1st run:THis turned into a test run because of a Crash, but I'm going to leave it in, just because it explains the system well
So we roll for our first part of the Trade Paperback, and it comes up 6 - a Minor Villanous Scheme. What does that mean? Let's FIND OUT!
Ok, so we get details in that this is going to be that a villain "Valhella" is involved in some type of shenanigans. We have to figure out his mystical mystery in order to figure out where he is based.
It features three heroes, the game has chosen Delphi, Master Phoenix and Pathway, and we could change that if we wanted to, but again, completely blind playthrough. I have NO idea who'd be good facing Valhella.
Let's do a quick bio on each of our heroes, from the game provided description:
Our heroes:
PATHWAY: Patti Palmer is a young Boom Town High student (and classmate of Jennifer Joyce, although she's unaware that her BFF is secretly Miss Atomic) who recently discovered that she is the latest in a long line of witches in the Palmer family. Her latent magical abilities allow her to do many things, but she is most notable for being able to open mystical portals at will, a power that has led her to taking on the super heroic codename of "Pathway"
The four stats at play in this one (because a Mystical encounter) are Mystical Attack/Defense (11/17) and Outsmart Attack/Defense (10/18). Her powers are: Charms and Spells (which you can choose up to 2 allies and increase their mystical defense by 2 until next hero turn), and Witchcraft (Outsmart attack that allows you to reduce target's mystical defense by 2 until next turn)
DELPHI: A mystic with a deep knowledge of the arcane arts, Delphi traded her eyesight to see into the future. As is the tradition with these sort of bargains, there was a catch - wWhat she got was the ability to see every possible future across the entire multiverse, an overwhelming sensation that has left her quite deranged and unpredictable
Stats:
(Stats are Attack/Defend) Mystical: 11/17, Outsmart 12/18
Powers: Arcane Knowledge (Outsmart to reduce attack of up to 3 targets by 1), Gift of Prophecy (takes an action, gives an ally an extra re-roll
and finally,
MASTER PHOENIX: One of the elder statesmen of the heroic community, Master Phoenix is a relatively powerful telepath whose wealth of experience at fighting evil means that he is often consulted as a mentor-type figure by younger crimefighters. Originally, he lived in Centenanry City, and was a staunch ally of The Wonderfuls, but nowadays he has moved out to Boom Town
Stats: Mystical 11/17, Outsmart 11/18
Powers: Psychic Interference: Choose a character on the other side, and reduce any one of their puzzle skills by 1 until side's next turn.
It gives details on the encounter: Namely, that it's a "Magical Mystery" encounter. It's limited to five rounds, and ends when the heroic side either solve the puzzle or are stumped. If the time limit is reached, the winner will be decided by which ending was closer to being achieved. And finally, if the heroic side fail to win the encounter, the villanous side will get a boost to their defense score in the next stage.
We roll to see who goes first, and it comes up 9, the villanous side goes first (it's slightly tilted to villains going first, as 2-6 heroes go first, 7-12 villains)
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
So, the game has Valhella selecting and using a power "Arcane Knowledge", where it's an Outsmart Attack against the hero Pathway, where if it succeeds, it reduces the target's mystical attack by 1 until the next turn. Just like others, it's based on a 2d6 roll, where you take the attackers Outsmart score (in this case), and add the dice roll, and compare it to the defender's score.
Valhella has an attacking score of 10, and the dice roll is a 5, versus Pathway's defense score of 18 so it looks like this is going to fail, except he uses a re-roll. He has no more left at this level. He rolls better, an 8, but that means that he ties 18-18, and ties apparently go to the defender.
He then attempts Deception against each of the heroes. He manages to succeed against Delphi and Pathway, (knocking the heroes back 1 on the progress scale, -10=Stumped, 10=Solved). The progress means we're at -2, this was the villan's POWER PLAY, so the failure has no effect. Now it's the heroes turn...
We'll start with Delphi: She has a variety of options to benefit. Standard Solution is a safer play (+1 to the goal on success, 0 movement on failure this turn during the power play), or we could take a risk (+2/-1), do a leap of faith (+3/-1, but only useable once an encounter), Get a Lead (a setup action), or follow a lead (get a random bonus from our investigation).
We play it safe and roll standard solution (Attack 11+10 (2d6)=21,versus Valhella's mystical defense of 17, success! We move the progress meter back to -1
Master Phoenix uses his Psychic Interference Power (which you can apparently do once per turn) to lower Valhella's Mystical attack puzzle skill by one until the heroes act again. He then rolls standard solution, 11+(2d6=8) 19, against 17.. Success! We've stopped the villain's progress for the round, back to neutral 0
Pathway tries her witchcraft power to reduce Valhella's abilities more, but fials. However, she then uses her Charms and Spellcraft power (+2 to mystical defense for up to two targets, succeeds on 4+) to boost the defense of Phoenix and Delphi by 2. She then tries a standard solution to get progress on the Heroes side, and Succeeds (11+8 vs 17). So, we have a Success Rating of +1 after round 1.
Powers can apparently be used each turn, but require a roll on 1d6 to activate properly.
So at the end of round 1, the progress meter is SOLVED +1
Villain Turn 2:
(more in brief)
VILLAINS
Valhella - Arcane Knowledge on Pathway - SUCCESS! (10+2d6 (9)=19 vs 18. Lowers mystical attack by 1
Valhella - Standard Deception on Pathway - SUCCESS! (10+2d6 (11)=21 vs 17. Progress moves to 0
Villain turn over
The good news is this is a pretty basic encounter. Valhella only gets his power actions and one "action".. this turn he could only attempt a deception against one person, while last time, he got to go against all three (and succeeded on 2), so we can quickly move this towards solving if we wanted (3 chances)
Hero Turn 2:
Delphi: Arcane Knowledge on Valhella - SUCCESS 12+7=19 vs 16 - Reduces Valhella's Mystical Attack by 1 until heroes next turn
Delphi: Standard Solution - SUCCESS 11+9=20 vs 17: Progress moves to +1
Master Phoenix: Psychic Interference Power - FAIL (4+, rolled a 1)
Master Phoenix: Standard Solution - SUCCESS! (11+7=18 vs 17): Progress Moves to +2
Pathway: Charms and Spellcraft (Boost Delphi/Master Phoenx)- FAIL (4+ needed, rolled a 2)
Pathway: Witchcraft (Target Valhella) - FAIL (10+5=15 vs 16)
And here, we had a type mismatch program crash. Not a huge problem, this is a public beta after all.
So far, I've learned a few things. You don't apparently have to take all your characters actions in a row, which is good because it allows tactical actions (I should have used Pathway's Witchcraft first because that targets defense until the BEGINNING of my next turn, so if I want to have maximum effect, it should be before any others try to do anything versus that defense stat.