Battling Lords

by | Feb 21, 2018 | BLOG, Design Corner, Planet Apocalypse, Sandy's Design Corner | 977 Views

Battling Lords

Fighting the Lords

So let’s talk about the final battles in Planet Apocalypse, and how they work, along with an analysis of a typical battle.

Let’s see how a fight goes! This is an actual example from gameplay.

The game begins – a normal Invasion map, with Baphomet at the other end from the heroes. In a 4 player game, Baphomet starts with 15 health (and another 5 for his Wall).

Heroes: John Dark, Naomi Joslyn, Moose Kowalski, Hannah Hazard

The heroes start it off easy. They recruit a few troopers, start killing demons, and by the time the Despair dice are at 6, all of them have at least one gift. They feel they should strike at Baphomet before he spawns a 4th circle demon, so they do.

ROUND ONE – please note that the heroes have a few upgrades, and some are wounded.

 

BAPHOMET: 6d12 attack, toughness 6, Health 15 (Wall toughness 5, Health 5) In Baphomet’s area is an invasion token, which spawns into 1 First Circle, 1 Second Circle, and 2 Limbo minions.

John: 1d4 attack, toughness 3, Health 4; 2 volunteers (absorb 1)

Naomi: 1d8+1d6 attack, toughness 2, Health 5; no troopers

Moose Kowalski: 1d6+1d4 attack, toughness 2, Health 6; 1 police (absorb 3)

Hannah Hazard: 1d8+1d4 attack, toughness 2, Health 4; 4 troopers (absorb 1)

  • Menace – Baphomet hits. The Captain, John, chooses for Hannah to take the hit. 2, 4, 4, 6, 7, 12 is rolled, for 5 hits. Hannah uses her troopers to block 4 of it, and takes 1.
  • John uses Forfeit Soul to add 1d10 to his attack, and unfortunately rolls a 2 and a 3, so he kills the two Limbo minions. At least he gets 2 courage from it.
  • Naomi attacks, helped by John and Moose, thus increasing her dice to 1d10 & 1d8 and gets a 3 and a 6. She uses the 6 to hit Baphomet’s wall for some courage.
  • Moose attacks, helped by John, Naomi, and Hannah, so he rolls 1d8+1d10. He luckily rolls a 5 and a 9. He ponders what to do, and then decides to kill both remaining minions instead of hitting Baphomet.
  • Hannah rolls her dice and gets a 3 and a 3. Using her Head Shot ability, she adds these together and hits Baphomet.
  • Baphomet attacks, all his minions gone. He rolls 6d12. The Captain, John, chooses for he himself to take the hit, despite the possibility of death. He rolls 3, 3, 6, 10, 11, 12 for 4 hits. He uses his troopers to block 2, and takes 1.

ROUND TWO: FIGHT!

BAPHOMET: 6d12 attack, toughness 6, Health 14 (Wall toughness 5, Health 4)

John: 1d4 attack, toughness 3, Health 3

Naomi: 1d8+1d6 attack, toughness 2, Health 5; no troopers

Moose Kowalski: 1d6+1d4 attack, toughness 2, Health 6; 1 police (absorb 3)

Hannah Hazard: 1d8+1d4 attack, toughness 2, Health 3

  • John: uses Forfeit Soul again. This time he rolls a 7 (He doesn’t bother to roll his 1d4, since it can’t hurt Baphomet or the Wall). He decides to hit the Wall for 2 courage.
  • Naomi attacks, helped by two other players. She rolls a 5 and a 6, so hits the wall once.
  • Moose attacks, helped by three players, and rolls a 6 and an 8, hitting the wall and Baphomet each once.
  • Hannah attacks, again using Head Shot to combine her dice into a single roll. Total is 7, so she gets the tough choice of whether to eliminate the wall, or hit Baphomet. She decides to kill the Wall, to lower Baphomet’s attack to 6d8 permanently.
  • Baphomet attacks, rolling 6d8. John, the captain, decides to have it hit Moose. Baphomet rolls 1, 4, 4, 5, 7, 8, for 5 damage. Moose uses his cop to block 3, then takes 2.

Before round three, the players realize that Baphomet could possibly kill one of them in his attack. Rather than take that chance, they retreat.

Some time later, when the despair dice have built up to 9, and the heroes are mightier (more gifts), they return to the fray. Again, some are injured. Coincidentally, John is again the captain.

ROUND ONE (second assault)

BAPHOMET: 6d8 attack, toughness 6, Health 13; 2 First Circle, 1 second circle, 3 limbo.

John: 2d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 3; 1 police (absorb 3)

Naomi: 1d8+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 6; 2 army (absorb 2)

Moose Kowalski: 2d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 5; no troopers

Hannah Hazard: 1d10+1d4 attack, toughness 2, Health 4; no troopers

  • Menace: John chooses to take the hit on himself, a little reluctantly. Baphomet rolls 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, inflicting just 3 damage, and exactly killing his police.
  • John: uses Forfeit Soul. He rolls a 2, 3, and 5, so kills two limbo & a first circle.
  • Naomi attacks, helped by John. She rolls a 7 & 8(!) 6, so hits the lord twice.
  • Moose attacks, helped by all three other heroes, and rolls two 5s, merely killing the remaining first circle & limbo.
  • Hannah attacks. Since she rolls 10 & 4, no need for Head Shot. She decides to kill the second circle fiend. Thus eliminating the lesser demon threat.
  • Baphomet attacks, rolling 6d8. John, the captain, decides to have it hit Naomi. Baphomet rolls 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6 for 4 damage, which she takes on herself, saving her two army.

ROUND TWO (second assault)

BAPHOMET: 6d8 attack, toughness 6, Health 11

John: 2d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 3

Naomi: 1d8+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 2; 2 army (absorb 2)

Moose Kowalski: 2d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 5

Hannah Hazard: 1d10+1d4 attack, toughness 2, Health 4

  • John: doesn’t dare use Forfeit Soul any more, so to have a chance of hitting Baphomet, asks for help. Two players help him, and he rolls 2d8, sadly getting 3 & 6, so misses.
  • Naomi attacks, helped by John. She also discards both her army, to add 2d10 to her roll, rolls 6, 6, 7, 8, so hits the lord twice. Baphomet is now down to 9, in the single digit range for health.
  • Moose attacks, helped by two other heroes, and rolls 2 & 8, hitting once.
  • Hannah attacks. Even with Head Shot, she only gets a total of 4.
  • Baphomet attacks, rolling 6d8. John, the captain, decides to have it hit himself. Baphomet rolls 2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 8 for 4 damage, which kills John’s cop & gives him 1 hit.

Fearing another round will kill them, the players retreat again.

After healing up from the fire (remember, Baphomet’s attack sets herores on fire) struggling through a 4th circle demon and cleaning up some of the messes on the map, they return again. This time Baphomet has 12 despair dice for its invasion token. There is a big force of demons in the start area, and Doom is now high enough that if they can’t kill Baphomet, they will lose the game on the next Enemy phase. So this is it. The big time.

Round one (third assault)

BAPHOMET: 6d8 attack, toughness 6, Health 8; 1 third circle demon (it tried to spawn 2, but one was already in play, so instead Doom bumped up a point), 2 second circle demons, 2 first circle demons, and 6 limbo.

John: 2d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 4; 1 police (absorb 3)

Naomi: 1d10+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 6; 3 volunteers (absorb 1)

Moose Kowalski: 1d8+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 2; 1 army (absorb 2)

Hannah Hazard: 1d10+1d4 attack, toughness 3, Health 4

  • Menace: John, once again captain, chooses to have the menace hit go on Moose. 1, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8 is the unfortunately result. Moose takes 5 damage.
  • John: can’t use Forfeit Soul (Despair is at 6) so asks for help. Two players help him, and he rolls 2d8, getting 5 & 5 – enough to kill the third circle cacodemon!
  • Naomi attacks, helped by one ally. She rolls 2 & 10, and uses the 10 to hit Baphomet (the 2 kills a limbo minion.
  • Moose attacks, and rolls 3 & 6. He now has All-Out, so Baphomet’s Toughness is reduced by 2 vs his attacks. So he hits Baphomet & kills a limbo minion.
  • Hannah attacks, and also uses her Frag Grenade gift to add 3d6 to her attack. With Head Shot, she gets a 7. The frags get 5, 5, 6, killing two first circle and another limbo.
  • The demons attack. This time, the minions weren’t all killed in the first. The three limbo attack John, scoring 2 hits, which he takes. The two second circles attack Naomi, and roll 3 hits, which she takes on her volunteers. Finally Baphomet attacks, rolling 6d8. And John has it hit himself. Baphomet rolls 1, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8 for 5 damage! This kills John’s cop and himself as well! Doom bumps up 2.

Round two (third assault)

BAPHOMET: 6d8 attack, toughness 6, Health 6; 2 second circle demons, and 3 limbo.

Naomi: 1d10+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 6

Moose Kowalski: 1d8+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 2; 1 army (absorb 2)

Hannah Hazard: 1d10+1d4 attack, toughness 3, Health 4

  • The players can’t retreat. This is the final battle.
  • Naomi attacks, helped by one ally. She rolls 12 & 2, killing a limbo & hitting Baphomet.
  • Moose attacks with help, and rolls 4 & 8. He hits Baphomet & kills a limbo.
  • Hannah attacks. She rolls a 7 and decides to kill one of the Fiends, which were so deadly in the first round. Also she needs a courage to keep helping.
  • The demons attack. The lone limbo rolls a 2, so doesn’t hit anyone. The second circle attacks Hannah, and scores 2 hits. Finally Baphomet attacks, rolling 6d8. And this time the team has it hit Naomi. With a lucky roll of 1, 1, 1, 4, 7, 8, she only takes 3 hits.

Round three (third assault)

BAPHOMET: 6d8 attack, toughness 6, Health 4; 1 second circle demon, and 1 limbo.

Naomi: 1d10+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 3

Moose Kowalski: 1d8+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 2; 1 army (absorb 2)

Hannah Hazard: 1d10+1d4 attack, toughness 3, Health 2

  • Naomi attacks, helped by one ally. She misses. Well, she does kill the last limbo.
  • Moose attacks with help, and rolls 1 & 7. He hits Baphomet, who is down to 3 now.
  • Hannah attacks. She rolls a 12 using head shot, and hits Baphomet again. Just 2 hit points left.
  • The second circle attacks Naomi, knocking her down to 1 hp. Baphomet attacks and the team chooses for him to hit Moose, who is the likeliest to survive. But he doesn’t, taking exactly 4 hits (killing his army as well as himself).

Round four (third assault)

BAPHOMET: 6d8 attack, toughness 6, Health 2; 1 second circle demon.

Naomi: 1d10+1d6 attack, toughness 3, Health 1

Hannah Hazard: 1d10+1d4 attack, toughness 3, Health 2

  • The team is now down to the two female heroes. They know they will lose if they don’t kill Baphomet this round, but since he only has 2 health, they have a good shot at it.
  • Naomi rolls 1d12+1d6, being helped by Hannah. She gets a 10 on the d12, so scores a hit!
  • Now it’s all up to Hannah. If she hits the Lord, the team wins. If not, they will lose. One more dead hero will bump Doom to 13 and end the game anyway. She rolls 1d10 +1d6 (helped by Naomi) and gets to add the dice together with Head Shot, She rolls 2 & 6 for an 8, and the game is over with a hero win!

The players then proceeded to talk smack about how weak my boss was and how trivially they’d beaten him. This despite going right down to the wire AND losing 2 heroes in the process. Humph. I invited them to take on Baphomet on the Demongate map next time, and they settled down.