The Gaming Den

Oh, just noticed an inconsistency with Creeping Doom.

In the beginning of the book, where the descriptions are, it says it costs 2 CP to cast. In the Forest of Arden or Sacred Grove, it doesn't say how much it costs to cast, so I assumed it'd be 2 CP.

In the Garden of Contemplation it says it costs 1 CP to cast, the same as the counterable not-instakill spells for the other colours.

Personally, I'm leaning towards that being a typo in the beginning of the book, that all counterable spells other than instakills should be 1CP, but I could also accept the argument that it's an error in the Garden of Contemplation, or that it's just easier to cast there for some reason and is 2CP elsewhere. In most places it seems to repeat the CP cost for each spells which would avoid this. If it was a 1CP spell, than each colour has a 3CP uncounterable, a 2CP instkill, and a 1CP counterable, with the sole exception of blue's uncounterable being 2CP, which is also stated to be 2CP when using it.

(Also, in the even numbered books, Spirit of Flame has a cost of 3CP in the beginning of the book, which I'm assuming is just a typo)

And the duel is over, the victor being:

Explosive Wand

Who will take control of the council until challenged by a younger mage, or they retire. In either case there is still plenty of the Rainbow Lands to explore, spells to cast and magic things to find.

Well fought, Ikeren. I wasn't sure I'd come out on top after you melted my sword.

Yeah, I think I was down after that very first fight. As it turns out, the penalty for retreating is kind of insurmountable. Had fun though.

Is anyone up for another game/

Alright, I'm down with a totally different strategy/and hanging out in a totally different area.

I'm down for a rematch/ New Challenger vs levelled up Explosive Wand.

I'm happy to pass, though, if someone else wants a round wo is watching this thread.

I might be interested but I have 2 advantages that would probably make it unfair: I have been following the game and have read all three threads, and I remember having these books 20 years ago. Virtually all I actually remember though is

in which zones the instadeath items are located and the correct means to unlock the White instadeath item.

That's a lot more than I learned... maybe after another run through we'll be more evenly matched in knowledge?

I didn't realize there were insta-death items. So all the tier-2 locked spells are instadeaths if you find the right item?

It seems like the game assumes you explore a fair bit pre-duel, but it seems like the game also forces the duel pretty quickly sometimes?

I think a lot of it is chance based on the zones you end up and the spells you have that work. If you don't catch a person when they flee, and/or don't get to hit them with your colours damaging spells/don't win initiative, it's possible to not do much damage over several encounters. Pursuing aggressively seems to be a strong play if you happen to get an early advantage, though, and it's something sorcerers are good at doing.

Ikeren wrote:I didn't realize there were insta-death items. So all the tier-2 locked spells are instadeaths if you find the right item?

If your opponent doesn't have the counterspell, yes.

Ikeren wrote:It seems like the game assumes you explore a fair bit pre-duel, but it seems like the game also forces the duel pretty quickly sometimes?

A lot down to luck. You could both start at the same realm and fight right away, or you could wander around for ages without seeing each other.

What's the rules for levelling up/ a second game, again?

The winner gains one more greater magic, one lesser magic, one CP and one LP than a normal mage, but have to use the same spells and counterspells they used last time. And they'd not keep items they found, I guess.

There aren't rules for what colour spell different types of mage can gain, though in-game it wouldn't matter for sorcerors. The book does assume that, for example, wizards will never learn black magic, even if they have gone up levels.

I've updated my sheet and am ready to go again if you are, Ikeren.

Sure, I'll post in my thread later today/or tomorrow morning with a new mage.

And the duel is over, the victor being:

Explosive Wand

Though there is still plenty of the Rainbow Lands to explore, spells to cast and magic things to find.

Hmmm, retreating produced a loss pretty quick, and it seems like getting summoned to a white+black realm for a duel happens pretty quickly in each game? Is that an event or something after a certain number of turns? As necromancer or wizard, I only get 2 spells to throw out in that area, and that's not enough to kill someone, so then it always is just going to come down to the luck of the rolls at the end either way, even if you've made optimal choices?

What's happening in general terms:

You're being summoned due to a deliberate action taken by Explosive Wand in a specific zone

Yeah, I found a place to get a magic sword, and a place to teleport you to the same place as your opponent, and have used that in all three games. Forcing an early confrontation while you have an advantage (even a slight one) seems to work. I rolled really luckily in that fight, though.

I think just puts us in the same randomly-selected area of colour magic. Last time it was the gardens of contemplation (blue/green).

I figured you were going to flee inward and head to the white tower, but I guess you'd have lost 6 points from two retreats, just to be able to land a 5 damage spell again.

I'm interested in creating a new mage for a game, but like Mr Shine I've been reading both threads (part of the reasons why I dropped out of Team 1....I couldn't resist looking in the other thread). Since I know all about SlyJohnny's character, it probably wouldn't be fair to play against him (not to mention Mr Shine is ahead of me in the queue).

Oh, interesting. For me the point was to just explore the game, so I didn't even consider you'd do the same thing every time. Also interesting that it throws you in a random area. It seems like it would take 4-5 spells to kill someone by damage, but generally you won't have that right off the bat.

If Thaluk is down for running two more, I'd be up for a new game with a new character. Maybe I'll go up against Mr Shine, and Sgamerz and Ikeren (who have roughly equivalent player knowledge) can duel each other?

Sure, if people want to do that.