Game(s) Played:
And welcome back to another edition of our monthly meet-ups to teach, learn & play boardgames for the niche group of us who are strangely only free on Saturday mornings. We didn't take a break in November, it was just Gideon, Sean & myself and we were quite into our new game of Roll Player that I forgot to take pictures. Anyway, our featured game for the month is … …
Session – Roll Player
Game: Roll Player
Designer: Keith Matejka
Players: 1 – 5 Players (with expansion)
Playing Time: 60 – 120 minutes (This Play: 90 minutes)
Main Mechanisms: Dice Rolling, Set Collection
Player(s):
So we actually have a repeat performance this month but seeing as I didn't do a session report for last month, this is a perfect opportunity to talk about Roll Player. Most role-playing games (RPGs) begin with character creation and customization, Roll Player takes character creation and turns it into a full-fledged boardgame. It would probably be easiest to explain by example: Let's say I pick a Dark Elf Warrior who is The Chosen One with the Truth Seeker alignment. This would probably mean that I would need to build a character that focuses on strength, constitution and dexterity with the correct coloured dice per my backstory and make sure my alignment remains Lawful Good at the end of the game to gain the most points.
So the more criteria you meet, the more Stars (points) you score
Or you could ignore the hand Mother Nature dealt to you and gain Traits that give you stars for having lots of money for example, or for purposely building a weak character. This provides some degree of freedom to the non-conformists who just want to build a tree hugging Orc Cleric.
You can be an Ambitious, Selfish, Confident and Valiant Halfling today!
They even give out Stars to those who like to hoard the shiny items…
There's going to be an expansion where Plate Mail becomes an option, I'm sure of it
Basically there's something here for every type of RPGamer there is, from the vanilla Orphaned, Chaotic Good Human Warrior to the eccentric Lisping, Neutral Good Dwarf Druid. Oh and the expansion lets you fight Minions and a big, bad Monster with your character!
A must have expansion! It creates purpose (and Stars) for your meticulously created character
I'm actually serious when I say I don't know how to play Roll Player without the expansion, the rulebook does a terrible job of explaining adding and removing the expansion from your game.
So, that's a gazillion different ways to earn Stars which can bamboozle the uninitiated. Here is a short "Play Better" guide to help you through your first game of Roll Player.
TIP #1 – Not All Attribute Actions Are Created Equal
The Str, Dex & Con Attribute Actions are particularly useful, allowing you to flip a die to its opposite side, swap the position of two dice and adjust a die value by 1 respectively. Because Players only get to use an Attribute Action when they place a die into the corresponding Attribute, new Players should ensure that placing a die into the Str, Dex or Con row results in a meaningful Attribute Action. Filling up the entire row too soon means you can only access the Attribute Action through the use of XP at an exorbitant rate of 5 XP per use.
Here we see Jeremy (left), saving his Str, Dex & Con Attribute Actions for a rainy day
TIP #2 – Love The Colour Of Your Class
Unless you need to do the obvious (drafting a die to meet your Class' Attribute Goals), draft a die that is in your colour, which is the equivalent of 1 Star per die in your Class colour at game end.
Boost (colourless) Dice are nice because their value goes up to 8, but having only 1 Green Die is a no-no
TIP #3 – Don't Pick A Fight You Cannot Win
Fighting the Big, Bad Monster successfully at the end of the game requires preparation: finding its weak point, forging Excalibur, donning the ever-polished Armor etc. So if you're more than halfway through the game and you have not started kicking Minion butt to gain the necessary tips about the Monster, I suggest you don't bother. A half-baked preparation will most likely only net you 1 Star and your efforts are better spent elsewhere. There is no shame in not defeating the Monster at the end of the game. Better to be "zha"ed than to be charred, I always say (sorry, Cantonese joke).
Henry (hand with some cool yoga pose) smirked at the Dragon as he counted all the Gold he had hoarded away
Results Of Game(s)
WINNER – Jimmy (28 VPs)
2nd – Henry (24 VPs)
LAST – Jeremy (19 VPs)
It is a very nice thing to play with someone who is so enthusiastic about a game even after having come last. So yes, Roll Player is one of those games that is fun even when you lose, as I had the same experience in the previous month. There is just this excitement similar to when you discover what the picture is after joining all the dots according to their numbers, except here you determine the dots and you endeavour to come as close as possible to getting the full picture.
I've only had a single play of Roll Player but I'm extremely satisfied that I picked this one up. An impulse buy well done.
Session – Lorenzo il Magnifico
Game: Lorenzo il Magnifico
Designer: Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Simone Luciani
Players: 2 – 4 Players
Playing Time: 60 – 120 minutes (This Play: 60 minutes)
Main Mechanisms: Dice Rolling, Worker Placement, Card Drafting
Player(s):
This was our first time playing Lorenzo il Magnifico and I will admit that expectations were high on my part, both for myself and Moses whose negative opinion of a game somehow irritates me. So let's get into it.
In Lorenzo il Magnifico, each Player represents an Italian famiglia in Florence who all have four sons and a seemingly endless supply of Servants that are useless after accomplishing a single given task. Each round, Players will roll three unique dice that determine the power of each son's chosen action, be it to conquer territories (to produce resources), construct buildings (to convert resources), hire underlings (for many things) and conduct ventures (for end game points). Unfortunately there's always that one son in every family who seemingly can never do any right and he is cursed throughout the game as having the eternal power of "0" (cue plot line for half the shonen mangas ever written).
You can see him hiding at the top center of the screen, with a big "0" on his head in neutral colors… For shame
And that's where Servants come in and literally do everything for their young "obocchama", each servant is the equivalent of adding 1 Power to any son's action for that one turn. Then they get returned to the great container on the table, to be called on when earned on future Player turns.
So let me explain how I managed to only gain half of Moses' final score and you'll see how the whole game comes together into a mesh of euro-ey goodness. Things were actually going fine until round 2 when the Church comes a callin' and questions the level of your Faith. Kinda forgot about that whole thing and ended up being excommunicated, which is not exactly a pleasant affair. For my sins, my sons would suffer -1 Power to their actions for the remainder of the game, except the black sheep, even the Church is not that cruel.
Here are the excommunication penances for the month, please make sure you have the appropriate amount of faith expected
So I was not building a Servant heavy strategy, and now I needed a whole tonne of them to do everything. So that's one action trying to get Servants, which meant I was usually late to the Tower which means I needed to pay latecomer's fee of 3 Gold, which meant I needed to find more Gold, which stifled my Military and Faith, which limited my production (Military gives Territories to produce) and more excommunication. Such is the never-ending whirlpool of disaster after disaster.
Results Of Game(s)
WINNER – Moses (98 VPs)
LAST – Justin (43 VPs)
Moses' score marker was waaaay on the other side of the board
So what's the verdict?
Moses: "Very interesting, feels like it would be a lot more difficult with more Players but having the extra action spaces is very appealing"
And so despite the terrible loss, Lorenzo il Magnifico is my sort of think-ey game that manages to fit into just 24 actions per Player for the entirety of one game. I enjoyed the tightness and the variety of options, a definite must play again for me at a higher Player count.
Session – King Of New York
Game: King Of New York
Designer: Richard Garfield
Players: 2 – 6 Players
Playing Time: 40 minutes (This Play: 30 minutes)
Main Mechanisms: Dice Rolling, Area Movement, Player Elimination
Player(s):
With our numbers at 5 Players and limited time remaining, King Of New York was the most appropriate choice. After choosing our respective Disaster Level Monsters, the race was on to be the last Monster standing.
We used poker chips instead of energy cubes. My poker chips are something I never leave home without anymore
After the game, the veterans discussed how our style of play has changed drastically since our first games clamouring over who would be the King Of New York. Less gungho about taking Manhattan until a prime opportunity presents itself, staying our hand until the competition wipes each other out.
Here you see the new Sheriff and Drakonis vying for control of Manhattan whilst the rest of us wait on the sidelines
In the end, the Sheriff and Drakonis were the first to be eliminated. Kong pounced on the opportunity to linger in Manhattan one more turn and pummelled all the monsters outside it, reducing the life total of my Mantis to zero. And I was doing so well gaining Stars among my fans in the Big Apple.
Mantis exacts revenge on Chinatown for all the fried dishes of its kin served
I have to give credit where credit is due and the next move by Kong was brilliant. Having more life than Rob, Kong actually aims to roll 3 Ouches! (Yes that's what it's called in the rulebook) because of where Rob is standing.
And the four damage manages to kill Rob on Staten Island
Results Of Game(s)
KING – Moses (Kong)
LOSERS – Justin (Mantis), Henry (Rob), Manfred (Sheriff) & Jeremy (Drakonis)
All hail King Kong!
Thanks for coming out everyone! This was a really nice close to our monthly sessions for 2018. We will probably be doing another round of Gloomhaven to round up the year but thank you for staying with us throughout this season.
Until next year, keep calm and play better.
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