So, with all the discussion about what applies when, I wanted to check and make sure I had one of my plays correct.
Playing with Merisiel and facing one of the villains last night. I had earlier acquired the Deathbane crossbow +1.
So, facing the villain I came up with these die.
Revealing the crossbow gave me: 1d12+1d8+1 Use your dex and the xbow damage
Revealing the Sage's Tome (I think?): 1d4 vs villain
Discarding a TotG to get an extra die: 1d12 Discard to add a die
Discarding another TotG to activate Merisiel's solo ability: 2d6 (1d6 if you recharge a card, 2 if you discard a card)
So, my roll was: 2d12+2d6+1d8+1d4+1
I just wanted to see if I doubled up on anything I shouldn't have, seemed like a helluva lot of die for one roll.
Thanks!
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Yeah, my group has found that once we knew where the villain is, there's often a lot of planning to get everyone in place and ready for the final fight and temp closing all the locations, but then the actual die rolls are insane. Because we spend part of that planning time moving cards around a cycling our decks to get what we need, there are times when the actual fight against the villain doesn't even require rolling, because we've got so many dice pumped into it that the minimum roll is enough to win.
Yes, it was BotG :)
My hand worked out really well for that one, but by the time I was getting to the Villain I had already cycled a fair amount of my hand through to have all the stuff I had, and it was the final villain confrontation so burning cards was not a problem.
Only thing I would question is playing 2 BotG for one check.
Rules pp. 11, Play cards that affect the check
"Each player may play no more than one of each card type"
However, immediately after that under Use a Characters' Powers
"Players may use any powers that apply to the check"
I wonder in this case if you are given an exception to the former rule, and can burn two BotG's, or if you have to make a choice between Discarding to either add an extra die, or activate the character power.
I feel like some clarification on this would be nice.
So in that case discarding a card as an activation cost for another power/ability/function does not count as playing that (discarded) card.
So in that case discarding a card as an activation cost for another power/ability/function does not count as playing that (discarded) card.
No, it does not. It just so happened I had that card to burn. Otherwise, any other card or card type would have worked.
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From page 10 of the rulebook:
Playing a card means activating a card’s power by revealing,
displaying, discarding, recharging, burying, or banishing the card.
So it only counts as playing that card if you use a power that's printed on that card. Merisiel's power to discard for an extra 2d6 is printed on her character card, not on the card she's discarding. Thus, the discarded card isn't being played, merely discarded.
Thanks guys, that seems very clear now.
You can get some ridiculously large numbers of dice to roll. Just last night, facing the Villain I, playing Seoni, took the second combat check against Gogmurt (Combat 13).
I played:
Scorching Ray, 1d12 +2 +2d6 (arcane check plus spell)
BotG, 1d12 (Blessing)
Wand of Force Missile 4d4 (Item)
Valeros was at my location, 1d4
Lem played a Blessing of Pharasma, 2d12 (discard to add 2 dice to a check when playing a spell)
For a total of 4d12 + 2d6 + 5d4 +2 (Minimum 13) for a total of 58! We really wanted that Villain dead!
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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You can get some ridiculously large numbers of dice to roll. Just last night, facing the Villain I, playing Seoni, took the second combat check against Gogmurt (Combat 13).
I played:
Scorching Ray, 1d12 +2 +2d6 (arcane check plus spell)
BotG, 1d12 (Blessing)
Wand of Force Missile 4d4 (Item)Valeros was at my location, 1d4
Lem played a Blessing of Pharasma, 2d12 (discard to add 2 dice to a check when playing a spell)For a total of 4d12 + 2d6 + 5d4 +2 (Minimum 13) for a total of 58! We really wanted that Villain dead!
I don't think you can technically add the Wand of Force Missile to another spell check. It's meant to be a check all on its own.
That would make sense - I'll have to read it carefully next time. I took it as bring a different card type, do could be played as well.
The wand is a 'for your combat check' card (of questionable value imho).
Apparently the villains only go up to 30-ish in difficulty which is a little disappointing given that we can already roll 40+ even in the first Adventure.
Apparently the villains only go up to 30-ish in difficulty which is a little disappointing given that we can already roll 40+ even in the first Adventure.
Where did you read that?
@h4ppy the wand is useful in our party for Seoni. She our only character that can defeat monsters that require Magic, and with only 3 spells so far, the wand allows her to have 2 offense and 1 defense spells in her deck.
So now she has 3 magic attack cards that automatically rechare, thanks to her brand new power feat!!!
Furthermore, this will allow her to carry a scouting spell once she gets a card feat.
So we do like the wand in our group.
4d4 for the wand is not bad, but without any modifiers being applied to the roll it is a bit risky to use. As we get further in the adventure packs. Many monsters will increase in difficulty based on the scenario number, so the wand will be pretty limited in what it can be used on safely.
Maybe there will be some spells that can only be played with a wand in the future, that would be cool.
Where did you read that?
Apparently the villains only go up to 30-ish in difficulty which is a little disappointing given that we can already roll 40+ even in the first Adventure.
From a play-tester's comments in the Difficulty rating of the next scenario packs thread
Although, to be fair, (a) that isn't an official source and (b) he mentioned Monsters rather than Villains.
@h4ppy the wand is useful in our party for Seoni. She our only character that can defeat monsters that require Magic, and with only 3 spells so far, the wand allows her to have 2 offense and 1 defense spells in her deck.
So now she has 3 magic attack cards that automatically rechare, thanks to her brand new power feat!!!
Furthermore, this will allow her to carry a scouting spell once she gets a card feat.
So we do like the wand in our group.
I'm glad you found a use for it!
For us, Seoni carries the Holy Candle (she's the one character guaranteed to see her whole deck!), something to help her with barriers and something to help get boons. Or maybe a healing potion!
Any time she uses her blast power (discard a card for ARCANE + 1d6) she is making a Magic attack, so carrying the wand seems like overkill. However, this tactic does rely on having a healer in the party to help her out otherwise she'll burn out (geddit?? ;-P ) too fast and then have to sit around waiting.
Mind you, we play with 6 characters so she only has to 'last' five or six turns. In a 2 character game where she had to play 15 turns your tactics would need to be different (man, I love this game's emergent strategy!).
Where did you read that?
Apparently the villains only go up to 30-ish in difficulty which is a little disappointing given that we can already roll 40+ even in the first Adventure.
From a play-tester's comments in the Difficulty rating of the next scenario packs thread
Although, to be fair, (a) that isn't an official source and (b) he mentioned Monsters rather than Villains.
Interesting.
I have had some rolls that go into high 30's and low 40's. typically these are with the last encounter against the villain, where I through everything i/we have at it. Thankfully we win in these situations, because the amount of cards discarded, buried, etc. Would leave us crippled if not dead for the next round.
There is no way i could get those rolls for numerous checks throughout the scenario that are around 30. Although deck size will increase, and characters will gain new feats cards, so it will probably balance out. I expect encounters will still remain quite challenging, and there is always the possibility of a horrendous roll.
Just picture facing the sandpoint devil a few times in any of the current scenario. it requires 2 combat checks at 20 each. Do you you think any character decks could survive regular encounters of this magnitude throughout a scenario?
Wow... using spellcasters without any healing around is a unique challenge - one that I don't think I'm quite ready for yet!
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Wow... using spellcasters without any healing around is a unique challenge - one that I don't think I'm quite ready for yet!
I wouldn't say that about all spellcasters - just Seoni. Ezren recharges most of his spells, so he cycles through his deck without discarding very often. And I'd usually give the divine casters at least one Cure each.
Wow... using spellcasters without any healing around is a unique challenge - one that I don't think I'm quite ready for yet!I wouldn't say that about all spellcasters - just Seoni. Ezren recharges most of his spells, so he cycles through his deck without discarding very often. And I'd usually give the divine casters at least one Cure each.
I find that whilst I charge through Seoni's deck fairly quickly (4 player game) I recycle the last three cards in her deck without a problem because she automatically recharges her spells. I choose to burn through Blessings and Allies to explore more often.
To add to this further I have ticked the ([ ] and items) on her card, and added a spell from her Card Feat. Her Wand of Force Missiles is also recycled routinely. And now I have the Wand of Minor Healing there is another card that recharges every use and adds one back in from my discard pile.
The only problems I have had for Seoni is finding myself without an offensive spell in hand and being forced to discard to use her Blast Power. Between using Augury and hitting hard enough to almost never take damage she is rarely forced to discard.
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Vesuvean, you're correct that you could not use the Wand of Force Missle with that. And Andrew is correct that you can play two blessings as long as they're from two different players. (Or three from three different players.)
Be careful when looking at a power or an item to see if it says whether it counts as a spell. For example, Seoni's power to blast things using her Arcane skill counts as a spell. If you play a spell, you cannot use that power.
The blessings are definitely fine, and you're right about the wand. It determines your combat check, and you can only play one of those. So you're right, it's not the best card around, but as the adventure goes on you'll find more and more monsters that force an Arcane or Wisdom check to play spells at all (and some deny it outright without even the option of a check). It can be useful to keep one of those around if you're playing a caster. I never really bothered, except with Necklace of Fireballs, which provides a huge +12 on top of its dice. Wand of Force Missile only giving 4d4, we found it easier just to throw blessings to let Seoni or Radillo punch a monster to death and save the caster's item slot for something more universally useful.
Then again, it's pretty frustrating to run into that Scarecrow Golem several times in a row and be caught flatfooted~ To say nothing of Harpies and Iron Golems, later on.
This is some impressive threadnomancy.