zeroth_hour's Merisiel's page

Yay!!!

Merisiel shook her head. Lizards suddenly appearing out of nowhere, Cultists trying to use the power of the Minotaur Lord Baphomet... She efficiently disposed of them all. Heading back, it seems that both Heggal and Valeros had also dispatched their minions and disposed of the vile Tancred Desimire.

Well, at least the villagers are safe now. She burnt the Befouled Altar for good measure. And because she likes burning things.

Pool:
Ally B
Armor 1
Blessing B
Weapon B x3

I believe the reward is access to the Loot Scale of Disguise.

Nope. Finish him!!!!

Yikes! That was close! But I beat both. (2 1s on a d12)

I still have a BotG and Hawkmoon has a BotG so we'll apply 1 to each combat.

Cave Lizard: 3d12 + 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 1, 3) + (6, 3) + 1 = 15
Cultist of Baphomet: 3d12 + 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (8, 8, 2) + (6, 2) + 1 = 27

Cultist doesn't deal damage to me right? Since it's not _my_ first exploration after all.

I'm not sure here; here is everyone's hands:

Heggal: Sickle, Chainmail, Sage, BotG, BotG
Meri: Leather Armor, Whip, Mace, BotG, Caravan Guard
Val: Longsword, Master-at-Arms, BotG, B.Shax

We need to make these checks:

Heggal fight Ghoul (9) d8 + 2d6 + d4 + 2 (assuming he discards the sickle)
Heggal close, grabbing Blessing (Divine 5) d8 + d4 + 2
Meri fight Cave Lizard (11) 2d12 + 2d6 + 1
Meri fight Cultist (10) 2d12 + 2d6 + 1
Val fight Tancred (15) 4d10 + d8 + d6 + d4 + 3

All are +1 die except for the Shax which is +2. I applied Heggal's blessings to the dies above, and there are 2 BotGs left.

Assuming Heggal defeats the Ghoul, the next 3 monsters must be defeated. If Heggal manages to get the blessing with the Sage trick I mentioned earlier (which means he has to not roll 1-2 with the Demonling check), then both blessings can be applied to the Altar fights. Otherwise, only 1 can be applied (since we should probably guarantee the blessing be obtained, which involves spending one of the blessings) - which should probably be the higher one.

Hawkmoon, you never took a skill feat; you finished 1 scenario, which allows you to take one.

Does this all make sense?

Nope. End turn, since I don't want to use Caravan Guard, too risky.

Isaic, if you beat the close monster check without having to use the chain mail, I suggest you use the sage on the divine blessing acquire check; at that point beating a demonling is irrelevant since you can tank with chain mail and if you don't get a demonling you automatically succeed.

I also suggest you close first, since your extra blessing is useful in the subsequent checks.

Since I can evade the Bilious Bottle, I will go to the Befouled Altar and explore.

Shelyn, let's see if I get it.

not so Wisdom: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Good point. I'll go there then since you only have 1 weapon and are more suited to fighting the villain; I get d12 + 2d6 + 1 on my checks because I can sneak attack, which is better than your d10 + d8 + 3.

Yes. I'm going to do the same thing with my Caravan Guard, since it's irrelevant what's in my hand if we beat the villain.

I do have one thing though: should you go to the Befouled Altar instead? Since I have bigger dice, but you have a bigger bonus, it may be better to position you at the Befouled Altar since the henchman is a 10 Combat I believe. (I mean in the turn you just finished. Since we didn't explore or anything I think we can let Keith take that back). Actually I think that's fine; you just discarded your armor, and I kept mine, so I can tank the first monster's damage, guaranteeing I have something for the Cultist.

EDIT: I'm good on the boon front I think. While I would prefer the Weapon 1 (I think we only have 1), a Weapon B for the Rapier isn't horrible so I don't think exploring is a good idea.

Got it, ending turn and discarding unnecessary things.

Hand: Leather Armor, Whip, Mace, BotG, Caravan Guard
Bottom: (bottom up) Shortbow, Sage's Journal, Helm of the Valkyrie, Footpad's Boots, Amulet of Life
Discard: BotG, Thieves' Tools, Blessing of Shax, Caltrops, Dagger, Hand Crossbow, BotG, BotG, Sage, Quarterstaff
Bury: Troubadour
Deck: 5

Don't explore that location anymore now :)

Roll anyway, since it'll be loot if we get it: Strength: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Woohoo, got the Caravan Guard and avoided a Demonling.

Let's enact the plan.

Explore Armory. Encounter Caravan Guard. (2 cards left in the location deck)

Since it looks like isaic has 2 weapons now, I don't need to give 1 to him. I'll use it as recharge fodder.

Diplomacy is d8 + 1 (due to the Heart) or bury an armor. I don't think we need the ally now that there are 2 cards left in the location so I'm not going to bury the armor since I can use it to tank damage for my close check for the villain turn.

CHA + Defender's Heart: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Regardless of the result, discard the Sage to explore to see if we can just avoid that check (which I would hope to do).

is it a demonling?: 1d6 ⇒ 4

You actually acquire the recruit, so you need to choose whether you discard it or not.

I have a Mace for you. Move to my location and pick it up, then you'll have a weapon for fighting with.

Given your luck in fighting lately, I don't think you'd be good at closing stuff. The problem is that I think digging through the Villain deck is more important than permaclosing the Altar. Permaclosing the altar doesn't give us any more turns (I think).

I am done with my turn now.

Well, now I know everything in my deck at least :)

Whoops forgot I had a Mace. Will give to Heggal when I start my next turn.

And that means I actually have to roll.

hand draw: 1d3 ⇒ 21d2 ⇒ 2

Hand: Leather Armor, Whip, (NEW) Mace, Sage, BotG
Bottom: (bottom up) Shortbow, Sage's Journal, Helm of the Valkyrie, Footpad's Boots, Amulet of Life
Discard: BotG, Thieves' Tools, Blessing of Shax, Caltrops, Dagger, Hand Crossbow, BotG, BotG
Bury: Troubadour
Deck: 5

Argh, got a Mace, but got a Demonling instead of an explore :(

Fight it. Wisdom is awful so we'll just treat it as 11. (and can't evade)

Recharge Shortbow to add d6.

Fight!: 1d12 + 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (8) + (1, 6) + 1 = 16

I'm going to try and grab that since Heggal can use it and he's moving to my location.

Strength: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Explore the location with the ally Troubadour

Is it a Demonling?: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Waiting on rolls to decide what to do next.

So, in conclusion: first set of 3 turns: cleanup
second set of 3 turns: reposition to murderize villain?
3rd set of 3 turns: finish him?

Does that sound good?

Let me figure out the logistics.

We want someone who can explore a lot and fight at the Armory.
We want 2 explores for the Manor House (Yuck; 3 locations where the henchman was way below half the deck, this really wasn't our scenario)
We want to position everyone where they can close and we want to maximize the number of turns in the Armory.

8 Blessings left on my turn, so the turns go: Meri, Val, Heggal, Meri, Val, Heggal, Meri, Val.

Manor House has an Ally close as well, but requires a fight.

I think Valeros should do the close; my stats aren't suited for getting allies. If that's the case, I think Heggal goes and explores as much of the Armory as possible on his second last turn and tries not to get any more Demonlings :) to thin that deck in preparation for the last thing.

Ideally the positioning of the villain turn should go like this:
Heggal at Marketplace (reasoning that he can pull Blessings which are always divine 5 with his d8 + d4 + 2)
Valeros at Armory (to fight the villain)
Me at Befouled Altar (to fight the Cultist for the close)

If those two are the case, we also know there aren't any Carrion Golems to worry about, so I can afford to explore more aggressively.

I think we attempt to thin the Armory deck so we maximize the chances for a villain turn when we finish setting up everyone.

So instead of going to the Marketplace, I go to the Armory instead and explore. If we encounter the villain on the very first explore again, then we can think about whether we want to actually defeat him (probably still no because marketplace is still unexplored).

OMG I'm so glad I made the right decision.

The problem is, we absolutely need a blessing when we fight the villain; we only have a d6. I have 1 more blessing (and 3 cards in the deck to dig); Both of you have 3 blessings in your decks at the time of the Diplomacy check, but neither of you have one.

I think we'll see maybe 1/2 more blessings until the end of the game. But since I myself said that we'd want to close with a blessing here (even though that was on my weaker check with a 25% instead of 75%).

Okay, we'll spend the blessing here and hope we have 1 more for the Villain. Valeros, you'll probably need to aggressive dig for one.

Valeros Diplomacy: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (1, 4) + 3 = 8

roll for hand: 1d4 ⇒ 3

Hand: Leather Armor, Whip, BotG, Shortbow, (NEW) Troubadour
Bottom: (bottom up) Sage's Journal, Helm of the Valkyrie, Footpad's Boots
Discard: BotG, Thieves' Tools, Blessing of Shax, Caltrops, Dagger, Hand Crossbow, BotG
Deck: 6

Yeah not happening. Not evading either.

Saving the other blessing. Only 1 BotG in my deck left. Hand updating forthcoming.

Boo. Explore with BotG (I have a second one for close, and I have a second weapon to recharge for sneakiness)

hawkmoon: sure, that's a good plan.

Sure, roll raw.

Charisma: 1d8 ⇒ 2

The only place that I can be alone I guess without having to do bad things.

Defender's Heart. Explore it.

I will be out tonight for a few hours; PACG night Thursday. I'll check on the phone occasionally when I'm not playing.

(I am on the West Coast, and I think most of you are on the East Coast.)

Befouled Altar already has a spoiler, so I'm looking at that.

OH YUCK Bilious Bottle. I'm going to go evade that. Scratch the plan of clearing up this location.

Ending the turn. Drawing back up.

Roll for hand draws: 1d7 ⇒ 61d6 ⇒ 51d5 ⇒ 1

Hand: Leather Armor, Whip, (NEW), BotG x2, Shortbow
Bottom: (bottom up) Sage's Journal, Helm of the Valkyrie, Footpad's Boots
Discard: BotG, Thieves' Tools, Blessing of Shax, Caltrops, Dagger, Hand Crossbow
Deck: 7

Yay blessings.

I will actually have only 5 cards in the deck after I draw up, so if I discard this turn I'm going to need healing. However, the Befouled Altar has only 1 barrier and we should be clearing that out now that we know where the villain is. Since I know there's no monsters including the henchman it's relatively safe.

I'm going to go the Befouled Altar and explore.

Ugh, tough choice, both of these are good. Wand of Paralyze is better for popping the Villain if we didn't already know where he was, but Horn of BC can pull out an ally for an extra heal or a bit of fighting.

I think I'll have 6 cards in my deck when I draw up, which is comfortable. I think you can explore with one of the allies.

Yay a usable weapon!

Welp. Turns out the combat script wasn't so straightforward.

Hand: Leather Armor, Whip
Bottom: (bottom up) Sage's Journal, Helm of the Valkyrie, Footpad's Boots
Discard: BotG, Thieves' Tools, Blessing of Shax, Caltrops, Dagger, Hand Crossbow
Deck: 7

Actually, if you were to come heal me (or I go to your location and heal you), I would prefer the healing be after the start of my turn; it would end up with a higher chance of drawing blessings I think.

If healing, I think the preferred option is for me to go to you; you still don't have a weapon so you'll have to find one, and the Defender's Heart still has 2 monsters in it, one of them nasty for you. I won't be alone, but that only matters until it comes around to my turn again unless a summon barrier is found (since the villain is already found). There are only 2 barriers in this scenario.

I'm okay with this as well.

I don't think either of us has any help to give, sorry :( I keep trying to draw blessings but they aren't there!

Public CO: I'll raw roll for my ally then :)

Next turn I'll aggressive dump cards when I reset again to try and draw some blessings.

But this is actually good; now that we know the villain is in the Armory we can close 2 other locations and set up. Heggal gets 2d4 (with an ally) and Valeros and I get 1d6, so we'll need a blessing (or a Sage) to attempt the check anyway.

EDIT: Oh monster. Yeah I want a fight. I have no option of evading and have a straightforward combat script right now so I fight.

Mongrel Wizard 12. Plan is discard Dagger to the initial damage, recharge Sage's Journal for the fight, and discard Hand Crossbow for the post-fight. I'll need healing after this fight.

Combat Roll: 1d12 + 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (12) + (5, 5) + 1 = 23
Sadly I can't get the Ally :(

Technically that would have affected my decision whether to be aggressive or not, but sure.

Ugh, my hand is still combat oriented, so staying in the place with the most monsters makes sense, but I'm still a little nervous about the close.

Okay, I'll explore the second card of the Heart anyway.

Fortune Teller. Impossible to get :( so I will banish it, then discard the Caltrops to attempt a better thing in my hand.

roll for hand draw:: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Hand: Hand Crossbow, Leather Armor, Sage's Journal, Dagger, (NEW) Whip
Bottom: (bottom up) Helm of the Valkyrie, Footpad's Boots
Discard: BotG, Thieves' Tools, Blessing of Shax, Caltrops
Deck: 7

Where's the first card in the Befouled Altar?

I encountered a Wrecker Demon, not a Worm Demon.

Options:
-It's probably better to leave the Altar now that there's no Henchman in the deck. If the Villain escapes, the deck is smaller.
-Heggal should go find a weapon given his combat troubles; the Armory, the Marketplace, or the Manor House is a good place to do it. Manor House is good because you get to draw 2, thus making sure you can get one that's suited for you.
-I'm probably not the best suited to the Defender's Heart because of the close requirement (which my CHA is good, we already failed a close). I can move to one of the empty locations and continue to grab stuff (most likely Marketplace because of the 2 allies).
-I'm aggressively cycling because I need to pull up my blessings for more explores. We're finished a third of the deck but didn't close a single location.

hawkmoon, what's currently in your discard pile right now? You got a heal, but you didn't tell us which cards got shuffled in.

Given that I just rolled a 3 on a d10 and a 4 on a d9, do your really want them? :P

Fluff:
Merisiel continued down the Defender's Heart, looking for clues about the missing villagers, when she notices a Wrecker Demon minding its own business.

Merisiel felt a wave of pleasure wash over her; she had heard about the Demon Lord Shax, lord of murderers, around these parts. While stabbing things was fun, she prefers only to stab things that deserved it. She should be careful.

Another super high roll, lol

End turn.

trying to do a new thing for rolling for hand update without rerolls, will have a "pool" that decreases by 1. Will go down from the top left to bottom right, skipping any that have been accounted for in hand/bottom/top/discard/previous.
roll for hand update: 1d10 ⇒ 31d9 ⇒ 4

Hand: Hand Crossbow, Leather Armor, Sage's Journal, (NEW) Dagger, Caltrops
Bottom: (bottom up) Helm of the Valkyrie, Footpad's Boots
Discard: BotG, Thieves' Tools, Blessing of Shax

Explore the top.

Wrecker Demon. CtD Combat 14. I like my item, so Blessing of Shax is going to get used. I should probably cycle stuff, so Helm is going to the bottom. Seems like a bit of overkill, but I want my own blessings drawn.

:( another 14 CtD

Combat: 1d12 + 2d6 + 2d12 ⇒ (11) + (5, 2) + (6, 8) = 32

You're still with Valeros so you get an extra d6 due to his power.

Sorry, in a hurry to get out of the house, here is my hand update:

My hand: Hand Crossbow, Leather Armor, Helm of the Valkyrie, Sage's Journal, Blessing of Shax

Discard: BotG, Thieves' Tools
Bottom: Footpad's Boots

Merisiel sneaks up on the frothing knight with silent footsteps courtesy of the Footpad's Boots and let loose. The bolt hits true, and the knight collapses into a heap.

Mad Knight gives a corrupted blessing, so I will wait for Keith to draw a blessing for me before deciding what to do next, but since noone has blessings at the moment it may be prudent for me to hold onto this and let you guys use it, especially if it's Shax or Abraxas. If it's Deskari though (lower chance since we've seen 2-3 of them), it may be worth using it to explore since it can't be used to help others.

Public CO'ing a discard of Helm of the Valkyrie if Shax/Abraxas comes up and someone uses the blessing I have in my hand. If I pull Shax/Abraxas, don't explore. Otherwise wait and I will decide.

EDIT: Actually, hold onto the Blessing if it's Baphomet as well, again I think we might need it. Only explore if it's Deskari.

That Hand Crossbow that was just lying on that rack! I wonder who left all these weapons there... I've heard rumors that the Defender's Heart will require some "cleansing", so to speak. The Crossbow isn't good for stabbing, but it'll have to do.

Move to the Defender's Heart and explore.

Mad Knight. Good thing Heggal moved away (that's nasty for him!). CtD is 14 (13 + AD1). Using the Hand Crossbow + recharging the Footpad's Boots.

There's no other help to be had, so I will roll:

Combat check: 1d12 + 2d6 ⇒ (10) + (4, 4) = 18

Valeros' discard is this: BotG, BotG, Abadar, Shax, Quartermaster. This is actually a very juicy discard pile blessings wise, so a suggestion would be to go to the Defender's Heart and Cure Valeros with one of the Allies.

The alternative is to try and explore Defender's Heart even with the Priest (1/10 at the moment).

I'm considering going to Defender's Heart if Heggal moves away. I currently get d12 + 2d6 when alone and I'd like to cycle away some of my less useful things and fighting is the best way to do that. I also have lots of Armor and can be a bit more risky. But on the other hand, nobody has blessings and a potential henchman means that I'd be in danger of not being able to close the location (only having d8 on the die)

Remember, Hand Crossbow requires proficiency to add the extra d8 (not to mention another weapon).

Woo!

PS Shax gives you 2 extra dice. But you didn't need the extra one.

You currently have more allies not at the bottom of the deck, for what it's worth. You also only need one and not right now.

In other words, I would say dump the ally, because it's harder for you to find another weapon.

Edit 2: Heggal does have 2 Allies; he can go over to your location and heal, thus shuffling the Spiked Chain to a higher position. But that doesn't help you on this reset.

If it helps, there are only two barriers in all the locations and I can deal with barriers no problem.

By the way, my hand was full so I opted not to draw with Armory, but I should remind myself next time since I always forget.