Thursday, March 6, 2014

Witch: Day 16

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
Day22 Day23 Day24 Day25 Day26 Day27 Day28

The Witch finds herself in the Caves on Day 16, searching for the Dragon Hoard while she awaits the arrival of the Tremendous Flying Dragon that guards it.  Since Day 1, the Witch's plan has been to find that Dragon, absorb its essence, and then roam the Magic Realm as the Tremendous Flying Dragon, spreading fire and ruin in her wake, racking up significant fame and notoriety in the process.

The Witch's carefully laid plans could be frustrated, either because the Dragon never shows up, or because the Goblins arrive first and interfere with her access to the Dragon.  The Dragon will appear at the Hoard on a monster die roll of 1.  On a monster die roll of 3, the Ruins C chit will summon Goblins directly to whatever clearing the Witch is located.  If the arrival of the Dragon is delayed, it is possible that two or three Goblin clans are summoned to the Caves over several days.  I'll admit that has happened to me on several occasions, resulting in losses.  Hopefully this play-by-play will not end that way!

While awaiting the arrival of the Dragon, on Day 16 the Witch will search twice in Caves 6, hoping to locate the Hoard.  The Witch will send her familiar towards the Deep Woods in search of some hidden paths.

Witch: Search, Search
Familiar: Move-Borderland 3, Move-Borderland 2
With a monster die roll of 1, the Witch's plans are partially satisfied: the Tremendous Flying Dragon will arrive at the end of the Day.
The Familiar moves twice to Borderland 2.  The Witch searches twice, finding the Hoard's location on the second search attempt.  The Witch's turn ends, and she moves on to the combat round, during which she will have the opportunity to absorb the Tremendous Flying Dragon.
The Combat round begins, and the Tremendous Flying Dragon is placed on the Witch's combat sheet.
The Witch will, of course, choose to cast a spell.
The Witch chooses her Absorb Essence spell to cast on the Tremendous Dragon.
You will recall that in order to cast a spell, we must have the spell itself (in this case, the Absorb Essence spell), plus we must have the correct ritual, represented by the Magic V4* chit, and necessary mana to power the spell, represented by the Magic V5* chit will the black splotch on it.  Those three elements result in the spell being cast successfully.
We still need to select a target monster for our Absorb Essence spell.
The Witch selects the Tremendous Flying Dragon as the target for her Absorb Essence spell.
And voila!  The Witch and the Tremendous Flying Dragon merge together as a result of her absorbing the Dragon's essence.  The Witch remains in Dragon form until the end of the day, at which time the spell falls inert, with the absorbed Dragon within the Witch.  The Witch's new Dragon form can re-activated by using some Black mana to re-activate the absorb essence spell.

Meanwhile, at the House:  both the Black Knight and the Sorceror depart the House, with the Black Knight stopping at the Guardhouse, trading a plethora of treasures with the Guards, before killing the Guard leader and running away.  The Sorceror keeps travelling to the Maple Woods, ending her day there, which results in the Small Fire being placed on the Maple Woods tile.

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
Day22 Day23 Day24 Day25 Day26 Day27 Day28
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6 comments:

  1. UnknownMarch 6, 2014 at 8:34 AM

    Aw yeah, now you're cookin' with gas. Fully half the game time has gone... I hope there'll be enough time to win.

    I'm not surprised but I am disappointed by the Black Knight's churlish behaviour. He trades with the natives... and then slaughters them? The blackguard. It'd be sweet if the transform'd Witch roasted him.

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  2. TompyMarch 6, 2014 at 12:03 PM

    This is the part about Magic Realm I don't like, the Monster Roll. Sure, it worked perfectly this time, but that's a 1/6 chance. And there's a 1/6 chance the whole thing falls apart completely. I don't like games where your whole plan rests on a perfectly timed 1/6 chance.

    Love the play thru.

    I guess this is why I never played the Witch.

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  3. CaraMarch 6, 2014 at 4:55 PM

    At last! With luck the Witch will have time to fulfill her victory requirements. Sometimes the Witch has to make due with what is available to her. I've Absorbed some subpar monsters on the way to getting the TFD. One compensation is that anything you absorb comes along for the ride and when you break the spell it can be killed for its Fame and Notoriety. Fun to do with the Tremendous Troll.

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  4. Aaron E. SteeleMarch 7, 2014 at 1:42 PM

    @Jeff:

    If you don't like the monster roll, what would be the alternative? I've had lots of games where I spent a week or more waiting for a monster that never arrives, or a seeking a treasure trove that remains unfound. All you can do is calculate your odds and adjust to circumstances.

    I'd be perfectly content to hunt another monster if my TFD strategy didn't pan out, absorbing a Giant or a different Tremendous Dragon.

    You really should give the Witch a try, she's a fun character to play, particularly in multiplayer games where she selects poison as one of her spells, and works with the Amazon or Swordsman to pick off unarmoured tremendous monsters.

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  5. Aaron E. SteeleMarch 7, 2014 at 1:54 PM

    @Cara:

    There's a stack of 72 fame and notoriety in the Deep Woods just waiting for the Witch (check out Day 11). She just needs to get back there before Day 21.

    I agree on making due, there have been games where I couldn't get to the TFD and had to target another monster.

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  6. Aaron E. SteeleMarch 7, 2014 at 4:20 PM

    @Pete:

    I'm confident there's still time to meet the Witch's victory conditions. That confidence is contingent on reaching the Deep Woods before Day 21.

    As for the Black Knight ... the apple does not fall far from the tree. My kids have well-adopted my Black Knight and Sorceror strategies, so the Black Knight's duplicity is my fault.

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