Hi all, my wife and I bought the Core Set so we could play together while stuck at home, since we are also in the middle of both Runelords and Skull & Shackles games with our kids and didn't want to re-sort decks all the time. The new card art and storybook is great, but overall we've been finding Core to be a lot harder than the earlier editions.
It seems like a lot more cards have +# or +## now, more before and after conditions, and more very specific conditions to play or defeat them. The specificity of blessings in particular, now combined with the rule I just saw clarified that only one blessing can be played for the whole party per check, makes defeating a 13+## monster in adventure path 2 quite punishing. I came here to check rules because it feels like we're missing something, but instead discovered that particular clarification which would actually make it even harder!
Anyway, the situation we got into that made me want to write here is that we were playing 2a, which says we both start at the Shrine, and neither of us can leave until it is closed. We failed the closing check when we encountered the henchman, (and had missed the extra rules for summoning the Wight to close), and ended up with a Troll as the only card in the location. The Troll is undefeated unless the check has Acid or Fire, and neither of us had any way to add those traits. We couldn't leave the location unless we closed the location, which we couldn't attempt again unless we beat the Troll. Being able to get into a no-win situation like this seems like a design flaw. Even though it might be difficult, there should always be a chance to win.
Reading some of the other posts here, it seems like it might just be us, I guess. Playing both old and new versions of PACG at the same time seems to show a marked increase in difficulty and decrease in fun to us. Are we missing something?
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Hello, Core is a little harder in general than the two campaigns you mentioned (even though Skull & Shackles has some insanely difficult scenarios). Monsters are generally more difficult to defeat, have nastier effects and so on. However, Wrath of the Righteous has (in my perception) even higher difficulty for all monsters and barriers than the Core / Curse.
Yes, the rule of one-boon-of-one-type-for-a-check is making it more difficult, but on the other hand, there are many more ways the heroes can help each other. That was a somewhat sore point before (not counting Lem, Valeros, Harsk/Lirianne and their powers), when a weak wizard just got eaten by Attack-resistant monster, while the fighter was standing next to him/her, twirling thumbs and unable to help in any way.
It truly seems you are in an unwinnable situation and were just trolled (pun intended) by the Troll's invulnerability. I would say you should just end the scenario (failing) and try again. There were situations like this in earlier campaigns, so it is not something new...
Next time, you will know that Trolls are bad and you need something against them. Plus as many Magic weapons as you can, against those pesky Ghosts and incorporeal undead.
Oh, and one comment aside - remember that cards saying "Freely recharge/discard/whatever" do NOT count against the 1 boon of a type rule. So you can, with good blessing selection, bless the check several times.
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One recommendation for a 2-player campaign is to play with 2 characters apiece (4 total). That way you have more skills covered, and a lot more support available.
E.g., if all four characters are at the same location, you have 3 other characters to provide local support. And if one is Lem, all the better.
I'd add that some Core scenarios are rough, particularly if you're lacking in certain skills. And with the new emphasis on different types of scenarios (not all "corner the villain"), it's more important than ever to be able to close a location on the first try. Even then, sometimes you're just out of luck.
Reminder: If you have no hope of closing, you can intentionally fail vs. the closing henchman to let another local character avenge (someone who can close, hopefully).
And if 2A is challenging, 2C and 3B can be much worse. You'll see. :P
Overall, the introductory Core campaign is fine. But I prefer Crimson Throne.
Either way, good luck!
Speaking of Curse of Crimson Throne and skills - there is one scenario, where you literally can't close the location unless there is Evidence displayed. And if your characters do not have Knowledge or other skill used to defeat that Evidence barrier reliably, it becomes extremely difficult.
It's the same as in Runelords, if there was only 1 unbeatable barrier in a location (e.g. adventure 6; the glacier & scary asymmetrical spiders scenario), the heroes are screwed. It just happens.
Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Maps, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
In addition to the above ideas, check out the “Play it your way” section in the rulebook (p18). This gives some ideas on how to reduce game difficulty. After all, if you aren’t having fun because it’s too hard, making it easier seems like a good way to start having more fun :)
I would suggest the following optional rule from that section: “For an easier game, you can treat # as 1 lower for banes, but you should still build the vault with banes that have levels up to #.” if you don’t have much party synergy to add non-blessing boosts to checks. This rule is a rough equivalent of getting a bonus d4 on all +## checks.
While I don't recall whether there's a similar suggestion in the Core rulebook, I do remember that the older rules had a part that read something like "if you find a bane that your group just can't seem to deal with consider replacing it with one of similar difficulty that isn't quite as impossible to overcome."
Recent threads in Rules Questions and Gameplay Discussion
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