Simon Crowe, over at Geekdo, wrote a really good play description. I does contain some spoilers (the first encounter of 'Eye for an Eye', the scenario in the ToA), but it does a better job than any I've seen so far of showing how play actually works. It has some very good pictures that show the table action. Not only that, it's a very fun read! Check it out:

An Eye For An Eye - First Session, with pics and some rules demonstrations

If you are still unsure about how things work, this goes a long way toward demonstrating play.

Edit: If you are sitting on the fence and this article doesn't push you over, then I don't know what will. The story, along with the description puts you in the game as well as anything short of actually playing. I really enjoyed it (if you can't tell - )

NezziR said:

Um, I am genuinely sitting on the fence and that didn't push me over. I do think it was a good description, a good read and good photos, but at some point I started zoning out and wondering, "there seems so much stuff to keep track of!".

This paragraph is where he really lost me, "My stance meter is over into the green (though my critical affects that). There's my critical wound suffered. The dodge I just used now has 2 recharge tokens on it (see the top right corner of a card for its recharge value). The Sniper Shot has 1 token, since 1 gets removed at the end of my action turn (so using an action in your turn means a token comes off almost straight away). I wont be able to use either of these whilst they have tokens on." Wow, I don't know what he's talking about.

However, I'm still on the fence. I really think I still have to play this game to decide.

heptat said:

Then I don't know what will. I thought it was a great description.

Let's see if I can help with your confusions.

He's two steps into green (see the stance meter). The critical wound, mentioned earlier, modifies that (he treats it as one less dice). So, instead of trading out 2, he trades out 1 - even though he's 2 steps in.

You remove 1 from each card at the end of your turn. You put 2 on (for a recharge 2 card) when you use it, and remove 1 from the card at the end of the turn. A card with a recharge of 2 can generally be used every other turn.

As for the dodge, he used it in the monster's turn, so it still has 2 on it. At the end of his next turn, he will remove 1.

It seems like a lot to track, but it's not really. The tokens provide an 'at a glance' view. As for the other things, just by placing the cards in the right places you can easily remember modifiers. For example, the crit that modifies stance, put it next to your stance meter (if you have trouble remembering it). I suspect each player will have his own method of placing thing in a manner optimal for him.

NezziR said:

Ok, remember, I have *no idea* how this works, so let me ask a question. When you say "trading out" what do you mean? Ok, I can see there is an advantage to having a stance of green (which equates to conservative?). What are the trade offs for different stances?

NezziR said:

Ok, that makes sense, I understand that

Thanks for the explanation, you just have to remember my point of view - I've never played or read the rules, or seen anyone play, so I'm at a disadvantage. Also I can often be quite obtuse. Might have to buy it and play around with it to be able to decide if I want to buy it

Thanks again

heptat said:

Not a problem man. Rolls are based on stats and skills. When you are building your pool, one of the components is a number of blue characteristic dice equal to the relevant stat. So, if you are making an agility test and you have an agility of 4, one of the dice types for the pool will be 4 blue characteristic dice.

The stance tracker modifies the characteristic dice. You trade out stance dice for characteristic dice, on a 1-for-1 basis, based on your position on the track. So, if you are two steps into green, like in his example picture, using the example above you would add 2 blue and 2 green dice instead of 4 blue dice. If you were shifted 1 into reckless instead, you would add 1 red and 3 blue instead of 4 blue.

Green dice are less likely to fail but can cause delays.

Red dice have a slight chance of added failure (there's a 'challenge' or two on them) and may exhaust you, but they are more likely to succeed.

Both red and green dice have a better chance to succeed than a standard blue dice.

Edit: And you're right. I totally approached that with full knowledge of the rules. It's hard to see it from a 'never played' perspective.

Hmm, sounds like an interesting mechanic - and thanks, I appreciate you answering my questions. I'm re-reading the session demo again now

"They roll 4 characteristic dice for their strength, converting none. But they get 3 white dice, 1 for each guy after the first (as mentioned before, a henchman group attacks as one, rather than separately). The GM also throws in a yellow expertise dice and a white fortune dice from a pool the beastmen get to use. Eek!"

From the play description...

Where did the GM get the yellow expertise dice? I thought they could only add fortune dice to the roll. Ungors are 'weak' and don't see to have any Expertise dice...

Sarim Rune said:

The A/C/E dice are white except the E bit is yellow. Ungor have 3/3/1 ACE dice. So they get one yellow die to spend on something suitably Ungor-y.

Hello, I'm the person who wrote that play example. I was a bit torn between explaining every little rule and not making things too complex. Even so, the dice pools are very quick and easy to assemble despite how I might make them look. And I think we got all the rules right, but any mistakes let me know!

Just wanted to say thank you for this article it helped explain to me what i thought i understand and in some cases made me rethink what i thought i knew..

Overall excellent very useful

I was hoping you could clarify a part of your example of combat....

I know you didn't go into detail about the actions of the other characters but....in your description you say the priest casts a spell "the might of sigmar" or something...he casts it and jumps down and fights....did this take two rounds? one to cast and curry favour and then attack on the next round?

Thats how I interpret the rules...wondering if I was missing something

That particular spell is both a boost and melee attack in one action. You call on the might of Sigmar and immediately smite the enemy with your hammer (a prerequisite for casting the spell).

monkeylite said:

Aha! See?! The review is helping me pick out things I thought we had down pat, hehe...

I missed completely the point of the Expertice dice being yellow.

We haven't gotten around to actually playing yet, so all's well, but I am glad sifting through these forums continuously brings up little points of clarification.

Well done!

Kalidor said:

Same here. I had read it but (mistakenly) thought that the 'E' (which I knew stood for Expertise) meant extra Fortune dice when the creature was doing...skill based things. I dunno, like building stuff or forging weapons or something. Since nobody cares about monsters doing that sort of thing, the idea that they get generic Expertise DICE is by far the better option.

Love how this game works so much. There are ALWAYS times when you need a little extra 'omph' in a fight and these one-shot dice are a great way to showcase when a creature pulls out all the stops.

Nice work. Very helpful.