Sir Ragnar gone Horribly Wrong

[mainat]

So I played a game with some buddies last night, took them 3 hours to get through the first quest...they are extremely analytical. They completed it and moved on to The Rescue of Sir Ragnar. They cleared the corridors of the goblins and the wizard found himself in the corridor outside of Sir Ragnar's cell (unknowingly). Trying to make the most of his turn he choose to cast Pass Through Rock to do a little reconnaissance of the area, and then comically rolls a 2. After about 10 minutes of discussing with his buddy to either go north on the board (into solid rock) or south (into the cell), he chooses south. Steps into the cell and discovers Sir Ragnar; and for those not familiar with this quest, once Sir Ragnar is discovered an alarm sounds and all rooms (with their contents) are revealed and all doors are open.

And to add to the mayhem, is my house rule to prevent frivolous turns:
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=267#p18870

The Wizard was stuck in the cell with Ragnar (to protect), the elf located on the far west of the board in the room with the trapped chest, and the dwarf and barbarian equal distance apart in the corridor that surrounds the stairwell room. The barbarian and dwarf tried blocking off a couple of corridors to create a safe route to the stairwell for the elf and wizard but suffice to say they were all overwhelmed and surrounded. They valiantly perished losing all of their equipment. The players were noticeably crushed. One player, as soon as the alarm sounded, saw that it was hopeless and wanted to retreat to the stairwell and fail the quest. In hindsight that probably would've been the best option. But it actually works out well because Sir Ragnar was still alive when the last hero died; I'll still be able to recreate a quest around rescuing him. If they would've bailed early on, Sir Ragnar would've definitely been killed.

Just thought I'd share this quest, it played out in literally the least optimal way for the heroes. It couldn't have gone any worse.

[Miksang]

You think that was bad? I had a group play through it and clear everything in the map leaving the room Sir Ragnar was in for last. They didn't even play the game before so they had no way of knowing anything about the layout of the map, it was their first time playing. By doing this it rendered the alarm completely useless.

Pretty much a polar opposite to yours haha.

However we played through it again as I told them there was a different scenario... This time they went straight for Ragnar thinking they could finish the quest really fast. That one didn't go so well.

[mainat]

That is a polar opposite.

Playing as Zargon/Morcar, I generally don't like to "win", especially when it means wiping out all of the hero's. It's demoralizing for them losing all of their equipment (granted this was only the 2nd quest), and if they don't have fun they are less likely to want to play again. And they're really is no benefit for Zargon to win, it's not like he gets a money reward. So I like to make it challenging, maybe kill a hero or two, but I am always rooting for the hero's to succeed.

[Sjeng]

the name is Ragnar. and always fun to read about games, post pics too! remember to make some

[Miksang]

That is a polar opposite.

Playing as Zargon/Morcar, I generally don't like to "win", especially when it means wiping out all of the hero's. It's demoralizing for them losing all of their equipment (granted this was only the 2nd quest), and if they don't have fun they are less likely to want to play again. And they're really is no benefit for Zargon to win, it's not like he gets a money reward. So I like to make it challenging, maybe kill a hero or two, but I am always rooting for the hero's to succeed.

I agree, however when the scenario is played out like that it kind of gets really dull for everyone as certain things aren't triggered like they're supposed to be. I like making it challenging for the hero's and I never make it a point for myself to win. In fact I haven't won yet, but I have wiped out several characters in a quest.


Also is it just me or is quest 4 "Prince Magnus' Gold" completely stupid? The quest doesn't make any sense at all... especially the way that it's laid out with the chests... By the time the Hero's get to the chests everything in the map is all ready cleared out. So the special effects of carrying the chests (ie; one at a time, and a hero can only roll one red die for movement) are rendered completely useless if there's no more monsters to encounter??

[The Road Warrior]

I am clearly too competitive.

If I am Morcar...

...all must Die!!!!



It's also nice to know that sometimes Sir Ragnar does die, maybe the quest pack I am on working on is not completely pointless.

[Goblin-King]

Me too.

I see it as a game foremost and a RPG secondary. The object of the game is to win. Morcar must kill all heroes with the tools available to him in a particular quest.
An orc will never strike the barbarian if there is a 1-BP-left wizard within reach. They will never give the heroes a fair chance (whatever that means?). My minions will use every dirty strategy possible to win!

But when I'm writing a quest I'm not playing a game. At that point I'm trying to be as fun, fair and balanced as possible. The heroes should be challenged, but still have the edge. But when we start the actual quest I turn all evil again!
By the way, I love quests that can be failed without the heroes dying!

[el_flesh]

Well, if you can add a monster at the beginning of every turn assuming you roll a monster skull, it upsets the game dynamic. Making everyone split up isn't a good idea - players die alot more easily that way. In fact, I'm not crazy for the 'wandering monster' treasure deck draw, either. I would probably replace it with the die roll, and make the wandering monster cards into "you find nothing."

[Miksang]

Well, if you can add a monster at the beginning of every turn assuming you roll a monster skull, it upsets the game dynamic. Making everyone split up isn't a good idea - players die alot more easily that way. In fact, I'm not crazy for the 'wandering monster' treasure deck draw, either. I would probably replace it with the die roll, and make the wandering monster cards into "you find nothing."

I do not agree with that one bit

[mainat]

Created an updated "The Rescue of Sir Ragnar" for my group. Posted it here:
http://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1642