Party Balance

[Ogee]

First let me say, if this was a RPG, I like to have the players be anything (within reason) they want for character class, etc. It can lead to some interesting story moments.

But, I am wondering if given the mechanics of this card game, if it will be a problem later on if the party leans to far one way or another.

Example, three player group. We chose the monk, the ranger, and the fighter. I understand that some checks could be harder without any magic or divine skills in the group. But, will there be any that could seriously jeopardize the game for us?

We've only just begun, so if need be I'll start another character, or consider playing two.

Given the game can be played solo, I really think that this problem was already thought of by the designers & figured out. But, just want to make sure nobody else has run into a problem.

Thank you for any thoughts.

Old Guy Ogee

[Mestrahd]

A lot of the Undead monsters require the Magic trait to be defeated. So until you start finding the +1 weaponry, you'll have a hard time with those.

[Kevin Fernandes]

Very true, several Undead in the base set require the Magic trait making them difficult adversaries in the early scenarios. Also, several barriers and items require Arcane or Divine checks which may be difficult or impossible to make without assistance from another character. Harsk and Sajan will eventually get spells to add to their decks and without decent Arcane or Divine skills you may find it difficult to acquire them without having to burn Blessings.

That being said, there are plenty of ways to mitigate the lack of Magic, for instance finding or having items like Amulet of Fists which adds the Magic trait to your Strength attack (though you cannot use a weapon) and finding Allies to add to your deck that can help with Arcane or Divine non-combat checks like the Acolyte, and of course true magic weapons are always a help :)

[TClifford]

Also remember that the Flask of Holy Water has the Magic Trait and since most of the Basic Monsters that need to be defeated with Magic, are also Undead...double bonus.

[Ogee]

Thanks for all the tips & info. I have the Amulet of Fists & Holy Water in Sajan's deck. So, maybe that could mitigate some of the issues. The lack of a weapon with Sajan is not an issue because, how I read it at least, I'm using his dexterity die for his weaponless combat check. I just assume the Amulet will apply. It says strength because it is written for any player to use, not just Sajan. Sajan's character trait then kicks in and let's me use the dexterity die to replace the strength die, carrying the amulet effects with it.

Newbie in training.

[DrSnooze]

I think the two main problems you're going to encounter are these:
1. Valeros and Sajan are extremely combat-heavy, and don't have a good variety of skills. Harsk has a pretty good set of skills, but nobody in the party has a good Int or Cha. What are you going to do when you run into some Explosive Runes?

2. You're going to find a lot of boons that nobody in your party can use. If you find the Meteor Swarm spell (hopefully... down the road some time) then you're just going to have to banish it. Not a huge problem, but it's going to limit what stuff you have available to you.

I don't think it will be untenable, but I think you're going to want to figure out ways to mitigate these problems, particularly the first one.

[TClifford]

You don't have to banish the Meteor Swarm immediately....you just can only use it once.