Sunday, October 18, 2015

Ptolemina, High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City (Game 2)

This was game two for Ptolemenia's Band. I was pretty excited to see her make it to the table again. A second game means more progress and hopefully a continuing for our multi-part endeavor that is trying out Frostgrave.

My party was the same as last time, with one addition, another thug.

The Necromancer's Troupe:
Necromancer w/ Staff
Ptolemina, High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City
Apprentice w/ Staff
Renyard Strake,ex-Friar and Acolyte of the High Priestess of Aridais, the Forbidden City
Thief
Lady A
Thug
Thug Underboss, Big Tom
Thug
Thug, Kay Az

Thug
Thug, Kaz Ay
War Hound
Dog
Crossbowman
Seth
Apothecary
Gorman the Wolf
Man-At-Arms
Mr. Holt
Spells
Bone Dart
Raise Zombie
Steal Health
Animal Companion
Fleet Feet
Leap
Push
Teleport

I didn't have any new spells or magic items, due to my rolls last time. But I did advance a level, so I chose to have +1 Fight.

So, first, we rolled up the scenario. "Genie in the Bottle" was to be it. We set up the table with some cool new terrain that Dan made, and some of our normal pieces that hang around the game store. I picked up a lot of trees to use, they made the board look fuller and worked quite well.
We set up the treasure and did our initial rolls, and the game began.


Highlights:
(As sadly I am writing this a week after the fact, the specifics of the game elude me.)


  • My Warhound acquired a name. After rolling two natural 20s and taking out two of my opponent's war band in two consecutive rounds, he is now, "Badaz!"
  • Dan's group killed the Genie and found, and recovered the Genie bottle. This gave his wizard an instant 250 xp. Seems excessive to me, but thems the rules.
  • I think my opponent and I both were maneuvering better than in the previous games.
  • I kept my wizard and apprentice out of harm's way, unlike last game.

Results:
  • Ptolemina:
    • I got a around 300 gold from the encounter.
    • Grimoire of Awareness
    • Grimoire of Wall
    • Dagger +1 Fight
    • 1 Level
    • My thief was removed from the game, and is out for a game.
  • My opponent:
    • Some amount of gold (plus the amount for the bottle).
    • A magical two handed sword.
    • Robes of Arrow Turning
    • 3 Levels
    • 4 of my opponent's dudes were taken down during the game: 3 were fine, 1 out for a game.


I do think that the fact that a wizard can gain 3 levels in a game is too much and extremely unrealistic. I am used to, and like, games where you can only advance one level per game (or session) - but again, thems the rules.

I wish you could sell grimoires. I get the idea behind why you cannot, but it seems silly to me. I now have 3 grimoires that are not spells that I care about and cannot sell. So, useless treasure... ugh...

Well, on to the next game...

3 comments:

  1. You can sell Grimoires, you just have to have the spell already memorized.
    I agree, it is a stupid rule.
    I think this another instance where Frostgrave fails in the RPG category in its attempt to shore up a weakness in their advancement mechanic. It feels like they tease you with theme, but you need to fiddle so much with the rules to actually realize it.
    This game really had me excited in the hype it generated online (which I now suspect was a marketing scheme), but the more I read the book and read bat reps, the more it seems like they released this game with 20-50 pages of rules missing or, at least, 100-1000 playtests too soon.

    After, MACE, I will be working on my own solo variant rules (another missed opportunity by the makers) to this game because I do not see myself being able to get to a store with any regularity to really get much out of the campaign system since I am invested in Malifaux at the moment and then Fallout 4 when it comes out (then Call of Duty).

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    Replies
    1. I agree with you assessment.
      I enjoy the game, don't get me wrong, but... I will reserve judgment until I have 5 games under my belt. That is the arbitrary number I have assigned to "give Frostgrave a fair shot".
      And I totally get that Malifaux is your main bag - gotta do what you love. No shame in getting in games of your preferred system. I am pretty excited to hear your assessment of Pulp Alley from your MACE experience.

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    2. I seriously have a mental block in typing the letter "r" in your... wtf brain!

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