Message:Close to death at every step and moment. The game has a puzzle-feel of what route to take combined with a constant fear of character loss. I haven’t felt this much urgency since HS D&D. High praise from me. Could be a winner.
For the Cosplay folks who say it misses story, we were on a trip to a county to figure out why the place was suffering from increased greed. We needed to reach the Grandfather of the Delvers for him to tell us about the curse. Towns rejected our pretense of being debt collectors and royal messengers. All good basic rpg tropes and easy enough to have characterizations or recurring NPCs. Kind of better than any session at GenCon (low bar).
Here's a smattering of what else occurred for us grognards (wargamers).
*The local towns were looking for Tradesmen; the local artisans wanted too much for simple repairs.
*Arlinden saved himself at the last moment by healing.
*Pax dragged the party to the site of a Goblin Alarm, knowing he could rejuvenate his character (full HPs) there. Rest would lose as he benefited.
*An easy meadow of silver clovers became a near death pit of stumbling, as the group needed to all be successful at four Stat rolls. We all have at least one weak-spot in our Stats.
Titanicus led the party right to the main goal. Where I forgot to impose a DefMod or did it get canceled? Tough to be old.
We finished the adventure and ousted the Main Monster: Befouled Souls (Bone-Break, Elemental, Gut-Spill, Decay) – Treasure hunters who died and did not transcend; Their greed keeps them on the hunt for a fabulous prize. That prize is often thought to be within the party.
The final battle lasted seven (easy) rounds as we activated all of our Spells.
More Town options to come.
Yours,
IronRed
09-Jun-2024