Like the title already says it, it is time for holiday break. Too bad that last Sunday was already booked and we missed a session. Christmas comes and we have now played about 20 times considering that we have played board games and gave a shot to playtests as well. So far I have enjoyed and maybe next year will be even better. So I think now it is time to wish you all:
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Let's continue 3.1.2010 with Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons.
As our heroes ventured deeper in the palace, they learned that the new inhabitants of Tiger Palace in Sudolphor were mainly tomb spiders and other similar foul creatures. Gildin, Dabbil, Gaukan, Maege and Shivra had decided to enter the palace with the intention of doing some tomb raiding. Although they didn't have much knowledge about the place, they knew that the palace was supposed to include five floors. Since the sheer size of the palace was huge and the entrance they used was in the first cellar floor, it was going to take some time before they were done.
The first cellar floor turned out to be servant's quarters. Partly now in ruins, the only valuable thing they found was the library which proved to be useful. Although the previous habitants had been slaves, the architecture and decorations showed that these slaves were not treated badly. The massive library held many very valuable books and items our heroes gathered to be picked up when they return from the bottom floors. Dabbil even found leads to knowledge concerning Arcane Wayfarers (paragon path).
"Time and space are barries to most creatures, only gods, primordials and legendary beings can break down those barriers. And - perhaps - people like you" -Arcane Wayfarer-
Although such books very valuable indeed, but they alone were not enough to compensate the fights against the poisonous spiders. They continued deeper with their hopes high.
The second cellar floor was pleasure quarters. Only courtesans and slave women had dwelled here. The illustrations and hieroglyphs made very clear what sort of pleasures there had been performed. What they found here was ancient "tools for pleasure", fabrics and jars worth a small fortune. At least for the small folk, but our heroes needed something bigger, something more in order to be helpful to Amn. And so they continued.
The entrance to the third cellar floor was barred with iron bars, but Gaukan tore them apart with his massive strength while Shivra opened the lock with ease. It seemed that the huge goliath was determined enough for the task at hand. The third floor was titled preparation chambers and there was a warning which stated that only the priests of Talos were permitted to enter. Even the color of the stone was different. Here it was dark black. The sheer presence of preparation chambers was surprise for the heroes since Maege had told them that the preparation chambers were supposed to be located at the mausoleum, not here. Maybe here was buried someone who was incredibly rich or someone who had done something very bad and punished.
After few traps and threats, our heroes entered the study. Dabbil and Maege studied numerous codexes and tomes so they learned what was going on. The preparation chamber here was made for only one man. Prince Kamril the Golden. The one who had been punished, even in death. The prince had been caught abusing the children of the royal palace and he was punished to receive the Hom-dai. To suffer even in death, whatever that meant.
Soon they found the entrance to the fourth cellar floor. Unfortunately there was a one problem: Tomb Guardian and the magical barrier. Exhausted from the battles against numerous spiders our heroes decided to rest the night in the dungeons, until they were ready to encounter what was yet to come...
Now that the tax refunds have returned to us and Christmas is at out doorstep, I decided give few gifts to none other than myself! So I now have ordered Mouse Guard RPG from Archaia Studios Press at the price of 16€ (from bookdepository.com where I order almost everything). In addition I have bought some console games, but that is not the subject of this blog.
In addition, my lovely wife knows how to please his husband. She bought me Praedor RPG from Burger Games. Praedor is a Finnish fantasy RPG based on the comics by Petri Hiltunen which go by the same name. The style of the game is rather gritty and dark. The game has been praised for its system and theme. In short: Adventuring isn't glamorous, it is full of shit and praedors (adventurers) do it only to survive. I believe I don't have to say that the heroes live too long in Praedor campaigns, but hey... it's possible.
Now that I have two excellent games in my hands, I'll be posting playtests and reviews about both of them in the future!
After delaying the post for too long, I’ve now decided that I should write few words about Battlestar Galactica The Board Game published by the Fantasy Flight Games. The game altogether was a pleasant surprise, it catches the mood of the series and I believe that you’ll enjoy the board game even if you haven’t seen a single episode.
“You can’t trust me and I will not definitely trust you and yes, we are all honest here… are we not?” That is Battlestar Galactica in a nutshell. Almost at least. Battlestar Galactica is a cooperative game where all the players are doing their best to reach Earth while Cylon fleets are harassing them whenever they get the opportunity to do so. In games such as Arkham Horror etc. players pull the same rope. In Battlestar Galactica however one or more players do not. They’re Cylons and have no intention of reaching Earth. The problem is that players don’t know who the Cylons are until their actions prove otherwise.
A player chooses a character from the series and every one of them has different skills and special abilities. Others can fly Vipers while others are specialized in politics or tactics. You get cards based on your skills, five colors in all, but according you character you’ll most likely be using about two of them. When every turn draws to an end a crisis emerges and something bad happens. If you play your cards right, you can usually avoid the disaster, but there are people aboard who doesn’t wish that to happen.
This is exactly where the game gets it kicks. People around the table accuse each other of every mishap what happens. And if you are a skillful player, it is almost impossible to notice that you’re a cylon. If you are noticed, players do whatever they can to restrict your actions and that is usually the time to actually reveal that you in fact are a Cylon and start acting accordingly. Cylons win through various ways, but humans only if they reach their destination.
I’m not going to go more on the details of the game, I believe by now you have the idea. As a board game it is successful indeed, one of the gold nuggets of board games. The mind bending action to find out who is a cylon is act of FUN indeed and I can recommend the game to everyone. 4/5
PROS:
- Intense
- Great components
- Paranoia and accusations made fun
- Strategic thinking
CONS
- After the Cylons are revealed, the biggest tick disappears and every player head towards their goals.
Founded by the army of the efreet Memnon, the city of Memnon reveres the entity from which it takes its name. The city’s outer walls were made of a dark, smooth rock that absorbs heat and shrugs off wear. Our heroes entered the city in hopes to meet warrior Gaukan, a mighty warrior who could prove helpful in their search for artifacts and allies for the old Amn.
2nd of Alturiak, 1480 DR
Gildin, Dabbil and Shivra weren’t aware of Calimshanian habits and the fact that every non genasi member who didn’t worship Talos was considered unenlightened and therefore open for slavery. When they reached the city walls, it caused some problems. Luckily Gildin was able to bribe the town guards despite their superior attitude. The genasi guard gave them advice to head directly to temple district and prove their faith to Talos in order walk around freely.
After the confessing their faith at the temple, they were ready to search Gaukan. They learned that Gaukan was the local arena champion, now three years in a row. He had a small apartment around the slave district. The warrior shared his apartment with Maege, a genasi rogue, who was Gaukan’s friend in their search for relics and treasure. Our heroes met Gaukan at his house. Both parties were expecting to meet sooner or later, so introductions were swift.
Gaukan told the about his problems: Treasures hidden in Suldolphor. This once-vibrant city of almost 150,000 souls is now a stretch of sand-blasted ruin where efreets battle djinns in an endless cycle of mad violence. Its streets, buildings, and palaces lie buried only feets beneath the sweltering, ever-moving dust of the Calim Desert. It was rumored that city features sometimes appear in the wake of a strong sandstorm, only to vanish again in the next battle. Gaukan however knew this to be only a rumor and a strong warrior who had once before visited the city was confident that travelling to the city ruins was not a difficult task. The difficulties were to come later.
Gaukan knew about two locations where to search for the treasure. One of these was a Tiger palace, which was the former center for the ruling Pasha. The other was the mausoleum complex of the previous pashas. The problem was, that the city was also the rumored home of other rogue genasi serving the battling efreeti and djinnis. This meant that heroes didn’t have the luxury of being seen, so everything had to be done in secret. While the surface of the city was a constant battleground, the underground was a home for giant spiders and other fould dangers. They made a choice and headed for the Tiger Palace.
After Shivra did some scouting, they decided that it would be best to use the dry water canals in the city which proved to be a good solution until they met their first furry friends. Giant tomb spiders altered by the spellplague. One bite and Gaukan went down due the paralyzing poison. Before any real harm was done, the heroes vanquished the danger. Eventually they found their way inside the palace and entered… What happens next is the subject of next session log.
Good solid session. Nothing more. Next Sunday it is time for Battlestar Galactica: The board game again. After playing it properly few times, I'll post few words about the game.
