I am really enjoying my solo-Amiri play through of RotR and I really like the Gnome Paladin Raz character, so I'm looking at doing a solo play through of Raz through WotR. Since she comes from the Paladin class deck, I keep waffling on how to incorporate her and some of those special Paladin cards into the regular WotR play. I've browsed the forums and seen some recommendations but I thought I'd sort of formally ask people to chime in and tell us how they did it.
If you played with a CD character (or plan to play with a CD character) in a non-OP play through, how did you incorporate the CD cards into your game?
1) Just through all of the CD cards into the box at the appropriate time.
2) Kept my CD character and cards separate; i.e played with OP rules but with the normal game scenarios.
3) Added just the unique CD cards into the box.
4) Something else.
My waffle is between #1 and #2. I'd have just gone with #2 but my experience with OP is that there are always some nice cards in the box that I'd love my character to have, but can't. My worry with #1 is that I just won't see some of those special CD cards.
Maybe a mix of both 1 and 2? So, I guess, number 4?
At the end of the scenario, when you have your plunder (is that what it's called in Wrath?), you can throw the applicable CD cards in there for you to choose from in addition to the box's cards. So if you acquired a 2 weapon during the scenario you could choose between the one you acquired and one of your CD 2 weapons.
That's how I'd do it.
I go with method 1, but I rarely do solitaire runs, so I feel like there's a better chance that someone will see the cool cards I'm looking for.
We've done 1, but sometimes, we didn't even do that. If we felt the character was fine without the boons, we just used the character. Only when the character needed something from the cards have we added them. But we add all the cards (by deck number) when we do, not just the ones they need.
For example: Calthaer is Olenjack in our Skull and Shackles game. We've added all the rogue class deck cards by deck number, mostly for the poison trait stuff that Olenjack would really want.
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Your worry with #1 about not seeing those rare cards is somewhat justified, at least in our experience. In the game that Hawkmoon references, I think we saw the Centipede Venom for Olenjack twice in like 9-10 scenarios. The first time, we failed to get it because it was a YOLO-explore; the second time, we were able to spend some blessings and got it. Because man - I needed* that card. And I thought we'd never see it again after the first time.
*So maybe I just really wanted it. Hawkmoon's Damiel is really good about poisoning-up Olenjack to make a super-turn out of those extra explores.
#3
Number 3, but only in my RotRL. It seems more "kitchen sink", throw it all together than the other sets, whom I prefer to keep more thematic, and "as is".
Maybe a mix of both 1 and 2? So, I guess, number 4?
At the end of the scenario, when you have your plunder (is that what it's called in Wrath?), you can throw the applicable CD cards in there for you to choose from in addition to the box's cards. So if you acquired a 2 weapon during the scenario you could choose between the one you acquired and one of your CD 2 weapons.
That's how I'd do it.
Ooh, I like that! It gives you the benefit of using the CD cards and the cool set-specific cards.
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I played Heggal through S&S, no Class Deck cards mixed in. It was glorious. He was MADE for that AP.
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Ooh, I like that! It gives you the benefit of using the CD cards and the cool set-specific cards.Maybe a mix of both 1 and 2? So, I guess, number 4?
At the end of the scenario, when you have your plunder (is that what it's called in Wrath?), you can throw the applicable CD cards in there for you to choose from in addition to the box's cards. So if you acquired a 2 weapon during the scenario you could choose between the one you acquired and one of your CD 2 weapons.
That's how I'd do it.
If I'm interpreting this correctly, it sounds a little TOO good. With regular "home game" advancement, you can get a lot of upgrades each scenario, but you have no control over what you find. In OP, your upgrades come more slowly (one per scenario), but each one is (in theory) tuned to your character.
This suggestion seems like it would offer the best of both systems with no balancing drawbacks. (Again, if I'm catching your drift correctly.)
When we played OP scenarios at home we used #1 with some fine-tuning. We threw in most of CD unique cards, except some that we thought would not play well with S&S (e.g. Augury/Scrying). Then we thinned the S&S boons by removing identical cards if there were more than 2 copies (with Cure being an exception). Finally, we added more CD boons as we advanced to new adventures and removed basic and elite cards as per OP rules.
We tried once this (and worked quite well) :
Once you have selected a character, you get the CD.
Build your first deck without CD cards (use proposed start decks from the rules).
Then at the start of the game, and once again each time you add the APx cards in the box, do the following :
For each type of boon in turn :
- Each player in turn can replace one non CD card from the box with one of his own providing it's the same AP number and has the same basic/elite/veteran trait
- Do that around the table until everyone pass
This way you ensure you keep the same ratios of type of boons / AP level of boons / basic-elite-veteran boons with giving the opportunity to everyone to put some CD cards in.
You also do not start the game with CD cards, but rather win them during play (much funnier).
Always option 1) for me, with no more than 2 class decks at a time, and they match the class of one of the characters used (not necessarily a CD character). I like the extra variety the decks give, although the downside is that with all the extra cards I'm still regularly encountering basic boons right up to the end of the adventure.
In my latest solo game, I've recently started playing Shield of Rannick with Darago, Ranzak and Koren, and the Paladin class deck mixed in.
I had planned to play Season of the Shackles using OP rules but I haven't finished S&S yet...
I don't own any CDs, but since I considered buying, I thought about how I would implement them in home games (we don't do OP). Here's how I would do it:
- at the beginning of each new adventure, add your AD cards to the box (as usual)
- select all CD card you want to add, that have the corresponding AD#
- within each card category, replace cards from the box with CD cards with the same AD#
->Example: You start AD1, but you want to add 4 AD1 Spells from a Sorcerer Class Deck; you look for AD1 Spells in the box. Let's say you have 5 of them - you take out and replace 4 of them, and you remain with but 1 of the original AD1 Spells
- Profit!!!
If you consider this tipping the scales too much in player's favor (you can take out cards you'd never use anyway, and you fine-tune the box to contain only sure upgrades), you can also try removing random cards from the box (per type and AD#) instead of selecting them. This way you'd better be sure that what you're adding is worth the risk of removing one of the better cards in the box.
Benefits of this approach: you keep the same ration and number of cards per type and AD#; also, if you're a Wizard, you don't have to worry about constantly encountering those pesky Divine spells that you can never keep around for long (for example).
Ooh, I like that! It gives you the benefit of using the CD cards and the cool set-specific cards.Maybe a mix of both 1 and 2? So, I guess, number 4?
At the end of the scenario, when you have your plunder (is that what it's called in Wrath?), you can throw the applicable CD cards in there for you to choose from in addition to the box's cards. So if you acquired a 2 weapon during the scenario you could choose between the one you acquired and one of your CD 2 weapons.
That's how I'd do it.
If I'm interpreting this correctly, it sounds a little TOO good. With regular "home game" advancement, you can get a lot of upgrades each scenario, but you have no control over what you find. In OP, your upgrades come more slowly (one per scenario), but each one is (in theory) tuned to your character.
This suggestion seems like it would offer the best of both systems with no balancing drawbacks. (Again, if I'm catching your drift correctly.)
The best of both worlds! ^_~ Maybe limit yourself to one upgrade each scenario, but it could be either the CD or the set-specific one. So you're limited but you can still get set-specific ones. However you want. :D
If I'm interpreting this correctly, it sounds a little TOO good....
Agreed, that's why the way we do it (see above), we do not give the opportunity to players to add directly CD cards in their deck, but rather to add them in the box.
A a consequence, it may happen (happens a lot in our 6 players group) that someone else will encounter your CD card, and you'll have to deal with that (throw a blessing to help a fighter acquiring a spell? let the boon go and wait for a later scenario to have it show up again? find something to trade it against whan someone else acquires it?... lots of fun added this way).
Also usually CD cards are well suited to your class (that's the whole point), so if you have many of them too soon in your deck, you lose total interest in the boons you encounter. Kind of kill the spirit of the game.
One.
We've bought enough of the things that we can't fit them all in the original box.
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We just recently started something that has worked pretty nicely so far.
At the end of a scenario, a character may trade in TWO cards of one type, to pull a card of the same type from their class deck.
The card they pull must be of the same adventure deck number (or lower) than the highest card they traded in.
It's taken a bit longer between games, but it's been fun for everyone and hasn't seemed to overpower anything yet.
I threw all the cards in for this latest round of RotR I am soloing currently, so 1
I added the Fighter, Rogue, and Cleric decks to the box
However that is a LOT of cards. I instantly recognized I needed a house rule a way to thin those out or I was going to burst my box.
So, when closing a location any basic cards were sent to Valhalla as per the AD3 rules.
Once I hit AD3 I began doing this with the elites as per the AD5 rules.
I still have a very full box but it's kept it manageable.
There are so many boons I have never encountered some. Father Zentis for example has never seen the light of day. I also know there are still a couple of basics floating around as they have never had the opportunity yet to be purged.
Still. It's been fun and a great way to shake things up in a familiar setting.
I used Adowyn, Crowe, Olenjack, Valeros-Class deck version, Enora, and Shardra
My wife and I are on our second play-through of RotR (with 2 characters apiece this time). It's pretty casual, and we both like to have a lot of different cards available, so for the two class decks we picked up*, we went through and pulled out the interesting-looking unique cards and added them to the box.
* Got them in a clearance sale; for the way we're using them, the class decks aren't a good value, sorry to say...
Personally, I'm a #3 kinda guy for the home game, but even then we came to the conclusion it would add too many cards, so we opted for #4. No reason to water down the game more than need be with extra quarterstaves etc IMHO. We recently started a S&S run where we let each player pick a class deck (and not necessarily the deck for that person's character's class) and choose up to 20 cards from it in total to add to the game, just to add some flavor. I can't really imagine this being an advantage of any kind since you are limited and it still make the chances of encountering any of the already included boons less. It does, however, add some additional options and I actually had a difficult time finding 20 cards without putting a lot of thought into what others might need.
Well in normal box there Are users boons and good boons, so just ahdingon some good cards make the game easier. Adding whole cd to the box Make it Also easier, but no much because the decks Are bigger.
I personally would only use a character, or the whole deck. The first is most balanced, but adding whole deck is not too unbalancing neither.
I personally would use the cards you want to from the class deck. I don't see a point to adding cards no one wants to the card pool. You can argue adding some good cards makes the game easier. You could also argue by removing all the good cards it makes the game harder. I don't like playing a game where "I decline to acquire the boon" is something you say almost every time you encounter a boon. If there is a boon that everyone is going to say I decline every time they encounter that card, why are you playing with that card? Is making the game harder by being incredibly boring the goal?
We're playing through RotR at the moment with Ekkie, Groot (sorry, Gronk...) Rooboo and Raz- we've mixed in the cards from the Druuid, Monk and Paladin decks, MINUS the ones that are already in there.
It doesn't impact things massively - you don't see the class-deck cards all that often, but it does allow Raz a couple of horse and a Lance (she's really hoping for a rideable dog soon).
we've got upto the start of AD3 this way, and generally it works well, although i'm tempted to remove some of the completely pointless cards like the single Blessing of Pulura...
we also previously did a play-through where characters used only Class-Deck cards, as per the OP rules at the time, with the exception that they could have Loot as and when awarded it in the scenario.
Yeah, I would suspect that if you were adding multiple and vastly different class deck (live Paladin and Monk), taking out the duplicate stuff wouldn't have a big impact. You Monk is just as likely to find that Paladin card that she can't acquire. So it probably balances itself out at some point.
I only add when the character in question is super dependant on a certain type of boon. Eg Olenjack with poison or Raz with mounts. And then it's only those particular cards. I can't say I think it makes a massive difference in difficulty.
I wouldn't bother putting in the whole deck - i think it would dilute the heck out of it. I don't want our arcane caster or ranged character having to encounter a load of paladiny type stuff
I personally would use the cards you want to from the class deck. I don't see a point to adding cards no one wants to the card pool. You can argue adding some good cards makes the game easier. You could also argue by removing all the good cards it makes the game harder. I don't like playing a game where "I decline to acquire the boon" is something you say almost every time you encounter a boon. If there is a boon that everyone is going to say I decline every time they encounter that card, why are you playing with that card? Is making the game harder by being incredibly boring the goal?
Different people have different ideas of fun and boring. Deliberately making the scenario harder to win to get more boons is not fun to me, but to someone who likes collecting boons, that would be fun to them.
In addition, it's possible to get to a point where if everything is special, nothing is special.
We usually just add all the cards from a class deck if we're playing with a character with that class.
In addition, it's possible to get to a point where if everything is special, nothing is special.
I think it is really difficult to get to that point. I'd like each boon to have a chance at being desired by at least someone or useful at some point in the adventure. You can only have so many cards in your deck and it is usually a bunch of high utility staples. I like finding a magic spyglass, magic leather armor, a potion of healing, another spell that didn't make the cut at the end of the round or an item that helps close a location for this particular adventure. Obviously everyone like finding blessings and cards that would actually replace a card in their deck but there is a zone of cards that falls between excellent and useless. I like cards that are designed to fall in that zone. There were a lot more of them in S&S than it RotR. I would scrap a lot of the cards (hundreds) in the core for cards in add-on and class decks.
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This is a bit of a complicate system but something I've been working on...
- [#1] – Do not put the class deck in the main box. Keep it separate at all times.
- It must be the same type (weapon, spell, blessing, etc.)
- It must have the same Adventure Number or higher.
- It must share at least one trait other than: Basic, Elite, Veteran, Arcane, Corrupt, Divine, Magic, Melee, Mythic or Ranged. (List may not be complete… essentially taking out the generic traits so that a character has to change out a sword for a sword or a fire spell for a fire spell.)
[#2] – If playing a character from a Class Deck build your starting deck from the Basic cards in the Class Deck and if you do not have enough Basic cards of a particular type fill in the rest with Basic cards from the Main Box.
[#3] – During the game at the end of a Scenario when rebuilding your deck you may take one card that was gained during that Scenario and attempt to exchange it for one of the cards from your character’s Class Deck. To accomplish this the exchanged card must meet the following conditions.
If these conditions are met roll a d6 and on a 5-6 the Class Deck card is added to the cards available for rebuilding and the exchanged card is removed from the game. This may only be attempted once per character per Scenario.
Optional Rules:
Choose which ever ones appeal to your group.
- [#1] – If the card to be exchanged has a higher Adventure Number than the Class Deck card add the difference to the die roll. Example: If a player wants to exchange an Armor with an Adventure Number of 3 for a Class Deck Armor with an Adventure Number of 2 then he rolls a d6+1.
[#2] – If a player fails to exchange a card he tracks those failures and adds a +1 to his die roll the next time he rolls per failed attempt.
[#3] – After building your starting deck if the Main Box has a copy of a Class Deck card (say Blessing of the Gods or Longsword) you can swap out the Class Deck card for the Main Box card. (This prevents the starting Basic cards from bloating the Main Box as they are replaced over the first few Scenarios… for those who care about such things.)
[#4] - Get rid of the random roll and just let the exchange happen. Or adjust the random roll to 4+ or 3+. The roll is there to simulate the randomness of the card appearing in the scenario at all. Decide what works best for your group.