Starting the second adventure in the path, my group has noticed some strange things on a few of the powers. I was wondering if these might be misprints or we're not understanding them.
Valeros: When you play a weapon ([]or armor), you may recharge it instead of discarding it.
This doesn't apply yet, but there are no armors you can discard yet, and the pattern seems like there won't be. Should it be bury for armor?
Lini: You may reveal an ally with the Animal trait to add 1d4 ([] + 1) ([] + 2) to your check.
This seems very overpowered. Our player just holds an animal at all times to get 1d4 (+2 at this point) for every check. This effectively adds a +3 to every skill. Should it be recharge or discard?
Seoni: You automatically succeed at your check to recharge a spell([] or item) with the Arcane trait.
There are only 2 items with the Arcane trait, and the Wand of Force Missiles is pretty much already obsolete. I had the misfortune of not understanding this rule and choosing this power, only to never use it. Should many of the items with an Arcane check to recharge have the Arcane trait?
Regarding what you said about Valeros, there was another thread on here about how the +1 shocking bow worked very differently than the regular bow (maybe it was a frost bow, I don't remember exactly, the detail isn't important) and Mike chimed in to say that while there is a pattern to certain types of cards, they do break away from it on occasion. So I am sure that there will be armors that are discarded, they just might be special ones. (Or maybe there already is one or two, and we have just missed it, I certainly don't have every card memorized).
Regarding Lini, the power is correct, and it is fairly strong, but keep in mind that her deck by default has very little damage reduction, so a poor roll that results in damage could make that animal disappear for a while. I know I saw at least one thread regarding just how strong/weak she is, the general consensus is she is at least decent at almost anything with that power, but fairly balanced overall. I've only seen her plated once, by my girlfriend, and it was a 6 player game and everyone was learning the rules, so it was kinda crazy, but I am sure she will have her moments where the extra 1d4 makes the difference, and plenty more moments where it won't matter either way.
Finally, on the subject of Seoni, I am sure there will be other good items with the arcane trait down the line. Keep your eyes open, and use whatever you have to to add them to your deck!
The Lini question has been discussed many times, and what is there is in fact what the designers intended. The fact this can be used on skill checks with just a reveal compensates somewhat for the fact that the character doesn't have high-powered arcane damage spells or great weapons skills.
I should have researched the Lini power more on the boards. I looked through the FAQ and searched the Seoni power (since I'm playing her).
I'll try to do some more research on the creators' intentions before I form too strong an opinion. At this point I see her having better odds with an unlisted skill than others have with a d12 skill.
The other two points are similar, and both relate to using a power to gain a benefit on a small subset of cards. I don't mind that these powers are hard to use, but it'd be more fulfilling to see them be more powerful (since they're applicable more rarely).
Been playing Seoni now that our Merisiel/Kyra duo is about as kitted out as it's going to be. I was looking forward to that first power trait only to discover, like Markon, that even the things you would expect to be Arcane (Amulet of Life, Shireldon Medallion) aren't! Kind of a bummer, since I'm not particularly excited about adding +1 to her fireball, and definitely not excited about adding +2 to it during Skinsaw. And while I like 6 card hands (which most people here don't seem to, I think) 7 feels too vulnerable for my tastes. Bummer, because she's great otherwise.
I believe the Wand of Shield is Arcane (and we found one, luckily) which is one of the reasons I bit the bullet and put the check in the auto recharge an Arcane item box.
So my items are the Medallion, Wand of Shield, and Staff of Minor Healing for 2 auto recharge and one check to recharge. I feel the more auto-anything, the better.
Maus
If memory serves the wand of shield is only combat damage while the amulet of life (and the medallion?) are any damage. That's enough of a reason for me to risk the recharge. But then, Seoni duos with Lem, who basically always has a cure on hand. If Seoni didn't have access to immediate curing I would get the appeal of a guaranteed recharge armor.
Merisiel's got both our box's staves of healing, so Seoni's not touching them any time soon.
crzftx wrote: Starting the second adventure in the path, my group has noticed some strange things on a few of the powers. I was wondering if these might be misprints or we're not understanding them.
Valeros: When you play a weapon ([]or armor), you may recharge it instead of discarding it.
This doesn't apply yet, but there are no armors you can discard yet, and the pattern seems like there won't be. Should it be bury for armor?
Lini: You may reveal an ally with the Animal trait to add 1d4 ([] + 1) ([] + 2) to your check.
This seems very overpowered. Our player just holds an animal at all times to get 1d4 (+2 at this point) for every check. This effectively adds a +3 to every skill. Should it be recharge or discard?
Seoni: You automatically succeed at your check to recharge a spell([] or item) with the Arcane trait.
There are only 2 items with the Arcane trait, and the Wand of Force Missiles is pretty much already obsolete. I had the misfortune of not understanding this rule and choosing this power, only to never use it. Should many of the items with an Arcane check to recharge have the Arcane trait?
For Valeros, no, it's what they intended. Mike Selinker implied that there would be at least 1 shield you can discard for an effect in a later pack, and you don't have to worry about that until the end of the 3rd adventure anyway (since that's when you pick the specialty).
For Lini, it's not a given that she gets an animal all the time. She can be downright mediocre in combat sometimes, and lose her initial animal, especially over a long slog and she needs to conserve cards instead of tossing them to being a bear. We had trouble with her just our last campaign because of combat.
For Seoni, there will probably be more items later with the Arcane trait.
The designers designed the whole Runelords campaign at once, so they're aware that some of the traits act later. If you look at the character sheets there's a few more wands available (but on the other hand, I don't see any rods in this campaign...)
And besides, Seoni is already quite powerful normally :)
No arguing that. Having a partner to cure you (every turn, if necessary, though that's a bit selfish) removes Seoni's primary limiting factor, and her deck primarily composed of Allies and Blessings fits my play style which is "burn everything to explore, no matter what." I've actually eased off of the gas a bit because I ended a turn realizing I'd depleted my wife's, playing Lem, entire hand asking for d4 boosts. Whoops. :D
GreyMaus wrote: So my items are the Medallion, Wand of Shield, and Staff of Minor Healing for 2 auto recharge and one check to recharge. I feel the more auto-anything, the better.
Maus
Sure, but you'd probably recharge the wand anyway. I guess I shouldn't have spent those skill points on arcane. Also I find taking damage three times in one game very rare, so I'd have been ok not recharging them.
zeroth_hour wrote: For Lini, it's not a given that she gets an animal all the time. She can be downright mediocre in combat sometimes, and lose her initial animal, especially over a long slog and she needs to conserve cards instead of tossing them to being a bear. We had trouble with her just our last campaign because of combat.
True, not guaranteed, but with 4 animals in 16 cards with 5 in your hand, it's very likely. Also she's guaranteed to start with one. True, she's not the best at combat, but hasn't close to dying in our games.
I've found Lini to be extremely strong. She will often explore 2 or 3 times and passes almost every check. The deck runs 4 cures and two holy lights, and uses some extremely aggressive card cycling.
To top it off, if a combat check goes badly she can casually discard her entire hand without long-term repercussions.
Note that playing her in a supporting role does reduce her capacity to do the above, but in the long term simply acquiring boons does support the party tremendously.
She's been a blast to play, and is easily my favourite character. I'm a big fan of polymath style characters in general, though. And you need to be willing to fail your combat check if the 3rd or 4th explore is a monster.
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