The Battle of Amreth was a display of what a few ignorant people can accomplish when they have no idea what might happen. As we left off last time, Torrhen rode boldly into an archer ambush leading the most skittish band of horsemen in Westeros. Despite losing half of his troopers in the opneing salvo, the heavily armored knight crashed the lines of the archers/bandits, trampling them mercilessly and driving the rest to flight.
Meanwhile, back in the village, Ella set asbout inspiring the villagers with kind words and fierce invective. She pledged to protect the village, rebuild its defenses and bring prosperity and order to the land. It all started with a couple of hangings and a slow clap. Fortunately the villagers have learned to expect little from their lords and ladies and the news that Ondrew had died and Ella was now lady of the house did little to discourage them. Luckily she did such an admirable job of rousing their peasantly ardor that many of the men vowed to stand alongside the handful of House Drake armsmen and battle the legion of battle-hardened infantrymen Buckwell had sent their way.
Garth, meanwhile, had found the missing Drake offspring Warrick hiding in the ruins of the town tower. Warrick immediately proved his legacy by displaying the Valyrian bloodline traits and the propensity for ill-considered actions that have become the hallmark of the bloodline. Some villagers suspected that Maester Gyles may have had a hand in Warrick's fall from the tower but neither Garth nor his irregulars have stated such either publicly or privately.
The bandits broken, the peasants rabble-roused and the irregulars sent off to harry the approaching Buckwell soldiers, all that remained was to await the arrival of reinforcements from Castle Drake. Much to the heroes' dismay, Uncle Clusterfuck, errr, Anders, had decided to make the deployment as slow and painfully protracted as possible. By the time the heroes learned of this, they realized they would be forced to stand and fight with what they had or turn tail and flee, knowing that the village would be razed, its meager wealth plundered and Ella's credibility forever left in tatters.
Had there actually been somewhere to flee toward, knowing that Anders held the castle and would unlikely let us in despite the rampaging horde at their backs, perhaps flight would have been an option. The Drake children decided instead to stand and fight. If their forces were routed, the hope remained that sufficient horses would survive to allow the Drake family to flee the battlefield.
The peasants set to work building fortifications. these were not fortifications that would have daunted most armies and probably only discouraged an army of peasant rabble disinterested in whatever cause it was they took up arms for in the first place. Under the direction of the Drakes the villagers contructed some wicker pallisades and barriers coupled with a shallow ditch and slight earthen mound. The idea was not to shatter the Buckwell ranks on these walls, for, realistically, a single torch could have burned them down but, rather, to direct the attacking soldiers by splitting their ranks to allow Torrhen's cavalry to mow them down. If the Buckwells were at all allowed to form square, our few cavalry would have proven utterly ineffective.
The key was to engage the soldiers and cause them to chase down the fleeing peasants while the irregulars tried to hamper them and therefore allow the cavalry to run them down. What was entirely unexpected was the amount of damage the irregulars caused during their day of harrying attacks. By the time the Buckwells emerged from the logging road, fully a third of their numbers had been eliminated. A further piece of luck followed as Garth led the missile barrage from the peasant levies. Sticks, stones, arrows and other miscellany rained down death on the Buckwell ranks. Little Jordel was a figurehead among the peasants, launching rabbit sticks with deadly accuracy and effect.
The Buckwell ranks were seriously depleted following several volleys but, alas, all good things must come to an end. Soon the Buckwells swarmed the barricades, cutting down the villagers armed only with trowels and bar stools. Their losses were terrific. Soon they broke and ran, a long line of soldeirs spreading out behind them. That was the time when Torrhen struck, wiping out the stragglers with a brutal thurst. Even as the cavalry swept in from behind, Ella again emerged to rally the dispirited villagers, turning their terror into a weapon. In the slaughter that ensued, Maester Gyles was credited with some of the most inspired attrocities, the viciousness of which was doubtless inspired by General Torrhen's own capacity for cruelty.
In the end the Drake clan stood tall and emerged trimuphant, capturing dozens of prisoners and, more importantly, forging the core of an army that would be raised to strike back at the treacherous Hayfords and the hated Buckwells. Maester Gyles stood before the crowds at the conclusion of the battle and spoke rousingly of the Drakes' successes on theday. he ended his speech with a phrase that may supplant all others in the Drake lexicon: "We totally hodored the Buckwells, right?"
p.s. The events involving Maester Gyles may or may not have been based on actual events. Such is the danger of relying on minstrels and scribes to report on history after the fact.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
October gaming
First of all, many thanks to Matt Taylor of the Westford board gaming group for coming over on Sept 17th to play some board games. Without him, it would have been just Richard and myself. It seems that this September the stars and moon were aligned as such that our local members couldn't make it. With Matt attending, we were able to play Cyclades and Civilization.
Our next board game night will be held October 15th at 6 PM at the Derby Line Village Hall. To honor Halloween, we will make it our special Halloween edition of Border Board Games. That means we will bring along our horror/monster themed games like Betrayal at House on the Hill, Fury of Dracula, Last Night on Earth and whatever else in our collection fits the theme. I'm sure that there will also be some Halloween goodies available to eat as well.
If board gaming isn't your thing and you'd rather play RPGs, then consider joining our RPG group. We typically meet every 4th Saturday in Derby Line for our mega RPG day. We get together right after noontime and play for about 8 hours. For half the time we play D&D 3.5 and the other half we play the Song of Ice and Fire. If you are interested in only playing one RPG, that can be arranged. Our next RPG date is Sept 24th and, for October we will aim for Oct 22nd.
Our next board game night will be held October 15th at 6 PM at the Derby Line Village Hall. To honor Halloween, we will make it our special Halloween edition of Border Board Games. That means we will bring along our horror/monster themed games like Betrayal at House on the Hill, Fury of Dracula, Last Night on Earth and whatever else in our collection fits the theme. I'm sure that there will also be some Halloween goodies available to eat as well.
If board gaming isn't your thing and you'd rather play RPGs, then consider joining our RPG group. We typically meet every 4th Saturday in Derby Line for our mega RPG day. We get together right after noontime and play for about 8 hours. For half the time we play D&D 3.5 and the other half we play the Song of Ice and Fire. If you are interested in only playing one RPG, that can be arranged. Our next RPG date is Sept 24th and, for October we will aim for Oct 22nd.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Mail, Civilizations and Monsters
It was a small group that convened for Border Board games on Saturday night. We drew the usual crowd of Beth, myself, Homer, and Shannon and were glad that Rob could stop by as well. The night started with our second ever playing of Thurn & Taxis. T&T is a game I've been eying for a while so when the board game yard sale came to pass, Beth and I decided to bid on it. To our delight, we won it and picked it up at the Green Mountain gamers Game 'n Grill in Norwich.
We made some mistakes on our first play-through, mistakes we noted and vowed to not repeat. Luckily we managed to avoid the problems this time. Everyone earned the carriages in the right order and we negated points for having leftover bird houses errr, post offices. Beth seemed to have a pretty solid system in place from the get-go. Her houses popped up throughout the region in no time and her routes quickly earned her reams of bonus points. Homer went to big-route way and amassed a tidy sum of bonus chits himself.
Being his first time through, Shannon seemed a little lost leading to the dissolution of a promising 4 city route early in the game. While it didn't help his fortunes, it seemed to be the turning point at which he began to understand the subtle nuances of the game. I plugged away trying to fill up the big honking grey area and actually managed to trigger end game with my #7 carriage. Homer and I tied at 23 points apiece while Shannon had a dismal showing at only 4 points. The leftovers really damaged his score on his first time through. Beth won the game with an impressive score of 26, even without the #7 carriage in her possession.
Our next game involved breaking out 7 Wonders. The appeal is the game's ability to support a large number of players coupled with a relatively quick game play assuming everyone has played it before. This turned out to be a fairly tight match despite four wildly different strategies. Homer presented a surprisingly balanced point spread ranking 1st or 2nd in every category to score a 54 point win. Beth followed close behind mainly on the strength of her blue bonus points to finish with 47 points. Shannon and I ended up tied at 44 points each as Shannon went heavily on the military and I went the science route due to having Babylon B as my city.
Our last game of the night was a venture into Wrath of Ashardalon. While game play is similar to Castle Ravenloft, the monsters, challenges and some features are unique. Luckily the differences were so easily grasped that Rob and I being the only ones to have played both systems, still didn't need to explain much of anything. I believe Shannon may have been the only newcomer to the Wizards of the Coast D&D based game series.
With a full crew, we ventured into the subterranean lair of some evil Kobold dude (whose name I clearly cannot recall). As is often the case, we had barely stepped into the dungeon when things began to fall apart. Homer the Paladin and Beth the Fighter quickly went one way battling hordes while my Wizard, Shannon's Cleric and Rob's Rogue went the other. Before too long a cave in had reduced travel to a crawl on the north end of the dungeon while monsters streamed out in poison dealing masses to afflict Homer with curses and poison. The Blood-Raging Cleric continued to take damage owing to his inability to actually reach any monsters in time.
The environment cards are the biggest advantage the game has over the players (beyond always getting to attack first). As soon as the lava walls appeared, the Wizard was doomed. A curse would cause him to take damage for every tile he moved through while standing by a wall caused a single point. Standing still triggered yet another encounter that caused something to explode and the Wizard to tumble into a heap. Meanwhile the blood rage started to drain the Cleric of vitality, in spite of his starting with a Tome of Experience.
Over on the other side of the map, a giant boulder slammed into the Paladin and Fighter who, between them, seemed to be in a perpetual state of cursed, dazed and/or poisoned. When we finally came back together on the south side of the map, things continued to sour. The Legion Devils made their first (and second) appearance while Duergar and Kobold sentries opened more tiles and brought in more monsters. Oddly enough, we had only TWO tiles remaining when the trigger tile was finally pulled. This is a testament to the tile summoning monsters drawing everything from the bottom.
It was an error we caught late but we realized that we had not been activating like-named monsters as often as we should have. Given the difficulties we'd experienced to that point, it was probably for the best even though it did somewhat tarnish the end game. Knowing that he wasn't long for this world, the Paladin rushed ahead hoping to bring out the final encounter. It worked though it brought along a host of new monsters to go with it. Then with the Paladin down we used our last Healing Surge.
With hordes surrounding him and three of five party members in the eastern end of the dungeon, we had to orchestrate a complex and somewhat insane plan to somehow kill the Kobold Dude before the Paladin's turn came about again (for he had been swamped and died once more). As the Rogue and Wizard rushed to help the Paladin, the Fighter and Cleric orchestrated a careful fighting withdrawal from the Devil infested eastern caverns.
The Rogue and Fighter delivered some punishment to the Kobold Dude even as he slashed his way through our ranks leaving him down to 2 HPs with only the Wizard standing in the way of victory. Wielding an impressive arsenal of magic weapons (which, quite frankly could have better served someone else), the Wizard hypnotized the Orc Archer into attacking his commander allowing the coup de grace to be delivered via Flaming Sphere. The Kobold Dude fell to the ground as the Wizard's flaming balls tea-bagged him to death. Huzzah!
We made some mistakes on our first play-through, mistakes we noted and vowed to not repeat. Luckily we managed to avoid the problems this time. Everyone earned the carriages in the right order and we negated points for having leftover bird houses errr, post offices. Beth seemed to have a pretty solid system in place from the get-go. Her houses popped up throughout the region in no time and her routes quickly earned her reams of bonus points. Homer went to big-route way and amassed a tidy sum of bonus chits himself.
Being his first time through, Shannon seemed a little lost leading to the dissolution of a promising 4 city route early in the game. While it didn't help his fortunes, it seemed to be the turning point at which he began to understand the subtle nuances of the game. I plugged away trying to fill up the big honking grey area and actually managed to trigger end game with my #7 carriage. Homer and I tied at 23 points apiece while Shannon had a dismal showing at only 4 points. The leftovers really damaged his score on his first time through. Beth won the game with an impressive score of 26, even without the #7 carriage in her possession.
Our next game involved breaking out 7 Wonders. The appeal is the game's ability to support a large number of players coupled with a relatively quick game play assuming everyone has played it before. This turned out to be a fairly tight match despite four wildly different strategies. Homer presented a surprisingly balanced point spread ranking 1st or 2nd in every category to score a 54 point win. Beth followed close behind mainly on the strength of her blue bonus points to finish with 47 points. Shannon and I ended up tied at 44 points each as Shannon went heavily on the military and I went the science route due to having Babylon B as my city.
Our last game of the night was a venture into Wrath of Ashardalon. While game play is similar to Castle Ravenloft, the monsters, challenges and some features are unique. Luckily the differences were so easily grasped that Rob and I being the only ones to have played both systems, still didn't need to explain much of anything. I believe Shannon may have been the only newcomer to the Wizards of the Coast D&D based game series.
With a full crew, we ventured into the subterranean lair of some evil Kobold dude (whose name I clearly cannot recall). As is often the case, we had barely stepped into the dungeon when things began to fall apart. Homer the Paladin and Beth the Fighter quickly went one way battling hordes while my Wizard, Shannon's Cleric and Rob's Rogue went the other. Before too long a cave in had reduced travel to a crawl on the north end of the dungeon while monsters streamed out in poison dealing masses to afflict Homer with curses and poison. The Blood-Raging Cleric continued to take damage owing to his inability to actually reach any monsters in time.
The environment cards are the biggest advantage the game has over the players (beyond always getting to attack first). As soon as the lava walls appeared, the Wizard was doomed. A curse would cause him to take damage for every tile he moved through while standing by a wall caused a single point. Standing still triggered yet another encounter that caused something to explode and the Wizard to tumble into a heap. Meanwhile the blood rage started to drain the Cleric of vitality, in spite of his starting with a Tome of Experience.
Over on the other side of the map, a giant boulder slammed into the Paladin and Fighter who, between them, seemed to be in a perpetual state of cursed, dazed and/or poisoned. When we finally came back together on the south side of the map, things continued to sour. The Legion Devils made their first (and second) appearance while Duergar and Kobold sentries opened more tiles and brought in more monsters. Oddly enough, we had only TWO tiles remaining when the trigger tile was finally pulled. This is a testament to the tile summoning monsters drawing everything from the bottom.
It was an error we caught late but we realized that we had not been activating like-named monsters as often as we should have. Given the difficulties we'd experienced to that point, it was probably for the best even though it did somewhat tarnish the end game. Knowing that he wasn't long for this world, the Paladin rushed ahead hoping to bring out the final encounter. It worked though it brought along a host of new monsters to go with it. Then with the Paladin down we used our last Healing Surge.
With hordes surrounding him and three of five party members in the eastern end of the dungeon, we had to orchestrate a complex and somewhat insane plan to somehow kill the Kobold Dude before the Paladin's turn came about again (for he had been swamped and died once more). As the Rogue and Wizard rushed to help the Paladin, the Fighter and Cleric orchestrated a careful fighting withdrawal from the Devil infested eastern caverns.
The Rogue and Fighter delivered some punishment to the Kobold Dude even as he slashed his way through our ranks leaving him down to 2 HPs with only the Wizard standing in the way of victory. Wielding an impressive arsenal of magic weapons (which, quite frankly could have better served someone else), the Wizard hypnotized the Orc Archer into attacking his commander allowing the coup de grace to be delivered via Flaming Sphere. The Kobold Dude fell to the ground as the Wizard's flaming balls tea-bagged him to death. Huzzah!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Ambush!
The dealings of the besieged House Drake continued as the band moved into the hinterlands, hoping to turn aside the Buckwell incursion at Amrath. With Ella taking a leading role, in part to keep her away from treachery at Castle Drake, but, more importantly to show face along the troubled border, the band made its way north. Garth leading his irregulars and Torrhen the untested cavalry, the band was not long in coming into trouble.
Amonmg the rugged hills of the northlands, the band encountered a suspect deadfall. Suspecting the blockage might be an ambush, Garth's scouts forged ahead to secure the area while Torrhen's troopers worked to remove the tree. Though no ambush proved forthcoming, evidence gathered at the scene pointed to a deliberate effort to stall the House Drake forces in their drive northward.
Not far off Torrhen's forces encountered a band of House Hayford knights as well as a group of poachers. The bold knight led his men into a savage charge that quickly obliterated the Hayford troops. Their presence, so deep in Drake territory, boded ill. After seizing a prisoner, slaying another, and securing the goods from the Hayford troops, the band headed north once again.
The most troubling part of the episode was that Hayford, the house to whom Celia and Anders are blood relatives, should suddenly appear at a time when Anders' and Celia's loyalties remain in doubt. Their possession of a sizable cache of gold also hints at treachery in the offing. Not only is Buckwell threatening the lands, but, evidently, Hayford may also have a hand in this business. Fortunately some of the crack irregulars were able to take down messenger ravens further revealing the role of Hayford in the debacle.
Sensing that the road ahead would be either patrolled or prepared in ambush, Maester Gyles proposed cutting cross country to reach Amrath from the east instead of along the northern road. With Gyles uncanny sense of direction, aided at times by Garth's woodlore, the band managed to circumvent trouble and arrive in town in a steady, pouring rain. Seeking the town's holdfast, the band entered only to learn that marauders had been plaguing the town for some time. the news troubled Ella as no word of repeated incursions had ever reached her ears, despite serving as acting head of the household.
The suspicious guard Jervis was found strung up in the village, the lone survivor of the latest raid against the town. His survival did not last long, however, as the villagers hung him for his bold treason. His presence, however, coupled with the close ties the young man bore to Anders, only confirmed that something ill was afoot. While Torrhen angered the villagers by seizing Jervis' horse, a fine specimen taken from Drake's own stables, Garth placated the townspeople by granting them the wolf pelts recovered from the Hayford poachers.
As Ella and Maester Gyles continued to probe the villagers for more information, Torrhen led the bulk of his cavalry south along the main road, hoping to catch the ambushers from behind. At the same time Garth and some of his irregulars finally located the missing Drake kinsman, the bastard Warrick, hiding in the ruins of the town's lone guard tower. As the day wound to a close, Torrhen's troops suddenly found themselves under attack....
Amonmg the rugged hills of the northlands, the band encountered a suspect deadfall. Suspecting the blockage might be an ambush, Garth's scouts forged ahead to secure the area while Torrhen's troopers worked to remove the tree. Though no ambush proved forthcoming, evidence gathered at the scene pointed to a deliberate effort to stall the House Drake forces in their drive northward.
Not far off Torrhen's forces encountered a band of House Hayford knights as well as a group of poachers. The bold knight led his men into a savage charge that quickly obliterated the Hayford troops. Their presence, so deep in Drake territory, boded ill. After seizing a prisoner, slaying another, and securing the goods from the Hayford troops, the band headed north once again.
The most troubling part of the episode was that Hayford, the house to whom Celia and Anders are blood relatives, should suddenly appear at a time when Anders' and Celia's loyalties remain in doubt. Their possession of a sizable cache of gold also hints at treachery in the offing. Not only is Buckwell threatening the lands, but, evidently, Hayford may also have a hand in this business. Fortunately some of the crack irregulars were able to take down messenger ravens further revealing the role of Hayford in the debacle.
Sensing that the road ahead would be either patrolled or prepared in ambush, Maester Gyles proposed cutting cross country to reach Amrath from the east instead of along the northern road. With Gyles uncanny sense of direction, aided at times by Garth's woodlore, the band managed to circumvent trouble and arrive in town in a steady, pouring rain. Seeking the town's holdfast, the band entered only to learn that marauders had been plaguing the town for some time. the news troubled Ella as no word of repeated incursions had ever reached her ears, despite serving as acting head of the household.
The suspicious guard Jervis was found strung up in the village, the lone survivor of the latest raid against the town. His survival did not last long, however, as the villagers hung him for his bold treason. His presence, however, coupled with the close ties the young man bore to Anders, only confirmed that something ill was afoot. While Torrhen angered the villagers by seizing Jervis' horse, a fine specimen taken from Drake's own stables, Garth placated the townspeople by granting them the wolf pelts recovered from the Hayford poachers.
As Ella and Maester Gyles continued to probe the villagers for more information, Torrhen led the bulk of his cavalry south along the main road, hoping to catch the ambushers from behind. At the same time Garth and some of his irregulars finally located the missing Drake kinsman, the bastard Warrick, hiding in the ruins of the town's lone guard tower. As the day wound to a close, Torrhen's troops suddenly found themselves under attack....
From the depths
The heroes have continued their investigations into the disappearance of House Lyrandar's Siren's Song. With the loss of the airship, one destined to resupply an archaeological expedition on the northeast coast of Xendrik, Lyrandar's officials are concerned about what manner of forces could take down one of their prized airships.
Following leads cultivated from the destruction of the Wharf Rats waterfront gang, the party proceed north along the coast to the fishing hamlet of Gull Rock. After securing transportation from a riverside vendor, not the least of which was a prized riding ratite Xerxes, the group headed out along the tidal causeway to the remote village. Once there they assumed the guise of messengers of the late, but unlamented, henrich and learned that the treasures from the Siren's Song came from a group of sahuagin marauders located among the channel islands.
Their attempts to meet with the sahuagin leader Zilzbek resulted in a battle along the waterfront that left Zilzbek's two lieutenants dead and Zizlbek begging for mercy. Only after providing the band with the information they sought was the sahuagin leader permitted to flee back into the watery depths. Armed with this new information, the party returned to the Bad Penny, there to meet their contact the gnome scoundrel Rumley. Rumley promised the band that he could secure passage to the islands on behalf of his employers. deciding that they would be likelier to encounter the marauders aboard a merchantman, they opted to follow that route instead of securing a smaller, faster, packet ship.
As the session wound down, the band prepared for an oceanic voyage, hoping to discover the mysterious giantish device Zilzbek asserted was behind the downing of the airship.
Following leads cultivated from the destruction of the Wharf Rats waterfront gang, the party proceed north along the coast to the fishing hamlet of Gull Rock. After securing transportation from a riverside vendor, not the least of which was a prized riding ratite Xerxes, the group headed out along the tidal causeway to the remote village. Once there they assumed the guise of messengers of the late, but unlamented, henrich and learned that the treasures from the Siren's Song came from a group of sahuagin marauders located among the channel islands.
Their attempts to meet with the sahuagin leader Zilzbek resulted in a battle along the waterfront that left Zilzbek's two lieutenants dead and Zizlbek begging for mercy. Only after providing the band with the information they sought was the sahuagin leader permitted to flee back into the watery depths. Armed with this new information, the party returned to the Bad Penny, there to meet their contact the gnome scoundrel Rumley. Rumley promised the band that he could secure passage to the islands on behalf of his employers. deciding that they would be likelier to encounter the marauders aboard a merchantman, they opted to follow that route instead of securing a smaller, faster, packet ship.
As the session wound down, the band prepared for an oceanic voyage, hoping to discover the mysterious giantish device Zilzbek asserted was behind the downing of the airship.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Leadership and Talismans
It was a small group that got together on July 16 for the monthly Border Board games gathering. We welcomed Carlo back into the fold after a few absences and he brought along some new games and nearly new games to try. We started with King of Tokyo, a game Beth and I first tried at the Game'n Grill in Norwich last month. I followed a more aggressive tact this time around with my giant alien thingy. Rather than back away at the first hit, I stuck it out for several rounds quickly building up my fame points (or whatever the stars represent). The carnage was hot and heavy as Beth's Cyberbunny went down alarmingly fast (breaking a string of Cyberbunny victories as Carlo told it) and then Carlo's Kraken followed soon after. It came down to Shannon and I (Shannon having taken the ubiquitous giant lizard) and a timely card purchase claimed the victory in the last portion of my turn.
Next up came a try at the Seven Wonder expansion leaders. The Leaders not only provided us with extra coins to start the game (doubling starting money to 6 coins) but an interesting complimentary twist. As it played out, the King Midas leader card proved the decisive one for me. I managed to squeak out the win with 64 points, owing in part to the six bonus points derived from having Midas' gold for VPs power. Not all of the Leaders are of equal value as many of the cards that formed my starting hand ended up in the rubbish pile after being passed around the table. But there are enough interesting twists that, if your homecity actually manages to match their powers, can provide a solid edge.
Lastly we ventured into the world of Talisman. Since having seen it played at Games 'Til You Puke in May, I'd had a hankering for a down and dirty dungeon romp. It has elements of strategy coupled with a heaping helping of luck. Given that the players are all vying for final victory on their own, it lacks the cooperative mayhem of Arkham Horror with an equally random set of circumstances. Our misunderstanding of the Ogre Chieftain's power may have given Homer the victory but a victory it was as the Alchemist, Cleric (and Valkyrie before), Wizard and Assassin all withered before the Ogre's Crown of Might.
It's a relatively simple system but one where bad things happening lead to even more bad things happening. Shannon's (and later my own) decision to enter The Dungeon proved disastrous. Not only were the critters harder than in the Highlands, the loot rewards seemed fewer and further between. While Homer and carlo romped merrily through the Highlands acquiring relics and loot galore, Shannon and I slogged painfully through the Dungeon trying to find a way out that wasn't infested by vampires and slimes. Character selection goes a long way in talisman. A Craft dedicated character would fare well in the Dungeon while Strength based ones do better in the Highlands. The final ring approaching the Crown certainly does appear to favor an all or nothing approach. Balanced stats appear to become a liability unless other characters are busy attacking you there.
I think it's a game that I would like to play again, when I have many hours to spare, but one I might be more inclined to carefully choose a character to use rather than going on impulse alone.
Next up came a try at the Seven Wonder expansion leaders. The Leaders not only provided us with extra coins to start the game (doubling starting money to 6 coins) but an interesting complimentary twist. As it played out, the King Midas leader card proved the decisive one for me. I managed to squeak out the win with 64 points, owing in part to the six bonus points derived from having Midas' gold for VPs power. Not all of the Leaders are of equal value as many of the cards that formed my starting hand ended up in the rubbish pile after being passed around the table. But there are enough interesting twists that, if your homecity actually manages to match their powers, can provide a solid edge.
Lastly we ventured into the world of Talisman. Since having seen it played at Games 'Til You Puke in May, I'd had a hankering for a down and dirty dungeon romp. It has elements of strategy coupled with a heaping helping of luck. Given that the players are all vying for final victory on their own, it lacks the cooperative mayhem of Arkham Horror with an equally random set of circumstances. Our misunderstanding of the Ogre Chieftain's power may have given Homer the victory but a victory it was as the Alchemist, Cleric (and Valkyrie before), Wizard and Assassin all withered before the Ogre's Crown of Might.
It's a relatively simple system but one where bad things happening lead to even more bad things happening. Shannon's (and later my own) decision to enter The Dungeon proved disastrous. Not only were the critters harder than in the Highlands, the loot rewards seemed fewer and further between. While Homer and carlo romped merrily through the Highlands acquiring relics and loot galore, Shannon and I slogged painfully through the Dungeon trying to find a way out that wasn't infested by vampires and slimes. Character selection goes a long way in talisman. A Craft dedicated character would fare well in the Dungeon while Strength based ones do better in the Highlands. The final ring approaching the Crown certainly does appear to favor an all or nothing approach. Balanced stats appear to become a liability unless other characters are busy attacking you there.
I think it's a game that I would like to play again, when I have many hours to spare, but one I might be more inclined to carefully choose a character to use rather than going on impulse alone.
Friday, July 8, 2011
A Song of Fear and Loathing
We kicked off the start of A Song of Ice and Fire campaign on June 19 with Jason and Adam joining the regular RPG crew of Beth, Homer and myself. While most of us are familiar with the novels/setting, Jason and Adam were the only ones familiar with the mechanics of the system. Luckily, the first step for our campaign was the creation of our house.
House creation, it turns out, is a fabulous introduction to the setting. While we had tossed around some ideas in our heads, not knowing the what and where made latching on to character ideas more difficult. The only thing we seemed set on was establishing a presence somewhere in Dorne. With that kernel to build on, we set about creating House Drake.
The mechanics of house creation are at once delightful and frustrating. The element of randomness ensures that the peculiar circumstances of your House will very likely be quite different even if you should try to replicate that same house in that same Kingdom. The variables attributed to the different kingdoms add local flavor without necessarily predetermining your fate. How much difference could some tosses of a few d6s make? Quite a lot as it turned out.
House Drake, by choice, is set in the borderlands between the Reach and the Stormlands. This location provided the crux of external conflict that we sought. Our rolls also granted us a small castle, a reasonably fair sized standing army, mines, a mercantile town at a crossroads and plenty of under developed land that has fallen into lawlessness. Our house house was also relatively newly founded and already in a state of decay.
Knowing these facts, we designed our characters. Beth's character Ella is the heir to the House Drake line by our Lord Ondrew Drake's first marriage. Homer's character Torrhen is next in succession being the first born of Ondrew's second wife. My character Garth is a bastard-born child of a camp follower from Ondrew's years as a mercenary campaigner. Though older than the others, Garth's lineage predates Ondrew's possession of Castle Drake and he seems content to lead his father's Irregulars. Last to the group is our young Maester Gyles, played by Adam. Apparently this is Adam's first non-warrior character so the change of scenery will provide some interesting dynamics as he explores the social combat system of SoIaF.
Jason, our GM, set the stage. Lord Ondrew's health is failing and he knows that his time is short. He calls together all of his children hoping to perhaps bequeath upon them some final morsels of wisdom coupled with his wishes for the succession of his House. It turns out that his two legitimate children are joined by not one but two bastards. Whether the other, Warick, is baseborn as was Garth is something we have yet to discover.
Our newly arrived Maester determines that Lord Ondrew's ill-health has less to do with a lifetime spent on the battlefield and is more likely attributable to a conscious attempt to kill him. Gyles suspects that poison is at work and devises an herbal remedy that he hopes will restore the Lord Drake to health. What remains unclear is who precisely has made the attempt and how.
The grasping second wife, Celia Hayford (Torrhen's mother) seems anxious to be rid of her risen-from-the-ranks soldier of a husband. Would she truly slay Lord Drake knowing that Ella is being groomed to assume his mantle? What then of Ella's safety? Adding to the mystery is the recent recalling of Torrhen from his fostering with House Martell. He left a mere child but returns now with fancy armor (the purchase of which has strained the Drake household finances) and spurs. Is he complicit in his mothers schemes or simply an unwitting beneficiary?
The scheming is not confined to Celia alone, however. Her brother Anders Hayworth commands the castle garrison. While the garrison is trained, its loyalties to the House seem divided between their commander and the heir apparent. Suspicious parcels and the commissioning of House troops to move supplies along our roads strikes Ella as being quite peculiar.
And then word reaches the castle that the Buckwells have moved to retake a border town lost in earlier clashes between House Drake and House Buckwell soon after the ascension of King Robert Baratheon to the throne. Fearing that the Buckwells grow bold by the news of Lord Ondrew's poor health, we devised a plan to present a show of force to dissuade the Buckwells by intimidation or steel as the case warrants. Knowing that the garrisons loyalties might be compromised, Garth insists of bringing along a few squads of his skirmishers (the uneducated might call them guerrillas) as well as House Drakes' compliment of undisciplined cavalry under Torrhen's command.
Torrhen agrees to the plan knowing that the cavalry, a new feature among the archers and skirmishers that formed the basis of Drake's Company, could use some seasoning. better to test their mettle in a skirmish than to watch them crumple in the heat of battle. Hopefully his training with the Martell's will help him retain command of the horsemen. Bolstered by the irregulars, we hope to present a sufficient show of arms to send the Buckwells scurrying back into their clapboard halls. By boldly riding out along the frontier, we also hope to showcase Ella before the smallfolk as the true and rightful heir to House Drake.
House creation, it turns out, is a fabulous introduction to the setting. While we had tossed around some ideas in our heads, not knowing the what and where made latching on to character ideas more difficult. The only thing we seemed set on was establishing a presence somewhere in Dorne. With that kernel to build on, we set about creating House Drake.
The mechanics of house creation are at once delightful and frustrating. The element of randomness ensures that the peculiar circumstances of your House will very likely be quite different even if you should try to replicate that same house in that same Kingdom. The variables attributed to the different kingdoms add local flavor without necessarily predetermining your fate. How much difference could some tosses of a few d6s make? Quite a lot as it turned out.
House Drake, by choice, is set in the borderlands between the Reach and the Stormlands. This location provided the crux of external conflict that we sought. Our rolls also granted us a small castle, a reasonably fair sized standing army, mines, a mercantile town at a crossroads and plenty of under developed land that has fallen into lawlessness. Our house house was also relatively newly founded and already in a state of decay.
Knowing these facts, we designed our characters. Beth's character Ella is the heir to the House Drake line by our Lord Ondrew Drake's first marriage. Homer's character Torrhen is next in succession being the first born of Ondrew's second wife. My character Garth is a bastard-born child of a camp follower from Ondrew's years as a mercenary campaigner. Though older than the others, Garth's lineage predates Ondrew's possession of Castle Drake and he seems content to lead his father's Irregulars. Last to the group is our young Maester Gyles, played by Adam. Apparently this is Adam's first non-warrior character so the change of scenery will provide some interesting dynamics as he explores the social combat system of SoIaF.
Jason, our GM, set the stage. Lord Ondrew's health is failing and he knows that his time is short. He calls together all of his children hoping to perhaps bequeath upon them some final morsels of wisdom coupled with his wishes for the succession of his House. It turns out that his two legitimate children are joined by not one but two bastards. Whether the other, Warick, is baseborn as was Garth is something we have yet to discover.
Our newly arrived Maester determines that Lord Ondrew's ill-health has less to do with a lifetime spent on the battlefield and is more likely attributable to a conscious attempt to kill him. Gyles suspects that poison is at work and devises an herbal remedy that he hopes will restore the Lord Drake to health. What remains unclear is who precisely has made the attempt and how.
The grasping second wife, Celia Hayford (Torrhen's mother) seems anxious to be rid of her risen-from-the-ranks soldier of a husband. Would she truly slay Lord Drake knowing that Ella is being groomed to assume his mantle? What then of Ella's safety? Adding to the mystery is the recent recalling of Torrhen from his fostering with House Martell. He left a mere child but returns now with fancy armor (the purchase of which has strained the Drake household finances) and spurs. Is he complicit in his mothers schemes or simply an unwitting beneficiary?
The scheming is not confined to Celia alone, however. Her brother Anders Hayworth commands the castle garrison. While the garrison is trained, its loyalties to the House seem divided between their commander and the heir apparent. Suspicious parcels and the commissioning of House troops to move supplies along our roads strikes Ella as being quite peculiar.
And then word reaches the castle that the Buckwells have moved to retake a border town lost in earlier clashes between House Drake and House Buckwell soon after the ascension of King Robert Baratheon to the throne. Fearing that the Buckwells grow bold by the news of Lord Ondrew's poor health, we devised a plan to present a show of force to dissuade the Buckwells by intimidation or steel as the case warrants. Knowing that the garrisons loyalties might be compromised, Garth insists of bringing along a few squads of his skirmishers (the uneducated might call them guerrillas) as well as House Drakes' compliment of undisciplined cavalry under Torrhen's command.
Torrhen agrees to the plan knowing that the cavalry, a new feature among the archers and skirmishers that formed the basis of Drake's Company, could use some seasoning. better to test their mettle in a skirmish than to watch them crumple in the heat of battle. Hopefully his training with the Martell's will help him retain command of the horsemen. Bolstered by the irregulars, we hope to present a sufficient show of arms to send the Buckwells scurrying back into their clapboard halls. By boldly riding out along the frontier, we also hope to showcase Ella before the smallfolk as the true and rightful heir to House Drake.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)