Hi all, newcomer to the forums here. Sorry in advance for the wall-of-text post. I ramble.
So after being hooked on the Rise of the Runelords set via the digital game, I've moved on to dabbling in Wrath of the Righteous (I know, a bit late to the party in both respects). I'd like to consider myself as taking a highly strategic approach to games, and do all I can to learn the ins, outs and specifics of any set of mechanics placed before me.
With that said, with how my Wrath of the Righteous 3-man campaign is progressing, I'd just like to make absolutely sure I'm not misunderstanding certain rules, because... it's turned from a very challenging introduction to a worryingly easy adventure path, making me think I'm handling certain bonuses or rules wrong with the advantages the game seems to be giving me. As such, I'd just like to list a few of my assumptions/understandings, in the hope that someone will correct me if I'm unknowingly 'cheating'.
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Background: I am currently playing scenario 3-2, with a group of Balazar, Crowe and Imrijka.
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1. Balazar/Padrig full bonuses.
My Balazar has +1 to Strength and +2 to Charisma (mostly as a result of the end-of-adventure 2 load of 5 skill feats from the Knights of Kenabres). It's currently Adventure Deck 3, and I'm using the Mythic Marshal path.
Am I correct in stating that, when using Padrig's ability - placing a card from my hand to the top of my deck - my static bonuses total to +11 when I have a full 3 charges? Arcane Skill (1d10 + 2 [arcane] + 2 [skill feats]) + Strength Skill (1d6 + 1 [skill feat] + 3 [mythic marshal]) + 3 (adventure deck number)?
When dealing with almost any B or 1 deck monster, including various summoned or placed henchmen such as the constant Wights of 3-1, my static bonuses alone usually render a defeat with Padrig without needing to play a card besides the one I have to return to the top of my deck. Against larger enemies, villains and the like, dumping a series of monsters into extra 1d4s or relevant double-die blessings for more d6s allow me to hit values of greater than 30-40 with far more ease and consistency than pretty much anyone else in the group (with the possible exception of Crowe when backed up by perfect, heavy blessing support from all players).
Furthermore, I find Balazar carrying the most utility, with his suite of non-attack spells and large hand size, and his roles (when I get to them) further allow for a constant generation of monsters via recharging spells (then using cards such as the Ring of Forcefangs to dig back through my deck to redraw all of the spells to spawn yet more monsters) or translating these absurd bonuses to constitution and dexterity checks too.
To be frank, he's outclassing both of my other characters, or at least I feel he is, to such a degree that I'm worried I'm mis-reading him.
Finally, he can utilize d20s quite frequently, due to...
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2. Double-Mythic Marshals?
So given his tendency for both Charisma/Arcane checks, and Strength combat, naturally I chose Mythic Marshal for Crowe as well, and I have a habit of when both Crowe and Balazar are on the same location simply aggressively spending charges and 'handing off' charges to each other. Crowe uses one charge, passes a check, gives Balazar one. Balazar explores, uses a charge, passes a check, gives Crowe one. It's not fullproof - if either fail a check with it, or fail to come across a bane/boon that allows for a Strength or Constitution check, then it's possible that I end up wasting a charge, but the cycle certainly improves both of them dramatically, changing Balazar to using a d20 during any old combat, and setting Crowe up for a d20 rather than a d8 on arcane skill checks (assuming he doesn't bury/recharge a card for another bonus).
As an aside, mythic paths feel like they make villains a joke. You have to usually deal with some pre-combat check or unique condition on defeating them, but once cornered you can usually throw 3d20 plus every bonus in the world at them. Not much different to RotR villains with the blessing-spam, but somehow even more obvious here.
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3. Specifically WHAT items can and can't be played during a check?
So the rule states that you basically can't use a card if it doesn't directly effect a check, but otherwise you're good to go if all other conditions are met. I don't fully grasp how 'direct' is allowed.
Manual of War is the biggest question for me. Can I use it to give myself a relevant skill feat after encountering something? If I'm making a Wisdom check, can I not display it to give myself Wisdom +1? What about power feats? Can I give the Perception subskill to Imrijka or is that considered 'indirect'?
Otherwise, I assume using cards like the Banner of Valor during a check against a Demon or the Mist Horn when a character is dealt damage are both fair game?
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4. Imrijka power level, and Mythic Path options.
Imrijka feels like my least significant character, in all honesty. I recognize that she's functional with all weapons, and weapons such as the Marksman's Bow (of which I've picked up 2) are great for her. Furthermore, I also recognize she can throw an extra d4 at ANY check against a monster, combat or not, with the relevant Magic trait thrown in.
Despite that, she seems to be hugely underperforming. Her role cards look like they give her some more relevant utility, but for now she's hopelessly outclassed by Balazar in any combat check, and a spellcaster without many spell slots.
Even with a Marksman's bow and recharging/revealing a divine card, she's rolling 2d10 + 1 + 1d4 + 3 (adventure path). A good carrier for further blessings, the average total of 17.5 there with her best weapon is still only on-par with Balazar at best (IF she has a strength-boosting Mythic Path, otherwise she's a bit worse) and a whole lot more variance leading to annoying rolls totaling 9 or so.
I didn't like the numbers I ran on her as far as a weapon user went, so I instead chose a Mythic Path that increased her Wisdom (since there is no Strength/Wisdom Mythic Path until later adventures) so she can actually recharge her spells most of the time, and filled her spell slots so at least she functions as a healer and supporting character. She still comes across as my weakest combat character, and a supporting character that I really think Balazar, at least, doesn't need, who keeps filling his hand/deck with monsters and boons anyway.
Crowe varies between slow and do-little with occasional ferocious combat checks. I make a lot of use of his movement effect to set up temporary close options or Mythic Marshal charge-sharing with Balazar, generally moving to Balazar's location whenever possible. Admittedly, I've given him most of the 'best' weapons such as Soulshear, so that would be heightening my opinion of him over Imrijka unreasonably.
In fairness, her strong blessings count means I can't be unhappy with how she acts in a supporting role, but even then she feels like she has a smaller hand size than I'd like to truly exploit that (and healing). Something to look forward to in a role card, I suppose.
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5. EXACT timing on Crowe's "move or put the bottom card of your deck to the top" timing?
If you played a spell on a combat check, can you attempt to roll, and then recharge it, BEFORE moving it from the bottom of your deck to the top? Or does the recharge check occur after your chance to trigger on defeating a monster pass? I've worked out (via forum trawling) the answers to other questions I'd had, such as whether he can defeat a henchmen, attempt the check to close, and *then* move (yes he can), but this one I'm not as clear on.
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6. General Mythic Path (and large skill feat count) power level.
So the enormous static bonuses I appear to be getting is perhaps the biggest thing throwing me off. +3 from mythic path charges on a relevant check, + an adventure deck number from a Cohort effect or weapon, + skill feats, + anything else, and all in all there are a lot of times when I'm just auto-passing rolls to defeat, rolls to acquire and rolls to recharge. Not always, but frequently enough. Now that I'm early in adventure 3, the weakest boons and banes are only just being weaned out, but I'm still finding the difficulty level be, so far, quite low for a lot of adventure 2 and, so far, adventure 3. Is that normal?
I'll come back and answer your questions later, but Adventure 3 is probably the easiest Adventure Path you'll encounter in that sense, since the majority of "easy" banes are still there and the really hard ones haven't come online yet (they're there starting in 4+). If you want a harder scenario, try removing all the Basic cards (boons and banes) from the start instead of removing them when you banish them. That'll remove the majority of Bs and 1s that are too easy.
Also, it's generally accepted that a higher player count is harder in WotR. You're playing 3p, so you might find it easier than someone who plays 5-6p regularly. This is partly because of certain bane scaling (Demonic Horde and Armys in particular).
Hi all, newcomer to the forums here. Sorry in advance for the wall-of-text post. I ramble.
Congrats! You get A+ on your understanding and analysis of the game!
A few points:
- Yes, you can gain your Perception: Wisdom power with Manual of War (when relevant!), because: First, you "Determine your skill for the check" - you select Perception (d4, "untrained"); THEN, you "Play cards and power to modify the check" - you play the MoW to turn your skill into Perception: Wisdom
- I don't really understand, if your Imrijka combat math wasn't satisfactory, why did you chose to further cripple her by getting suboptimal Path. Spell recharge doesn't seem such big deal to me, but you seem to be doing fine anyway so you can push through to the Iomeda Paths
- the Crowe "top-deck" timing question has really the same answer that you already have for "defeat henchman, close location, move" - i.e. it more or less boils down to "happens after you've dealt with any text on the monster card". What you seems to be missing is the "Encounter" section the Rulebook with the different encounter steps - which instructs you to finish all pending checks (i.e. Recharge checks) BEFORE you even get to the step wher you determine if a Monster is defeated or not.
- "I don't fully grasp how 'direct' is allowed.": the (more or less) quote from the Rulebook is "Your action may not require a player to do something else, in order for that action to be meaningful" - if that's what you were asking?
Good luck on your adventures!
Hi all, newcomer to the forums here. Sorry in advance for the wall-of-text post. I ramble.
Welcome to PACG! Or at least these forums.
1. Balazar/Padrig full bonuses.
My Balazar has +1 to Strength and +2 to Charisma (mostly as a result of the end-of-adventure 2 load of 5 skill feats from the Knights of Kenabres). It's currently Adventure Deck 3, and I'm using the Mythic Marshal path.
Am I correct in stating that, when using Padrig's ability - placing a card from my hand to the top of my deck - my static bonuses total to +11 when I have a full 3 charges? Arcane Skill (1d10 + 2 [arcane] + 2 [skill feats]) + Strength Skill (1d6 + 1 [skill feat] + 3 [mythic marshal]) + 3 (adventure deck number)?
Yes. That is indeed the check. As you note below, it is a Strength check and not an Arcane check (you get to "add" your Arcane skill, not "use" it.) So blessings are going to add his Strength die (d6).
When dealing with almost any B or 1 deck monster, including various summoned or placed henchmen such as the constant Wights of 3-1, my static bonuses alone usually render a defeat with Padrig without needing to play a card besides the one I have to return to the top of my deck. Against larger enemies, villains and the like, dumping a series of monsters into extra 1d4s or relevant double-die blessings for more d6s allow me to hit values of greater than 30-40 with far more ease and consistency than pretty much anyone else in the group (with the possible exception of Crowe when backed up by perfect, heavy blessing support from all players).
Furthermore, I find Balazar carrying the most utility, with his suite of non-attack spells and large hand size, and his roles (when I get to them) further allow for a constant generation of monsters via recharging spells (then using cards such as the Ring of Forcefangs to dig back through my deck to redraw all of the spells to spawn yet more monsters) or translating these absurd bonuses to constitution and dexterity checks too.
To be frank, he's outclassing both of my other characters, or at least I feel he is, to such a degree that I'm worried I'm mis-reading him.
Finally, he can utilize d20s quite frequently, due to...
I think the thing is mostly what zeroth_hour2 pointed out. In adventure 3 you are still weeding out the weaker banes. As they are removed the difficulty begins to scale up more consistently. But Balazaar isn't the only one who can create a crazy check due to Mythic Paths.
2. Double-Mythic Marshals?
So given his tendency for both Charisma/Arcane checks, and Strength combat, naturally I chose Mythic Marshal for Crowe as well, and I have a habit of when both Crowe and Balazar are on the same location simply aggressively spending charges and 'handing off' charges to each other. Crowe uses one charge, passes a check, gives Balazar one. Balazar explores, uses a charge, passes a check, gives Crowe one. It's not fullproof - if either fail a check with it, or fail to come across a bane/boon that allows for a Strength or Constitution check, then it's possible that I end up wasting a charge, but the cycle certainly improves both of them dramatically, changing Balazar to using a d20 during any old combat, and setting Crowe up for a d20 rather than a d8 on arcane skill checks (assuming he doesn't bury/recharge a card for another bonus).
As an aside, mythic paths feel like they make villains a joke. You have to usually deal with some pre-combat check or unique condition on defeating them, but once cornered you can usually throw 3d20 plus every bonus in the world at them. Not much different to RotR villains with the blessing-spam, but somehow even more obvious here.
Others have noted the craziness you can get with multiple Mythic Marshalls. It does tend to make things a bit wonky.
3. Specifically WHAT items can and can't be played during a check?
So the rule states that you basically can't use a card if it doesn't directly effect a check, but otherwise you're good to go if all other conditions are met. I don't fully grasp how 'direct' is allowed.
Manual of War is the biggest question for me. Can I use it to give myself a relevant skill feat after encountering something? If I'm making a Wisdom check, can I not display it to give myself Wisdom +1? What about power feats? Can I give the Perception subskill to Imrijka or is that considered 'indirect'?
Otherwise, I assume using cards like the Banner of Valor during a check against a Demon or the Mist Horn when a character is dealt damage are both fair game?
This was clarified in a handy sidebar was added to the rulebook in Mummy's Mask. You can find the details in this FAQ.
You can do all the things you ask about, using Manual of War to gain a skill or power during an encounter is fine, as long as you use that skill or power. And playing Banner of Valor or Misthorn is fine, as long as they relate to what is happening (i.e. you attempting a check against a card with the Demon trait or being dealt damage).
4. Imrijka power level, and Mythic Path options.
Imrijka feels like my least significant character, in all honesty. I recognize that she's functional with all weapons, and weapons such as the Marksman's Bow (of which I've picked up 2) are great for her. Furthermore, I also recognize she can throw an extra d4 at ANY check against a monster, combat or not, with the relevant Magic trait thrown in.
Despite that, she seems to be hugely underperforming. Her role cards look like they give her some more relevant utility, but for now she's hopelessly outclassed by Balazar in any combat check, and a spellcaster without many spell slots.
Even with a Marksman's bow and recharging/revealing a divine card, she's rolling 2d10 + 1 + 1d4 + 3 (adventure path). A good carrier for further blessings, the average total of 17.5 there with her best weapon is still only on-par with Balazar at best (IF she has a strength-boosting Mythic Path, otherwise she's a bit worse) and a whole lot more variance leading to annoying rolls totaling 9 or so.
I didn't like the numbers I ran on her as far as a weapon user went, so I instead chose a Mythic Path that increased her Wisdom (since there is no Strength/Wisdom Mythic Path until later adventures) so she can actually recharge her spells most of the time, and filled her spell slots so at least she functions as a healer and supporting character. She still comes across as my weakest combat character, and a supporting character that I really think Balazar, at least, doesn't need, who keeps filling his hand/deck with monsters and boons anyway.
Crowe varies between slow and do-little with occasional ferocious combat checks. I make a lot of use of his movement effect to set up temporary close options or Mythic Marshal charge-sharing with Balazar, generally moving to Balazar's location whenever possible. Admittedly, I've given him most of the 'best' weapons such as Soulshear, so that would be heightening my opinion of him over Imrijka unreasonably.
In fairness, her strong blessings count means I can't be unhappy with how she acts in a supporting role, but even then she feels like she has a smaller hand size than I'd like to truly exploit that (and healing). Something to look forward to in a role card, I suppose.
I'm not really sure what to comment on here. I haven't played a lot of Imrijka.
5. EXACT timing on Crowe's "move or put the bottom card of your deck to the top" timing?
If you played a spell on a combat check, can you attempt to roll, and then recharge it, BEFORE moving it from the bottom of your deck to the top? Or does the recharge check occur after your chance to trigger on defeating a monster pass? I've worked out (via forum trawling) the answers to other questions I'd had, such as whether he can defeat a henchmen, attempt the check to close, and *then* move (yes he can), but this one I'm not as clear on.
This is the encounter sequence:
Encountering a Card
Apply any effects that happen when you encounter a card.
Apply any evasion effects.
Apply any effects that happen before you act.
Attempt the check.
Attempt the next check, if needed. <- You attempt to recharge the spell you played here.
Apply any effects that happen after you act.
Resolve the encounter. <- The monster is defeated here (so Crowe's power kicks in here too).
6. General Mythic Path (and large skill feat count) power level.
So the enormous static bonuses I appear to be getting is perhaps the biggest thing throwing me off. +3 from mythic path charges on a relevant check, + an adventure deck number from a Cohort effect or weapon, + skill feats, + anything else, and all in all there are a lot of times when I'm just auto-passing rolls to defeat, rolls to acquire and rolls to recharge. Not always, but frequently enough. Now that I'm early in adventure 3, the weakest boons and banes are only just being weaned out, but I'm still finding the difficulty level be, so far, quite low for a lot of adventure 2 and, so far, adventure 3. Is that normal?
I think so. Definitely later adventures were tougher for me. And often not from the difficulty of the check as much as from the powers of the bane.
You're using some of the most powerful characters with powerful combos on the easier part of the set. I found AD4 to be similarly easy when I played (Seoni + Adowyn + someone else you may unlock in AD3). Things heated back up in AD5 and AD6.
If you want to make things more difficult, remove all Basic banes from the box right now instead of waiting to encounter and banish them. If that still isn't enough, add an extra location.
- I don't really understand, if your Imrijka combat math wasn't satisfactory, why did you chose to further cripple her by getting suboptimal Path. Spell recharge doesn't seem such big deal to me, but you seem to be doing fine anyway so you can push through to the Iomeda Paths
With the +3 (by adventure deck 3) to Strength checks as another Mythic Path option, Imrijka's 'average' combat roll with Marskman's Bow and her power (to take a more or less optimal situation, without blessings) turns to 20.5 rather than 17.5. Balazar's is still 20 by that point before taking into consideration a possible Magic Fang or Monster banish, which is generally a little less card-costly (at least valuable card costly) than a blessing - given my small group size, I only have ~15 blessings to last me the full scenario.
Basically, Imrijka's primary use for me was probably keeping the cures flowing, a requirement for winning certain earlier scenarios, but her limited wisdom die and divine bonus meant that they were statistically unlikely to be recharged; and the almost complete inability for my other characters to heal meant that re-healing and re-using the cures off each other can be a bit tricky in the face of unforeseen circumstances or limited time. Recharging them is generally fine, since Imrijka can dig through her deck pretty well with a series of "recharge when you reset your hand" cards and her ability.
The ability to make her a better healer - something actually unique to her in my party - and deal with semi-frequent checks that are hard for my other characters (Wisdom), as well as the skill used in all of her sub-skills (relevant, for example, for Divine or Perception or Knowledge checks against armies), seemed much more important than just bringing her average combat to merely "On par" with Balazar... a character that was already blitzing combat as well as carrying enormous utility.
But it was something I considered for a long time on, and I'm still not 100% certain of my choice. The +3 to divine is massively effecting my recharge rolls (generally out of 8 or 10), but I'm not sure The +3 to strength instead would actually save a lot of the annoying combat losses I have with her, which are, of course, more out of 17+. And those times when you roll 2d10+1d4 and get a 5 before taking into account your tiny static bonuses.
I think I also liked the backup ability to revive a character with that particular Mythic path, though to my understanding by about the time I'd be able to do that I would be switching to the optimal late-game Mythic Path anyway. Well, I can still do so in Adventure 4 with a Mythic Marshal bonus charge, if it's a critical situation.
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Thanks for the responses to everyone on the forum. Given that tonight I'll likely be doing 3-2, it seems a good opportunity to grab Arueshalae and bump my party size up to 4 to see if I can keep the momentum, as it is. I'm also going to be clearing out Basic monsters a little faster than average as a result of using Balazar, I'd imagine, too.
This was clarified in a handy sidebar was added to the rulebook in Mummy's Mask. You can find the details in this FAQ.
You can do all the things you ask about, using Manual of War to gain a skill or power during an encounter is fine, as long as you use that skill or power. And playing Banner of Valor or Misthorn is fine, as long as they relate to what is happening (i.e. you attempting a check against a card with the Demon trait or being dealt damage).
Thanks again everyone for the prompt and in-depth responses. Seeing a lot of faces/names that I'd previously come across when hunting down my own answers and rules-lawyering online.
That FAQ page is particularly handy, and does clarify another Manual-of-War related situation. Since you cannot play something that relies on a follow-up action, I could NOT play Manual of War to, say, give Imrijka the ability to reveal (rather than recharge) a divine/ranged card for her 1d4 bonus once the encounter has begun, if I'm correct?
Once the encounter begins, there is never an opening to use Manual of War - either you are not actively using the ability, and so Manual of War is not *directly* relevant, or you've already used the ability, and so changing the cost from recharge to reveal wouldn't be functional.
(Correct me if I'm wrong on that - your words "using Manual of War to gain a skill or power during an encounter is fine, as long as you use that skill or power" seem to very slightly contradict the letter of the FAQ, since the FAQ implied that if it relies on a follow-up action it's invalid... so you can't "Get a power, THEN use the power", right? You can only use a power feat that would alter an already in-use power? I'm afraid I'm very literal-minded on these things, so I hope I'm not taking the letter of the FAQ overly strictly.)
With that said, I could add a +1 to Crowe's "Bury a card for a 1d10" bonus, as long as I have already chosen to bury a card, and therefore would not require a "Follow-up action", correct, therefore giving him that power feat for the turn? If I haven't chosen to bury a card, then it would indicate implying a follow-up action, and so is an illegal play.
Somewhat specific, so just making sure I've set it into my memory correctly, lest I end up misplaying around this later.
Some powers are "always on" such as a power "Add 2 to your checks to defeat Barriers." You could Manual of War such a power during a check to defeat a barrier. With that sidebar, I believe that you are correct in that gaining a power that would then require you to use it is not allowed. However, that card was made before the sidebar was, and I believe that the intent is to grab any power that would then be relevant for the check at hand. As such, at my table, I would allow you to gain any power as long as you then use that power.
Gaining powers is not retroactive. For the Crowe example, you would not add an additional +1 on a previously buried card.
If you have Imrijka built for fighting, instead of healing, then she'd be reveal for 2d10+9+1d4 (min. 12, avg 22.5) which compares just fine with Balazar's using a card for 1d6+1d10+11 (min 13, avg 20), with better benefits from blessings (1d10 instead of 1d6) and she can make more explores and handle more off-turn fights than he can.
That said, Mythic Marshal Balazar is certainly a big hammer surrounded by surprisingly nail-shaped banes.
Some powers are "always on" such as a power "Add 2 to your checks to defeat Barriers." You could Manual of War such a power during a check to defeat a barrier. With that sidebar, I believe that you are correct in that gaining a power that would then require you to use it is not allowed. However, that card was made before the sidebar was, and I believe that the intent is to grab any power that would then be relevant for the check at hand. As such, at my table, I would allow you to gain any power as long as you then use that power.
Gaining powers is not retroactive. For the Crowe example, you would not add an additional +1 on a previously buried card.
Now that I think about it, it's reasonably obvious that an activate-triggered character power wouldn't have retroactive bonuses. I was thinking about it from the same perspective as a Skill Feat, but the whole check doesn't 'end' until the dice is cast, whereas the 'power' portion ends once used. Point taken.
If you have Imrijka built for fighting, instead of healing, then she'd be reveal for 2d10+9+1d4 (min. 12, avg 22.5) which compares just fine with Balazar's using a card for 1d6+1d10+11 (min 13, avg 20), with better benefits from blessings (1d10 instead of 1d6) and she can make more explores and handle more off-turn fights than he can.
That said, Mythic Marshal Balazar is certainly a big hammer surrounded by surprisingly nail-shaped banes.
Entirely true. The total of +2 to divine means that, without expending blessings or utilizing specific allies or items, recharging spells becomes an awkward measure. But, of course, she never has to cast spells except for utilizing key opportunities - they're always food for her ability.
Even so, focusing on her strength just made her feel like a worse Balazar in my group. He doesn't have to sacrifice his spellcasting/frecharging ability to be a strong fighter (attack spells excluded, but I wasn't really using them with Imrijka either), and his summoning abilities give him multiple means of dealing with a series of boons and banes beyond the mere magic trait and 1d4 that Imrijka can rely on.
With that said, the blessing scaling is where the two diverge greatly, but my 3 person group causes me to be rather blessing conservative, and those used in combat are always going to scale best with Crowe as far as strength goes.
Oh, though I wouldn't necessarily say she can make more explores than Balazar. She has a smaller hand size, and a smaller total number of blessings + allies (6 instead of 7, by default). Her ability, on the right location, can help, but I've found it to be inconsistent (or I'm just plain unlucky) enough to rarely give me an explore - to the effect of maybe once every scenario, even when left on monster-heavy locations. That said, I'm conservative with blessings, as I've stated before. Of course, the ability to heal does also effectively allow her to explore a lot more...assuming she's targeting herself most frequently with Cure.
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Summary:
What I've realized is that Imrijka is solid, and I hope her roles really allow me to truly see her shine. But in a group size of 3, and compared to two characters that are trading mythic charges off of each other frequently, I feel she is being MASSIVELY hampered by having to pick a Mythic Path that's only ever going to be half-helpful, rather than my other two characters having perfect mythic paths that play off each other (well, themselves) and the character capacities so well. That speaks mostly as to the weaknesses of my group formation more than anything else - I suspect Kyra should have been in Imrijka's slot if I wanted to be more efficient.
But as stated, the adventure path is playing out pretty easy for the moment anyway.
Thanks for the discussion - a lot of great information to chew on and digest.
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EDIT:
Oh, right, and I just remembered another question I intended on asking.
7. Fortune Teller ally (and various other means of bringing up monsters at various timtes).
So if I name "Bane", and find a monster at the end of my move step with Fortune Teller, and defeat it with Imrijka, she effectively does NOT get to roll for an extra exploration, correct? Or more accurately, if she took the free exploration, it would cause her to use up her normal 'first exploration of the turn', right? She can't 'take it later'?
In addition, during an encounter from Fortune Teller, it's not the First Exploration of the turn for the effects of Blessing of Baphomet, is it? Because, by definition, you haven't explored - merely encountered a card.
I might be horrifically off on this, but all of the information I seemed to pick up online (and my experience with the, admittedly flawed, digital game) suggests that explicitly EXPLORING without having done your first (free/normal) exploration of a turn will give up your ability to do so. For example, you couldn't discard a Velociraptor to explore the top card of your deck and get the 2d6 bonus to combat and then LATER choose to still take your normal exploration after the ally-exploration.
This FAQ entry agrees with you:
http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1gk#v5748eaic9ra0
The Fortune Teller is an "encounter" not an "explore", so on its own it works fine and doesn't interfere with your normal explore. Imrijka's ability will indeed trigger. But if you explore from Imrijka's ability, you've forfeited your free explore because "[it] must be your first exploration for the turn."
Thanks Irgy. One final question (yes, I ramble a lot, sorry). Imrijka can't 'stack' potential bonus explorations in a situation where, for example, she encounters a monster that summons a second monster?
She can't beat the summoned monster, (attempt to) explore from her effect, then beat the original (summoning) monster and (attempt to) explore from her effect again, can she? I played it that she can attempt to roll after defeating the summoned monster, and then attempt to roll after defeating the original monster, but she'd only be able to get one explore in total, and only after the final monster in the chain was defeated.
I base this off the rules that cards don't have a 'memory', so there's no 'stack' of events like, say, in Magic the Gathering to work through, combined with the consideration that the rules state that "finish everything you're currently doing before exploring (again)".
But if I succeeded in a single combat check (lets say against one part of Demonic Horde), then was forced into another one as part of the same effect (another summoned demon chosen to fight me), I can still 'wait' to use my extra explore after I defeat the final one - I don't ONLY get to roll my d6 on the final combat, correct?
In addition, during an encounter from Fortune Teller, it's not the First Exploration of the turn for the effects of Blessing of Baphomet, is it? Because, by definition, you haven't explored - merely encountered a card.
Correct. But, hey, on the bright side - all those pesky Cultists and Minotaurs don't trigger either!
Your assumptions to roll multiple times for a chain of monsters (Demonic Horde, etc.), but only benefit from one extra explore are also on point. (there's an explicit rule in the Rulebook about extra explores not stacking)
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This FAQ entry agrees with you:
http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1gk#v5748eaic9ra0The Fortune Teller is an "encounter" not an "explore", so on its own it works fine and doesn't interfere with your normal explore. Imrijka's ability will indeed trigger. But if you explore from Imrijka's ability, you've forfeited your free explore because "[it] must be your first exploration for the turn."
This is incorrect; you can never explore outside your explore step, and Fortune-Teller's ability is played at the end of the move step. Imrijka's power does trigger, but you can't play it because you can't explore.