Vondal's Vandals: Moon Fever
We pressed on despite the burning through my skin from the bite. It wouldn't seem to heal even with the touch of Snowfoot's spirit companion. She did what she could for Enna but I just shrugged into my new armour. Oddly the weight gave me more strength. It was later when we rested and the fever dreams came that everything we had experienced both before and since the bite came back to me. It was like I was out of my own body watching myself cleave and sweep through the villains arrayed before us.
I has never noticed the blood and gore before. Once in battle you can think of nothing else but surviving and protecting your friends. In the dreams I could see things I would never see in battle. All the moments of everyone, not just the small window through my helmet.
After the wolf we found a level full of thickets and plant enemies. A satyr tried to dazzle us with the play of his pipes but Enna tied him up in battle and eventually strike him down. I tried to keep the shambling hulks from tearing my allies apart. Snowfoot barely hung on but Akmenos came to her aid.
After the battle, in the haze of plant spores, Enna finally collapsed from the fever. I wasn't far behind. I could have kept going, but once we sat down I couldn't get up. I miss Akmenos' cooking. He would have made us some chicken soup, maybe some roast boar. What I wouldn't do for those now that the fever sets in.
Notes
I didn't get the chance to write about the last game. It was a mixed bag anyway with a really stupid skill challenge and a pretty interesting battle against a werewolf and a bunch of others. The werewolf managed to bite both Enna and I. Despite that we managed to press on and do 2 more encounters before we needed an extended rest, a total of 4. Our main limitation seems to be the number of surges the strikers have. If Enna gets targeted a lot then she can quickly burn through the surges.
Neither of the two plant battles were too challenging but they were both interesting because of the distances needed to move. I started both fights with a double move (and action point for a triple move in the second one) to get in close combat and then Daring Shot which is a minor mark in burst. I actually only got to mark 1 enemy each time but it was worth it to protect my allies. Of course in the second one the satyr hit most of us with a dazed effect that lasts until his turn. Stunned is the worse effect, but dazed is pretty close. It takes away my combat challenge which mean my Marks are less useful, though they still provide -2 to attack when the attack doesn't include me.
So last night was good fun. The session before was good fun too, but the skill challenge was a waste. It was like the designer wanted to put a skill challenge into a combat but didn't really think through the story element of it. If we pass the skill challenge we unlock the mystical force field and let the priestess go free. She doesn't even tell you about the secret room. If you fail, and we did, you discover she is really a succubus and you have to fight her. She wasn't even that tough so it seemed pointless. I found myself thinking during the skill challenge that it was tense and cool, that if we failed then we might all be locked in the room. In the end there were no consequences. Losing was actually better because we didn't let and evil succubi go free, but ultimately the story of the skill challenge and what it added to the combat and the overall story was nil. So it seemed like a complete waste.
I actually think that skill challenges could be included in every combat and that they should offer advantages or disadvantages in combat. Like you have a disadvantage and you need to overcome the skill challenge to overcome it.
In this situation what could have happened is this: The succubi leads the heroes into a trap. Win the skill challenge and you break the trap so she reveals herself. You beat her and she turns to liquid with a key inside to a secret room with a treasure. Fail and she reveals herself as she walks past the force field and gets away leaving the heroes trapped in the room. No secret room with treasure, inside the heroes need to find the secret passage that leads out of here through a more deadly encounter. You are rewarded either way, but with with much different story consequences. If you fail you will likely have to fight her again as well in a fight that would be much easier without her there.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
Best Maneuver
~The satyr is on the other side of the room across a sloping floor leading to a pit. Enna managed to get across the room without going near the slopes by using her boots for a free move and then the head of Veralis for a teleport into close combat with the satyr. She then locks up the Satyr in a Duelist's Demand, which isn't hugely effective because he has close burst and close blast powers, but it prevents him from moving away and gives her combat advantage over him which she then used to dice him up even though he tried to daze her.
Total Fail
~Sneak in the attack has been a pretty awesome power in the past but it was much better when Anton, Enna and Vondal all engaged in close combat. Now it is just Vondal and Enna, so getting those flanking bonuses can be a bit harder. Usually only I have a chance to gain the advantage of Sneak in the Attack whenever Enna uses it and I have been missing a lot recently, specifically on that attack. So I finally hit and Kieran passed me the d8s. However I rolled 3 1's on a d12 and 2d8s.
~Lance rolled a 20 before the game even started. He wanted to keep it for his first attack roll. I told he he wasted a 20. I was right. His first attack roll was a 1.
You called it
~In the room of thickets there were two paths. I choose to go down the narrow path because then it is much easier to protect everyone. Of course not-Akmenos decided to go explore his way. Someone said that if he did a monster would pop up and get him while we were nowhere near. Of course that is what happened. We had also planned to use Protective Roots on everyone for the combat to save on surges and maybe make another milestone. Once again not-Akmenos missed out on the resistance 4.
Point of Fashion: Light Colours
Current Obsession: Busy
I has never noticed the blood and gore before. Once in battle you can think of nothing else but surviving and protecting your friends. In the dreams I could see things I would never see in battle. All the moments of everyone, not just the small window through my helmet.
After the wolf we found a level full of thickets and plant enemies. A satyr tried to dazzle us with the play of his pipes but Enna tied him up in battle and eventually strike him down. I tried to keep the shambling hulks from tearing my allies apart. Snowfoot barely hung on but Akmenos came to her aid.
After the battle, in the haze of plant spores, Enna finally collapsed from the fever. I wasn't far behind. I could have kept going, but once we sat down I couldn't get up. I miss Akmenos' cooking. He would have made us some chicken soup, maybe some roast boar. What I wouldn't do for those now that the fever sets in.
Notes
I didn't get the chance to write about the last game. It was a mixed bag anyway with a really stupid skill challenge and a pretty interesting battle against a werewolf and a bunch of others. The werewolf managed to bite both Enna and I. Despite that we managed to press on and do 2 more encounters before we needed an extended rest, a total of 4. Our main limitation seems to be the number of surges the strikers have. If Enna gets targeted a lot then she can quickly burn through the surges.
Neither of the two plant battles were too challenging but they were both interesting because of the distances needed to move. I started both fights with a double move (and action point for a triple move in the second one) to get in close combat and then Daring Shot which is a minor mark in burst. I actually only got to mark 1 enemy each time but it was worth it to protect my allies. Of course in the second one the satyr hit most of us with a dazed effect that lasts until his turn. Stunned is the worse effect, but dazed is pretty close. It takes away my combat challenge which mean my Marks are less useful, though they still provide -2 to attack when the attack doesn't include me.
So last night was good fun. The session before was good fun too, but the skill challenge was a waste. It was like the designer wanted to put a skill challenge into a combat but didn't really think through the story element of it. If we pass the skill challenge we unlock the mystical force field and let the priestess go free. She doesn't even tell you about the secret room. If you fail, and we did, you discover she is really a succubus and you have to fight her. She wasn't even that tough so it seemed pointless. I found myself thinking during the skill challenge that it was tense and cool, that if we failed then we might all be locked in the room. In the end there were no consequences. Losing was actually better because we didn't let and evil succubi go free, but ultimately the story of the skill challenge and what it added to the combat and the overall story was nil. So it seemed like a complete waste.
I actually think that skill challenges could be included in every combat and that they should offer advantages or disadvantages in combat. Like you have a disadvantage and you need to overcome the skill challenge to overcome it.
In this situation what could have happened is this: The succubi leads the heroes into a trap. Win the skill challenge and you break the trap so she reveals herself. You beat her and she turns to liquid with a key inside to a secret room with a treasure. Fail and she reveals herself as she walks past the force field and gets away leaving the heroes trapped in the room. No secret room with treasure, inside the heroes need to find the secret passage that leads out of here through a more deadly encounter. You are rewarded either way, but with with much different story consequences. If you fail you will likely have to fight her again as well in a fight that would be much easier without her there.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
Best Maneuver
~The satyr is on the other side of the room across a sloping floor leading to a pit. Enna managed to get across the room without going near the slopes by using her boots for a free move and then the head of Veralis for a teleport into close combat with the satyr. She then locks up the Satyr in a Duelist's Demand, which isn't hugely effective because he has close burst and close blast powers, but it prevents him from moving away and gives her combat advantage over him which she then used to dice him up even though he tried to daze her.
Total Fail
~Sneak in the attack has been a pretty awesome power in the past but it was much better when Anton, Enna and Vondal all engaged in close combat. Now it is just Vondal and Enna, so getting those flanking bonuses can be a bit harder. Usually only I have a chance to gain the advantage of Sneak in the Attack whenever Enna uses it and I have been missing a lot recently, specifically on that attack. So I finally hit and Kieran passed me the d8s. However I rolled 3 1's on a d12 and 2d8s.
~Lance rolled a 20 before the game even started. He wanted to keep it for his first attack roll. I told he he wasted a 20. I was right. His first attack roll was a 1.
You called it
~In the room of thickets there were two paths. I choose to go down the narrow path because then it is much easier to protect everyone. Of course not-Akmenos decided to go explore his way. Someone said that if he did a monster would pop up and get him while we were nowhere near. Of course that is what happened. We had also planned to use Protective Roots on everyone for the combat to save on surges and maybe make another milestone. Once again not-Akmenos missed out on the resistance 4.
Point of Fashion: Light Colours
Current Obsession: Busy