when better ones came up. Kyra and other healers sacrificed turns and cards to bring characters to good health. We didn't burn blessings for explores unless the blessings deck was getting thin or we knew we had means to bring them back from the discard pile.

We didn't develop "degenerate behavior", and I think assuming the worst of your audience is unintentionally insulting.

We still got understandably upset when casters encountered flesh golems in WotR and got one shotted. Even though those casters came back we still did not act agnostic-ally towards a character dying.

In short, we're still plenty averse to a character kicking the bucket.

The idea of having a consequence less severe than "start over" is very attractive though. For shackles I thought it would be appropriate to throw a pirate shade haunt into the deck of anyone who died and having it display for that character whenever drawn or revealed.

Having consequence cards like that is really appealing and I'd love to design something like that or see it implemented.

Something like:
Stitches reopened!
Bury this card and the next 1d4 cards in your deck.
When rebuilding your deck at the end of the scenario replace this card with another random consequence card.

So you never know how you'll be hampered but you will be hampered.

There are a ton of blessings to be had in that scenario. Also, if he was hanging out at the Sacistry location, he'd be able to roll his divine die on any check to acquire.

Exactly. The tons of blessings helped along with picking up an ally or two that allowed for more explorations and drawing more cards. Also it helps that at this point her divine check is a base 11 + d12 + 1 for the evangelist in my hand.

I actually can't wait to run into that one barrier that lets you add onto a check at the "cost" of drawing a bunch of cards.

Alhazra laughs at drawing from her stacked deck of divine cards.

"You have only increased my power!"

Just got around to playing S&S Stargazer Alhazra in WotR...

She is ripping it apart.

AD 5 scenario 1 has the heaven location, and man did she shred the locations once that one came into play. By the end of my first turn I'd taken 13 cards and recharged them for scouting then banished another 5.

By the end I had 35 cards in my deck 4 in discard 2 buried and 7 in hand.

I get the feeling she was never meant to be in WotR because she just ends up entirely ignoring nasty at location effects by draining the boons and having another character swoop in and hit banes that are in her way.

It's not unlike commanding an army with unparalleled intel. Then directing appropriate forces where they are needed to bash monsters or disarm barriers, or to sometimes pick up valuable equipment Alhazra can't pick up herself.

It's not that she is a different character to play. She changes the entire game and how the other characters are played as well...

It used to be we'd hit places that we had a chance of satisfying the closing requirements. But now it is that Alhazra and sometimes Adowyn gather intel and dispatch everyone else. A trans formative effect.

I feel like Blessing of Abadar's usefulness only increased with S&S.

The necessity to beat barriers increased greatly with all the nasty things they can do to you or benefit you with. They fill most of my blessings slots.

My favorite new card is the helpful haversack though.

Deck cycler's dream item. Examine and get a choice to recharge or leave it? Grand. Discard to put it in your hand? Lifesaver.

Besmara's tricorn is a definite winner as well. It is the answer to a lot of barriers and ship encounters.