Too Many Bones: An Attempt

Games
21

Day 4, Part 2

…he rolls 5. That takes out my remaining shield and 4 Health. I’m left, once again, with 1 Health.

I can’t attack the wolf anymore unless I know I’m going to kill him, because his Lashback 2 will take me out. So, uh… I’m pretty sure there’s no way to win this battle. But I’ll do what I can.

Moving into Round 2, I roll my defense dice and my attack die in case it gives me a Bones. It does not.

I get a Shield and a Bones. Ha.

Wolf rolls… another 5 hits. And I’m KO’ed again!

The Boon I draw would let me remove up to 2 “Scars,” which are irrelevant because I think those only come into play later in the campaign.

So, we’re going into Day 5 of 9, and I have 2 of my 6 needed Progress Points.

Looking dire for Picket…

22

In my few runs, I’ve never figured out how to play Picket satisfyingly. Good luck to you!

What difficulty are you playing this campaign on? (Just guessing that it has a similar adjustment mechanism that the base game does.)

23

Yeah, I played a couple more days and it’s just a shitshow. Game wasn’t technically over but I’m resigning this Picket run. I think I’m going to give it a shot with the “barbarian” class, I forget his name. The “healer” class is clearly not viable for solo play (although he seems to have the lowest “difficulty rating” by Chip Theory for solo, so maybe they know something I don’t?)

Also just got Lab Rats which seems like a very fun way to play solo.

24

I would probably have focused a bit more on attributes, just because it’s a bit difficult to make headway with a character that’s only rolling one attack die. But it’s definitely possible to get bad Baddie draws for your particular situation and just get hosed.

25

Honestly, for me, one of the hardest elements of the learning curve was accepting that you have to lay solid groundwork for your character’s base attributes before you start unlocking the sexier special abilities and dice.

-Tom

26

agreed, getting your stat dice up early is crucial for pretty much every character even if a bit boring compared to all the fancy gadgets. Game is hard and unforgiving but I find it quite fun. There is a java(?) version available as well that is quite well done. I enjoy the game solo almost as much as in a group which is not the case with most games I play.

27

While I think that’s true, and I probably should have upgraded a stat one more notch rather than buying one of the skill dice, one Picket skill die I bought has the potential to heal him or add to his damage every turn, and can apply to the entire campaign without needing to be rolled every turn. Another (Confidence) is basically just an additional Defense die (but better). Those dice function as “Stat dice, but better.” My crushing defeat is due to bad decisions in other areas (not sure what those are, but I’m sure I didn’t play perfectly) mixed with bad luck, I think.

28

I don’t think it’s accurate to describe those as “stat dice but better”. The one that adds an ongoing shield, in particular, is very good but it gets used up by Shield Bash and then you a) don’t have it for the rest of that fight and b) have to roll it again for the next one. And both that and the die that gives extra damage only do so on I think 2 of their six faces - notice how you were having trouble getting them to roll those. And it’s just an extra damage, whereas an attack die can roll 2 damage. Are those things you want? Very likely, they’re nice if you can get them going. Are they “better” than a regular attack or defense die? Not necessarily. Furthermore, I personally haven’t played on anything but the starting difficulty, but on any higher difficulty you lose Locked dice if you’re defeated in combat, so if you lose the fight, as you were doing, you’re back to that 1 in 3 chance taking up a roll slot any time you want to give it a whirl.

So I’d personally go for at least one more attack die and maybe another defense before I bought those, although if I couldn’t test into improving attack or defense they are certainly reasonable fallbacks.

29

I don’t know if it’s accurate, but I have read that going full attack more or less breaks the game. Anyone with experience have thoughts on that?

30

It’s not accurate and easily debunked. Typical Reddit/BGG bullshit from people who want to establish their e-peen by claiming they’ve “solved” a game. There are very specific reasons you don’t want to go full attack. Too Many Bones has issues, but being “broken” isn’t one of them.

-Tom

31

Glad to hear it - I like the game but haven’t played it that much yet and was sad to think that maybe there was an easily exploitable weakness to the system. Very happy to hear otherwise. Now to get it back on the table once we finish the arkham horror card game.

32

So, how is that working out? Despite Picket being a total disaster, I very much enjoyed the battle reports and would love to read more!

33

Haven’t started yet, but thanks for the kind words!

34

I’ll never play this game, and I too found your reports hilarious and entertaining, @justaguy2. I’d be happy to keep reading, if you’re interested in describing another one of your attempts!

35

Tantrum’s Turn: Day 1

The first Tyrant of this campaign is Marrow, the Orc Warlord, for those following along at home.

I’ll be playing Tantrum, the “Barbarian” character, who builds up rage when he attacks, when he gets hit, and when he perceives economic inequality. He can then unleash it for AWESOME RAGE ATTACKS!

The Encounter for Day 1:

Council in Chaos
“OUT! GET OUT!” The walls of the Council Chambers shake and do little to muffle the screaming. The doors burst open, and two members of the Gearloc Council are thrown to the street. They offer little resistance as the guards lead them at spear-point to the gates.
They both turn and make eye contact, sad fearful eye contact, shaking their heads in sadness… or maybe warning. One of them speaks as she exits town, presumably forever.

Two choices!

“The barracks is unguarded… take this key.” [I get 3 LOOT]

“Meet me at the bend. I can help you.” [I get 2 Training Points, and “If training in Atk, you automatically succeed.”]

Obviously (based on the previous run), I have to choose the second option. Two Training Points, followed by two insta-successes on boosting my Attack stat. Boom. I’m at 5 Attack. Nothing can stop me. (?)

36

Day 2

Encounter: Battle in the Square

Blah blah, encounter text encounter text. Basically I have to fight a 5-point Troll and two one-point underlings. My choices are:

Either Tantrum can’t deal Dmg to Baddies, but instead I target one Baddie and roll five Attack Dice against him every round (that’s “the city’s crossbow” helping me out, and I think they mean arbalest, because why would a city have only one crossbow).

Or Each Baddie that enters the battle takes 2 “True Dmg” (damage that ignores certain defenses) and I get Surprise (first in the initiative).

Since so much of Tantrum’s power comes from being able to attack, I choose the second option.

I’m facing a Troll Sage, a Kobold Tracker, and a Kobold Greenthumb. That’s right, in the world of Too Many Bones, some kobolds do gardening.

The Tracker WOULD have been one-shotted by the two True Damage, but he has “Hardy,” which reduces the damage to 1. Yup, even True Damage. Why would you have a kind of Damage in your game with a special name so you know it bypasses many creatures’ defenses but then have an extra-special kind of defense that it doesn’t bypass? Eh, moving on.

So, my first move should be to finish that guy with 1 Health off. I move one space to close the distance (that costs 1 Dex), then roll 2 attack dice with my 2 remaining Dex. Bones and a damage. Boom, that guy’s dead, and my Rage counter goes up 1.

The Troll Sage rolls two Attack dice and a Def, and does 2 Damage and gets a shield. My Rage ticks up two more times, and I’m at 2 Health left. Yikes…

The Greenthumb moves closer to me, but can’t get within range this turn.

Turn 2.

Tantrum steps away from the Troll Sage – hear me out – and swings at the Greenthumb. Two damage. Oh, wait – this guy has Hardy, too. I should have only taken 1 of his Health away when he entered combat. And I only do 1 more damage to him now. So he’s still hanging in with 1 Health. Fuck.

BUT! My Rage is now at 1.8, which lets me instantly execute an adjacent 1-point Baddie. That’s the Greenthumb. Dead.

Now that I’ve used the Rage die, it won’t go up again in this combat.

I do have additional good news, however. I’ve killed 2 Baddies, so my Body Count is at 2. I can now spend that Body Count to regain 2 of my Health. So I’m back at max, and it’s just me and the Troll Sage.

The Troll Sage follows me, and knocks off those 2 Health I’d regained. Fuck…

Round 3.

I roll 3 Attack Dice, and do 3 damage, but 2 are absorbed by the Sage’s shield and Thick Skin.

He retaliates, and…

Tantrum’s out.

Boon: a Loot (Tewaren’s Gem) and 2 more Training Points. I spend them on Dex and Def (happy now, chat?!?!) ;)

Tewaren’s Gem gets exchanged for a TROVE LOOT (better loot, but I have to pick the lock first), which I’ll attempt in the next post.

37

History nerd! I bet you knew what a trebuchet was before you even played Age of Empires.

Counters having counters is Good Game Design. And Hardy is a right pain in the arse, as the British would say.

Ouch. One of the many advantages of playing with multiple characters is that you can actually absorb a knockout…

Oh, right, I forgot about this! You know, Chip Theory did a whole separate game about lock-picking. If you were a real Chip Theory fan, you would buy Triplock and then play a whole game of Triplock to unlock your Trove Chests!

I’m loving this thread! Keep 'em coming!

-Tom

38

I got past the first 2 locks on the Trove Loot, but the third will sit there and taunt me until at least the end of the next day. Speaking of…

Day 3

Encounter: Crossing the Sibron… Again

I have two options, one of which involves combat and the other one involves an insta-success without combat. I go with the latter, and gain a Loot (ANOTHER Tewaren Gem, exchanged for ANOTHER Trove Loot), ANOTHER Training Point (Dex again), and a Progress Point.

Back in camp, I finish unlocking my first Trove Loot. It’s… a Laser Pointer! It gives me a permanent additional 1-Bone Backup Plan option to reduce somebody’s Initiative by 1 on the Initiative Meter. That’s actually pretty great, I think.

On to Day 4. You know, the Chip Theory guys have said somewhere that Days 1-3 are just part of the setup, stylized as gameplay to make it seem like the game starts faster, and to keep things interesting. You’ll have to find the thread on boardgamenerd.edu yourself, but I swear I read this recently. So, the game proper hasn’t even started yet. But it’s about to…

39

I’m gonna keep reading this thread until you win a battle :P

40

Not likely to happen on Day 4, as I’m facing 4 ranged units, 3 of whom have 6 initiative, the fourth of which has 5. I rolled a 3 (but the highest I could roll is a 5 anyway).