I will stay tuned...
[Question] Board Game Night?
- Thread starter AshburnerX
- Start date
That's only 9pm for me, so really, makes no difference either way.
Alright, looks like I have to work Monday morning... which means getting up at 6am, which means I can't wait until 11pm on Sunday to do it. That means the final time for the test run will be 9pm EST on Sunday, Oct. 11th. This will be @Dave, @Dei, @GasBandit, and I making sure that not only does the game module WORK correctly, but that everyone enjoys the game enough to give it another go on Wednesday.
HOWEVER, I'll be perfectly fine to wait until 11pm EST for the Wednesday game, assuming all goes well with the test game. So plan for the first official game (with all 6 people) to be Wednesday, Oct 14th at 11pm EST. Assuming everything goes well on Sunday that is. We'll set a more normal day (probably Saturday) in the future.
The test game will be Betrayal at House on the Hill, so be sure to download the module and the Vassal program (both are linked in the original post). You will also need Ventrilo and the server info, which is HERE. For you first timers, here's a short video explaining how the game itself works. I'll go over the controls of the Vassal Module when we're all ready to play.
HOWEVER, I'll be perfectly fine to wait until 11pm EST for the Wednesday game, assuming all goes well with the test game. So plan for the first official game (with all 6 people) to be Wednesday, Oct 14th at 11pm EST. Assuming everything goes well on Sunday that is. We'll set a more normal day (probably Saturday) in the future.
The test game will be Betrayal at House on the Hill, so be sure to download the module and the Vassal program (both are linked in the original post). You will also need Ventrilo and the server info, which is HERE. For you first timers, here's a short video explaining how the game itself works. I'll go over the controls of the Vassal Module when we're all ready to play.
Betrayal at House on the Hill is a success! We managed to play 2 games, mostly free of game issues. It'll take a few minutes to get the game started, but once it's on, everything is good.
So the Wednesday is still on! 11pm EST (8 PST) on Oct. 14th! Hope to see @MindDetective and @Celt Z there!
So the Wednesday is still on! 11pm EST (8 PST) on Oct. 14th! Hope to see @MindDetective and @Celt Z there!
I could have done without going to that wedding.
Hopefully I will be awake at 11 and coherent. But you're probably only getting one of those.
Speaking of betrayal... a couple of things went screwy that last game, so I checked the rules for that last scenario and I figured out why you had two rolls: one was for the traitor to do (the lower Speed) and one was for the Cats (the higher). So a couple of weird things happened:
- Your traitor was still in play and you never moved her out of the Master Bedroom. She can't HURT the explorers, but she could have stopped the plane or stolen items. (Or at least tried too, if she could have gotten there in time)
- The roll to turn off the plane is always the same, whether the plane is in motion or not, for each character.
Also, yes, using the plane AND attacking on the same turn was valid. Page 4 of the rules.
- Your traitor was still in play and you never moved her out of the Master Bedroom. She can't HURT the explorers, but she could have stopped the plane or stolen items. (Or at least tried too, if she could have gotten there in time)
- The roll to turn off the plane is always the same, whether the plane is in motion or not, for each character.
Also, yes, using the plane AND attacking on the same turn was valid. Page 4 of the rules.
DA RULES said:
Maybe... but with 4 Speed, you maybe could have gotten down there at least by the last turn, which would have given you a chance to steal my Ring, which would have FUCKED US... and considering I had -1- Might, it would have been easy to get the +2 to do it.I knew I was still in play, I just didn't see the point of coming down.I don't know if I would have made it.
That's sort of why I like Betrayal: it always feels like it comes down to a SINGLE ROLL to determine who wins. It CAN be totally one sided sometimes, but it's usually really close when everyone plays their part.
http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module: Pandemic
!!!
Omg this damn post will not stop turning my link into an emoji. Grrrrr. You'll have to copy/paste then get rid of the space, unless someone else wants to make my link work.
!!!
Omg this damn post will not stop turning my link into an emoji. Grrrrr. You'll have to copy/paste then get rid of the space, unless someone else wants to make my link work.
Pandemic: In the Lab
Pandemic: On the Brink
This game is pretty simple to learn to. I tried to get Carcasson to work but it refuses to load. I'd grab Forbidden Island or Forbidden Desert but they don't seem to be modules yet.
Pandemic: On the Brink
This game is pretty simple to learn to. I tried to get Carcasson to work but it refuses to load. I'd grab Forbidden Island or Forbidden Desert but they don't seem to be modules yet.
GasBandit
Staff member
Summary of game 1 -
After exploring the house for a while, we find a vault upstairs! Dei and I spend time trying to open it, with her eventually succeeding but then the haunting begins! Dei has BETRAYED US! She is in league with an Astral Being who knocks all of our souls out of our bodies, and we must psychically battle the Astral Being for the very ownership of our mortal flesh! Being in the same room as Dei from the start, I'm at a disadvantage - she begins to assault my unconscious body! Dave, playing the beefy jock, briefly fights a losing mental battle against the astral being and then flees to the basement, the Astral Being in pursuit.
While the Astral Being finishes off Dave's soul, I manage to stun Dei so that she is delayed in murdering my body, then set off in pursuit of the astral being. Ash, the Priest, is too far away to help me yet, and time is of the essence now that Dave has died - if the being possesses his body, it (and Dei) has won!.
Using my Professorial advanced knowledge as a psychic attack, I seriously wound the Astral Being but between the Astral Being's counter-attacks and Dei's savaging of my physical body, I succumb to death - however as my body has been killed, the being cannot possess it to win... so there is still time!
Father Ash's soul leaps in through the wall and attacks the being, using the resilience of his disciplined mind, and Dei proceeds to roll 0 on 6 dice. The astral being is defeated, but only Ash, the Priest, leaves the House on the Hill that night.
Summary of game 2 -
After exploring the house for a while, we actually manage to exhaust the ground floor tiles, making the house enormous. Ash, still the Priest, is severely weakened by various traps and such during the exploration, but Null the Jock finds a magic skull and gives it to Ash, allowing the Priest to use his mental fortitude for physical attacks instead of his physical might.
The party is split up, with Dei (the she-teen), Terrik (the boy) and myself (the Professor) upstairs with Null and Ash on the ground floor, when suddenly we are betrayed! By DEI AGAIN! She has lured us here to feed us to her cats! We hapless victims are shrunk to the size of mice, and must find a way to escape the cats, Dei, and the house!
We frantically search for a means of escape, and Null gets lucky and finds a toy airplane in the games room on the ground floor. Terrik and I begin the arduous task of trying to climb down the stairs when we're only 2 inches tall, when I am pounced upon by a cat! I attempt to outsmart the cat with my professorial mind, but the cat sees through my ruse! Young master Terrik can't overpower the cat to save me, and is forced to flee down the stairs alone while I am torn to shreds and eaten.
Meanwhile on the first floor, tiny Father Ash limps toward the game room when he is set upon by another cat! But using his magic skull, he is able to stare down the cat and scare it away. Null tries in vain to start the toy plane's engine, but his mechanical knowledge is too low. Luckily, Ash soon arrives, and he is able to start the plane... but now Terrik has made it to only one room away, before he is pounced by a cat again! He fails to save himself. Ash and Null fly to the rescue, and attempt to swoop to the rescue of Terrik, intending to scoop him up and make their escape, but a critical mistake is made and the plane crashes! Ash is able to mentally dominate the cat again in a contest of wills, and they manage to start the plane's engine again after a couple attempts... but then the cats return once more!
One cat pounces Terrik, the other bats the plane with its paw, shutting the engine back off. Things look grim for the heroes. Father Ash has to make an executive decision when Terrik fails to escape the clutches of the cat that has pounced him... he only has time to attempt to mentally stun one cat.. do they rescue Terrik and risk all their lives with the other cat, or do they abandon him?
They abandon him. Ash pychs out the cat who attacked the plane, he and Null get the plane started again and take to the air as Terrik's life is crushed out of him by the other cat's jaws. The tiny toy plane sails out of the game room, into the chapel, and smashes out through a stained glass window, escaping the house. The good guys technically win because 50% of them escaped the house, but Professor Gas and Kid Terrik died horrible, messy deaths.
After exploring the house for a while, we find a vault upstairs! Dei and I spend time trying to open it, with her eventually succeeding but then the haunting begins! Dei has BETRAYED US! She is in league with an Astral Being who knocks all of our souls out of our bodies, and we must psychically battle the Astral Being for the very ownership of our mortal flesh! Being in the same room as Dei from the start, I'm at a disadvantage - she begins to assault my unconscious body! Dave, playing the beefy jock, briefly fights a losing mental battle against the astral being and then flees to the basement, the Astral Being in pursuit.
While the Astral Being finishes off Dave's soul, I manage to stun Dei so that she is delayed in murdering my body, then set off in pursuit of the astral being. Ash, the Priest, is too far away to help me yet, and time is of the essence now that Dave has died - if the being possesses his body, it (and Dei) has won!.
Using my Professorial advanced knowledge as a psychic attack, I seriously wound the Astral Being but between the Astral Being's counter-attacks and Dei's savaging of my physical body, I succumb to death - however as my body has been killed, the being cannot possess it to win... so there is still time!
Father Ash's soul leaps in through the wall and attacks the being, using the resilience of his disciplined mind, and Dei proceeds to roll 0 on 6 dice. The astral being is defeated, but only Ash, the Priest, leaves the House on the Hill that night.
Summary of game 2 -
After exploring the house for a while, we actually manage to exhaust the ground floor tiles, making the house enormous. Ash, still the Priest, is severely weakened by various traps and such during the exploration, but Null the Jock finds a magic skull and gives it to Ash, allowing the Priest to use his mental fortitude for physical attacks instead of his physical might.
The party is split up, with Dei (the she-teen), Terrik (the boy) and myself (the Professor) upstairs with Null and Ash on the ground floor, when suddenly we are betrayed! By DEI AGAIN! She has lured us here to feed us to her cats! We hapless victims are shrunk to the size of mice, and must find a way to escape the cats, Dei, and the house!
We frantically search for a means of escape, and Null gets lucky and finds a toy airplane in the games room on the ground floor. Terrik and I begin the arduous task of trying to climb down the stairs when we're only 2 inches tall, when I am pounced upon by a cat! I attempt to outsmart the cat with my professorial mind, but the cat sees through my ruse! Young master Terrik can't overpower the cat to save me, and is forced to flee down the stairs alone while I am torn to shreds and eaten.
Meanwhile on the first floor, tiny Father Ash limps toward the game room when he is set upon by another cat! But using his magic skull, he is able to stare down the cat and scare it away. Null tries in vain to start the toy plane's engine, but his mechanical knowledge is too low. Luckily, Ash soon arrives, and he is able to start the plane... but now Terrik has made it to only one room away, before he is pounced by a cat again! He fails to save himself. Ash and Null fly to the rescue, and attempt to swoop to the rescue of Terrik, intending to scoop him up and make their escape, but a critical mistake is made and the plane crashes! Ash is able to mentally dominate the cat again in a contest of wills, and they manage to start the plane's engine again after a couple attempts... but then the cats return once more!
One cat pounces Terrik, the other bats the plane with its paw, shutting the engine back off. Things look grim for the heroes. Father Ash has to make an executive decision when Terrik fails to escape the clutches of the cat that has pounced him... he only has time to attempt to mentally stun one cat.. do they rescue Terrik and risk all their lives with the other cat, or do they abandon him?
They abandon him. Ash pychs out the cat who attacked the plane, he and Null get the plane started again and take to the air as Terrik's life is crushed out of him by the other cat's jaws. The tiny toy plane sails out of the game room, into the chapel, and smashes out through a stained glass window, escaping the house. The good guys technically win because 50% of them escaped the house, but Professor Gas and Kid Terrik died horrible, messy deaths.
The movie tagline for that second one? Small Changes: On a Wing and a Prayer.
GasBandit
Staff member
I think I've figured out how to get Fraps to just record my desktop/browser window without using an overlay, so hopefully that means I can record wednesday's session! I might even be able to record a quick "how to play" tutorial tonight or tomorrow, so that there's less explaining to do on wednesday for Mindy and Keltsy.
It's actually not as complex as it sounds, really. When the haunt begins, each side gets a single page that explains what is about to happen and any special rules in effect. The second game got a bit complex because...
That sounds....complex.
Remember what I said about 11 pm and coherency? Imma gonna die.
- Anna had to control the Cats
- The rest of us had to find the plane
- Get the plane started
- Try to pick up any survivors
- Get the hell out of Dodge
... but the game before that was easier. All we had going was...
- Everyone but Anna became a spirit. Spirits use Sanity or Knowledge to attack instead of Might or Speed.
- Anna was going to try and chop up our bodies.
- We had to kill the enemy spirit.
- Spirits can pass through walls and such.
So things can get pretty complex, but they can also be pretty simple too.
GasBandit
Staff member
Really, it almost plays more like D&D than a regular board game. Anybody who has played D&D before will feel right at home with how the game is played, it's just there's a little bit of a learning curve on how to accomplish the manipulation of game assets through the Vassal game engine, which doesn't really "play" the game for you, it really just simulates the physical assets of the game, and you do all the stuff in yourself. It doesn't enforce any rules or decide turns or anything at all with the game's actual mechanics, it just simulates a virtual space to simulate the pieces/cards. So, if there's a disagreement about what a card means or how to interpret a rule, you just dicker it out in real time in ventrilo same as you would in person, and then just move the pieces/cards around to reflect what you decide.
That sounds....complex.
But a brief tutorial would be good for things like "this is where you go to get your character sheet, and here is how you put cards in your 'hand,' and here is how you get room tiles to put on the board" etc. It seems to me it'd be a lot easier to "show" that in a video than it would be to have to explain it using voice chat.
Mindy is deaaad!
GasBandit
Staff member
She lives on in all of us! In our hearts and our memories! And in reruns on my youtube channel!Mindy is deaaad!
We could also play an earlier game for you, then a later time with MindDetective, 11pm EST sucks for people who don't just stay up all night like some of us.
That sounds....complex.
Remember what I said about 11 pm and coherency? Imma gonna die.
GasBandit
Staff member
Yeah, I remember posting about it ages ago, but you can't play that multiplayer online