How to play Lini the Druid

[tcharleschapman]

Can someone give me some help with this? Lini seems like a difficult character to slot. Everyone else has clear-defined rolls, I just can't figure out Lini. How should she be played? Caster? Melee?\

Thanks,
Tom

[austinmonster]

She seemed unusually punishing to me. Anytime she had to fight, she was forced to discard cards to have any chance at beating the challenge. The only other character even close to this punishing was the sorceress, but even SHE could play normal spells and not have to constantly discard cards.

[Cheezgrater]

I am doing relatively well with Lini. She plays like a slightly more offensive version of Lem. Her biggest problem is that she is a bit more dependent on having a solid "adventuring partner" than some others. If Valeros, Harsk, or Lem are not in the party, she suffers somewhat.

I play her as primarily support/healer while still being able to pass basic combat checks and throw one or two big hits.

Spell selection (Primarily Heal/Support):
Guidance, Find Traps, Cure (2-3), Holy Light.

I want to get a couple more support-type spells in and not run quite as many heals. Unfortunately the only thing I have come across is Strength, which is not really what I am looking for. I want to switch the Guidance for Aid, and drop two of the cures for another Aid and a Fiery Weapon.

Always adventure with a partner. Either stick close to Valeros (best choice) or Lem, or keep Harsk at another location. Any one of the three of them can provide you with a 1d4 bonus on your combats (only Valeros can do it for completely free, though.
If multiple potential partners are in your party, coordinate with as many of them as possible.

I got lucky and found an Amulet of Mighty Fists (not running with a Sajan so it is shuffled into the item deck). (If you custom build, Mighty Fists is a basic item so is fair game to start your deck with).

Potential Combat checks *without* discarding a card
1d4 Strength
1d4 Reveal Amulet
1d4 Reveal an animal Ally
1d4 Valeros *or* Harsk passive bonus

A 4d4 is as good as a Wand of Force Missile (4 - 16, average check 10), and can take out a lot of things. As long as she stays coordinated with her partner, she can dish that out all day long without it costing her anything.

If she casts Holy Light, that can go 1d10 (Wis) + 2d6 (Spell) + 2d4 (Valeros or Harsk & Reveal an Animal Ally) + 1 (Divine Bonus). 6 - 31 Average check 18. That is pretty good odds to take down even a lot of villains/henchmen.

If she doesn't have a spell in hand and needs to go heavier, you can get an extra d4 or d6 by recharging a snake/tiger ally.

Discarding a card to get the d10 die for strength for a combat check is generally not a great trade-off. A d4 will roll an average 2.5, while a d10 will roll an average 5.5. You are essentially discarding a card for a +3 bonus, when there are multiple ways to get better bonuses without discarding.

*Without* discarding any cards or casting any spells, and assuming that Lem and Harsk both recharge a card to help, Lini's best possible check:

6d4+1d6 (Recharge Tiger Ally) or 7d4 (Recharge Snake Ally)

Average check 18, with NO discarded cards by anyone in the party, including blessings. Discarding a card for the d10 strength die would only raise the average to 21.

Now, if someone is going to play a blessing for your check, by all means discard a card to switch your dice. That will switch the bonus from the blessing from a d4 to a d10 as well, giving you a base 2d10 on the check.

Regarding spell choice:

Find Traps is a fantastic spell, since you can add the bonus to any character dealing with any barrier - essentially, as long as Lini has one of those in hand, there isn't much to fear from barriers.

Guidance is nice for small nudges on tight checks (Difficulty 6 charisma check for a character that only has a d6 charisma dice? Guidance just doubled their chances!). If you have an animal ally to reveal, Guidance is also a nearly guaranteed recharge (Divine 4, with 1d10+1d4+1) Aid is a better guidance (I just cant seem to get ahold of a copy - the only time one has come up, Amiri was alone at the location and botched the check!).

Fiery Weapon / Fire Sneeze if you can get it - more solid supportiness.

I will admit that my current 3-cure build is excessive, but it has prevented character death a time or two (Cure two party members, and then cure self if the recharge checks failed - as long as you never let all three cures sit in the trash, you can cure every round if needed).

The only way I can see running Lini as more offensive would be to stack Inflict/Holy Light more heavily. She could tear through things, but the recharges on those can be a bit tight sometimes.

[Tracker1]

I like your analysis.

One thing about the snake. It only gives the d4 to a melee attack, so it's recharge ability is pretty much useless to Lini, since she does not have Melee as a skill. It's to bad since there are not many animal allies yet and she could use the help.

[Myriade]

Actually a card gives its Trait to a character, so she can use Melee with the Snake and the minimum dice (''untrained'') which is 1d4. In her case it's the same as her Strenght which means the Snake works pretty well for her.

[Tracker1]

Myriade wrote:

Actually a card gives its Trait to a character, so she can use Melee with the Snake and the minimum dice (''untrained'') which is 1d4. In her case it's the same as her Strenght which means the Snake works pretty well for her.

Okay, i see what you are saying, but if i were to discard a card to get a d10 for her strength then she would not be able to use the snake, right?

[Myriade]

No she would not, if she rolls Melee she can only get a d4. And she can't use her power either to Reveal the Snake to get a d4 because she can use only 1 power per check.

[Tracker1]

Myriade wrote:

No she would not, if she rolls Melee she can only get a d4. And she can't use her power either to Reveal the Snake to get a d4 because she can use only 1 power per check.

Yep. On to something else though. Characters are allowed to use each power no more than once per check (page 11). so she could reveal an animal ally for the d4 and discard another card (or even the same card) for the d10.

[Myriade]

Tracker1 wrote:

Myriade wrote:

No she would not, if she rolls Melee she can only get a d4. And she can't use her power either to Reveal the Snake to get a d4 because she can use only 1 power per check.

Yep. On to something else though. Characters are allowed to use each power no more than once per check (page 11). so she could reveal an animal ally for the d4 and discard another card (or even the same card) for the d10.

You're right. The wording on page 11 does imply that you can use more than one power on a check. Can't wait to get a official opinion on that one.

[Tracker1]

Hopefully it's a little stronger than an opinion. But, in the meantime, it seems okay the way it is, at least in my unofficial opinion.

[Cheezgrater]

I agree with the "each power once" interpretation - otherwise lini's secondary power becomes too weak. Why would I discard a card to trade 2d4 for 1d10? It relegates her second power to a "I have no other option", instead of it being an interesting/useful option

[Spydurmn]

After completely soloing Lini to the Thistletop Delve (and dieing to an epic final battle with Nualia, a sad story for another time, but the gist is, go big or go home), here are my thoughts on this very versatile character:

Start her with 2 Cures, 2 Inflicts and Amulet of Mighty Fists. The other two spells are whatever, as you will work to replace them with more offense (as I am starting over, I will chose Strength and Sanctuary). As I play I always keep an animal in my hand. Always. With every single check you should be rolling a d4 (especially those Recharges). My goal is to blow stuff up with Divine magic (lovely d10+1), but if I don't have any, bear up and beat them, You will end up going into bear form quite a bit, but that is what the Amulet of Mighty Fists is for. My hands after about 5-7 turns of the blessings deck will (usually) always consist of an animal, and Amulet of Mighty Fists (between the two, two free d4s in bear form) and then cycling in whatever three cards I draw. The great thing about Lini, is you should never be in danger of dieing; it will usually be a race against the blessing deck. With two Cures, and your Recharge using a d10 and a d4 every time, you shouldn't lose any spells. Get used to always rolling a d4 with pretty much everything, don't forget it (in fact, get to that +1 power upgrade as soon as you can).

And finally some random notes from my play through: Work towards replacing the two non-Cure/Inflicts with Aid or Holy Light. My ideal animals at this time would be a Sabertooth Tiger, Toad (just in case I fail at a Recharge check), and either a Crow or Dog. Blessing of Gorum are nice for Bear form. “Then” villians are absolutely brutal when you aren't using weapons. When I was dealing with them, I made sure I went in stacked. Token of Remembrance is decent as well (just in case). Traitors are devastating, Damage before an encounter is also nasty. I have played most of the characters (no bard yet). Amiri has made it all the way through, completely solo. The Monk just finished Local Heroes. Tried an totally offensive minded Cleric, and it didn't seem to work nearly as well as Lini.

Well, time to start a new Lini.

[TClifford]

Yea discarding with Lini isn't that big of a deal because you can always Cure the card back into your deck. I like to run with Amiri because she can give Lini a weapon without losing too much power. Hand over the Ally Dart +1 and you really make both characters more powerful. Also it is funny to pick up the carry power of Amiri and have her just carry Lini into combat. Also, the first power you give to Lini should be the +1 to her Animal reveal ability. Really helps since you can use it for any check.

Personally, I think they missed out on something for Lini, that would have been a cool ability. Give her the power: If Lini hasn't moved yet this turn, at the end of her turn, reveal an Ally with the Animal trait to move to another location.

It goes along with her size and such. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense to reveal a Crow to move, but I think you get the idea. Wish it was on one of her role cards.

[Ron Lundeen]

I've been playing Lini for a couple of games, and I'm just starting to realize that having an animal ally is critical. I just have one spot in my hand with an ally in place and leave it there as long as possible. With that animal ally, Lini gets an extra d4 on just about everything--including things I didn't initially realize, like checks to recharge spells, close locations, and so on.

Unlike the melee monsters like Valeros and Seelah, Lini shouldn't be looking for creatures to fight, and should hang at locations with few monsters rather than several monsters.

The only puzzling thing I find about Lini is her +3 to Knowledge--why is that? Why is she so Knowledge focused, instead of focused on Fortitude, Craft, or any number of other things that seem more sensible (and, frankly, more useful) than Knowledge?

[Sythion]

Myriade wrote:

Tracker1 wrote:

Myriade wrote:

No she would not, if she rolls Melee she can only get a d4. And she can't use her power either to Reveal the Snake to get a d4 because she can use only 1 power per check.

Yep. On to something else though. Characters are allowed to use each power no more than once per check (page 11). so she could reveal an animal ally for the d4 and discard another card (or even the same card) for the d10.

You're right. The wording on page 11 does imply that you can use more than one power on a check. Can't wait to get a official opinion on that one.

This has been clarified... somewhere in these forums or on board game geek.

You can use multiple powers per turn, and you can use the same card for multiple things in a single turn as long as they are not part of the card text.

In the case of the snake, you could reveal it and then recharge it for 2d4, or you could reveal it then discard it to bump strength/dex to a d10.

[Sythion]

I played through burnt offerings solo with Lini and cruised through it with almost no challenge. Because of this I'm actually going to nerf 'Cure' to be a bury effect instead of a discard if it's not recharged.

How to make Lini run ridiculous? Stock up with all 6 cures for your spells and discard judiciously to bump str/dex to a d10.

[immortal squish]

It's your game, so feel free to houserule, but I really find that discarding for a d10 (even assuming you've got a bird/AoMF) still puts Lini behind any of the fighter types simply revealing a decent weapon.

Example:
Lini 1d10+2d4
(requires animal ally and amulet of might fist in hand, as well as discarding a card)

Valeros 1d10+1d8+3
(requires a longsword [basic weapon] in hand)

Amiri 1d12+1d8+4
(requires a longsword [basic weapon] in hand)

Once any of the fighter-types discard, they blow away Lini's best efforts. Lini does have better utility outside of combat, though, so its a fair trade off IMO.

Sure, it's nice that Lini can discard to get decent combat rolls on the fly (and Cure away the pain should she fail), but it seems a lot easier to just to roll a fighter and get permanently better combat rolls. That way you avoid taking any damage/discards in the first place. ;)

In other words, I wouldn't nerf Cure spells since packing too many of them just reduces your ability to dig through the decks (increasing the likelihood of running out of blessings). To each his own, though.

[Steve Geddes]

As a general rule, I'd play several times before deciding it's one feature which is too weak or too strong. I've found a great deal of variance with the same character in the same scenario. For example, I've played most with Amiri and never successfully acquired anything with the 'magic' tag. That makes the magic-only monsters a real pain. I daresay if I'd found a magic weapon early, I'd have a very different perspective on what was easy and what hard.

[immortal squish]

Regarding the OPs question, I think the basics have been covered pretty well:

1.) always pack an Amulet of Might Fists
2.) only take animal allies (and try to always have one in hand)
3.) take at least a couple of Cure spells
4.) never forget that your d4 animal bonus applies to damn near every roll you make, meaning Lini can often fill in for checks no one else has the skills for

My preferences beyond that are to concentrate on location deck searching, so Detect Magic/Detect Evil/Augury are some of my favorite picks (currently running cure x2, augury x2, holy light, fiery weapon). Personally, I found the basic combat/buff spells (Strength/Inflict) redundant due to shapeshift, but try them out for yourself. Just got both holy light/fiery weapon in my last game, so they may be leaving the deck too.

When deck building/upgrading, remember that animal allies not only are +1d4 on checks, but the ones that let you explore automatically recharge (instead of discard). So I'd recommend preferring animals that can also explore over any other kind of ally.

[Sythion]

immortal squish wrote:

Sure, it's nice that Lini can discard to get decent combat rolls on the fly (and Cure away the pain should she fail), but it seems a lot easier to just to roll a fighter and get permanently better combat rolls. That way you avoid taking any damage/discards in the first place. ;)

In other words, I wouldn't nerf Cure spells since packing too many of them just reduces your ability to dig through the decks (increasing the likelihood of running out of blessings). To each his own, though.

She is behind other fighter types in damage, that is true. However she is comparable, she can reliably use blessings for dice bonuses (because she can heal) and discarding is no pain to her (because she can heal).

With the current mechanics cure does not really to "heal" so much as remove the need for hand maintenance.

[TClifford]

immortal squish wrote:

It's your game, so feel free to houserule, but I really find that discarding for a d10 (even assuming you've got a bird/AoMF) still puts Lini behind any of the fighter types simply revealing a decent weapon.

Example:
Lini 1d10+2d4
(requires animal ally and amulet of might fist in hand, as well as discarding a card)

Valeros 1d10+1d8+3
(requires a longsword [basic weapon] in hand)

Amiri 1d12+1d8+4
(requires a longsword [basic weapon] in hand)

Once any of the fighter-types discard, they blow away Lini's best efforts. Lini does have better utility outside of combat, though, so its a fair trade off IMO.

Sure, it's nice that Lini can discard to get decent combat rolls on the fly (and Cure away the pain should she fail), but it seems a lot easier to just to roll a fighter and get permanently better combat rolls. That way you avoid taking any damage/discards in the first place. ;)

In other words, I wouldn't nerf Cure spells since packing too many of them just reduces your ability to dig through the decks (increasing the likelihood of running out of blessings). To each his own, though.

Why does everyone always bring up this argument when it comes to Lini? No one is saying that Lini can out fight any of the fighter types in the game. What we are pointing out is that she can handle her own in combat checks.

To that end neither Amiri or Valeros get +1d4 on ALL of their Checks. Both of their other checks are pretty average at best. Meanwhile Lini has usually a better than average to pass most of the checks in the game. Also, neither of them have the ability to heal themselves.

What we are pointing out is that Lini is a more all around better PC than both of them.

[immortal squish]

Well yeah, I'd agree that Lini is better suited to handle most non-combat encounters than the fighter types. She's a decent fill in whenever someone more specialized isn't available to handle a particular check.

I just don't find that as a reason to start saying that the character is better than the others overall.

When the game is primarily about killing monsters within a time limit, a character that sacrifices combat power should be better in other areas.

That's why I brought up Valeros/Amiri's combat stats. If Lini at her best is barely on par with their "not really trying" combat checks, then i am not sure where people get the idea she's OP. Lini is better at non-combat things, and they're better in combat. Sounds right to me.

[TClifford]

I don't think anyone is saying that Lini is OP, but she is a good Solo character to use. Personally, I parred her up with Amiri and they tore through all the scenarios.

[Cheezgrater]

TClifford wrote:

I don't think anyone is saying that Lini is OP, but she is a good Solo character to use. Personally, I parred her up with Amiri and they tore through all the scenarios.

I think the commentary on Lini's OP is actually more a commentary on the OP-ness of "Cure". Sythion noted plans to houserule Cure to be a Bury instead of a Recharge.

[TClifford]

First, I think you are totally wrong with Cure being OP. There are very few ways to get cards back from the discard pile. I think the mechanics are fine. If you think it needs to be nerfed, then make a house rule that it has a higher Recharge check then burying it. Second, then why isn't anyone saying Kyra is OP? She not only can case the spell, but has a power that Cures people.

[austinmonster]

The thing is - 90% of the things we are using in this thread to justify her usefulness could be used on ANY character. If you substituted the monk for the druid in all these, the checks would be the same, except for a d10 instead of one of the d4s. You shouldn't need to have the fighter or the ranger to make a character on par with the rest.

If anything, I'm arguing that Lini is Underpowered. If you compare her to the paladin, she's similar, but with a d4 (instead of a d6 I believe), and with both weapons and armor. Even her ability outshines the druids! Sure, she can exchange a card for an extra d6, but she might not even loose that card. Lini can get an extra six faces of a die (going from a d4 to a d10) but she MUST loose a card. Compare her to the cleric, who has a permanent cure spell already in her hand, AND has access to weapons and armor, and the comparison isn't even in the same ball park.

Take who characters like the sorceresses and the wizard - at least they are comparable. He gets no blessings, but his power legs you explore more. He's got a great chance to recharge his spells too. When you compare Lini two the other two divine casters, it's not even in the same ballpark.

When I solo the fighter and the druid, I always feel like the fighter is just kinda dragging his kid sister along to a mission because their mother said "Ok, you can go dungeoneering, but you have to bring your little sister with you." Sure she can do some useful stuff, but it's not as much useful stuff as other characters.

Maybe I'm going off on a rant here, but druids were/are my favorite class in DnD, and I can't help but feel like they got slighted in this iteration of the game.

[TClifford]

I think you are completely forgetting how powerful her reveal an Animal Ally for +1d4 to ANY check. That is huge.

BTW, I'm done on this thread. I've stated my case more than once. If anyone wants to continue to debate me, then see my earlier posts because there is no need to keep going over and over on the same territory.

[austinmonster]

TClifford wrote:

I think you are completely forgetting how powerful her reveal an Animal Ally for +1d4 to ANY check. That is huge.

BTW, I'm done on this thread. I've stated my case more than once. If anyone wants to continue to debate me, then see my earlier posts because there is no need to keep going over and over on the same territory.

I'm in no way saying you are wrong - I'm just saying many of the things everyone in this thread has used to justify he validity are things that most any other character can take advantage of.

What I would really like to hear is a dev chime in on the design decision for her. Why was she designed the way she was? What was the logic in some of the decisions?

And yes, the +1d4 is a huge advantage. Last time I played with her, I was never able to even keep an animal in my hand due to the constant damage I was unable to mitigate. If you never take damage, she's a great "jack of all trades" due to that extra die. Considering she's got zero mitigation and all her innate rolls are so low - taking a lot of damage is fairly likely.

[TClifford]

Sorry you have had problems with her. I haven't and my one complete pass through was with her and Amiri. Tough combo. Especially if Amiri gives up a weapon to Lini early in the game.

[immortal squish]

Lini definitely is more of a "force multiplier" character. She combos well with any of the other characters, and is great at filling in where needed.

She can explore more often than others by recharging animal allies and recycling blessings via Cure spells, but she's not going to typically do well at locations with lots of monsters/tough villians.

Personally, i find her balanced and very fun to play (running her combo'd with Amiri). For a solo run, I'd only do Lini if I were looking for a challenge.

TClifford wrote:

Sorry you have had problems with her. I haven't and my one complete pass through was with her and Amiri. Tough combo. Especially if Amiri gives up a weapon to Lini early in the game.

Indeed, it's a great combo ;)

I never thought about passing a weapon to Lini, but it makes a lot more sense than waiting to draw Amulet of Mighty Fists. Doing so also frees up one of those oh-so-precious item slots, maybe allowing for some damage mitigation (e.g. the basic, rechargable amulet that stops 3 damage).

Having not thought of that, I feel almost as silly as when I realized (after the first 5 senarios) that the 1d4 animal ally bonus applied to spell recharge rolls!

[Cheez]

Spydurmn wrote:

My goal is to blow stuff up with Divine magic (lovely d10+1), but if I don't have any, bear up and beat them, You will end up going into bear form quite a bit, but that is what the Amulet of Mighty Fists is for. My hands after about 5-7 turns of the blessings deck will (usually) always consist of an animal, and Amulet of Mighty Fists (between the two, two free d4s in bear form) and then cycling in whatever three cards I draw.

I saw several mentions of Lini and "bear form" in this really helpful thread (we're building the Lini starting character deck for my lil' daughter Abby).

I can't seem to find a mention of Lini turing into a bear anywhere. I must be totally blind. I feel foolish for asking but can someone explain where this Bear Form trait is and how it's used.

Huge thanks in advance for your wisdom +2,

Ben
BensRPGPile.com

[Mike Selinker]

Cheez wrote:

I can't seem to find a mention of Lini turing into a bear anywhere. I must be totally blind. I feel foolish for asking but can someone explain where this Bear Form trait is and how it's used.

It's a flavorful way to describe the power where she gets a d10 instead of her d4 in Strength.

[Cheez]

Mike Selinker wrote:

Cheez wrote:

I can't seem to find a mention of Lini turing into a bear anywhere. I must be totally blind. I feel foolish for asking but can someone explain where this Bear Form trait is and how it's used.

It's a flavorful way to describe the power where she gets a d10 instead of her d4 in Strength.

Ah I see. Totally makes sense. Thanks for clarifying, Mike.

Side Note: My 9-yr-old daughter and I played your wonderful game for four hours today. We spent quality time together and no one was in front of a tv. It was the best.

[Mike Selinker]

Cheez wrote:

Side Note: My 9-yr-old daughter and I played your wonderful game for four hours today. We spent quality time together and no one was in front of a tv. It was the best.

Coolness.

[Cheez]

Myriade wrote:

You can use multiple powers per turn, and you can use the same card for multiple things in a single turn as long as they are not part of the card text.

In the case of the snake, you could reveal it and then recharge it for 2d4, or you could reveal it then discard it to bump strength/dex to a d10.

Oh wow - we were totally overlooking this. It never occurred to us to reveal the snake for a d4 and then discard that same snake to bump STR/DEX to a d10. Thanks for calling that out.

Also, we're sorta struggling on what allies she should have in her starting hand. As we've been playing the campaign, she now has the Toad and two Snakes. However, my daughter plays Lini's combat style via Spells so the Snakes haven't been very optimal.

We are thinking that she should do Toad, Dog and Crow (instead of those two Snakes). Or, maybe keep do Toad, Snake (in case Valeros passes her an extra weapon during a Scenario) and Crow.

Any suggestions on Allies for Lini that anyone wants to share?

Thanks,

Ben and Abby

[OberonViking]

Cheez wrote:

I saw several mentions of Lini and "bear form" in this really helpful thread (we're building the Lini starting character deck for my lil' daughter Abby).

I can't seem to find a mention of Lini turing into a bear anywhere. I must be totally blind. I feel foolish for asking but can someone explain where this Bear Form trait is and how it's used.

"Rulebook, p.17, Sidebar: Lini, the druid wrote:

Lini commands animals to
do her bidding—a humble
dog will serve her better
than most humans will.
She’s a good spellcaster,
and can serve as a
healer if Kyra’s occupied.
If all else fails, she can
even turn into a bear to
bump up her Strength or
Dexterity considerably.
That lets her collect a lot of
non-Attack spells.

[Cheez]

Hah! Good eye! Leave it to a Viking to hunt that down;)

[OberonViking]

Actually, I copy/pasted those to a .doc to share with my kids. I like the way these sidebars give flavour to the mechanics as well as hints on how to play.

[Aebrams]

Okay... I just got this today and after pouring over all the characters, I thought Lini may be one of the best well rounded characters to just purely solo with. I want to first double check to make sure I'm not cheating as I just breezed through the first skirmish.

Given this hand: Amulet of Mighty Fists, Bear, Blessing of the Gods & w/e other 2 cards. Going in to combat using strength: reveal bear, reveal amulet for +2d4... discard one of the other cards for a d10 and can I now also discard a blessing of the Gods for another D10 for a total of 2d10 + 2d4?

That seems kind of crazy for only discarding two cards... especially packing 4 cures.

Also, can you Blessing of the Gods on top of an inflict to get an extra D10?

Thanks.

[cartmanbeck]

Aebrams wrote:

Okay... I just got this today and after pouring over all the characters, I thought Lini may be one of the best well rounded characters to just purely solo with. I want to first double check to make sure I'm not cheating as I just breezed through the first skirmish.

Given this hand: Amulet of Mighty Fists, Bear, Blessing of the Gods & w/e other 2 cards. Going in to combat using strength: reveal bear, reveal amulet for +2d4... discard one of the other cards for a d10 and can I now also discard a blessing of the Gods for another D10 for a total of 2d10 + 2d4?

That seems kind of crazy for only discarding two cards... especially packing 4 cures.

Also, can you Blessing of the Gods on top of an inflict to get an extra D10?

Thanks.

Yes to all of those things. Lini is a (literal) beast.

I would strongly suggest not using 4 of your spells for Cures. You can put in a Holy Light and an Inflict and be a much more well-rounded character.

[Fromper]

Aebrams wrote:

Okay... I just got this today and after pouring over all the characters, I thought Lini may be one of the best well rounded characters to just purely solo with. I want to first double check to make sure I'm not cheating as I just breezed through the first skirmish.

Given this hand: Amulet of Mighty Fists, Bear, Blessing of the Gods & w/e other 2 cards. Going in to combat using strength: reveal bear, reveal amulet for +2d4... discard one of the other cards for a d10 and can I now also discard a blessing of the Gods for another D10 for a total of 2d10 + 2d4?

That seems kind of crazy for only discarding two cards... especially packing 4 cures.

Also, can you Blessing of the Gods on top of an inflict to get an extra D10?

Thanks.

Your math is right. I usually play Lini with some combat spells (start with Inflict, upgrade to Holy Light when you can), but I've been thinking of trying this method of playing her. You'll discard a lot, but if you have enough Cures, who cares?

Just one question: How did you get a bear? I don't even remember seeing a bear card. Lini can only start with crows and dogs in her deck, since they're the only basic animal allies.

[Aebrams]

I meant Dog, sorry.

The other question I had was.... Can you use both an offensive spell and a weapon in a combat check? It seems like no, but I wanted to double check.

[Fromper]

Aebrams wrote:

I meant Dog, sorry.

The other question I had was.... Can you use both an offensive spell and a weapon in a combat check? It seems like no, but I wanted to double check.

No, you can't. Both of them are "for your combat check" cards, which define what die you'll use during the first step of the check. You can only use one card at that time.

[Bidmaron]

Myriade wrote:

Tracker1 wrote:

Myriade wrote:

No she would not, if she rolls Melee she can only get a d4. And she can't use her power either to Reveal the Snake to get a d4 because she can use only 1 power per check.

Yep. On to something else though. Characters are allowed to use each power no more than once per check (page 11). so she could reveal an animal ally for the d4 and discard another card (or even the same card) for the d10.

You're right. The wording on page 11 does imply that you can use more than one power on a check. Can't wait to get a official opinion on that one.

Don't we have that ruling now and the answer is you can't use more than one character power on a check?

[TClifford]

No, you can use more than one power on a check. You can't use the same power more than once on a check. That is straight from the rules.

[Bidmaron]

Thanks, TClifford. That makes Lini more playable (as you can recycle your discarded animal allies)

[Bwumpus]

Lini is my favorite to play. the "constant" 1d4 bonus from my helpful crow is wonderful. I like to think of her as the solo play jack of all trades.. (lem being the coop jack of all trades.. personally I think he he should be able to sing himself a ditty (recharge a card) for the 1d4 bonus that he can wording wise can only give others) As it is the measly extra d4 is amazing for lini. I run her with 2 cures and dmg spells/aid... I just wish there were more animals to choose from... we have named 'human' allies, why not named animal allies? heck maybe by the end she'll have a pet tree.

[TClifford]

Lini is pretty nice when you start bumping that ability up to +1 and +2...

[Calthaer]

Bwumpus wrote:

we have named 'human' allies, why not named animal allies? heck maybe by the end she'll have a pet tree.

Lini doesn't do trees, apparently, but I agree with you that it would be cool. We definitely need to see a druid character at some point whose spells, abilities, and allies include treants, grappling vines, and other arboreal wonders.

[Xen]

My lady plays Lini in our party (Valeros, Seoni, Mersiel, Lini, and Sajan) and usually sticks with Seoni. Last week Seoni's player couldn't make it so Lini was all alone and she did great. She has her deck as follows:

4x Blessings (Torag, Irori, 2x BotG)
1x Holy Light
2x Cure
2x Inflict
1x Strength (Looking for Aid or another Holy Light)
1x Holy Candle
1x Amulet of Fortitude (Amulet of Mighty Fists is with Sajan)
2x Toads
1x Father Zantus (Looking for Tiger)

She plays Lini as a caster and ONLY relies on her shifting when absolutely necessary. When it comes to healing, as far as I believe her ability allows her to recharge to Toad instead of burying it. This gives her endless Cures (Cure > Toad the Cure back > Recharge Toad). I always felt her shifting is a back up when you don't have the right cards in hand. Overall, played like this, she is probably the second best character, aside from Valeros, in our party.