Random Thoughts
Note: much of this actually precedes my writing the rest of the website, so there are ideas here that have been duplicated and/or expanded in other parts of the site.
- Power of the Pit would be a safe attack spell if the caster has the Magic Wand. Set the red die to 2 and you will never roll a "Fiery Chasm Opens" result. The Terror result might be a problem, but the character who is most likely to be casting this spell is the Witch King, who has no L and M strength Move or Fight chits. The Witch would not want to roll this result.
- The Sorceror and Wizard can avoid being killed by Roof Collapses if they play their Move M4* chits in Charge or Dodge. The Witch King cannot avoid being killed by this spell. The Magician (if he can cast the spell at all) can avoid it. Goblins can avoid it. Trolls can avoid it. Heavy Dragons can avoid it (although the T non-flying dragon cannot). Serpents can avoid it. Against those monsters that can avoid the spell (i.e., are not undercut) it is no better than any other H attack (which of course the spellcasting characters don't normally get), except that it is virtually guaranteed to take out two of six goblins on the first round, which may give your ally a chance to take out the other four - except that the ally is attacked by it as well! It does seem ideally suited as a Dwarf-killer - since he will be undercut if he does not play his Duck chit, and struck if he does - and a Witch King-killer - since he cannot play a manoeuvre to avoid it.
- None of the spellcasting characters have a good trading relationship with the Visitors that carry their spells. At best they are neutral, most are unfriendly. Apart from the relative rarity of them appearing, you're not likely to be able to buy any spells from them for a reasonable price, even if you do find them. If you're willing to pay 30 or 40 gold for a spell, then OK. But there is still a high risk of Trouble or Insult, and you can't buy drinks. For an Unfriendly visitor you can only get Price x4 on a roll of double 1.
- Guide Spider or Octopus/Control Bats/Dragonfang necklace - the controlled monster acts like a hired native leader, which means that it can be given specific orders. Order it to move into another tile. Use it to block other characters from coming to your site. Once the spell expires, it will be safely wandering about some Woods or Valley tile and will not prowl where you're Looting. Control Bats, however, is a good method of Flying. Just make sure you're able to get away from them before Evening, when the spell expires.
- Putting all your VPs into one category may be a reasonable strategy for some characters. The White Knight or the Berserker could get away with putting all 5 VPs into Fame (50 points required). This will ensure that you will either win big or lose big - no middle ground. If you manage to get 100 points of Fame - which is not impossible - your end total will be a massive 30 Victory Points at the end of the game. The Swordsman could put all 5 into Gold (meaning he requires 150 Gold by the end of the game). The Elf could put 5 points into Notoriety. The more stake you put into a single category, the more your bonus score goes up when you calculate VPs at the end of the game. I don't think it's worth any character putting all 5 VPs into Treasures or Spells. They're just too hard to reliably come by.
- If you are playing the Captain or the Dwarf, place the Scholar on the Patrol. That way, if he happens to turn up, you have a reasonable chance of trading for the three treasures he has. The Patrol turn up at more locations than any other native group (any of the four Valley Dwellings on a roll of 3).
- The Regent of Jewels allows you to record an extra phase to do the Trade activity. You can't then sell the Regent in that Trade phase, as the rules state that "Once he uses a card to record an altered phase, he cannot inactivate, sell or voluntarily abandon the card until he has completed the altered phase."
- Campaign chits can offset the difficulty that some characters have in obtaining their preferred equipment. If the Black Knight takes the Quest chit, then the Order become his Allies and he can purchase the Crossbow (as a boon, perhaps). The Captain could take the Raid campaign and become Friends with the Woodfolk so that he can buy their Medium Bow. But it is rare for Campaigns to enter the game. You need to end your turn in the clearing with the native leader that the chit is associated with on the Appearance Chart. It's often not a good idea to move into the same clearing as an unfriendly native group in the hope that the monster roll will be a 6. That said, the Patrol is probably a good group to place a Campaign on, as they can turn up at any of the four Valley dwellings, and the Patrol is either the ally or the enemy of several of the campaigns.
- The Great Axe is a fantastic weapon. It does H damage with a sharpness star at time 4 when alerted, and both the Dwarf and the Berserker can overcharge their attacks with a slow T Fight chit to damage even Tremendous Armoured monsters. The only common weapon which is better than the Great Axe is the Morning Star, which is slightly faster when alerted. The Bane Sword and the Devil Sword are even better than the Morning Star, but I have yet to see a game where either of these have been both found and used. The Great Axe (or the Morning Star) can be carried and used by the Black Knight, Pilgrim and White Knight in addition to the Berserker and Dwarf - they all have H Move and Fight chits. The Black Knight will not be slowed down by using the Great Axe in combat (if he's wearing his armour), but the Pilgrim will be unable to play his Move M4 and must manoeuvre at time 5. The White Knight already has a good weapon and there is probably no need to exchange it. If purchasing weapons from the Order, it is preferable to buy the Morning Star, since it is the same price, and slightly faster than the Great Axe. But if you happen to come across a dead Berserker who bit off more than he could chew...
- Of the other common weapons, the Axe is underrated, in my opinion. It is cheap (4 gold base price) and available at the beginning of the game from the Guard. The Captain can exchange his Short Sword for an Axe at Price x3, and have some chance of surviving against H monsters. Its only disadvantage is its length.
- In contrast, Spears are also underrated, but for different reasons. The spear cannot inflict harm unless it is alerted. This may be fine for Goblins, but not so good for a forgetful Amazon. When alerted, the spear will attack first against most denizens in the first round (only bows and spells are longer), and it can inflict H* harm if played with the appropriate Fight chit. This is good for single monsters such as H dragons, trolls and serpents, but not so great when multiple monsters gang up on you. When it hits it becomes unalerted, and you have a round of fighting where you cannot inflict damage unless you have a fast enough Fight chit to use on re-alerting it. Spears are also good against other characters.
- The Short Sword, the Staff and the Truesteel Sword don't need to be Alerted. Other weapons have an attack time on either their alerted or their unalerted side (or both), but these are blank on both sides. Therefore it makes no difference whether the weapon is alerted or not - you will be using the attack time on your Fight chit regardless. The Staff can also be alerted by the Wizard or the Pilgrim to avoid fatiguing a magic chit. You record an Alert phase in case the monster roll would indicate that a monster turns up. If it does, you alert the magic chit as normal. If it doesn't, you can alert the staff instead.
- I dream of the day when the Pilgrim finds the Enchanted Meadow and picks up the Truesteel Sword...
- Peace With Nature. The spell or the Druid's special ability. This ensures that you will only ever be attacked by Tremendous monsters (or the Imp). If you think you can handle it.
- Hit and run on the treasure sites. Spend only a single day Looting, then (if you can) back off to another tile. The longer you stay in the location, the more likely it is that monsters will show up. If you're playing the White Knight and are after Fame, then this is likely what you want. But you must beware of the Lost Castle and Lost City. Even the Knight will fall if he has to battle a T Dragon, two H Flying Dragons, a T Spider, two Trolls and a Bat all in the same Evening. By using hit-and-run tactics, you will be able to face these monsters one or two at a time, which makes things much more survivable. For those non-heavy hitters, spending as little time in the tile as possible will minimise the chances of the monsters appearing. If you're using Broomstick or Hurricane Winds, use it to escape the tile and walk back in. The difficulty of landing in a random clearing means that you will likely have to waste time moving back to the treasure site you're looting. Lastly, you don't want to try Reading Runes on the artifacts and spell books you loot unless you're safely at the Chapel or an enchanted Valley tile. Nothing is worse than being caught at the Altar in Crag 1 with Wither and Squeak.
- The Magician and the Witch, with their Knowledge abilities, actually have an increased chance of receiving a Curse when they Read Runes. With a normal roll, the chance of rolling a 5 is 25%. With -1 on the roll, it is 30.56%. But they also have an increased chance of learning the spell (25% chance on normal roll, 44.44% chance with -1). Cost/Benefit: +5.56% of curse, +19.44% chance of learning, which is an overall 13.88% benefit.