The Shortening: A Play Report and Review

[imars]

I posted the content below on my gaming blog. Check it out if you want to see a picture as well. See Parhoon Naval Yards.

We tried out the expansion to the Order of the Stick: The Shortening. The Shortening does indeed do what it advertises; it does shorten the game. The Shortening suffers from the same problems that the original game suffers from, namely unclear rules. For instance, the Xykon card now shows his attack and defense to be 14-level. The old card showed it to be 14+level. Does this mean in the Shortening that Xykon is now weaker the deeper he is found in the dungeon? Seems pretty strange if you ask me. The starting rules for the variant In Medias Res were also unclear. It says, "In addition to eachplayer's starting Schticks, deal each player 3 Schticks at random..." Does this mean I start with all my starting Schticks or do I use the old rule and choose 3 of the 6 starting Schticks?

5 players was a pretty good test run I think. There are still a number of rules that I was not sure how to interpret. The quick reference cards (from the original game) are terrible. They pack so much information on one card that it is not readable. What we really need is a quick reference card that gives an overview of what you can do in a turn.

Typical of this game, some players were able to capitalize on their Schticks, while others felt somewhat helpless. Me as Roy I was able to get in a kill a number of monsters and soon had three more Schticks. Danny was somewhat overwhelmed by Elan, especially since he is particularly hard to play. Kathryn got along well with Durkon. Mark and Peter had a slow start with Varsuvius and Belkar respectively. After about an hour, we started rolling. After another half hour, we reached the end of our set play time and we decided to extend. This gave us a chance to have Xykon notice us. He noticed Durkon first. Kathryn was prepared for him and turned undead. She killed all his supporting undead, severely weakening him. Kathryn inflicted one more hit, followed by Peter's leaping attack with Belkar. I was then able to walk in and finish him off. Given my number of Schticks and killing Belkar, I was able to win the game. I was also the only player to complete any back stories.

Despite all the negative things I have to say about the game, we will certainly play it again. I just love the comic and that is reason enough to play it again. It is just darn silly and makes you laugh. As Peter said though, this is not a game that will come out onto the table every week.

[prj]

Does this mean in the Shortening that Xykon is now weaker the deeper he is found in the dungeon?

Right. Although it may seem odd thematically, it makes sense mechanically: you have an incentive to go after him, rather than waiting for him to come to you, making the game shorter.

Does this mean I start with all my starting Schticks or do I use the old rule and choose 3 of the 6 starting Schticks?

Look at the 6 red-bordered shticks, choose 3, shuffle the other 3 into your deck, then deal 3 more from the deck. You'll start with a total of 6 shticks.

Danny was somewhat overwhelmed by Elan, especially since he is particularly hard to play.

He really isn't. He can be weak at the beginning, but as he develops, he becomes easily the most powerful defensive character, and defense is more important than attack. With the addition of Rapier as a starting shtick, his early weakness disappears too. Bard Song also makes it easy for him to rack up lots of Loot.

(Xykon) noticed Durkon first. Kathryn was prepared for him and turned undead. She killed all his supporting undead, severely weakening him. Kathryn inflicted one more hit, followed by Peter's leaping attack with Belkar. I was then able to walk in and finish him off.

That sounds like you misplayed Turn Undead. It can be used against Xykon's stack (since Xykon is at the top and he's undead), and you'd have to beat Xykon's score to win the battle (since he's undead and therefore one of the targets), but it can't wound Xykon himself.

[The Giant]

For instance, the Xykon card now shows his attack and defense to be 14-level. The old card showed it to be 14+level. Does this mean in the Shortening that Xykon is now weaker the deeper he is found in the dungeon? Seems pretty strange if you ask me.

Yes, Xykon gets stronger the further up he goes. It's to encourage seeking him out and discourage camping at the Dungeon Entrance.

If you want in-character logic, Xykon is lazy and he hates having to walk to find you. The further he goes from his throne room, the madder (and stronger) he gets.

The starting rules for the variant In Medias Res were also unclear. It says, "In addition to eachplayer's starting Schticks, deal each player 3 Schticks at random..." Does this mean I start with all my starting Schticks or do I use the old rule and choose 3 of the 6 starting Schticks?

Whichever you want. It's a variant rule, which means it's whatever the players agree upon. You can try it both ways and then decide which one you like better in the future.

After another half hour, we reached the end of our set play time and we decided to extend.

I'm glad, because a half hour is actually lower than even the expansion was intended to go. On the Deluxe box, we included the revised playing time as "1+ hours using the expansion" but it looks like this information didn't make it to the Shortening box.

[imars]

That sounds like you misplayed Turn Undead. It can be used against Xykon's stack (since Xykon is at the top and he's undead), and you'd have to beat Xykon's score to win the battle (since he's undead and therefore one of the targets), but it can't wound Xykon himself.

I was not playing Durkon, so I did not look to closely at the schtick, but I thought that an area of effect schtick would affect all who qualify. She rolled something like 28 on her Turn Undead attack, wounding Xykon and killing all the undead beneath him.

Or are you saying that in a mixed stack of monsters: undead, undead, dragon, undead; that only the top two undead be killed by a successful attack?

Thanks!

[prj]

Or are you saying that in a mixed stack of monsters: undead, undead, dragon, undead; that only the top two undead be killed by a successful attack?

No, Turn Undead would indeed target all undead monsters in the stack, regardless of any others that may be present, and regardless of their order. But the card specifically says that it can't be used against Xykon. (This has been clarified here on the forum to mean that it can be used against Xykon's stack, but it can only wound other undead monsters and not Xykon himself, even though you still have to beat his score to win the battle.)

[imars]

No, Turn Undead would indeed target all undead monsters in the stack, regardless of any others that may be present, and regardless of their order. But the card specifically says that it can't be used against Xykon. (This has been clarified here on the forum to mean that it can be used against Xykon's stack, but it can only wound other undead monsters and not Xykon himself, even though you still have to beat his score to win the battle.)

Doh! I guess I should have read more carefully.