First Frostgrave Game - Aftermath

After playing my first game of Frostrgave 2nd Edition on Sunday, I thought I would do a quick write-up on some of my findings and conclusions.

In the write-up, I did not include a blow-by-blow account of all that happened as that would have been quite an undertaking, so I summarised quite a few turns into one or two lines of text. In doing so, I missed out on reporting on a few little issues and nuances of the game...

When the wizards cast their Elemental Balls at the wild dogs early on in the game, I didn't mention that Dave's spell actually failed on the initial roll. I used some of his health to boost it so that it worked. This turned out to be a great little mechanism, but his poor damage roll meant that he didn't have the spectacular effect Balthazar did with his casting.

I found that a lot of combats did not roll high enough for the attacker to cause any damage on quite a few occasions, but there were around 3 or 4 critical hits that went through and changed the pace of the game - there were a lot of dogs on the board at one time and the adventuring band were being sorely pressed but two critical hits in one round for the humans sorted that dilemma. The use of a d20 means that the game can be a little "swingy" due to the large range given by the dice rolls, but it does make for a great narrative.

Movement distances are very important in this game as it can mean the difference between getting to an objective safely and getting bogged down in a fight. When unhindered by enemies, figures can move quite a long way, even if burdened with carrying their "dead" comrades (I decided in this game to make any downed soldier not automatically get away from the scenario but to have to be moved off the board - half move for anyone carrying them). This seemed to work OK, but I will decide on the spot in my next games as it may not be practicable.

I did initailly set the game length as 6 turns in which to find the treasure and possibly get it off the board. The treasures were found quickly enough but getting them off the board was difficult due to the distances involved on a 3' by 3' table, and the numbers of dogs spawned each turn: for the first 8 turns dog spawning was according to the house rules mentioned in the write-up and then it was automatically one dog per turn to spur the adventurers into action in trying to get off the board rather than being bogged down in a very long fight. This worked well, and I decided that if the soldiers cleared all the dogs off the board in any particular turn then no more would come - this is exactly what happened around turn 9 after 11 dogs had spawned.

A few lessons learned...

It seems that I took my wizards off the board far too quickly and that they should have stayed around a bit longer to magically snipe from a distance to aid their comrades. There was a treasure token on its way off that the soldier could have taken himself and thus leave Balthazar and Dave to blast the dogs. It would also have given me an opportunity to cast more spells to see how well they work.

Ganging up really works. It might only be +2 per extra man in the fight, but that can really make a difference in combat outcomes.

Splitting the warband is the best way of achieving objectives in time. Bunching everyone together would have meant less casualties, but more safety. In this sceario I didn't award XP for completing the tasks in a certain time - perhaps that would be more incentive to split a warband in future games if the secanrio looks too daunting?

Rolling for treasure...

I randomly rolled up the treasure after the game (see last report for full details of what was found) and got some lovely items that I now need to work out when best to use. The Gold Crowns found pose a conundrum. In normal game terms I can just spend the money and get new items etc. However, I am trying to play this as "realistically" as possible, so I will need to wait until the warband encounter a travelling merchant or population centre to be able to spend their gains. I have a very simple encounter table that I am using: each in-game day I will roll for an encounter on a d6. If a 6 is rolled then there is an encounter. I then roll a further d6; on a 1-2 the encounter will be positive (just make up something from the top of my head) and the party can benefit without loss, e.g. they encounter a merchant train in order to purchase supplies, new weapons, armour or a new member of the band if someone has died, and on a 3-6 it will be a scenario (again I will look at my figure availability and see where the muse takes me).

I also rolled, as per my after-game chances of finding some gear for all the soldiers to see if they can "improve". So far none of the soldiers rolled the 10% requirement to gain something (cold weather clothing, a better weapon etc.), so after the next scenario they will roll at 20% to see if they find anything useful. These improvements, as mentioned previously, provide no actual in-game advantages but builds the characters' stories - it will also allow me to choose new miniatures from my collection for the soldiers and, perhaps, point the way towards where they are heading as new troop-types (i.e. what will Balthazar pay for them to upgrade to? Some may become thieves, others men-at-arms).

I still have lots of thoughts rolling around my head on this but I will call a halt here. I am hoping to get another game in this coming weekend, and I have a few ideas of how I want this journey to Felstad campaign to go - I am hoping to tell an ongoing story with recurring villains that will harass the party along the way.