HeroQuest Blood Sport!!!

[Daedalus]

. . . There was an astonishing match between the Rogue and Knight where the Rogue built up a hage comeback at 1BP, started blocking all the Knight's offense and getting some lucky dagger throws. He took the Knight down to 0BP and would have won if not for the Knight's Stalwart Skill. The Rogue would've won this and other matches if I didn't let his opponents defend against his Ambidextrous attack.

The Wizard has lost all matches except for his fight with the Bard, where the Wizard's Sleep spell took hold and rolled a massive attack with Genie for the win. I honestly feel the Wizard would be doing a lot better is Courage would last longer then 1 turn.

It's interesting that two rules that Avalon Hill has adjusted from the original Milton Bradley game have had such a dramatic effect. Without your nerf, Ambidextrous would apparently overpower the Rogue, and because of the AH Courage nerf/clarification, the Wizard is left hopelessly underpowered.

. . . I've also noticed how terrible the Druid is doing, she only won 2 battles. Her Shapeshift dies very quickly, I can see this hero bc wing the most improved after gaining all her equipment.

becoming?

[wallydubbs]

Yeah, my bad, becoming.

The results are in and there were some really close battles that surprisingly came down to 1BP:
Bard vs Knight
Elf vs Rogue
Elf vs Wizard
Berserker vs Monk
Warlock vs Wizard
Knight vs Rogue

But overall the Elf won out in the end with only 2 losses: the Barbarian and Dwarf were the only ones to beat the Elf. This is mainly due to the Elf's spell Slow and Double Image that gave him the edge in combat, but these two were able to work around it.

In 2nd Place was the Monk, who only lost to the Bard and Elf, while reaching the only draw match with the Warlock. Draws can only happen in a Monk & Berserker match. He almost had one with the Berserker but 3 defense dice shines so much brighter then 2.

Tied for 3rd place was the Barbarian and Knight. The Barbarian having no skills relies heavily on his 8BP and 3 attack dice. I've done the Knight vs Barbarian before and in most occasions the Knight wins, but in this one it came out the Barbarian having lucky rolls, beating the Knight 3BP to 0, including his used Stalwart ability. The Barbarian only lost to the Bard, Monk & Warlock, who kept her distance and maximized a Fear spell on Barbarian.
The Knight only lost to the Barbarian, Elf & Monk.

Tied for 5th was the Bard & Berserker. The Bard lost to the Berserker, Elf, Knight & Wizard. His extra defense dice keeps him in fights a long longer, coupled with the Healing Song to gain back lost body points. The diagonal attack is useful in a cat & mouse match and the Lullaby helps against some of the bigger guys, which is probably how he beat the Barbarian.
Berserker lost to the Barbarian, Elf, Knight & Monk.

Next we have the Warlock, doing much better then expected due to her 3x Range Attack, losing only to the Bard, Berserker, Elf & Knight while also tying with the Monk. In Warlock and Rogue matches keeping distance helps and Dark Wings proves to be a useful spell, zapping across the arena to avoid damage.

This seemed to be the dividing line as all the other heroes underperformed with lower scores. I noticed everyone in top rankings have either 3 attack dice or 3 defense dice except for the Elf, which shows 2 things: how important increased offense and defense is, and how powerful these elf spells are. Had the Elf used Slow on every match I'm certain she would've won all, but I randomly drew her spell group. Most matches were either Time or Illusion, Nature spells only came up against the Explorer.

The Druid fell next in line as she only managed 4 wins over the Dwarf, Explorer, Rogue and Wizard. Her healing spells keep her in matches longer then other heroes, but once she loses Shapeshift that dagger attack isn't very formidable. But her match with the Wizard was quite fun, after the Wizard used all his attack spells and the Druid kept healing it became a waiting game as the Wizard was only left with Dagger attacks while the Druid was on her last Shapeshift. By the time the Wizard broke her last Shapeshift she was too far ahead on Body Points.

The Wizard ranked 9th with 3 wins over the Bard, Dwarf and Explorer. Sometimes the Wizard spells work, sometimes they don't. He'd show serious improvement if we let the Courage spell last longer then 1 turn. I'm sure of it.

In 2nd to last place is the Dwarf & Rogue, only getting 2 wins: the Dwarf only beat the Elf & Rogue, while the Rogue scored wins over the Explorer and Wizard.
You'd think with 7BP the Dwarf would rank a lot higher but he seems to be rather vanilla with only 2 attack and 2 defense dice. Logistically speaking he should have beaten the Explorer, but when it comes down to dice rolls it doesn't always work out. But it was surprising that he was one of the few guys that beat the Elf. Through all the Elf's matches it was only against the Dwarf and Wizard that the Double Image spell consistently failed. And the Dwarf rolled a against Hypnotic Blaze, which is also a powerful spell that even the Monk fell victim to. But all the other matches the Dwarf had a poor showing, even against the Explorer, but that's how the dice roll.
The Rogue, however, I probably nerfed him pretty badly by allowing his opponents to defend twice. But it's how I justify the Polar Warbear attacks. He had a lot of close matches, though, despite losing Opportunistic Striker. I think it goes to show that heroes on this half of the ranking are best off in group quest. They shine much brighter when they have friends supporting them.

Dead last is the Explorer with only 1 win against the Dwarf, every other hero without exception beat her. I think that shows 5BP is very poor and the only reason the Bard escaped that date is his extra defense dice and Healing Song. I actually expected the Explorer to come in last as all her skills have nothing in relation to fighting. I'm not saying she's the worst hero, but in the arena environment there's nothing going for her.

But this is the rankings I get with these heroes in single battle arena mode. I'd like to try this later on upon maxing out the other heroes. I could give them full equipment, but I also find it questionable what I should do with Artifacts. Any suggestions?

Hope y'all had a Merry Christmas.

[Daedalus]

Seems to me that a Hero that comes with an expansion should get an artifact from it. In addition, the Explorer should get some Treasure Card potions from Jungles of Dethrack to reflect otherwise unused abilities.

And Seasons Greetings to you! I got Mansions of Madness for Christmas, but bought myself Prophecy of Telor for my December birthday. Win/win.

[wallydubbs]

Seems to me that a Hero that comes with an expansion should get an artifact from it. In addition, the Explorer should get some Treasure Card potions from Jungles of Dethrack to reflect otherwise unused abilities.

And Seasons Greetings to you! I got Mansions of Madness for Christmas, but bought myself Prophecy of Telor for my December birthday. Win/win.

The problem with that is that the Rogue and Monk are part of their own expansions so I can't award them artifacts unless I tie them to Keller's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord. Also, the Druid accompanies Against the Ogre Hoard, however there are no artifacts in this quest pack.
But giving the Explorer the Fangwarden Armlet would be very useful to her.
I'm also a bit confused on how to handle certain artifacts that are Armband, armlets and bracers. Do these interfere with the Bracers (armor). Can a Hero wear both bracers and Armband of Healing, Fangwarden Armlet, or Magical Elven Bracers? I normally don't allow it.
We also have an Emberwrought Diadem, which traditionally, Diadems are worn around the head, does this interfere with helmets or crowns?

[Daedalus]

Just throwing ideas out there:

There are three orphan Heroes to consider without an attached expansion to support them (the Wizard and the Dwarf can use the Game System). I think you are on to something allowing KK and RotWL artifacts. A couple of Magical Throwing Daggers for the Rogue and the Armband of Healing for the Monk look like natural candidates. If you don't want to cross with bracers for the Monk, a couple of Spell Scrolls could also suffice. The Druid could get the Elixir of Life or kit out with what the Monk doesn't use.

I think you should go with your decision to not allow bracers to combine with artifacts worn on the arm. Since any artifacts are on the table from any expansion, so is the Zargon-chooses-what-is-best rule from the expansions.Twitter Zargon confirmed that bracers can't be combined with chain or plate mail (even though the equipment card is reticent), so overlapping seems to be prohibited. This isn't cut and dry since Zargon happened to be referring to defensive effects, but you gotta start from somewhere. The physicality of the limitation seems to apply.

The Emberwrought Diadem probably should recognize the same limitation. I certainly wouldn't combine it with a crown artifact.

[wallydubbs]

Setting up for a round table with maxed out heroes with artifacts. Now there are many artifacts and skills that won't be useful in an arena fight, so artifacts like the Sky Orb, Bone Wand, Anti-Poison Quill and Snowshoes of Speed won't be accessible. Some artifacts are still usable despite having extremely limited use such as Dust of Disappearance, Armband of Ice or Cloak of Shadows, etc. To make things interesting some of the heroes will be granted spell scrolls or 1 off artifacts before their fight so Ring of Warmth and Fire Ring will have minimal use. But already, given their artifacts, tactics will start to unfold.

Barbarian:
Amulet of the North, Battle Axe, Chainmail, Helmet & 1 Spell Scroll
10BP, 1.5MP, 4AD, 4DD, 0SS, .50SA= 20pts
With the Amulet of the North being a very powerful artifact at the Barbarian's disposal, his mind points are slightly higher to resist spells and he'll be relying on cutting his opponents down before losing his Body Points.

Bard:
Longsword, Crossbow, Bracers, Helmet, Shield, Ring of Warmth, Ring of Return, 2 Spell Scrolls, 1 Magical Throwing Dagger.
5BP, 2MP, 3.5AD, 5DD, 1SS, 2.5SA= 19.5pts
The Lullaby and Healing Song may still come in handy, but if all else fails the Bard can switch over to a Crossbow hoping to outrun bigger opponents and shoot them down. I've also given him an additional Magical Throwing Dagger, and 2 spell scrolls.

Berserker:
Battle Axe, Scales of Elthorn, Helmet, Armband of Healing, 1 Spell Scroll
7BP, 1.5MP, 4AD, 4DD, 1.5SS, 2.5SA= 19.5pts
The Berserker would have a similar tactic to the Barbarian, but without the Amulet of the North he has the Armband of Healing, which can make up for body points lost from his Enrage skill. The Scales of Elthorn might do well on non armor wearing heroes, but the Berserker could definitely use the extra roll from Sleep attacks.

Druid:
Longsword, Phantom Blade, DawnShield, Bracers, 3Spell Scrolls
6BP, 2DD, 3.5AD, 4DD, 2SS, 1.5SA= 19pts
She's probably the most improved hero from starting off and with all her healing spells she might have a fighting chance. The DawnShield could benefit her the most. And just to help for a secondary weapon I gave her the Phantom Blade too as her Shapeshift could get her 2 piercing body points in with this.

Dwarf:
Battle Axe, Borin's Armor, Helmet, Fire Ring, 2 Spell Scrolls
7BP, 1.5MP, 4AD, 5DD, 0SS, 2SA= 19.5pts
The most fitting boost to the Dwarf is an extra defense, so there's not a whole lot going for him he has over the Barbarian. It's also why I gave him 2 spell scrolls.

Elf:
Magical Elven Bracers, Spirit Blade, Shield, Chainmail, Helmet, Ancient Staff, Elven Boots
8BP, 2.5MP, 3AD, 5DD, 1.5SS, 1SA= 21pts
Giving the Elf the Elven Chainmail would've made her too strong, so I've decided to only go with artifacts we have the card for. Elven Bracers sets her really high. Since she has the Elven Boots I can't justify giving her a crossbow. In this case the Spirit Blade won't give her an extra attack dice against other heroes, but also denies her the diagonal attack. The Elf, though, has a unique hanger against the Wizard while wielding the Ancient Staff. It'll only give her 1 attack dice, but she could deflect any spell cast on her. However I only allow this to work if the Elf is using the Ancient Staff as her weapon.

Explorer:
Dragon Spear, Fangwarden Armlet, Armband of Ice, Phoenix Ash
5BP, 2.5MP, 3.5AD, 2DD, 0SS, 10SA*= 23pts
*Raptor
.5M, 3BP, 1.5MP, 2AD, 2DD 1SS, 0SA= 10pts
The Explorer is in unique standing with the Fangwarden Armlet, allowing her to have a Raptor to help with the fighting. She's still not a strong fighter but the Dragon Spear will give her a more effective attack. The Explorer loses when the Explorer does. But if the Raptor then kills his opponent we'll have a draw.

Knight:
Talisman of Lore, Fortune's Longsword, Shield, Plate Mail, Helmet, 2 Spell Scrolls
7BP, 1.5MP, 3.5AD, 6DD, .5SS, 1SA= 19.5pts
The Knight stands out as the only hero with 6 defense dice. 2 of his skill cards are rendered useless without allies, but he still needs the shield to access Stalwart. So the Knight's in it for the long match, clad in armor with Fortune's Longsword and the Talisman of Lore to aid against magical attacks.

Monk:
Girdle of Might, Crossbow, Rod of Telekinesis, Dust of Disappearance & 1 Spell Scroll
6BP, 2MP, 3.5AD, 3DD, 4SS, .5SA= 20pts
The Monk is limited on equipment and once his techniques are expired there's little to go on, which is why I gave him the Crossbow to fall back on. The Rod of Telekinesis might seem irrelevant, but in the arena the Monk has an opportunity to freeze and opponent and hide behind a pillar to regain his techniques. It may not always work, but if it does that would really help the Monk. He also had the Girdle of Might, which really puts the Monk up there as a formidable opponent.

Rogue:
Emberwrought Diadem, Orc's Bane, Raven's Talon, Bandolier, Bracers, 2 Spell Scrolls
6BP, 2MP, 2AD/2AD, 4DD, 2SS, 1.5SA= 19.5pts
The problem with the Rogue is he only has 5 body points and 3 defense dice, so the Emberwrought Diadem is something he definitely needed. The Bandolier's infinite throwing daggers won't go far with everyone having armor, but the Rogue could maintain his Ambidextrous with a Shortsword (Orc's Bane), as the Raven's Talon is a dagger. So this'll really helps. I'm thinking, just the same, that I should adopt the rule of only one defense roll. I still think the Rogue needs that help.

Warlock:
Ring of Fortitude, Wand, Bracers of Wild, Crown of Shadows, Cloak of Shadows, Spell Ring, 3 Spell Scrolls
5BP, 2.5MP, 3AD, 4DD, 1.5SS, 1SA= 19pts
She needs to keep her distance from opponents, which is why the Bracers of the Wild go to, giving her 2 extra spaces of movement to keep her ranged attacks. I also granted her the Crown of Shadows for extra defense as well as the Ring of Fortitude for an extra body points. She also has the Spell Ring maybe for Demo Form or Dark Wings to maintain her ranged 3 attack dice. This might be too much, but on the points system it seems to work out.

Wizard:
Wizard's Staff, Wizard's Cloak, Bracers, Wand of Magic, Sapphire Skull, 1 Magical Throwing Dagger, 1 Spell Scroll
4BP, 3MP, 2.5AD, 4DD, 4.5SS, 2SA= 20pts.
The Boost I've decided to give to the Wizard, besides the obvious is his Courage spell. But he could also access it .much more quickly with the Wand of Magic, casting more then 1 spell at a time. The Sapphire Skull, spell scroll and Magical Throwing Dagger could also be very helpful.

There's 26 spell scrolls to go around, but considering Treasure Hoard, Ice Bridge and Psychic Recovery can't be used I'll take those out.

[wallydubbs]

First Round is done:

Barbarian with the Amulet of the North fared even worse against the Bard this time around. The Bard came out with a Crossbow, only managing 1BP of damage against the Barbarian. He wasn't able to outrun him forever, the Barbarian eventually caught up to him and got in 2 hits with a wave of his Axe. Despite the extra Mind Point, the Bard's Lullaby sent the Barbarian into a deep sleep and for 5 turns the Bard wailed on him with a Longsword. Roll after roll, turn after turn, no 6 was rolled. The Barbarian died before he woke up. The win went to the Bard.

When the Berserker faced the Druid, his Enrage backfired on him, as he took 2BP of damage and only got 3 s, but the Druid with her DawnShield, Bracers and Shapeshift blocked all hits. The Berserker was able to get 2 hits on her, but she used Pixie to fix that. At one point the Berserker rolled 4 s, but the Druid activated the DawnShield forcing him to reroll and he only got 2 s. He kept chasing her around the arena and eventually broke her 2nd and 3rd Shapeshift, using Retaliation
and Frenzy to catch her in a diagonal attack She was equally successful at dropping his BP to 0, but the Armband of Healing saved him. The battle continued until they were both down to 1BP, but the Druid was able to get the last hit in, standing victorious over the Berserker.

The Elf and the Dwarf had a very long match as they each tried to land hits, but both had 5 defense dice to block everything. The Elf cast Slow on the Dwarf to keep, which eventually allowed the Elf to chip 4 damage off him before the Dwarf realized he had a Skate Spell Scroll. I wasn't sure how to handle the Skate Spell under slow, so I allowed the Dwarf 6 spaces, which he used to get behind a pillar, breaking line of sight from the Elf. He was now able to use his 4 attack dice and 5 defense. The Dwarf was able to take 6BP from the Elf, but the Elf had the Magical Elven Bracers. It was too little too late, the Elf finally took the Dwarf down to 0BP and got the win.

The Explorer and Raptor companion took on the Knight. The Knight focused on the Explorer and his 6 defense dice was difficult for the Explorer and Raptor to break through the Knight had only lost 3BP by the time he knocked the Explorer to 0BP, who use the Phoenix Ash, to come back, he and the Raptor brought the Knight down to 2BP before he took out the Explorer completely. The Raptor was a bit more difficult to pin down, since she was able to split movement between attacks, but eventually, with 1BP left, the Knight finished off the Raptor. He didn't need to use Stalwart.

The Monk and Rogue had a pretty good fight, as the Rogue had Orc's Bane, Raven's Talon and Emberwrought Diadem aiding him, while the Monk's attack was raised with the Girdle of Might. The Rogue was winning 3BP to 2 by the time the Monk exhausted his Earth, Air and Water Technique, so when the Monk hit Touch of Endless Inferno, the best the Rogue could hope for was a draw, but he failed to take the Monk down to 0.

The Wizard and Warlock played hard to get. The Warlock was expecting to keep her Demonform, which is why she put Dark Wings into the Spell Ring. She also has Bracers of the Wild, allowing her to keep a safe distance and keep shooting the Wand at the Wizard. The Wizard rolled higher though and got first move, casting Rock Skin on himself, so by the time the Warlock cast Demonform on herself the Wizard was already halfway across the arena. Using his Wand of Magic the Wizard cast both Sleep on the Warlock and Courage on himself. Sleep actually took hold on the Warlock for 1 turn and the Wizard was able to get 1 Courage strike in, he only rolled 1 , but it was a the Sleeping Demonform Warlock couldn't block, breaking Demonform! As much as the Warlock tried to keep her distance it took several turns for her 2 attack dice to break the Wizard's Rock Skin, as the Wizard had Bracers and Wizard's Cloak already. Ball of Flame did another damage on the Warlock and it just turned into a shooting match between the Warlock's Wand and Wizard's Sapphire Skull. The Warlock still used Dark Wings twice to avoid damage, but luck higher defense was on the Wizard's side. He didn't even need to use a healing spells. This time the Wizard beat the Warlock.

[wallydubbs]

Round 2

The Barbarian took on the Berserker, these two were evenly matched asides from body points and skills. Again, the Berserker's Enrage backfired, as he rolled 6 attack dice against the Barbarian, but only 2 yielded s. The Barbarian didn't roll any , so it wasn't a total loss, but it did cost the Berserker 2BP. Even the Berserker's Retaliation whiffed. Overall the Barbarian just had better dice rolls in this match. Neither guy used any of their spell scrolls, but the Berserker did need his Armband of Healing. Barbarian survived only taking 5BP of damage.

The Druid started off against the Bard by casting Shapeshift on herself but the Bard came out with a Crossbow and immediately shot the Shapeshift off her for 1BP. She ran across the arena, hoping to get close to the Bard, but as she got close he sang a Lullaby that put her to sleep. So he shot the Sleeping Druid for 3 more Body Points. She quickly woke up after that and fled from the Bard, casting Lifeforce and Shapeshift on the turn after. The Bard was quick to shoot that one off her too. After Pixie she was ready to change again. Hiding behind a pillar the Bard rolled short and wasn't able to get around to see her to shoot her. The Shapeshifted Druid came out swinging, hitting the Bard. He tried backing away and firing, but missed, allowing her to close the distance and adding 2 more hits onto the Bard. The Bard realized the Crossbow wasn't working anymore, so he tried running, equipping the Longsword and Shield while singing a Healing Song, but the Druid kept on the hunt. As much as the Bard tried to fight back the dice changed and favored the Druid and she beat the Bard with all her Body Points in tact.

I was originally rooting for the Dwarf as he was up against the Explorer and Raptor, but in this battle I have never seen such pathetic rolls in my life. The Dwarf, despite having a Battle Axe he never rolled an attack with more then 2 . The majority of the Dwarf's attacks were all fails. All his s came in the form of defense. It was terrible. The Raptor and Explorer just chipped away at failed defense.

The Elf drew Nature spells in his fight against the Knight. I let her get 1 free attack with Deep Sleep; Knight doesn't have any wooden weapons, so Twist Wood wouldn't do anything, but the Elf did get a healing spells. This fight was really close as it came down to 1BP. The Elf had more Body Points thanks to the Elven Bracers and was able to run from the Knight thanks to the Elven Boots. But inevitably the Knight's 6 defense dice and Stalwart allowed the Knight to stay in the fight long enough to score the win over the Elf. The Knight could have scored the win sooner but forgot to look at his Ball of Flame spell scroll.

The Warlock came out first against the Monk and kept her distance, casting Demonform on herself. But the Monk ran out of the gate with movement, reached the Warlock and went for Strength of Mountain, so right away the Warlock had to use one of her Dark Wings spells. The Warlock tried to keep her distance and it wasn't too problematic after the Monk activated his Fire technique and hit the Touch of Endless Inferno. After that the Monk tried using the Rod of Telekinesis , but the Warlock was able to resist it. With the Monks techniques were exhausted the Warlock started to mount a comeback, but she made 1 fatal error: in trying to put some distance between her and him, she accidentally put a pillar between them and the a Monk reclaimed his techniques to score the win.

The Wizard kept his distance from the Rogue, at first. Opting to cast Rock Skin on himself. The Rogue couldn't possibly reach him so resulted to throwing Daggers. At first it didn't work and the Wizard used the Sapphire Skull, the Rogue finally got a Dagger to break Rock Skin. He tried running in to reach the Wizard for his Orc's Bane, but couldn't make the run. The Wizard cast Sleep and Courage as the Rogue ran to him and the Sleep spell held. Allowing the Wizard to come in, adding 3 more BP of damage to the one he already scored. The Rogue still did wake up and the Wizard finished him off with his Wizard's Staff. Another win for the Wizard!

[wallydubbs]

3rd Round

The Barbarian took on the Druid, where the only thing he had going for him was the Amulet of the North. Once the Druid had Shapeshift in she was equal in attack and even higher in defense, I found this to be very beneficial for her as a few times she successfully blocked 3 hits. She managed to get the first hit in for 2BP. Barbarian's first hit on her was for 3BP. Overall it was the Druid's healing spells and reclaiming of Shapeshift that eventually gave her the win. Barbarian fought valiantly and chased her around the arena but she outlasted him with healing spells and an extra defense at times.

Right out of the gate the Bard had a good shot with a Crossbow that dropped the Berserker to 5BP. The Berserker had to race across the arena to get to him, by that point the Bard tried his Lullaby, but the Berserker immediately rolled a . The Bard had to change up to a Longsword and Shield to fight to Berserker as it became evident that he wouldn't be able to outrun him. The only the Advantage the Bard has was 5 Defense Dice and a Diagonal attack, but even the Berserker accessed a diagonal attack with Frenzy. Based on past battles the Berserker didn't use Enrage. It was a pretty close battle but the Berserker's Battle Axe and Retaliation skill gave him the edge. The Bard might have had Healing Song, but that took a turn to cast while the Berserker's Armband of Healing naturally activated.

The Dwarf took on the Knight in a fairly even battle. Borin's Armor aided the Dwarf while wielding a Battle Axe, 1 extra attack dice vs 1 extra defense dice for the Knight. The Knight gave the Dwarf an honorable fight, there was no running around the arena to avoid attacks, both at 7 Body Points it was whomever reached 0BP lost. This battle actually took a long time. The Dwarf even rolled so much better in this fight and at least 4 times rolled 4 s on his attack. On two of these occasions the Knight managed to block all hit. In fact, the Knight at one point rolled a perfect defense of 6 s! The Knight very rarely got 3 s, even though Borin's Armor provides adequate defense as well. The Knight started off with great defense and had a 3 hit lead, but the Dwarf won it back getting a hit in here and there. Eventually they were neck in neck and both down to 1BP. It all came down to chip damage and in the case the extra attack dice won put and the Knight dropped to 0BP, only to play Stalwart for 1 final chance. He rolled 2 s, but Borin's Armor held and the Dwarf managed 3 on his follow up attack, but the Knight's armor gave our only 2 s. The Dwarf stood victorious over the Knight, for his first win. The Knight could ave tried to steal the win with his Ball of Flame spell scroll, but I also granted the Dwarf, at the start of this, the Fire Ring, so that really wouldn't have helped.

The Elf was too much for the Explorer and Raptor, her armor, grace and speed was just too much. She randomly drew Nature Spells but didn't even use them. The Elven Boots allowed her to dance around the arena. She even set up the Raptor a few times, stopping 8 spaces away so the Raptor couldn't attack and move, forcing the dinosaur to waste all its movement. The Explorer fought well, but her 5 Body Points wasn't enough to keep her in it.

The Wizard and the Monk was a surprisingly quick match. The Wizard was out first and kept his distance, the Monk ran out but was unable to reach him. The Wizard used the Sapphire Skull to get 1 hit on the Monk. As soon as the Monk reached him he used Strength of Mountain to score 2 s on the Wizard. The Wizard tried to hit him with the staff and failed, so decided to run away. The Monk caught up to him from Diagonal and use Eye of the Storm, which the Wizard blocked. The Wizard double cast Sleep and Courage, getting 4 attack dice, landing 3 s, dropping the Sleeping Monk to 4BP. The Monk was unable to roll a , allowing the Wizard to finish him off. The Wizard hasn't lost yet!

The Rogue takes on the Warlock. This one took a while as the Warlock was able to keep his distance through most of the match. The Rogue tried to rely on close double attacks with Orc's Bane and Raven Claw, but time and again the Demonform Warlock cast Dark Wings thanks to the Spell Ring. Keeping the 3 attack dice and taking advantage of the Bracers of the Wild, the Warlock drained the Rogue down to 2BP. The Rogue held 2 spell scrolls: Water of Healing and Lightning. He used the Water of Healing, knowing he can take out the Warlock now that she lost her Dark Wings. He had 4 defense to block her 2x Wand Attacks. The Rogue was anld to close the distance a few times and land with Orc's Bane and another 2 with Raven Claw. The Rogue used a spell scroll, but it seemed to have got him a win. First win for the Rogue.

[wallydubbs]

Round 4

The Barbarian takes on the Monk in a rather quick match. Barbarian got first attack, which the Monk blocked. The Monk uses Strength of Mountain and thanks to the Girdle of Might gets 5 s! After Barbarian rolled 4 s in defense, I thought this match was over. Barbarian then landed 3 hits on the Monk, who uses Twisting Torrent to take no damage. Monk follows up with an Eye of the Storm attack, but only landing 1 hit. Barbarian swings the Battle Axe, landing 2 hits. The Monk activated Touch of Endless Inferno, taking the Barbarian down to 3BP. Barbarian, again whacks the Monk with the Battle Axe for 2 Damage as he himself takes an additional 2 damage, Barbarian down to 1BP as his insides burn. 1 more hit and the Monk wins, but the Barbarian successfully blocks the attack, retorting with another wave of the Battle Axe, catching the Monk squarely in the chest for 2 more Body Points, dropping the Monk to 0. The Barbarian just barely won. This win is definitely due to Amulet of the North.

The Bard took on the Warlock in snipers match, as he utilized a crossbow against her Wand. Because of her current record the Spell Ring held another Demonform. Unfortunately for her, though, the dice did not favor her. Despite the Ring of Fortitude most of the Bard's shots landed and all of hers missed. The Bard won in a shut out without having to use any of his spells.

Just as the Warlock had unfavorable dice rolls, the Berserker had the short end of the stick too in his match with the Elf. The Elf went into this with Illusion spells and Double Image saved him from 3BP of damage, which is probably what saved the match. The Elf had her shortcomings too as dancing around the arena finally came to a halt. Rolling her Elven Boots gave out. She also used Hypnotic Blaze on the Berserker during the match, but he rolled a , resisting the spell. The Berserker didn't use Enrage and should have done a lot more damage with a Battle Axe, but coupled with Double Image and some rather successful defense the Elf managed to outlast the Berserker.

The Druid and the Dwarf had a very close match. As strong as Shapeshift was making Druid, the Dwarf's Battle Axe kept knocking it off of her before she could add some serious damage to the Dwarf. At one point he rolled 4 s on attack but her DawnShield forced a reroll to 2. Borin's Armor held out for a long time as the Dwarf maintained the advantage after knocking Shapeshift off her for the 3rd time. But the Druid had a few spell scrolls up her sleeve and used a Heal Body to regain Shapeshift for a 3rd time, casting it on herself 4 times in the same battle. By this point the Dwarf had 5BP left and she managed to bring him down to 2 before the Dwarf broke the spell again. She tried to fend him off with a Longsword as he brought her down to 1BP again. But with 1 final lucky rolls the Druid was able to maintain her win streak, capitalizing over the Dwarf in a very close contest.

The Rogue had his hands full against the Explorer and Raptor, but he had 1 Spell Scroll left that totally changed the outcome of the match. They couldn't quite corner him thanks to Combat Mobility, but at one point he had them lined up to cast Lightning Bolt, inflicting 2 damage on both the Explorer and Raptor. The Rogue was able to distance himself enough that a Throwing Dagger took the Raptor down to 0BP. It came down to the Explorer and Rogue trading shots. Had I kept the double block rule the Explorer probably would have won, but since I only gave the Explorer 1 defense on both attacks the hits added up and the Rogue finally won one.

The Knight takes on the Wizard in an exciting match. Wizard won the roll for first move and kept his distance as the Knight charged out but couldn't quite reach the Wizard. Wizard use Sapphire Skull, but the Knight easily blocked it. The Knight then had his opportunity to attack, but the Wizard blocked it. As is standard tactical Wizard strategy he used Wand of Magic to cast Sleep & Courage simultaneously. Despite 3 Mind Points from the Talisman of Lore the Knight did succumb to the spell, allowing the Wizard a free attack. He made the most of it rolling 4 s! With this hot the Wizard looked to be in a winning position. However the Knight would wake on his next roll and surprised the Wizard with 3 s from Fortune's Longsword. The Wizard failed to block any of it and was now down to 1BP. Utilizing the Wand of Magic again the Wizard combined Tempest and Water of Healing. The Knight was enveloped in the whirlwind and the Wizard maintained Courage, launching another attack, but the Knight blocked it. The Wizard was able to block the Knight's next attack and double-cast Swift Wind and Fire of Wrath. At a roll of the Knight drops to 2BP. The Knight takes this opportunity to run behind a pillar and break Courage. The Wizard moved to line of sight and cast Genie, which resulted in , but the Knight's armor was too strong to pierce through. The Knight ran up to the Wizard and landed 1 hit on him. So the Wizard rolled high for movement, casting Veil of Mist to run through the Knight while casting Ball of Flame, but the Knight rolled . The Knight rolled short on movement and wasn't able to catch the Wizard who used Sapphire Skull again, taking the Knight down to 1BP. The rest of the match played out as the Knight trying to catch up to the Wizard, taking him down to 2BP. But the Wizard eventually got a lucky hit that the Knight failed to roll a on. The Knight used Stalwart. So the Wizard kept his distance using the Sapphire Skull but the Knight had good defense, eventually caught up to the Wizard, and whiffed on his attack. But the Wizard used his Staff for 2 s. The Knight only rolled 1 , dropping him to 0BP. The Wizard takes another win!

At this juncture only the Druid and Wizard are undefeated... Not something I was expecting.