Frostgrave Campaign 2017

[Knabe 248]

Thanks for the kind comments.  The Bailey/Again story was fun to write up.  I had the benefit of reading Quails report and then editing mine to link up.  And the damage to Agarn's hat was a grievous blow....He likes that hat.

 

Bemis was fighting at an advantage, he was receiving +2 support for all his fights in addition to his own +8 fight giving him +10.  And I rolled well for a change.  One game I swear I was rolling Chris' die.

 

And I echo Chris' comments about level of experience reducing casualties, although there have been games that had lots of losses, they didn't belong to the two of us who write reports.  I'll try and get summaries from the other warbands next game for comparison.

 

Again, thanks for reading and commenting.

Knabe

Edited August 11, 2017 by Knabe

[Chris Palmer 25887]

Finally, after over a month, we played the Lich Lord "Dark Cauldron" scenario on Saturday!   I will be posting a full report in a couple days, so watch this thread! 

 

A highlight for me was actually having to use the Bones 1 Mr Bones figure in the role of a Death Cultist (He certainly looked the part!)  I had always figured there would never be a reason to use the odd little figure in a game, so I was glad I got to see him get his moment of glory on the tabletop, being a Dark Cauldron crew chief, before being killed by Bemis' troops. 

 

 

[Chris Palmer 25887]

I finally got Quail's report written and posted:  The Dark Cauldrons

 

     "Innis cursed again, as there was suddenly another loud groan from within the cauldron, and the liquid on top began to froth as a ragged arm rose up out of the muck and, reaching over, grabbed the rim of the vessel. The rest of the Zombie emerged, and turning it's head,  it's yellowed eyes fell upon the Treasure Hunter..."

 

 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Chris Palmer

[Pippin 857]

Another nice write-up!

I've been enjoying the adventures of the librarians, but I can't help but be excited to see if next year's adventures will feature a different type of warband or if there will be some Ghost Archipelago in the future.

Kind of stinks that the game got cut short on you.  Still, sounds like a lot of fun was had  :=)

[Chris Palmer 25887]

3 hours ago, Pippin said:

Another nice write-up!

I've been enjoying the adventures of the librarians, but I can't help but be excited to see if next year's adventures will feature a different type of warband or if there will be some Ghost Archipelago in the future.

Kind of stinks that the game got cut short on you.  Still, sounds like a lot of fun was had  :=)

 

     Thanks, Pippin!  It was a really fun game even with it just being 4.5 turns long.  I'm glad you've been enjoying Quail and Bailey's adventures! There aren't many left, just three more sessions before they head back to the University. 

 

     Next year we will be taking a break from Frostgrave as some of us, after two years of campaigning (and a side campaign at the FLGS), want to take a break from it.  While we've enjoyed that every scenario offers new challenges the games overall do have a sameness to them.  

 

    So in 2018 we will be heading to the mysterious Ghost Archipelago.  We hope those rules offers enough new twists  to differentiate it from Frostgrave for us.    I've already started tossing some ideas around in my head for my new Heritor and his or her Warden...  

[Knabe 248]

Well I finally finished the report from our September game The Cauldrons.  My apologies for the late posting.

 

Knabe

 

 

[Chris Palmer 25887]

Glad to see the report at last, Knabe!   I didn't know if you'd manage it before next Saturday's game.  

 

We probably should have played out a few more turns just between you and me to finalize things, but that probably would have meant I ended up with 4 treasures, and you only 3, so you probably wouldn't have gone for it. 

[VolksFest 1779]

Wow what an adventure and how fun it must be to be playing with so many players on so great a table! 

 

Before I implode with envy I want to ask a few questions regarding Frostgrave (having been bitten recently by the FG bug myself):

1) How do you manage players that miss sessions since their warbands will be lagging behind with respect to XP and gold?

2) The game book says "7-8 terrain pieces" optimum to be present in play. Do you agree? Or is there an 'X pieces per player" rule of thumb you have come up with?

3) Is the game balanced with regards to the mages.. I mean I keep hearing 'this spell is OP, that mage is weak' etc (as we ALWAYS hear for ALL the games these days) but what is your experience?

 

Thanks in advance :)

Edited October 16, 2017 by VolksFest

[InvisibleThumb 1781]

Nice battle reports!  I'm just getting caught up reading them, so good timing Knabe!  And nice haul too!

 

All of the accessories look so cool and using (and killing) Mr. Bones is a nice bonus.  Can't wait to see how the next one turns out.

[Doug Sundseth 56786]

2 hours ago, VolksFest said:

Wow what an adventure and how fun it must be to be playing with so many players on so great a table! 

 

Before I implode with envy I want to ask a few questions regarding Frostgrave (having been bitten recently by the FG bug myself):

1) How do you manage players that miss sessions since their warbands will be lagging behind with respect to XP and gold?

2) The game book says "7-8 terrain pieces" optimum to be present in play. Do you agree? Or is there an 'X pieces per player" rule of thumb you have come up with?

3) Is the game balanced with regards to the mages.. I mean I keep hearing 'this spell is OP, that mage is weak' etc (as we ALWAYS hear for ALL the games these days) but what is your experience?

 

Thanks in advance :)

 

I'm not in that campaign, but I've played 1-2 dozen games at this point and watched quite a few more, so here are my answers:

1. My experience has been that anything less than 10 levels apart is barely noticeable and more than that is quite playable even on a two-player board. With more players, the dangerous people gather the most attention, so it's less of a problem.
2. I would say that 7-8 pieces of terrain is very light on a 3' x 3' or 1m x 1m board. I try to make sure that most sightlines are under 1'/30cm and that the board has interesting features, including variable heights.
3. I think you can make a very playable band with any school of magic, though you should probably think about what capabilities you want for your play style and what you might need to counter your opponent. There are several very strong basic styles of wizard and I've seen each of them do well. Remember that if you don't get the grimoire you really want/need for a specific opponent, you can always buy it for 500gc at the end of the game. While there are many choices for good spells, there are certainly some spells that I consider very weak.

The Dark Alchemy solo campaign can be a very good testing ground for your warband. I'd recommend running any new warband (yours or your opponents') through it to find out what works and what doesn't and to get a bit of experience. Also, the Frostgrave subforum over at http://www.lead-adventure.de/ has a link to the latest version of the FAQ and a full thread of questions and answers. Many of the answers are from Joe McCullough.

 

Have fun and good luck.

[Chris Palmer 25887]

2 hours ago, VolksFest said:

Wow what an adventure and how fun it must be to be playing with so many players on so great a table! 

 

Before I implode with envy I want to ask a few questions regarding Frostgrave (having been bitten recently by the FG bug myself):

1) How do you manage players that miss sessions since their warbands will be lagging behind with respect to XP and gold?

2) The game book says "7-8 terrain pieces" optimum to be present in play. Do you agree? Or is there an 'X pieces per player" rule of thumb you have come up with?

3) Is the game balanced with regards to the mages.. I mean I keep hearing 'this spell is OP, that mage is weak' etc (as we ALWAYS hear for ALL the games these days) but what is your experience?

 

Thanks in advance :)

 

 

VolksFest-  Thanks for your comments!  See my answers to your question below:

 

1)   All of us are really in it for the fun of the game more than the competition/campaign aspect, so some disparity in the wizards levels doesn't both us that much.  Folks that miss games simply fall a little behind.  We have found that there is not a big difference in ability between wizards that are within 10 levels of each other.   Each level only gives you a 1 modifier to one attribute or spell, or new spell learned.  It takes a lot of those "1"s piling up before it really effects the balance.  A level 1 Apprentice is perfectly capable of killing a level 20 Wizard, (We know because it's happened!), and a Thug has a good chance of killing a knight if the rolls are right.   It's one of the great things we like about this game system!   Last year towards the end of the campaign, we assigned starting spots on the table based on wizard level, with lowest on one end of the table, working up to highest at the other end.  This year we didn't even bother doing that.  

 

2)  We never really counted! :)  Our recommendations for the best game when folks ask, are to make the table as crowded as possible.  There should be few areas where you can trace a direct line of site greater than 24".  The 7-8 recommendation really depends on the terrain pieces:  7-8 statues aren't going to do it; 7-8 buildings, perhaps.  

Look at the photos of our tables to get an idea of the density we like.

 

3) Yes and no.  There are some spells that are weak and some are strong, yes; but in general I think the game is balanced.  We were a lot better at picking our spells this year than we were last year.  :)  So much depends on your game play style and what you like.  It also depends on what your opponent has.  I think it has more to do with experienced players having an advantage over novices, since the experienced players know the best combination of spells to select.

 

I hope this helps!  Please feel free to ask further questions if you have them. 

 

 

Edit:  Doug's reply appeared while I was in the middle of writing mine, so I only just got to read it.  I just wanted to say that I agree completely with the points he made as well.

 

 

 

52 minutes ago, InvisibleThumb said:

Nice battle reports!  I'm just getting caught up reading them, so good timing Knabe!  And nice haul too!

 

All of the accessories look so cool and using (and killing) Mr. Bones is a nice bonus.  Can't wait to see how the next one turns out.

 

Thanks InvisibleThumb!  You won't have to wait long, as our next game is this coming Saturday! 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2017 by Chris Palmer

[VolksFest 1779]

Thank you Doug and Chris for excellent and clear answers. I am even more gladder that I have picked this game up.. 

 

So.. back to painting my first apprentice then.. (spoiler: its the Thaumaturge Apprentice from Northstar Mil. Fig.s)

Edited October 16, 2017 by VolksFest

[VolksFest 1779]

3 hours ago, Doug Sundseth said:

The Dark Alchemy solo campaign can be a very good testing ground for your warband. I'd recommend running any new warband (yours or your opponents') through it to find out what works and what doesn't and to get a bit of experience. Also, the Frostgrave subforum over at http://www.lead-adventure.de/ has a link to the latest version of the FAQ and a full thread of questions and answers. Many of the answers are from Joe McCullough.

 

 

And both of these are great advice, thank you. Already delved to the lead-adventure forums.. and wow.. I am already enlightened  

[Chris Palmer 25887]

Last Saturday we played the 10th installment of this year's Frostgrave Campaign:  The Bone Wheels.  It was an exciting outing filled with treachery and narrow escapes!  

 

Quail's report has now been posted: The Bone Wheels

 

"...but then Bemis' dog appeared in a gap in the wall, and leapt at Dorchesman.  The beast only caught his cape but the Treasure Hunter was pulled up short.  Bailey pointed to the chest that held the Archangel Sword, and said to Sally, "Take that out of here! Now!"  The Ranger obeyed, and hefting up the long sword case onto her powerful shoulders, turned and headed back towards the tower.  Bailey, however turned, and drawing her weapons, launched herself at the enemy Warhound..".

 

 

[Knabe 248]

Here is Knabe's report from our 10th Frostgrave campaign game for 2017:  The Bone Wheel Goes Round and Round

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Knabe