Brutal

[Tommy Brownell]

Finally got my copies, and played twice, once solo and once in a four player game.

The solo game was as the US Marshal, who is a rough pick for solo because his initiative is so low. I also kept forgetting stuff I had along the way, but I made it to the end of the mine, before getting beaten by The Goliath. Wound up with a broken collar bone, and losing a permanent Sanity point traveling back to town...too broke to do anything about either.

The four player game was a bit different. I was a Gunslinger and we had an Outlaw, a Preacher (of the Shotgun variety) and a Saloon Girl.

Gunslinger - I actually forgot to pick a Starting Upgrade because I was distracted with putting stuff together, and still came out largely unscathed, getting an Amulet that gives me bonus damage, as well as an Execution pistol that also does more damage. Came out Level 2 and carting a tomb chest full of Dark Stone.

Our Outlaw had a muuuuuch rougher time. He has a busted arm and a broken collar bone, and he's one point of Corruption away from mutating, but he's alllmost level 2. He's also loaded, because he robbed the town bank despite his injuries.

The Saloon Girl was a whirlwind of death and destruction, killing things like crazy with melee attacks and the free shot from her holdout pistol.

The Preacher is lagging waaaaayyy behind in cash and XP, and I don't think his player cares for the character much.

We were moments away from killing the Goliath (in a room full of Hungry Dead and corpse piles) when The Darkness escaped, which was frustrating. When we made it to town, the Doc's office had been destroyed, which killed the Outlaw's hopes of getting fixed up.

I enjoyed it much more on the four player playthrough than solo, and I think we're gonna marathon it a bit next Saturday.

[Old Dwarf]

I've played 3 Games now just Solo to get the rules down using 2 different Heroes
each Time & there is a lot to remember. I'm terrible on remembering about the Corpse
Pile Spawn & then have go back & work it out.

I just finished the longest Game 28 Turns ,9 Tiles it's the only one so far that
I've had to take off previous drawn Tiles to keep it on my Game Table.

I still have to try out the Lawman & the Preacher. The Game I just played
was with the Gunslinger & the Saloon Gal & her ability to melee then get
that free shot can be a lifesaver

OD

[Raynor]

Wow! Yeah It CAN be brutal. We just played "For a Few Darkstone more" for the first time last night. Up until this point we've just redone the same starter mission as we either learned the rules or introduced people to the game. Finally got to take things beyond the basic game and wow! I was playing the US Marshall and my buds were both playing piano player and gunslinger respectively so I always had the last initiative and the least amount of attacks with the shotgun. I thought it was going to be okay because I had the double shot (shoot again if you kill something) and got extra experience and had a bigger die and all that jazz but I didn't kill ANYTHING through every battle except the final clue room. The whole time, I just rolled ones on my big fancy d8. Or rolled a non-crit hit and then 3 damage against an enemy with 3 defense, over and over again. My buddies were struggling to keep back the laughter as I spent a grit in frustration to reroll a 1, only to roll another 1.

Anyway, I really really REALLY like the other worlds mechanic. We're still playing everything from one box thus far so we only had the Targa Plateau (spl?) but wow it was super cool. We drew a gate 3 tiles in, then the otherworld (the heart of the city) only had a gate and no other exits so we were right back into the mines in another area. Then from the new spot in the mines, yet another gate appeared!!! and we found the Cryo tube chambers. It was a lot of fun. SO thematic!

The final fight we drew our epic threat and had to face 1 elite high threat and 1 elite med threat and then we got ambushed by the darkness, and it was the fight of our lives. I finally got a few kills in, and we used every healing item we could and squeaked through. The really exciting redemption in my experience showed on the way back to town where I gained 125exp for rescuing a child from a burning house. Still about 150 exp behind my comrades from their exploits in the mines. I guess the marshall was just not used to otherworlds and needed to get back into his own western element to show his stuff off.

So yes, a very brutal game but when you flip that High or epic threat and you see the room fill up with enemies and you're questioning how you're ever going to make it through the next few turns only to have a shadow card spring an ambush on you to layer the stink of doom thick on an already caked on feeling of hopelessness.... and the game can pull this off consistently. Wow! I'm impressed.

[Old Dwarf]

The damn rolling to get 1 & then spending Grit to just reroll another 1
is just wicked of FFP.

I'm playing my 4th Solo Game with the Preacher & Lawman the Preacher has
Firebrand which allows a reroll of 1 of the Casting die
& the Lawman has Laying down the Law which allows him to
reroll a to hit die.

So in the same turn for both I roll a 1 then apply their special
ability for a reroll & get 1 again & then both used Grit & ANOTHER 1 !!

My Game room is on the 3rd floor & my wife heard me yell down
on the first.

OD

[Raynor]

Oh man! OD, my heart goes out to you! My travails are nothing compared to that bologna! I'm surprised you didn't flip the table!!!

I'm just glad my horrible rolls early on were redeemed by my two fantastic team mates blowing people away early on and my own U.S. Marshall's daring rescue and late game redemption at taking out some of the big baddies in the final fight. We had a good time and as long as sucky rolls don't seriously interfere with the game play I feel like they add a lot of flavor to the proceedings and the rollplaying - story telling aspect of the game.