Drawn to the Flame IV: On the Shores of Lake Hali

[zooeyglass 327]

Hello friends! 

New cycle approaches at pace, so I thought I'd start a new thread for Drawn to the Flame / Carcosan cycle-related business (and pleasure). We've got a new episode up, all about The King in Yellow in anticipation of The Path to Carcosa: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/episode-23-whats-deal-with-king-in.html <- all the links you might want right there! 

Meanwhile, we're both recovering from our **immense** interview with Matt Newman. If you've not heard that yet, it's all about the player cards and scenario design of the whole Dunwich Legacy cycle, and it's still available (and will ever be!) right here: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/episode-22-face-to-face-with-azathoth.html

Hope you like the interlude of a bit of discussion before we dive into Carcosa in earnest, either at the end of this month or in September, whenever the box reaches these chill shores...

Thanks, as ever, for all your support! 

 

[zooeyglass 327]

As we await the Path to Carcosa's arrival (and turn green with envy at the Genconners who already have it), here's another episode of Drawn to the Flame. It's another investigator specific one - this time all about Wendy Adams. Hope you like it, as ever let us know what you think!

http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/episode-24-wendy-adams.html

[zooeyglass 327]

Continuing this little thread: our Carcosan first look / reaction episodes have begun to trickle in, like droplets of rain across the shores of Lake Hali. 

First two: 

http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/episode-25-the.html

http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/episode-26-pat.html

Stayed tuned over the next few days for more on the way! 

[awp832 447]

Hooray for more Drawn to the Flame!

Lola:   Yikes,   I believe "intimidating" is the word you used, and I have to agree with that.  I would really like to see in person somebody playing Lola well,  to me she is a puzzle that seems incredibly tricky to parse out.  She has unmatched versatility, and some crippling weaknesses to round her out.  On one hand she can get all the level-3 XP cards she likes, but on the other she will never be able to access any of the really powerful cards that are level 4+.  I know there are players who are going to love constant role-switching and for whom Lola might be a strong contender for favorite character....  but I have to say that this person is probably not me.   If it wasn't for Sefina,  I would say that Lola is far and away the hardest investigator to build a deck with,  you really have to know what you're doing.   With Sefina in the mix....   even then I think Lola edges her out for the title.    

Sefina:  I am drawn to this character because she is so different.  In Netrunner, Andromeda dominated the tournament scene for a while. A long while.  Andromeda's character advantage was essentially simply that "She starts with a big hand".   I dont think it's possible to overstate how Strong Sefina's opening hand really is.  It ensures her a consistently good start to the game.   Problem with Sefina is going to be just how much her 2 combat and 2 Lore cripple her.   With the right spells she can use her 4 Willpower instead, but still, those spells are expensive and 4 WP still is only mediocre.   Since combat and Lore are arguably the most important stats in the game, this is going to be quite a challenge for her.

You did mention it briefly in the podcast, but you sort of moved on very quickly,  I think it's quite important to reiterate that she has access to the Mystic pool of cards.   And those are some serious cards to copy with the Painted World.   Don't get me wrong, I love a Hot Streak as much as the next guy,   but Sefina has a load of amazing options for the Painted World that you didn't mention:  including the new Uncage the Soul, Hypnotic Gaze, Ward of Protection, even -yes-  Drawn to the Flame.  


Rogue Cards:  I'm still a little miffed at Sleight of Hand for being a bit of a thematic-fail.  Why is it that the best targets for Sleight of hand are Shotguns, Lightning Guns, and Chicago Typewriters?   None of these things seem particularly stealthy to me.  I would have much rather seen a slightly better bonus and a restriction to items that take up only 1 hand.  Oh well,  it is unquestionably a powerful effect.  Rex can take this and use it on the Strange Solution, which seems pretty good.

Daring Maneuver:  I understand the value of this card in its being retroactive rather than proactive,   but still,  it seems only marginally better than just playing an Unexpected Courage into the check in the first place.  I'm unimpressed.  

Lockpicks:  I like these a lot.  Most characters who can take Lockpicks have a combined Lore/Agility stat of 6 (Lola, Jenny, Skids, Sefina).   Wendy however, has a combined Lore/Agility stat of 7, which makes Lockpicks even better for her.   If Wendy also happens to be using Dark Horse, she can have an investigate check of 9 once per turn, which is pretty impressive,  giving you a virtually guaranteed clue, even on hard mode.  Love these.  

Nice podcast, looking forward to hearing about the rest of the Carcosa box.

Edited September 15, 2017 by awp832

[zooeyglass 327]

Here's another episode:  http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/episode-32-approaches-to-play.html

Shout out to @awp832 - great comments my friend. You're spot on with the importance of access to mystic in Sefina - 5 wards of protection or drawn to the flames in one scenario? SIGN. ME. UP.

[monorico 30]

You guys should add your stuff to Google play music.

[zooeyglass 327]

6 hours ago, monorico said:

You guys should add your stuff to Google play music.

I'll look into it - no idea how to approach that! (oh, and I've looked at it says 'podcasts aren't available in your country! doh!)

Edited October 19, 2017 by zooeyglass

[zooeyglass 327]

Hello friends! Peter and I have had another chance to sit and talk about our nemesis, the encounter deck, for episode 36 of Drawn to the Flame: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/episode-36-encounter-cards.html <- here's the link, with links to facebook, twitter, direct download, itunes. Turns out Google Play won't allow us to upload because I'm not in North America, so will have to think of a way around that. Anyway, hope you like the episode. We've looked at the two most common card types in the encounter deck, enemies and treacheries, and spent time thinking about keywords and the challenges they pose. So quite a detailed episode! 

Enjoy!

[Soakman 999]

I know it's not entirely related to the podcast itself, but gosh, Sefina with Azure Flame and Suggestion seems so nice. More and more a fan of her with every release. My new favorite investigator.

EDIT: Azure Flame should be Storm of Spirits

Edited November 26, 2017 by Soakman
Card name correction

[awp832 447]

I probably would have picked Beyond the Veil as my favorite, evil encounter treachery card for all the reasons you mentioned.   But.. since you already covered it, I'll say my runner-up which is Pushed into the Beyond.

Like Beyond the Veil, this card changes the way the game is played just by being a potential threat.  After you've been punished once or twice by dropping a first-turn Leo de Lucca or Milan Christopher only to have all your investment stolen from you because you have no other assets out, you learn to play a bit more cautiously.  I really like to keep a low-cost asset in my deck (Forbidden Knowledge is great, or Painkillers work) just as a sort of cannon fodder against this card.   I always try to play out a cheap asset first if I am going to put down something more expensive.  Pushed into the Beyond can be really annoying to fighters who lose their weapon at the worst possible moment, and I've seen unlucky players repeatedly draw it seemingly turn after turn, and spend half the game desperately trying to get some sort of board presence. 

The special thing about this card is there aren't many other ways to defend against it (beyond the likes of Ward of Protection),  there isn't a check, it just happens.  There is no chance to save your items, which makes it quite annoying to deal with.

Still,  every now and again you can get lucky and have this be a completely dead mythos card (if you spent your first turn or two very asset-light), or even be beneficial by possibly freeing you of your Weaknesses.  It can also be nice to shuffle a weapon with 0 ammo counters back into the deck and have a chance to draw it again,  assuming you don't immediately discard it and take 2 horror of course!

[BD Flory 695]

19 hours ago, awp832 said:

Still,  every now and again you can get lucky and have this be a completely dead mythos card (if you spent your first turn or two very asset-light), or even be beneficial by possibly freeing you of your Weaknesses.

There is currently no weakness Pushed into the Beyond can discard, I believe.

Edit: Oh, you probably meant from your deck, not play.

Edited November 20, 2017 by BD Flory

[awp832 447]

yes, that's what I meant.

[zooeyglass 327]

On 11/19/2017 at 5:46 AM, awp832 said:

I probably would have picked Beyond the Veil as my favorite, evil encounter treachery card for all the reasons you mentioned.   But.. since you already covered it, I'll say my runner-up which is Pushed into the Beyond.

Like Beyond the Veil, this card changes the way the game is played just by being a potential threat.  After you've been punished once or twice by dropping a first-turn Leo de Lucca or Milan Christopher only to have all your investment stolen from you because you have no other assets out, you learn to play a bit more cautiously.  I really like to keep a low-cost asset in my deck (Forbidden Knowledge is great, or Painkillers work) just as a sort of cannon fodder against this card.   I always try to play out a cheap asset first if I am going to put down something more expensive.  Pushed into the Beyond can be really annoying to fighters who lose their weapon at the worst possible moment, and I've seen unlucky players repeatedly draw it seemingly turn after turn, and spend half the game desperately trying to get some sort of board presence. 

The special thing about this card is there aren't many other ways to defend against it (beyond the likes of Ward of Protection),  there isn't a check, it just happens.  There is no chance to save your items, which makes it quite annoying to deal with.

Still,  every now and again you can get lucky and have this be a completely dead mythos card (if you spent your first turn or two very asset-light), or even be beneficial by possibly freeing you of your Weaknesses.  It can also be nice to shuffle a weapon with 0 ammo counters back into the deck and have a chance to draw it again,  assuming you don't immediately discard it and take 2 horror of course!

Great reply my friend - thank you, as ever. Always glad to read what you have to say. And pushed into the beyond is an utter beast - exactly what you described (or rather, a similar thing) happened to Akachi in Lost in Time and Space on Saturday: she had Shrivelling III, Arcane Initiate and Grotesque Statue down early, hit a PitB, lost the initiate, the following turn hit another one (! brutal!) and was stuck deciding between the statue and the shrivelling. Nasty choice to make indeed. It's such a punishing board 'reset' / leveller, in much the same way the 'damage from this effect must go on assets first' cards specifically target your set-up. Nasty, nasty, nasty! Definitely Seekers seem to have a better time of PitB than others - some Seekers can run very light on assets on the board (apart from Milan / Magnifying Glass, the latter being a great target for it). So yeah... it also teaches you to pay attention to assets that don't leave play when empty, exactly as you say. Flashlights start to become more useful! 

[zooeyglass 327]

Aaaaaand we're back with another first look episode. And boy oh boy, I liked this pack a lot. A great range of interesting cards, lots I want to try out, and a fantastic scenario to boot (scenario not discussed in the episode). Hope you guys like it: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/episode-37-franks-first-look-at.html

 

[Soakman 999]

On 11/24/2017 at 6:16 AM, zooeyglass said:

Aaaaaand we're back with another first look episode. And boy oh boy, I liked this pack a lot. A great range of interesting cards, lots I want to try out, and a fantastic scenario to boot (scenario not discussed in the episode). Hope you guys like it: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/episode-37-franks-first-look-at.html

 

The scenario and the cards were both so fantastic this pack. My Sefina wrecked with Storm of Spirits. Bought Adaptable with her early on (due to her Rogue background) to swap in fine clothes for a certain dinner party earlier in the campaign, and then used it to swap both copies of Storm of Spirits into my deck before this one. So good with Uncage the Soul and Painted Worlds at your disposal.

[zooeyglass 327]

@Soakman agreed - was getting 6-8 damage with Storm of Spirits no problem with Sefina. Remember with Uncage that you get hit if you play it to play Storm of Spirits (because Uncage isn't a fight action)... so not quite so ideal but can be worked around. Thank goodness her agility is so good too! 

Super fun pack and scenario!

[Soakman 999]

1 hour ago, zooeyglass said:

@Soakman agreed - was getting 6-8 damage with Storm of Spirits no problem with Sefina. Remember with Uncage that you get hit if you play it to play Storm of Spirits (because Uncage isn't a fight action)... so not quite so ideal but can be worked around. Thank goodness her agility is so good too! 

Super fun pack and scenario!

In my cases, I had friends that were engaged with the enemies so it worked out that I was fine.

 

<VAGUE ENEMY/ENCOUNTER SPOILERS>

 

 

Also, made use of targeting roaches with the actual fight action of the card and took out mad patients without having to take the horror as they were just collateral damage. All while wearing a strait jacket! Loved it.

[rsdockery 539]

45 minutes ago, Soakman said:

Also, made use of targeting roaches with the actual fight action of the card and took out mad patients without having to take the horror as they were just collateral damage. All while wearing a strait jacket! Loved it.

"That's right, Agnes, you're just sweeping away a few annoying roaches. No need to pay attention to anything else, just cast a nice, simple, anti-roach spell that's just going to get rid of some roaches, then leave without looking at the rest of the room."

[zooeyglass 327]

Two for the price of one (and both are free!), friends: here's Frank's first look at A Phantom of Truth player cards, for your enjoyment: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/episode-40-franks-first-look-at-phantom.html and hot on its heels: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/episode-41-think-on-your-feet-i.html a live play episode! Really hope you like both and would, as ever, love all your feedback! Merry Christmas!

[Network57 561]

4 hours ago, zooeyglass said:

Two for the price of one (and both are free!), friends: here's Frank's first look at A Phantom of Truth player cards, for your enjoyment: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/episode-40-franks-first-look-at-phantom.html and hot on its heels: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/episode-41-think-on-your-feet-i.html a live play episode! Really hope you like both and would, as ever, love all your feedback! Merry Christmas!

How did you get Phantom so early??

[zooeyglass 327]

Hey @Network57 it got released a week early in the UK: I think it was shipped with a bunch of other stuff and all shops decided to release it early. Nothing to do with me!! Hehe