I believe we unlocked this scenario via a City Event that had a Mind Thief controlling the guards. That event added this scenario, and we just now got to it. So all these many months, these guards have been wandering around, fighting each other, until we finally arrive to save the day.
Our team:
Trapper: My character, level 4, makes traps
Frozen Fist: Level 4, punches stuff
Infuser: Level 5, infuses elements to boost power
Drifter: Just, I dunno, man. Get off my back. I know my rights, man. Leveled to 5.
By a strict reading of the rules, we should be playing scenarios at level 2. We play at level 1 because we just play casually and Isaac Childres – of whom Kasul always says, hates fun – isn’t here to force us to play the technically correct level. If we didn’t always find ourselves near exhaustion as we come to the end of a scenario, maybe we’d feel better about boosting the level, but that’s not where we’re at.
The scenario opens with everyone getting the scenario effects of Muddle, plus a Curse added to their decks. Well, almost everyone. Trapper, Infuser and Drifter had taken the “Ignore Scenario Effects” perk, so while three of us could shake off the effects of the Mind Thief’s power, our Frozen Fist staggered about confused.
In the first room, city guards and their loyal hounds were pummeling each other, but forgot about intramural sparring when fresh meat — we — showed up. The scenario flavor text made it clear that these folks were our friends and pals, which made me think that we were not supposed to kill these former companions.
In fact, since the scenario goal was simply to kill an orb in the third room, we didn’t technically need to kill anything at all; just scamper over to the objective, tap it once or twice, done and done.
Trapper and Infuser worked together to set traps and pull hounds onto them while the Fist and Drifter worked their way to the door. Once the dogs were dead, we opened the door and sped through. We’d only had to kill one of the guards.
The next room was jammed full of Vermling scouts and priests. Walking over and opening the door to the objective was not going to be as easy as we’d hoped. Worse, at the far northern wall of the room sat an enticing treasure chest that we knew we weren’t going to be able to open.
Oh, I forgot to talk about the really interesting quirk in this scenario
What made this scenario extra crispy was the special rule: You don’t get to choose just any cards from your deck to play; you have to shuffle your cards, set them aside face down, and draw four of them at the beginning of the turn, choosing two and shuffling the unchosen two back into the deck. (After the second door is open, it changed to draw three, pick two).
This really hurt me, as the Trapper, since my usual strategy is to make a bunch of traps, tie them together into a super trap, and then hurl that super trap at tough enemies. I was building up such a trap on my way to the objective when I did not draw the card that would let me continue building it up. So I used a loss card that would explode all the traps I’d already set out for later use, killing several mobs. Which was useful, taking some of the heat off of the other characters that were madly losing cards under the onslaught of so many Vermlings. Nonetheless, I was not able to one-shot the boss and was not present for that final fight.
Instead, I used traps to cover my back and headed up toward the treasure chest, drawing away the remaining guards and Vermlings while everyone else headed for the goal.
The door to the last room was stuck and needed to be whacked a bit to open; the Drifter worked on that while the Fist and Infuser made their way over. Once in there, the three beaters whaled on the mysterious orb (which had been set up by the Mind Thief, who escaped in the confusion). My Trapper tossed a healing trap in from outside. Eventually it was done; Drifter got the kill shot.
Completion got us a morale boost and an event added to the calendar in ten weeks. I guess our pursuit of the Mind Thief will have to wait for awhile. I’m hoping we can get some of the charmed guards to come with us for their revenge, but they will probably claim PTSD and decline.
Back in town, we discover that winter had ended and we had completed our first year in Frosthaven. Winter event decks were stored away, summer event decks taken out and new events added. Time marches on.
Personal quest progress:
Trapper: None of my special mobs were in this scenario; we chose one with the mobs I need for next time.
Drifter: We did draw a Town Hall Challenge, which was that anyone adjacent to a mob that died would take a point of damage, but we utterly forgot to do it during the scenario, so we shuffled it back into the deck. No progress for the Drifter.
Infuser: We got some money from a City Event, which we donated to the Infuser; their retirement goal is to enhance five cards. They have enough to do it if they focused on useless cards, but Drew said he wanted to enhance cards he actually used, and so it will likely take longer.
Frozen Fist: I don’t remember what his quest is.
Right now, I don’t think anyone is in danger of retiring for at least a couple more scenarios. We do have one new character that we unlocked last session, the Geminate that nobody has ever played, as well as all the classes we’ve played in the past.
If someone does choose a previously played character, I’d probably repaint them. I wasn’t totally happy with how the first crew came out, and I should have paid closer attention to the official art.
