|
The second adventure part of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game recently came out, and I recently played through and reviewed my experience and posted my thoughts here. It’s fun, but I think some changes need to happen to make the game that much better. Right now it’s a fun game my wife and I play two nights every other month. I don’t tell my friends much about it, because it’s fun, but not the amazing experience I think it can be. Now, I think it’s pretty good, but a few things that honestly won’t cost Paizo that much to add or change could really make this the BEST co-op card game out there now. Let’s do a rundown of what I think needs to change.
BIG CHEAP FIX- one simple page-I want a one page, two sided piece of paper with a story, character, what’s going on, and better rule descriptions. I’ll go into depth below.
Story, Characters and Fluff- Rise of the Runelords is a phenomenal story arc. This game currently does an ok job of hitting the high points. But, as someone who hasn’t played this before, I don’t have a clue of what is going on. Right now I get, at best, two paragraphs describing what is happening on the back of a card. That’s ok in a simple card game where I roll dice, but I want to true RPG experience. I don’t know: what and where is Sandpoint? Who is the villain from the first adventure part? Why do I care about finding friends? What festival is going on? Adding a one page sheet (Heck post a PDF online) would really bring me that much more into the game. Introduce some NPCs, give some background, and drag me deeper into the world. My wife and I will read this aloud and know who we are in this card game. It will pay off in droves if I know who I am fighting and if I know I was betrayed. I will have “NO WAY!” moments that will hook me harder than a sea bass. I will want to tell my friends that you won’t see it coming. It will be awesome.
Instruction- When I reviewed the base box of the game, I didn’t really like how the rules were written. The expansions don’t have any extra rules besides what on the cards. Give me a sheet that explains the rules a bit more in detail. I HATE having to rush to board game geek or Paizo.com forums midgame to figure out how to play something. Giving me a good resource will really help with that. If I have that sheet or PDF handy, then I know what I’m doing.
Why the simple sheet? Well right now the biggest competitor to the Adventure Card Game is the Lord of the Rings LCG from Fantasy Flight. The Lord of the Rings game comes out every month with one adventure and gives both player and enemy cards. Right now I like the Lord of the Rings card game for a few reasons, but I think with a few changes the Adventure Card game can easily over take it. First is the sheet. The Lord of the Rings game gives a sheet with rules and story for each scenario. That sheet honestly stops all my rules questions and drags me into the world. The one sheet makes me that much more engaged in both theme and mechanics. However, there are a few other things I want to bring up that the Lord of the Rings game does that I think might help a bit. I realize that both games have different mechanics, but I think that some aspects could transfer quite well.
Different Decks-Right now, every deck is used for all the scenarios. This isn’t bad, but it’s kind of like using a random monster generator. Sometimes you get a hit where you roll to use an undead table and get a ghost in a haunted house. Sometime times you roll to use an aquatic creature in a desert. It kind of breaks the immersion in the game. I could see smaller decks like a 1-U for undead creatures in the first scenario pack. This would focus what monsters you encounter, but could still be mixed with other smaller decks to give some randomness.
Additional Mechanics-The general mechanics of the game work well. However, when you do this several times across an adventure pack, it does get a little stale. So far my absolutely favorite scenario is the Foul Misgivings. I loved the addition of the haunt and the random chance you could be attacked by the crazy ghost (I would like a bit more back story and some rule discussion, but that’s what I mentioned above). I think that shows that there is so much more potential for this game. Right now it’s the same action over and over, but that little bit of extra crazy made this so much more! Please DO MORE OF THAT!
Specialized Box and one quest sets- One of the more interesting aspects of the Lord of the Rings LCG is their print on demand sets and book boxed sets. Paizo has an amazing fiction, and I would love to play single mission or smaller boxed sets based on the books. I will give you more money! Want even more? Give me a battle interactive story pack that I can play at a con!
Those are some of my ideas. Overall, I love this game. I see it can be so much more. Honestly, just a few small tweaks will make this game awesome. The larger harder ideas I have I know will take some retooling. You have my money either way. At this game’s worst, it’s a fun way to spend time with my wife. Give me a reason to brag about this game to all my friends!
I have exactly the same feeling about this game! As awesome as I think it is, it could be improved. Hell, it could be easily the best fantasy game out there if only there was a little more story and flavor to it.
I've actually been thinking about this for a long time and already have some things written down to increase the RPG feel when playing with my game group. I bought the "Rise of the runelords Campaign anniversary edition" to read all the story. I think Paizo could easily make and sell some "Pathfinder the adventure card game RPG guide" with more in depth story to tell/read in between the scenario's. Here's a little example from what I've come up with (sorry for typos):
Burnt offerings : Attack on Sandpoint
Intro:
“It’s the First day of autumn, in Golorian a holiday called “The swallowtail release”. In Varisia, the local people of a town named Sandpoint, have been preparing a festival in honor of the goddess Desna and their newly built cathedral. Travelers and merchants from all over Varisia have gathered in the small town. Some have come In honor of Densa, others to make or waste money at the celebration. The festival started with the release of a thousand swallowtail butterflies in the sky. During the rest of the day all kinds of games were played and celebration songs were sung. Finally, as the sun begins to set, Father Zantus takes the central podium, uses a thunderstone to attract everyone's attention, and clears his throat as he prepares to recite the Prayer of First Dreaming. Just as Zantus is about to begin, you notice there’s a dead dog lying in a pool of blood under one of the wagons. When you investigate closer, you notice some small shades rushing between the wagons. A few seconds later, Goblins appear out of nowhere around the townsquare. As the goblins attack, they shriek and leap and race and cackle, taking great joy in the panic and fear they spread among the humans (whom most goblins insultingly call "longshanks"). Some goblins wave torches and light tents on fire, while others chase children and pets with ill intent. The entire time, goblin warchanters sing a horrifically catchy and nervewracking goblin song at the top of their lungs, further spurring their kin into murderous frenzy. Everywhere you look, goblins tear through merchant stalls, menace locals with their dogslicers, throw rocks through windows, and otherwise make terrors of themselves . There is no time to investigated how this pest has managed to infiltrate, they need to be dealt with, NOW!!!”
After slaying a goblin raider:
“For every goblin you slay, two of them seem to take its place. The constant battle has exhausted most of the soldiers and they probably won’t be able to hold the attackers off many longer. The situation seems completely desperate. Perhaps killing their leader would demoralize them enough to call of the attack?”
After defeating Tsuto:
“This will be the one who’s responsible for the infiltration of the goblins! Traitor! As the coward he is, he runs away into the crowd. In a blink of the eye, he disappears. Maybe he got away this time, but next time you’ll make sure to put him behind bars for the rest of his life.”
Ending:
“By the time you’ve defeated Ripnugget and Stickfoot, the Sandpoint's overall battle against the goblins has been decided . Surviving goblins flee north in droves , in some cases preferring to leap to their certain deaths off the cliff at Junker's Edge rather than be captured. Several of the little menaces are caught alive , but they prove useless when interrogated; none of these goblins know much more than that they were given orders to kill everyone in town and burn down the place. None of the captured goblins can even remember their leader's name, apart from the fact that he was one of "you longshanks." Their leader was on a secret mission to the town's graveyard-that much most goblins can say, but none of them know what that mission was . It was secret, after all!
When you rethink the whole battle, you do seem to remember encountering a suspicious looking half-elf. After informing the sheriff, an investigation is set up and wanted posters are spread amongst the people. The sheriff assures that he won’t be able to hide for long. That better be true, cause he’s the only one who might know what the goblins are up to. Whatever it may be, you have the feeling they’ll be back soon…”
Local heroes:
Intro:
“The local inhabitants from Sandpoint are very grateful for the defense of their humble little town. In exchange they offer many gifts and services. Explore the town of Sandpoint and gather all the recourses you can get. They may come in handy for your future adventures.”
Ending
“Satisfied you roam the streets of Sandpoint, taking great joy in the blessings and gifts you have received. All of the sudden, a distant voice calls upon you. In the distance you see the sheriff running towards you. When he finally arrives at your location, he first takes some deep breaths before speaking. “We..” he begins and takes another deep breath, “We got him! We got the Traitor! Tsoto, that elf scum! He hasn’t said anything yet, but it won’t be long until we break that spirit! Follow me!”
Trouble at Sandpoint:
Intro:
“No I won’t say a thing! You’ll all die be the hand of my love!”
The bloody face of Tsuto laughs maniacally. Although he’s totally naked and bound to a chair, he doesn’t seem to feel any embarrassment.
“ I don’t understand” says the sheriff. “Nobody ever lasted this long during an interrogation. What can we do?”.
You look around searching for any clues, but doesn’t seem to see anything interesting.
“Did he had any personal belongings on him when you caught him?” you ask.
“Well, all his clothes are right up there” and the sheriff points at the corner of the room.
While searching the clothes, you find a little black notebook. The moment Tsuto notices what you found he yells: “No! That’s mine! You can’t touch that!”.
You flip open the little book and begin to read. At first it seems just an ordinary diary. But when you look closer, you spot several detailed descriptions of a woman he calls “My love”. On some pages, drawings of a naked succubus like woman are included. When showing this to the sheriff, he immediately recognizes the drawings. “Nualia? Is she still alive? Is she behind all this?” Tsuto silently stares to the grounds.
“Who is Nualia?” You carefully ask.
“It’s a sad story. She’s the daughter of our former religious leader. She got pregnant from a local Varisian, and miscarried her child. It was a deformed monster that was burned the same night after it was born. She died in a fire that burned down our cathedral.”
“No she didn’t…”, Tsuto says. “She’s still alive and soon she’ll come to burn the rest of this pathetic village! After that, Lamashtu the goddess of monsters will complete her transformation!”
“Enough from you!”, the sheriff yells and he punches the arrogant elf in the face. “Where is she hiding?!”
The next moment a panicking scream sounds in the distance.
“It seems like the next raid has already begun”, Tsuto says. “You’re too late. Your fate is sealed!”
When defeating Koruvus:
“The disformed goblin shivers and shakes in pain. Ultimately, he crawls to a small hole near some rubble.
No doubt the monsters entered the town true this tunnels. Determined you enter the tunnels to search for clues. While going deeper into the earth, the ruins of ancient catacombs begin to reveal itself in the darkness…”
Hope this example gives Paizo some neat idea's ;)
After a deep investigation of the cards and the original story, I have to admit that the folks at Paizo did a very good job to describe the story in just a few sentences on the cards. So good, that almost all essential information is on there. I'll have to change my stated opinion above. Keep up the good work!