Last night was a great way to end the week!

Last night was a great way to end the week!

Last night was a great way to end the week! We had two tables. Mine did a side quest in our current Dungeon World campaign. The other table played several board games, including Libertalia, Masquerade and Batman Love Letter (which was discussed on this week’s cast). 

Our DW side quest was an exploration of the GM move “Offer Them an Opportunity at a Cost.” The characters were searching an island cemetery that, in its most recent history, had been the home base of the necromancer Belgorul (now long-gone). The crypts and graves had a number of fabulous treasures, but all of it was protected by deeply foul magic and/or cursed, which is to say nothing of the island’s protector, the massive horror known as the Bone Cleric. In the end, they secured a number of cool things, but one character had his eyeballs melted from his sockets; one character lost his lower jaw and right hand; every character has three or more debilities; and one character has a -1 forward on Last Breath. Additionally, the mere act of opening some of the tombs unleashed terrors that will likely haunt the party for some time to come (the absent players can thank them for that). 

I’d be interested in knowing how the board games went from someone who was at that table.  

Thanks to Steve Mains for running the other table, and to everyone else who came out: Jeff Burke Daniel Fowler David LaFreniere Scott Owen Jorge Salazar and Kristen D!

6 thoughts on “Last night was a great way to end the week!”

  3. Libertalia is about pirate crews attempting to accumulate the most loot so that they can retire to the pirate utopia of the title.  The game takes place across three “campaigns,” which are about laying down cards, outguessing opponents, and divvying up loot.  They all play more or less the same.  Each player has a deck of 30 cards, each card representing a crew member or ally.  The first campaign starts players off with 9 of these cards, selected at random, but the same for all players.  In the course of dividing loot, players will play six of these cards, and the remainder–likely different for each player–will carry over to the next campaign.  By the third campaign, players could easily be playing unexpected cards leftover from the first.  This adds an element of unpredictability and interesting longer-term strategy.  The way the cards work allows for great reveals and reversals of fortune.  Lots of fun.  Played a little long, as it was everyone’s first time, but it’ll go smoother next time around.

    Mascarade is the game of having fun while having no idea what’s going on.  On your turn, you usually want to announce the card you have face-down in front of you so you can do the special action it grants you.  Except, in all likelihood, you’re not actually sure what that card is, and if somebody else thinks they have it, they can announce it as well, with whoever’s wrong (which can easily be both/all of you) paying a penalty and whoever’s right getting to perform the action.  I think we all went into this game afraid we’d be terrible at it.  Luckily, we were all correct.  It’s really hard to know what’s what, and that’s the fun of it.  And there’s just enough room amidst all the chaos for skill and strategy to make a difference, which is good.

    Love Letter: Batman:  It’s Love Letter.  With Batman.

  4. Libertalia is about pirate crews attempting to accumulate the most loot so that they can retire to the pirate utopia of the title.  The game takes place across three “campaigns,” which are about laying down cards, outguessing opponents, and divvying up loot.  They all play more or less the same.  Each player has a deck of 30 cards, each card representing a crew member or ally.  The first campaign starts players off with 9 of these cards, selected at random, but the same for all players.  In the course of dividing loot, players will play six of these cards, and the remainder–likely different for each player–will carry over to the next campaign.  By the third campaign, players could easily be playing unexpected cards leftover from the first.  This adds an element of unpredictability and interesting longer-term strategy.  The way the cards work allows for great reveals and reversals of fortune.  Lots of fun.  Played a little long, as it was everyone’s first time, but it’ll go smoother next time around.

    Mascarade is the game of having fun while having no idea what’s going on.  On your turn, you usually want to announce the card you have face-down in front of you so you can do the special action it grants you.  Except, in all likelihood, you’re not actually sure what that card is, and if somebody else thinks they have it, they can announce it as well, with whoever’s wrong (which can easily be both/all of you) paying a penalty and whoever’s right getting to perform the action.  I think we all went into this game afraid we’d be terrible at it.  Luckily, we were all correct.  It’s really hard to know what’s what, and that’s the fun of it.  And there’s just enough room amidst all the chaos for skill and strategy to make a difference, which is good.

    Love Letter: Batman:  It’s Love Letter.  With Batman.

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