Two short scenarios for last night’s Jaws of the Lion campaign: First was “The Heist”, where we investigate a sewer branch that led directly beneath some rich dude’s mansion. Second was the Red Guard’s personal quest. Both were harrowing races against time.
We were recovering from our last adventure in the Beguiling Sewers at our home base, the Sleeping Dragon Inn, when in burst a messenger, panting and looking a little wild-eyed. “A message! For! A Red Guard! Seen in this area!” he panted, looking around, but not seeing us at our usual table in the back corner.
Our Red Guard sunk a little deeper into the shadows. “Is it you they’re after?” we asked. “Yes,” he replied. “And I know what they want.”
He stood and beckoned the messenger over. There was only one Red Guard in Gloomhaven, so there was no chance at confusion. “A message for your eyes only, sir,” said the messenger, holding out a paper with an unusual mark on it.
“I understand,” said the Red Guard, nodding. The messenger left. The Red Guard did not open the message. Changing the subject back to our earlier discussion, he said. “So, it’s to be a heist, then?”
The Jaws of the Lion are no common thieves. But we can be uncommon thieves when we need to be. And though we have no need of money, we always have need of new challenges that have nothing to do with the blood cultists running rampant through the heart of the city.
“The Heist” is a race against a ticking clock. There are four rooms with four chests, one for each of us four characters. There are initially no monsters at all, just a bunch of pedestals with statues on them. Our mission is to loot the four treasure chests and escape.
The catch: Each time someone loots a chest, the statue behind them comes to life and begins to attack, and they usually blocked the way out. When all four chests are looted, two more statues come to life, blocking the way to the entrance.
The scenario clearly wants each player to go to a different room, so that’s what we did. My Void Warden took the closest room, Ally’s Demolitionist took the furthest one, as she can do a burst movement that would take her there in one turn, after a one-turn setup. Drew’s Red Guard took the other one, while Tom’s Hatchet stood by the last. He would be the one starting the final race by looting the last chest.
The golems were designed to be tough, but slow. We weren’t supposed to kill any of them, though I think one may have come close to dying as we fended them off, waiting for the Hatchet’s return. We escaped before anyone became exhausted, and won the scenario. I looted a Ring of Strength (one time Strengthen) from my chest; everyone else got cash.
It was enough to get me to level 5, and I unlocked my Ward, a staff that, once planted, poisons enemies next to it and gives any enemy within range 3 disadvantage. That would come in handy for our next battle…
We were back at the Sleeping Dragon Inn, drinking away our haul from the Heist, when the Red Guard pushed his seat back, and stood up. He tightened his armor and checked that his chained blade was secure. “I will return shortly,” he said.
“This is about… that message?” we asked. He nodded. “The Jhinda do not forget who killed their king, even though his pleasures and torments were legendary. Though they may rejoice at the death of the tyrant in the back rooms, in the front rooms they must wag their beards and beat their chests and vow to hunt down the Red Guard that betrayed his brothers and sisters and committed the unforgiveable crime, no matter how far he flees. It is time to settle that account. It has been an honor… fellow Lions.”
He left, and the door slammed shut behind him.
We weren’t ten steps behind him. We followed him to a secluded alley in the disreputable part of town. We looked down it to see the Red Guard unlimbering his chain. He faced a row of snakes, two Vermling archers, and a huge golem — also made entirely of writhing snakes! This was no ordinary monster, but one created by foul Red Desert sorcery.
We lined up behind the Red Guard. He made no sign that he knew we were there, but none was needed. The Jaws of the Lion would face this threat, and all threats, together.
All the class-specific scenarios come from city encounters, a deck from which we draw one card before each mission. Since we finished “The Heist” so quickly, we had time for another scenario. We’re working on side quests before continuing on the main plot.
“The Message” starts with a line of snakes, two Vermlings, and the “golem”, who has two snakes with him and drops new snakes next time him each turn so that there are always six snakes on the board. They are easy to kill, more of an annoyance, but since they poison, that annoyance can turn into a real danger. The Red Guard must survive, or the scenario is lost, so Ally’s Demolitionist took the tank role, jumping into the fray and drawing the aggro. She would be taking hits and losing cards the whole fight while the rest of us killed the golem (and she, of course, would be doing the same).
I dropped my Ward to give the snakes and the golem disadvantage, when they came within range, then used my class abilities to have the snakes attack the golem, and give my allies extra attacks.
It was a fairly straightforward run. So many mobs in so little space made staying alive a bit of a struggle, but I added some curses to the monster encounter deck, and everyone had some stuns and disarms they could put on the golem. In the end, the Red Guard had to flee the fight and hide in a corner to make sure he survived, while the rest of us worked on the golem.
We did it! It came down to who was going to get the kill. I tried, but the snakes I controlled had trouble getting through the golem’s shield, so the kill went to the Hatchet or the Demolitionist, I can’t remember which.
The Red Guard stood silent for a bit, ichor dripping from his chained blade. “It is done, and I am free,” he said. “I would not dishonor you with thanks. I knew you would be at my back, as I ever will be at yours.”
We weren’t a void warden, a hatchet, a demolitionist and a red guard. We were, and will always be, the Jaws of the Lion.
On the way back to the Inn, the Hatchet saw a poster advertising an arena fight. “The Best of the Best?” he murmured, reading the sign. “Well, that’s me — you all agree, of course?”
Of course we did. If the Hatchet did this, he’d have to do it alone, though — all we could do is cheer from the sidelines. (We drew a City Encounter with the Hatchet’s personal quest on it as we headed out for the Red Guard’s. It has a pretty unique mechanic.)
I found the two archers on the side of the Red Guard mission to be annoying, but Best of the Best is AWESOME (I played a Hatchet, so I might be biased :P).
My BF read the text on the card and assumed it would be a solo mission, but when we looked it up and saw the rest of us would be trying to get the crowd to cheer for him… well, he perked up a bit. Sounds like a lot of fun!