Hi all.

Just finished a game and saw this guy for the first time. Nasty fellow if you ask me. If you're unlucky enough to draw him early in the game he'll most likely kill you in 3-4 rounds. This time I was lucky as Ifrit sultan was in play.

So, anyway, my question is: can you go below you craft and strength if you have the old man? I know it says lose strength or craft which means you can't go below you values but on the other hand you're 'just unable to use them' until you get rid of the old guy.

What do you think?

Nope, craft is not craft value.

True, but wanting to get somewhere (in this case the tavern) in three rounds and actually getting there is not the same thing either. Perhaps even less so. That's why I'm asking a question I know the obvious answer to.

True, but wanting to get somewhere (in this case the tavern) in three rounds and actually getting there is not the same thing either. Perhaps even less so. That's why I'm asking a question I know the obvious answer to.

Drawing Old Man of the Sea when you have little or no life authonomy is painful. It's meant to be so.

In my last game, the Nomad was down to 2 lives and without any Str/Cft Counter when she found this card. She just died without reaching the Tavern. The Vampiress followed her steps, landed on the space, picked up all the Nomad's stuff and then drained the lifeforce from the Old Man of the Sea to gain 1 life.

In one game you'll be the poor Nomad and in another you'll play the fearless Vampiress. Who knows how things will turn out.

This is Talisman!

Then this would be the deadliest card in the deck so far. I would guess that 1 out of 5 times you can get rid of him without having to bring him to the tavern. Otherwise you'll probably have around 5 turns to get there. Cool.

I like firelands more and more. Might even be my favourite small box. Sure there's a lot of good stuff in the others as well but most of it could have come from anywhere. Firelands feel more complete.

Then this would be the deadliest card in the deck so far. I would guess that 1 out of 5 times you can get rid of him without having to bring him to the tavern. Otherwise you'll probably have around 5 turns to get there. Cool.

Consider that most boxes had at least 1 bad Follower you wouldn't want to draw in any case.

Base set: Cursed by a Hag

Reaper: Jester

Dungeon: None

Frostmarch: None

Highland: Vagabond

Sacred Pool: Deathstalker and False Prophet

Dragon: None

Blood Moon: Black Cat and Living Doll (well, this is an Object, actually)

City: Gremlin

Nether Realm: Deathstalker and Nether Bane

Firelands: Old Man of the Sea

Blood Moon and City have assigned Encounter Number 5 to these Followers, thus nerfing them a lot.

So yes, compared to the others, the Old Man of the Sea is the most dangerous one, even more than the Deathstalker.

Firelands has lots of other kick-ass cards: Emerging Volcano, Eruption, Ifrit Sultan, Ifrit Sultana, Ifrit Invader, but the most dreadful is the Flame Rift. Lose 1 life for sure, burn all other cards on the space and cards from top of the deck. Excellent draw when on the Hidden Valley. To balance that, there are excellent Objects inside. One of my favourites is the Enchanted Map; the Shamshir of Khamsin is probably the best Weapon in the game so far (barring out the Armoury OP stuff).

The Vampiress followed her steps, landed on the space, picked up all the Nomad's stuff and then drained the lifeforce from the Old Man of the Sea to gain 1 life.

we play it that you can get of the unwanted followers/objects only in the way that is instructed on the card or in a way that you have no choice. in followers case rolling a 2 on the reaper, 3 on the werewolf chart, the chasm etc.. so in our game the vampiress would have to reach the tavern as well

The Vampiress followed her steps, landed on the space, picked up all the Nomad's stuff and then drained the lifeforce from the Old Man of the Sea to gain 1 life.

we play it that you can get of the unwanted followers/objects only in the way that is instructed on the card or in a way that you have no choice. in followers case rolling a 2 on the reaper, 3 on the werewolf chart, the chasm etc.. so in our game the vampiress would have to reach the tavern as well

Good for you. I play as per official rules, as stated in FAQ 1.1 "Followers that you must take". I used to play as you do before the FAQ told us how to handle the negative Followers.

after reading the FAQ again im pretty sure that we do play it by the rules..

FAQ: "...However, there are other ways

but, i might be wrong

"Such as visiting the Chasm in the Middle Region." is an example. Character special abilities are another way to do it. Perfectly legal. The only thing you cannot do is simply ditch the card on a space!