Got it

[ref]

It looks awesome, will have to try and see how it works.

One negative is that I hate hate hate the ultra tight packaging of the small cards, I damaged a couple loot cards trying to get them free. :(

With the base game it was also a bit of a close call, but at least the small deck was thicker, which it helped a bit.

[Wanderlust]

I haven't even got an email yet that it's being processed :smallfrown:

[Tobz]

I've gotten the expansion as well now. Played three games with them already and the new cards are great! :smallbiggrin:

My only points of comments are the new Mr. Scruffy for Belkar (flip for trading a freshly killed monster so every X heals a single wound). IMHO it's the worst Shtick in the game and something similar like Roy's new Distraction or perhaps a flippable 1 / 2 against monsters, or some boost against Spellcasters and Magic Shticks would have been much, much better. I've played over 30 games so far and Belkar usually struggles to gather enough XP to keep with the rest.

And I'd rather seen V's Banishment (flip for increasing Fireball AOE to all Fiends and Elementals in the stack) as a 6 / 6 / 1 Magic Stick against Fiends and Elementals.

[RecklessFable]

Whoohoo! I Got Mine!

[The Giant]

My only points of comments are the new Mr. Scruffy for Belkar (flip for trading a freshly killed monster so every X heals a single wound). IMHO it's the worst Shtick in the game and something similar like Roy's new Distraction or perhaps a flippable 1 / 2 against monsters, or some boost against Spellcasters and Magic Shticks would have been much, much better. I've played over 30 games so far and Belkar usually struggles to gather enough XP to keep with the rest.

Not all of the shticks are intended to be equally powerful, but this one was added to address a specific problem: That Belkar often antagonizes the other players to such a degree that it becomes difficult for him to rest and regain Wounds (and/or get Durkon to agree to heal him). This card offers an alternative method of healing in a pinch. Belkar's deficits at killing Monsters are addressed with some of his other shticks, so it's unlikely that he's going to remain at any permanent disadvantage with regards to XP in the new game.

Also, note that this card can still be used with Monsters that you already were not able to save for some reason, such as those with the new Exploding ability or those on which Lawyer Intervention was played. In those cases, you gain a Wound and lose nothing.

Finally, many long games go on beyond the point when all of the player's shticks are already in play. At that point, this card becomes very useful, since there was no point to saving the monsters anymore anyway.


And I'd rather seen V's Banishment (flip for increasing Fireball AOE to all Fiends and Elementals in the stack) as a 6 / 6 / 1 Magic Stick against Fiends and Elementals.

One of our design goals was to not add any new Battle Shticks to the set (we did add a second copy of Rapier, but no totally new ones).

[Wanderlust]

I got my copy the other day and (I'm totally not trying to brown-nose or anything here) I thought the Mr. Scruffy stick was a very cool addition, as in my game experience Belkar has less trouble making kills and more trouble staying healed up.

I enjoy the various new ways of avoiding the order of the monster stack, be it with Distraction or Sniper, or whatever. So far we're loving the new additions.

[Tobz]

In the games I play the PvP-element is usually very strong among all players so Belkar really doesn't stand out that much. :smallbiggrin:

But a Belkar that spends too many of his turns attacking other players, antagonizing them greatly, will always finish last. Primarily because he won't earn enough XP for new Shticks to remain a threat. But he'll usually trails behind in XP no matter what, and even with his new Shticks Belkar is still not very good at clearing stacks of monsters.

Allowing Mr. Scruffy with cards you couldn't save anyway makes it more useful I guess, but it seems a bit against the spirit of the card (and the character of Mr. Scruffy :smallfrown:). And while trading in XP for wounds would be very powerful once all Shticks are on the table, this would only be the case in the rare games that last more then 10 hours (with experienced players).

In my humble opinion, swapping Mr. Scruffy with Roy's new distraction would have been much better. Roy often has XP to burn (to the point where it's not uncommon for a late-game Roy to gain 2 Shticks in a single turn), and Belkar could use another Shtick for taking on big stacks of monsters (even with the new cards).

It's funny Rich mentions Elan's new Rapier though. I'm REALLY surprised Elan was considered so weak he needed a +3 weapon Shtick from start? :smallconfused:

Combined with his plethora of defense-boosting Shticks, the starting Rapier enables Elan to clear out stacks in a manner that puts even Roy to shame. And while, as most players will attest, a good late-game Elan was already good at killing monsters, the Rapier also completely plugs his 'mindless' hole with a golden cork.

The bard song addictiveness already allowed Elan to very easily win any game where nobody pays close attention to his loot stash, but now Elan is also so good at early- and mid-game killing that players need to actively pick on him in a manner usually only reserved for late-game Roy or a very good Haley (and yet, Elan still won the majority of our games with the new cards).

With Magical Advice to kill Monsters with his (very powerful) Illusion Shtick, Nick of Time for a blanket +2/+2 and the possibility to quite easily triple-boost his rapier to a stunning +9 Elan becomes so versatile and strong (not to mention dangerous) that, to be honest, it clashes with the spirit and play-style of the character. :elan:

More utility Shticks like Take Yer Medicine (best card in the expansion!), Lead From The Front and Petty Threats would have suited Elan much better then this enormous and rather blatant boost in killing-power.

Mind you, I'm NOT disliking the whole expansion, quite the contrary. But as experienced players with dozens of games played, my entire OOTS-group is just surprised by the rough edges of the new Shticks and how some don't seem to fit the play-style of the character or the spirit of the comic.

[The Giant]

In the games I play the PvP-element is usually very strong among all players so Belkar really doesn't stand out that much. :smallbiggrin:

The overwhelming majority of players we've talked to over the years, both here and at conventions, have indicated that this is NOT the default for most gaming groups. In fact, most players told us that Belkar was the worst character because he demands PVP, and once he initiates it, all the other players circle the wagons against him, leaving him out in the cold. That's probably also what's contributing to it taking 10 hours to get your whole shtick deck into play; PVP does not directly lead to shtick acquisition and takes 2-3 times as long to resolve as a monster battle because both sides are trying to eke out every +1. So I've seen groups of players who avoid PVP at all costs put their whole shtick deck into play in under 4 hours.

I'm happy you enjoy the game, but you have to realize that your experience is not typical. Most people seem to want the game to be more casual than strategic, so The Shortening caters to that. If you really hate the shtick that much, use the "pick your deck" variant.

Which would probably also help your Elan problem...which again, is not consistent with the feedback we got before designing the expansion. Namely, that Roy and Haley were more powerful and won almost every game. We beefed up the other four as a result, including Elan, who we decided to offer a new direct method of playing that didn't rely on other people to give him Loot.