#beetle ‘tooth’ for his fighting proficiency

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[t3clis]

KDM 1.5 Campaign - Part 14

Showdown Phase - L2 Gorm

A bit of strategic preface first. L2 Gorm has Mushth trait, which means that survivors with less than 3 hunt XP will get -2 accuracy and strength for the Showdown. That’s why we did not bring any. Also, at the end of turn, Gorm always retches.

We are also in the Gorm’s Den, meaning that Surging costs double. No problem, we don’t have Surge.

Last time, we did not Hiccup-loop the L1 Gorm because it felt cheap and was a bit difficult to achieve, not having a lot of control on the showdown. This time we have a Vespertine Bow and two Rawhide sets, so we will take any available advantage on the big meanie. For the record, on a L2 Gorm there is a 90% chance of getting Hiccup on its AI deck.

Now, for Showdown setup: we place all Bleeding, +Speed, +Strength, -Evasion, -Movement tokens gained from the Hunt, then we proceed to add survival and insanity from Stone Noses, and finally we use the edge we gained during the Hunt to look at the top AI card to see if we like it: top AI is Headbutt, we don’t like it because it targets a random survivor and that could cause unnecessary bloodshed, so we put it at the bottom of the deck.

Terrain draw is another two Tall Grass and a pile of Debris: a really nice draw.

We setup the rest of the board and proceed with the Showdown.

Turn 1

AI is Hiccup, so Gorm targets farthest threat (Nestore), then everybody around it is knocked down on 4+ (nobody), then the Gorm retches (twice because Mushth), going back a total of four squares and doing no damage at all. Hiccup goes back on top of AI deck.

Ok, I thought to make this easy, but this is SUPER easy. We just have to be careful to make everyone wound once for the proficiency and we will be okay.

First, Maurizio uses Rawhide Headband to put Infrasonic Roar on top and Hiccup on bottom.

Then, Cinzia snipes with Vespertine Bow (always Vespertine Bow snipe unless specified otherwise), hitting Mammoth Maw for a critical wound, gaining Jaw Paralysis persistent injury and Stout Heart Gorm resource.

Now Hiccup is back on top, so Nestore goes flanking at a distance and Alfio draws near. We can stay as is, next turn will be another Hiccup. 

Turn 2

Another Hiccup, followed by two retches. Now the Gorm is with its back to the board edge, so it cannot go backwards anymore. We can safely Hiccup-loop it, but we want to complicate things a bit because we want to get proficiency with everyone.

Maurizio first uses Rawhide Headband to put Hiccup on the bottom, then Nestore attacks with his Knuckle Shield (7, 6), hitting Mammoth Testes (WR7, wound) and Spongy Leg Bone (WR 2, luckily a failure). The monster discards Rear Up AI and has Hiccup on top again. So, Alfio moves near and Cinzia uses Cat’s Eye Circlet.

Now, a note: when the Gorm is with its back on the Showdown board, it cannot go backwards anymore, so its retches are always without moving, hitting nothing in an area of effect in front of it. We won’t describe reactions which cause a void retch to save space.

Turn 3

Another void Hiccup, Alfio bandages Maurizio, Maurizio uses Rawhide Headband and Cinzia attacks again with Vespertine Bow (8), hitting Mammoth Bloated Face (WR 9) with a critical wound, which discards Maw Arm Toss AI and lets us draw a Stout Heart. Nestore now blocks again.

Turn 4

Another Hiccup, same pattern. Nestore uses the headband, so Maurizio can attack with the Butcher’s Cleaver, hitting its Mammoth Backstrap (WR 7, wound), discarding Charge AI. Alfio moves. This time, trap is on top, so Cinzia uses Cat’s Eye Circlet to move it down. 

Turn 5

Void Hiccup. Since Alfio has a Speed of 3 due to Frenzy, we risk seriously to destroy the Hiccup loop, so we will keep his wound attempt as last.

Now, we will just repeat the Hiccup loop, which consists of the sequence:

Nestore uses Rawhide Headband to place Hiccup on bottom

Cinzia snipes with Vespertine Bow to cause a wound, that will put Hiccup on top again

If Cinzia misses or fails to wound, Maurizio uses Rawhide Headband again to put Hiccup back on top, will wait next turn.

Every two Hit Locations passed, we take a pause one turn to let Cinzia use Cat’s Eye Circlet and push trap back.

Let the Gorm Hiccup, then begin the cycle again

Another note: Gorm’s reaction on failure/wound are only retching or turning backwards and running. Retching, as explained above, is always neutralized. In case Gorm turns, one must just wait out that it retched until reaching the opposite board edge, then it can begin again. Only thing that breaks the loop is the Gorm having no target, so we just have to keep someone in range.

Since this is extremely effective, we will skip all turns with a quick record of what happened.

Turns 6-21

Hiccup loop until the Gorm is down to Basic Action. Gorm gets Lame persistent injury, Alfio manages to retrieve a Scrap Sword from the Debris.

During a reaction to a botched wound attempt, the Gorm turned backwards, so the group had to wait it reached opposite board edge.

Turn 22

Basic Action, targeting Nestore (3,6,7): a single, blocked hit. Now, last three HL in the deck are two valid locations and the trap. Alfio attacks from flank, and hits Mammoth Hand and Fluorescent Lure, rolling 2 and 4, failing both attempts.

This is bad, because now we need to spring the trap before causing last wound. On retrospective, I should have triggered the trap while Hiccup was still on the AI deck, so that we had plenty of retries to wound with Fist & Tooth. That tactical error ended costing me that proficiency this hunt. Well, too bad.

We place everyone so Nestore is next target at 4 squares of distance, so that he can run away from Basic Action.

Turn 23

Basic action. Gorm targets Nestore, then Nestore dashes away to not be hit. The Gorm retches, and goes two squares back. Now, Maurizio attacks from blind spot and triggers Lure Paroxism, the trap! First, he gets headbutted for 2 damage to the Head (ok), then the Gorm turns to face Cinzia and Alfio and makes its Lure fluctuate, for 2 Brain Damage each. Now, we have a brand new Hit Location deck.

Alfio attacks, trying to score his wound (4,2,5), but misses.

We decided that I made a tactical error in discarding Hiccup and that just trying to wound with Alfio when showdown is almost done would just be searching for trouble, so Cinzia just snipes its last wound with Vespertine Bow, critically wound its Mammoth Rump to kill the monster, and drawing a Dense Bone as a result.

Everybody tries now a Blind Exit from Gorm’s den. Nestore rolls 3, getting -1 permanent Strength. Alfio rolls 7, getting Acid Palms ability. Maurizio rolls 4, finding a Gorm Cub. Of course he slays it, drawing a Stout Hide and the Megalophobia disorder. Cinzia rolls 10, getting Legendary Lungs secret fighting art. Not a fan, but it comes really handy with the Slenderman showdown, so, it’s good, I guess.

Everybody gets 1 Hunt XP, and Maurizio ages for +1 permanent Strength, and Alfio ages to get Crossarm Block fighting art.

Maurizio, Nestore and Cinzia get their weapon proficiency level. Too bad for Alfio.

Resource draw is two Stout Hides, one Stout Vertebrae, a Jiggling Lard, one Stout Kidney and another Stout Heart for Gorm resources, while Love Juice, Monster Bone, Monster Hide and Skull as Basic Resources.

Time now to return to Monte Luce.

Settlement Phase

Survivors return, and 5 endeavors are generated (4 from returning, +1 from Alfio being a Tinker).

Cinzia is a Hoarder, so let’s archive a Skull and gain +1 Courage.

Another Lantern Year passes, so in Lantern Year 8 our good guys decide to enact another Triathlon of Death! Man, I love those guys. So again, Alfio and Cinzia get nominated (because two players):

Cinzia wins the race, gaining +1 Movement, while Alfio gains +1 Courage for his second place.

Alfio wins the debate by a good measure, gaining a Skull resource. Unfortunately, there is no Skull card in the Resource deck, so nothing is gained. Cinzia, however, gains +1 Understanding.

Cinzia wins the fight, gaining +1 Weapon proficiency, getting to 2. Alfio gets +1 Strength.

What I find appalling is that Dario, after a lifetime using the Bow, was at proficiency 1, while Cinzia got to 2 in one hunt. I have no words to express how much Dario sucks at bows. Now, he hanged his Twilight Sword by his chimney, because what could go wrong?

Enough babbling, though. It’s that time of the year again in which the Gorms mate at our doorsteps. Gorm Climate roll is 6, so returning Survivors get their Insanity set to 0 and skip next hunt.

Next event is Rumbling in the Dark. Cinzia gets nominated to check a Dung Beetle Knight rolling its dung ball (presumably, with stuff collected from Gorm mating grounds - yech), and as a result the Settlement gains the Round Stone Training innovation, she gets +1 Strength and the Vermin Obsession disorder. Now, doomed is really crippling in 1.5 version, but I am confident I can work through it.

Finally, it is time to craft and innovate!

First, bad news: we miss the Handed Skull to finish Gorment armor set, so we just craft Gorment Suit and Gorment Boots, and wait for the rematch. We also use the Fresh Acanthus to make a Dried Acanthus, which comes always handy.

Since we got a Dense Bone and Butcher’s Cleaver is Irreplaceable, we also craft a Greater Gaxe, because I really like it.

We also manage to build the Stone Circle, and we can afford to Innovate: choice is between Pottery and Hovel, but since we plan to fight an Antelope next hunt, we choose Pottery!

Now, let’s spend those endeavors. We need 3 endeavors in Founder’s Eye to get a +2 to Intimacy attempts, then a fourth endeavor gets spent with our Settlement’s Matchmaker to make Dario and Cinzia get a bit Intimate. Roll is (4,8) +2: so we get 6, and Quasimodo (male) is born! Settlement population grows to 13, so it’s basically a waste to try to get Augury to trigger another Intimacy this year, since we won’t get to 15 anyway.

The final endeavor gets spent in teaching Betta Abyssal Sadist (roll of 6) by endeavoring at Sculpture.

Stout Hide goes to settlement storage.

We are now set to depart. We are unfortunately forced to not choose Maurizio, our beloved Murder target, so next year we will really risk Murder to mess our settlement again.

We choose Hannah, Betta, Ofelia and Karl to depart to hunt a L2 Screaming Antelope: Girl power! (Karl is not a girl, but since his meetup with the Man-Stealer bugs he counts as zero in gender equation)