Ye Olde Inn

by **gootchute** » January 30th, 2014, 11:07 pm

This is a hero I designed recently to replace the Elf. He has his own set of spell cards. He is from Norsca, the frozen land of the north across the Sea of Claws. He may be used in groups that have replaced their Barbarian to keep that Norse flavor, or to double the northern exposure if the barbarian is also in the party!

*

He can use any weapons and armor though I usually like the house rule where Elves can't wear plate mail, so I would apply it here as well.

SPELLS (click to expand)

The simplest spell I designed, It is simply an offensive version of Rock Skin. I contemplated making it only work on the Shaman himself, but it seemed to selfish and lacking of tactical options.

This spell simply uses the rules from The Barbarian Quest Pack in interesting ways.

This spell is something completely different, wary Evil Wizard players, or uncreative Heroes can simply us one of the detection spell Future Sight instead.

Of course the Spells of Detection (Wizards of Morcar) and Ice Spells (The Inn) could be substituted or used to enhance the hero.

*Character card made with help from Patrocus' nice little program available here: http://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=165&t=2227
WHY ARE THESE IMAGES SO SMALL WHEN I LINK THEM IN THE FORUM? IN THE GALLERY THEY ARE THE CORRECT SIZE...

EDIT: Thanks drathe. Worked on the character card but the spell cards I made were too big (used card template on this site, not sure why they are so huge)

I like that guy.
Spells are not overpowered, though I'd prefer to make 6 spells for characters that have their own group and let them pick three out of those before each quest. For the fluff.
Otherwise, the spells are weighted and thematically cohesive.
I like the hand axe being his starting equipment, including the chance to throw it.

by **Sjeng** » January 31st, 2014, 7:36 am

Good one! A good alternative for the barbarian or even elf I'd say.

by **gootchute** » January 31st, 2014, 9:18 am

I hope to be using this guy in JasonMCM's upcoming play by post. If the Cast Runes proves to be too specific and hard to use, I may lengthen the window to use the saved dice roll to "whenever" instead of the one turn limit as it stands now.

Zargon/Morcar can make a deck of 6 spells from his three plus three from the Detection or Ice spells for the Shaman to choose from.

by **JasonMCM** » January 31st, 2014, 5:01 pm

Additional spell ideas.
Freezing Wind
Target monster you can see takes 1 damage. On a red die roll of 5 or 6 reduce that damage by 1. If the monster takes damage it looses it's next turn.

Ice Spear
3 dice attack on a monster 2 or 3 spaces away from you. The monster defends as normal.

Cunning of the Fox
Until the target hero takes damage he can move, then perform an action, and then finish his move.

Sleep of the Bear
Target hero is restored to full body points but is put to sleep as the sleep spell.

Cry of the Starling
May only be played on a target hero when a monster is placed on the board that the hero can attack. Target hero immediately makes an attack against that monster. Unless the monster is destroyed it doesn't prevent any actions the monster would normally receive such as a wandering monster's free attack.

by **gootchute** » June 25th, 2014, 10:21 pm

So after testing this in JasonMCM's PBP game, I have realized that Cast Runes has way to many restrictions to be of any use!

Old Wording:
"The Shaman consults the runes to decipher the twisting winds of fate. Roll 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 combat dice and record the results. Until the Shaman's next turn, this roll may be substituted for any one roll using the same number of combat dice made by any hero or monster the shaman can see."

New Wording:
"The Shaman consults the runes to decipher the twisting winds of fate. Roll 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 combat dice and record the results. This roll may be substituted for any one roll using the same number of combat dice made by any hero or monster in the future. If the roll is not used by the end of the quest it is lost."

It is considerably more useful since it can always be used, but not as powerful as say; Genie, because it still relies on the actual need to alter a roll of the same number dice at some point during the quest. Now it creates a new challenge in it's use. Take the safe route and roll your defense dice in the first turn, or wait until the bag baddie shows up and try rolling his defense/attack!

Also I didn't like the idea of a Norse Warrior Shaman stopping in combat to read runes. I erred on the side of caution when originally designing the spell, and using it has proven to me that I had hamstrung it far too much.

Icy Ground also seemed lack-luster. Does anyone think I should make it last indefinitely instead of one turn?

by **Theopolis** » June 26th, 2014, 12:04 am

I like the new wording. For icy ground would it e better to have it usable more than once? You'd have to pick a very important 1x3 square for it to last the whole quest.

I like JasonMCM's suggestions for alternative spells in case icy ground gets the boot. Sleep of the bear is a nice double edge sword.

by **gootchute** » June 26th, 2014, 11:00 pm

Theopolis wrote: For icy ground would it e better to have it usable more than once? You'd have to pick a very important 1x3 square for it to last the whole quest.

Yeah but in this regard I think it is similar to the Wall spells or Cloak of Shadows which put things on the board which last (unless destroyed in the case of a wall. When writing it I compared it to Tempest, which makes a monster miss a turn 100% of the time. This could make several monsters miss a turn (depending on board positions) 33% of the time. On paper it balances out, but I think more testing is needed to determine if it is too weak.

by **Daedalus** » July 6th, 2014, 1:52 pm

I like the idea of leaving the spell for the whole Quest--if ya got a tile, use it. Perhaps the spell could be made susceptible to fire spells and heat. I don't see it lasting in the dwarven-forge room of KK.

It appears the spell can be cast on water squares. What do you do if the spell covers a pit trap? If not yet sprung, I imagine the spell has no effect on it. If sprung, jumping the pit seems to take the place of checking for slipping on that square. Open interpretation is needed, but that is par for the course when playing HQ, anyway.