Developing Insanity

Hi all, this quick post is an intermission to explain my 13 readers (because I thought I had only 3, I did not care a lot, but wow, a score of readers!) why I am lagging behind so much in KD:M schedule.

Here is what happened: In LY9 of the Campaign, I drew an Object of Desire Hunt Event, which required me to play a Lonely Tree. Since my Lonely Tree was sadly unpainted and pictures are actually required to understand tactics, I waited to post until I had that big chunk of HIPS painted to my (abysmal) standards.

Once that was done, it was mid-April and I managed to stuff in a couple reports, but then my old colleagues from University of Pisa passed by, and we had a gaming weekend (Pandemic Legacy S1 June-July, Gloomhaven 3 scenarios and a bit of KDM/Mage:The Ascension), so I made a hunt with a colleague - I am stuck at that report, because we ended late in the night and I am missing all the pictures.

In the meantime, Fen published both Black Lion and Community Edition rules, so my group is having a run at them - and those sessions do not get reported, because four people with full tactical report is where craziness lies.

(By the way, here is a cheap unsolicited advertisement: check Fen’s page on Patreon, read his open articles, and if you want to lend him a hand, become his Patreons! The guy creates a lot of content, is by far the KDM expert (non-staff) and writes a lot of interesting stuff)

From then on, a business trip to Canada, then it’s the month of birthdays (my now-4-year old, next my wife and a few people inbetween), and I also received The 7th Continent, so I won’t be able to report a lot until about mid-June (next pause from birthdays). About that, good news is that we won’t go for a lot of vacations during Summer this year because we have a construction in progress, so there will be a lot of play sessions this summer.

So, TL;DR: I am still playing KDM a lot and we can hook up on BGG forums almost daily, but reports have to wait until I take care of a lot of family and stuff :) I’d say that I can squeeze in a couple of LYs before mid-June, then probably I will keep up with one showdown/week as before.

In the meantime, since Wave 2 just hit and I did not see anyone report this one, I will add in a quick tutorial about why Gorm is easy:

Small Rant: Gorm Hiccup Loop

Ok, you know baby-face-mammoth here. If you are of the analytical persuasion, you might also know that it has a selection of 10 Basic AI cards, and L1 has 7 of them, L2 has 9 and L3 has all of them.

Of these Basic AI, we want to focus on one: Hiccup.

First thing you notice, is that it Picks Target, but does not Move to attack.

Second thing you notice, is that the card gets pushed back to top of AI deck to be executed again (it basically keeps hiccuping until you hit it, mostly like real life).

So, if you can conceive a way to not get hit by Retch and to always have this on top of deck, you basically can down the monster to its last wound having to worry only about reactions.

This is all possible due to how targeting is worded: since it wrote “In range”, the KDM Glossary is quite specific to what it means: a survivor is in range when the monster has enough Movement to reach them. So, you can actually have a survivor in range, but out of harm’s reach. Also please note that if the monster has no target, it will perform Illuminate instead and the AI will end up in AI discard pile, so that is a no-no in this strategy.

(Note: Retch makes the monster move two spaces backwards each time until it gets to the board edge, after that it will just sit there).

Here it is a screenshot of how to capitalize this (using the tool I made for this kind of strategic talking):

The Gorm sits there. Survivor A is target, just out of retch zone. Nobody is adjacent, so no knockdown. If you have any Fist & Tooth Specialists, you can also place them adjacent in the two spots that will not be reached by Retch.

The Gorm performs Hiccup (two spaces backwards, not hitting anyone), then Hiccup goes on top.

One survivor must use Rawhide Headband to move Hiccup on bottom. If that one is survivor A, spend movement to stay in range and repeat the same action next turn.

Another survivor can and should use Cat’s Eye Circlet to ensure that a safe enough HL is drawn.

Another survivor attacks with a weapon with a Speed of 1. Accurate Cat Gut Bow is the first one that comes to mind, but also Spears, Slow Grand Weapons (but in that case you have to Dash out of way or suffer Knockdown). Basically anything. You do exactly one wound, discarding the other AI you put on top.

If wound succeded, the fourth survivor can do a support action (or is free to exploit terrain). If wound failed, the fourth survivor uses Rawhide Headband to put Hiccup back on top.

Rinse and repeat, until the monster is down to basic action. Then, kill it swiftly.

So, that’s it. If you bring two Rawhide Headbands and some range/reach weapons, you can do this trick with ease without Surging or Dashing, which is important with L2 and L3 Gorms.

After you get the trick, you actually have to just mill AI deck until Hiccup pops up, then all is done.

A Spear to defuse trap or a Crest Crown (too much for this cheap tactic!) can help you if you end up with Lure Epilepsy on top of HL deck, but the trick is basically there.

You can also easily put the Gorm in a position to be Deathblown for the Pure Bulb with extreme ease.

Now, easy stats: a L1 Gorm ends up with Hiccup 70% of the time, a L2 one 90% of the time, and a L3 one 100% of the time. This means you want to focus on L2 and L3s (remember that L2s retch one additional time and surge costs double, while L3s have a nasty basic action, you need to bring one naked survivor to act as a bait and dash costs double).

You will want L3s for the rewards most of the time (because Gormite and Regeneration Suit), but also remember that you might want to risk a bit more with the L2 to grab some “easy” Legendary Lungs (if you plan to go against a Slenderman) or Acid Palms (for a Fist & Tooth Master, also useful on the naked survivor you will bring against the L3 one).

So, this time I had guests over for the weekend, so I made some hardcore KD:M fans from around Italy participate in the next few Lantern Years.

The pact was that they could do whatever they wanted, but we planned in advance strategies and I had the final say in how to use the resources.

So, my friend Pierluigi (luzzone on BGG), called “Il Maledetto Sardo” or just “il Sardo” (which is italian for “The thrice-damned man from Sardinia”) spent some time ruining this specific Hunt Phase.

We left the settlement deciding to hunt a L2 Screaming Antelope, in the attempt of completing the most sets and having some spare for the upcoming Manhunter fight (of course, this would leave us without a Zanbato to calcify for Subterranean Agriculture, but being DBK an higher tier quarry, we opted to get finished with this ASAP).

First of all, here are the Departing Survivors in their full glory:

Please note the full gear grids: this detail will be important later.

Since Cinzia was healed from her Vermin Obsession, she can depart (otherwise the Showdown would be a tactical nightmare for the first few turns).

I also opted to fully activate Gorment Armor Guard and to fully boost criticals on Grand Weapons (let’s see how it turns out), as a primary defense from Diabolical.

The dream team is composed by Maurizio, Nestore, Cinzia and Hannah.

A short strategy note about Murder: the forced lineouts of the past couple of showdowns messed a bit with my Murder buffer: for a couple of years, we will sadly be in danger of losing some precious specialist because of how XP was gained. I ran some quick math and there is nothing I can do at all to solve this in less than three hunts, and hunting a L3 Flower Knight just for the added Sleeping Virus Flower in the Murder target is not yet a good route (because of Innovations and Ghastly Beauty still missing). So, for the first time, we will be completely depending on luck for Murder to not pop up in a couple of Settlement Events. Knowing my luck, I could as well just put Murder on top of the deck and wait to draw it, but whatever - it was about time something really nasty strucked this relatively peaceful settlement.

Now, for the real Hunt Phase, in which we learn that I should never make il Sardo roll dice...

Hunt Phase

Showdown Phase - L1 Slenderman (cont'd)

Turn 7

AI draw is Deep Paralysis again, but this time we are okay with the mood.

First to attack is Cinzia with Vespertine Bow in sniper mode (3, LL 1), hitting Memory Lapse (WR 9, wound - no critical on this location), gaining +3 insanity and discarding Long Arm Grasp.

Monster is down its basic action, so we need a last wound. First, Nestore uses CEC, just to be sure that we do not hit a trap.

Alfio moves in and attacks (2,2), full miss.

Maurizio moves in and attacks with Butcher's Cleaver (9,10). HL draw is Faceless Visage and Greater Tentacles. WR against Visage is 2, +3 Strength attribute, +5 weapon strength, +3 Strength from attack pattern = 13: a Wound that kills the monster.

Aftermath: nobody remembers what happened, no hunt XP gained. Everyone is eligible for weapon proficiency, so +1 WP to everyone: Cinzia becomes a Bows specialist, Nestore a Shields specialist.

Everyone forgets everything and appears in a black water muddle (aftermath roll 6+1), with 2 Black Water and 1 Iron.

A simple consideration: I happened to succeed in every strum with Whisker Harp without ever having to reroll anything, while I happened to miss every Legendary Lungs additional attack, even in two cases where it was a 2+.

Settlement gains Dark Water Research innovation. Now, let's get back to the Settlement Phase.

Settlement Phase (cont'd)

Back in Monte Luce, we have a serious shortage of endeavors for all the stuff we need to do.

First, a strategy error on my part: I forgot that Cinzia had Hoarder disorder: Sword Beetle is stashed away, she gets her final point of Courage and Sees the Truth: Had I given her Dried Acanthus when departing, she'd avoid blind severe injury now. Too bad, I guess? -1 accuracy and the useless Sour Death ability: she can encourage herself, but she has shattered jaw, so no encourage at all.

Then, Monster Hide, Organ and Bone are used to Innovate (1 endeavor): choice between Albedo and Scrap Smelting. Nothing that I wanted, so let's go with the quickest route to Blacksmith: Scrap Smelting it is.

Innovation was not as I hoped, so I spend another endeavor for Light Forging: 1 Dark Water and 1 Beast Shank goes to Gloom Mehndi, 1 Dark Water and 2 Large Flat Tooth craft Gloom-Coated Arrows. That's all for level 1 Dark Water Research, let's see if we can get more from next Slenderman.

One Screaming Brain makes a Brain Mint. We could make another Monster Grease or Luck Charm, but I like the item and also think that the specific resource is always a valid alternative.

Since I lack four Pelts, I cannot complete Screaming Fur Set, so I use only two Pelts, a Shank Bone, a Broken Lantern and a Spiral Horn to craft Screaming Horns, Screaming Skirt and Screaming Coat. The remaining Pelt and an endeavor goes to Leather-Making: we make one Leather which, used with the other Broken Lantern, crafts a Leather Mask. Until we go L3 Gorm to try and finish Gorment Suit, we can use that as head piece. No other Gorms until we get Song of the Brave, though: it is sub optimal, but it's already crowded enough.

Last, we need to begin Trepanning to get rid of some nasty disorders: we have rerolls, so we should be okay... For a time. Last endeavor goes to Cinzia (5), who gets cured of Vermin Obsession.

Now, all that remains is to decide what to hunt: I really wanted a DBK, but with Manhunter L2 incoming, it would be silly to not try to complete at least a set; not wanting to hunt a Gorm at the moment, I settled to hunt a L2 Antelope... Again. Hopefully, we will have enough after this, at least until we decide to stack +Evasion by Cooking.

Settlement Phase

Our brave hunters return with a load of stuff, generating 4 Endeavors.

As resulted from past Aftermath, the newfound Settlement had just gained the Barber Surgeon Settlement Location.

Nobody died, so it is time for yet another Lantern to be extinguished and Update Timeline, entering year 9.

Drawn Settlement Event this year is Phantom: an ominous presence is wreaking, uh, discomfort around the Settlement. We are okay with that, having only Language among the listed Innovations (6): our own Beetlejuice just knocked down all armor in Monte Luce: departing survivors get -1 armor each at random locations.

A  quick note: since this is not listed as a lingering effect and not related to ‘this year’, I will interpret it literally and will just apply the penalty for the next batch of departing survivors. I know that there is people seeing this as an ‘all year long’ issue, but personally, I try to play as RAW as possible, and it seems a behavior encouraged by designers.

Now, our beloved Gorm Climate (wow, this time is lasting a lot!): roll of 7, returning Survivors get their Insanity set to 0 and must Skip Next Hunt. Ok, not entirely bad: Karl skips next hunt anyway and recovers from Post Traumatic Stress.

Now, it’s time to trigger Forgotten Fear: we choose Maurizio with Blotted Out to remember that distant day in which the White Speaker died (6), he Reveals the Horror, loses Blotted Out and gains Spiral Ganglia disorder (with the added benefit of removing Hemophobia disorder to make room for the new one): so, we delete the regular Showdown with Slenderman this year, but depart immediately for a Special Showdown with a L1 Slenderman!

(Again, as much as I dig the interpretation that all special showdowns should begin after you developed, the text of Forgotten Fear is written to inequivocally depart immediately - mostly because no Special Showdown gets annotated for the current year - so we depart and that’s it. We have fairly good chances, but of course with this last hunt’s worth of resources crafted we would likely have vanquished L1 Slenderman. The guy is nobody to be underestimated, so we’ll see)

The Survivors who will depart to a Dark Place are Alfio (-1 armor to Arms), Cinzia (-1 armor to Waist), Maurizio (-1 armor to Legs) and Nestore (-1 armor to Waist). Set everyone’s insanity to 0, begin the Showdown!

Special Showdown: L1 Slenderman

Terrain drawn is a Resin Dung Ball: how bizarre! Basically, we can push the Dung Ball to collide with the Slenderman to knock it down at whim.

 Unfortunately, we don’t have Surge yet, so that comes at the cost of a precious activation.

Showdown setup is as in the picture: since we have a Bug Patch in play and Cinzia has Vermin Obsession, she is Doomed (and 1.5 Doomed!) until we can get rid of it. I placed Alfio (with his Movement of 6) near it to get rid of it immediately.

Also, the Flower Knight Badge made us draw Attack Pattern Tactics card, which comes out surprisingly handy: basically, the Tactics owner announces at start of turn the order of attack of four survivors. As long as they attack in that order, the #2 in the sequence gets +2 Strength, the #3 gets +3 and the #4 gets +4. To stay in order, we just need to declare the attack and land at least a hit (not a wound, just a hit).

L1 Slenderman has 12 AI cards, so we must wound it 13 times. Critical Wounds are mostly useful, and there are a few hit locations without a Critical Effect. The worst that could happen is that we leave our Insanity to soar unchecked, in that case everyone would be imprisoned in no time. It also hits hard and we have a Stark Raving survivor who is the automatic target of most AI, unless someone else is insane. I gave him a shield exactly because of that, but it could not be enough.

All in all, even if we could use a bit of Dark Water more from Criticals and the Dark Place, we thought that the best course of action would be to just end that as quickly as possible. So, maximum damage route is chosen!

Now, enough strategy babbling, it’s time for the actual Showdown report.

Turn 1

Slenderman is a traditional nemesis, so survivors go first. The monster skips its turn.

First, let's get rid of that Bug Patch to remove doomed from Cinzia. Alfio moves and then dashes towards the bug patch (rawhide roll 2, no survival recovery), then spends his activation to harvest it (8): a Sword Beetle vermin resource is gained and terrain is archived.

With Slenderman, the best strategy is to group near corners, so first thing to check is who will be targeted: Nestore uses Rawhide Headband (RH from now on) to see and sort next AI, then moves towards Maurizio.

Maurizio, on the other hand, moves away from the corner to get near Nestore, then uses Cat's Eye Circlet (CEC from now on) to scout monster Hit Locations.

Cinzia moves and dashes towards the center of the board, and when in range shoots with accurate Vespertine Bow (2, Legendary Lungs (LL) 1), hitting Solar Plexus (WR 6, wound) and wounding to discard Tentacle Spasm.

Turn 2

Monster draws Dark Hour mood, performing Amnesia: Slenderman is out of the showdown board and everyone gets +1 insanity.

Alfio moves and uses RH: next Target will be Maurizio.

Maurizio uses his action to block with Knuckle Shield.

Nestore draws near.

Cinzia strums with Whisker Harp (7), discarding Dark Hour mood.

Now, let's wait for the big scary vegetable to reappear.

Turn 3

Monster draws its trademark Tentacle Snare, targeting Maurizio, who gets +1 insanity. First, it performs Gloom appearing behind him. Then, it attacks (2, 10, 7) scoring two hits: one gets blocked and the other dodged. Since no damage was dealt, no Ensnare action triggers.

Maurizio goes first and attacks with the Butcher's Cleaver (1, 6), hitting monster's Freezing Hands (WR 8), discarding Claw Extend.

Cinzia closes in and attacks with normal Vespertine Bow (10, 9 - perfect hit triggers Crazed, +1 insanity, LL 4,5), hitting the Gaunt Fingers (WR 2), wounding only thanks to the attack pattern and discarding Gaze of the Eyeless. Since she is not wearing fur, she suffers Wound reaction and is knocked down. Alfio encourages her immediately (Rawhide roll 2, damn!). Nestore attacks with shield (2,8), hitting Freezing Palm (WR 10, Critical), discarding Tendril Probe and zeroing everyone's insanity.

Finally, Alfio moves and uses RH.

Turn 4

AI is Deep Paralysis Mood: insane survivors can't perform Survival Actions, Slenderman attacks insane people with +2 Speed.

Cinzia moves and strums (9), immediately discarding the mood.

Maurizio attacks with Greater Gaxe (7,2), hitting Emaciated Abdomen for +3 insanity (WR 10, critical): +1 Survival and Courage, no Dark Water gained because nobody had Pod Imprisonment, Mind Scream AI discarded.

Alfio attacks with Fist & Tooth (2,6), barely hitting thanks to his high accuracy its Pale Forearms (WR 10, critical with no need for Acid Palms), AI Little Ones discarded (gosh I HATE that one!), Cannot spend 5 survival to gain permanent +1 Evasion, too bad.

Turn 5

AI draw is Long Arm Grasp (targeting Maurizio, +1 insanity), another extremely thematic one: monster materializes 5 squares away from target, then extends its arms to attack with range 5 (9,6,7): all hits connect, HL rolled are Body, Arms and Legs for 4 Damage: Legs would be severely injured by the attack, so we avoid the roll by dodging the hit at Legs, while body and arms get heavily injured and Maurizio is knocked down. Ensnare roll is 5, so no Pod Imprisonment (Maurizio has 4 insanity right now).

Cinzia immediately encourages Maurizio, recovering spent survival with a rawhide roll of 7.

Cinzia then attacks with normal bow (5,5), missing: for this turn, attack pattern benefits won't be gained.

Maurizio moves in, attacking with Butcher's Cleaver (7,9), hitting Cartwheel Ruff (WR 3, no wound because impervious) and Filigreed Carapace (WR 7, success), discarding Do You Believe? AI. Reflex reaction moves Slenderman 5 spaces back.

Alfio, finally, moves and uses RH.

Turn 6

AI is Deep Paralysis again, we know the drill.

Cinzia immediately strums (8) and removes the mood (!).

Alfio moves in to attack (4,3), missing. Maurizio attacks with Greater Gaxe (10,9), hitting Spindling Torso (WR 9, critical), discarding Tentacle Snare and getting 3 brain damage. Second hit location is Memory Lapse (WR 8, wound), gaining back 3 insanity and discarding Dark Hour.

Now, Nestore uses RH to put Deep Paralysis back on top of AI deck, so that next turn Slenderman will go down with a wound less.

Showdown - L2 Screaming Antelope

Terrain draw is 3 Stone Columns and yet another Sinkhole (the Plain of Faces must be built over a very difficult terrain). We also have the Lonely Tree and two Nightmare Fruits in place.

Now, I want to take a brief digression to explain tactics and reasoning here.

Level 2 Antelope has Diabolical, which is not catastrophic, but requires a bit of forward thinking to control. Usually, the best bet is to surge-knock down the monster in its turn, or to make the monster knock itself down by the means of persistent injuries, or making it graze.

To crit farm it, one would just inflict a wound, make it heal once, then rinse and repeat.

My plan is basically to knock it down as many times I can to limit Diabolical, and if it cannot be avoided, I use the last flow in monster AI to move the rest of the hunt party to safety.

Lonely Fruit is an added issue, not as much because of the healing (that is actually a good thing when crit framing), but for the +1 Damage of the monster is fully healed. But again, we have a Vespertine bow, and that is way more than enough to destroy the beast from a distance. An accurate Cat Gut Bow would do part of the trick, but the inferior strength and lack of Deadly would make everything more difficult. Also, we are still lacking Surge, so we will try to keep it short while causing as much critical wounds as possible.

For the first turn, assuming that Diabolical would run straight forward, I will limit to ensure that the knocked down Hannah is out of range (LT is Monster-Impassable) and that the Antelope won't begin in five tiles from a Lonely Fruit.

Now, let's see how it turned out...

Turn 1

AI is Chow Down, so the Antelope gets to the closest Acanthus Plant and devours it, to no effect. Now, Chow Down has a flow, so I should have used that one to ensure that Diabolical at end of turn applied in a way I could suffer: fortunately, a quick range check makes Diabolical stop exactly in front of my two survivors, at 6+ squares away from a Nightmare Fruit. So that’s fine, nobody dashes and Diabolical makes the Antelope target Karl and full move to stop exactly in front of him.

Our turn. First Ofelia takes a normal shot with the Vespertine Bow (6,1), hitting its Palate (rolling 1 to Wound, so failure, no consequences).

Betta flanks (to use Mammoth Hunting) and attacks with King Spear (5,2), missing both.

Since it’s first turn, we try to put in a wound from front with Karl and Round Leather Shield (1,8), hitting Restless Ear (4), failing to wound. 

Hannah stands, moves and attacks with the Rib Blade (6), hitting Restless Back (4), wounding and discarding Chow Down. Abyssal Sadist triggers for a +1 Insanity, Survival is full. Being Traumatized, Hannah gets knocked down at the end of her act. Karl Encourages her immediately, and Rawhide roll makes him recover the Survival spent immediately.

Turn 2

AI is Ravenous (aka the exact reason why you always keep the tank with a cheap consumable in base contact with Antelope), targeting Karl (1,7): a single hit which gets dodged to avoid archiving the useful Monster Grease (Rawhide set roll is 7, survival recovered). During the flow after targeting, Hannah dashes out of Diabolical targeting (Rawhide set roll is 2, no recovery. Diabolical makes the Antelope trample Karl for 2 damage at body location. Hannah encourages Karl (rawhide roll 7 = recovery)

Ofelia tries to shoot a Claw Head Arrow (1), missing as usual, then dashes away to hide. Karl uses Rawhide Headband to put Great Kick AI on top, then hides. Betta arranges Hit Locations with Cat’s Eye Circlet. Hannah just moves behind a column.

Turn 3

AI is Great Kick, which fails to target anybody because the entire hunt team is out of sight. The Antelope then goes to Graze,not reaching Acanthus but destroying a Stone Column in the process. Graze ends the turn immediately, so no Diabolical this turn.

Ofelia attacks with regular Vespertine Bow (6,8), hitting Restless Hoof (8, Critical) and Restless Flank (2, regular wound). The two wounds make AI discard of Stomp and Snort and Buck, and the critical causes Destroyed Hoof persistent injury. That one is extremely desirable, because it is one of the two persistent injuries that knock down regularly any Antelope. Also, the Reflex reaction makes the Antelope turn to face Ofelia (also good).

Hannah moves in the now blind spot to attack (5), hitting the antelope bushy tail (don’t remember the name, is it Furry Tail?), failing to wound (1). Ending the turn in base contact with the antelope, she is knocked down by Traumatized, and promptly encouraged by Karl.

Karl uses Rawhide Headband, while Betta moves in place and uses Cat’s Eye Circlet.

Turn 4

AI is Back Kick, and the monster is Knocked Down again due to Destroyed Hoof, so turn ends immediately and monster stands up.

Hannah attacks (7), hitting Restless Rump (1, failure), then moves away after failing to wound.

Betta uses Cat’s Eye Circlet to rearrange Hit Locations.

Karl attacks with Shield (and his unfortunate -1 Speed) (9), hitting Ferocious Spasm (6), failing to wound.

Ofelia attacks with Vespertine Bow (4,7), hitting Delicate Inverted Knee (4, Lone Rampage discarded) and Restless Shank (8, Critical wound which yields a Pelt resource and discards Slam. Nothing else, since Ofelia is not insane).

Turn 5

AI is Run Down, targeting Hannah. Hannah dashes away (Rawhide roll fails), not to avoid being hit, but to better place Antelope to target nobody else with Diabolical. Antelope tries to hit (2,7), causing a hit which is promptly dodged (Rawhide roll succeeds). After that, Diabolical targets Hannah (only target available thanks to proper placement and the Antelope runs over Hannah (2 Damage to Legs location... Tumble would have been useful) and another Stone Column, crushing it, ending where we wanted it.

Karl encourages Hannah (Rawhide roll succeeds).

Ofelia attacks with Vespertine Bow in enhanced range mode (7), hitting Restless Inner Thigh (4, Wound for -1 Movement token), wounding to discard Bite. After this, she moves away in a generic safe location.

Hannah uses Rawhide Headband, Betta uses Cat’s Eye Circlet. Karl moves away and Blocks, just to do something.

Turn 6

AI is Bolt, which has no target. The action changes to Graze, which makes the Antelope come near without actually getting to Acanthus, ending its turn.

Ofelia attacks with regular bow (1,3), missing twice.

Hannah attacks with Rib Blade (9), hitting Giant Mouth (3, wound), discarding Chow Down. Abyssal Sadist makes her recover Survival to full and nets the nice +1 Insanity. She gets knocked down again, Karl encourages her again, Rawhide roll fails.

Betta attacks with spear (7, 1) hitting Giant Teeth (5, wound) and discarding Gore. Her first Abyssal Sadist trigger, not bad.

Karl uses Rawhide Headband.

Turn 7

AI is Stomp and Snort, targeting Betta (2), with no effect. Diabolical has no target since monster did not move (and our hunt party is not entirely stupid, since this was all set up), so the monster full runs toward facing.

Hannah runs and dashes to attack (7), hitting Giant Tongue (7, wound) discarding Crush and Devour. Rawhide roll failed, but Abyssal Sadist recovered Survival to full. Hannah is knocked down again, Karl encourages her again. 

Betta uses Cat’s Eye Circlet. Ofelia attacks with bow (10,1), hitting Restless Eye and getting 1 Brain Damage from Hit Location. Wound roll is 7, AI Run Down is discarded. Next HL is a good one, the one after is a trap.

Karl uses Rawhide Headband.

Turn 8

AI is Great Kick, and the monster gets knocked down again by Destroyed Hoof.

Survivors’ turn, monster stands up. We want to hit exactly once, then try to defuse the trap with the Spear.

Hannah attacks, rolls 1, misses and is knocked down by Traumatized. Karl encourages her again, rawhide roll fails.

Ofelia attacks with sniper-mode Vespertine Bow (9), hitting Restless Tiny Hands (10, critical), discarding Bolt AI and gaining Screaming Brain resource. After wounding, she moves in a better position.

Only trap is left, so Karl quickly moves in place and uses Rawhide Headband to sort AI.

Now, Betta draws near and attacks with Spear (6,3), so Wailing Slide - the trap, is drawn. Time for Spear specialization roll (8), which succeeds in defusing the trap. HL is reshuffled and drawn again, hitting for Furious Spasm. Wound roll is 8, Stomp and Snort AI is discarded. In all of this, Abyssal Sadist triggers. Spear specialization at its finest.

Turn 9

AI is Back Kick, and the monster is Knocked Down again due to Destroyed Hoof, so turn ends immediately and monster stands up.

Hannah immediately fixes this by attacking the Blind Spot (5), hitting Restless Flank for a Critical Wound, which nets her a Pelt resource, discards Ravenous AI card, causes the monster to get a -1 Toughness token and, since Hannah is a Grand Weapon specialist, knocks the beast down again. Not bad for a single slow hit, huh?

Betta arranges HLs again using Cat’s Eye Circlet, Ofelia attacks with the “normal” Vespertine Bow (9,10) hitting Giant Teeth (3, Wound) for Back Kick and Restless Shank (7, wound) for Great Kick.

Monster is down to Basic Action and knocked down, so it is worth a try to finish it off right away. Karl attacks with shield (3), hitting Restless Ear (+2 Luck with a Shield to wound the location). Wound roll is 8, with the +2 it is a Critical - not important at all because the monster is dead!

In the Aftermath, everyone gets +2 Hunt XP. Ofelia ages, and gets Strategist Fighting Art and Bow weapon type. Hannah and Betta are eligible for Weapon Proficiency, so they get it too.

Since some Nightmare Fruit were left on the ground at the end of the Showdown, the group gains the Nightmare Fruit Strange Resource.

Resource draw is 2 Beast Steaks, 2 Shank Bones, 1 Large Flat Tooth, 1 Bladder, 1 Spiral Horn, 1 Monster Bone, 1 Monster Hide, 1 Monster Organ, 1 Broken Lantern.

Moreover, since the Settlement had innovated Pottery and the Antelope was Level 2, Monte Luce gained the Barber Surgeon Settlement Location.

Ok guys, sorry for the long hiatus. Basically, during this one Hunt Phase I got Object of Desire, so I had to field a Lonely Tree, and I had one woefully unpainted. I being a bad painter, it took me an awful lot of time to get this done (and kids getting turns at chickenpox and having to work double shifts for some customers and so on…). So, without further ado, let us continue with…

Hunt Phase

Betta, Hannah, Karl and Ofelia (3 and half girls) departed on the tracks of a L2 Screaming Antelope.

First Event Revealer is Betta, who reveals Devoured Grounds. Nothing triggers, so we roll a random hunt event instead (34): Crippling Misery. Karl continues the time-honoured tradition of being the Straggler (rolling 1), and luckily ends up gaining +1 Understanding.

Next, Hannah rolls Opportunists (44): we can decide to begin showdown immediately or continue. Naturally, we being the daring sort, we decide to continue (!)

Next one is Ofelia, who stumbles in a Vomit Pile. That’s what we were waiting for, avoiding to begin the showdown right away! So, we decide to Scavenge. Ofelia and Betta gain +1 Courage (Betta triggers Bold, becoming Prepared and gaining an additional +1 Understanding). Betta rolls a lantern, gaining 1 additional Understanding and a Large Flat Tooth. Ofelia rolls a 6, so she gets +1 Survival. It’s enough for the event, so we go forward.

Karl’s turn now, a majestic roll of 01 for Broken Lanterns. Karl decides to investigate (1), and gets 2 event Damage to Legs location.

Betta again, rolling 44 for Opportunists... again. It seems that the universe is sending us a signal here. Anyway, we ignore it and proceed nonchalantly to Overwhelming Darkness.

Next hunt step, the darkness thick as ink around the hunt party takes its toll.

Betta takes the path of the Brave (6), getting a -1 Evasion token.

Karl rolls the path of the Insane (7), getting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (definitely lucky here).

Hannah walks the path of the Doomed (9), getting +1 Insanity and +1 Courage.

Same path for Ofelia (7), who gets -2 Survival and -1 Evasion token.

Right after the Overwhelming Darkness, it is time to roll our Sonorous Rest from the Reverberating Lantern. Everyone rests for +2 Survival.

Next, Ofelia reveals Stampede. The party decides to hide, so the Antelope gets 1 step back. 

In this same space, we had the two special hunt events. Ofelia has the pickaxe, so rolls Mineral Gathering for 9, gets a Scrap and descends into the Cave. There, a roll of 3 ends the exploration. That’s okay, no big deal until we get the Gloom Mehndi.

No time for Ofelia to rest yet, though, because Herb Gathering rolls a collective 76. Ofelia decides to Explore the Swamp, another roll of 3, which ends the exploration with -1 Survival.

Last hunt event to be revealed, Karl uncovers Object of Desire. Hannah is eligible to investigate (8), so the party will face the Antelope with the Lonely Tree standing there, and Hannah will begin the showdown knocked down and adjacent to the tree.

Showdown Phase - L2 Gorm

A bit of strategic preface first. L2 Gorm has Mushth trait, which means that survivors with less than 3 hunt XP will get -2 accuracy and strength for the Showdown. That’s why we did not bring any. Also, at the end of turn, Gorm always retches.

We are also in the Gorm’s Den, meaning that Surging costs double. No problem, we don’t have Surge.

Last time, we did not Hiccup-loop the L1 Gorm because it felt cheap and was a bit difficult to achieve, not having a lot of control on the showdown. This time we have a Vespertine Bow and two Rawhide sets, so we will take any available advantage on the big meanie. For the record, on a L2 Gorm there is a 90% chance of getting Hiccup on its AI deck.

Now, for Showdown setup: we place all Bleeding, +Speed, +Strength, -Evasion, -Movement tokens gained from the Hunt, then we proceed to add survival and insanity from Stone Noses, and finally we use the edge we gained during the Hunt to look at the top AI card to see if we like it: top AI is Headbutt, we don’t like it because it targets a random survivor and that could cause unnecessary bloodshed, so we put it at the bottom of the deck.

Terrain draw is another two Tall Grass and a pile of Debris: a really nice draw.

We setup the rest of the board and proceed with the Showdown.

Turn 1

AI is Hiccup, so Gorm targets farthest threat (Nestore), then everybody around it is knocked down on 4+ (nobody), then the Gorm retches (twice because Mushth), going back a total of four squares and doing no damage at all. Hiccup goes back on top of AI deck.

Ok, I thought to make this easy, but this is SUPER easy. We just have to be careful to make everyone wound once for the proficiency and we will be okay.

First, Maurizio uses Rawhide Headband to put Infrasonic Roar on top and Hiccup on bottom.

Then, Cinzia snipes with Vespertine Bow (always Vespertine Bow snipe unless specified otherwise), hitting Mammoth Maw for a critical wound, gaining Jaw Paralysis persistent injury and Stout Heart Gorm resource.

Now Hiccup is back on top, so Nestore goes flanking at a distance and Alfio draws near. We can stay as is, next turn will be another Hiccup. 

Turn 2

Another Hiccup, followed by two retches. Now the Gorm is with its back to the board edge, so it cannot go backwards anymore. We can safely Hiccup-loop it, but we want to complicate things a bit because we want to get proficiency with everyone.

Maurizio first uses Rawhide Headband to put Hiccup on the bottom, then Nestore attacks with his Knuckle Shield (7, 6), hitting Mammoth Testes (WR7, wound) and Spongy Leg Bone (WR 2, luckily a failure). The monster discards Rear Up AI and has Hiccup on top again. So, Alfio moves near and Cinzia uses Cat’s Eye Circlet.

Now, a note: when the Gorm is with its back on the Showdown board, it cannot go backwards anymore, so its retches are always without moving, hitting nothing in an area of effect in front of it. We won’t describe reactions which cause a void retch to save space.

Turn 3

Another void Hiccup, Alfio bandages Maurizio, Maurizio uses Rawhide Headband and Cinzia attacks again with Vespertine Bow (8), hitting Mammoth Bloated Face (WR 9) with a critical wound, which discards Maw Arm Toss AI and lets us draw a Stout Heart. Nestore now blocks again.

Turn 4

Another Hiccup, same pattern. Nestore uses the headband, so Maurizio can attack with the Butcher’s Cleaver, hitting its Mammoth Backstrap (WR 7, wound), discarding Charge AI. Alfio moves. This time, trap is on top, so Cinzia uses Cat’s Eye Circlet to move it down. 

Turn 5

Void Hiccup. Since Alfio has a Speed of 3 due to Frenzy, we risk seriously to destroy the Hiccup loop, so we will keep his wound attempt as last.

Now, we will just repeat the Hiccup loop, which consists of the sequence:

Nestore uses Rawhide Headband to place Hiccup on bottom

Cinzia snipes with Vespertine Bow to cause a wound, that will put Hiccup on top again

If Cinzia misses or fails to wound, Maurizio uses Rawhide Headband again to put Hiccup back on top, will wait next turn.

Every two Hit Locations passed, we take a pause one turn to let Cinzia use Cat’s Eye Circlet and push trap back.

Let the Gorm Hiccup, then begin the cycle again

Another note: Gorm’s reaction on failure/wound are only retching or turning backwards and running. Retching, as explained above, is always neutralized. In case Gorm turns, one must just wait out that it retched until reaching the opposite board edge, then it can begin again. Only thing that breaks the loop is the Gorm having no target, so we just have to keep someone in range.

Since this is extremely effective, we will skip all turns with a quick record of what happened.

Turns 6-21

Hiccup loop until the Gorm is down to Basic Action. Gorm gets Lame persistent injury, Alfio manages to retrieve a Scrap Sword from the Debris.

During a reaction to a botched wound attempt, the Gorm turned backwards, so the group had to wait it reached opposite board edge.

Turn 22

Basic Action, targeting Nestore (3,6,7): a single, blocked hit. Now, last three HL in the deck are two valid locations and the trap. Alfio attacks from flank, and hits Mammoth Hand and Fluorescent Lure, rolling 2 and 4, failing both attempts.

This is bad, because now we need to spring the trap before causing last wound. On retrospective, I should have triggered the trap while Hiccup was still on the AI deck, so that we had plenty of retries to wound with Fist & Tooth. That tactical error ended costing me that proficiency this hunt. Well, too bad.

We place everyone so Nestore is next target at 4 squares of distance, so that he can run away from Basic Action.

Turn 23

Basic action. Gorm targets Nestore, then Nestore dashes away to not be hit. The Gorm retches, and goes two squares back. Now, Maurizio attacks from blind spot and triggers Lure Paroxism, the trap! First, he gets headbutted for 2 damage to the Head (ok), then the Gorm turns to face Cinzia and Alfio and makes its Lure fluctuate, for 2 Brain Damage each. Now, we have a brand new Hit Location deck.

Alfio attacks, trying to score his wound (4,2,5), but misses.

We decided that I made a tactical error in discarding Hiccup and that just trying to wound with Alfio when showdown is almost done would just be searching for trouble, so Cinzia just snipes its last wound with Vespertine Bow, critically wound its Mammoth Rump to kill the monster, and drawing a Dense Bone as a result.

Everybody tries now a Blind Exit from Gorm’s den. Nestore rolls 3, getting -1 permanent Strength. Alfio rolls 7, getting Acid Palms ability. Maurizio rolls 4, finding a Gorm Cub. Of course he slays it, drawing a Stout Hide and the Megalophobia disorder. Cinzia rolls 10, getting Legendary Lungs secret fighting art. Not a fan, but it comes really handy with the Slenderman showdown, so, it’s good, I guess.

Everybody gets 1 Hunt XP, and Maurizio ages for +1 permanent Strength, and Alfio ages to get Crossarm Block fighting art.

Maurizio, Nestore and Cinzia get their weapon proficiency level. Too bad for Alfio.

Resource draw is two Stout Hides, one Stout Vertebrae, a Jiggling Lard, one Stout Kidney and another Stout Heart for Gorm resources, while Love Juice, Monster Bone, Monster Hide and Skull as Basic Resources.

Time now to return to Monte Luce.

Settlement Phase

Survivors return, and 5 endeavors are generated (4 from returning, +1 from Alfio being a Tinker).

Cinzia is a Hoarder, so let’s archive a Skull and gain +1 Courage.

Another Lantern Year passes, so in Lantern Year 8 our good guys decide to enact another Triathlon of Death! Man, I love those guys. So again, Alfio and Cinzia get nominated (because two players):

Cinzia wins the race, gaining +1 Movement, while Alfio gains +1 Courage for his second place.

Alfio wins the debate by a good measure, gaining a Skull resource. Unfortunately, there is no Skull card in the Resource deck, so nothing is gained. Cinzia, however, gains +1 Understanding.

Cinzia wins the fight, gaining +1 Weapon proficiency, getting to 2. Alfio gets +1 Strength.

What I find appalling is that Dario, after a lifetime using the Bow, was at proficiency 1, while Cinzia got to 2 in one hunt. I have no words to express how much Dario sucks at bows. Now, he hanged his Twilight Sword by his chimney, because what could go wrong?

Enough babbling, though. It’s that time of the year again in which the Gorms mate at our doorsteps. Gorm Climate roll is 6, so returning Survivors get their Insanity set to 0 and skip next hunt.

Next event is Rumbling in the Dark. Cinzia gets nominated to check a Dung Beetle Knight rolling its dung ball (presumably, with stuff collected from Gorm mating grounds - yech), and as a result the Settlement gains the Round Stone Training innovation, she gets +1 Strength and the Vermin Obsession disorder. Now, doomed is really crippling in 1.5 version, but I am confident I can work through it.

Finally, it is time to craft and innovate!

First, bad news: we miss the Handed Skull to finish Gorment armor set, so we just craft Gorment Suit and Gorment Boots, and wait for the rematch. We also use the Fresh Acanthus to make a Dried Acanthus, which comes always handy.

Since we got a Dense Bone and Butcher’s Cleaver is Irreplaceable, we also craft a Greater Gaxe, because I really like it.

We also manage to build the Stone Circle, and we can afford to Innovate: choice is between Pottery and Hovel, but since we plan to fight an Antelope next hunt, we choose Pottery!

Now, let’s spend those endeavors. We need 3 endeavors in Founder’s Eye to get a +2 to Intimacy attempts, then a fourth endeavor gets spent with our Settlement’s Matchmaker to make Dario and Cinzia get a bit Intimate. Roll is (4,8) +2: so we get 6, and Quasimodo (male) is born! Settlement population grows to 13, so it’s basically a waste to try to get Augury to trigger another Intimacy this year, since we won’t get to 15 anyway.

The final endeavor gets spent in teaching Betta Abyssal Sadist (roll of 6) by endeavoring at Sculpture.

Stout Hide goes to settlement storage.

We are now set to depart. We are unfortunately forced to not choose Maurizio, our beloved Murder target, so next year we will really risk Murder to mess our settlement again.

We choose Hannah, Betta, Ofelia and Karl to depart to hunt a L2 Screaming Antelope: Girl power! (Karl is not a girl, but since his meetup with the Man-Stealer bugs he counts as zero in gender equation)

Settlement Phase

Our four heroes return from fighting the Flower Knight, with highlight being Dario, who has become a bit worse in using his bow, if possible. No tinkers among the returning survivors, so we generate only 4 endeavors.

Cinzia is a Hoarder, so we archive a Broken Lantern to get +1 Courage.

So, time to draw the Settlement Event: Plague. Wow, this is one of the nasty threes! So, nothing to fear. Let’s nominate four survivors with at least 1 Hunt XP:

Karl (because he has destroyed genitals!), Dario (because at 5 hunt XP and 1 Bow proficiency he’s in a tight spot), Elisa (because who is she, again?) and Nestore (the guy is good, but if he dies, I will just regrow him with Sleeping Virus Flower and without Possessed ability.

Ok, these four have the plague, now roll for everyone: Karl and Nestore roll 10, so they make a full recovery (incredibly), while Elisa rolls 6 and is infected, but there is still chance to cure her, and Dario rolls 2, dying. Now, I should really have let him die, but that roll also added Plague back in the timeline, so we use Elisa’s lifetime reroll and reroll to get a 4, and Dario is still infected.

Another event, Gorm Climate: roll of 2, so storage is lost again. This time we lose something, 2 broken lanterns and 1 Red Vial. Not too bad, but still not happy.

Now it’s time to handle the Phoenix Feather found outside the Settlement: we nominate Cinzia, she rolls 7: a net total of +2 Courage, Hoarder disorder (she already has it) and Crazed fighting art. She also triggers Bold event, becoming a Matchmaker (very good) and getting the ability to reroll one endeavor action this Settlement Phase.

Another visitor, the Hooded Knight who had Unfinished Business (sigh). He gives the Twilight Sword, the Dormant Twilight Cloak and the Blue Lantern to Dario, who chooses Twilight Sword as his weapon type. That’s it, I will use this guy just as a bait for the Twilight Knight. Bows weren’t a thing for him anyway.

Now, Sense Memory story event, then we are done. I would have liked to have Pottery by now to trigger Otherworldly Luck, but I never had the chance, so too bad.

We craft the Vespertine Bow anyway, and add Necrotoxic Mistletoe 4 years from now. That gives us 4 chances (-1 because of the nemesis year) to innovate Sculpture by then.

Now, let’s do stuff. First, two endeavors are spent to treat the idiots who got sick. Full treatment for everyone, but both endeavors must be spent.

Another endeavor goes to Innovate, choice is between Hovel and Sculpture, so yeah, we get lucky: Sculpture!

We use the fourth endeavor to make 3 Leather from 3 hides, then use the leather stuff to craft a Round Leather Shield, a Bone Pickaxe and a Bone Sickle.

Now, we consume that last Flower resource which gives you three more endeavors, so that Hannah can Skip Next Hunt and lose Abyssal Sadist to make a Sculpture out of it, then the next two endeavors are used to teach Abyssal Sadist to Alfio and back to Hannah (endeavor reroll is used now).

We are mostly done, so we have one more hunt before getting to the Slender Man. At this point, we have a damage output which is enough to sustain the fight, but we still lack protection and tanking capabilities. Next quarry must address this problem, so choice is really between a L2 Screaming Antelope or a L2 Gorm. We decide in the end to go for the L2 Gorm because Hannah will sit this hunt out, and besides we have not yet built the Stone Circle (oh, we are so late!), so most resources would have been wasted in building: we have more chances of crafting something useful by fighting the Gorm.

Departing survivors are Alfio, Nestore, Maurizio and Karl. We make Betta sit this one out, too, so that Maurizio can become again next Murder target.

Hunt Phase

Set up is a bit more complicated now. L2 Gorm goes directly behind Overwhelming Darkness, and I decide to add in the same space the Mineral Gathering hunt event, in case the Gorm goes one step backward. Although I am tempted to do the same with Herb Gathering, I also need the Fresh Acanthus really badly, so I won’t risk not getting it this time: it gets directly on the space before Overwhelming Darkness.

Now, let the hunt begin. Nestore reveals Sportsman’s Kill: we wade through the Gorm mating fields, and we find a Great Game Hunter who already killed one of the beasts. Roll is 9, so the old chap is more than happy to share some insights, and this allows to see top AI at the beginning of the showdown and decide if to put it on top or bottom of the AI deck.

Next one is Cinzia, who draws Mating Fields: we just wade through the horrible, horrible mess the Gorms did during mating season, and we can let everyone investigate. Since investigating is +1 courage in this event, we go for it with everyone:

Cinzia rolls 3, 1 Damage to legs location.

Nestore rolls 1, another Damage to legs.

Alfio rolls 9, he gets a Stout Hide.

Maurizio rolls another 9, he gets a Stout Kidney.

The +1 Courage also triggers Bold event for Alfio, who becomes Prepared and gets +1 Speed token (argh, that’s bad!)

Now it’s Alfio‘s turn to reveal a random hunt event (85): Test of Courage. Nobody has 6 Courage, so nobody crosses the lava pits and we can proceed.

Maurizio reveals Chance Encounter (14), meeting a young lady in the darkness. Everyone gets +1 Courage and +1 Understanding, and the event stops here. Cinzia reaches an Insight, getting Explore ability and the chance of rerolling an Hunt Event during this Hunt Phase, while Maurizio becomes Bold, getting Prepared and gaining +1 Permanent Strength.

Now, it could be our last time to rest, so we perform Reverberating Lantern’s Sonorous Rest: since Survival is still full, we get +2 Insanity to everyone, +1 Insanity for each blue affinity in their gear grid.

Then, we reveal Mourning Bull, and we opt to steer clear of it, so everyone gets 3 Brain Damage (luckily, added Insanity soaked those!).

It is time to perform Herb Gathering: collective roll is a really bad 29, so we just get survival (we are full) and one Fresh Acanthus.

Now, it’s pitch black: Overwhelming Darkness! This is my first chance under the new rules, so let’s see: everybody has at least 3 Courage, so everybody can walk the Path of the Brave. Since we are not stupid, everyone walks that path.

Maurizio rolls 4, -1 Evasion token.

Alfio rolls 8, 1 Damage to Arms.

Cinzia rolls 4, -1 Evasion token

Nestore rolls 9, 1 Damage to Arms.

Ok, first time with new Overwhelming Darkness, it’s pretty tame. Hope this will always be the case.

We reach the Gorm’s Den, so no time to perform that Mineral Gathering, we have to enter the Fetid Grotto.

Nestore rolls 3 and 8, so Frenzy Brain Trauma and 4 Insanity. Very very bad on the tank.

Cinzia rolls 3 and 7 and Maurizio rolls 2 and 3, so they suffers a Collapsed Lung: -1 Movement token, 1 Bleeding token.

Alfio rolls 10, but the chance of getting Frenzy on an already 3-speed fist&tooth could actually leave us with one survivor less during the Showdown, so we spend his reroll to reroll a 1, and make him get 1 event damage to the Body. That was a careless, useless decision, especially based on what happened next, but it was still the decision we made.

Hunt Phase

Quarry is L2 Flower Knight, so it will be a long hunt.

First to reveal an event is Dario. Basic hunt event, roll 30: Rotten Faces. Everyone treads on disgusting rotten faces. Dario rolls 10, so gets a Skull basic resource. The others roll 7,6,6, passing the rotten faces without harm.

Second event revealer is Karl, who falls in a Pit (26): his roll is 2, so he gets a Broken Leg Severe Injury (-1 Permanent Movement). So far, so good.

Third event is Cinzia, who reveals a Dead Warrior (guys, we found Percival!). Nestore is the only one with 3 Understanding, so he investigates (2), getting Black Guard Style Secret Fighting Art! Not a lot useful, since he’s Possessed and has no swords. Too bad, the SFA is very nice.

Next event revealer is Nestore (49), who reveals Pus Fields (wow guys, way to get lost in disgusting stuff!). We choose to carefully tread through them, so nothing happens, but we have to roll again on the Hunt Event Table. We get (82) Consuming Grass, so we have to find the straggler, who happens to be Karl (where are you going with a broken leg, idiot?). He rolls 1, which meant that he has to die. Since he’s going to die, it‘s time to use the no-brainer lifetime reroll. New roll is 4, which is still low, but enough to save him: just his Stone Noses get archived. That’s good, they are entirely replaceable.

We finally manage to get to the Forest Gate. Basic roll is 3, so we make everyone get a bleeding token and -1 Strength to be welcomed through the gate. After all, The Forest Wants What It Wants. All get +3 Insanity, +1 Understanding.

Now, we are treading the Abyssal Woods. Karl reveals Woolly Root, rolling 10 and being able to consume, he gets -1 Accuracy, +1 Evasion tokens. I begin suspecting that Karl is an idiot who wanders around through lava pulls and puts everything in its fucking pie hole.

Nestore goes on, revealing Sudden Life. Fortunately, the guys just get 1 damage to the Head, bypassing armor.

Now we reach the Faerie Ring, the showdown begins!

Showdown Phase - Flower Knight L2

Here we are, our first L2. A quick disclaimer: I am sure I cheated on this one, because mid-showdown my wife went away to fetch kids from Kindergarten, then I had to stow everything away quickly because my 3 years old was back (he put up a small showdown using Karl and the Flower Knight, though). I reconstructed from notes, but it’s likely that this time some HLs were redrawn, AI was not in the correct order, and blood tokens were lost somewhere. That aside, I have very few pictures of the showdown, so it will be a quick recount of what happened. Also, we rolled so low.

Turn 1

First AI is Disarm. FK makes Cinzia Bloom inside the Faerie Ring (+1 Luck token on Cinzia, but since she has -10 it doesn’t really count. Attack at Speed 3 (1, 6, 10), so 2 Damage to Head and Legs, and Disarm.

Cinzia uses a movement to get her King Spear back, then she attacks (10, 3), hitting Retreating Feint (a Parry HL). Wound roll is 4, which usually would wound, but since Parry only lets critical hits pass, nothing happened. As a reaction, FK sidesteps three spaces.

Dario attacks with Cat Gut Bow (I wanted to use Claw Head Arrow, but I rolled two dice, so I was forced to go with that) (6,10), and hits Flowering Bustle. Wound roll is 4, so a failure. Reflex action is not applicable.

Karl goes fetching Flower Patches (5), he gets +1 Luck token and an Osseous Bloom.

Nestore moves inside the Faerie Ring and blocks.

Turn 2

Legendary AI Nature Reflection is drawn, targeting Nestore (2,3,7), one single hit which gets Blocked.

Cinzia moves and attacks (9,3), hitting its Fey Hilt (WR 3), failing to wound.

Nestore stays in place and blocks.

Dario finally uses Claw Head Arrow (1) and misses once again. I don’t know if the problem is the arrow (it was built at LY1 and used every showdown, it always missed) or the bow user (5 hunts, 2 Bow proficiencies): probably it’s both.

Karl continues his stroll, picking flowers and being generally happy. Another +1 Luck token and a Lantern Bloom.

Turn 3

AI is Invitation, targeting Nestore (8, 8, 7): one hit gets Blocked and the other two are Dodged (thanks to Hyper-Sensitivity disorder). Rawhide rolls are 7, 1, so the net cost is just 1 survival. Not too shabby.

Dario uses Cat’s Eye Circlet (CEC). Cinzia attacks (7, 2), hitting Fey Breeches (WR 7, success), discarding Glissade AI card.

Nestore Blocks and moves in a better position, Karl draws near (treading at 4 Movement).

Turn 4

Time for a Vain Flourish, targeting Nestore (7, 6). One hit is blocked, the other is dodged (Rawhide roll is 4, survival is not recovered).

Cinzia uses Rawhide Headband to sort next AIs.

Nestore gets in position to tank and blocks again. Dario attacks with accurate Cat Gut Bow (2), missing. Good job.

Karl is finally drawing close.

Turn 5

Stinging Breeze, Nestore is target (4, 7). A single hit which gets blocked. Flower Knight is finally in position to be hit while standing outside the Fairy Ring.

Dario uses CEC again, Nestore moves and Blocks. Karl attacks from Blind Spot (6, a close hit), hitting Fey Sabatons. Wound roll is 7, which results in a Critical Wound, discarding Hypervigilance mood.

Cinzia moves, using Rawhide Headband again.

Turn 6

Bladed Kick, targeting Nestore (7, 4): a single hit which gets Blocked. 

Dario uses accurate Cat Gut Bow (2), missing. Cinzia attacks (9, 3), hitting Writhing Flora (WR 10). Since her Luck is -9 though, no critical is scored. I have no record of which AI is discarded at this point.

Nestore blocks, while Karl attacks (6) and misses.

Turn 7

AI is Salute, so surprisingly Cinzia gets targeted. Attack roll is (2, 5, 10), so two hits, both to Body. Cinzia dodges one, the other hits for 2 damage. Since no injury was inflicted by the attack, Cinzia gets 2 Brain Damage more.

Nestore moves and uses Rawhide Headband, Karl moves out, Dario uses Cat’s Eye Circlet and Cinzia tries to attack (5,2), missing. Nestore gets 1 Bleeding Token because he exited the Fairy Ring.

Turn 8

Now FK performs Majestic Onslaught (that’s one of the three AI I really fear from FK). First, Dario Blooms in the Fairy Ring (adding damage to FK), then Dario is targeted (2, 5, 10), two hits (Head and Body). Head gets dodged, Body hits for 2 damage, knocking Dario down.

Cinzia moves and attacks from blind spot (2, 6), hitting Glowing Eyes (WR 1, failure), then dashes away (1 Bleeding token). Nestore moves and blocks. Karl gets repositioned, because movement 4. We left Dario on the ground, since he’s not risking getting targeted by next AI.

Turn 9

AI is Stinging Breeze, targeting Nestore (2,5), nothing happens.

Karl attacks (8), hitting Furious Riposte. He rolls 2, failing to crit, so he triggers Basic Action against him (4,4,9), two hits to body, one to Waist for three damage each. Hit to Waist is dodged, two hits to Body cause two Serious Injuries (10, 8), a Broken Rib and then Karl is Bowled Over. Broken Rib is -1 permanent Speed (since you get to roll one dice at least, not that bad), then he gets 1 Bleeding token.

Nestore attacks with his shield (4,7), hitting another Furious Riposte (WR 1), getting attacked with basic action (4,9,10), the two hits are dodged (Rawhide roll recovers both).

Cinzia exits the Fairy Ring (1 Bleeding Token) and attacks from distance, hitting Fey Breastplate and Retreating Feint (WR 1, 2, both failures, the FK retreats three spaces towards the center of the Ring).

Dario stands up, exits the Ring getting 1 Bleeding Token, then Bandages himself. After this, he encourages Karl, who dashes away.

Turn 10

Appel, targeting Nestore (1, 6). The single hit is dodged (Rawhide does not recover this one).

Nestore Blocks. Dario attacks with accurate bow (6), hitting its Delicate Knee Joint (WR 10, critical), discarding Glissade and making all survivors recover 1 Survival.

Cinzia uses Rawhide Headband, Karl attacks (9), hitting Hypnoting Reflection (WR 2, failure because of Parry), and getting 2 Insanity as a Reflex reaction.

Turn 11

Salute, targeting Nestore (10, 10). One hit is blocked, the other is dodged (Rawhide roll 6, recovered Survival). Since nothing causes injury levels, Nestore gets pierced by its gaze, 2 Brain Damage.

Karl attacks (1) and misses, Cinzia attacks (4, 8), hits Armored Back and fails to wound. Nestore blocks and moves out, getting another Bleeding Token. Dario sorts HLs with CEC.

Turn 12

Another Stinging Breeze, targeting Nestore (10, 8), again another block and dodge (rawhide roll 8, recovered). Cinzia attacks (7, 10), hitting Delicate Shoulder Joint (WR 1) and Fey Helm Wings (WR 3), failing to wound.

Karl attacks from back (6), hitting Hypnotic Deflection (8), causing a Critical that wounds for Vain Flourish and triggers a Breakthrough (roll of 3, 1 Survival and +1 Luck token).

Nestore moves to be targeted next and blocks, Dario bandages Nestore.

Turn 13

Next AI is invitation, target Nestore (8,7,6). One hit is blocked, one is dodged (Rawhide roll does not recover, so 0 survival to dodge the second time), one hit to Arms passes. Nestore gets also Knockback 7 and a -1 Strength token.

Exactly now, the game has to be stopped because children arrived. I did my best to recover from here, but I continued this showdown the next day, alone.

Now, only HL left is the trap, so we prepare to trigger it. Everyone moves back and a Rawhide Headband is used, then Nestore goes to trigger the trap (hits Restless Roots). Everybody gets dragged towards the Fairy Ring, but thanks to the movement, nobody enters. FK goes to the center of the ring and Nestore is bloomed there, with a +1 Luck token. Basic Action against Nestore is (4,1,7), so 1 hit to Arms, causing 2 Damage which Knock Nestore Down. Karl encourages Nestore to stand, turn has ended.

Turn 14

AI is Appel, targeting Nestore (4,10). One hit to Arms, which would cause a Severe Injury, so I use the lifetime reroll to reroll location, which is Legs. Damage is soaked, Nestore gets -1 Luck token. Collision with Dario is triggered.

Karl attacks (7), hitting Fey Breeches (WR 1, failure), then encourages Dario and dashes away (1 Bleeding token).

Dario uses CEC, moves and encourages Nestore. Cinzia attacks (9,4) hitting Fey Hilt (WR 10, but no critical because of the 9 -1 Luck tokens), discarding Stinging Breeze. After this, she dashes out of the way (getting Bleeding token).

Nestore moves in place and blocks again.

Turn 15

Majestic Onslaught, targeting Nestore. Karl is bloomed inside, attack vs Nestore is (6,4,4), which is a single hit that is easily blocked.

Karl dashs, attacks (10) hitting Retreating Feint (WR 4) and causing a critical wound (Nature Reflection is discarded) and causing another Breakthrough (8, + Survival and + Luck again). After this, Karl moves away.

Nestore attacks (5,6), missing twice and moving away (Bleeding token).

Dario bandages Karl. Cinzia moves and attacks (9,9), hitting Flowering Bundle (6, Bladed Kick discarded) and Delicate Knee Joint (8, Disarm is discarded).

Turn 16

Ok, this turn hurted a lot. Another Majestic Onslaught, blooming Nestore and targeting him. Attack is 4,5,4, all misses. So, the FK shrieks angrily, causing 6 brain damage to Cinzia (Brain Trauma: Lunacy, gets the Hoarder disorder), 7 to Dario (Brain Trauma: Memory loss: -2 Weapon Proficiency. Great. Now he’s at 0 again), 6 to Nestore (Another Memory loss, so Nestore loses his single proficiency with shields) and 1 brain damage to Karl.

Now, Dario uses CEC. Karl attacks (3), missing.

Nestore attacks from Blind Spot (7,10), attacking its Armored Back (WR 10, Stinging Breeze is discarded) and Retreating Feint (WR 9, critical to discard Salute and trigger Breaktrough. Roll is 3, so +1 luck token and knocked down at edge of the Fairy Ring.

Cinzia just moves and sorts AI through Rawhide Headband.

Turn 17

AI is Appel, targeting Cinzia (4, 8): two hits to Arms and Body (knocked down), then Cinzia gets Knockback 7 and -1 Luck token (no problem, she’s back at -10).

Karl attacks again (10), hitting Furious Riposte (6, critical), discarding Invitation and triggering Breakthrough (roll is 9, so +1 Luck and +1 Survival). Karl dashes away (1 bleeding token) and encourages Cinzia.

Cinzia moves and sorts AI with Rawhide Headband. Dario does the same with CEC on Hit Locations.

Nestore attacks with shield (7,5), hitting Delicate Shoulder Joint and wounding with a critical which discards Majestic Onslaught, gives FK -1 Accuracy token, gives a free block to Nestore and +1 Survival, drawing a Lantern Bloom flower resource.

Turn 18

Appel targets Nestore (3,9), the hit is blocked.

Dario attacks with the accurate bow (7), hitting Fey Sabatons (4, wound), discarding Appel. Now the monster is down to its Basic Action.

Karl attacks and misses, Cinzia does the same. Karl dashes in position (bleeding token), Nestore does the same and blocks.

Turn 19

Basic Action, targeting Nestore (6,3,4): due to -1 Accuracy tokens, these rolls are all misses.

Dario uses CEC. Karl dashes and moves, attacking blind spot (7). This results in a hit to Fey Helm Wings, causing a critical which nets one Sighing Bloom and kills the Flower Knight.

Everyone gets 1 Hunt XP (Karl ages, getting Club as weapon type and gaining Trascended Masochist Fighting Art).

Dario and Nestore get 1 weapon proficiency, getting back to 1 point. Man, that guy sucks with bows.

Resource draw is Love Juice, 2 Monster Hides, ???, 3 Osseous Blooms, Warbling Bloom, 2 Lantern Blooms.

Also, we get a Flower Knight Badge, we trigger Sense Memory next Settlement Phase and add Petal Spiral to Innovation deck.

We left at the end of a much troubled LY4, ready to depart to hunt a not challenging anymore L1 White Lion. To complete settlement phase, we just choose departing survivors (Alfio, Betta, Hannah, Maurizio), equip them, and kiss them goodbye.

Hunt Phase

Short hunt. Tracking the Lion, Hannah reveals Lion in Heat event: 1 Brain Damage to everyone. Everyone has a base insanity and we have Stone noses, so no big deal.

Next event revealed is Lion Cub: we meet a small lion cub and are faced with the ethical conundrum if it's the case of butchering the helpless creature for the resources or if it's the case of butchering it just for the hell of it. Of we slaughter it, getting a Skull, a Broken Lantern, a Monster Hide and a Monster Bone.

Roll on the table is 4, so the father lion shows up, the hunt ends and the showdown begins immediately.

Showdown Phase - L1 White Lion

Terrain draw is 3 Stone columns and two acanthus plants: we can loot the acanthus, but have no use for the columns. Anyway, underestimating stuff is the first cause of death around here, so we place the columns in an eventually sensible manner.

Turn 1

The lion draws Chomp and targets Alfio (3), missing.

Hannah attacks from blind spot (8), hits Beast's Back (WR 7), and discards Grasp.

Maurizio attacks from other blind spot (3,8), hits Beast's Scapular Deltoid (WR 2, +1 Strength, +5 weapon strength) and wounds to discard Size Up.

Betta (2,3) and Alfio(4,3, Fist & Tooth) attack, but both miss.

Turn 2

Lion draws Alert mood.

Wisdom Potion reveals that trap is next card on HL deck. Hannah uses Cat's Eye Circlet to push trap down.

Betta attacks (9,3), wounding Beast's Ear (WR 8) to discard Terrifying Roar.

Alfio (8,2) hits Beast's Ribs, but fails to wound (WR 4).

Maurizio passes.

Turn 3

Beast Power Swats Alfio (5), missing him.

Betta attacks again (1,3) trying to defuse trap, but misses.

Hannah uses CEC to allow others to attack.

Alfio attacks (2,1), missing grossly.

Maurizio attacks with Cleaver (1,5), wounding Straining Neck to discard Claw.

Turn 4

Lion draws Revenge and targets Maurizio (6,5), hitting him twice (Waist, Body) and dragging him to board edge (1 other damage to Arms and knock down as effects of Grab).

Alfio encourages Maurizio (rawhide roll 5), then moves carefully to the edge of Alert mood to trigger it. Lion interrupts his movement, but cannot get to him, so no attack is made.

Hannah attacks (1), but misses.

Maurizio moves to draw closer.

Betta moves to blind spot to attack (9,3), hitting Beast's Chest (WR 9), discarding Claw AI. At end of action, being Traumatized, she's knocked down.

Turn 5

AI draw is Smart Cat, and the lion puts Alert mood back in play as a result.

Alfio encourages Betta to stand up (rawhide roll is 2).

Betta attacks (6,4) and hits Clever Ploy. Spear roll is 6, so trap is not defused. Lion hits (5,7) twice at her body, then, being Traumatized, she falls on her knees again.

Alfio moves, triggering Alert (10,10), getting damaged to Head and Body. After the interruption, Alfio carries on with his attack (4,9), hitting Strange Hand (WR 4), but failing to wound.

Maurizio encourages Betta, Alfio dashes to get in position, Hannah attacks (10), hitting Beast's Ribs (WR 5) and discarding Power Swat, then moves.

Maurizio cleaves from blind spot (5,7), wounding both Beast's Back (WR 7) and Beast's Chest (WR 6), discarding Revenge and Chomp.

Turn 6

Smart Cat into Alert again. Alfio attacks (10, 2), hitting Beast's Brow (WR 7) and discarding Smart Cat. Wound reaction is 1 Brain damage and a basic action (8,1), which hits for 1 damage to Body. Alfio then moves away, triggering Alert and being attacked with another basic action (5,4), which misses. Betta collides with the attacking lion and suffers knockback and knockdown. Maurizio encourages Betta, who stands and goes to gather acanthus (4), but finds nothing usable, then moves away.

Betta attacks (10,4), hitting Beast's Flank (WR 8), discarding Alert, its last AI, then moves away.

Turn 7

Basic Action, targeting Alfio (2,5): both misses. Maurizio goes to harvest acanthus (6), but again nothing useful is found.

Betta moves in and attacks again (8,8), hitting Glorious Mane and Straining Neck. She scores a critical (10) against the mane, getting a Shimmering Mane (will be traded ASAP for two hides), then wounds the neck, finally putting the best out of its misery.

Everyone gets 1 hunt xp and 1 weapon proficiency. Betta ages (15), gaining +1 Strength. Hannah ages (4), gaining Combo Master fighting art.

Resource draw is one Golden Whiskers, a Sinew, a Lion Claw, White Fur, ???, two Monster Bones, one Monster Organ.

So, not as bountiful as it could have been, but we have enough. Time to go back to Monte Luce.

Settlement Phase

Survivors return, generating 5 endeavors. Random settlement event is Hunt Reenactment. A Gorm hunt is enacted, roll is 8: all departing survivors will depart with max survival. One lantern year passes, it's time to suffer the Gorm herds mating next door. Gorm Climate roll is 5, so returning survivors skip next hunt and their insanity is set to 0. But that's not all for returning survivors, since a white speaker in a bad shape arrived at the settlement, only to die in a black water explosion, because it's already here. Returning survivor experience a memory haze, and as a result they all forget a fighting art to learn the prized Blotted Out. Now, we are done with that part, and we can build the settlement. First, we build the Leather Worker and the Weapon Crafter. Then, we build a Whisker Harp, and with the remaining resources we innovate: choice is between Face Painting and Bloodletting: we go with face painting, so that we can start having babies. Two endeavors go to face painting, rolling to get +1 twice on intimacy rolls. The other two endeavors go to Dario trying Augury, getting once +1 understanding at the cost of a Broken Lantern, and finally triggering Intimacy. Roll is 5,6, with a +2, Patrizia (female) is born from Dario and Hannah!

Now, it is time to choose the hunters departing this year: Nestore, Dario, Karl and Cinzia. Since Nestore has Flower Addiction, chosen quarry is a Flower Knight. Since we feel confident (always the wrong feeling too experience in this game), we will go for a Level 2.

Settlement Phase

Our four survivors return, netting the Settlement 4 Endeavors.

There are no new dead, so we just proceed to the new Settlement Event: Stranger in the Dark. The roll is 9, so the Stranger is yet another Survivor who joins us, adding another Founding Stone to our total and +1 Population.

Now, for the busy part of the year. First Story Event to trigger is A Crone’s Tale: this nice old lady who tells us she once hid in a dung ball and got rolled inside a beautiful garden, then dies with a flower on her mouth. Nestore catches that flower, getting the Sleeping Virus Flower and Flower Addiction disorder. Also, we can now hunt the Flower Knight.

Second (less pleasant) event is The Hanged Man. Basically, this guy with the sonorous lantern enters the Settlement and all are mesmerized, except one brave survivor that gets a deranged expression and makes everyone resist the stranger. So, our brave hero is Hannah, who gets Abyssal Sadist fighting art. Now, it is time to face a Level 1 Manhunter, but first let’s complete story events and let’s see if we can get any more prepared than this.

Roll for Gorm Climate this year is 9, so we just nominate a survivor with 0 XP to receive +1 Courage. Luckily, we just have a new survivor who volunteered, so the brave soul is Ofelia.

Now, finally, we get Hands of Heat. The chosen volunteer is still Ofelia, another good roll (10), so we get Lantern Oven innovation, she gets Red Fist Secret Fighting Art and she gets to roll on Lantern Branding. First, the huge feast there makes us lose half of our total resources (so, 1 Broken Lantern - girls gone wild, huh?), then, a roll of 1 on the table makes this a tradition, scheduled for Lantern Year 11 next, and all departing survivors this year get +10 Survival - very good, the Manhunter arrival set all of us to 0.

Now, time to craft: we don’t have anything, but we have 4 endeavors. So, since Stone Noses are actually a good filler, I craft 4 of them.

Now, let’s depart for a Special Showdown with the Manhunter. Chosen survivors are Alfio, Dario, Betta and Hannah.

This town ain’t big enough...

Special Showdown: Manhunter L1

Showdown is set up, terrain draw is a Giant Stone Face. Could prove useful, but I really need a Surge here to make it shine.

Before talking about the actual showdown, a bit of presentation of what a Manhunter will do:

First, the Manhunter takes a Stride (short for level 1, only 3 spaces, full for all other levels), that makes it come near to the closest threat and, if it goes adjacent to it, he just performs a Tombstone.

Second, it performs Tombstone! It is a wrestling move on every adjacent, facing survivor, luckily with crappy accuracy (4+ base) and with an After Damage trigger which bashes your victims.

Third, it has the tendency to draw its gun, which can reach you everywhere and destroy obstacles, from time to time.

Also, the Manhunter goes first, so, given the placement, it means that you will get Tombstoned at least once. Since I feel confident with my tank’s damage taking ability, I set up accordingly to make Alfio get a bashing since Turn 1.

Turn 1

Manhunter takes a Short Stride towards Alfio, then Tombstones him. It needs a 7+ to connect, and it gets a 9, so it hits and bashes. Since I cannot afford to make Alfio not tank its first AI, Alfio dodges (Rawhide roll 8, +1 survival), skips the damage and the bash.

Now, AI is Listen Up!, so we are up for a bashing and a lecture. It needs a 5+ to hit now, and it rolls 9,6. So, hit to Arms, Body and Deaf Severe Head Injury.

Survivor’s turn. First turn, we set up, so the active Wisdom Potion is enough for us to see in advance, no Cat’s Eye Circlet required. Dario climbs on top of Giant Stone Face and takes his place. Betta moves to the flank and attacks with King Spear (2,5), a double miss.

Hannah goes into monster’s blind spot and attacks with Rib Blade (3, +2 Accuracy +1 Blind Spot), hits Rippling Abs (WR 4). She spends 1 Survival to avoid consequences, then immediately regains it thanks to Abyssal Sadist Fighting Art (and +1 Insanity). AI discarded for the wound is Crack Shot, and Hannah is eligible for Weapon Proficiency. So far, so good.

Alfio just gets in place and blocks.

Turn 2

Short Stride to Alfio, Tombstone (9), another connected it avoided with Block.

Next AI is Clothesline, which targets Dario being the furthest. Dario dashes away to avoid the dire consequences, a Stone Column gets destroyed on collision, nothing happens. So much for Giant Stone Face placement.

Dario moves in a better spot and uses Claw Head Arrow (2), so the arrow is wasted once again. I think I keep bringing it as a luck charm, not as an actual thing I plan to use.

Alfio moves to be targeted again and blocks.

Betta moves, being out of range she uses Rawhide Headband to sort monster AI. I opt to go the suicidal route and take the mood first. I feel confident today.

Hannah draws near, using activation to climb the Giant Stone Face. 

Turn 3

Short Stride/Tombstone to Alfio (9, we have a Pro Wrestler here!), another hit avoided by Block.

First AI drawn is You’ve Already Lost mood (-1 to SI rolls, discard when someone dies), then Murderous Gaze targeting Betta. Betta rolls 3 (+2 Understanding), not enough, so 1 Brain Damage (soaked), a Knock Down (not bad) and 3 damage to Waist (can take it... once).

Now, the mood is a bet we can finish it off quickly, since it is one less wound to cause - let’s get to business.

HL on top is bad, so Dario uses Cat’s Eye Circlet. He then encourages Betta.

Hannah attacks with Rib Blade (9), hitting Ossified Knee Guards (WR 9, Critical Wound): reaction cancelled, now another roll + Strength to see if the monster is knocked down (5): it goes down! AI discarded is Disappointment (good, I fear that one!).

Now that the monster is down, it is time to go to town while reactions are cancelled. Alfio goes to Fist & Tooth it (3,9), hitting Gritty Visage and Battle-Scarred Arms (WR 9 and 10, two Critical wounds!). He gains one Red Vial strange resource and +3 Survival, getting also eligible for Fist & Tooth Weapon Proficiency. AI discarded is Crack Shot and Take ‘em all down!.

Betta tries her best with the Spear (10, 1), hitting once Achilles Tendon (WR 4, wound), discarding Precise Cut AI, and getting eligible for Spear Weapon Proficiency.

I am only sorry I cannot surge, because that was too good an opportunity. Too bad, time to go back to business (this time we haven’t Blocked with Alfio, so we’ll see).

Turn 4

Monster gets up at beginning of turn, Short Stride/Tombstone to Alfio (2), finally a miss!

AI is Run and Gun, targeting Alfio. Now, since this one involves Gun Action, Alfio will be hit. The problem is that, with current placement (see picture for the end of turn 2, nobody moved), it would knock down basically everyone on its trail to move through Alfio. So, we make Alfio dash out of the way to minimize collisions.

Manhunter goes through Alfio (knocked down), then reaches end of the board, turns around and performs Gun Action with +1 Speed (6,10), 2 damage to both Head and Arms. No further Brain Damage because, well, he’s Deaf.

Hannah encourages Alfio, who stands up.

Dario uses CEC.

Hannah reaches the Manhunter and hits with Rib Blade (5 + Accuracy), wounding Hardened Torso (WR 8), spending 1 Survival to avoid consequences and, as usual, regaining it immediately with Abyssal Sadist. Run and Gun is the AI discarded.

Betta reaches the Manhunter and attacks (9,5), hitting Knotted Back (WR 1, failure), not wounding.

Alfio just moves in position and Blocks.

Turn 5

Short Stride/Tombstone as usual (9), another perfect wrestling move halted with Block by Alfio.

AI is Murderous Gaze again, target is Betta again, who rolls 6 +2 Understanding, still not enough: 1 Brain Damage, Knocked down, 3 damage to Arms location.

Dario encourages Betta, then tries a hit with accurate Cat Gut Bow (1): a dramatic miss for the least proficient bow user there is.

Betta attacks with King Spear again (3, 1), another double miss.

Hannah unleashes the fury with Rib Blade (10, perfect hit which triggers Mighty Strike), hitting Solid Shoulder with a perfect lantern 10 and a truckload of strength bonus: Critical Wound, Hannah gains a Red Vial and Clothesline AI is discarded.

Alfio, once again, gets his shit together, stands and Blocks, waiting for the next Tombstone.

Turn 6

And next Tombstone arrives (9), and it gets Blocked as usual. AI is Listen Up!, which cannot target Alfio because he’s quixantitaliasrl(what’s the point in beating up someone if you can’t trash talk him while you do it?). So, target is Betta. Alfio takes the chance to dash out of the way (Rawhide roll is 7, so +1 survival, today it’s on fire!). Attack roll is 1,7: a single hit which Betta dodges (Rawhide roll is 9: another survival recovery!), so no damage, no other deafening.

Dario tries again with accurate Cat Gut Bow (6): one hit to Callused Thigh (WR 1, failure). Failure reaction makes the Manhunter full move through Alfio, making him suffer Grab (1 damage to legs, knocked down). Another spectacular bow failure.

Hannah goes to the rescue attacking (5), triggering the trap This Town Ain’t Big Enough. Everybody is doomed, Hannah and Dario get Knockback 3, then Manhunter performs Gun Action on Hannah (6), dealing two damage to Legs, causing a knock down.

Betta attacks (9,1), hitting Ossified Knee Guards (WR 3 + 3 Spear Strength + 2 Strength + 1 Mammoth Hunting, wound), Murderous Gaze AI gets discarded.

We could try and finish the combat now, but if we attack with Alfio and do not kill (likely), we get a round with Basic Action at Speed 3 on top of a Tombstone without the slightest protection from Block, so it is wiser to wait this one out.

Alfio moves and dashes to get in position, then Blocks (rawhide roll this time is 5, not enough to gain Survival).

Turn 7

Short Stride/Tombstone to Alfio (2), Manhunter misses. Listen Up! targets Betta again (2,9), who dodges the single hit received (Rawhide roll is 9: survival recovered).

Betta attacks with spear (5,4), two misses.

Dario stands and attacks with accurate Cat Gut Bow (7), hitting Grimacing Jaw. Wound roll is 4, but the added Toughness to the location makes it a failure.

Hannah stands and attacks (6), hitting its Gritty Visage, discarding last AI (Listen Up!). Reflex reaction is a Serious Injury, Hannah rolls a 9 to the Body (+1 from Reflex, -1 from Mood): Collapsed Lung (-1 Movement token and 1 Bleeding token).

Now, since the Manhunter has only Basic Action left and will target the survivor with most Bleeding Tokens, Hannah consumes her Red Vial to remove the tokens and gain +2 Survival (unnecessary, because Abyssal Sadist).

Alfio has no Founding Stone to surefire end the showdown, so he just blocks, waiting for another turn.

Turn 8

Short Stride/Tombstone to Alfio (2), another miss.

Basic Action, which targets Alfio again (4,5,5), two hits, one to Waist and one to Body. Alfio blocks the one to the Body, so 2 damage to Waist.

Dario has his last chance to shine, wound the Manhunter with the bow and gain his Weapon Proficiency (2): he fails as one would expect.

Hannah attacks (4), missing.

Now, if we try to wound with Betta and fail, we have Alfio without a Founding Stone to try to wound last, so we invert order of action, and Betta will eventually use a Founding Stone.

Alfio attacks with Fist & Tooth (2, 8), hitting Hardened Torso (WR 7): last wound is inflicted, Manhunter is dead.

Everyone gets 1 Hunt XP, and everyone except Dario gets 1 Weapon Proficiency (Betta becomes Spear specialist, Hannah becomes Grand specialist).

The team gains Reverberating Lantern rare gear (we will put that to use immediately), and Alfio rolls a 8 and gains Tough Fighting Art.

Also, Settlement Watch innovation gets added on top of the innovation deck.

Now, our survivors return to continue their Settlement Phase, as if nothing happened.

Settlement Phase (continued)

Nothing to do here, just decide to depart. First, the quarry: we are actually divided here:

if we hunt a Flower Knight, we miss the good chance to do some safe Herb and Mineral Gathering behind the Forest Gate, because we don’t have any Sickle or Pickaxe yet.

If we hunt a Screaming Antelope, we will waste a lot of precious resources because we have yet to build Stone Circle or anything remotely interesting

If we hunt a Gorm, we will postpone again the moment we get Leather, going past another difficult hunt.

If we hunt a L2 Lion or Antelope, we actually will get more resources to build locations, but we will also get 2 Hunt XP, and that is bad, because we don’t want our training masteries to finish too early, especially since Nightmare Training is still far away (I could have done better with Innovations - I just fell victim to greed).

So, hopefully for the last time, we will hunt a L1 White Lion, with the hopes to get Whiskers for the harp, some more resources to craft Sickles and Pickaxes, and the rest will be devoted to build Leather Worker, Weapon Crafter and Stone Circle (reasonably, not all at once, but you get the idea).

Showdown Phase - Nemesis Encounter: Butcher L1

Terrain draw is a Toppled Pillar. I can usually make something out of it, but Butcher targeting and limited movement could be more easily taken advantage of by a static tanking. Well, not every showdown you get to draw Giant Stone Face or Tall Grass (or even Acanthus Plants), I guess.

So, we place to not have the Toppled Pillar in the way (I really should have taken Symposium, I would also have had Surge by this time... it is just that I can’t resist Paint when I see it), and we are ready to begin.

Preliminary strategy is just to tank with Nestore and hit with everybody else, slowly and carefully. Butcher will draw two AI per turn thanks to Berserker S card, and will shuffle its Hit Location deck at the start of every turn thanks to Fast Target (16 Hit Location, of which one is the Trap and another is the only Critical AND Deathblow location). We really want to hit that Deathblow location, but we will see how it goes.

Turn 1

For all the Showdown we have an active Wisdom Potion, so we can always see the first Hit Location without using Cat’s Eye Circlet. Also, using Cat’s Eye Circlet (CEC) is always shortened, because it happens often.

Monster skips first turn, because survivors go first.

Nestore moves to be the target of the Butcher, and Blocks to stay in place.

Maurizio moves and fires the Claw Head Arrow (3): as usual, he misses. Hitting with a Bow is for him more a matter of perseverance than actual skill. Anyway, it is not that hard to hit a Butcher, so, too bad, but let’s not cry too much.

Hannah uses CEC and moves in place, just to see if we could get a smaller advantage.

Betta moves in range and attacks with King Spear (7,10), hitting Furious Crown (WR 1, failure) and Furious Greaves (WR 1, failure). Reflex reactions are an AOE attack which gets wasted, then the Butcher moves next to Betta (and, strategically, Nestore).

First turn is more or less wasted.

Turn 2

Butcher draws Hack, targeting Nestore (4,2). It needs a 7+ to hit, so both misses. Next AI (thanks to Berserker) is Gaze of Truth, always targeting Nestore. It rolls 7, so Nestore is Knocked Down and gains Delicius disorder (still not bad). As a byproduct of this, he gains also +2 Understanding, triggering a Showdown Phase Insight - he gets Analyze ability (if next to monster at the beginning of survivor’s act, you can see first AI card on the deck) and the Insight roll of 1 makes him ignore next Serious Injury this Showdown.

Betta encourages Nestore, making him stand up (Rawhide roll is 2, so no survival recovery).

Nestore just moves and Blocks.

Betta moves and attacks with the Spear (8,1), hitting Furious Shoulder (WR 8, success): the wound discards another Hack, Reflex reaction is not applicable, and Betta is now eligible for Weapon Proficiency: not bad, 11 AI + 1 Wound to go.

Hannah uses CEC (better safe than sorry) - all HL reactions are unfavorable enough for us, so Maurizio just moves to be in a better position, then waits.

Turn 3

Butcher draws Wild Carve, targeting Nestore (7,6): one hit passes evasion, but it is filtered by Block. After the flow, the automatic damage (Body) and Bleeding token passes. Next AI is Bite, against Nestore again (I hate Bite). We have not a lot of choices, we can’t run, so we stand there and wait to get hit. Roll is 9, 6, so one hit passes. Due to Hyper-Sensitivity, we have to Dodge this, so no hit passes.

Maurizio attacks with accurate Cat Gut Bow (aCGB), rolling 9 and hitting Armored Pig Shoulders (WR 4, failure).

Hannah moves again and uses CEC, then Betta attacks (6,10), hitting Furious Gauntlet (WR 1, failure), triggering an Intimidate reaction (1 Brain Damage) and Butcher’s Mask (WR 3, failure), which reaction is to be shoved away (Knockback 5).

After this, Nestore moves in place again and Blocks.

Turn 4

Butcher draws Embrace the Pain mood (we need a Whisker Harp), then draws AI for Bite (target Nestore, 2, 3), missing graciously with every hit, then Kick (2, 4), missing again. Kick follows up with Basic Action (10, 5), and the remaining hit gets Blocked. So far, so good.

Hannah moves in place and uses CEC. Maurizio attacks with aCGB (7), hitting Furious Greaves (WR 3), failing to wound.

Nestore just Blocks.

Betta moves, but trap is 2 HL away, so I choose not to attack and use Rawhide Headband to switch AI order.

Turn 5

AI is Infinite Kick to Nestore (6,3), all misses. Infinite Kick prompts another AI draw, so Butcher’s Roar is drawn, targeting all. Betta (4) gets a Brain Trauma and is Knocked down: Danger Seizures make her get Traumatized disorder (when ending act adjacent to monster, you are knocked down). The rest of the survivors are just suffering one Brain Damage and are Knocked Down.

Next AI is Hew, and target is Nestore, being Delicius he’s still a threat, even if Knocked Down. Hew roll is 7, so a hit passes, but gets Blocked.

All survivors are knocked down, so no survivor acts during survivor’s turn.

Turn 6

Target is still delicius Nestore, AI is Devour Lantern (7, 10): he has to Dodge both due to Hyper-sensitivity. Rawhide roll is 6 and 8, so Survival is fully recovered.

Next AI is another Bite (we have a Biter today) (8, 8), one further damage to Waist and Arms and a Serious Injury, which gets ignored by the showdown phase Insight result. (Quick note: I actually got an Intracranial Hemorrage here and forgot to apply the Insight result, so I played the rest of the Showdown as if he had that SI. I noticed the mistake in the Aftermath, so I removed it and for the sake of the report, this is what happened).

All survivors stand up, Maurizio moves to Bandage Nestore and removing his two Bleeding tokens.

Betta attacks with the Spear (6, 9), and hits Furious Scrag and Furious Greaves with two Wounds (5, 4, which gets to wound thanks to Mammoth Hunting fighting art). AI discarded is Wild Carve and Butcher’s Roar.

Butcher reacts with Basic Action (due to Embrace the Pain), targeting Betta (5, 3), both misses.

Hannah tries to hit with Rib Blade (2), missing.

Turn 7

Due to the error in taking the bad severe injury to Nestore, I ran the rest of the Showdown thinking that he had 0 Survival and could not gain or spend it anymore, so things went needlessly worse (not that bad, but still bad) than what they would have been with 3 other Dodges at my disposal, plus Rawhide recovery.

Anyway, Butcher Draws Kick (Nestore, 9, 4), one single hit that gets blocked, so no After Damage trigger. Basic Action after it is a roll of 4, 5, so all misses.

Next attack is Bite (man, I came to hate this!), rolling 7 and 9: one damage to Head and Legs, and a Severe Injury to the Head as After Hit trigger: roll is 9, so Shattered Jaw and 1 Bleeding Token.

Since things went so south, it is time to heave a bit the load on the Butcher. Hannah attacks with Rib Blade: 9 to hit, lantern 10 to wound Furious Scrag: Critical Wound! Gaze of Truth is out, and Hannah gets Mighty Strike Fighting Art.

Betta attacks with Spear (9, 2), hitting Butcher’s Cleaver: it is Impervious, so no wound. Betta gains +1 Insanity.

Maurizio attacks (aCGB, 6), hitting Overpower, triggering the trap. Hannah and Nestore are Knocked back with 1 Brain Damage each (another token to Infectious Lunacy, Betta, Hannah and Nestore are at 2, while Maurizio is at 1).

Butcher then performs Basic Action on Maurizio (4,8), resulting in a hit to the Legs and 1 Bleeding token.

Nestore moves back in position and blocks.

Turn 7

Butcher performs Hew on Nestore (7,3), one hit which gets blocked. Next AI is Infinite Kick (3,4) which fully misses. Next one is Hack (1,6), which completes the misses.

Maurizio bandages Nestore and moves away.

Betta hits the Butcher (10, 9) to its Furious Bellow (WR 5, success, Bite is discarded) and to Furious Greaves (WR 6, success, Infinite Kick is discarded)

Butcher reacts with Basic Action due to Embrace the Pain (1, 6), and Betta dodges the single hit received.

Hannah attacks with Rib Blade (8), hitting Furious Vambraces (WR 9), wounding to remove the remaining Bite. Now, bad AI is clear enough to take a quick respite.

Nestore goes on to block again, standing in the way of the Butcher.

Turn 8

Butcher goes to Hew on Nestore (3,3), missing. Then it draws Kick (7,8), one hit gets blocked, the other goes to the Body, knocking back Nestore against the Stone Column, destroying it and causing another damage to Legs.

Pursuing, its Basic Action (1,2) fully misses.

Hannah with Rib Blade (7) hits Furious Breast Plate (WR 5), wounding to discard Devour Lantern.

Butcher with Basic Action due to Embrace the Pain against her rolls (4,9), and that one hit gets Dodged.

Maurizio goes on to bandage Hannah, and Betta uses King Spear (5,10) to hit its Furious Gut (WR 7): the Butcher is Knocked Down as a result, everyone gets +1 Courage, triggering Bold event with Nestore (roll 9), who gets Stalwart ability and +1 Strength. Hew AI is discarded.

Seizing the moment, Nestore goes to attack the monster knocked down (9,10), hitting its Thick Cape (WR 1, failure) and its Furious Bellow (9). This wound makes him too eligible for one much needed Shield Proficiency, gives him one free Block with his Knuckle Shield and makes the monster discard Hack AI.

Now, this is funny, because my haste to score a wound with a shield made me forget to use Rawhide Headband sensibly in this delicate part, so the Butcher is left with only Kick AI, and I have no activations to spare to remove it. In 1.31, that would have caused an infinite loop that would have ended with the butcher killing my two Delicius survivors, knocking down everyone else, then performing a final Menace before returning me control. Luckily, Kick AI now ends properly, so we only expect a double kick. Vicious, maybe, but hardly worrisome.

Turn 9

Monster double Kicks nestore, so the sequence is: double miss with the Kick, double hit with Basic Action, one gets blocked, the other hits Head and causes Bleed 1. The other Kick is a double miss, the Basic Action is a single hit to the Head, with another Bleed 1 and Nestore knocked down.

Hannah tries to hit with Rib Blade (1) and misses.

Betta attacks with spear (5,10) and hits Butcher’s Mask with a wound roll of 10. Monster gets -2 Toughness for the rest of the round and the last AI (Kick) is discarded.

Now, we want to hit its Furious Scrag to deathblow it. It is not a matter of life and death, but rewards are nice and we can stand a couple of turns more.

Hannah encourages Nestore to stand, Nestore blocks in place and Maurizio bandages Nestore. Ready for another round.

Turn 10

Butcher is down to its Basic Action. First one misses, second one hits with 9,9. One hit is blocked, the other wounds body location, knocking Nestore down again.

Hannah uses CEC immediately, and we are lucky, since Furious Scrag is in the first three HL right away. We put it on top, then Betta uses a Founding Stone to critical wound it. She learns Mighty Strike in the process, and we trigger the Deathblow for the Butcher, decapitating it while it is still standing. Everyone gets +1 evasion.

In the Aftermath, everyone gets +1 Hunt XP and Hannah, Betta and Nestore all get +1 Weapon Proficiency. For the rewards, we roll 9 (+2 Deathblow, +1 Butcher level): we gain the Butcher’s Cleaver and 2 Broken Lanterns.

Settlement Phase

Our heroes return to Monte Luce, gaining 5 endeavors in the process (4 returning survivors + 1 from Alfio's Tinker), bringing bounty for everyone, to ensure that the Settlement continues to exist through the light of yet another lantern.

We advance the timeline, and as usual it's time to draw the settlement event: Haunted, which targets the Settlement's only 0xp survivor: Nestore. Roll on the table is 1, which means that all endeavor is prohibited unless we kill him off. Of course, we can't afford to lose a survivor, but we also want to do something with our endeavors, so Nestore spends his lifetime reroll to change the result: new roll is 10, so he gets +2 strength, +1 accuracy and Possessed ability (cannot use specializations, masteries or fighting arts); this is kind of harsh, but we will find a way to give him a glorious death (possibly), I'm sure. 

Now for Gorm mating season. Roll for Gorm Climate is 2, this means that the acid rain destroys once again our settlement storage: luckily we spent everything and it is fully depleted.

Now, let's prepare for the Butcher: we could really use a shield and some Bandages: the latter are readily crafted, while we have to make a choice for the shield: we have plenty of endeavors to make leather worker and some leather, but we won't have enough resources to craft Round Leather Shield so, although I think the Round Leather is the superior one, we will settle for the handy alternative: a Knuckle Shield.

Now, two organs are used for a quick roll on the Gormchymist: 7 and 9, we get a Wisdom Potion! First try, not bad: I was ready to waste a lot more here.

Ok, I guess innovating a bit won't harm, right? Draw is Forbidden Dance and Momento Mori... Another two poor choices for the moment. I don't want Forbidden Dance consequences because I am not using Choreia and the new, nerfed Heart Flute is suicidal in a campaign with Slender Man (maybe later, to farm Dark Water), and besides, Momento Mori has a few interactions with events that is worth to have. So, Momento Mori it is.

We now have four endeavors and a spare scrap, so let's put Alfio's experience to good use: two shared experience with Nestore, who gets his first Age milestone: Shield weapon type and Trailblazer fighting art (which, being Possessed, won't work).

Now, we can already see the Lantern Hoard illuminate the belt of faces worn by the Butcher... Time to get some fresh meat!

Departing Survivors are Maurizio, Betta, Hannah and Nestore. Betta and Hannah are actually no-brainers, and Alfio is cut off because the Butcher has only one crit location - I would waste precious HLs trying to wound it with Fist & Tooth, and time is not on our side. Maurizio is there even if we don’t have an Axe, because he is still our best Murder target, if it gets drawn, and it has to stay that way, so - hunt XP here we come! Nestore was kind of a tough choice, because of Possessed which prevented him to use his (actually good) Fighting Arts. Anyway, my reasoning is, since he is a candidate for the upcoming Sleeping Virus Flower, why not?

So, stats and gear grids:

Showdown Phase - Gorm L1

AI deck is quickly prepared (8 basic AI, 2 Advanced), the two Tall Grass terrain is placed next to the Gorm, now for the random Terrain draw: Dead Monster and Sinkhole (wow, Lion God stuff is making an early appearance this campaign! Omen?).

Sinkhole is actually a bugger, especially since it has no positive interactions in a Gorm Showdown, but Dead Monster actually makes us ambush the monster and allows us to be placed anywhere. Up for a good start, we choose the final placement as pictured:

Now, let the carnage begin (spoiler: we rolled very very poorly this Showdown).

Turn 1

Monster skips its turn, directly to survivors!

Hannah, obviously, uses CEC (Cat’s Eye Circlet) to set up Hit Locations. She will do this a lot, so let me use this shorthand notation to describe her act.

Dario tries to hit with a Claw Head Arrow (1), misses. So much for our eagle-eyed bow user. Arrow is used up, business as usual.

Betta attacks with King Spear (5,7), gets a hit to Mammoth Bloated Face, rolls 2 to Wound, so nothing done. After that, she runs into Tall Grass.

Alfio goes with Fist & Tooth (5,4), double miss. He also moves in the other patch of Tall Grass.

Turn 2

Gorm draws Thunder Foot mood - we just have to be careful not ending our act in a 3-square radius around the beast. After that, it draws AI again: Scratch, targeting Betta. Attack roll is 3, but Betta in Tall Grass is hit at 7+, so no harm done.

Now it’s survivors‘ turn. Betta attacks again with the spear (7, 8), hitting in order its Spongy Leg Bone (Wound roll 6, success) and Mammoth Testes (Wound roll 10, critical hit). Thunder Foot gets discarded in the discard pile, while Maw-Arm Toss and Body Check AI cards go to the Wound Stack. As a reward for her critical, Betta learns Mammoth Fighting Fighting Art (+1 Strength when attacking from flanks). The Gorm is reasonably enraged by the critical wound on its testicles, so he gets +1 Damage token. Gotta admit he’s way chillier than the White Lion about the whole issue. Also, Betta is now eligible for Spear Weapon Proficiency at the end of the Showdown.

It’s time for Hannah to use CEC, while Dario tries a single hit with Cat Gut Bow with increased accuracy. Roll is 2, nothing. Alfio attacks again with Fist & Tooth (9,2): one hit to Mammoth Bulging Eye, failing to wound with a WR (Wound Roll) of 3; as a failure reaction, the Gorm turns away and runs.

Turn 3

It’s Hiccup time! This AI is actually key to loop the Gorm in being harmless while everyone hits it. Basically, you get out of range of Hiccup, let it play its AI, then use Rawhide Headband to put another AI on top. You wound that AI, then you use the last turn on another survivor to use Rawhide Headband to put Hiccup on top again. This is extremely boring, so we did not do that this time. And that was my first tactical error: underestimate a Gorm. At least the fight was not boring.

So, after the first Hiccup, the monster retches to nobody and Hiccup goes again on top of AI deck.

Dario gets a clear shot with accurate Cat Gut Bow, rolls 1. Another miss. Best bow user ever.

Alfio tries again to punch the beast (3,5), nothing done.

Hannah uses her turn to check Dead Monster (4, get a random Basic Resouce, ??? drawn).

Alfio Dashes out of range to avoid being knocked down by next Hiccup.

Turn 4

Monster Hiccups again, targeting Dario. Another null retch.

Dario moves and dashes to use Cat Gut Bow, this time without the bonus Accuracy (3,6): another two misses.

Betta moves in a better position, still being out of range. Temptation to use Rawhide Headband is strong, but we thought it would have been a faster showdown this way.

Alfio attacks (5,5): Fist & Tooth is predictably ineffective.

Hannah has a chance to swing her Rib Blade (9): she hits Mammoth Backstrap (WR 5) and wounds to discard Hiccup. Hannah is now eligible for Weapon Proficiency.

Turn 5

Monster draws Strobe. Since I could choose two facing, Monster Controller chooses to face Dario and Betta: 1 Brain Damage and Knock Down to both.

(Since Brain Damage is not the same as Damage, +1 Damage Token does not apply here).

Since we got the previous event damage, both get a Brain Trauma. Betta rolls 9, gaining a New Perspective (+3 Insanity). Dario, of course, rolls 1 (Mortal Terror). That would get him dead, so we use his lifetime reroll to reroll Brain Trauma (no-brainer here: he would die, so the reroll would be wasted anyway). New roll is 8: Lunacy. He gets a +2 Insanity and a random disorder (Aichmophobia, not too bad on a Bow user). So much for his lifetime reroll, at least it worked (this could have been avoided simply by Hiccup-looping the Gorm, and wait to see the rest!).

Hannah uses CEC. Alfio attacks again with Fist & Tooth (9, 6), hitting Mammoth Maw. WR is 3, so nothing done.

Hannah, now staying safely away from the heat of the battle, encourages Dario.

Dario attacks with accurate bow (6), hitting Mammoth Rear Clubfoot. WR is 5, enough to wound. Headbutt AI goes to the Wound stack. And Dario too can get his Weapon Proficiency in the Aftermath.

Turn 6

Gorm draws Aggravated Bite (the most dangerous Basic AI it has, but not too bad), targeting Dario (5,5). It hits twice for 1+1 Damage to both Head and Arms. Dario Dodges Head damage (which would have caused a Severe Injury), but gets knocked down by Arms damage and gets 1 Bleeding Token.

Hannah uses CEC again. Alfio hits from Blind Spot (8,10) its Fluorescent Lure (WR 3, failure) and its Mammoth Hand (WR 1, another failure which triggers Reaction), the beast reacts by performing its Basic Action against Alfio (6,6), two damage to Head and Legs.

Betta moves and attacks with the Spear (1,2), nothing. I am tempted to say that this is a string of bad luck, but I actually wrought this on myself: a simple Hiccup loop would have made all of this a cakewalk. Ok, enough ranting, what comes next is a bit of a slaughter.

Turn 7

This is the turn when I actually recognized that I made a mistake in not choosing the easy way. Gorm draws Flatten, targeting Alfio. It literally sits on him (10,5,5,9,8, five hits!), for 2+1 Damage to Head, Waist, Arms, Body and Head again. Okay, time to mitigate damage: one Head damage is Dodged (Rawhide Set bonus roll 5: no bonus survival), the other gets through for a Head Severe Injury (10! He broke a tooth - my only lucky roll today), the remaining hits are (barely) soaked, then bash and knockback 5.

At the end of this carnage, Gorm knocked itself down. Time to kick it, well, not in the nuts, since we already did that. We’ll see.

Dario attacks with Cat Gut Bow (4,9), hitting Mammoth Goiter (WR 3, failure) and Mammoth Crowded Fangs (WR 2, another failure). Reactions, thankfully, are cancelled.

Hannah uses CEC, then Encourages Alfio. Alfio stands and attacks (5,2), hitting Mammoth Mandible (he really wants to break even with his lost tooth), rolling 7 (+3 Strength), wounding and discarding Scratch. After that, he Dashes away as fast as he can. Alfio, too, can get his Weapon Proficiency from the fight.

Betta moves in with the spear (5,5), hitting Mammoth Distended Gut (WR 9, success) and Mammoth Skull (WR 5, success), discarding Thunder Foot and Strobe.

Turn 8

Monster uses Flatten, targeting Betta in Tall Grass. Roll is 10, 10, 5, 1, 3. Only the 10s hit, damaging Legs and Head. All barely soaked, but soaked indeed. Bash and Knockback 5 as usual, Gorm knocked down.

Dario encourages Betta. Hannah uses CEC. Betta gets back and attacks with her spear (6,2), hitting Mammoth Ridged Spine (WR 9), discarding Backslap.

I decide to wise up, and make Alfio use Rawhide Headband to sort next AI: Aggravated Bite and Flatten. I have potentially one wound to do, so it is tactical decision time. I just decide to leave Aggravated Bite on top, to be eventually discarded by next attack.

Dario uses accurate bow, rolling 3 and hitting barely Mammoth Rump (WR 9), so Aggravated Bite is discarded.

Betta (wisely) Dashes away to not be target of next Flatten.

We now are in to get Flatten until the monster is dead, and also we have to trigger the trap... what the hell was I thinking?

Turn 9

Monster draws Flatten, targets Hannah, she dashes away, the monster gets knocked down.

Hannah uses CEC. Alfio attacks (2,9), hitting Monster Tail (WR 1, failure).

Now that placement is complete, we have to trigger the trap. Dario moves in range and dash/attacks with the bow (10, 3), Lure Paroxism is drawn! Monster stands and rushes to hit Dario (which gets 2 damage to the Head, getting a Serious Injury, roll is 8, +1 of Tough Fighting Art: Shattered Jaw and 1 Bleeding Token. Bad, but not bad). Monster then faces Alfio and Hannah, knocking them down and inflicting 1 Brain Damage each.

Since Dario was left standing, he dashes away to avoid being targeted by upcoming Flatten.

Betta tries to discard Flatten early, dashing + moving and attacking (5,8): she hits Mammoth Hand (WR 3, failure). Monster lashes out and performs Basic Action (6,5), missing with both attacks.

Ok, another go at Flatten it is, then.

Turn 10

Flatten again, target is Betta again (9,10,9,8,5): four hits (Body, Body, Arms, Arms). One damage to Arms is Dodged, rest is soaked, one Serious Injury to Body (2 Bleeding tokens). Bash and Knockdown 5 as usual, monster knocked down as usual.

Dario attacks with bow (2, 8): one hit to Mammoth Bloated Face (WR 10, critical wound: Flatten discarded, Mammoth Hand Gorm resource gained).

Now the monster is down to its basic action, which is a good thing, but we are also badly pummeled, so we cannot afford to continue a lot these shenanigans.

Hannah uses CEC (luckily, trap was two HLs away!). Alfio attacks with Fist & Tooth (5, 6): Mammoth Mandible (WR 10, Critical Wound) and Mammoth Goiter are drawn. Critical to Goiter kills the beast, Alfio rolls 1d10 and gets a 5: he gains +1 Courage and +1 Survival.

And finally, the beast is toppled.

Everyone gets +1 Hunt XP and +1 Weapon Proficiency. Resource drawn are another Mammoth Hand, Meaty Rib, Stout Vertebrae, Jiggling Lard, Broken Lantern, Skull, 2 Monster Hide. No Stout Hides, no Dense Bones. Resource draw was pretty bad.

In hindsight, we had terrible luck with the Gorm, but all the pain was brought by one tactical error in not wanting to Hiccup-loop the Gorm (and another, smaller one in redistributing AI thinking that I’d not hit twice later, but that one was without consequences). The price is one lifetime reroll “wasted“, and a Showdown way more eventful than it was needed.

Settlement Phase

Ok, our three brave heroes return - screw Ignazio. That makes 5 Endeavors for us to use this year.

Now, let’s get these dice rolling. Move to Lantern Year 3, get it on with  the Settlement Event. It seems that a few people has begun thinking that surviving two lantern years means being old enough, so they took an Elder Council. Cumulate experience is 13, so the seasoned hunters elect to show some 0 Hunt XP survivors a few tricks. I chose Hannah and Graziella to get +1 Accuracy, +10 Survival. This event uses 2 Endeavors, so we have 3.

Next in line,  Gorm Climate. Roll is 3, so the worst outcome possible: either deplete Settlement Storage or destroy an Innovation. No worries: Settlement Storage is empty, so we can choose this option freely. No harm done this year.

Now, checking milestones, we have 5 Innovations, so the Hooded Knight will pay us a visit.The roll is 2, so the guy has a quick look around and then vanishes, killing two survivors. Ok, so Luciana will be dearly missed (the poor lady was blind, she never saw it coming), and with her Jessica. This is a Settlement Phase death, so we get two more Endeavors, getting back to 5. The Knight has Unfinished Business, so he will be back in Lantern Year 7. Gosh, I hate that guy.

Now, let’s spend some resources. We are in desperate need of some useful innovation, so we use the Jiggling Lard, the Monster Bone and the ??? to Innovate. Innovation draw is crappiest draw ever: Lantern Oven and Pictograph. Since Hands of Heat is not far away and we do not need to be buffed with Monster Tooth Necklace for the upcoming Butcher showdown, I really do not want the Oven. So, Pictograph it is.

With a Meaty Rib and the other Jiggling Lard we craft a Rib Blade (we will also craft a Zanbato from the Weapon Crafter, but Grand Weapon specialization is good and we want to train it as soon as possible).

It is a shame to use the Stout Hide a simple Hide, so I decide to go ahead and make my first Gorment Armor item: with Stout Hide and a Skull we craft Gorment Sleeves.

We have two Organs left, and we are dramatically short on males, so we use the Love Juice to trigger Intimacy, nominating Hannah and Maurizio. We roll a 4, so we barely manage to bear the Settlement First Child!

The new baby is healthy, and has no ink on his eyes. He’s a male, and we call him Nestore.

This triggers Principle: New Life, and Monte Luce decides for Survival of the Fittest. Everyone in the Settlement (population: 10 after recent events) gets +1 Strength and +1 Evasion and a lifetime reroll. The newborn also gets the hard treatment (roll of 6) and gets +2 Courage, Tough Fighting Art and Hyper-Sensitivity disorder (you may Dodge twice, but you must always Dodge).

With the remaining Meaty Rib we craft a Lucky Charm, and with that Settlement Storage is depleted again.

The Settlement is left with 4 endeavors and actually, without Face Painting to boost newborn chances, it is not advisable to try Augury, especially since we have no resources left to try and gain some Understanding.

With the 4 Endeavors left, we have our Maurizio have a Shared Experience twice with Hannah, having her gain 2 Hunt XP and Aging once (Aging roll is 17, so +1 Accuracy and she chooses Grand as her weapon type.

So, we have to prepare to hunt again, and next year it’s Butcher time. Time to be realistic, because this one unlucky year has set us back a bit on development. We don’t have yet Leather Worker or Weapon Crafter, and without Stone Circle a L1 Antelope would just be a waste of resources before meeting the Butcher.

L2 Monsters: the Antelope could be in reach, but if we lose more population now, we are up for a chain of sever beatings following L1 Butcher and L1 Manhunter. So, despite this game being high risk, high rewards, we have to play this one safe. After a few days of consultations (thanks to the long-ish hiatus we got on playing), we decided that our best shot would be a L1 Gorm (hopefully, without deaths, but we can only hope that).

Departing survivors are Alfio, Dario, Hannah and Graziella.

(It is actually +1 Survival more to everyone because of Ammonia, I did not apply that bonus at the moment of taking the picture).

Hunt Phase

Ok, now let’s see what the better team can do to not be annihilated by the Hunt Phase.

Dario steps in and reveals Head-Splitting Pain. Again. Seriously guys, what’s up with the maps of the terrain around the Settlement? Was Ignazio keeping all of them? WHYYYYYY?

Ok, so flash of light, the Gorm draws one square closer. Everyone rolls on the table, no disorders to raise the score.

Dario rolls 9, so his Insanity is just set to 0. Actually not bad, against a L1 Gorm.

Betta rolls a 7, so it’s a random Disorder for her: Stark Raving - she is always insane. If I manage to keep her alive a bit more (not a chance), there are interesting combos with that.

Alfio rolls the dreaded 2, so it is a random Brain Trauma for him. Brain Trauma roll is luckily 9, so he gains a New Perspective, gaining 6 Insanity (he would also be Knocked Down, but this being the Hunt Phase, that part has no sense).

Hannah rolls a 7 too, so another random Disorder. I draw Delicius, so it seems that monsters find her tasty. Gameplay-wise, she keeps being a threat when Knocked Down.

Ok, this went sensibly better than last time.

Showdown Phase - Level 1 Gorm

Terrain is two Tall Grass, then we draw a Toppled Pillar and a Lion Statue. Not having Understanding with anyone, the Lion Statue is useless, so we put it kinda out of the way. We could use the Toppled Pillar though, so we place it like in the picture, then we place the three survivors.

Now, being one down from turn 0, the strategy has to change. First and foremost, we have a 80% chance of getting free Ammonia from the Gorm, if the right AI is in place, so we must make sure that we don’t accidentally wound it, discarding the AI we need. If the Ammonia pops up, or the AI is not there, we proceed with the planned slaughter.

Gorm is not usually hard, but now our tank has to be a bruiser, and we have to use Bone Darts consistently to support the wounding.

We also have to keep Elisa using Cat’s Eye Circlet and not being hit, so those are a lot of priorities for a LY2 fight. Let’s see how it goes.

For reference, the blue lady is Cinzia, the green lady is Elisa, the orange guy is Karl.

Turn 1

AI is Aggravated Bite, targeting Cinzia. This is the single most dangerous AI in the Gorm’s deck. Gorm moves and attacks (8,4), enough to hit Cinzia twice: one damage to Body, one to Legs, and one Bleeding token.

Now, let’s cycle AI and HL. Cinzia moves and uses Rawhide Headband: Thunder Foot and Rampaging next. Since we want to cycle the deck fast, we move in a way that Thunder Foot is drawn first, then Rampaging is immediately drawn, but the Gorm has no target to Rampage, so he goes Illuminate and the turn ends immediately.

Let’s hope to be lucky with Cat‘s Eye Circlet. Here are the next three Hit Locations:

So, we really have to do this the hard way. Now, when I write that Elisa uses Cat’s Eye Circlet (CEC) without any further specification, I just refer to her putting the trap as third card. I’ll do this often.

Now, we can as well try to critically wound something for resources: Karl tries to Fist & Tooth the monster (1,5), but misses.

Turn 2

It goes like we set it up to be: Gorm draws Thunder Foot mood (so we cannot end our act in a 3-square radius around it, otherwise the victim ends up knocked back and knocked down), then draws Rampaging: since no one is in front of it, it performs instinct, Illuminate (all become threats, and insane survivors get brain damage) and immediately ends its turn.

Since we are cycling the AI deck, the behavior will always be the same in the next few turns: we move the survivors so to make the Gorm perform Illuminate as much as possible, and we continuously try Rawhide Headband to check for AI in advance.

Occasionally, Karl tries to hit with Bone Darts when next AI can be safely discarded, like this time: rolls 6 to hit, so he misses.

Turn 3

Gorm does a Backslap targeting Cinzia, rolls a 5, 1 Damage to Legs and Knockback 5.

During survivors’ turn, they all go behind the Toppled Pillar. Karl hops around it, not having to worry about hitting his nether regions.

Turns 4-8

Gorm draws AI, we make it perform Illuminate. AI drawn is Scratch, Headbutt, Flatten (after this one, we move out of range for Hiccup), Hiccup, Wallop.

Turn 9

Gorm finally draws Posturing Piss (our dumb luck: the last AI card) - finally, we have in play our free Ammonia!

Gorm draws next Aggravated Bite, targeting Elisa, who is safely out of range, so the behemoth just pushes forward a little. It is finally time to put the beast down!

Cinzia uses Rawhide Headband, and Elisa uses CEC. Karl throws Bone Darts at it, rolls 2, misses.

Turn 10

Gorm draws Wallop, targeting Cinzia (7,1): 1 damage to Body.

Cinzia hits Gorm with King’s Spear (6,10), hitting Mammoth Backstrap and Mammoth Rear Clubfoot. Trying to wound the backstrap, she rolls 4, so the Monster runs away as a reaction, cancelling the subsequent hit.

Elisa uses CEC.

Karl throws Bone Darts again, 5: another miss.

Turn 11

Gorm draws Hiccup, targeting Karl. It retches, hitting nobody, then Hiccup AI goes on top of the deck again.

Karl throws Bone Darts (10), hitting Mammoth Hindgut, rolling 6 to Wound: Hiccup is discarded, and the Gorm reacts to wound retching again, hitting nobody. Contingently, Thunder Foot mood gets discarded and goes back to AI discard pile.

Elisa uses CEC, Cinzia moves closer.

Turn 12

Gorm draws Headbutt, targeting Cinzia. Rolls 5 to hit. To avoid complications, Cinzia spends 1 Survival to dodge the hit.

Cinzia uses King Spear on the Gorm from flank (7,2), hits Mammoth Testes and rolls 3 to wound: adding +3 from Spear strength and +2 from hitting from flanks, she wounds, discarding Backslap.

Elisa uses CEC, Karl throws bone darts again, rolling 6: missed.

Turn 13

Gorm draws Rampaging, and unfortunately the only eligible target is Karl, who is terribly unarmored. So, we need to mitigate damage: Karl dashes out of range for the first flow, so the Gorm draws near but cannot hit him. Now, the Gorm moves to attack the closest threat, that is Karl again (we have to remember here that Karl has Coprolalia, Destroyed Genitals and has been targeted twice by the Gorm in the same turn: he is probably swearing a lot by now).

Gorm finally performs Basic Action on Karl (2,5), damaging his Body and his Legs.

Karl, who admittedly had a bad day, retaliates with a few words that were not nice, and threw Bone Darts at the monster: perfect hit with lantern 10, then a critical wound with another lantern 10 to Mammoth Tail (discarding Rampaging). The beast full moves away, then gets knocked down. It is a good chance to kick it in the arse a bit.

Elisa uses CEC again, Cinzia attacks with King Spear (7,8): a hit to Mammoth Ridged Spine, wounded with an 8 (discarding Scratch), and another to Mammoth Bloated Face, wounded with another 8 (discarding Flatten).

Turn 14

The beast somehow manages to stand (visibly shaken), and decides to Headbutt Karl (I think now it has become personal). It rolls 8, so a hit to the Body that sends Karl finally knocked down, sprawling on the faces floor. The Gorm takes its sweet time to retch a bit over him, too, inflicting another damage to the Waist.

Elisa uses CEC again, Cinzia attacks (Spear, 4,9): one hit to Mammoth Hand, 6 to wound: Thunder Foot is discarded.

We leave Karl on the floor.

Turn 15

Gorm draws Aggravated Bite, targets Karl: this is bad, so we decide to make Elisa Encourage Karl to stand up, and make Karl dash out of range (only possible because the monster went back two spaces to retch the turn before).

Elisa moves behind the pillar and uses CEC, Cinzia uses Rawhide Headband to organize AI so Karl has less chance to be targeted next and Karl, well, runs away and throws darts (6), missing.

Turn 16

Gorm executes Headbutt, our best chance at keeping Karl safe, and luckily it targets Cinzia. It also rolls 3 to hit, which is not enough: miss.

Karl throws bone darts again (another 6), and misses.

Cinzia uses King Spear (7,7): one hit to Fluorescent Lure (9), which wounds to discard Wallop, and another to Mammoth Rump (9), which discards Aggravated Bite.

The beast has now only Headbutt as AI.

Elisa moves again and uses CEC.

Turn 17

Gorm Headbutts Cinzia again, rolls 10 to hit her Waist. After that, it retches, hitting her Waist again.

Karl misses with Bone Darts (4), Cinzia hits once with Spear (8,5) the Mammoth Crowded Fangs, rolling a 10 to wound: a Critical which gives her +1 Courage, one Meaty Rib Gorm Resource and discards Headbutt.

Since the Gorm is down to its basic action, Elisa moves in the open to bait the Gorm and uses CEC.

Turn 18

The Gorm performs Basic Action, targeting Elisa. She simply dashes out of range.

Karl throws Bone Darts again (2), missing again.

Cinzia attacks with the Spear (10, 7), wounding Mammoth Skull first with a 7, which kills the monster. Mammoth Goiter never got a chance to be wounded.

Now, this unnecessarily long showdown has ended, so it is time to get some sweet rewards (and they are sweet indeed!).

First and foremost, since we defeated the Gorm with Posturing Piss in play, we get our well deserved free Ammonia innovation!

Everyone gets +1 Hunt XP, and nobody is eligible to get weapon proficiency yet. Cinzia ages, rolling 11 and getting the Tough Fighting Art. Temporarily, we give her Spear weapon type.

Among Gorm rewards, we get Nigredo innovation for free, as well as Gormery and Gormchymist Settlement Locations.

We then proceed to draw Jiggling Lard x2, Meaty Rib, Stout Hide Gorm resources, and ???, Love Juice, Monster Bone and a Skull Basic Resource.

This Showdown costed us a lot in terms of Settlement population (present and future), but it ended as well as it could expectedly be.