Having previously found some clues to the whereabouts of the massive golem currently rampaging through the frozen city (that he may or may not have been the cause of), it was time for Tim to hunt down the thing itself and have a proper look at it.
As mentioned in my last post, this scenario takes part in a crumbling garden, full of low walls, fountains and statuary (which can be magically animated during the game), so I tried to set up the board to represent this as best as possible:
Some homemade weeping angels (so old they were painted before this blog was even a thing) stood in for statues (with the plan being that any that got animated would be replaced with the much nicer Weeping Angel miniatures made by Crooked Dice). I also set the golem up further back rather than in the centre of the table, as I figured that was mostly to have him equidistant from the two groups in a two player game, and figured it would be better to give him a turn or two extra of hurling rocks at my troublemakers!
I rolled to see if Tim’s Mortal Enemy would make an appearance, and again they did not. Then it was time to roll for monsters - I started with rolling for each edge of the board other than the one Tim would start on, and then also rolled for a monster to start in the centre of the table, to make sure that the game wasn’t too easy. I rolled a Wraith, 2 Ice Spiders, 2 Wolves, and a Bear. The only bear mini in the house is the one my daughter painted to use when her D&D Druid transforms, so on the table he goes!
(The picture of him on the table was hugely out of focus, so here he is in a box instead)
As well as deciding that the Golem would activate between the Wizard and Apprentice phases, originally I had planned to have the Golem treat anything (including wandering monsters) as a target, since he is described as being on an out of control rampage, but then I decided not to, as I figured he’d likely spend all his time stomping the monsters while Tim idly sauntered over, which would make things a bit too easy!
Pre-game, Tim and the Apprentice (whose name is Sebastian, but Tim has never asked) crack their knuckles and set about casting their spells. Both fail to cast Brew Potion, and Tim even fails to raise a zombie, but the Apprentice manages to successfully do so. Come on lads, get the bad rolls out now before the game starts properly I guess…
Again, Tim varies slightly from his usual go-to setup. He enters in the centre, accompanied by the Barbarian, Apothecary, and Man at Arms, planning to march up the centre towards the Golem to give it a proper looking at, in the hopes of finding some weakness or override that they can use to claim it in the glorious name of Tim. On the left, the Apprentice is accompanied by the Knight and Captain (who both have magical weapons and so are some of the only people in the gang able to actually harm the Wraith ahead of them) and the Thug and raised zombie (who do not, but are frankly expendable). On the right flank, the Thief, Warhound and Tracker form a compact Team Speedy, hoping to nip in and grab a Treasure Token before rapidly getting back out.
As things commence, Tim strides through the doorway ahead of him, surrounded by his heavily armed comrades, and casts Control Construct on one of the statues in the garden, animating it under his control (although he has to use the power stored in both his staff and ring to turn a narrow failure into a success).
The Golem, now having a viable target in range where it didn’t before, grabs a chunk of broken masonry from the ground to hurl and absolutely pulverises the newly animated statue (having rolled a 20). It then stomps forward to investigate the shards, leaving it looming unfortunately over the Treasure Token that Thief & co had their eyes on…
On the left, team Apprentice scramble through the ruins towards the Wraith, with the Knight running as far as his legs will take him, while the Captain holds back slightly to let the Thug edge ahead to lure the Wraith out. The Apprentice initially considers casting Grenade (as the one magic attack he knows, Bone Dart doesn’t count), but decides to cast Strength on the Captain instead, to make her as good in a fight as the Knight.
Due to the relatively clear nature of the centre of the board, every monster can see the gang and starts running/shambling/floating towards them (delete as applicable). The pair of wolves that started in the centre of the board attack the Man at Arms (mostly because I forgot just how fast they move), but he cuts them both down in short order. At this point in my notes I wrote ‘I must sort out a replacement mini for him’, but if you’ve read
my last blog post you know that’s not actually the case. The Wraith makes it into contact with the sacrificial Thug, but this takes both actions so it’s not able to attack this turn (aha, right into my trap!)
On the right, the Tracker sends an arrow towards the Ice Spiders scuttling towards them but doesn’t manage to land a hit. He then hustles into the cover of a nearby broken wall, to take up a better firing position to try again next turn.
I start to wonder if I might have made a mistake leaving the right flank so lightly defended, and deliberate for a while about what to do with Thief and the Wolfhound. In the end, the Thief decides to stick to the original plan and sprints towards the treasure, trusting that Tim and his group are on their way to engage the Golem.
(On this day, humanity received a grim reminder… ah, you either get the reference or you don’t)
The Warhound meanwhile takes up position hiding behind a tree, planning to pounce on the Ice Spiders heading towards the Tracker next turn. Last but not least, the zombie starts making his way across the broken ground towards the Wraith, where if all goes well weight of numbers should be able to pull it down next turn.
At the end of the turn, a Snow Leopard enters on the right - I definitely should have sent more soldiers over to that side!
Muttering ‘I don’t get paid enough for this’ the Man at Arms dashes past the Thief to engage the Golem. In hindsight, I wish that I had deployed the Thug in Tim’s group rather than the Man at Arms who is now potentially about to get splatted by a massive angry Golem, but I can’t turn back time (yet), so it is what it is.
Seeing enemies building up to his right, Tim attempts to cast Grenade on the pair of Ice Spiders, but as usual fails miserably. Assuming that the Man at Arms is going to be fine holding off the Golem (that to be clear has been leaving a trail of bodies across the frozen city) the Barbarian dashes off to the right to join the Warhound behind the tree, ready to ambush the spiders. Then I remember that she is a barbarian, and and so her second action is spent dashing directly towards them rather than skulking (which will hopefully also draw the leopard away from the exposed Thief).
Tim cautiously advances, just close enough to the Golem to get the bonus XP for having a good look at it, but also pushes the Apothecary in front of him, just in case.
Then it is the Golem’s turn, and it’s time to see what happens in its fight with the man at Arms. I roll the dice with bated breath… and the Man at Arms rolls a 20 and wins the fight! This deals 10 damage to the Golem, and he pushes it back in the hopes of being able to make a break for it and escape next turn.
On the left, the Knight, zombie and Captain all bundle thenWraith, figuring that overwhelming numbers is probably the safest way to take it out.
The Knight attacks it first, but is dropped to 2 Health (curse that double damage!). The Captain then has a crack at it, and also loses (as having a magic sword, magically enhanced strength and outnumbering the foe 4 to 1 doesn’t help when you roll a 1), but luckily is saved from taking any damage by her armour. This isn’t going as well as I had hoped! The zombie doesn’t bother to fight, as he doesn’t have a magic weapon, he’s just there to make up numbers and provide an outnumbering bonus. Behind them, the Apprentice is a little worried, but still hopeful that the group will prevail against the Wraith, so uses his Gloves of Casting to cast Control Construct on one of the statues, and rolls a 20! Consulting Advanced Spellcraft, a critical on this spell means that it doesn’t count towards the usual ‘max 1 controlled xxx in your warband’ rule - nice!
In the Monster Phases, the bear that has been inevitably making it’s way across the board pushes past the Golem to stand in front of the Man at Arms, while over on the right flank the Snow Leopard pounces on the Barbarian. The first Ice Spider scuttles up to join this fight, which the Barbarian wins, but due to a low roll is only able to drop the spider to 1 Health. The second spider then also reaches her and has better luck, biting her for 3 damage and poisoning her.
The Wraith attempts to finish off the wounded Knight, but a much better roll means that he is able to slash through it with his magic sword (that I only at this point remember also has a Healing Potion in the hilt) and banish it back whence it came.
The Thug, suddenly finding themself no longer engaged in combat, takes this opportunity go haring off towards the leftmost Treasure Token.
Back in the centre of the board, the recently animated statue dashes (well, I say dashes, I imagine it’s more of a slightly jerky Harryhausen stop motion effect) to engage the bear that is closing in on the Man at Arms, whilst also making themself coincidentally the closest target to the Golem.
On the right, the Tracker makes a risky shot into the combat swirling around the vastly outnumbered Barbarian, figuring that there are so many enemies that statistically they are mostly likely to hit a viable target rather than their comrade. Luckily, they do, their arrow striking the Snow Leopard, although unfortunately he isn’t able to damage it. He dejectedly holsters (stows?) his bow and plunges in to join the melee, as does the Warhound, which savages the undamaged Ice Spider and tosses away it’s broken body. The turn ends, and no more monsters enter the board - phew!
Tim, considering bigger plans for the future, tries to cast Control Construct on the Golem, but rolls a 7, much lower than the 14 needed. Figuring that he may as well go big or go home, he sacrifices 11 points of Health to empower the spell (as the target has to make a roll against the casting number, so bigger is definitely better) , a risky move as the Golem still gets +6 on these rolls - and the Golem rolls a 1 and joins team Tim for a turn! Seeing blood literally dripping out of Tim’s ears (he is only on 4 Health at this point if I recall correctly), the Apothecary dumps a Healing Potion down his throat, while the Thief dashes over to grab the rightmost Treasure Token:
As she does so, a Ghoul enters the board over on the left side, just in front of the group of heavily armed maniacs that just took down a Wraith…
Under Tim’s control, the Golem smashes its fists down on the Bear’s back, dealing it 5 points of damage. Tim then has it back away, hoping that he can position it to do the least possible amount of damage next turn when it manages to shake off his control, sending it off to hug a tree:
Team Apprentice on the left flank has the Captain loose off an arrow at the newly appeared Ghoul, scoring a critical hit and slaying it instantly. Satisfied with this, she then starts off towards the right hand side of the field to try to rescue the Barbarian, followed (much more slowly) by the Knight. The Apprentice tags along behind them, pausing only to cast Control Construct on the statue nearest to the Golem, hoping to use it as a sacrificial pawn to buy the rest of the gang time to grab the rest of the treasure and get out. Thanks to the use of his Ring of Power and sacrificing 3 points of Health, he succeeds.
Ahead of them, the beleaguered Barbarian is attacked by the leopard, but manages to slap it down to 1 Health - if only she had a magic weapons or some Gloves of Strength to have been able to finish it off! The remaining Ice Spider also attempts to sink its fangs into her, and is swatted in response.
In the centre, the Bear smashes the controlled statue to pieces, leaving it and the Man at Arms half an inch apart, while the Thug grabs a Treasure Token. Luckily, no more monsters appear at this point.
Back with the Barbarian, the Warhound runs up and attacks the Snow Leopard, but isn’t able to land any telling blows. Seizing the advantage granted by this distraction, the Barbarian chops the legs out from under the leopard, slaying it. The Tracker, now with no threats in their immediate vicinity, takes the opportunity to attempt a tricky shot on the bear, over a low wall and past the Man at Arms which lands true, dropping the Bear to 2 Health. Seeing this, the Man at Arms who had previously been considering making a run for it instead charges in to try to finish it off. He probably should have made a run for it, as he loses the fight, but luckily does not take any damage thanks to his armour.
Finally, the zombie lurches forward to shield the Apprentice from the Golem with his body. The turn ends, and again no new monsters enter the field.
Seeing that there are very few enemies left, Tim feels like it is probably time to start wrapping things up. He attempts to cast Grenade to finish off the heavily wounded Bear, but fails badly enough that empowering the spell to turn it into a successful casting would leave him on the brink of death, so doesn’t. Somewhat sheepishly, he tucks himself behind a wall lest any more monsters appear and attack him in his fragile state. As this is happening, the Apothecary (having already used his Healing Potion on Tim) climbs the fountain ahead of them to grab the central Treasure Token, and as he does so a pair of Ice Spiders enter the table behind them, from the same edge that the gang entered on.
The Golem, managing to shake off Tim’s magical control, launches a rock at the statue recently animated by the Apprentice. Unable to destroy it in a single blow like the previous one, this time it charges in to try to finish the job:
The Apprentice suddenly remembers that they know the spell Slow, which is ideal for using on particularly deadly single monsters, and so probably would have been great to cast earlier. He figures at this point though it’s probably too late to make much of a difference, and initially planned to Leap the zombie into that combat to provide the Man at Arms some backup, but again I remembered that you can’t use it to enter combat. Checking Advance Spellcraft, you can actually learn to do that, so that might be something to consider for the future… he casts Grenade on the Bear (well, technically on a point about an inch behind it, but you know what I mean), and as ever despite the spell being successfully cast, it fails to do any damage. The Knight steps into the broken doorway in the centre, between Tim and spiders, backed up by the zombie and Captain.
Behind him, in the centre, the Bear rears up and delivers a massive blow to the Man at Arms, dropping him to 1 Health.
On either flank, the Thug and Thief both leave with a Treasure Token apiece. I wonder if I should start using the non-solo Treasure Token rules, where anyone carrying one is encumbered and slowed, rather than the rules from Perilous Dark I think where you aren’t? Something to ponder…
The poisoned Barbarian vaults the wall ahead of her and sets off towards the Bear, but is overtaken by the Warhound who is able to make it into combat next to the Man at Arms. The Tracker picks off one of the spiders bearing down on the Knight with a well-placed arrow, then moves off after the Barbarian and Warhound towards the Bear.
At this point I suddenly realise that I missed the spiders in the Monster Phase - and also remember that the Knight is only on 2 Health, so probably wasn’t the best person to hold the door! The spider scuttles up and almost inevitably bites him for 3 points of damage, taking him out of action. If only he’d used an action to drink the mini Healing Potion in the hilt of his sword (that heals 2 points of Health), but he’s so much slower than the rest of the gang that he ends up using all of his spare actions running to keep up!
Finding himself unusually alone and on 1 Health, Tim chugs his own Healing Potion and again tries to cast Grenade on the Bear. Again, he fails badly enough that he hurts himself for 1 point of damage - lucky he had that potion or he would have taken himself out of action!
Congregating in the middle of the board, the Apprentice sends the zombie to engage the spider now looking hungrily at the Captain over the body of the Knight, and while he originally planned to cast Leap on the Apothecary to catapult him vaguely towards the table edge and escaping with the last Treasure Token, but I realised that where he hadn’t activated yet this turn he’d actually get further under his own steam, so the Apprentice instead casts Grenade near the spider, finally succeeding st killing something with it.
The Bear attacks the badly wounded Man at Arms (which reminds me, I must remember to apply wounded penalties to models on 4 or fewer Health), but is cut down, leaving no monsters except the Golem left on the board.
The Apothecary scrambles down the fountain and legs it as fast as he can away from the Golem, and everyone else consolidates to facilitate making a fighting retreat while protecting the spellcasters. The plucky Warhound runs off in the opposite direction, towards the leftmost board edge, trying to draw the Golem away from the rest of the group while they make their escape. As he does so, a powerful Ice Toad hops onto the board just ahead of it.
In the next turn, the Apothecary books it off the board with the last Treasure Token, while the attacker makes an incredible long ranged shot and takes the Ice Toad out of action - unfortunately no one is near enough to harvest it’s webbed feet for spellcasting components, but sometimes the risk just isn’t worth the reward.
Tim attempts to cast Control Construct on the Golem again, but this time it is resisted, and in response the Golem absolutely obliterates the Warhound with a thrown rock, before stomping up to poke at it’s broken body with it’s huge stone fists. The Apprentice then attempts to cast the same spell, and cuts to empower it to 18, and the Golem is controlled again! The Apprentice sends it stomping off in the opposite direction, and the gang use this chance to make good their escape.
Post-game:
Both the Warhound and the Knight survive - phew!
The Captain gains 30 XP, not enough to level up again yet. Tim earns 332, capped at 300, enough to gain 3 levels. He boosts his Will by +1 (as both Health and Fight are at their maximum, and he vaguely remembers his Mortal Enemy having a spell that requires a Will roll), learns the spell Wizard Eye from a Grimoire in his vault, and then makes the spell Brew Potion easier to cast, as they need to start replenishing their supply of Healing Potions! He should probably invest in a Giant. Auldron for his base, with that in mind… He had originally considered making the spell Control Construct easier to cast, as his immediate future includes plans to go and Control a Construct, but figured that the way the spell works the higher you roll the better, so making it easier to cast on the Golem is slightly counterintuitive.
Rooting around the dusty corners of the Treasury where the gang make their base turns up 11 GC, and the treasure gathered during the game turns up an assortment of lose change, a Grimoire containing the spell Bone Dart that can be used to improve that spell as they already know it, and a magic crossbow. He initially considers selling that last item, but instead stashes it in the vault - he had a cross bow user in the gang before who died, so maybe will again if someone else gets unlucky… all in, once the Captain has taken their cut, he is left with 194 GC, still not enough to invest in a Giant Cauldron…
Next time - Tim figures he’s probably got the hang of it now, and is surely a powerful enough practitioner of terrible magics that he can probably definitely succeed in bending the Golem to his will where so many others have failed, so he should probably go and do that…
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