Onesiphorus's page

There are way to play Leryn without a weapon, thought I don't think you can do it with just cards from WotR. Spiny Shield from RotR would do it. Not sure if we'll see something similar in WotR or not.

Spiny Shield would be though choice to go with in my group, Balazar needs its ability to add magic to an attack more than Adowyn needs the ranged. As of now I think he just has Sacred Prism.

That being said, i still think Agility is a better card than Enchanted Fang for Adowyn anyway. Guaranteed plus 3 means 50% of the time it's better, 25% equal, and 25% of the time worse. And it will add to multiple checks in a turn.

Mike Selinker wrote:

Will rewrite as:

Agna can make you think she’s your biggest threat—right before a trained animal of some sort attacks you from behind. If you hear the cry of an animal of some other sort but definitely not a bear or eagle in a dungeon, expect Agna to be close at hand.

FYI, the musk ox, leafy seadragon, and Indominus Rex also do not appear in Agna's class deck.

(Also, flavor text has no game effect. Sorry for making you think those cards should be in the deck.)

Now, if we ever manage to get the Pathfiner Battles Semi-Iconic Heroes Sets containing all the class deck characters, Agna's owner card needs to somehow contain all those animals. Perhaps some sort of platypus type creature that is all 3 combined into one.

Or a variation of a manticore with the head of a boar, the body of a bear and wings of an eagle

It is a loot card from AD1 and should have been with it, check to make sure it didn't get mixed with the items (it's the same color and says item on it, easy to misplace)

I started my duo with Alain and Imrijka, but lost Imrijka in scenario 2 of the base adventure. I replaced her with Adowyn and the rest was pretty smooth sailing. Alain is tough, especially if you pick up a lance or two, but Adowyn changes the tone of the game completely and I breezed through the rest of the base adventure and AD1 fairly easy. I would run them at the same location until Alain's hand a Lance, Helm (or Magic Shield) and Donahan, then split them up because there was very little Alain couldn't handle on his own (explosive runes got me once), and Adowyn could always scout to avoid trouble.

Set #3 has Alain, Imrijka and Balazar from Wrath.

My bad, should have fact checked that one. Though I'm glad to be wrong, why the skip over SS?

I've been buying the cards off a guy in London who plays the miniatures game but not the ACG. Got the first two sets fine, but no word on the third. It's a pain, as Alain and Balazar are waiting to have a go at wrath, but we want them to have their cards.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might want to start without them. The third is for SS characters (I assume the fourth will be as well). We probably won't see WotR until sets 5 and 6.

That is the case, and ArtistCaseInsert

is the insert. You do need to take the top thing that folds out of the top of the case for the cards to fit though. Link to Picasa with pictures of my case and some deck boxes I made for my characters PACGPics

Draight wrote:

Whoa, can you link where to get these? It is this?

Is the broken token insert the same that is supposed to go in the original box when you throw out the plastic insert?

I just finished getting this and setting it up how I like. It turned out perfect for RotR and S&S. It fits every card/promo sleeved (dragon sleeves), the battle miniatures (using foam to keep them protected), and the BT dice tower, which I store the dice in. The mini mats and printed material fit on top of the cards when it is closed. Plus, if you are inclined you can stain/paint/carve whatever you want. I saw that Broken Token does customized artist boxes if you are willing to pay for them.

Some notes,

The standard insert should be taped/glued on its corners and outer connection. I just used generic clear packing tape (unnoticeable) and it keeps stable. I ordered an extra set of 9 dividers, it comes with 18 dividers, I used 18 for RotR, and 19 for SS.

When setting it up, some dividers will slip on occasion until you have enough in there to support the sides. I put one in the center of each row to eliminate this problem, and then adjusted those as needed.

Each organizer is going to vary slightly in size. The first one I did fit very loosely causing dividers to slip on occasion, I solved this by putting a divider in between it and the case. The other two were tight and I had to force them in (not so much as to risk damaging).

I will try to get some pics up if people are interested

Possibly

"Characters gain this power while at your location"?

Not sure if there is a ruling that makes that unnecessary

Also, I think the entertainment value per dollar at the current price happens to be pretty darn high. Take a friend to the movies, share a bucket of popcorn, and purchase a soda for each of you, and you'll end up paying about $30 for your 2 hours of enjoyment. That's about $2 more than you'll pay for the entire Season of the Shackles, which adds roughly 30 hours of gameplay to your existing Skull & Shackles game, for up to 6 people.

*Hands over money* The movie would have probably sucked anyway

First World Bard wrote:

Nothing says Balazar can't start with Cures.

You don't have any in your initial deck as per the rulebook... So by the book you need to acquire them. Which is far from easy with your wisdom....

Anyway we had better luck on our next attempt so I will hold my thoughts on any first thoughts (if that means anything).

I played this way for RotR, even though it is just a suggested start, it makes the basic cards a lot more fun to encounter during the base adventure. It also ups the challenge a bit and some of the base cards would never see play otherwise.

Banish the Animal before you summon the Carnivorous Stump. FAQ entry will come next week.

Just to clarify, does this mean that if the Carnivorous Stump is undefeated it is banished (as per normal summon). I have been playing as:

"Set aside the card with the animal trait, then summon and encounter Carnivorous Stump. If it is defeated, banish the card with the animal trait, otherwise, shuffle it back into the location deck."

Ahh, that makes more sense and very easy to do with the amount of pre action damage in this set, and his limited hand size doesn't help in that aspect either. Helm was a lifesaver in multiple occasions for me, I also picked up a magic shield in the second scenario.

How did you lose his cohort? It does not seem common for Alain to lose Donahan. I finished the first 10 scenarios without even coming across anything that would risk him getting banished.

I think he is very capable of being the best solo character due to strong attack, defense, and the ability to acquire diplomacy allies well. His downfall is hand size and reliance on first attacks for his damage. Further explorations could be devastating.

I just finished A1 with Adowyn and Alain. I wish I would have added Enora, Balazar, or Seoni as a third for some added challenge, as I personally have trouble keeping caster's alive without a dedicated healer. Alain is a really good, even though his printed power is weak, Donahan more than makes up for it. I think I would have picked Balazar, since he has a cohort too.

Awesome Vic, thanks for the solution and adding to the FAQ quickly.

When you display a card it stays until an action removes it. It does not count as part of your hand.

With Lyren, you can recharge a card in your hand to return it (allowing you to use the display ability again) or you can shuffle it into your library for the combat bonus.

During this Scenario:
When you play a blessing that has the Iomedae trait, you may put it on top of another character’s deck instead of discarding it. When you play any other blessing and it does not have the Corrupted trait, banish it and replace it with a random blessing that has the Corrupted trait from the box.

Does the replacement happen before the effect, and then have to choose an effect of the Corrupted blessing?

If the effect of the original blessing is the one that goes off, is it still treated as though the Corrupted blessing was played?

I ask because it says "when, instead of after", and changes the difficulty of this scenario drastically when they are used during Corrupted blessing turns.

The allies are banished if anyone fails, no choice. You may choose if you want to banish the barrier, if you don't, since it is undefeated, it is shuffled back into the location deck.

Does the bonus apply to its own recharge, or is it considered to be out of play as soon as the end of turn starts? I've been assuming it does not apply.

Onesiphorus wrote:

I understand getting frustrated, but 4 turns is plenty of time to take a run at the maze. I think you guys robbed yourselves of what could have turned out to be a great triumph. More importantly, though I prefer to not read the villain before my first go, the game assumes you did read it, in which case, running into the torture chamber hunting down the minotaur without an armor in hand is rather reckless.

The game assumes you read it?

I'm one of those who do not read the cards especially villains/henchmen before the scenario is played. That's how my group has always played it. I don't like the idea of already knowing how to defeat a villain I have never heard of/encountered before.

I mean sure it only applies to the first playthrough, but even if it wasn't and we had someone in the group who is playing it as their first, I would still not reveal what the villain/henchmen does before it is encountered in play.

If we fail because of a crazy mechanic we weren't prepared for, then we were not meant to succeed that scenario at that attempt. We tackle the scenario again, but are now wiser.

I don't have my copy of Wrath yet but I'd hate to have to read the cards beforehand besides scenario cards. We even contemplate having location cards info unrevealed until someone actually goes there (setting up the scenario is an exception and is usually kept hush by the person setting up).

I look forward to have my butt kicked by this set. I'm definitely up for the challenge and all these comments about difficulty is daring me to start hating it.

You seem to have answered the question yourself. Yes, the game's difficulty is based on replayability, meaning you know every card. It is more exciting not knowing, but more difficult, and recklessness over caution has consequences in the unknown.

We were all set to defeat minotaur villain, had him set up in the Torture Room after closing it via the henchman. Adowyn perched on the other open location, closed it easily.

What's that? He deals combat damage if it's your first exploration? And combat damage is combat damage+d4 at this location and Kyra's hand is now wiped?

We rolled the divine check just for the fun of it, and I think she actually took him out, but lack of magic left him undefeated. We packed it in for the day, didn't even bother creating the Maze location with only like 4 turns left.

I understand getting frustrated, but 4 turns is plenty of time to take a run at the maze. I think you guys robbed yourselves of what could have turned out to be a great triumph. More importantly, though I prefer to not read the villain before my first go, the game assumes you did read it, in which case, running into the torture chamber hunting down the minotaur without an armor in hand is rather reckless.

This is another example where I feel like having every quantum aspect of Examine explained is unnecessary. If you have a location deck with one card, and you are using a power to examine the top two cards of your location, then you can only examine one.

So extrapolating that with my own deck, if a power asks me to examine the top three cards of my deck and I only have one card, then I examine that one card. Unfortunately the next part is not something that you can disregard. I recharge that single card. I discard it. Then I die because I can't bury another.

I think the examine part is not required to be explained any further.

I follow your reasoning behind your other post. I was reading it as assuming that recharging had no effect on the deck. But, I think examining does need a rule clarification. Even the simplest explanation that the cards are still part of the deck they come from would resolve this. Then if Cyclops Oracle was not intended to kill of a character, errata is necessary.

Why change it at all?

While the examine may not kill and may not be fully performed, the Recharge, Discard and Bury will depending on the number of cards. One card left, dead. Two cards left, not dead.

I disagree, discard, bury and recharge use the same terminology:

All require removing it from its current location, what needs to be clarified is where exactly that is. Where do "examined cards " exist? Are they still considered to be a part of where they came from, or are they in their own space? If they are in their own space, then should they be considered removed when examined? Examining may end up killing.

Examining cards is not fatal in the card game.

Not so far, anyway.

This is probably what Mike and the team are looking into, which means they have to examine every card that uses that key word to see how it may effect the game before making a decision. Either way, with the game mechanics, it looks as though one of the effects (either examining, or the result of the cards still being part of the deck) will kill off the character.

Some unlucky combos are devastating. I just finished the base adventure and in the last scenario hit an Arboreal Blight in the Abattoir on turn 2, and then another in the Torture Chamber on turn 4, wiping both characters hands each time. If it wasn't so early I don't think the characters would have recovered. I was certain that I would either run out of time or both characters would die, but finished on turn 30.

I like the challenge, the risk of losing is what makes it exciting, and winning all the sweeter. I have not played S&S, it is sitting in the closet mostly due to time constraints but partially due to the seafaring theme.

Resetting your expectations for the power level of cards is important, it is easy to pass up on relatively good cards when you look at everything with a b/c on it as crap.

The aspect of having many cards deal before and after acting makes armor useful. In RotR, they filled up Seelah's hand and literally weighed her down.

Cohorts are amazingly useful. Donahan is handy, but Leryn is a game changer. And they scale with the adventure. I will certainly be sad if the character ever has to lose theirs.

Thanks, after reading how the others are worded I see the reasoning. I should have compared it to them first.

"If the top card of the blessings discard pile has the Corrupted trait, discard this card to explore location."

The wording suggests that you must use it to explore. Is it supposed to be "you may discard.."? I could see this being intended to work either way.

My take on this

1. No, the key word here is summon, and a summoned henchmen does not allow you to close the location no matter how it is worded, unless those words specifically say otherwise.

2. It is as though the card with the animal trait was never there (just bait to pull you in). You never encountered it and all it served was a place holder for the Carnivorous Stump.

I am really enjoying this set. I chose to do my solo play through with two characters. If one dies then I replace that character per the normal rules of allowing the use of the dead characters cards for initial construction, and no feats or powers.

I started with Alain and Imrijka. The first scenario yielded some excellent upgrades including a Composite Bow for Imrijka and a Quarterstaff of Vaulting for Alain. Imrijka was low on hit points by the end, but overall they never seemed to be in real danger.

That all changed in the second scenario. I figured I was in good shape with both their opening hands including above said weapons, so I sent them off solo. Turn 3 Alain gets got caught in a tangle trap after failing a 2d10 check against a 7. Without any blessings to help, he struggled in it for 4 more turns. But that was just a distraction, fretting over his failure to escape, I didn't take notice of Imrijka's excessive exploring and dwindling hp. She closes Dark Forest which forces her to recharge her hand, losing the Composite Bow. On her next turn moves and encounters a Spiked Pit Trap, which required a blessing to pass. Couldn't pass up the free explore after the Spiked Pit Trap and ran into a Carrion Golem. Immediately has to discard the top card of the deck, then I notice how low it is, five left. No blessings, she uses her Corrosive Dagger +1 for a d10+d4+2 combat roll, discards it for an addition d4 and her skill to recharge her Shortbow to add a d6. I roll, 2, 1, 2, 1. Well, I think that at least there are enought cards to draw, then I read the after effect if undefeated... Discard the top 2 cards of your deck...

Fortunately Alain was able to finish the scenario due to a lucky break that the villain was the second from the top in the last location. I chose to replace Imrijka with Adowyn, though the Composite Bow is just a fancy Shortbow with her. If Leryn proves anywhere near as useful as Donahan, they should pair together very well. Adowyn also gets to carry two cures instead of one.

At least the lesson was learned before a major set back in character progression. Can't wait to see what the next scenario brings.

Edit* Almost forgot about Temptation of Arms, evil... pure evil

I agree the PDF should be in either way.

My preferred solution, have a PDF available and updated when possible. After the entire run has released and been played enough to have final errata worked out, print a correction run at non profit. If a second series is made, include the errata cards from the first series for free.

I also have a question, if you are limited to 55 and 110 card runs, can you print multiples in the same run, ie if there were 22 errata cards after all is said and done, each 110 sheet could print 5 sets.

I think the car analogy is misplaced. I would put this more in line with typos in a book, or minor bugs in software. When you buy a book and it has a few typos in it (most books do!), do you expect the publisher to provide you a new one? Or software... a lot of software has minor bugs that don't impair functionality. While developers usually try to patch minor bugs like that, there comes a point where it becomes impractical for them to waste resources correcting every last bug. In those cases, I would say that even though there's minor faults with the product, I still received what I paid for.

I think it's a similar situation with PACG. I just don't think Paizo *owes* it to me to replace the handful of misprinted cards. The game "works" out of the box, and as long as the game isn't physically damaged, I have no expectation of them replacing any cards. It would be amazingly awesome if they did print replacement cards, but I do not need them to play the game....

With a book, you can't simply replace one page, you would have to replace the entire book. No one is asking for a brand new copy of the game, just a few pages with typos to be replaced. Book publishers would jump at an opportunity for that kind of quality control.

I don't think the software analogy has a place in this conversation, it is a digital product. Patches and compatibility updates are expected, and for free. EDIT (Yes even boxed software these days comes out of the box requiring a patch before it works "as intended")

If people accept that paying a premium price for a product that doesn't adhere to premium quality (distribution wise, concept and execution is astounding) then other companies will push that boundary until it's consumer base and profits suffers, only then will it rebound to the last acceptable position.

Dragon Shields!! Nothing but the best for my games :D

All deckbuilding cards in black, locations and character tokens in red. Character sheets, roles, adventure paths, adventures and scenarios in clear. Map markers for writing on clear sleeves and leveling up characters.

I like to build two to three scenarios at a time (3 players) the red locations and character tokens allow me to quickly divy out everything for setup.