Cautious optimism of the future of this card game


Pathfinder Adventure Card Game General Discussion

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I just finished the published material with my wife. We loved the game, but what I am concerned with is what will happen in the future. The game is great, but the mechanics are very similar throughout the entire game. That is great, but if the next adventure is the same, then I will be disappointed. The adventure game does vary some things, but I can’t help but compare the game to the Lord of the Rings Card Game. My wife does not completely agree with the comparison, but she does think that the Lord of the Rings game has more variety. The game instructs the players to make new piles of cards, the draw differently, to completely make new adventures and go quest alone, and more crazy things. While some of those mechanics openly do not work so well, the game shows no fear in finding new ways to play. I would like the makers of this card game to look at that one and see how the Pathfinder Adventure card Game can grew. I’m cautiously optimistic that Paizo will make something new and awesome, but I also have a touch of bad feeling that something might go awry.


Here's my high level analysis -

Play through multiple times with varying sized groups and a different character to play in each group.

Probably play it like gangbusters for about a month then get completely burnt out.

Take about a month off to play other stuff.

Then new chapter to the AP is released, go "Squeee", and play through like crazy again for a few weeks with all the varying "parties".

Take about a month off...

rinse, repeat...

August 2014 rolls around, begin process all over again with new base boxed set not set in Sandpoint and new AP.

P.S. - Paizo, Shut Up And Take My Money!


I don't know anything about the LotR card game, so no comment on that. I am, however, a bit concerned how the game will carry between groups once players start getting to part 3. In that part, you completely remove banes and (if you want) blessings with the basic trait that get banished. That means, not only will you need separate deck lists, but separate box lists as well. For example, if you're on part 4, then you move to a group where you're on part 1, you have to make a note of each card removed, put them back in, then remove all cards with a 2-4 on them. Then if you go back to the group on part 4, you have to put back in all the 2-4 cards, but then remove all the cards that were removed during play.

Sounds like this can get pretty convoluted if you have multiple groups.


Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

@Mechalibur

Yeah, it has the potential to get pretty crazy once we all get past Hook Mountain Massacre.

I see it playing out this way. All cards will be in your box in the places you want them. If you are bouncing around between advanced groups and new groups, anytime you encounter an inappropriate card in the new group, just take it out of the game and draw a new one of the same type from the box. And if on the redraw from the box it is still an inappropriate card, try again until you get one that you can use. As long as you redraw the same type, there shouldn't be a problem.

Liberty's Edge

The problem is that if there is 3 cards of one Basic monster but you've banished only 2 while playing adventure 3 and after, then you have to remember that there is one left of this particular monster. When you multiply that by all the basic cards, it can get pretty complicated, pretty fast.


Mechalibur wrote:

I don't know anything about the LotR card game, so no comment on that. I am, however, a bit concerned how the game will carry between groups once players start getting to part 3. In that part, you completely remove banes and (if you want) blessings with the basic trait that get banished. That means, not only will you need separate deck lists, but separate box lists as well. For example, if you're on part 4, then you move to a group where you're on part 1, you have to make a note of each card removed, put them back in, then remove all cards with a 2-4 on them. Then if you go back to the group on part 4, you have to put back in all the 2-4 cards, but then remove all the cards that were removed during play.

Sounds like this can get pretty convoluted if you have multiple groups.

Someone else on the boards suggested the solution of just ignoring cards from a higher set than the one you're playing. So if you went back to play part 1, you'd just add in whatever basic cards had been removed (this is all that you'd need to make a separate note of beyond the character sheets) and then play part 1 as usual - setting up with the entire pack of basic through to set number 4. Any time a card turned up from sets 2-4 it would just be returned to the box and replaced with a card of the same type.

I agree it will be a little bit of effort, but I suspect it will be manageable. It would no doubt depend on the group, but if you were going to play for an evening the sorting and recording could all be done ahead of time by whoever owned the game - not dissimilar to the amount of work in a DM's preparation for a session.


I agree this is a shortcoming of the game, but I would point out I have already played this game as much as many games I have purchased, and I have not completed Attack on Sandpoint. I expect to get my money's worth.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

We haven't seen the actual rule yet, but I am pretty sure Mike said that you straight up remove all Basic Banes from the game after the 3rd adventure. You don't have to encounter them first. It is the Boons, that you choose to remove or just Banish when you use them. Which asks the question, what do you do with Basic Boons that you don't Banish? But I figure they have some time to figure that out.

The real issue is have multiple groups playing in different sets. That becomes a little more time consuming, but not really. I can usually pull a set out of the game and reshuffle in about 15-20 minutes. Really not that big of an issue. Add another 5-10 minutes to make the scenario and that is less time then it takes me to set up most of the other boards games I play. Heck, I have been playing Talisman for 30 years now and that still takes me like 15-20 minutes to set up.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Designer

TClifford wrote:
We haven't seen the actual rule yet, but I am pretty sure Mike said that you straight up remove all Basic Banes from the game after the 3rd adventure. You don't have to encounter them first. It is the Boons, that you choose to remove or just Banish when you use them. Which asks the question, what do you do with Basic Boons that you don't Banish? But I figure they have some time to figure that out.

This is the rule, from the Rise of the Runelords adventure path card:

After you begin The Hook Mountain Massacre, whenever you banish a bane with the Basic trait, remove it from the game; whenever you banish a boon with the Basic trait, you may remove it from the game. After you begin Sins of the Saviors, do the same for cards with the Elite trait.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Thanks for the clarification. I thought it was stated on the boards not the rule book.

So what do you do if you have a Basic Boon card that you can't Banish but you want to get rid of it.


TClifford wrote:

Thanks for the clarification. I thought it was stated on the boards not the rule book.

So what do you do if you have a Basic Boon card that you can't Banish but you want to get rid of it.

My understanding is that, when you rebuild decks after a scenario, any cards that are not used in a character deck are then banished, so you could get rid of it that way.


TClifford:
If you encounter a boon, you do NOT have to attempt to acquire it...you can simply choose to banish it.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

A. The rules state that when you rebuild your deck you have to use the ones to finished the scenario with and you can trade with the other people. You can't just say you don't want a card and banish it for another. So, if you don't get a replacement, your stuck with that card.

B. I'm talking about boons that are already in your deck/hand/discard/bury/given to you from other PCs etc.


TClifford wrote:

A. The rules state that when you rebuild your deck you have to use the ones to finished the scenario with and you can trade with the other people. You can't just say you don't want a card and banish it for another. So, if you don't get a replacement, your stuck with that card.

True.

However, if I am not being "too picky" during a scenario, I can almost always guarantee grabbing at least one of a specific type of boon. It may take grinding through the first Hook Mountain Scenario a couple times to thin down the decks (any cards left at a location when it is closed are banished), but you could almost certainly nab a new weapon to replace your basic mace.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that if you start HMM with many basic cards still in your deck, you will have a hard time making it out alive. Try to get rid of as many as you can with Elite/1/2 cards before you reach that point.


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TClifford wrote:

Thanks for the clarification. I thought it was stated on the boards not the rule book.

So what do you do if you have a Basic Boon card that you can't Banish but you want to get rid of it.

You find a better boon to replace it.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

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fine_young_misanthrope wrote:
I just finished the published material with my wife. We loved the game, but what I am concerned with is what will happen in the future. The game is great, but the mechanics are very similar throughout the entire game. That is great, but if the next adventure is the same, then I will be disappointed.

Each chapter of the Adventure Path finds some new ways to play with the standards a little. Each contains at least one scenario that plays fast and loose with the typical "seed villains and henchmen into locations, then corner and defeat the villain" concept. But we needed to establish the paradigm for players before we can break it. :-)

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I guess my point was, when I played the LotR card game, in the first three games, three different types of rules were shown. One was a "base" game where the players quested, defeated monsters, and won easily. Two was a bit of a tweak where you couldn't fight monsters for a little bit, but then had to fight them all at the end. And three was a questioning, item finding scenario where one of your three heroes (each player gets one to three heroes in that game) is locked out until you get the items to rescue him. Now, the Pathfinder Adventure Card game is fun. Don't take that I hated it by any means, but I am worried that if the next six scenarios in the next adventure are the same with just A)Mix piles B) find bad guy, I will fill really jilted.

But, unlike most of the people who whine on the internet I have IDEAS! Here is my quick ones that you can discuss how horrible they are:
1)Dungeon crawl for an object-Each room of the dungeon is the same basic build (monsters, allies, items etc) with several fake items and one real item. No location can truly be closed. When a player finds the item, summon an XXXX to defeat. If they fail, mix all locations together and redistribute all cards to every location.
2)Cross country flight-heroes hunt down a villain. But if they find a henchmen or defeat the villain and fail, retrieve all the villains and remaining henchmen plus one random card per location. Mix and redistribute to all locations.

Basically, give me something new. I keep coming back to the LotR card game because its the first type of co-op mission based card game I've played that is monthly supported by new missions. Each month for that game, you get a pack of cards for $15 with a few player cards and a new scenario. I will admit, some of the scenarios are pretty hard and some are not that great, but its something completely new. That novelty really fuels the game. I LOVE what I've played of the Pathfinder version of this idea. The idea of player a card based RPG is exactly what I want. Now, I just want it to stay what I want. Even in an RPG, murdering the 20th goblin warren gets boring.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

fine_young_misanthrope wrote:
...I am worried that if the next six scenarios in the next adventure are the same with just A)Mix piles B) find bad guy, I will fill really jilted.

That's exactly want I was trying to say above—at least one scenario in each chapter puts a twist on that format. (Think of Local Heroes in Chapter 1.)

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