Alainplus2's page

Vic has laid the rules out pretty clearly, but thankfully no one will come to your house and mess with your game. I'd definitely suggest that you play the way you enjoy the most :)

Served. Time to play by the rules now.

See this comment from Vic.

So, think of "before you act" more like "during the before you act step of the encounter". In your example, only you would get to ignore the power. Each other character would have to deal with it still. (They could ignore it too if they had a way to do so.)

I do not like this interpretation. I would like to think that ignoring a bane's BYA power is like deleting a paragraph from the card. If it is the players turn that encounters it, they delete a paragraph. If the paragraph isn't there, no one else is effected.

I'd say that the bane would be invoking the Fire trait at such a location. The rule simply says "A bane also invokes a trait if it deals only damage of the type that matches that trait." If a location says "All damage is fire damage", then that means the bane only does fire damage while at that location. As such, the bane would invoke the Fire trait.

I see it the same way. bledge

Recharge velocity.

AFAIK I only know of demos at PaizoCon, GenCon and PAX West. I don't know if they plan to do it at BGG.CON (I'd imagine yes.)

Isn't BGG.CON after MM release? If so, my group will already check marks on our player cards!

Preview this month and full release next month. Can't. Wait.

Alainplus2 wrote:

Is everyone as hyped for Septembers preview as my group is? Hyped for Hype.

Did you get a chance to play the demo game yet? AWESOME!

Nope, how does one play such a demo?

Also, I really like WotR except for the d20 which is gone now. Though I think SnS provided the most fun to date.

Is everyone as hyped for Septembers preview as my group is? Hyped for Hype.

So is Mummy's Mask still on track for early October? Are there any previews yet?

Now that it is September, my group is getting hyped for the preview that will likely come in a couple weeks. The long break was nice because it gave us time to give SnS a play-through, and a second round of WotR.

That being said, we love being on the bleeding edge. Things on WotR like Radiance upgrading to Holy Radiance are so fun if you have no idea it's coming.

Of course, this community and people like Hawkmoon make playing on the bleeding edge possible. Thank you all.

You think fighting monsters is the point of the game? Ha! It's actually recharge velocity.

I hope this is true, because since you posted this, it's all one of my group members says.

I've always thought the point of our adventures was to see how many great weapons and armors I could kick over the side of the ship.

I love this comment.

Alainplus2 wrote:

I say nay! When monsters gather, I gather monsters.

A fellow Balazar player, then?

Yes sir! First play-through I was Alain. This was during his broken Lancer days. Now, Padrig and I gather monsters. Haven't chosen a role yet though. I might get forced into picking Tyrannomancer because I say that line every time I gather them.

Alainplus2 wrote:

Our Adowyn does this too. No one in the group can find any fault with it. But it does feel wrong.

Sometimes, to fight monsters, you must yourself become a monster.

I say nay! When monsters gather, I gather monsters.

Related to this - how do you feel about Adowyn character using teh power printed on the Leryn cohort card multiple times at the end of a turn to recharge their hand before drawing up.

LERYN:
While displayed recharge another card to put this card in your hand.

In action:
Recharge to withdraw Leryn.
Display to scout.
Recharge to withdraw.
Display to scout.
repeat...

Obviously you are scouting teh same card over and over - but you can recharge your hand to get a "better" one, maybe one with a weapon.

I ruled this violated the playing a card more than once during a step/phase rule. What does the community think?

Our Adowyn does this too. No one in the group can find any fault with it. But it does feel wrong.

Ok then we shall too. Thanks guys.

Paraphrasing from page 9 of the WotR rulebook: "A card or power can only be used once per check or step, or (if it says it happens each time something happens) once per time it happens." (Paraphrasing because it's talking in terms of playing cards after having explained that using a power is the same as playing a card, and I'm smushing it down.)

So you can use it once at the start of your turn.

I think your paraphrasing was being extremely liberal. I just read that page of the rule book and it does not say "a card or power", nor does it say anything about using a characters Power Feats. This page of the rule book seems to only be talking about playing the powers on cards.

Is everyone else restricting Adowyn to 1 animal or Leryn grab per turn?

At this time, the only card we're looking at adjusting due to this ruling is Rage.

8 months later to the day.

Seems like The Hawk has ruled that Balazar cannot discard a spell during an encounter to summon a monster to use on the check. Is this the final word? I treat words from The Hawk as gospel so I am leaning yes. Just strange that I read this entire thread and it just kind of stops so abruptly with no clear answer on Balazar.

Glad we put AD6 on hold! Sounds like we will finish our epic quest properly.

No spoilers here, but the end of the deck will be rough for Alain.

Glad I have the best team to carry me across the finish line. Shout out to the BGHO!

Today is AD in the mail day! Can't wait to peep those promos! 5-5 and 6-1 Friday! Giddy up Donny!

I'll never have a better friend than Donahan.

Let's hope we get a ruling before AD6 arrives!

We just had a run and for AD5-1 / heaven the lancer just blew through almost everything and we ended up waiting around for the lady to show up with half the timer deck remaining. Hardly any challenge at all. Allies/blessings usually needed to discard for explore became free explores.

And then the champion encountered the lady with 8 counters on heaven.. (I think that could be another situation requiring a faq). We even decided to not use the champion power and still it was pretty much auto-win.

Initially it looked quite challenging as the Angels were unavoidable .. And weapons mostly useless.. Interesting .. But the recursion pretty much removed any timing pressure.

If you're looking for a more epic adventure, having played 4-1 through 5-4 with "at the start of your turn" works really well. I know its not for everyone, but it sounds like it would add value to your gaming nights.

My group really enjoys challenge though. We also removed all elite banes before starting AD5 ;)

At the end of the day, its your time and your fun at stake. Have fun.

200th post! 5-3 tonight. Donahan- mount up!

How does your group adapt scenario difficulty?

Finished AD4 with one blessing left. Everything felt perfect. To those looking for help, play Alain Unchained. For those looking for more of a challenge, consider adding "At the start of your turn" to his Role ability. Either way, he is a lot of fun.

Longshot11 wrote:

For 5 scenarios, my group had to trudge through one of the most horrible gaming experiences ever, without an ounce of joy to be had in sight...

Just about sums up this set in my view. What a disappointment.

Couldn't disagree more. Overcoming the challenges of the base set provided some of the loudest and most heart felt high fives my group has experienced in any board game.

In Zenarius we trust.

Finishing AD4 tomorrow night. House ruled. I guess some teams need someone that can explore and kill stuff that efficiently.

Hawkmoon OP. Hawkmoop.

Alain's check mark to be able to recharge items and Allies is covered if Alain's deck has one mount with exploration.

Excellent point. Had not even considered the redundancy issue.

Now that AD4 added some powerful spells, I think I'll let my casters play too.

Yeah sticking with that. If I didn't then every combat would also be trivial because Donahan would get to be used, then recharge to pick him back up. If there is a location that has a when closing of summon henchman, this forces me to choose which fight I want to use Donahan for. My group likes a challenge so unless AD5 returns to AD0 form, I cannot see going Alain Unchained.

Then with 4,700 posts, or 9.4% of all posts, I'd like to personally thank Hawkmoon269 for being the MVP. This community is so lucky to have you. Hear, hear!

Got stuck with a rules question in 4-2. Hawkmoon swooped in like Batman answering the Bat Signal and literally saved the night. There was much rejoicing after seeing his post. Went on to crush 4-3 and 4-4. Got two Unicorns. They call me the Hearder of Mounts.

Wow! Our group took a cigarette break just saying to each other, "What if Hawkmoon responds in time to save us?". And. Then. You. Just. Did!!! Thanks man!!

Horned Demon struck hard. How do we reacquire Loot or Cohorts? I thought this came up but being in the middle of the game, none of us can find it.

4-2 tonight! Hopefully those Mounts are hidden in location decks just ready to be talked into joining my cause.

Alainplus2 wrote:

100 posts! I do not understand how in the same post you say you finish the final AD4 adventure in under 20 turns, you also say you don't feel it's that strong?

Well he is playing with a party, not solo.

You mentioned your group preemptively house ruled on his ability before starting 4-1. Did you ever try playing with Alain as he is to see how it went in practice? I am curious about how he is working out in actual play sessions.

Nah, we don't have a lot of time to game, so we usually only play each scenario once.

That is why we are subscribers, "AD in the mail day" is awesome!

Also why we pre-nerfed. "AD in the mail day" deserves to be awesome for the whole team.

I suspect this is the least-followed/understood rule in the game, but it is a rule nonetheless. Curing before the dragon chomps you is great, but unfortunately the key part there is you need to do it _before_ the dragon is about to chomp you. Ie, before you even turn over the card.

Playing the other way totally works, and if you're happy doing so, I'd say go ahead and do so*. Just be aware that the game will be somewhat easier as a result. Whether that's good or bad is definitely a table decision.

* Outside of a more official setting, like a tournament, serious Organized Play group, etc.

I feel this is very important. Decisions matter. The decision to cast Cure needs to have weight. It cannot just be a reaction to new information, such as a dragon appearing.

This is definitely best debated elsewhere though. Lancerop

because spending a cure during an encounter is a very common event in our group.

uh oh...

100 posts! I do not understand how in the same post you say you finish the final AD4 adventure in under 20 turns, you also say you don't feel it's that strong?

Blessings Deck obsolescence with one check mark seems pretty OP. Maybe my group cherishing the Holy Candle from RotR gives me too much respect for the Blessings Deck.

Yes, the amount of explores granted by one (1) power feat and one (1) ally is what is being discussed here.

Thanks vic & Mike for paying attention to this. Apologies if it's getting a little old.

I guess what we're really trying to say is we rely on how you folks designed the game. Thus far it's been surprisingly very well thought out. And I mean *very*! The balance has been genius .. Ending so many scenarios with just one or two timers left .. Super teamwork required to support each party members with just the right card ... We didn't know how you did it .. But wrath has been awesomely balanced up to this point.

Because we can't see how adventures 4-6 have been laid out, so we thought also "hey maybe there was 'design intent' " .. As in the next adventure scenarios would have (evil) accounted for this seemingly over-powered ability. Some super restriction on movement & discard/recharge etc .. New creatures/barriers that kills reckless explore .. Heck we didn't know .. So just had to ask. :)

This is exactly how I feel. Thank you for this post.

As many times at start of turn (becomes horse hearder ... :D )

This is the route we went. I'm aggressively seeking those War Horse and Pegasai.

We played 4-1 last night with "At the start of your turn", and it was very enjoyable. Two Demonic Hordes with that servitor demon, yikes!

But I have to give a shout out to the man they call The Acquirer of Items! You da real MVP.

I would like to thank everyone for chiming in. I am going with the w w 379/Hawkmoon proposal of "At the start of your turn" any number of cards for cards with the Mount trait. This will net me up to 5 additional explores if I acquire 5 Mount allies. Look out Pegasus and Warhorse!

I don't think its that they like me doing this, I can kind of force their hand. If they want that dex bow or that new Terraform, they are going to have to help. I can acquire weapons, armor and allies pretty easily. Dex weaps, items, and spells are a different story.

With that being said, I usually go to locations that have Alain friendly close conditions. Those locations usually also have Alain friendly boons.

My hand size is 6.
And my weapons are reveal to crush (Soulshear). I can get blessing help from my team, which eliminates the opportunity cost of playing a blessing for boon acquisition because it still nets the team an explore. Plus I have 4 d20's sitting in front of me.

Also...with Alain and the Gunslinger, who at Paizo is the Dark Tower fan?

Before our weekly gaming sesh tomorrow night, we are adding the text "At the start of your turn" to the Lancer ability in question. Didn't want to break the game.