Torchbearer Rarg and Dragonspeaker Duucxejial stand at Thalia’s side at the moment. There’s a post with everyone’s current cards toward the bottom of the previous page as well.
And so it is decided. jpastor's character THALIA BLOODSTALKER is the party leader for now, until you select someone else.
And while the party finishes discussing who should be the party leader, and elects Thalia as their new glorious Partyleader, they ready the ox cart and leave the small village of Lastwood towards the Gloomwood Forest which they would already be able to see on the horizon if there was real light instead of this neverending dusk. However, the party moves steady forward, until they see something moving under some hay on the oxcard.
The adventurers, ready to face whatever danger might lurk there, sweep away the hay and encounter with their weapons drawn ... a surprised teenager.
"Please, dont harm me! I mean no threat! Please! Me name's Eldric and i wanna be a hero just like you! I wanna go on adventures, save prinzesses, find treasures and slay dragons just like you do! Here, i even brought ma own weapon, the biggest and hardest stick i could find. I wont be slowing you down, just allow me to come with you! I can be your squire if you want and take care of the oxens or repair some things. I'll do whatever you want, if you allow me to stay. And if you dont i will follow you, but maybe the monsters in the dark will eat me then and then you will feel really bad about it, so its better if i come with you!"
New Quest: Decide what to do with "squire" Eldric
Chose one:
1: - We should allow him to stay. If he wants to be an adventurer he will do so anyway. But before he choses the wrong group that gets him killed, its better if he comes with us. We can also show him some skills and spells that will ensure he survives the adventurers life.
2: - We should allow him to stay. A minion that does all the dirty and unpleaseant work is always useful. And we could use him as bait or distraction if we must flee. Thalia could also make use of him as a living neverending supply of fresh blood for her to drink.
3: - We should send him back to Lastwood. His parents will surely be really worried by now. But the way back can be dangerous. He might get eaten by monsters. And maybe he wont go back and follow us in some distance.
4: - We should beat him up as a warning and break his arms to make sure he has something else to worry about instead of adventuring. Then send him back to Lastwood Village.
Duucxejial cares not what the boy does; let him stay if he wishes. By the same token, the dragonspeaker has no intention of protecting or teaching him. He votes for option 1, since he at least shares the initial sentiment there, if not the conclusion. (From Duucxejial‘s perspective, Eldric has no apparent potential, so there’s no reason to babysit him on top of the task the party has already accepted. He also doesn’t trust Eldric, but sees no reason to voice this opinion at the moment since he doesn’t exactly trust the others much either.)
After a short discussion, the adventurers party decides that Eldric should stay with them. As they tell this to the young man, he is quite happy and assures everyone that they wont regret this decision. To make sure that Eldric is prepared for the adventurers life, the adventurers party trains a bit with him to see what he is capable of. Most of the time Eldric behaves like a boxing bag, but he makes a good sparring partner who can take some hits.
This training however, grants the adventurers more insight into their own abilitys and skills and what they are capable of. And so ...
Each adventurer gains a level up and is now level 3.
New Quest: Level your character up to level 3.
How does that work?:
Create a common level 3 character based on your level 2 character, but with power or toughness increased by one.
Create an ability your character can use that requires spending mana, but does not require tapping the character.
Create a common level 3 spell that costs 3 mana and it should fit to your character.
Create an uncommon level 1 spell that costs 1 mana. Uncommon spells can be stronger than common spells.
Level 3 characters also get an additional action during your own turn, increasing actions to 3. Mana increases to 6
New Quest: Level up Eldric the Squire to level 1, but do it together!
Eldric is currently level 0.
- One Adventurer decides if Eldrics power or Eldrics toughness is increased by one.
- Another Adventurer creates a common 1 mana level 1 Spell for Eldric.
- The last adventurer creates a common weapon equipment for Eldric, by making use of the wooden stick Eldric currently has. "Forge" a weapon for Eldric that can be made out of a wooden stick.
Hint for Thalia and everyone else that wants to "pay life" for something. Since there is no player here, who could spend life, as a workaround "paying life" is done by spending blood tokens instead of life points. Feel free now to create spells/abilities that create blood tokens or consume blood tokens. The workaround for "pay 1 life" is now "sacrifice 1 blood token." 2 life would cost 2 blood tokens and so on. Once created, blood tokens stay until they are sacrificed or until something happens to them.
@smax765@jpastor I’d like to choose Eldric’s P/T bonus if that’s alright. It feels like the most appropriate thing for the dragonspeaker to help out with of the three.
That's cool. I'm going to need to drop from this. I'm swamped suddenly at work and stuff. I'll have to give my spot to another. I'm sad though. I wanted to keep going, but I've lost track of what's going on and can't keep up.
I have my cards. For the "fast creatures", someone in cardsmith that I don't remember created it, is not my mechanic. A fast creature is a creature with haste, first strike, double strike or flash.
Another ting I made is to make my card rare, because if not the p/t is very OP for the common rarity.
Training with the Dragon Bard increases Eldric toughness. Unfortunately Eldric doesnt really understand the complexity behind Initiate's Mastery and fails to learn that spell. But at least the part of that spell that interests him -becoming stronger- he learns and converts it into an ability. And he also likes that pickaxe hammer thing that makes him look like a real knight!
Level 1: Squire Eldric
And so, while training with Eldric and slowly moving forward, you finally reach the Gloomwood Forest.
The Forest is very old and very dark with its ancient trees blocking almost all of the light. Misty fog is creeping over the ground and everything here is dripping with moisture.
You hear strange noises coming from out of the undergrowth and sometimes you can spot a pair of glowing eyes that look at you and then vanishes only to appear at another position a bit later.
As you are looking for some good trees to chop down you suddenly hear a voice:
"Hold, strangers. We know exactly why you are here! We wont let you harm this forest. It has suffered enough since the mages experiment went wrong and now you come here only to kill our brothers the old trees of the Gloomwood."
You only see the Druid and two groups of Dryads, however, there could be more Dryads or other creatures be hiding in the woods.
New Quest:
You need wood. Get it peacefully or by force.
1. Try to reason with the druid and the dryads and try to convince them that the city needs wood as protection against the monsters that lurk in the dark.
2. Lets make a deal. Surely you have something we can help you with. In exchange for our help, you collect some wood for us that the forest wont miss.
3. Threaten them, that, if you dont get the wood, you will be coming back with an army of lumberjacks who will chop down the entire forest and burn the leftovers.
4. Less talking, more fighting! Kill them all. And dryads are made of wood and burn quite good. Lets take their corpses back to the city, too and collect our reward for bringing high quality wood back.
The Druid thinks for a while, then talks with the Dryads until finally he starts talking to the adventurers again:
"Yes, there is one thing you could do. Not far from here lives a Dark Treant who's influence is corrupting the forest. If you kill him and end his corruption, we will gather the wood for you that you need, so that the abomination of stone and dead wood that you call a city can have its fire for one more day."
He describes the way to the treant and warns you that you must hurry, because soon the long night begins where both moons and Pyria are blocking the sun and then everything dark and evil will rise out of the shadows.
And so you hurry to end The Dark Treant, but as you arrive at the location, that the Druid described, there is not only The Dark Treant, but also creatures that look like flesh eating plants that can walk around.
And whats even stranger, the Dark Treant starts talking when he sees you:
"Ah, you finally arrived. My plantlings told me you would come. I know the druid and his dryads have send you to kill me, but you were tricked and fooled by them. You see, when the mages experiment darkened this world, this forest started to decay. Without the suns light the plants slowly fade away and die. But i found a way that allows this forest to survive. This forest can feed on the dark magic that is now found everywhere and is able to create creature like plants that can feed on other creatures. If they are weak they get eaten just like normal creatures, but if they are strong, they will survive. The druid doesnt understand this, but the forest must adapt to this new darker world if it wants to survive. But the druid and his dryads want to use their magic to change this forest to be like it once was, which will only cause the whole forest and everything dependant on it to die. They want to protect the forest, but they dont understand that their way is wrong and that what they are doing will be the end for everything in this forest.
So what i ask you to do is this: Kill the druid and his dryads. As a reward you can chop down every dead tree you find and collect all the wood you want thats lying around. I will even send my Plantling creatures with you to help you in the fight. They will also show you afterwards which wood has the highest quality. I suppose that will increase your reward if you bring it back to town. And i give you this advice for free: The druid always has some reinforcements ready, for example his animal, a large snake and probably 1-2 more groups of dryads. If you fight him, kill the druid as fast as you can because his presence empowers every other creature around him.
So, what do you say? Do we have a deal?"
Quest Updated:
You need wood. Get it peacefully or by force.
1. No deal. We fight now. Prepare to die!
2. This #")%/(&$%"! Druid tricked us! We will kill him for you.
3. How about this? We thought that maybe we could... (Enter your own Solution)
Duucxejial (suggesting an option 3, with option 2 and simply abandoning the quest vying for plan b) –
Growing weary of this increasingly messy diversion, the dragonspeaker leans on his ring blade. "How about this: If you're willing to part with a branch to serve as proof, we can attempt to convince them of your demise, leaving you free to do what you will without their meddling. During the conversation, the plantlings will lie in wait nearby, ready to act should an opportune moment to assassinate the druid arise or the ruse fail and battle begins. If they're noticed, we can say they're waiting to take revenge for defeating you."
~~~
Out of character –
Is the Dark Treant’s “other creatures may block if we attack it” mechanic exclusive to boss monsters (i.e. will that not be in play if we attack the druids)? Either way, both fights look like we’re setup to fail immediately…
On a separate note, with 3 actions per turn, do they still have to be different actions (i.e. we can only take three actions if we attack, activate an ability, and cast a card), or do they only have to be distinct actions (e.g. casting two different cards in one turn)?
Yes, the Boss Monster ability is exclusive to boss monsters. The Druid doesnt have it. If you attack him, his other creatures cant defend him. However the druid maybe has an instant or something else prepared.
And i designed the fights so, that you can beat em both, if you use your characters spells and abilities wisely.
And your idea might work too. If the plantlings and the druids minions kill each other, both groups are weakened, which will make both fights easier.
(Using a spoiler to avoid unintentionally affecting smax765's decision.)
I hope you can forgive my disbelief regarding the encounter construction, considering:
The Dark Treant's activated ability allows it to either one-shot us at will (since none of us can survive 4 damage) or grind us down with impunity while the plantlings shield it, giving us no road to success in that encounter.
The Gloomwood Druid can stop Rarg (the only one that can feasibly attack more than once) from acting while the dryads and company slaughter us. While we can theoretically knock him out on our first turn, that's only if he has no defensive actions. Even then, that fight is likely to end poorly for us.
Our best strategies for either encounter don't necessarily make sense in character for at least one of the party members in either scenario, and even then they're incredibly flimsy, since a single unexpected +1/+1 buff (or any similar net effect) is enough to wipe the party. (The inability to act at instant speed wrecks both Rarg's and Duucxejial's kits, leaving the party vulnerable to even the slightest disruption.)
I'm not putting this here to say anything in particular about the encounters, just outlining my thoughts given the information presented to the party. Also, you haven't answered my question about how Rarg and Duucxejial are allowed to use their 3 actions.
Regardless, everything is up to Rarg and Eldric now.
Yes, 3 diffrent actions on your turn. But when your level becomes higher, that can change. And if attacking is bad at first, well, you dont have to attack. You can cast enchantment spells first or summon dragons or blast the enemy with spells and then attack on later turns.
I wont spoil everything, but look at all of your spells and equipment. Theres ways to win this.
I think a version of option 2. Just we have to try to make the treat to fight with us with the druid and so it is an easier fight. Also, using the pickaxe make us gain food that can heal us.
Indestructable = You receive damage, but that damage cant reduce toughness to lower than 1. If your character has 5 toughness and is indestructable and takes 20 damage, toughness goes down to 1 but not lower.
The Dark Treant looks at you. "A branch as proof? Yes, that might work. And when the druid is convinced that you did what he wanted and is content and disctracted, my plantlings will attack while you help them."
He breaks off a branch with some not so healthy looking fruits on it and gives it to you.
"On your way then, adventurers, go get rid of that druid."
And so you leave, back to the druid. The plantlings follow you in some disctance, well hidden in the woods.
After a while youre back at the druids location, who looks curious at you, and when he sees the branch you carry with you even smiles a bit.
"Ah, you are back. And as i see you brought a gift for me. I suppose the dark treant wont need it anymore then. Well done."
But before you can say anything, the plantlings jump out of the wood and attack the dryads! Seems like the dark treant had his own plans and wanted to make absolutely sure that this ends in a fight which gets the druid killed.
Before you can do anything 3 plantlings attack each dryad. The dryads are instantly slain, but they also kill 2 plantlings.
"Treason!" the Druid screems. "My animals, help me!" and instantly a Snake emerges.
And out of the woods another dryad rushes in to help the druid.
The Situation now is: 4x Plantlings vs Druid + Snake + Dryad.
VS
(Druid is tapped cause he summoned the Snake. Snake and Dryad have summoning sickness).
Now you must decide what to do:
1. The Druid needs help! If we dont help him, the plantlings will kill him next turn. - Attack the Plantlings and side with the druid!
2. We promised the dark treant to get rid of the druid. Lets attack the druid and his minions and keep our promise. - Attack the Druid or his minions and side with the dark treant!
3. Technically we promised both sides to help them, but hey lets just watch how they kill each other and then kill whatever is left, then gather our wood and go home.
Duucxejial votes for option 3 pending further developments. He also casts Shrouding Dragonflame to both disincentivize either side from attacking the party during the upcoming combat round and also prepare to enter the fray in the near future.
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@smax765 @jpastor I’d like to choose Eldric’s P/T bonus if that’s alright. It feels like the most appropriate thing for the dragonspeaker to help out with of the three.
Another ting I made is to make my card rare, because if not the p/t is very OP for the common rarity.
Growing weary of this increasingly messy diversion, the dragonspeaker leans on his ring blade. "How about this: If you're willing to part with a branch to serve as proof, we can attempt to convince them of your demise, leaving you free to do what you will without their meddling. During the conversation, the plantlings will lie in wait nearby, ready to act should an opportune moment to assassinate the druid arise or the ruse fail and battle begins. If they're noticed, we can say they're waiting to take revenge for defeating you."
~~~
Out of character –
Is the Dark Treant’s “other creatures may block if we attack it” mechanic exclusive to boss monsters (i.e. will that not be in play if we attack the druids)? Either way, both fights look like we’re setup to fail immediately…
On a separate note, with 3 actions per turn, do they still have to be different actions (i.e. we can only take three actions if we attack, activate an ability, and cast a card), or do they only have to be distinct actions (e.g. casting two different cards in one turn)?
I hope you can forgive my disbelief regarding the encounter construction, considering:
Regardless, everything is up to Rarg and Eldric now.