Headmutant's page

I play in a 2 player Mummy Mask and 4 player Wrath of Righteous game. I can empathize with the experiences of KoalaMonk. The outcomes of the game always just feel... inevitable. This is especially prevalent once we close 3 locations in WotR, allowing us to block locations. Our group (smartly) has loaded up on blessings in WotR, and very often, there is no single check that cannot be overcame with the cumulative effect of multiple blessings. I would change the following:

1) Blessings. Change all basic blessings from "add to any check" to "add to your check". Non-basic, upgraded blessings could have power of "add to any check" with bury card (and XXX check to discard instead). All blessings add d8 instead of variable number based on skill being used. More powerful blessings take best result of two d8 dice on specific checks aligned with spheres of influence of deity.

2) Cure spell. d4+1 is too powerful, especially if you have 2 cure spells in deck. With good strategy (and some luck), you can be an unending battery. Have Cure spell recharge top 2 cards on discard pile (instead of shuffle). Make a upgrade Cure that recharges more discards and possibly a second upgrade that recharges ALL discard.

3) Additional effects for taking more damage than what is in your hand. Instead of ignoring the additional damage, maybe bury top card of deck or discard top of blessing deck?

More changes in mind but post getting too long.

If a monster has a combat THEN combat check to defeat, can you reveal the same weapon for the two checks?

I think he meant that you would either reveal Force Missile to use your Arcane skill and add the traits of Force Missile, resulting in 1d12+ Arcane Mod, or you would discard Force Missile to use 2d4 and add the traits of Force Missile, and I think the Arcane Mod is added as well (he didn't mention that the Mod is added explicitly, but I don't see any incentive to ever discard a card otherwise).

Instead of [1d12]+[2d4]+(2+Int Mod), you either reveal for [1d12]+(2+Int Mod) or discard for [2d4]+(2+Int Mod).

In short, you choose between using the die of your skill or the dice added by the weapon/spell for each combat check.

I'm not sure how blessings interact with these changes, but I struggle to see how this nerf still makes the game easy (even though it's understandable that vanilla RotR may be too easy when played with only 2 characters). Hitting numbers above 25 seems pretty hard with this setup.

We played AD 5.4 this AM with the above changes. We have also instituted blessings give a flat d6 or d8 (for those that have "discard for 2 dice" powers). Blessings use 5E advantage mechanic- roll two dice and take best.

Scenario was very tough, we finished on round 30. We discovered villain as 2nd card on top of last (fifth) location deck and used 2 rounds to prepare. We lost to her once in another location. Difficulty is 25 but Wizard able to play Wand of Envervation to decrease to 19. I played Shortspear +3, Blessing, Ally to add +6 combat damage, blessing from Wizard; check was d12+3(spear)+d6(best of)+d6(best of)+d6(ally)+5(STR+melee skill). I would have won w/o the Wand decrease.

Headmutant wrote:

In effort to make more balanced, we replayed AD 5.1 with new house rule:

For weapons, you reveal the card to add the traits of the weapon to your base ability check. If discard/bury/recharge power of the card is better than base ability check, you roll it INSTEAD of your base ability and discard/bury/recharge.
Spells work mostly the same way for those with the discard-recharge dynamic. You reveal to add the traits to your base ability check. If the discard/bury/recharge power is better, you roll it INSTEAD of your base ability and proceed with normal checks to recharge or discard. We handle display spells as they come up.

I'm not totally sure I understand what you are describing here. Can you walk me through an example? Let's say I'm Ezren. I've got to make a Combat 12 check. I've got Force Missile in my hand. What are my options?

Yes. Ezren, has a Arcane d12 +2 skill. He would reveal the Force Missle to add Magic, Arcane, Attack, Force, and Basic traits. He can then use his Arcana skill as a combat check. Since the discard power of Force Missile is 2d4, it does not benefit him to do anything but reveal.

Keep in mind we are making changes in the 5th adventure deck. If I did this from beginning, I would suggest changing core design of all characters using a d2(maybe),d4,d6,d8 as attribute dice; no attribute would use d10 or d12 initially (but could be developed through Power Feats later).

Our situation: We are playing RotR as two players (Wizard, Fighter). We are about to start AD 5, scenario 2. We have lost 2-3 scenarios (because of below increases), but otherwise have ripped through the game will not much resistance. We generally finish in 18-25 turns. We have attempted to increase the difficulty by the following:
1) Increased locations to five.
2) Increased all combats by AD number, including henchmen and villain.
3) Removed majority of d10 weapons from game.
4) Removed spells that centered around scrying/exploring of location deck. Removed d12 spells, such as Poison Blast.

Despite the increases, game is not very challenging at this point. The cumulative effect of items, blessings, weapon power discards make our rolls very high. The increases in adventure difficulty have not kept pace with our increases in power. It is not even close. In effort to make more balanced, we replayed AD 5.1 with new house rule:

For weapons, you reveal the card to add the traits of the weapon to your base ability check. If discard/bury/recharge power of the card is better than base ability check, you roll it INSTEAD of your base ability and discard/bury/recharge.
Spells work mostly the same way for those with the discard-recharge dynamic. You reveal to add the traits to your base ability check. If the discard/bury/recharge power is better, you roll it INSTEAD of your base ability and proceed with normal checks to recharge or discard. We handle display spells as they come up.

We won the scenario with four locations and no increase in difficulty in 26 turns. It was a lot more challenging. We each lost to a Mummy and buried over half of our cards. We are going to play AD 5.2 soon with 5 locations to see how that turns out.

I play in an alternate game WotR with four players and I am noticing the same character power creep in AD 1.4

I ran the RHOD in mountains east of Nirmathis. Skelt becomes spearhead for invasion (and bridge encounter). Moved Thornwaste to Fangwood and made Ghostlord a Druid Blighter. Army marching north to Vigil.

Very cool on the Axis of Perdition recommendation- reminds me a lot of Schloss Tegal "Grand Guignol". You would probably like Dead Man's Hill, Megaptera, Satori, and Archon Satani based on this. Thanks for turning me on to this!

Thanks- believe it or not, this is the genre of music that I listen to on a regular basis...

very short list of artists
Lustmord- Heresy, Monsterous Soul
Svartsinn (mostly any)
New Risen Throne (any)
Raison d'etre- Enthralled by Wind of Lonliness, In Silence and Soulitude, Prospectus, Empty Hollow Unfolds
Arcana (any)

Labels for Dark Ambient music
cyclic law
malignant records
cold meat industry

go to bandcamp.com and do a search for following free compilations:
Saur Maas
Krtrima Sprha

Most of the below can be sampled/bought on I-tunes. They can also be found at Malignantrecords.com

Allseits- Hel
Arcana- Cantar de Procella
Arcana- Dark Age of Reason
Arcana- Raspail
Caithness- Apostasy & The Sorrowful Child
Caul- Sleep Night Death
Cities Last Broadcast- This Cancelled Earth
Collapsar- Collapsar
Controlled Bleeding- The Poisoner
Delerium- Spiritual Archives
Desiderii Marginis- The Evergreen Tree
Desiderii Marginnis- Seven Sorrows
False Mirror- Derelict World
Foundation Hope- Our God is a Consuming Fire
In Slaughter Natives- Enter Now the World
In Slaughter Natives- Resurrection
Kammerheit- Asleep & Well Hidden
Lacus Somniorum- Tideshaper
Lustmord- Heresy
Lustmord- Monsterous Soul
Lustmord- Rising
Morthound- This Crying Age
New Risen Throne- Crossing Withered Regions
New Risen Throne- Whispers of the Approaching Apocalypse
Per Aspera- Nil Desperandum
Peter Bjargo- A Wave of Bitterness
Phaenon- His Masters Voice
Protagonist- A Rebours
Raison d'Etre- Empty Hollow Unfolds
Raison d'Etre- Enthralled by Wind of Lonliness
Raison d'Etre- In Silence, Sadness, & Solitude
Sephiroth- Cathedron
Svartsinn- Elegies for the End
Visions- Summoning the Void
Will- Pearl of Great Price
Will- Word Flesh Stone
Yen Pox- Blood Music
Yen Pox- New Dark Age
Zero Kama- Secret Eye of LAYLAH
V/A- The Absolute Supper
V/A- Dark Ambient Radio vol 2
V/A- Radio Rivendell (book of war II)

Run all three Masks of Immortality modules and then a modified version of Red Hand of Doom, changing hobgoblins into orcs.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson has been a great audiobook so far (about 1/3 way through second book).

"Hero of War" by Rise Against.

Waited a few days to make sure they were not shipped seperately... Please send replacement.
Thanks.

Check out the unabridged readings of George RR Martin- The Song of Fire & Ice series. Book one is A Game of Thrones. Hands down, the best series I have ever heard!