Addesso's page

There is a turn overview on the last page of the rules. If you take the last box (WotR), it is quite complete.

Or just just rely on Hawk's work which is tremendous.

Hawk's work is great, but I don't think it's a good idea to rely heavily on a source outside of the base game to clarify how a game should work (and I'm saying this as humbly as I can, as I've followed the evolution and growing pains of PACG through the many threads on this forum). Only a small percentage of players take the extra effort to find sources outside of the box (online forums being one example), and generally those tend to be the ones who are most enthusiastic about a game anyhow. So though extremely helpful, it can be a disservice to the larger percentage of players to expect that knowledge gap to be filled by outside sources. (And even worse when the game producers or community say that the player base SHOULD do it--please don't go in that direction!).

The work and clarity done with the rules between RotR and WotR has been tremendous. But as the game has evolved, I believe that the way it's presented can evolve as well, and it may be necessary as it grows in popularity. I'm no stranger to how "just a few pages" can sound simple, but can grow into incredible complexity (I was a graphic designer and prepress technician in a previous life). At the least, I believe the Reference Sheet could use a graphic redo--the information is there, but it's not presented in such a great way; as well as presenting the summarized Turn Overview and possibly Encountering A Card at or right before their respective sections. These two/three changes alone could clarify a tremendous amount and provide quite a bit of polish.

Took me a while to notice this, but while reviewing PDFs of other games to see if they may make good christmas gifts, I noticed that in the instructions to all the PACGs, there is no graphic, chart, or significant call out of the steps/phases of a players turn. The phases are all explained, but there is no concise preview or review of them anywhere in the instructions, except for the type-formatted list on the back cover reference sheet (which could use a bit of sprucing up too).

On first read of the instructions, it may be a bit confusing as there is no initial road map of where the rule or step you're learning fits into the big picture. And the steps are usually only mentioned once as a paragraph lead in. Some sections, this isn't so bad, like (S&S version) on Encountering A Villain: it's all on one page, so easy to see the bold headers and digest (tho it could still use a graphic or flowchart), but other sections span several pages (Attempting a Check, for instance).

Also with everything that's additionally mentioned in the FAQ (what constitutes between steps and between phases of an encounter), this could be extremely helpful to those new to the game. There are also many other areas where additional graphics could be extremely helpful or just pleasant to look at, like the Example of Play section or Assembling Dice (for example, it can be further emphasized that additional dice are always the skill die--there are several areas where a graphic call out could be extremely helpful to a critical rule).

Currently, this is my most favorite game, but it took a fair bit of effort to get the rules and phases straight through just reading. When I first thumb through instructions after opening a new game, that one simple review can lay down an initial structure for the game which then is built upon when I knuckle down to read the actual rules and minuatae. It would be a shame if those new to the game were turned away because of perceived rule complication or confusion, as the game is pretty simple once you get the hang of it (mostly!).

Bikendi's power is optional.

WotR Rulebook, p19 wrote:

Each character has powers you can use to affect the game. Any paragraph in the Powers section of a character card that doesn't involve playing a card for a particular effect is a mandatory effect that always happens whenever the effect is appropriate.

Bikendi's power involves you playing a card for a particular effect (namely, you discard a card to to examine stuff). As a result, it is not a mandatory action. The powers Dave quoted above do not involve you playing cards for particular effects, and as such are mandatory actions.

Note: That text in the WotR rulebook was ported over from the Playing Cards section and isn't present in the character section of the S&S rulebook. However the original rule it was copied from (Playing Cards) still has it (S&S p9), so you can refer to there if you need to physically read the rule. At any rate, you should most certainly play as if that rule existed in S&S.

Ah that's too bad. Great power, but would have been an interesting mechanic to introduce. Hopefully something like that in the future? (Ended up playing like it was mandatory just for added challenge. Once my party acquired their role cards, the difficulty eased up quite a bit through A4.)

One of Bikendi's powers is: "During your turn, discard a card to examine the top card of your location deck. ..."

Because it does not say "may discard" (the wording on Alahazra's card, and practically every other power that costs a card), this power MUST be used every turn, correct? So basically he's a time bomb, and if you don't win before he runs out of cards, you don't get his boon reward?

And I'll be honest, I had to read this thrice to realize that when he does run out of cards, the possessed character doesn't die. =/

Grats on going for S&S! I recently started playing a month ago (mostly solo), and it's been a total blast.

Definitely check out the S&S FAQ as everyone has suggested. Though, it might actually help to play your first game solo just from the rulebook, then go over the FAQ as a lot of it might make more sense with some context. Eh, you might screw up or forget a rule here and there first few times out, but it seems like a rite of passage 'round these parts. Nonetheless, even played wrong, it's still a ton more fun than many other games.

Dice will vary. Once you find your favorite characters, it will be very apparent, though it won't become a major nuisance till maybe Adventure 2. But I'd say get at least one extra set for convenience from the start: a primary mechanic of the game adds an extra die to your rolls, so you end up rolling pairs pretty often.

Oh, and you REALLY don't have to complete Adventure B before starting Adventure 1. Consider yourself warned!

Oops! For whatever reason I totally forgot that the first explore after moving was optional! I've been poring through all the FAQs and somewhere read something along the lines of "must explore your location" and it must have stuck.

Well, my bold little party will have to keep that in mind heading into Empty Eyes! Probably could have prevented Alahazra's death back in A2, but Feiya has been an excellent replacement.

Been playing through S&S solo with a 4-group and everyone just got their role cards. Lirianne as Deadeye has a power I can't figure out the use for:

"[ ] when you move to a different location during your move step, you may examine the top card of that location deck ([ ] and shuffle it into the deck).

I'm not getting what use she would get out of the first part of the power as she would have to encounter the card she examined anyway. If it was a bane, she couldn't avoid it (unless she had someway to move a second time), and if she has the evade power there would be no need to examine the card anyhow. And if it was a boon that would be an easier check for someone else, she'd fail it anyway and the boon would be banished. And it seems it can only be used at one particular time, so if someone moved her out of her turn, she couldn't examine the deck she ended up at.

With the second part, it's great, although you'd be wasting a power trait till you could put another point in it. Am I totally missing something here?

EDIT: Big fail! Completely forgot that the first explore after moving is OPTIONAL. What a great first way to introduce yourself to the community. =p