FrostMarch - the game changer

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Frostmarch has been released for a while now - enough to comment on the changes to the game it makes.

1) At a maximum of £3.99 it is a highly recommended purchase for all Talisman fans who don't have it yet. Coupled with the Reaper deck it gives the game, from recollection, well over 200 Adventure cards which means that many games will get finished using only half the deck, if that. So the game becomes far more unpredictable. A profusion of new spells also dilute the mega effects of the Random spell that could turn up three or more times in the basic game (as the spell deck was regularly exhausted and had to be restarted).
2) Together the Reaper and the Basilisk (from Frostmarch) introduce a peripheral but significant level of unpredictability in that there are now events that can kill the strongest character on a single roll of the dice.
3) It changes what was the most controversial aspect of the basic game - the ending. On the original rules a player at the CoC rolls one die for a 4,5,or 6 to take one life away from each opponent. The problem was that with squares and items like the Chapel, the Healer, the Castle (particularly with the Prince and Princess), the Runesword... I could continue but you get the idea, your opponents, still having fun and drawing adventure cards, could last indefinitely whilst you spent half an hour rolling a die every 90 seconds. My best result was winning the game after my A.I. opponent had been at the CoC for about forty turns. Great for me but it's a good job the A.I. doesn't throw its dummy out when these things happen. Frostmarch dramatically changes things. Firstly with a concealed ending (who would want it any other way ?) dashing up to the CoC with your gnome and strength 7 isn't a good option if you could end up against the Str 12 Craft 12 Ice Queen. Of course with the Crown and Sceptre (a 100% CoC with no heal option) and Danse Macabre (where the buffed Reaper will kill an opponent outright on a 1 in 9 probability {one in three without a fate point}) amongst the end options you COULD take the gamble, but it would be a gamble. And the Warlock's Quests. Despite having played a dozen or more games of FrostMarch I've never encountered the Warlocks Quests. Is it multiplayer only ? What it does mean is that if you're within one or two strength points of an opponent who goes for the CoC staying in the middle or outer regions casually building your stats and ensuring you heal regularly is not an option. If they go, you need to go too - a concept the A.I seems to understand. Personally I play like the A.I - ensuring I'm Strength or Craft 11 or 12 before going for the CoC.

So - how has Frostmarch changed your game tactics ?


S.x.

[Artaterxes]

Warlock's Quests can't be played hidden; that's what the sun symbol on the ending card means.

[Tony Twist's Thunderous Right]

gallifrey eredeti hozzászólása:

So - how has Frostmarch changed your game tactics ?

Exactly as you've described in your post above: I make sure I have at least 12 craft or strength before hitting the CoC. The possibility of the Ice Queen pretty much makes it mandatory for me.

There's something I'd like to add to your analysis. With so many Adventure and Spell cards (total of 280 and 70 respectively) if you play with both expansions, there seems to be a dilutive effect on the quirks of the AI. Many of the additional cards are what I would deem 'filler'. I don't mean that in a critical way. It's just that there a lot more cards that have limited impact (i.e. gold bags, pedlar, etc.). What I have found is that building character stats is taking longer due to the lessened chance to draw 'impact' cards (i.e. Fountain of Wisdom, enemies, Enchanter, etc.). This extension of the game gives the AI a greater chance to recover from its quirks. The AI is still fallible and should be beaten the majority of the time. But it's not the mortal lock it may have been in the basic game.

[PirateGal8]

Frostmarch, and probably the coming expansions, will make the game longer. Yea you can get talismans early but that's not good enough.

[Puppy Cat Underfoot]

You can turn on "No More Lives" under the house rules, even with all expansions turned off. Getting Talismans can often be really sucky.

[Xerxes Aragon]

The increasing number of Adventure cards also tends to render some character's abilities less valuable. For example, the Dwarf's ability to add one to a die roll in the Cave. With the Cave turning up increasingly less often with the larger decks this hardly needs to be considered when selecting which character to play.

[Puppy Cat Underfoot]

Also, I've somehow never gotten the Ice Queen ending. I'm using both the Reaper and Frostmarch.

[Jenna Grey]

Frostmarch has made a vast difference to my game play. Cards like the Talismonger (I truly hate the evil creature, she seems to have it in for me. :), and the Basilisk can really hit you hard. The Ice Queen also means that you can't hit the CoC without a good stack of points tucked under your belt. I've found it far harder to beat the AI since Frostmarch came out. I thought at first it was just because I wasn't used to the new cards, but now I've got used to them, I'm still finding it harder to beat the AI than I did before, because there are far more variables in the game. I'm actually finding it easier to beat players than the AI these days. :)
I think it's made the game far more enjoyable to play. I can't wait for the Dungeon.

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

My play style matches yours Jenna. The query is - are we wrong ? Now that I know that Warlock's Quests can't be a hidden ending (in which case why can't we CHOOSE it - post to follow) the random endings are Frost Queen, Crown and Sceptre, Danse Macabre, and traditional Crown.

What I hadn't realised - because I didn't read the card carefully enough (or at all really) - was that Crown and Sceptre takes a life on EACH player's turn, not just the one at the Crown. This is effectively first to the Crown wins with the slimmest of chances for an opponent right on your tail to catch you.

Danse Macabre with a 1 in 9 chance of an outright kill (1 in 3 for characters without fate points) should also end the game swiftly for the person at the CoC.

Only traditional CoC with no ban on regaining lives leaves a chance for an opponent to buff up and win the game later. I say a chance - the Inner Region puts six squares between the Portal and the Crown with no healing opportunities and various options to lose lives. A character without greater than four lives to start with or a healing spell or the saint card might not make it from the portal to the Crown without dying en route.

So if you are significantly weaker than an opponent who seems determined to buff themselves to the max before essaying the inner region it could make sense to make a break for it, go for the Crown, and hope the Crown and Sceptre or Reaper takes superman down before he can get to you. And keep your fingers crossed that you won't get iced at the end.

S.x.

[Xerxes Aragon]

Another thing that I have just become aware of in the game I'm in the middle of - If you choose Revealed Ending and get the Danse Macabre ending, the -1 effect on Reaper rolls is active during the entire game, not just once a character reaches the Crown. That greatly increases the chances of death by Reaper, and takes away all possibilities of getting that bonus on a roll of 6.

[Jenna Grey]

I got the Danse Macabre for the first time yesterday (might have been the day before, I'm senile. :) And it took me completely by surprise because I didn't even know it existed! I didn't see it in the pack details. I didn't know what was going on at first and just watched while my opponent rolled and died. I finally figured it out by the time they lost their last life. Lol. It was pretty cool actually. I seem to get the Ice Queen almost every time. Perhaps she likes me. :)

My ignorance of the Warlock's Quest did me up a treat the other day and I'm kicking myself for it. It cost me a very easy win. Because I didn't understand quite how it worked I thought it had been cast at the beginning of the game and I'd somehow just missed it. I actually left the Plain of Peril when I was about to beat Death, to go back down to collect four quests when I didn't need them at all. Duh! I felt such a prat. I suppose it's all a learning curve.:D I don't get caught out twice.

I think it would be nice to be able to choose the Warlock's Quest card. I must have played dozens and dozens of Frostmarch games now and I've never had it (hence my ingnorance of it).
I think it would make a nice change. I do think, though, that it could be a long game. It can sometimes take ages to land on a particular square or get the right enemy to kill. I spent ages the other day waiting for an animal to turn up and it was really starting to get silly. Times that by four and if you get an unlucky run, you could be there all night. :)

[Tony Twist's Thunderous Right]

Another thing I've discovered with the addition of Frostmarch and its alternate endings is what a laborious chore the standard Crown ending is. After having a run of Queens and Danse Macabres, it's really painfully tedious in comparison. Might have to start ticking that exclude original ending in the options.