Gave it a Go

[Judd]

It hasn't felt like I played yet; it felt like we gave it a go.

When I read games, I have to read them over once or more, go play and come back and read it again.  After that post-play attempt re-read is when things start to sink in and I realize how play should happen.

A few things occurred to me:

1) What is to stop players from doing a constant stream of Aristeia's and why shouldn't they strategically do this, especially with Minions?

2) Can NPC's and Minions refuse an Aristeia?

3) Fate doesn't seem to be mentioned in the character creation and yet the character's fate seems like an important part of the game; is that something we should do when creating characters, perhaps before making challenges to one another?

Hm, I think that is about it.

Thanks to Bob and Bret for giving it a go with me and being patient with the process.  Two people felt like an awkward number unless those two players are really out for blood.  I think the 4 person game gearing up this Sunday will be more successful, especially now that I have a better handle on the rules.

[Darren Hill]

I can't answer your questions, except  to say that Aristeia has been removed from post-Gencon version of the game. Maybe it's because of issues like yours?

Personally, though, I'd be interested to see what the Aristeia rules actually are (were!). Is there any chance someone could post them here or at the wiki?

Fate, in the edition I have, isn't an issue during character design. It's just something that increases in play when certain things happen (e.g. you suffer a Defeat), and you can deliberately increase Fate to get certain benefits. The important thing: when Fate reaches certain thresholds, your Name die increases, and when it reaches maximum (16), your character is retired (one way or another, depending on what your Legend score is by then).
So there's no reason at all to worry about it during character design - it's basically an Endgame mechanic like the one in MLWM, Doom in Conspiracy of Shadows, or Transcendance in TSOY.

[John Harper]

Hi Judd! Thanks for giving it a go. I usually go through the same process with a new game, myself.

Fate is mentioned briefly in character creation, on page 20. Characters that are half divine start with a Fate of 8 (i.e. they only have 8 boxes remaining, or half the "lifespan" of a mortal hero).

Darren is right about Aristeia. It wasn't working properly, and it interferred with the PvP aspect of the game (which is the whole point!), so it was removed. Check out the post GenCon changes on the wiki.

I also recommend playing with the semi-official rules updates to Position and Divine Favor.

Playing with only 2 players is kind of tough. You're right that they really have to be at each other's throats. Four players is the ideal number, IMO. I'm interested to hear how the Sunday game goes.

[Judd]

We had a conflict where Bret wanted his hero to sneak past the walls of Argos by finding a secret tunnel.  I had him roll Lore to get an Advantage die for the tunnel, on the upcoming Cunning roll to sneak past the guards.

Hopefully, we'll have a recording of the Sunday game to post on up.

[John Harper]

Perfect! That's exactly how the advantage die system is supposed to work. Very nice.

Recordings are awesome.

[Bret Gillan]

Yeah, I really like this game a lot. Competitive stuff gets me all fired up. I ordered it yesterday and would love to have this game sitting around for pick-ups.

Though it looks like the game is still in the process of being developed - am I going to have to keep tons of print-outs stuffed in the back of my book to track rules changes?

[John Harper]

Not at all, Bret. The game can be played exactly as written in the book.

We're just fired up about alternate rules here on the forum.

[Bret Gillan]

I realized I sounded like a way bigger dick than I meant to be in that post. I'm fired up about alternate rules too, and I think ditching Aristeia was a good move. As long as the new/alternate rules are easy to find and keep track of I'm a happy camper.

[Darren Hill]

We gave it a go last night, the first session of a game we'll pick up again in a month or so (or will play should the main game be cancelled due to lack of preparation or other reasons).

It was an instant hit. One of the five other players seemed a bit cagey - I think the PvP elements don't agree with him. Another player didn't give opinion of the system, good or bad, but is a lover of greek myth so was keen to play again for that reason alone. The other three (plus me) where all very pleased with the way the game played. After some horror at the ease of gathering impairments, discovering interlude scenes made them happy. I remember one point they all spent a scene recovering wounds, so I made it obvious that I was taking 4 points just gained and using them to buy a 2d8 Harmful contest (as they entered the Iron forest and took lots of nasty cuts and scrapes while searching for the boar). That was funny, seeing a couple of their faces as they replaced one of the wounds just healed.

After the end of this session which involved a some contests, a battle with 16 bandits (all minions), and two Golden Boars of Ion (male and female), the glory totals ranged from 17-37. Two of the characters had been the leaders through the session until the boar fight, until one of these two cunningly managed to get the killing blow on both boars.
I remember Ralph wondering if the advances system was too slow. Based on this experience, I'd say not. Especially since, for this quest (5 objectives, 5 players), I still have 51 Strife left (with another 32 point encounter already paid for, which I'll probably now bump up to 40-60), so there's still a lot more glory they can get from this one quest.

[John Harper]

No worries, Bret! No offense taken.

Darren: Awesome! That sounds like a fun game. And two boars at once! I like the way you think.

[Darren Hill]

Ablout the two boars: the town they visited beforehand had an interesting way of venerating the boar - its piglets were a local delicacy, a blessing on their community. So as soon as the players saw the two boars, one said, "two boars!" and another said, "Well of course, where do you think the piglets come from?"

[Valamir]

Heh heh...well all those piglets sure ain't coming from two boars ;-)

[Darren Hill]

A common mistake, Ralph. The term for a female boar is "female boar" - if it's a wild animal. Boar is the name of the species, not sex, unlike domestic pigs.

Darren the pedantic.