So, in the end, you didn't even kill Ambuscade, his choice of environment did? Ha, that's awesome. Good work, Powerhound 2000.
win for me too.
Spite went down on turn 6 and Ambuscade followed early on turn 7. That was a LOT to keep track of for one person. I feel like somehow I got the BEST drugs to have out because he got damage boost +1, damage taken -1, 1 (+1) damage to all at the end of the turn, one that cost me HP and 5 cards off the top every time I used a power and then one card that never came into play b/c there was never anything in the environment. Maybe having stuff gone from the environment every turn quickly was my saving grace. The 5 cards into the discard pile for every power used didn't feel like a penalty since you just reshuffle when you're out of cards. Either way, very difficult to follow it all for what felt like very little payoff or actual difficulty in the end. Also feel like I was able to take advantage of some things with H being 3 (on the hero side). If I ever did this again, I'd HAVE to have someone helping / playing with me to keep track of it all and I would probably make H 3 for villains and H = H for the heroes.
Heroes list / Remaining HP:
Legacy 9
Tempest 10
Setback 13 / 5 tokens in the pool
Nightmist 22
Expatriette 12
Unity 9
Other than Legacy and Tempest, this was my first time playing any of the heroes. Tempest came in mightily handy and did a lot of the heavy lifting, surprisingly. Legacy kept Spite's drugs and global damage from hitting everyone and just kept buffing.
Setback seemed like an interesting / different concept, but in the end he didn't really do much. Vs. another villain, I could see him getting more playtime. Anything he did that either cost him hp or let him regain HP just didn't play well with the cost of 2 hp for every power used drug.
Nightmist just kind of sat there and looked pretty. She did let Unity reshuffle her almost depleted deck into her draw pile and gained 13 hp for it in the end though, which is why her end total is so high. Not sure that I'd use her again, although maybe in a smaller crowd. She just seems very heavy on the specific support front, and that doesn't shine very well in such a large game.
Expatriette played like I thought she would, just constantly shooting. Don't get me wrong, she did her fair share of damage, just wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. Also may have not shined as intended since I kept having to put cards into the discard pile - I might not have gotten to see the interesting stuff.
Unity might be my new favorite hero. I liked her concept when i saw that promo heroes existed in my FLGS and have been itching for a reason to try her out and boy howdy did she shine. After yoinking Expat's guns to get her ball rolling / first golem out, she probably did more than her fair share of the damage. The equipment card draws were also very cool. Really want to get her back to the table.
So one more victory from here. Thank you for running this! I'll keep this forum / thread in my bookmarks whenever you're ready to start up another campaign / story!
I hope you give the heroes you played for the first time another chance as this is certainly not a good fight to get an idea on how they play out. I will admit that Spite's drug which deals damage upon power use makes it rough for a lot of heroes.
I'll admit,it is a lot to keep track of. When I ran the game myself, I drew up sheets of paper to help keep track of everything, like damage increases and damage reductions. It made it easier.
I did try the H6 for heroes thing, but it made the game unbalanced for the heroes, especially if you have bad luck drawing cards. But I'll remember this for the future, i I decide go do two villains at once.
EDIT: In terms of the heroes you played for the first time, Expatriette is AWESOME in battles that need chunks or area damage, so she's good against villains like Citizen Dawn and Spite. Nightmist is sort of a mix of support and damage, and I found she's really useful against the powerful villains. Unity is a great girl, her golems end up protecting the group when something attacks the lowest HP target, great against Ambuscade. I also love Setback, but he needs luck (herr, luck with Setback) to play, as if you draw and play the wrong cards, he ends up being useless and nothing more than a setback (herr).
Setback is never useless! Even with a "bad" draw, he has stuff he can do. Do his cards build up tokens? Do they do damage to people? Do they require tokens and you don't have them? A Cash Out with zero tokens can still heal everyone 2. Uncharmed Life can save Unity's bots (if you have tokens) or heal you 3 (if you don't). With Setback you really need to see the opportunities you have in the cards. You will rarely get "Just the card I wanted!".
That was the issue with Setback though. Everything that costs 2 hp essentially had it's hp cost doubled due to the drug in play. Anything that healed HP typically also cost 2 hp, making the gains less or non-existant. I also had very few ways to build up tokens without taking crazy damage (again because of the drug) until near the end when it was clear I was going to win anyway.
Like I said, I'll definitely try them all again in different circumstances. I'm writing no one off, just there were clear ones I liked more than others (Unity).
Cash Out heals without the 2 hp cost. Surprising Fortune becomes "Pay 2 tokens to draw 2 cards". Plucky Break can still heal 3 if you drop to zero tokens when using it. Karmic Retribution can heal 2 for 1 token. So he has a lot of non-power healing he can use. That makes me want to add non-power and zero token entries to his strategy guide. Quick! To the Setback mobile! (We're lucky if it even turns on the first time we try!)
The vat exploded, and it's contents poured over Ambuscade and Spite, freezing them where they stood. The battle was over. Without a second thought, Paul rushed over to his daughter and knelt beside her.
"Are you alright, Paulina," he asked her, "Did they hurt you?"
Paulina shook her head and stood up, heling her father to his feet.
"I'm fine, dad. We're Parsons', remember?"
Paul smiled, and took a glance at those that had stood with him in this trial. Tachyon and the Wraith, who'd never left his side during this ordeal. Tempest and Captain Cosmic of the Prime Wardens, and Expatriette of the Dark Watch. The heroes had united to defeat a threat to only one of their number. But Baron Blade's words stuck in his mind, the evidence of a villain uprising, the deal he had made withCitizen Dawn, and the battle that had united Spite and Ambuscade in their hatred. The world was changing, and it would not be an easy path ahead.
"Legacy, what's your word?" Captain Cosmic stated, standing ready beside Tempest.
"We need to find Pike, he's the mastermind behind all of this. Expatriette, please mobilise Dark Watch. Captain Cosmic, tell the Argent Adept we'll need the Prime Wardens, too. Tachyon, I need you to contact every single hero this planet has. Let's move."
And with that, the heroes left. Little did they know what was watching them. Above on the railings of Pike Industrial, were two figures. One the infamous Graeme Pike, and the other was a man that had no place there.
"You see, my friend," Graeme said, "Threaten one and they band together."
"It doesn't matter," the other man said quietly, "That man doesn't deserve what he has. I will tke his life and crush it around him, then kill him."
"Very good, my friend"
This campaign has finished. The next campaign will follow Absolute Zero.
https://greaterthangames.com/forum/topic/mystery-of-the-void-campaign-02-tempers-run-hot-7461