Ghosts of the Deep is pretty brutal solo


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Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

Made some attempts at Ghosts last night with a single character. First tried Olenjack but had to retreat and wait out the timer (down to 2 cards in deck) without even acquiring any boons. Next I gave Wu Shen a try but died, again no boons. If it would be helpful I can report these sessions but I don't intend to continue the characters(obviously the dead one I can't, and Olenjack didn't really fit my playstyle the way I thought he would - neither has any long term effect as I started completely over after).

Next I tried Meliski the bard. I like his abilities and he is in a lot less danger of dying, but I still can't actually win the scenario. I'm slowly improving my deck because I'm actually getting boons, but currently I'm 0 for 3 on attempts to win with him.

There are two major obstacles I haven't gotten past at the same time: Raker Shoals and the villain. I save Raker Shoals for last because it requires a hand wipe to close, plus an unavoidable damage every turn if you want to keep your ship from being wrecked. (And I can't really repair the ship with no Craft skill, so I have to try and keep it from wrecking or else the Shoals won't close) So instead my "plan" is to chase the villain there so I don't have to worry about my ship wrecking(extra timer loss isn't too big a deal in solo play).

The villain is tricky because he requires 2 checks to beat, plus a 3rd check to avoid his numbers going up. Well Meliski has no weapons and there are only 2 Basic attack spells in the Bard deck. I can try to punch him with a blessing at 2d8 and a possible reroll, but it's tough to get the 14+ I need there.

Anyone else tried the scenario solo? I'm hoping it can be beat with this character because I'm having fun, it's just really tough.


Yeah, I've played Ghosts of the Deep solo with a character from each class other than Bard (I had already passed it as a duo with a friend playing a Fighter).

-Olenjack (Rogue): The first character I tried to solo with. I felt very useless. He just wasn't doing well on his own and I felt like I really needed someone to carry him a bit. In retrospect, I probably should have used his "recharge an ally to evade a bane" power more often, especially on the Haunts. I tried three times with him and got near death and gave up all three times pretty early on.

-Agna (Ranger): I figured she'd be pretty good with her powerful melee and ability to recharge her allies for extra explores. That kind of backfired because in solo you don't really need the extra exploration so much. She'd be much better in a larger group. The first time I failed, letting the time run out after she was close to death. Then I tried again. When she was getting close to death she ended up getting thrown Overboard. With only a d6 Constitution and no ways to boost it, she was dead. Sad day.

-Tarlin (Cleric): This beat-stick, with the ability to heal himself, did much better! First try and he won the scenario. Yay!

-Vika (Fighter): Another beat-stick and another win on the first try! Nice.

-Seoni (Sorcerer, Runelords Ver.): She died pretty badly the first try. I don't remember what it was exactly that killed her. I tried again with her twin sister and although she didn't die, she was far from winning the scenario.

-Darago (Wizard): I was hoping his extra d4 against Undead would help here, but he still lost.

-Agna 2 (Ranger): After I played a session with friends at my local game store and played The Lone Shark (played my Tarlin, failing with a 6-character group and then winning with a duo after four of the people left), I decided to give Agna another shot solo. I played Ghosts of the Deep again and lost 3 times. I decided to switch gears and played The Lone Shark with her and beat it without too much trouble (having only two locations makes it pretty manageable, especially for a good combat character). Then I played Ghosts of the Deep two more times. I lost the first time again. Then I had one of the most tense experiences I've ever had with this game. With one location left, Agna once again got thrown Overboard! I was freaking out! But I was able to meet the villain and kill him before I drowned to death. It was pretty crazy. I really didn't want to lose a whole sheet worth of chronicle records.

So yeah, Ghosts of the Deep is pretty rough with a single character, but not unwinnable. It seems especially rough for characters with no reliably good combat abilities (meaning, it's a bit rough for spellcasters and characters with low combat scores). And being able to heal yourself is definitely a plus, as it is with any solo scenario. Oh, and please stay on the boat.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

My Olenjack attempt was very rough as well, but I ended up with my one starting hand ally, and the other four clumped together at the bottom of the deck - so by the time I saw them I was on the brink of death.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

Whelp, attempt 4 at Ghosts with Meliski has come and gone. I knew I was in for a rough go when I lost my Cure spell to a Vine Choker in the first five turns. Once all my blessings and both my attack spells were in the discard(the recharges get very tough once both Haunts are in effect) I decided to let the timer run out.

I think I need to try and secure a B item and pick up those Ivory Dice. They at least give a 50/50 shot at passing any check. Might need them to take on the villain.

1/5

pluvia33 wrote:
-Olenjack (Rogue): The first character I tried to solo with. I felt very useless. He just wasn't doing well on his own and I felt like I really needed someone to carry him a bit. In retrospect, I probably should have used his "recharge an ally to evade a bane" power more often, especially on the Haunts. I tried three times with him and got near death and gave up all three times pretty early on.

This wouldn't have worked. The Scenario rules indicate "When you encounter..." to put the haunt in front of someone. That occurs before the your chance to evade. If it said "before you act", then it would be evadable since that happens after the chance to evade.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

It turns out that fifth time is the charm. Managed to recharge my Cure three times and keep my deck from running low, and hit the villain with both my attack spells and three blessings in hand.

It's slightly easier with two players, only took my girlfriend and me three attempts to win it, with one TPK.

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