Finally finished first Encounter of Let the Truth be Buried. Here are the details:

The Travel netted the heroes a travel card that left them with the ability to draw an extra shop card on the next step. Good thing there is an optional quest to go on before the Finale though, otherwise it would be useless. On the negative side, all of the heroes minus Grisban ended up getting Stunned.

Open Group: Shadow Dragons with +2 Health, Pierce Immunity and +1 Damage to attacks.

Starting the quest off Stunned didn't bode well for the heroes. Fortunately the OL's Blinding Speed play only netted him 2 extra MPs. Though Splig did reach the chain first, the heroes were able to effectively get in front of him. The Zombies were basically movement fodder to block the heroes access to the Dragons. The Dragons themselves just played keep away. Most of their time was spent chilling in the bottom hallway. Serena was of course knocked out early by the Goblin Archers. Grisban and Ulma chose to melee and crowd Control Splig, while Dezra and Logan tried to move up into the cave. It was at one point however that Aplig was able to knock about Grisban with the chain. It effectively cut him off. A Wyrm Queen's favor Card produced a Dragon Hybrid, whom proceeded to give Dezra and Logan trouble. The Two heroes basically spent most of the time stuck at the entrance area.

A series of missed attacks ( a hero missed at least one attack in one round) and poor defense rolls landed the heroes in trouble. They got battered and bruised. Fortunately, Ulma was able to keep from getting Koed. Now Equipped with Chainmail and a Black Iron Helm, she is pretty hard to hurt. Dezra is now carrying the Rune Plate, so she has extra health and can roll a Black Die. But no matter how much you equip up, you still have to fight the die. Anyway, Ulma was able to keep Splig Koed for several turns. Meanwhile the Dragons got a little Aggresive too, makind quick hit and run attacks on both Logan and Dezra. The Goblin Archers attempted to get those extra points of damage. In the end, all heroes were Knocked out at one point.

With some inventive measures though, Dezra managed to get some Damage and more importantly Hexs on the master Dragon. She was also able to get in a few attacks on the Hybrid. She ended up using Fel Command on the Hybrid to Attack the Shadow Dragon for some cheap Damage. She also dispersed the Mimic Volucrux Reaver that Logan turned up. The Master Dragon was finally defeated by the combined efforts of Dez and Logan. Even then, the OL used a Rise Again to bring it back in order to inflict an extra cheap attack. The Dragon Hybrid then suddenly had an irresistable urge to plunge his own sword into himself. (Dezra used Fel Command and made him attack himself.) Meanwhile a heavily wounded Grisban with his Wolf chose to break from the group and go after the Minion Dragon on his own. He got a cheap hit in but managed to get KOed for his trouble. Splig was Revived and an Unseen Wings moved him around Ulma. Despite now adding an extra Black die to his Defense because of the Terrain Height, Ulma was still able to Knock him out a few turns. But he was able to avoid a KO and used the chain to knock her away and out.

However as Grisban revived, the Dragon missed. Grisban charged the Minion Dragon, amidst a newly summoned Dragon Hybrid and Goblin Arrows using Bestial Rage to deliver a fatal Blow. With only 2 Hearts left on him, Logan finished off Splig on the next turn.

Heroes Win Encounter 1.

But are they too beat up to finish the second Encounter? Who knows... but it looks pretty funny. I'm imagining Grisban just rolling all the way down.

Let the Truth Be Buried Encounter 2

Arachuryas have the +2 Health, Pierce Immunity and +1 Damage.

The heroes cautiously started their first turn taking two spaces each while Ulma Brewed healing Elixers and Serena started to Heal them. The OL however opened up with an Unseen Wings Card that moved Splig three spaces, plus a Blinding Speed that put him in the Left Hallhway of the Throne Room. As the Heroes started to pass the Webbed Hallyway, The Minion Arachurya used a Pincer Attack effecting both Ulma and Grisban. Both heroes lost their footing and fell.... all the way down. Though it was ten spaces worth of damage, Ulma managed to survive on one Health, only to Have Grisban fall on top of her, which just Knocked them both out. Meanwhile Splig grabbed the first token and was going for the second. Surrounded by monsters he was quite protected.

The two cave Spiders up there ended up double teaming Serena easily, so she was once again a non factor. Logan and Dezra tried to clear the way up on the pathway, but actions were once again wasted on several missed attacks. meanwhile, Ulma and Grisban came too, watching Splig pick up the second token and using Blinding Speed to move to the entrance of the right Hallway. Although they had Some pretty decent Stand up Rolls, their Defense Rolls sucked massively. The Master Arachurya had already made it down into the throne room and used a Pincer attack to knock out Ulma and almost Grisban. A Carrion Drake finished him off. Unfortunately, the OL drew the Unseen Wings card again off his KO resulting in Splig just being able to pick up the Objective Token on the next turn and casually walking through the Exit.

The heroes never even got close to Splig, so there was never a chance to reason with him. The Heroes just failed in the most spectacular way possible here. Overlord Wins quite easily!

Observations: Someone mentioned to me that this game needs some fixed values and man, sometimes I absolutely agree. If a character can afford to Equip himself with armor that gives out a Black Die, there's just absolutely no excuse for rolling One Shield results. It unfortunately happens too often, which gets me pretty **** annoyed. The dice are not your friend no matter how many you add.

Edit: I'm in an airport. Math time.

The chance to roll one or fewer shields while rolling gray black is 4/36, or 1/9. That is relatively rare, and a gigantic improvement over the 4/6, or 6/9 chance of the same on a single gray. On top of that, there ARE skills and gear that add flat shields, rather than dice. There is a lot to be said for abilities which are sure things. I'd rather have +1 might than an attribute reroll any day of the week.

A gray+1 has just a 1/6 chance of rolling 1 or fewer.

As mentioned, an added black decreases your low roll chances. In addition to increasing your chances of 2s and 3s, it also enables rolls of 4, 5, 6, and 7- impossible with just a gray, even if the chance of rolling 7 is as small as the chance of rolling 0- 1/36.

While a flat shield may be more reliable than a black die, remember that the flat shields are usually exhaust abilities or have a fatigue cost, whereas an added die from armor is often passive. Therefore, you need to determine what is more important to your character- rolling a little better all the time, or having reliable results on occasion. Do you need overkill defense rolls (are you fighting pierce monsters, or do you have abilities that trigger only when zero damage is dealt?)

I never really liked how Shields worked. Rerolling Die often does nothing, or gives out a worse result. So I just usually use them for the extra shield. Math doesn't really work on dice.

False. Based on the fact that the shield symbols are hollowed out, the dice are actually slightly loaded to land on the side with the most shields (assuming the dice are sufficiently randomized, which in most cases they are not.) The blue attack die actually is slightly loaded to land on X since it's the lightest face, but it's very minimal.

Right. It's those little factors that can alter the way dice land. Which is my point in that you can't go by probability factors

Right. It's those little factors that can alter the way dice land. Which is my point in that you can't go by probability factors

There is always variance around an expected value for something like a dice roll or a coin flip. However, if you're rolling "mostly zeroes" on your black die- as in consistently greater than 50% of rolls are zero- there is very likely something wrong with your die or the way you are throwing it.

I changed the way I roll. Now I use a glass that I drop them in.

Alright, time to get this campaign finished.

So I was hoping to get a Bow of the Eclipse or an Iron Claws for Logan during the shop trip. I used a Golden Key and 6 Fortune Tokens to draw out half the Act II deck and of course didn't get either. So I settled for a Dwarven Firebomb.

Quest: The Prison of Ice and Lies. Open group Arachuryas Immune to Pierce and All Large Monsters doing +1 damage.

I'll hand it to the OL for having an awesome opening turn. The heroes had the option to draw a search card during the travel phase as long as the OL got to draw 2 of his cards. So after the first hero turn in which they subsequently missed attacks, The OL turn went like this- Unholy Ritual, The Wyrm Queen's Favor, Unseen Wings on the Flesh Moulders, Diabolic Power which brought back Unseen Wing, only to play Unseen Wings again, which moved all the Flesh Moulders up to the Pyre. Subsequently then going on the Attack with Flurry attacks and Reflective Ward. By the second OL turn, he had 10 Fatigue Tokens.

The Heroes luck with the die also held true. True to how bad they can roll. They basically averaged 1 miss per turn, which slowed their progress alot. They also had some fantastically ugly defense rolls, once again giving out one Shields results on attacks that we're doing 9 damage a pop. So everyone except Grisban was Koed in horrific fashion.

Meanwhile the OL cruised to victory.

Next Quest: A Glimmer of Hope. A very slight glimmer with how bad these dice rolls are going. And with 14 Threat Tokens, the OL will be tough to take out.

The Finale is setup. The odds looks stacked. Will the heroes win?!

The Finale is setup. The odds looks stacked. Will the heroes win?!

That looks awesome;You do know you can't summon Agents in interludes and finales, right?

Oh no? I missed that rule.

Ah ok. Missed that sentence. Whelp... furk it... doing it anyway.

Edit: Thinking on it, that's a pretty stupid rule. I guess they want to make Finales and Interludes as fair as possible, but then what are you playing for if not to have leverage when it comes down to the Finale? So...Houserule. You can Summon Agents into a Finale but for double the amount of threat tokens it takes to do it. Fixed.

Think I'll update as I go.

The Overlord starts the quest with 3 damage on a Zombie because he chose to do 1 Damage each to Dez, Ulma and Grisban during the Travel Phase.

So first turn, Logan opened the door and tossed his Dwarven Firebomb at the closest Zombie and blew up the whole lot of them. The master Zombie, Golgoreth had 29 health. Dezra went next, using two blasts from her Staff to hit him for a total of 14 damage and a few hexes. Ulma then stepped up and finished him off. Grisban then punched the door for 1 Damage.

Two more zombies showed up and Splig appeared right behind Dezra and smacked her over the head, causing half her life in damage. The Zombies moved in to try and finish her off, but couldn't do it. In the meanwhile, Ariad and Merrick Farrow dispatched the red token, which allowed the Fire Imps and the Valyndra Agent to move into the hallway. The Imps moved to the other side of the pit while Valyndra stands on the Bridge. Looks like the heroes will have to go through her to cross.

Hero Turn 2

Dezra attacks Splig for 2 Damage, Stun and Hexes, then runs over to the opposite side of the room. Logan skirts around the Zombies and Firebombs them, doing 3 damage each. Grisban summons the Wolf and then attacks and kills one of the Zombies. The Wolf finishes off the second and stands next to Dez. Ulma fails a test on the door but manages to pass the second one. She also gives an Elixir token to Dez.

OL Turn 2

Two Zombies show up and Raythen appears at the entrance. He moves to attack Logan and misses. The Zombies also attack Logan but only manage to inflict 3 Damage. The OL casts two Blinding Speed Cards on Ariad and Merrick. Grisban passes a test, so Ariad only gets two extra MPs. She is only able to move up next to Valyndra, while Merrick moves past her.

Note: As the OL, perhaps a better strategy should have been to wait until the heroes unlock the door before spawning the lieutenants, because now they are locked in a room with the heroes who will most likely get the best of them. It's probably a good strategy on the heroes part to get rid of them both now instead of focusing on the door. Ariad and Merrick are (most likely) going to release the other monster anyway.

Hero Turn 3

Ulma starts off this round, clubbing one of the zombies with a one hit shot. She produces an Elixir token for Logan and then successfully tests the door. Logan finishes off the second zombie, opting not to use the Blast effect due to the extremely close quarters. With Splig now in his Line of Sight he also tosses one at Splig for some damage and effectively stunning him again. Grisban's Wolf then moves into Melee range of Splig, and delivers 5 damage to him. Grisban steps up to Splig as well, only smacking him for 1 Damage. Serena takes the time to Healing Song Ulma, Dezra and Logan. Then Dezra sets her sights on Raythen. Her first attack is nullified by an Uncontrolled Power play by the OL, only limiting her tow 4 damage and some Hexes. He second attack misses.

Overlord Turn

Ariad moves adjacent to the token holding back the Ettins and Merrick arrives at the token holding back the Elementals. Raythen takes aim at Logan again.... and misses. Dezra uses Fel Command on Splig, making him club himself and leaving him with heart of damage. He shrugs off his Stun and does the only thing he can do which is to attack Grisban. Grisban blocks all the damage but gets knocked back into a corner. The newly risen Zombies try to attack Dezra, one succeeds and hits her for two damage. The OL playes Word of Pain at the end of the turn and all heroes pass.

Hero Turn 4

The Wolf attacks Splig and takes him out of the fight. Grisban then lets loose on the two zombies and removes them from the fight. Dezra takes aim at Raythen taking him out with two attacks! With no more lieutenants in the small room, Ulma tests the door again, passes and opens it. Serena does her healing and Logan walks out of the room. He tosses a Firebomb at Valyndra, smacking her for four damage and also stunning her.

Overlord Turn

Valyndra shakes off her stun and walks into the stairway corridor. Ariad and Merrick use both actions to remove the tokens from the side rooms, setting loose the Ettins and Elementals. Using an Unseen Wings, the Ettins are allowed to move three extra spaces. Then the Master Ettin moves once and critical hits Logan with a Reach attack, that Knocks him clean out. The Overlord draws a Word of Despair. Then The Zombies, taking advantage of an opening, move in on Serena and knock her out of the quest. The Overlord finishes the turn casting Word of Despair, but all the heroes pass again. OL: 1/5 Fatigue Tokens.

Hero Turn 5

Grisban's Wolf lead the charge, intending to take a bit out of a zombie's leg. Unfortunately it missed. So it ran out into the big hall next to the Knocked out Logan. Grisban followed suit, cleaving the Zombie as he ran past. Dezra ran out next, aiming a few attacks on the Master Ettin to weaken him. She succeeded in doing some small damage, stunning and hexing him. Next Ulma walked out, using Potent Remedies to revive Logan. She then hit the Ettin for some more damage. The newly revived Logan heaved a bomb across the pit at one of the Fire Imps, doing some massive damage to the Imp, the Minion Ettin and the Master Ettin. A Second well placed shot to the Master Ettin killed him. Logan nets a Healing and Power Potion off of the fallen masters.

Overlord Turn

Zombies respawn again. At the beginning of the turn, The OL plays In the Wyrm Queen's Favor, spawning a Dragon Hybrid next to Ulma. A Diabolic Power ends up hurting everybody except Grisban for two Damage. The Hybrid attacks Ulma for 2 damage and then flies across the pit. Merrick moves over to the Throne Room doors and opens them. Ariad steps up and Curses both Logan and Dezra and then ducks into the Ettin hallway. The minion Elemental walks across the bridge and uses Fire to attack both Logan And Dezra. Logan is knocked out again. The master moves a bit closer but uses Air for defense. Valyndra steps up to Ulma and attacks. The OL Plays Furry on this as well. The attack is massive, Knocking out Ulma, doing serious damage to Grisban ( look ma, one Shield again off a black and grey die...and again off a reroll...) and killing Grisban's wolf. With no legitimate targets to attack, Flurry fizzles. The zombies surround Dezra and Grisban, but their attacks have no effect. The minion Ettin then steps up and clobbers Grisban for a few more damage... he now has only 2 hearts left. OL: 3/5 Fatigue Tokens.

Hero Turn 6

Time to regroup. Dezra drinks an Elixir token, revives Ulma and retreats back into the Zombie Room. Ulma uses Potent Remedies to revive Logan, hit Valyndra for some damage and retreat into the zombie room. Grisban stays put, healing himself with an Elixir token, using his attacks to kill some Zombies. He kills one but only manages to deal 4 damage to the second. Logan takes a step back and tosses his Firebomb at the Minion Ettin. It fails to surge for a blast, but the damage is enough to kill him. Logan then triggers his Heroic ability and tosses a bomb at Valyndra. It does damage to her and also manages to stun her. Logan then retreats back into the room.

Overlord Turn

The OL casts Unholy Ritual gaining two OL Cards. All the zombies move in to attack Grisban, but fail to deliver any damage. Valyndra also attacks Ulma, doing a bit of damage on her. Then the minion Elemental manages to weave his way into the zombie room and attack with fire. It effects Logan, Dezra and Ulma. Ulma and Dezra block most of the damage, but Logan gets Koed. It also wipes out two zombies. With only two hearts left on her, the OL sets his sights on Ulma. The Fire Imp misses an attack. The OL plays a Blinding speed on the Dragon Hybrid who moves in and takes a swipe at Ulma. She's Knocked out. OL: 5/5 Fatigue Tokens.

Overlord Wins the Campaign!

Winner of the LoR: Ariad as the Overlord.

Thanks for dealing with my inane updates and answering all my random questions, especially Zaltyre. Many things learned from this campaign. (Like get some new dice and don't use these heroes for awhile.) We're done.