Friday, February 28, 2014

Witch: Day 10

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

The Witch begins Day 10 unhidden in the Deep Wood.  There are two very dangerous Heavy Serpents between her and the Mountain tile, which the Witch needs to visit in her search for the Hoard and Tremendous Flying Dragon.

On Day 10, the Witch is going to move once, to Deep Wood 5, perform two Hide actions, and then move into Deep Wood 3, the same clearing as the Heavy Serpents.  Hiding twice gives the Witch a 90% chance (rather than 70%) of successfully hiding.  I suppose we could do a third hide, which would then increase the hide chances to 97%, but that means the Witch take three days, instead of two, to reach the Mountain.  It's Day 10.  The clock is ticking.  So the Witch will take the risk that she may fail both hide attempts.  Remember that the Witch readied her broomstick, so worst case scenario she employs it to escape the Serpents.
The Witch's familiar is in the Caves, where it will perform two Peer actions.

Witch:  Move-Deep Wood 5, Hide, Hide, Move-Deep Wood 3
Familiar: Peer, Peer
Today's monster roll is 1:  Dragons.

The Black Cat peers twice in the Caves, and finds the Hoard!  This is the treasure location we've been searching for during the last 10 days.  The Ruins chit is also in the Caves, and the Ruins chit summons Goblins on a  monster roll of 3.
The Witch already recorded her move at the start of Day 10, so she must complete it, even though she might like to be moving toward the Caves instead.  The Witch moves once, to Deep Wood 5, successfully hides, and moves to Deep Wood 3,  the same clearing as the Heavy Serpents. 

Since the monster roll on Day 10 was Dragons, when the Witch's turn ends, three Heavy Dragons appear in the Witch's clearing.
The Witch is already hidden, so the monsters cannot attack her unless she unhides by casting a spell or otherwise becoming unhidden.  The Witch will stay hidden and end the combat round.

Meanwhile, the Black Knight and Sorceror leave the Inn and head toward the Guardhouse.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Witch: Day 9

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

The Witch ended Day 8 hidden in the Crag.  As the Hoard, with its Tremendous Flying Dragon, is not located here, the Witch will travel next toward the Mountain, via the Deep Wood, on Day 9.  The trip to the Mountain will take her several Days, as the Witch must be careful in the Deep Wood, what with the Heavy Serpents blocking her path.  The Witch will do at least one Hide, and possibly two, each day she is in the Deep Wood.
The Witch's familiar will continue her assignment of investigating the Woods and potential treasure locations on the West side of the Magic Realm.  On Day 9, the black cat will enter the Caves and Peer once (like the Magic Realm characters, the Witch's familiar can only use the two basic phases if she spends any time during the day in an underground clearing).

Witch:  Move-Deep Wood 1, Move-Deep Wood 6, Move-Deep Wood 4, Hide
Familiar: Move-Caves 1, Peer
On Day 9, the monster die roll is 3: Goblins and the Octopus, again.  Since the Octopus is at the Cliff, and Goblins only prowl in the Cave tiles, the Witch should be safe from monsters today.

The Witch's familiar moves to Caves 1 and fails her Peer attempt.

The Witch moves to Deep Wood 4 and fails to hide.  Fortunately, no monsters are prowling in the Deep Wood, so nothing moves to the Witch's clearing at the end of her turn.

Meanwhile at the Inn:  The Sorceror and Black Knight continue to loot the treasures of the deceased Rogues, Patrol and Company, recovering another treasure card and a breastplate.  There are three treasures left at the Inn.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Witch: Day 8

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

The Witch begins Day 8 in the Deep Woods.  She had hoped to find the Hoard and the Tremendous Flying Dragon by now, but  there is still plenty of time to do so: the Witch's failure, to-date, is not fatal to her chances of winning the game. 

The Crag, Mountain and Borderland are all easily accessed from the Witch's current location in the Deep Woods.  Any of those tiles might be the location of the Hoard.  Since the Crag is nearby, the Witch will travel there first, recording a Hide phase at the end of her three move phases (she must record two moves to enter the mountain clearing in the Crag). 
At the same time, the Witch's black cat familiar will Peer four times in the Ledges.

Witch: Move-Deep Woods 1, Move-Crag 2, Move-Crag 2, Hide
Familiar: Peer, Peer, Peer, Peer
On Day 8, the monster roll is a 3: Goblins and the Octopus.  The Witch already knows where the Octopus resides: the Cliff.  And Goblins only appear in Cave tiles.  So we should be safe in the Crag on Day 8.
The Witch's familiar peers four times in the Ledges,successfully revealing the Ruins M chit and Altar 1 treasure location chit.  The Ruins M chit summons Giant Bats; the Altar is guarded by a Demon.  Neither monsters will be summoned today, since the Witch's black cat never causes monsters to be summoned to the map, and the Demon and Bats appear on monster rolls of 2 and 6, so would not appear today in the Ledges in any event.
The Witch moves to Crag 2 and successfully hides.  At the end of the Witch's turn, the chits in the Crag are turned over, revealing Bones M and Shrine 4.  The Bones chit summons Giant Bats (on a monster roll of 6) and Giants (on a monster roll of 4) while the Shrine location is guarded by the Flying Demon who appears on a monster roll of 2.  The Witch is safe for the time being.
Meanwhile at the Inn:  The Black Knight and Sorceror continue looting the treasures of the dead Rogues, Patrol and Company.  After they complete looting for the day, you can see the five treasures still left at the Inn, displayed across the top of the map, above. The Sorceror gloats that she has fulfilled her victory conditions, here on Day 8 of 28, with the successful recovery of the Toadstool Ring, which she activates.

The Witch has yet to gain a single point of notoriety or fame.  It's easy to become despondent, but the Witch needs to stick to the plan: she will eventually find the Hoard and Flying Tremendous Dragon, and then the Witch will come into her own.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Monday, February 24, 2014

Witch: Day 7

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Sabbath day is a special day, it's the day we get ready for magic.  In the case of the Witch, Day 7 is great, since she gains access to Black mana.

I've gone on, ad nauseum, about the importance of Day 7 to the Witch. If you are playing Magic Realm using any of the magic-using characters, you really should pay attention to when your preferred mana is freely available to you.

For the last several days, the Witch has been racing from tile to tile without a prepared broomstick.  You will recall that on Day 2 we used the broomstick to fly to the Ruins.  Subsequently, the Witch rested the two fatigued chits used to prepare the broomstick, but she has not yet prepared it again.  The Witch is extremely vulnerable without the broomstick, so I'm sure a few of you have been cringing every time the Witch ends her turn without broomstick prepared.
Trust me, i've been cringing too.  But i've felt justified in delaying preparing broomstick for several reasons.  First, the Witch has yet to gain a single fame or notoriety point, so she has little to lose in dying.  Second, this is a multi-player game, so if the Witch dies we simply re-spawn at the Inn, with valuable knowledge regarding monsters and treasure sites found in the furthest corners of the Magic Realm.  Third, the Witch's Absorb Monsters strategy is so powerful that once she finds and absorbs the Tremendous Flying Dragon, it will not take her long to satisfy her victory conditions.  So we have been slightly reckless here, but no more than is justified considering how quickly Day 7 creeps up on the Witch.

Right, back to Day 7.  There is a fourth reason to delay, and that has to do with Day 7.  On Day 7, White and Black mana are freely supplied to every clearing in the Magic Realm.  The implications are obvious: the Witch can prepare spells (broomstick and absorb essence) on Day 7 without the need for Black mana chits.  That means that on Day 7, if the Tremendous Flying Dragon were in her clearing, she could prepare broomstick from hiding during combat round 1, absorb the Dragon in round 2, and still have her single Black mana chit for the next following day.  Since the Witch currently has a single Black mana chit available to her, she could either use it to turn into a Dragon the following day, or employ her prepared broomstick to fly away from danger.

Our Day 7 strategy relies on finding the Tremendous Flying Dragon on or before Day 7.  So far we have been unsuccessful.  In order to be in the same clearing as the Tremendous Flying Dragon today, we must get a monster roll of 1, and be in the same clearing 6 as the Hoard. 
There is only one clearing 6 we can reach today: the one in Deep Woods.  Clearing 6 in both the Borderland and Crag are out of reach. 

The odds are not good.  On Day 7, there is a one in six chance that the monster roll will be 1, and a one in seven chance that the Deep Woods contains the Hoard (ten minus the three tiles we have already eliminated as potential sites during the first six days).  That gives us a less than 3% chance of absorbing the Tremendous Flying Dragon today.  Poor odds, but we must play them.  We will play it safe today, performing two hide actions after our move.
The Witch's familiar uncovered the site of the Large Campfire yesterday.  Today, the Black Cat will climb up into the Ledges and cross the bridge perilous, leaving until tomorrow the task of Peering for treasure sites.

Witch: Move-Deep Woods 1, Move-Deep Woods 6, Hide, Hide
Familiar: Move-Ledges 2, Move-Ledges 2, Move-Ledges 5, Move-Ledges 5
On Day 7, the monster roll is a 2: Serpents and Demons.  So much for a roll of 1, and Dragons.  We are thwarted before our turn even begins.

The Black Cat crosses the bridge perilous uneventfully.  The Witch moves to Deep Woods 6, and fails both hide rolls.  With two hides, there is a 90% chance she will successfully hide, but lady luck is not riding on the Witch's shoulder today.
The Hoard is not in the Deep Woods.  With the Serpents and Demons prowling, the Slither 3 chit summons the two Heavy Serpents, the very serpents the Witch most fears.  Fortunately they appear in clearing 3, and the Witch is in clearing 6, so there will be no combat today.  The other chit, Smoke M, summons two Heavy Flying Dragons, but they only arrive on a monster roll of 1.  During the combat round at the end of Day 7, the Witch prepares her broomstick, using the Black mana freely available today. 
Her Magic V6* chit is converted into a Fly L1 chit, and she retains her Magic V4* and a Black mana chit for her absorb essence spell.

Meanwhile, at the Inn:  The Sorceror rests after yesterday's roasting of her former friends, the Company, and the Black Knight loots four times, recovering two Horses (one of which he gives to the Sorceror) a breastplate and a treasure card.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Witch: Day 6

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

In her travels through the Magic Realm, the Witch flew to the Ruins, subsequently discovering the Lost Castle and the Lost City, both swarming with monsters and laden with treasure sites.  It is now Day 6, and the Witch seems just as far from achieving her original objective (of absorbing a Tremendous Troll or Flying Dragon) as she was on Day 1, although she knows, better, where NOT to find the Tremendous Flying Dragon.  She found the stomping grounds of the Tremendous Trolls, but the Lost City is teeming with Goblins and other dangerous foes, so the Witch elected to run away from the Cavern during Day 5's combat round, rather than risk death this far advanced in the game.  The Witch will take advantage of the fact that running out of a Cave mouth during combat will allow her four, rather than two, phases on the following day.

Waking on Day 6, The Witch is only one day from Day 7, the only Day in the Magic Realm where she will have unlimited access to Black mana.  She had hoped to find the Tremendous Flying Dragon by Day 7, but her chances seem increasingly remote.
The Witch's familiar spent its time on the far side of the Magic Realm, searching for the Campfires.  The first was found early, next door to the Inn at Maple Woods 4.  The Witch's cat then found evidence of a pair of Ogres in the Nut woods at the northwest corner of the Magic Realm.  The Black Cat will search again at the Linden Woods, having failed to find anything there yesterday.
On Day 6, the Witch will head south, toward the Deep Woods, Crag and Mountain to see if any of those tiles contain the Hoard of the Tremendous Flying Dragon.  The Witch will first stop and hide in the Oak Woods.  The Oak Woods contain either the Large Campfire, the Serpents or the Wolves, and the Witch hopes to be hidden if its Wolves, as she cannot run from them and they will tear her apart.

Witch:  Move-Ruins 2, Move-Oak Woods 2, Move-Oak Woods 4, Hide
Familiar: Peer, Peer, Peer, Peer
The Day 6 monster die roll is 1:  Dragons.  The Witch will not end her turn either in the Cavern nor the Ruins, so no Dragons will appear in any of those tiles. 
The Familiar Peers four times in the Linden Woods, uncovering the Large Campfire in Linden Woods clearing 5 in the process.
The Witch moves to the Oak Woods and again fails to hide.  Fortunately, since the monster roll was 1 (instead of 2) the medium Serpents summoned by the Dank W chit do not appear.  The Witch ends her turn on Day 6.

Meanwhile, at the Inn:  The Sorceror and Black Knight rest and loot the treasures left behind from yesterday's successful massacre of the Patrol.  At the end of the day, the Company arrives at the Inn.  The Sorceror Fiery Blasts her erstwhile friends, killing 5 of the 7 members of the Company, with the Black Knight finishing off his former Company allies, the Great Swordsman and Crossbowman, with nary a scratch.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Witch: Day 5

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

The Witch finds herself back in the Ruins on Day 5.  She travelled here, by broomstick, discovering in the process that this tile is infested by Dragons and Serpents.  Retreating to the Cliff, she stumbled upon the Lost Castle, containing the Octopus' Pool and the Imp-guarded Statue, all swarming with Giant Bats and Spiders.  The Witch slipped away from the Lost Castle, back to the Ruins, resting twice while listening for, but never hearing, the roars and slithers of the Ruins' purported inhabitants.

The Witch is still looking for a Tremendous Troll or Flying Dragon to absorb.  Her plan for Day 5 is to sneak into the Cavern and discover if the Troll and Flying Dragon reside there.  She will record one Move, to Cavern 5, and a single Hide attempt.  The Witch can only perform two, instead of four actions today, because she is moving into a cave clearing, and so can only use the basic phases, not the additional two sunlight phases.
Meanwhile, the Witch's familiar, looking for the other campfire, travels two clearings to the Linden Woods and Peers twice.
Witch: Move-Cavern 5, Hide
Familiar: Move-Linden Woods 2, Move-Linden Woods 4, Peer, Peer


On Day 5, the monster roll is a 2: Serpents and Demons.  We will be ending our turn in the Cavern, so the Serpents living in the Ruins will not be summoned to the map (at least not for today).

The Witch's familiar moves to the Linden Woods and Peers twice, finding nothing.

The Witch sneaks into Cavern 5 and fails her Hide attempt.  At the end of her turn, the chits are turned over, revealing Stink C (summoning Trolls) and the Lost City!   
The Lost City is traded for five treasure and sound chits, Patter 2 and Howl 4 (summoning Goblins), Roar 6 (summoning Trolls and Land Dragons), Vault 3 (a treasure site, home to a Tremendous Troll) and Cairns 5 (another treasure site, and home to the Tremendous Spider).

Because the Day 5 monster die roll was a 2, no monsters are summoned to the Cavern today, to my great relief.  Monsters are summoned to the Cavern on monster rolls 1 (Dragons), 3 (2 sets of Goblins), 4 (all of the Heavy and Tremendous Trolls!) and 5 (Tremendous Spider).

While the Witch would be quite happy to absorb one of the Tremendous Trolls, both will be summoned on a 4, and both will move simultaneously once on the board.  She does not want to both absorb a Tremendous Troll and have to fight a second one at the same time!

This is another very dangerous tile for the Witch.  If the Goblins or Tremendous Spider arrive before she absorbs a Troll, the Goblins or Spider will kill her, as she is too slow to run from them.  Even though she would like to find one of the Tremendous Trolls and absorb him, she instead chooses safety, running from the Cavern during the combat round (she does this because it allows her to use all four phases next day; if she remains in the Cavern at the end of Day 5, she will only get two phases during Day 6).  Tomorrow the Witch will go searching for the Tremendous Flying Dragon, who is preferable to the Troll anyway.

Meanwhile, back at the Inn:  the Sorceror and Black Knight trade their loot to the two remaining Patrol, then smash and blast the Patrol into oblivion, gaining more notoriety, and releasing the traded treasures for another round of looting.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Witch: Day 4

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

The Witch begins Day 4 in the Cliff, surrounded by a multitude of monster and treasure chits.  She wants to leave the Cliff as soon as possible, for Bats can be summoned here, which she can neither kill nor escape.

The Witch is still looking for a Tremendous Troll or the Tremendous Flying Dragon.  Both provide her with a monster strong enough to be worth absorbing.

The Witch's next destination is the Cavern, but she cannot reach the Cavern today, since she can only use the two basic phases if she spends any time underground.  She also needs to rest, as she has two fatigued Type V black mana chits.

On Day 4, the Witch will move twice, to Ruins clearing 2, and Rest twice to recover her chits.

The Witch will not bother hiding in the Ruins.  If the Serpents are summoned, they will appear in clearing 6, far away from clearing 2, and if the Dragons are summoned, she can run away from the Heavy Dragon, towards Ruins clearing 1.

Witch: Move-Ruins 1, Move-Ruins 2, Rest, Rest
Familiar: Peer, Peer, Peer, Peer


Today's monster roll is a 3: Goblins and the Octopus.  The Witch's familiar performs four Peers, discovering the Bones W chit in the Nut Woods.  Bones summons the Ogres on a monster die roll of 3, but the Witch's familiar never causes monsters to be summoned to the board.
The Witch moves twice to Ruins 2, and Rests twice.  The Slither 6 and Smoke C chits are turned face up, but neither summons monsters, so Day ends uneventfully for the Witch.

Meanwhile at the Inn:  the Black Knight and Sorceror continue to loot the treasures at the Inn, recovering two more horses.  The Patrol appears at the end of the day, and the Sorceror vaporizes one of the horses with her Fiery Blast, then melts into mist as the Black Knight finishes off the associated Patrolman before running away.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Witch: Day 3

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Let's move on to Day 3 of the Witch's adventures in the Magic Realm. The Witch starts the day deep in the Ruins, having flown here with her Broomstick spell on Day 2.  At the end of her turn, she reveals the Slither 6 and Smoke C chits, which summon Land Dragons and Giant Snakes. Yesterday's monster roll was 6 (Bats) so no prowling monsters were summoned to the Ruins on Day 2.

This is not a safe tile for the Witch.  She can run away from the two dragons that are summoned to this tile, for her Move L3* chit is faster than the move speeds of both the Heavy and Tremendous Land Dragons.  However, on a monster roll of 2 the Slither 6 chit also summons a pair of Heavy Snakes, who are invulnerable to the Witch's dagger, and are too fast to run from, having a move speed of 3 on their fast side.

The Witch would like to explore both the Cliff and the Cavern, as either might contain the Tremendous Flying Dragon or Tremendous Troll.  She also needs to rest her two black magic chits.  She does not want to linger at the Ruins, as the Tremendous Land Dragon is too slow to be a good candidate for Absorb Essence, and the Heavy Snakes are dangerous foes.

The Witch has at least three options for Day 3.
The Witch's first option is to move to the Cliff and do a single Hide.  A somewhat risky plan, though no more so that her Day 2 flight to the Ruins and single Hide.  Her second option is to move to the Oak Woods and do a single Hide.  The Oak Woods may be contain the Large Campfire (25% chance), or may contain a monster (75% chance).  She can run away from the Serpents and Ogres, but would be killed by the Wolves.  This is not a bad choice, but will put her a day behind in searching for monsters to absorb.  Her third option is to move to the Ruins 2 clearing and perform two Rest phases.  That will allow the Witch to cast Broomstick at the end of Day 3, so long as Dragons do not appear.  If Dragons do appear, the Witch would need to run away rather than casting her Broomstick spell.  She does not fear the immediate appearance of the Snakes, as they would appear in clearing 6 and would not trouble her in clearing 2.

In the end, the Witch's desire to locate the T Flying Dragon or T Troll trumps the other considerations, and she records three moves to the Cliff (three moves because she must record two moves for each mountain clearing she enters) and a Hide.

Witch: Move-Ruins 1, Move-Cliff 1, Move-Cliff 1, Hide.
Familiar:  Four Moves to Nut Woods 2

The Day 3 monster roll is a 2: Snakes and Demons.  The Witch is leaving the Ruins so Snakes will not be summoned to the Ruins today.  The Witch's black cat familiar moves to the Nut Woods and ends its turn.  The Witch moves to the Cliff and successfully hides.  
At the end of her turn, the Witch turns over the Cliff chits, revealing the Lost Castle 1 and Dank M chits.  She takes the 5 chits for the Lost Castle, and reveals Flutter 1, Flutter 2, Statue 2, Patter 5 and Pool 6.
The Flutter chits summon Heavy Flying Dragons and Bats.  The Statue chit is a minor treasure location with a usable spell that summons the Imp.  Patter and Dank chits summon Heavy Spiders.  And the Pool is a major treasure location guarded by the Octopus.  Because the monster roll was 2, none of those monsters were (luckily) summoned to the Cliff.

Neither the T Flying Dragon nor the T Troll are summoned to the Cliff.  The Witch's turn ends.

Meanwhile, at the Inn:  The Black Knight and Sorceror continue to rest, and then loot the Rogues' treasures.  The Black Knight loots two horses and a treasure card, and the Sorceror loots a horse.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Witch: Day 2

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

On Day 1 of the Witch's adventures, she travelled to the Bad Valley and prepared her Broomstick spell.  Meanwhile, her familiar slunk to the Maple Woods and performed two failed peer attempts.

On Day 2, the Witch will use her Broomstick to fly three tiles, to the Ruins (on the far side of the map) and attempt to hide on her fourth phase.  The Witch's black cat will perform four more peer attempts at the Maple Woods. 

Witch: Fly-Caves, Fly-Cavern, Fly-Ruins, Hide
Black Cat: Peer, Peer, Peer, Peer

Some might consider a broomstick flight to the far side of the Magic Realm, with no safe valley available, concluding with a single hide attempt, to be somewhat incautious. I'm inclined to agree.

However, the Witch can afford to be incautious at this stage since we're only at Day 2, and if the Witch fails to hide and dies at the claws of a monster she can rejoin on the following day and lose only two days.  But she will have gained some important information about the Ruins.  Where you DO want to be cautious is past Day 5, and certainly on Day 27 or 28, when you've otherwise fulfilled your victory conditions.  Of course, this is a multi-player game, so rejoining is available.  That won't be the case in a single player game.

The name of the game for the Witch, at this point, is to find a Tremendous Troll or Tremendous Flying Dragon, and quickly.  We will look at why those two monsters are important once we find one.


On Day 2, the monster die roll is 6: Bats.  Hopefully we are not flying into a swarm of Bats, as the Witch is too slow to escape death by Bats. 

The Witch's familiar acts first, and finds the Smoke W chit in the Maple Woods.  The Witch's familiar finds the location of the Small Campfire.  The Bashkars (who are friendly to the Witch), the Lancers and the Woodfolk can visit the Small Campfire.


The Witch flies three tiles to the Ruins and successfully hides.  When the chits are turned over at the end of her turn, they are revealed to be Slither 6 and Smoke C. 


Slither summons Land Dragons and Giant Snakes, on monster rolls of 1 and 2 respectively, and Smoke C also summons Land Dragons on a monster roll of 1. 

No Tremendous Trolls or Tremendous Flying Dragons here. 


As the Witch has used up the power of her Broomstick, she will need to cast it again if she wants to fly again.  The magic chit powering the Broomstick fatigues and she now has no Type V rituals available to cast spells, as two are fatigued and one has been converted into black mana.  She will need to find a place to rest and recover her strength.

Meanwhile, at the Inn:  The Black Knight and the Sorceror spend the entire day resting after an exhausting Day 1 battle versus the Rogues.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

Monday, February 10, 2014

Witch: Day 1

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21

It's Day 1 of the Witch's adventures in the Magic Realm.  There are two other characters in this game, the Black Knight and the Sorceror, who have arranged the map with the valleys in close proximity, to facilitate their probable plan of initiating a kill-loot-sell strategy.  Employing that strategy is an efficient way to learn how to choreograph combats for various characters, racking up notoriety and gold in the process. 

All of the valleys are on the left side of the map and the wild areas are on the right.  This configuration will make things difficult for the Witch, as she will have few safe valleys to retreat to as she strikes out into the wild.  If you are just beginning to play the Witch, try constructing the map to give you valleys to retreat to, so you can retreat and prepare new spells.

The Witch's strategy is a dangerous one.  She has chosen Broomstick, Absorb Essence and Remedy as her beginning spells.  Using the Broomstick, she intends to fly to the Ruins, deep in the northeast corner of the wild area.  Then the Witch will quickly search for either the Tremendous Flying Dragon or the Tremendous Troll, absorb their essence, and transform into that monster to kill other monsters and natives, thereby racking up fame and notoriety.  The Witch will need to manage her chits carefully, to ensure she has black mana available when needed.  She would like to find a monster to absorb before Day 7, as she gets free black mana on Day 7 to power her spells.  This explains the urgency for locating a suitable monster to absorb.

While the Witch is looking for the Dragon or the Troll, her black cat familiar will be making a circle through the woods to the north, over the Ledges, and under the Caves and Borderland, assisting in the search.
On Day 1, the monster roll is a 4.  The Witch's familiar moves two clearings to the Maple Woods and fails both peer attempts, rolling a 6 for each.  The Witch moves three clearings to Bad Valley and successfully hides.  The Daylight phase of Day 1 ends, and we move to the Combat phase. 

The Black Knight and Sorceror engage in their combat first.  As expected, the Black Knight and the Sorceror conspire to eliminate the eight Rogues, with the Sorceror frying four Rogues with her Fiery Blast before Melting into Mist, and the Black Knight eliminating the remaining four Rogues, suffering four wounds and a fatigue in the process.

Now its the Witch's Combat phase.  Time to prepare her Broomstick.
During Round 1, the Witch chooses to Cast a Spell.
From her list of spells, she chooses Broomstick.
In order to activate her spell, she needs the proper ritual, V, and black mana (which she had already prepared prior to the beginning of the game).
The Witch needs to select a target for her spell.
She will be the target of the spell.  And, voila!  If you check your chits, you will find the Witch now has a Fly L1 chit active and ready to be used.

In addition, the other magic chit she used as black mana has fatigued, and is in the fatigued column, needing a rest action to bring it back into play.

The Witch ends the Combat phase, and Day 1 ends.  We are now ready to use our new Fly ability in Day 2 of the Witch's adventures in the Magic Realm.

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day  7
Day 8  Day 9  Day10 Day11 Day12 Day13 Day14
Day15 Day16 Day17 Day18 Day19 Day20 Day21