I just finished playing a game of RealmSpeak with the new "Sudden Death" rule in play (coming in the next release). I set the number of VPs to 1, thinking that I could make a really short game, and test this new feature at the same time.
I chose a random character, and got the Woods Girl (one of my favorite characters, believe it or not). I put my single VP into "Great Treasures" thinking it would be cake to find at least one of these things. I didn't take into account the negative score you start with due to gold...
Anyway, I wandered around the board, and found nothing but empty tiles: no treasure site, and no prowling monsters. The monster rolls I got were really quite amazing, in how they effectively dodged every warning/sound chit I encountered!
Finally, I discovered the Pool in the Caves (great...), and got to looting. The first treasures I found there were the Alchemist's Mixture, and 'lo, the Magic Wand! Yay! A Great Treasure!! Wait, why didn't I win? Ah, a great treasure with -10 fame.
Still no sign of the Goblins or Octopus, so I continued looting. The next two treasures I found were the Withered Claw, and the Cloak of Mist, which was good. I decided to leave, seeing as I was pretty fatigued after looting the pool, and I wasn't really all THAT excited to meet the Goblin clan. After first stopping to rest in the Curst Valley, I moved through the Ledges, and dispatched a wandering Giant with my bow. With no other treasure location in the tile, I proceeded into the Crags where I discovered the mighty Lair!
I moved quickly into the clearing and searched for several days with no success. A giant bat started circling overhead, and that drew the attention of the Lair Dragon. As I was wearing the cloak, and was successfully hidden, it was obvious that all I needed was one good kill, and the game would end victoriously. I activated the Alchemist's Mixture, and flung one pinch of the stuff at the dragon. Direct Hit and instant kill! With only the bat left, the Woods Girl decided to run from the clearing. The fame/notoriety from the two kills (Giant, and then the Dragon) was enough to make my total score equal to "0", which meets the requirement of Sudden Death. We have a winner!
... and it only took me 26 days ... (sheesh!)
(You can see the game here if you are interested.)
RealmSpeak is my Java application for playing Avalon Hill's Magic Realm over the internet. My intention for this blog is to provide a central place where I can post updates to the application, and muster the responses I get in a public forum. Check the sidebar for other computer conversions of great board games.
Showing posts with label Game Report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Game Report. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 26, 2008
Three Custom Characters
My friends and I decided to fire up a game of RealmSpeak tonight, using only custom characters. For the most part, we've had a pretty successful run at it! Though the Vizier (me) lost his companion Viper pretty early on, he's still managed to stay alive by nursing his Transform into squirrel spell. I would have preferred a T Dragon, but ah well.
The Ogre Hero, and Dark Elf did a nice job of dispatching all the Rogues and Patrol at the Inn, and collected a bunch of booty (horses, armor, some treasures).
We just discovered the Lair, and we're getting ready to move in. The current state of the game can be viewed here if you are interested.
The Ogre Hero, and Dark Elf did a nice job of dispatching all the Rogues and Patrol at the Inn, and collected a bunch of booty (horses, armor, some treasures).
We just discovered the Lair, and we're getting ready to move in. The current state of the game can be viewed here if you are interested.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
The Guardian
I'm currently playtesting a version of RealmSpeak that has character development in it, and I have to share this game. Check it out:
---------------------
For years, Tello wanted to be an adventurer, but his faith kept him tied down to his small town, just east of the area known as the Magic Realm. As long as he remained here, he would always just be an Acolyte (Pilgrim, level 1). Though his parents were very proud of his successes with the church, it was never enough to make him happy. That is why he decided to go west.
He knew, as he approached the famed Inn, that he would have to hire help, if he were to survive more than a day. Patting the 10 gold pieces he had in a pouch on his belt, and saying a short prayer, he was confident he would be able to get a swordsman to guide him through the Realm, and reap the rewards that await.
On entering the Inn, however, Tello's confidence waned very quickly. The rough, perhaps even evil, men he saw there were not those that he wanted to have at his side. More than likely, he thought, they would be the first to stab him in the back, and rob him of whatever gold he had. Several Rogues looked at the timid boy standing at the door, and made crude comments about his parentage. Tello turned and walked out without saying a word.
Frustrated at being unable to locate any allies at the Inn, Tello decides to head out on his own. One Rogue, standing on the porch next to a large axe, laughs at his stupidity, knowing that he is certainly going to his death.
The Acolyte, green as the grass he tramples, and perhaps blind as the rocks around him, enters the Deep Woods, a place he has never gone before. The trees close in around him quickly, and the sound of a distant roar sends the poor boy into shivers, and rapidly muttered prayers to the all-god. Coming across the bones of some poor adventurer nearly sends him running back to the Inn, but the face of the laughing Rogue keeps him stalwartly proceeding forward.
After a couple of days of careful movement through the woods, the boy notices a change in the trees around him. The stink of smoke reminds him of an encampment he had heard about somewhere in the Nut Woods, and gives him confidence that he had made it through the Deep Woods. Knowing that the natives may be more of a threat than any monster he may encounter, he decides to turn quickly south, towards the large mountain known only as the Crag.
Creeping into the mountain, the boy knows that he must be very very careful. Reports of a large flying dragon around this area may be myth, but he is not taking any chances. As he finishes a difficult climb, and moves into a large clearing, he realizes he is not alone. With a dodge and a roll, the boy avoids the killing blow of a Heavy Spider, and somehow manages to plant his small ceremonial dagger into one of the large eyes of the overgrown horror (I rolled snake eyes on the fumble!!) Tello manages to pry himself out from under the corpse of the spider, and after another quick prayer, moves on.
The next clearing opens up onto a large cluster of boulders, as big as the Inn, covered in what could only be scratches. Tello shivers to think what may live here, but decides to stick around and search. After a full day, Tello learns who's home he has invaded: the Flying Dragon is no myth, and comes home to roost with some sort of cattle in its claws. Thinking quickly, Tello covers himself in the strange mud (which he knows now is dragon doo), and hides under a rock outcropping. The dragon appears disturbed, but never locates the boy.
Days of frantic searching go by, with no success for Tello, and he begins to think he was in fact killed by the spider, and now wandering aimlessly in purgatory. Then he sees it: a curiously round boulder blocking an opening in a cluster of rocks, apparently placed there by something other than random chance. There is enough room around the side of the boulder for Tello to move, and he discovers the treasure site known as the Hoard!
The first item that Tello finds, is a strange magical belt that grants him strength like he's never known before. With this newfound strength, he is able to work quickly to search the Hoard even further: the Lucky Charm, the Poultice of Health, and then... the Sacred Grail. Tello cannot believe his eyes, but there it sits, casting the entire area in gleaming WHITE magic.
Grabbing the loot, knowing that a Flying Dragon, and strangely, two Giants are prowling outside, Tello is able to sneak away from the Hoard, and move back down to the Nut Woods. After a quick conversation with a local native, Tello learns of a path to the Chapel, where he knows the Grail will be welcomed.
The Realm remains mostly quiet during his trek to the Chapel: Curst Valley, Linden Woods, Cliff (where he has a close encounter with a Demon guarding the Altar), the Borderland and finally the Chapel in the Dark Valley. At first, the Knights question the boy strolling out of the Borderland, but when he tells them of the Grail, they drop to their knees in reverence to God, and quickly bring the boy in for a hot meal.
The Order, as it turns out, was very much looking for this Grail, and rewarded Tello with a Warhorse, and a Greatsword (actually, I sold the grail and some stuff, and then bought these items). The Order also named Tello, formal Guardian of the Chapel, and said he was welcome anytime he returned.
---------------------
This is where the month ended. I'm going to continue this campaign later (gotta go eat dinner), but so far so good. I'm amazed I survived as long as I did, but now I've got a pretty brutal weapon, and a FIGHT T2** chit to boot! (Belt of Strength). Oh, and because I went up a level, I'm now immune to Demons... I'm thinking the Altar is my next target. Wheeeee!
---------------------
For years, Tello wanted to be an adventurer, but his faith kept him tied down to his small town, just east of the area known as the Magic Realm. As long as he remained here, he would always just be an Acolyte (Pilgrim, level 1). Though his parents were very proud of his successes with the church, it was never enough to make him happy. That is why he decided to go west.
He knew, as he approached the famed Inn, that he would have to hire help, if he were to survive more than a day. Patting the 10 gold pieces he had in a pouch on his belt, and saying a short prayer, he was confident he would be able to get a swordsman to guide him through the Realm, and reap the rewards that await.
On entering the Inn, however, Tello's confidence waned very quickly. The rough, perhaps even evil, men he saw there were not those that he wanted to have at his side. More than likely, he thought, they would be the first to stab him in the back, and rob him of whatever gold he had. Several Rogues looked at the timid boy standing at the door, and made crude comments about his parentage. Tello turned and walked out without saying a word.
Frustrated at being unable to locate any allies at the Inn, Tello decides to head out on his own. One Rogue, standing on the porch next to a large axe, laughs at his stupidity, knowing that he is certainly going to his death.
The Acolyte, green as the grass he tramples, and perhaps blind as the rocks around him, enters the Deep Woods, a place he has never gone before. The trees close in around him quickly, and the sound of a distant roar sends the poor boy into shivers, and rapidly muttered prayers to the all-god. Coming across the bones of some poor adventurer nearly sends him running back to the Inn, but the face of the laughing Rogue keeps him stalwartly proceeding forward.
After a couple of days of careful movement through the woods, the boy notices a change in the trees around him. The stink of smoke reminds him of an encampment he had heard about somewhere in the Nut Woods, and gives him confidence that he had made it through the Deep Woods. Knowing that the natives may be more of a threat than any monster he may encounter, he decides to turn quickly south, towards the large mountain known only as the Crag.
Creeping into the mountain, the boy knows that he must be very very careful. Reports of a large flying dragon around this area may be myth, but he is not taking any chances. As he finishes a difficult climb, and moves into a large clearing, he realizes he is not alone. With a dodge and a roll, the boy avoids the killing blow of a Heavy Spider, and somehow manages to plant his small ceremonial dagger into one of the large eyes of the overgrown horror (I rolled snake eyes on the fumble!!) Tello manages to pry himself out from under the corpse of the spider, and after another quick prayer, moves on.
The next clearing opens up onto a large cluster of boulders, as big as the Inn, covered in what could only be scratches. Tello shivers to think what may live here, but decides to stick around and search. After a full day, Tello learns who's home he has invaded: the Flying Dragon is no myth, and comes home to roost with some sort of cattle in its claws. Thinking quickly, Tello covers himself in the strange mud (which he knows now is dragon doo), and hides under a rock outcropping. The dragon appears disturbed, but never locates the boy.
Days of frantic searching go by, with no success for Tello, and he begins to think he was in fact killed by the spider, and now wandering aimlessly in purgatory. Then he sees it: a curiously round boulder blocking an opening in a cluster of rocks, apparently placed there by something other than random chance. There is enough room around the side of the boulder for Tello to move, and he discovers the treasure site known as the Hoard!
The first item that Tello finds, is a strange magical belt that grants him strength like he's never known before. With this newfound strength, he is able to work quickly to search the Hoard even further: the Lucky Charm, the Poultice of Health, and then... the Sacred Grail. Tello cannot believe his eyes, but there it sits, casting the entire area in gleaming WHITE magic.
Grabbing the loot, knowing that a Flying Dragon, and strangely, two Giants are prowling outside, Tello is able to sneak away from the Hoard, and move back down to the Nut Woods. After a quick conversation with a local native, Tello learns of a path to the Chapel, where he knows the Grail will be welcomed.
The Realm remains mostly quiet during his trek to the Chapel: Curst Valley, Linden Woods, Cliff (where he has a close encounter with a Demon guarding the Altar), the Borderland and finally the Chapel in the Dark Valley. At first, the Knights question the boy strolling out of the Borderland, but when he tells them of the Grail, they drop to their knees in reverence to God, and quickly bring the boy in for a hot meal.
The Order, as it turns out, was very much looking for this Grail, and rewarded Tello with a Warhorse, and a Greatsword (actually, I sold the grail and some stuff, and then bought these items). The Order also named Tello, formal Guardian of the Chapel, and said he was welcome anytime he returned.
---------------------
This is where the month ended. I'm going to continue this campaign later (gotta go eat dinner), but so far so good. I'm amazed I survived as long as I did, but now I've got a pretty brutal weapon, and a FIGHT T2** chit to boot! (Belt of Strength). Oh, and because I went up a level, I'm now immune to Demons... I'm thinking the Altar is my next target. Wheeeee!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Friday's Game
I promised I would get a report online, to let you know how version 0.47 worked for us, but then I got sidetracked with a lot of other things this weekend.
We started at about 9:00pm, and selected a double-board, with player build option turned on. We also had random starting season, and weather active. With three of us placing 40 tiles, it took somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 minutes to setup the board, but it was worth it. We ended up with a board that concentrated treasure tiles in the middle, and woods/valleys around the border. I did end up with a bunch of errors going into the log, but they were harmless, as they didn't affect the process at all.
I saved the game immediately (in case something crashed), and then we began choosing characters. I always press "Random Character", because it keeps me from playing the same thing every game. I got the White Knight, and I realized that I hadn't played this character in a very long time. I selected Make Whole as my spell, and started at the Inn, knowing that's where I'd find my friends. George started with the Black Knight, and my friend Dave picked up the Magician. The season started with Halloween.
The first turn found the two Knights hiking into the Mountains to scope out the treasure possibilities (of which there were none), leaving the Magician behind to chat with the Rogues. He was able to hire two short-swordsman, and catch up with the Knights in the woods beyond the Mountains.
As a group again, they had a choice: explore the Caves to the north, or continue west into the Borderland tile. Both choices required entering caves, so it was agreed that checking out the Caves first was the best option, since it really connected to nothing else, and would be good to get out of the way. Both Knights followed the Magician, so they could take advantage of his bonus Alert phase, and moved into the Caves. Nothing, and another wasted turn.
After a short bout of cursing, the party turned around, and using the same follow strategy, moved into the Borderland. At last, the group found a treasure site: the Altar. The Magician, knowing that he had the Absorb Essence spell, and a day filled with color magic coming up (Halloween is EVERY color on the 7th day), rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
The first treasure discovered, was a site: Toadstool Circle. A permanent source of BLACK magic, and an evil temptation for all players. After fending off a couple of heavy Trolls, and some pretty fruitless looting, the Demon finally makes his appearance. As I mention, in an earlier post, the Absorb Essence spell was broken, so we were forced to dispatch the Demon with brawn and steel.
As the Altar was not proving very valuable, the White Knight decided to roll the dice on searching the Toadstool Circle. First roll, he is teleported to any cave. Rather than making a smart choice, and choosing a cave in the same tile, he decided to explore the adjacent Borderland B tile. Having neither alerted a weapon, nor hidden, the two Heavy Trolls that appeared were more than a little concerning for the White Knight. The Magician, knowing precisely what happened, searched the Toadstool Circle, and actually got the same result right away. He popped over to the same Cave clearing with the White Knight, and assisted him in the combat. Both Heavy Trolls were dispatched fairly quickly, and the Knight having suffered no damage, and just a little fatigue, was pretty happy.
The Black Knight, having been left behind (and unable to locate the Toadstool Circle) decided to reunite with the party on foot, in the Ruins tile just South of the two Borderland tiles. As all three members convened in the same clearing (hidden), the Lost City made an appearance, and brought with it, the Lair, Hoard, and the Vault. Thanks to a monster die roll of four, it also brought two Tremendous Trolls, which immediately moved to our clearing. Damn!
The mismatched trio decided it was best to escape the situation, and plan a course of action. All three moved into a nearby woods clearing...
... and that's where we stopped. It was getting late, and at least two of us had early days on Saturday. Not to mention the fact that the computer I was playing on is in our bedroom, and my Wife was trying to sleep. I knew I should have used the laptop!!
Anyway, I think we only had a couple of technical problems. The Combat Frame messed up on one of the players, and we had to restart. The second time it happened, the affected player had been looking at the Treasure Setup card, and simply had to "find" that window (ALT-TAB), close it, and then all was well. I'm convinced that at least 70% of the so-called game freezes are due to this kind of problem. I'm hoping to get rid of most of the modal dialogs in RealmSpeak, so this should happen less and less.
I'm very pleased that the manual board builder worked without a hitch. If you haven't been using it because of the past problems, I think you can safely try it now.
Well, that's all I got. We'll pick up our game next week, and I'll let you know how it goes.
We started at about 9:00pm, and selected a double-board, with player build option turned on. We also had random starting season, and weather active. With three of us placing 40 tiles, it took somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 minutes to setup the board, but it was worth it. We ended up with a board that concentrated treasure tiles in the middle, and woods/valleys around the border. I did end up with a bunch of errors going into the log, but they were harmless, as they didn't affect the process at all.
I saved the game immediately (in case something crashed), and then we began choosing characters. I always press "Random Character", because it keeps me from playing the same thing every game. I got the White Knight, and I realized that I hadn't played this character in a very long time. I selected Make Whole as my spell, and started at the Inn, knowing that's where I'd find my friends. George started with the Black Knight, and my friend Dave picked up the Magician. The season started with Halloween.
The first turn found the two Knights hiking into the Mountains to scope out the treasure possibilities (of which there were none), leaving the Magician behind to chat with the Rogues. He was able to hire two short-swordsman, and catch up with the Knights in the woods beyond the Mountains.
As a group again, they had a choice: explore the Caves to the north, or continue west into the Borderland tile. Both choices required entering caves, so it was agreed that checking out the Caves first was the best option, since it really connected to nothing else, and would be good to get out of the way. Both Knights followed the Magician, so they could take advantage of his bonus Alert phase, and moved into the Caves. Nothing, and another wasted turn.
After a short bout of cursing, the party turned around, and using the same follow strategy, moved into the Borderland. At last, the group found a treasure site: the Altar. The Magician, knowing that he had the Absorb Essence spell, and a day filled with color magic coming up (Halloween is EVERY color on the 7th day), rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
The first treasure discovered, was a site: Toadstool Circle. A permanent source of BLACK magic, and an evil temptation for all players. After fending off a couple of heavy Trolls, and some pretty fruitless looting, the Demon finally makes his appearance. As I mention, in an earlier post, the Absorb Essence spell was broken, so we were forced to dispatch the Demon with brawn and steel.
As the Altar was not proving very valuable, the White Knight decided to roll the dice on searching the Toadstool Circle. First roll, he is teleported to any cave. Rather than making a smart choice, and choosing a cave in the same tile, he decided to explore the adjacent Borderland B tile. Having neither alerted a weapon, nor hidden, the two Heavy Trolls that appeared were more than a little concerning for the White Knight. The Magician, knowing precisely what happened, searched the Toadstool Circle, and actually got the same result right away. He popped over to the same Cave clearing with the White Knight, and assisted him in the combat. Both Heavy Trolls were dispatched fairly quickly, and the Knight having suffered no damage, and just a little fatigue, was pretty happy.
The Black Knight, having been left behind (and unable to locate the Toadstool Circle) decided to reunite with the party on foot, in the Ruins tile just South of the two Borderland tiles. As all three members convened in the same clearing (hidden), the Lost City made an appearance, and brought with it, the Lair, Hoard, and the Vault. Thanks to a monster die roll of four, it also brought two Tremendous Trolls, which immediately moved to our clearing. Damn!
The mismatched trio decided it was best to escape the situation, and plan a course of action. All three moved into a nearby woods clearing...
... and that's where we stopped. It was getting late, and at least two of us had early days on Saturday. Not to mention the fact that the computer I was playing on is in our bedroom, and my Wife was trying to sleep. I knew I should have used the laptop!!
Anyway, I think we only had a couple of technical problems. The Combat Frame messed up on one of the players, and we had to restart. The second time it happened, the affected player had been looking at the Treasure Setup card, and simply had to "find" that window (ALT-TAB), close it, and then all was well. I'm convinced that at least 70% of the so-called game freezes are due to this kind of problem. I'm hoping to get rid of most of the modal dialogs in RealmSpeak, so this should happen less and less.
I'm very pleased that the manual board builder worked without a hitch. If you haven't been using it because of the past problems, I think you can safely try it now.
Well, that's all I got. We'll pick up our game next week, and I'll let you know how it goes.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Stable Release
I feel like its worth mentioning that version 0.45 is sweeeeeet. :)
I played a game last night from 9pm until 1:30am, and with the exception of one person having to quit and restart due to a gray screen, the game played flawlessly. One big success is the fact that the trade interface worked without freezing up even once! As those of you that have played this game online know, this has been a pervasive problem for a long time.
The speed of the interface online is hugely improved. I promise that you will notice a difference, especially during combat. Because it is so much faster, the combat screen doesn't blink anymore. When you press NEXT, the screen is repainted instantly. I can't tell you how nice that is.
I got to try out the Enchant Artifact spell in a real game, and it was pretty nice. After dying once with the Black Knight (stupid axe goblins!), I decided to play the Sorceror. I selected Enchant Artifact, Fiery Blast, and Lightning as my starting spells. One of the first things that I did, was team up with the Great Elf at the house, and with two alerted IV chits, killed all the soldiers. Looting the house afterwards revealed the Book of Lore, which the Great Elf shared with the Sorceror. I used Enchant Artifact to add the Fiery Blast spell to the book, and suddenly had myself a powerful speed 0 weapon. Nice!
Anyway, the game is still in progress as a save game, which hopefully we'll pick up again next week. The Great Elf found a nice source of income (Food Ale), a M bow, and the Woodfolk in his employ. The White Knight had a pretty nice stint in the Mountain tile, killing 2 or 3 Giants, and a handful of spiders. We found the Vault, Cairns, and just before quitting, the Lair. There's going to be some sweet looting next week.
I should mention that I did lose the Sorceror to some bats right before we quit, but we decided to restore from a save game instead, to recover that stupid mistake (I was getting tired). I know, that's cheating, but hey, we're having fun!
I recommend trying v0.45 for your next online game!
I played a game last night from 9pm until 1:30am, and with the exception of one person having to quit and restart due to a gray screen, the game played flawlessly. One big success is the fact that the trade interface worked without freezing up even once! As those of you that have played this game online know, this has been a pervasive problem for a long time.
The speed of the interface online is hugely improved. I promise that you will notice a difference, especially during combat. Because it is so much faster, the combat screen doesn't blink anymore. When you press NEXT, the screen is repainted instantly. I can't tell you how nice that is.
I got to try out the Enchant Artifact spell in a real game, and it was pretty nice. After dying once with the Black Knight (stupid axe goblins!), I decided to play the Sorceror. I selected Enchant Artifact, Fiery Blast, and Lightning as my starting spells. One of the first things that I did, was team up with the Great Elf at the house, and with two alerted IV chits, killed all the soldiers. Looting the house afterwards revealed the Book of Lore, which the Great Elf shared with the Sorceror. I used Enchant Artifact to add the Fiery Blast spell to the book, and suddenly had myself a powerful speed 0 weapon. Nice!
Anyway, the game is still in progress as a save game, which hopefully we'll pick up again next week. The Great Elf found a nice source of income (Food Ale), a M bow, and the Woodfolk in his employ. The White Knight had a pretty nice stint in the Mountain tile, killing 2 or 3 Giants, and a handful of spiders. We found the Vault, Cairns, and just before quitting, the Lair. There's going to be some sweet looting next week.
I should mention that I did lose the Sorceror to some bats right before we quit, but we decided to restore from a save game instead, to recover that stupid mistake (I was getting tired). I know, that's cheating, but hey, we're having fun!
I recommend trying v0.45 for your next online game!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Smack Down
I wanted to see how things were working, since some changes I made to the spell targeting logic, so I played through a game with the Black Knight and the Witch-King. One lesson I learned rather quickly, is that this game can start off easy, and then take you down hard.
The map was harsh, and gave me two options: Go one direction, and explore the Borderland, Deep Woods and Mountain, or go the other, and see all the other tiles. Since it seemed logical to get the first three tiles out of the way, I chose the former. Unfortunately, nothing panned out. All three tiles were completely devoid of any treasure.
With several days wasted, I moved back to the Inn, and tried the alternate choice. The Cliff had nothing either, and I was beginning to think the game was against me, though the monster rolls had been fairly kind: I was able to tangle with, and kill 2 M Spiders.
At this point, it dawned on me that I had taken the Broomstick spell with the Witch-King, and that I could be covering more ground, faster. I sent the Witch-King across the board to the Ledges tile, where he found... nothing!!! In the meantime the Black Knight continued on foot into the Cavern, and found the Statue, and infamous lair of the Imp! As luck would have it, the Imp was there, and the Black Knight was unhidden. One round of combat left the poor Black Knight cursed with Wither. Somehow or another, the Black Knight managed to land an alerted mace on the Imp, and put it down, but the damage was done.
The next turn, the Witch-King travelled on foot to the neighboring Ruins tile, and lo there was much glittering and gold. Of course, there was also a boatload of monsters, which in some ways was comforting to the Witch-King. Seeing the Lair, Shrine, and the Pool, made the Witch-King think that he might not have wasted a spell slot on Absorb Essence after all! Quickly moving to the shrine, the Witch-King begin searching the site, hoping quietly for the appearance of the Winged Demon. Turn after fruitless searching turn, the Shrine remained quiet, though the neighboring clearings were quickly filling up with hungry monster. On the very turn that the Witch-King failed his hide, he was ambushed by a Giant Bat. As the Witch-King had failed to find any useful treasure, and lacked any form of movement options (stupid me for not preparing a Fly chit!!), was killed in the first round. Damn, I knew I should have absorbed the thing!!
The Black Knight, seeing his partner's demise, wandered through the Caves, and hustled to the Lair. Having failed his hide (again!?!?), the Tremendous Dragon that appeared (stupid monster die of 1) made quick work of the Withered Black Knight. All that remained was the glitter of gold:
The map was harsh, and gave me two options: Go one direction, and explore the Borderland, Deep Woods and Mountain, or go the other, and see all the other tiles. Since it seemed logical to get the first three tiles out of the way, I chose the former. Unfortunately, nothing panned out. All three tiles were completely devoid of any treasure.
With several days wasted, I moved back to the Inn, and tried the alternate choice. The Cliff had nothing either, and I was beginning to think the game was against me, though the monster rolls had been fairly kind: I was able to tangle with, and kill 2 M Spiders.
At this point, it dawned on me that I had taken the Broomstick spell with the Witch-King, and that I could be covering more ground, faster. I sent the Witch-King across the board to the Ledges tile, where he found... nothing!!! In the meantime the Black Knight continued on foot into the Cavern, and found the Statue, and infamous lair of the Imp! As luck would have it, the Imp was there, and the Black Knight was unhidden. One round of combat left the poor Black Knight cursed with Wither. Somehow or another, the Black Knight managed to land an alerted mace on the Imp, and put it down, but the damage was done.
The next turn, the Witch-King travelled on foot to the neighboring Ruins tile, and lo there was much glittering and gold. Of course, there was also a boatload of monsters, which in some ways was comforting to the Witch-King. Seeing the Lair, Shrine, and the Pool, made the Witch-King think that he might not have wasted a spell slot on Absorb Essence after all! Quickly moving to the shrine, the Witch-King begin searching the site, hoping quietly for the appearance of the Winged Demon. Turn after fruitless searching turn, the Shrine remained quiet, though the neighboring clearings were quickly filling up with hungry monster. On the very turn that the Witch-King failed his hide, he was ambushed by a Giant Bat. As the Witch-King had failed to find any useful treasure, and lacked any form of movement options (stupid me for not preparing a Fly chit!!), was killed in the first round. Damn, I knew I should have absorbed the thing!!
The Black Knight, seeing his partner's demise, wandered through the Caves, and hustled to the Lair. Having failed his hide (again!?!?), the Tremendous Dragon that appeared (stupid monster die of 1) made quick work of the Withered Black Knight. All that remained was the glitter of gold:
Friday, March 16, 2007
Light Elf and some Bats
I just played a very interesting game of Magic Realm, using the latest version (0.42) of RealmSpeak (see release info below). I started off with the Amazon and Light Elf. Yes, the Light Elf: you know, the one in the optional rules that has only L fight and move chits? Well, anyway, for some odd reason, I ended up splitting these two up right off the bat, trying to explore as much of the map as possible, and I realized pretty quickly that I was in over my head.
The Amazon found the Lair, but was killed by a pair of heavy bats before she had a chance to loot more than some sharpening grease!
The Elf, on the other hand, was quite a bit more lucky. After wandering through the tunnel under the High Pass, and through the Caverns, the Elf found himself in the Ruins tile with the Lost City (how appropriate!) There lay the Vault, the Hoard, and the Shrine, and quite a lot of dragons.
The Elf nearly got caught, but was able to hide quickly enough to allow him to sneak past a pair of Heavy Flying Dragons. With a trio of heavy bats camping out on the other side of a hidden path, the Elf hoped to catch a ride, and get the heck out of the tile before the Winged Demon appeared. He found the path easily enough, but when he arrived at the clearing with the bats, he was quickly joined by a cluster of dragons: Two heavy flying dragons, one tremendous flying dragon, one heavy land dragon, and one tremendous land dragon. Oh, and don't forget the three heavy bats.
Fortunately, the Elf had hidden successfully, and so had one round to cast the Control Bats spell before having to worry about himself. Using the three controlled bats to lure the faster dragons, the Elf made a quick retreat back down the hidden path. The three bats, now under the Elf's control, went to work.
Now I can tell you, that I figured the bats would be toast after a few rounds, but I was amazed at what happened next. One by one, each of the dragons fell, until all that was left was a single Heavy Bat. If anyone asks you what the meanest monster in the game of Magic Realm is, I hope you ALWAYS say "bats bats bats BATS!!!!" Damn those things are brutal!
The Elf returned to the clearing in time to see the Winged Demon and a pair of Heavy Serpents appear a couple of clearings away, and decided it was high time he left. Controling the remaining Bat, the elf quickly flew away to the tile where the Amazon's corpse still lay fresh.
The Elf quickly discovered the Lair, and looted it clean. Other than having to dispatch the Tremendous Land Dragon that appeared fairly quickly (love that alerted light bow!), and an unlucky Giant looking for food, the realm left the Elf alone. I did get a curse from the Remains of Thief, but having found the amulet a turn or two earlier made quick work of the curse (DISGUST). It's a good thing too, because of the VPs I had put into Fame!
I ended the game alive with a score of 5, having put VPs in GT(1), Fame(2), Not(1), and Gold(1). Probably not the smartest game I've ever played, but it was still a blast.
The Amazon found the Lair, but was killed by a pair of heavy bats before she had a chance to loot more than some sharpening grease!
The Elf, on the other hand, was quite a bit more lucky. After wandering through the tunnel under the High Pass, and through the Caverns, the Elf found himself in the Ruins tile with the Lost City (how appropriate!) There lay the Vault, the Hoard, and the Shrine, and quite a lot of dragons.
The Elf nearly got caught, but was able to hide quickly enough to allow him to sneak past a pair of Heavy Flying Dragons. With a trio of heavy bats camping out on the other side of a hidden path, the Elf hoped to catch a ride, and get the heck out of the tile before the Winged Demon appeared. He found the path easily enough, but when he arrived at the clearing with the bats, he was quickly joined by a cluster of dragons: Two heavy flying dragons, one tremendous flying dragon, one heavy land dragon, and one tremendous land dragon. Oh, and don't forget the three heavy bats.
Fortunately, the Elf had hidden successfully, and so had one round to cast the Control Bats spell before having to worry about himself. Using the three controlled bats to lure the faster dragons, the Elf made a quick retreat back down the hidden path. The three bats, now under the Elf's control, went to work.
Now I can tell you, that I figured the bats would be toast after a few rounds, but I was amazed at what happened next. One by one, each of the dragons fell, until all that was left was a single Heavy Bat. If anyone asks you what the meanest monster in the game of Magic Realm is, I hope you ALWAYS say "bats bats bats BATS!!!!" Damn those things are brutal!
The Elf returned to the clearing in time to see the Winged Demon and a pair of Heavy Serpents appear a couple of clearings away, and decided it was high time he left. Controling the remaining Bat, the elf quickly flew away to the tile where the Amazon's corpse still lay fresh.
The Elf quickly discovered the Lair, and looted it clean. Other than having to dispatch the Tremendous Land Dragon that appeared fairly quickly (love that alerted light bow!), and an unlucky Giant looking for food, the realm left the Elf alone. I did get a curse from the Remains of Thief, but having found the amulet a turn or two earlier made quick work of the curse (DISGUST). It's a good thing too, because of the VPs I had put into Fame!
I ended the game alive with a score of 5, having put VPs in GT(1), Fame(2), Not(1), and Gold(1). Probably not the smartest game I've ever played, but it was still a blast.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Brutal Game
Wow, that was insane. We played an online game last night (till about 1am), and it was a blast! We ran into a couple of annoying bugs (game crashes if you have combat after a day-trade between characters), but mostly could recover by reloading the auto save. Once we learned what NOT to do, things went pretty well.
Oh, and I learned some new lessons:
1) Don't fire a second Fiery Blast ambush attack on a T Troll, when you are lucky enough to survive the first round as the Sorceror.
2) Don't forget to assign your hirelings after hiring them.
3) The Witch as an absorbed Winged Demon is no match for the T Octopus (damn that thing is fast!)
4) The Dwarf on a Warhorse, and the White Knight with the Bane Sword and the Gloves of Strength is a sight to behold! These two were able to nail 2 out of 3 bats in the first round, even though they both flipped to the dark side! Unbelievable.
Oh, check out how the game started:
That's the Inn on the far right, at the edge of the map. The only way to go, is through the caves of the High Pass (guarded by the Lair, and goblins), and into the valley guarded by the ever-regenerating ghosts! Talk about getting a slow start! Starting a new character was a pain too - takes damn near a week to get through there without getting killed!
All in all, I'm pretty happy with the result. Still got some kinks to work out, but I'm already looking forward to my next game.
Oh, and I learned some new lessons:
1) Don't fire a second Fiery Blast ambush attack on a T Troll, when you are lucky enough to survive the first round as the Sorceror.
2) Don't forget to assign your hirelings after hiring them.
3) The Witch as an absorbed Winged Demon is no match for the T Octopus (damn that thing is fast!)
4) The Dwarf on a Warhorse, and the White Knight with the Bane Sword and the Gloves of Strength is a sight to behold! These two were able to nail 2 out of 3 bats in the first round, even though they both flipped to the dark side! Unbelievable.
Oh, check out how the game started:
That's the Inn on the far right, at the edge of the map. The only way to go, is through the caves of the High Pass (guarded by the Lair, and goblins), and into the valley guarded by the ever-regenerating ghosts! Talk about getting a slow start! Starting a new character was a pain too - takes damn near a week to get through there without getting killed!
All in all, I'm pretty happy with the result. Still got some kinks to work out, but I'm already looking forward to my next game.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Great online game last night
Sweet. It's been a long time since I played RealmSpeak online (since April, v.0.30). That game went badly because RealmSpeak froze up too much, and we had to can it. Since then, I've been more than a little nervous to even try it again.
Well, last night I decided to give it a shot. Using the latest build (v0.38 - not yet publicly available), me and two buddies fired up a game. We chose randomly (sort of), and ended up with the Woods Girl (me), Magician, and the White Knight. Without going into great detail, the Woods Girl started off quite well, successfully offing numerous monsters with her alerted bow, but not in time to prevent the death of the White Knight to three bats. Respawning as the Black Knight, the trio continued to wander through numerous treasure locations: Cairns (found the lost keys!), the Vault (good thing too!), and the Hoard. The Woods Girl got cursed at one point, and then attempted to get healed at the Order. Making the mistake of doing a TRADE, the Woods Girl got blocked, and then pounced on by the Patrol. Dead. (that sucked!!)
Anyway, the game overall was a blast, and most everything worked as it should. There were a couple of minor problems:
All in all, that was pretty good, and we were able to play as long as we wanted, with relatively few restarts. I'm excited to know that I can play this game online again, and know exactly what needs fixing. I should be able to get a good release up later today (if all goes well).
Well, last night I decided to give it a shot. Using the latest build (v0.38 - not yet publicly available), me and two buddies fired up a game. We chose randomly (sort of), and ended up with the Woods Girl (me), Magician, and the White Knight. Without going into great detail, the Woods Girl started off quite well, successfully offing numerous monsters with her alerted bow, but not in time to prevent the death of the White Knight to three bats. Respawning as the Black Knight, the trio continued to wander through numerous treasure locations: Cairns (found the lost keys!), the Vault (good thing too!), and the Hoard. The Woods Girl got cursed at one point, and then attempted to get healed at the Order. Making the mistake of doing a TRADE, the Woods Girl got blocked, and then pounced on by the Patrol. Dead. (that sucked!!)
Anyway, the game overall was a blast, and most everything worked as it should. There were a couple of minor problems:
- Pressing the END button disabled all of the buttons in the Encounter panel for the rest of the game, or until saving and restarting.
- Kills were not showing up in the usual place.
- At one point, I was unable to move into a normal clearing with the timeless jewel, even though I had one phase left to use!
All in all, that was pretty good, and we were able to play as long as we wanted, with relatively few restarts. I'm excited to know that I can play this game online again, and know exactly what needs fixing. I should be able to get a good release up later today (if all goes well).
Friday, September 08, 2006
Elf & Dwarf
I just finished a solo game with the Elf and Dwarf, using the "Productive Dwarf" rules. It's been awhile since I've just sat down and played a game (without chasing bugs, that is), and it was both short and sweet.
The Elf and Dwarf found the Pool in the caves right away, and after dispatching the Octopus, looted like crazy until there was only one item left. Scoring both the Elven Slippers for the Elf and the 7-League boots for the Dwarf was definitely a good way to start the game. Moving out of the caves into the woods brought some bad luck for the Elf, however. A pack of wolves. Since both the Dwarf and the Elf were hidden, it seemed appropriate for the Elf to let fly an arrow or two. Unfortunately, he was discovered on his first try.
I made a rather stupid mistake here, and chose NOT to lure the wolves with the hidden Dwarf, and the Elf met a rather quick end. The Dwarf did decide to jump out at the last minute (probably just as stupid), and managed, single-handedly, to kill all 6 wolves. Whew!
The Dwarf, having lost his primary mode of transportation (following the Elf) was stuck wandering slowly across the map. An uneventful number of tiles left nothing to be desired. He finally arrived at the Guard where he was able to sell off some loot, and ended the game with a score of .... -26.
Not my best game, but it was good to play the game, just to play it!
The Elf and Dwarf found the Pool in the caves right away, and after dispatching the Octopus, looted like crazy until there was only one item left. Scoring both the Elven Slippers for the Elf and the 7-League boots for the Dwarf was definitely a good way to start the game. Moving out of the caves into the woods brought some bad luck for the Elf, however. A pack of wolves. Since both the Dwarf and the Elf were hidden, it seemed appropriate for the Elf to let fly an arrow or two. Unfortunately, he was discovered on his first try.
I made a rather stupid mistake here, and chose NOT to lure the wolves with the hidden Dwarf, and the Elf met a rather quick end. The Dwarf did decide to jump out at the last minute (probably just as stupid), and managed, single-handedly, to kill all 6 wolves. Whew!
The Dwarf, having lost his primary mode of transportation (following the Elf) was stuck wandering slowly across the map. An uneventful number of tiles left nothing to be desired. He finally arrived at the Guard where he was able to sell off some loot, and ended the game with a score of .... -26.
Not my best game, but it was good to play the game, just to play it!
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