Nearly there, here is my teaser..

[friskers96]

Scenario : Forgive Me My Trespasses

~ Ever since the exorcism of Janice Blaine, Father Joseph (Man of the Cloth) has had a deeply growing resentment towards the Townsfolk of Woodinvale. Over the last 25 years he has seen the sins of his congregation grow and it has slowly sowed the seeds of anger in his heart. Over the last few years, Father Joseph has researched to find a way to cleanse his congregation. He found ancient texts and rituals of a mass exorcism of sorts, meant to cleanse Woodinvale and its inhabitants of their sins and transgressions. Tonight, his internal rage has boiled over, and tonight the sins of the "Father" will be cast onto his flock. Unbeknownst to Father Joseph, his anger and resentment has been stoked by the unholy demon Belial, who once tried to gain entry to this world through the body of Janice Blaine. Tonight Father Joseph is no longer a servant of God, he is now a lap dog of Satan... ~

This is just the title and flavor text. I almost have it finished up and I'll post a pdf or doc file for you guys to peruse before I start the testing. I got the idea back after I played my first game. It was further fueled after reading the histories and and peoples "conspiracy theories" based on the cards text and images (thanks Trev). Since then, I have seen a few similar theme scenarios, I just hope I add or surpass them. This has been a lobor of love for a bit and the wife is getting sick of proofing it. Today I wrote the background text and asked her if she saw that on the back of a book would she buy it. I'm finally posting this cause she said yes...

[Mr. Migi]

hmm sounds pretty cool, I look forward to see your labor of love.

[friskers96]

Scenario : Forgive Me My Trespasses

~ Ever since the exorcism of Janice Blaine, Father Joseph (Man of the Cloth) has had a deeply growing resentment towards the Townsfolk of Woodinvale. Over the last 25 years he has seen the sins of his congregation grow and it has slowly sowed the seeds of anger in his heart. Over the last few years, Father Joseph has researched to find a way to cleanse his congregation. He found ancient texts and rituals of a mass exorcism of sorts, meant to cleanse Woodinvale and its inhabitants of their sins and transgressions. Tonight, his internal rage has boiled over, and tonight the sins of the "Father" will be cast onto his flock. Unbeknownst to Father Joseph, his anger and resentment has been stoked by the un-holy demon Belial, who once tried to gain entry to this world through the body of Janice Blaine. Tonight Father Joseph is no longer a servant of God, he is now a lap dog of Satan... ~

Turns : 15

Scenario Items : Altar Token, Ritual Circle Token, The Amulet Token, The Cross Token, The Skull Token, The Book Token, L-Board with Church must be used, Father Joseph Character Card,

Scenario Special Rules :
Zombies : Zombies Auto Spawn, Always Zombie Heroes, Relic Zombies (X4), Zombie Villain

Heroes : Heroes Replenish, Hero Starting Cards (2), Survival Decks

*Relic Zombies : Relic Zombies are Zombie Grave Dead with the Freshly Dead and Brainthirsty abilities (D3 movement and 2 health boxes). Game starts with 1 Relic Zombie per Relic (Amulet, Cross, Skull, and Book). Relic Zombies will follow the shortest path to the Church. Relic Zombies will IGNORE Zombie Hunger and will not engage Heroes while in possession of a Relic unless provoked by a Hero (i.e. attacked). Relic Zombies will only fight the Hero that provoked them. Fight will continue until the Hero or Relic Zombie is eliminated. If Hero is eliminated the Relic Zombie will continue it path to the Church. Any Relic Zombie that is killed will re-spawn at the closest Zombie Spawn point. The next Zombie Player Turn they MUST move to reclaim their relic and continue their path to the Church. Once the Relic Zombies objective is complete they no longer re-spawn after elimination. Relic Zombies will remain in the Church to aid in the Ritual after delivering their Relic. Once the Ritual is performed they will leave the Church with Belial to wreak havoc on the town.

*Relic Zombie Hero : Anytime a Hero picks up a Relic, if they fail a D6 roll of 4+ they are transformed into a Relic Zombie Hero. Relic Zombie Heroes have the D3 movement rate but acquire the health of the inflicted Hero.

*Zombie Villain : Belial; Angel of Hostility; "Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.” Enhanced Zombie Hero, Three Wound markers and Special Ability. Has a D3 movement rate and 1D6 Fight Dice. Takes the place of Father Joseph after the "Ritual" has been performed. Special Ability: If a Hero rolls a 1 on any of their fight dice while in a Fight with Belial, that Hero instantly loses the Fight and is knocked back D3 spaces (Zombie Player's choice).

*Father Joseph : Non-controlled character. Place holder for Belial after the "Ritual" is performed. Cannot be the Target of any card or effect in play. He is not classified as a Hero, Villain, or Zombie. Heroes are "unaware" of Father Joseph's involvement, and have no need to seek him out.

*Ritual Circle : The Ritual Circle is placed inside the Church. The circle acts as a barrier, "sealing" the church. Only Relic Zombies, Relic Zombie Heroes, and Father Joseph may occupy the Church before the completion of the "Ritual". The Ritual Circle does not allow the Church to become the target of ANY card or action.

*Ritual Items : The Amulet Token, The Cross Token, The Skull Token, and The Book Token are all the Ritual Items. Ritual Items will be referred to as Relics. The Relic Zombies are tasked with carrying these items to Father Joseph in the Church. If a Relic Zombie is eliminated while holding the Relic, it is dropped in the current square. Heroes may pick up a Relic after it is dropped, but must pass a D6 roll of 4+ to avoid being instantly turned into a Relic Zombie Hero.

Game Setup :
Pull Father Joseph and the L-Board with the Church from the selection piles and set aside, both MUST be used in this scenario. Randomly draw 3 L-boards and use either generic center of town board (Do not use Manor House or Radio Station). Zombie Player rolls D6 for the Random placement of Relics. On each Relic place 1 of the Red Zombie Figures. The Red Zombie Figures represent Relic Zombies and possess the Zombie Grave Dead Abilities Bloodthirsty and Freshly Dead. Relic Zombies need not be placed on Zombie Spawning Pits and DO NOT count towards the 14 Zombie limit. Zombie Player rolls regularly for starting zombies, and Hero Player draws 4 Hero Characters at random. Place Zombie and Hero figures on the board according to regular game rules. Father Joseph's Hero Card is placed on the Zombie Player side with the Belial Villain Card underneath.

Scenario Objectives :
1) Heroes win by destroying Belial, or by keeping Father Joseph from performing the "Ritual" by sunrise (not letting him receive the Relics).
2) Zombies win if Belial is still alive at sunrise, or if 6 Heroes are killed.

---

I would really like any advice and suggestions before I even think of testing. Most have, played enough of this game to spot something troubling. I have put a lot into this, but I'll strip it all back down to just "Hey, I want to build a scenario around Father Joseph..." if its a flop. Please be honest and critical...

[samuraitrev]

I love the theme. Be aware that:

Belial can be instantly killed by such weapons as the Signal Flare

Can the Hero card Catch be used to pass the Relics?

I would rename the Relic Hunters. Maybe Relic Zombies, Zombie Monks? Zombie Acolytes, Ancient Zombies or Zombie Relic Keepers. Something like that. Just to stop any confusion and link them to the Zombie side better.

Can you ever have more than 4 Zombie Relic Hunters?

Confusion about the Relic Hunter Hero rule.
Why do Heroes have to roll 5+ to pick up a Relic? What is an inflicted Hero?

Confusion during Game Set Up stage. What does this line mean?
Zombie Player rolls regularly for starting zombies, and Hero Player draw5 4 Hero Cards at random.

Apart from that great scenario!

[friskers96]

Thanks Samuraitrev. Ok now to address the issues...

1) Belial being insta-gibbed: I have no clue how to handle this one, possibly gearing an additional special ability in place of a wound box. Fires of Damnation: Belial cannot be the target of items or card abilities that instantly kill. That doesn't fix it either.... Hmmmmm, open to ideas on this one please!!

2) Hero Card Catch!: I would think so, I was toying with the idea of having Relics take up an item slot maybe even 2. Any Hero that comes into contact with a Relic is subject to the D6 roll.

3) Relic Hunter name: Yeah that hit me this morning, took you suggestion and went with Relic Zombies and Relic Zombie Hero.

4) Relic Zombies: Only 4 are available, I have them auto spawn per their special rule until the Ritual condition is met. I used only 4 since there are only 4 items that need delivery. I gave them 2 Grave Dead abilities as well, so I had to curb their numbers in lieu of their power. I want unarmed heroes to somewhat avoid them but still tempt the Heroes to mix it up. Also they are non combatants at first, designed more for speedy transport and intimidation, I don't want Belial stepping out the Church with 7 yoked up zeds ready tear it up... Seemed to be too much.. Relic Zombie Heroes are are going to be the closest thing.

5)Relic Zombie Rule D6 5+: Ok, I changed the 5+ to 4+, let me know if that to harsh. I really want the Ritual to happen, so I want to put in little fail safes to help it along. On the other side I want a Hero Player to try and "Go For It!", I want them to weigh out the consequence and see if they take the bait. I need to add a little more back story it seems. Essentially the Relics are dammed in a sense. The Dice roll Im thinking needs to go back to a 5+ every turn the hero is in possession of the Relic. My thoughts are they are possessed/damned items almost to the point (but not quite) of being sentient, possibly items bound to Belial. Anyone coming into contact with the items has to pass an "ego whip"/Will check to see if they succumb to its effects. Since the History of Woodinvale is shrouded in secrecy I took some of the ideas you came up with and expanded them a little. My thought is, ok this happened before in the towns past, Father Joseph arrived in town for the exorcism. My goal is to tie in that Belial attempted this before with the Janice, Father Joseph stopped it and Belial is now focused on bringing down the mortal that stopped him and turning Father Joseph into what he hates most. I want Belial to be the puppet master of sorts behind the whole thing, during the exorcism he planted the seed of hate in Father Joseph (hence the choice of the Angel of Hostility), and continued to distort his perception of the Townsfolk to make him willingly seek out this end. (Not sure if your a Space Marine Fan, but Soul Drinkers Book 1 by Ben Counter kinda sums it up).

I think I used the wrong word there, I used Inflicted in the sense that they succumbed to the power of the Relic and turned in to Relic Zombie Hero. Made sense in my head. Open for alternatives there too!!

6) Game Setup: the line was supposed to read Hero Player draws 4 Hero Characters. Essentially everything needs to go by the regular rules on board set up from that point, used the wrong term.

[friskers96]

Ok, in response to Belial being instantly killed I made some changes to him.
Let me know how he looks and if I made him too soft now..

[samuraitrev]

Much better Belial is much more fearsome now, without being overpowered. Ultimately you want the scenario to end with a showdown with him.

I don't think the Hero should have to roll 5+ each Turn and possibly turn into a Zombie Hero. They would all die fast. Tactically: Why should the Heroes attempt to pick up the Relics with the huge risk of dying? If you really want to keep the rule how about a wound on the roll of a 1 each Turn?

[Irish Daigle]

First, your Belial card has a typo in Posessor, should be Possessor.

Second, am I reading it right that he has 2d6 fight dice, as in he can have potentially 12 fight dice? I think maybe I'm just confusing my D&D with my LNoE.

And really, I would guess tactically the advantage to picking up a Relic is to run the hell away from the church with it. Since they need all 4 Relics for the Ritual, even getting one of them away from a Relic Zombie and then just play "chase the meat" can win the game. I expect Heroes wouldn't risk it unless it's already close to the end of the game and Belial is one or two turns from coming into play. Because realistically, if you manage to ward the Relic Zombies off long enough, but in the last two turns before sunrise Belial comes out, the Zombie side has as good as won. It's a suicide tactic, more or less, one that can definitely pay off if circumstances are right.

And I would think anyone who plays this more than once or twice would quickly discover the best way to win against Belial is through Ranged weapons that don't insta-kill. The reality of rolling a 1 against Belial, which makes the Hero instantly lose a fight, will be all too common, especially if they're rolling in with three or four fight dice. Going melee toe-to-toe with Belial would then be tactically unsound unless you were Johnny with an extra wound to take and no extra fight dice. Even then going melee against Belial is unwise because he almost definitely has four Relic Zombies hovering around him.

To me it sounds like it very unfairly gives advantage to the zombie side. It would be like playing Pandemic in that the zombies will usually win.

If I were playing a Hero in this scenario I'd probably tactic it out like this:
1. Ignore three Relic Zombies and spend your time griefing the one furthest away from the church.
2. The other three players concentrate on managing the regular zombies and stocking up items, rotating out the Relic Zombie griefer by turn five or six so that Hero can go stock up on a couple of useful items as well.
3. By turn seven or eight I imagine the other Relic Zombies have delivered their relics, and the currently-griefed Relic Zombie is still somewhere around halfway to the church.
4. If the Relic Zombie just keeps making progress slowly but surely and it looks like he will inevitably make it to the church anyway, I would make sure I have four to five turns with Belial out and about to try and deal with him, which means potentially just backing off and letting the Relic Zombie go. Stock up quickly on battle gear if you can, then zombie barbeque the Relic Zombies the moment they appear again outside the church, and everybody dogpiles Belial in an attempt to finish him off.
5. If there are just two or three turns to go, and suddenly things go bad and it looks like Belial is going to get summoned, I would do my best to kill the Relic Zombie, then decide whether it's worth the risk to try and pick up the Relic and flee with it.

Belial getting summoned makes winning the game extremely difficult, especially if it's going to happen in the last three turns of the game. I would probably change the D6 for Relic-cursing into a Relic Zombie Hero from "instant Zombie on fail" to "wound on roll of 4 or less". It definitely needs to retain its extreme risk element, but it's like a 90% chance of failure by turn 2 of holding a Relic the way it is now. Those are extremely long odds, and it would have to be the most dire of situations before I would realistically attempt it. Like "we're losing the game next Turn no matter what, so what have we got to lose" scenario. A common gameplay element shouldn't be quite that risky. Still very risky with wounds 66% of the time.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I definitely like the addition of a "boss" monster to scenarios. It definitely adds some interesting flair to a scenario that could otherwise end at "big bad gets summoned, we all lose" if we have a chance to try and kill him.

[friskers96]

Looks like I need to rethink the Relic Zombie Hero stuff, thanks for the input guys. My goal was to have the Heroes want to avoid the relics unless they were gutsy enough to sacrifice themselves.. I think I'll give the wound on roll of 4 or less.

2D6 would be 2 Fight Dice, 12D6 would be 12 Fight Dice, I'm not that mean

I think I'll give it a run with those changes and see how it works, I think most are forgetting that there is potential to have up to 14 regular zombie on the board to deal with, so hunting for ranged weapons or posting up waiting for the "reveal" to get a long range attack might be dangerous.

[Irish Daigle]

Yeah, as I said I figured I was just getting my D&D terminology mixed with my LNoE terminology.

I also agree that just waiting Belial out is very dangerous with a lot of regular zombies running amok on the board. But savvy Heroes know how to manage an abundance of zeds while still trying to outmaneuver the scenario objectives.

What I'd suggest doing is playtest with the original 4+ or become Relic Zombie Hero a couple of times, then playtest with the wound system a couple of times.

If there are four Relic Zombies on the board, does that still mean there can be 14 regular zombies? Or can there only be 14 regular zombies if all the Relic Zombies have been killed? Do they count as completely separate pools, making a possibility of 19 enemies on the board at once when Belial is summoned, and not counting Zombie Heroes/Relic Zombie Heroes?