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malkav11 posted:Hexplore It Volume 4: The Domains of Mirza Noctis now live over on Gamefound: Dammit, I have Sands and Forests and barely ever get a chance to play them, but here I go again
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Apr 7, 2021 18:26
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Did the expansions or sequels to Hexplore Valley of the Dead King fix or change the character balance at all? We tried a few 2-3 player games and it felt useless to play the controllers since it was easier to just kill the enemies rather than try draining their energy. Great art and some cool concepts but the game also felt flood or famine where you were winning handily or losing badly without much in between. It was fun for a few games though and I'm tempted to look at the follow ups.
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Apr 7, 2021 21:14
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bagrada posted:Did the expansions or sequels to Hexplore Valley of the Dead King fix or change the character balance at all? We tried a few 2-3 player games and it felt useless to play the controllers since it was easier to just kill the enemies rather than try draining their energy. Great art and some cool concepts but the game also felt flood or famine where you were winning handily or losing badly without much in between. It was fun for a few games though and I'm tempted to look at the follow ups. So two things: I think the later roles are generally a bit tighter designs with stronger sapper builds that have more effective energy damage generation and also do other stuff with their powers. Secondly, there's a lot more stuff in later volumes that either a) only take energy damage at least some of the time or b) it's really helpful to neuter their energy to reduce their effectiveness while you're killing them. Also I think probably lower energy counts overall. I think energy damage is not generally as helpful as raw health damage, but specialists can burn through it much faster. Finally, just to check - did you play the revised Valley, which was funded alongside Forests of Adrimon, or the original one? I hear they fixed a lot of stuff when they revised it.
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Apr 7, 2021 21:32
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malkav11 posted:So two things: I think the later roles are generally a bit tighter designs with stronger sapper builds that have more effective energy damage generation and also do other stuff with their powers. Secondly, there's a lot more stuff in later volumes that either a) only take energy damage at least some of the time or b) it's really helpful to neuter their energy to reduce their effectiveness while you're killing them. Also I think probably lower energy counts overall. I think energy damage is not generally as helpful as raw health damage, but specialists can burn through it much faster. Pretty sure it was the original. I don't remember how the timing worked out but my friend bought just the one boxed game when we were on an early Gloomhaven coop RPG high. He told me not too long after our sessions that an expansion was coming out but he wasn't going to buy it. I didn't even know about the rest until I followed the gamefound link posted today. Either way, thanks for the response. I'm tempted to check them out again.
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Apr 7, 2021 21:52
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malkav11 posted:It's been in heavy demand and is sold out, hence the reprint KS. Far Corners is basically a bonus for people who already got in last time. Cool! Yeah, hadn’t heard that it was in demand, but happy to see more people wanting to get their hands on it. Definitely matches the reprint model they used for Argent a while back, where they added the mini-expansion Summer Break Metros are pretty meh in the times that I’ve played with them thus far, but I’m interested in seeing what new ideas they’ll have for them.
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Apr 7, 2021 22:28
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Wow, I've never heard of HEXplore before and it seems like extremely my poo poo, especially since I am about to move away from my Gloomhaven group and need something else.
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Apr 7, 2021 23:56
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Agrias120 posted:Wow, I've never heard of HEXplore before and it seems like extremely my poo poo, especially since I am about to move away from my Gloomhaven group and need something else. I would caution you that it is a very different and much less tactical experience than Gloomhaven. But obviously I love both, so you may as well.
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Apr 8, 2021 00:01
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I remember being somewhat turned off from HEXplore it because it looked like a whole lot of bookkeeping of minutiae was involved. Maybe this isn't what the game is like, but the keeping track of and applying endless reams of conditional +1 here and -1 there is a huge turn off. It's not the 80s anymore, if a system MUST have that then I want a computer taking care of it. If that's not really the case, then what would any of you fans recommend as a good HEXplore offering for someone willing to try it out? e: And that someone is more on the boardgame side of things, and much less on the RPG end of the spectrum. The Eyes Have It fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Apr 8, 2021 |
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Apr 8, 2021 01:29
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The Eyes Have It posted:I remember being somewhat turned off from HEXplore it because it looked like a whole lot of bookkeeping of minutiae was involved. Maybe this isn't what the game is like, but the keeping track of and applying endless reams of conditional +1 here and -1 there is a huge turn off. It's not the 80s anymore, if a system MUST have that then I want a computer taking care of it. So, there isn't precisely that, but it still might be close enough to be a turnoff for you. Basically, each character will have an attack stat, a defend stat, and two masteries (and three skills, but they tend to be used in a different part of the game from the masteries). The masteries will often have effects that are based on the rank of that mastery, the attack or defend stat, or some combination thereof. They will also often gain additional effects at certain ranks. Any derived stats or other tracking stuff have a place on the character board to write them down for easy reference, but you do gain stat ranks often enough to need to revise that regularly. It is also possible for masteries, racial abilities, and items to temporarily Boost stuff for a certain number of rounds of combat, most frequently one. This is all stuff you can write down on the Battle Mat, there's usually not loads of them at once, and they're usually not petty or not petty for long. But like...it is undeniably book-keeping. If that's not a turnoff, I'd just get in with the current one, or track down a copy of Forests of Adrimon if you want one right away. Valley of the Dead King is the most conventional fantasy experience and I think the least robust overall (though it has the most character roles). Sands of Shurax, the most recent one, has a *ton* of stuff in it and while I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet, is probably overkill as a starting point. The one funding, Domains of Mirza Noctis, is pitched as being roughly between Valley and Forests in terms of complexity. But that'll be at least a year delivering I imagine.
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Apr 8, 2021 01:46
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malkav11 posted:Hexplore It Volume 4: The Domains of Mirza Noctis now live over on Gamefound: Whenever I see Hexplore it stuff, I usually see the core game, an expansion, and a card deck. Is the card deck just a separate thing entirely or is it like a miniature expansion to the main stuff?
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Apr 8, 2021 02:02
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FirstAidKite posted:Whenever I see Hexplore it stuff, I usually see the core game, an expansion, and a card deck. Is the card deck just a separate thing entirely or is it like a miniature expansion to the main stuff? I'm not sure what you mean by card deck. In the most recent KS they were selling physically printed Living Card Decks, was it maybe one of those? (I'm confused because they were new to that project and while I assume there will be one for Mirza Noctis, they haven't shown it yet if so.) If so, the deal with that is each volume has like two cards in various in game decks that you would scan a QR code on and it does something different based on what month it is or like, kicks off a little event chain or whatnot. You most likely won't even see them in most games. But people wanted a physical version of the various possible outcomes so they were like "okay, sure" and printed them as physical cards you can add on for a bit of extra cash. You really don't need them.
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Apr 8, 2021 02:10
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malkav11 posted:I'm not sure what you mean by card deck. In the most recent KS they were selling physically printed Living Card Decks, was it maybe one of those? Yeah it was those, I saw them on Cool Stuff Inc, the first 3 things listed in this pic  I just wasn't sure what they were compared to the rest because the core game is pretty self-explanatory and the expansion too but I couldn't tell if the LCG was meant as a smaller version of the base game, a completely separate side-game related to the base game, something to be used with the base game, or something else.
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Apr 8, 2021 02:24
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malkav11 posted:I'm not sure what you mean by card deck. In the most recent KS they were selling physically printed Living Card Decks, was it maybe one of those? (I'm confused because they were new to that project and while I assume there will be one for Mirza Noctis, they haven't shown it yet if so.) There's a little bit of extra content over the QR cards - each comes with a "Peril" deck that can be optionally drawn from under certain circumstances has unique encounters that often incorporate living cards. Still a very minor and totally optional addition, though.
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Apr 8, 2021 02:36
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Stickman posted:There's a little bit of extra content over the QR cards - each comes with a "Peril" deck that can be optionally drawn from under certain circumstances has unique encounters that often incorporate living cards. Still a very minor and totally optional addition, though. Yeah, it was basically a bonus to make them at all enticing for people who're okay with breaking out their phone.
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Apr 8, 2021 02:40
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drat, I'm about to move across the country and lost my regular gaming group but I think I wanna go super deep on this HEXplore gamefound and get the old ones, too. It just looks like it might be my exact brand of bullshit. How does it play one player? My wife will probably play some with me, but she'd be more of a swap in/swap out kind of player whenever she was feeling it.
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Apr 8, 2021 05:06
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Am I being petty to be disappointed that Anime 5E is doing so much better than TC: Adventure, considering the history of the folks behind Guardians of Order/Dysakei games?
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Apr 8, 2021 11:43
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Agrias120 posted:drat, I'm about to move across the country and lost my regular gaming group but I think I wanna go super deep on this HEXplore gamefound and get the old ones, too. It just looks like it might be my exact brand of bullshit. How does it play one player? My wife will probably play some with me, but she'd be more of a swap in/swap out kind of player whenever she was feeling it. There are a few YouTube playthroughs if you search for solo HEXplore It.
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Apr 8, 2021 12:07
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Stargrave is running their own version of a kickstarter. I'm not really impressed by their figures, and the so called "solo" rules sound half done quicky version that's not as good as the dedicated Frostgrave ones. Any thread opinions on the figures or rules?
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Apr 8, 2021 12:15
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Comstar posted:Stargrave is running their own version of a kickstarter. I like the minis and it's a good deal, but I just don't need 60 minis (I think the only non book version of the nickstarter is all 3 boxes). I already preordered the book elsewhere otherwise I would have done a book and a box deal. If you're more motivated and liked the minis, I'd grab it, make your starband and then sell the leftover sprues on ebay.
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Apr 8, 2021 12:35
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:And Blue Planet funded in 4 hours. I have to say, this is one game I am really glad to see reappear. It was one of my favorite settings but I bounced off the system hard.
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Apr 8, 2021 14:46
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The Stargrave figures look like decent, cheap generic scifi models of the sort that I remember people buying in metal from companies like Pig Iron Productions (or buying old Void/Urban War stuff from Scotia Grendel) to make cheaper Imperial Guard armies. I think their main advantage over those metal minis that still exist are that being hard plastic in a fairly standard scale it's really easy to combine them with basically any range of things you like. Most of the people I know who bought the Frostgrave boxes didn't just buy them to make the minis as-is but to have a bits box of generic arms, heads, torsos etc to combine with their mountain of other third-party fantasy or historical bits, so being able to do the same but for spacemen sounds good to me.
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Apr 8, 2021 18:53
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Macdeo Lurjtux posted:It was one of my favorite settings but I bounced off the system hard. 1st edition system or 2nd? The 2e system is a whole lot better.
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Apr 9, 2021 16:21
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2nd I think, I found used at a gaming store around 02 or 03.
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Apr 9, 2021 17:27
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Oh wow. So you know how I was saying Hexplore It has great art but huge chunks of the game don't have any art at all? They just announced Domains of Mirza Noctis will have art on the encounter cards, this will be the case for future Hexplore It cards, and we'll be able to get arted-up versions of the encounters from the previous three volumes as well. Guess I'm spending more money after all.
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Apr 10, 2021 01:14
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malkav11 posted:Oh wow. So you know how I was saying Hexplore It has great art but huge chunks of the game don't have any art at all? They just announced Domains of Mirza Noctis will have art on the encounter cards, this will be the case for future Hexplore It cards, and we'll be able to get arted-up versions of the encounters from the previous three volumes as well. Guess I'm spending more money after all. I don’t mind buying an update pack with the new cards when they eventually make them.
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Apr 10, 2021 01:27
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malkav11 posted:Oh wow. So you know how I was saying Hexplore It has great art but huge chunks of the game don't have any art at all? They just announced Domains of Mirza Noctis will have art on the encounter cards, this will be the case for future Hexplore It cards, and we'll be able to get arted-up versions of the encounters from the previous three volumes as well. Guess I'm spending more money after all. It's really annoying how often our tastes overlap and that you're saying it because now I need to give Hexplore It another look. Dungeon Dive seemed really positive on it as well (they're my local and favorite online opinion on box crawls).
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Apr 10, 2021 01:31
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JazzFlight posted:I don’t mind buying an update pack with the new cards when they eventually make them. Well, it's gonna be an addon as soon as they hit the next unlock. I was already in for the usual volume + expansion + living card deck but I didn't expect there to be anything else I'd need to add on with all those unlocked. Turns out...
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Apr 10, 2021 01:45
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Well, I figure I might as well pledge for Domains of Mirza Noctis if I'm curious about the game. Sounds pretty refined.
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Apr 10, 2021 03:09
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The Eyes Have It posted:Well, I figure I might as well pledge for Domains of Mirza Noctis if I'm curious about the game. Sounds pretty refined. Hngh. Yep, pledged and got it. It seems like it should have content in it for DAYS so I don't need to get Vol. I now... ...I really don't.
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Apr 10, 2021 05:32
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Memnaelar posted:Hngh. Yep, pledged and got it. It seems like it should have content in it for DAYS so I don't need to get Vol. I now... Volume 1 is the least interesting so far. I have all of the volumes to date, and intend on completing the set, but if you're buying just some of them, I'd probably prioritize 2 or 3 (depending on how much complexity you're up for) first. Unless you mainly want more roles, in which case it does have substantially more than the others. Er, after Domains, I mean. Which does seem like a good starting place.
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Apr 10, 2021 06:22
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Macdeo Lurjtux posted:It was one of my favorite settings but I bounced off the system hard. Same. I got the original sourcebooks as a raffle prize from my local game shop, and they were a great read but I could never talk anyone else into playing.
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Apr 10, 2021 07:41
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malkav11 posted:Er, after Domains, I mean. Which does seem like a good starting place. Yeah, I settled on Domains partly because it sounds like Domains is pretty focused as an experience, a decent entry point for new players, and by now the different volumes have gone through a lot of design breadth and experimentation (for example, the "open world-ness" and also "complexity" peaked with Sands) which is now informing the newest design. I figure that Domains as a game should be a pretty refined experience at this point -- so if I bounce off IT I can probably safely know I am not missing out from the rest. Or I end up out to complete the set 
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Apr 10, 2021 17:54
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The Eyes Have It posted:Yeah, I settled on Domains partly because it sounds like Domains is pretty focused as an experience, a decent entry point for new players, and by now the different volumes have gone through a lot of design breadth and experimentation (for example, the "open world-ness" and also "complexity" peaked with Sands) which is now informing the newest design. This is the sensible approach. I am having a hard time maintaining it as I watch the various gameplay videos out there. This is so fiddly, it speaks to some weird part of my soul. edit: There's a part of me that wants to grab each expansion for a different reason: Volume 1 for all the extra heroes and the campaign mode, Volume 2 for the refined experience and the more interesting antagonist, Volume 3 because Dark Sun. Erg.
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Apr 11, 2021 22:27
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lol got my copy of Tiny Epic Pirates over the weekend, and there's so much poo poo in the box it won't close fully.
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Apr 11, 2021 23:18
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Infinitum posted:lol got my copy of Tiny Epic Pirates over the weekend, and there's so much poo poo in the box it won't close fully. I was able to get it to close, even with the special dice and the metal coins. You just gotta believe in yourself and work your Tetris skills like they've never been worked before.
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Apr 11, 2021 23:39
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Infinitum posted:lol got my copy of Tiny Epic Pirates over the weekend, and there's so much poo poo in the box it won't close fully. I just kept both boxes and put the fully assembled ships, some tokens, the skull dice, the bag, and the gold coins in the expansion box and everything else in the core box. Both close with no lid lift.
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Apr 12, 2021 01:52
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Memnaelar posted:This is the sensible approach. If it helps, the idea is campaign mode will be coming for all the volumes eventually, but they only started working on it as of the Sands of Shurax campaign and are going in volume order.
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Apr 12, 2021 02:41
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Right after Volume 3 shipped I managed to score some used copies of volumes 2 and 3 + expansions for about $30 under the kickstarter + shipping price. I suspect there will be a window after the early shipping period in August when retail and used sets will be cheap again without having to commit to a pledge now!
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Apr 12, 2021 03:42
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What's a Hero chest for Hexplore? Nowhere in that listing does it explain what it is. 
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Apr 12, 2021 14:07
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Infinitum posted:lol got my copy of Tiny Epic Pirates over the weekend, and there's so much poo poo in the box it won't close fully. This shop on Etsy does phenomenal inserts for Tiny Epic games. He made an all-in-one-box one for Pirates, but it sold out so fast he had to remove the listing so he could get caught up. I highly recommend his work; I'd keep an eye on the shop for when the Pirates insert becomes available again.
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Apr 12, 2021 14:30
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