Pathfinder Adventure Card Game - whoever finds a pack of villains will get it for leveling. Looking for traces of evil

Is an attempt to transfer the role-playing game of the same name to the table. I must say right away that I am not familiar with the Pathfinder universe in detail. At first glance, we have before us a completely classic fantasy with standard evil spirits (goblins, orcs, zombies) and the same standard heroes (ordinary warriors, magicians, etc.) During the preparation for the first game, as well as during the game itself, associations with Lord of the Rings repeatedly appeared in my head: LCG: also a cooperative; the same system of scenarios linked into one story; the same decks with enemies and various traps. LotR light? Let's see.

Main idea Pathfinder adventure card game consists in the sequential passage of scenarios by one character, who, in the course of a company consisting of many adventures, will literally grow mature and gain experience - acquire new skills, improve old ones, gain magical knowledge, and also derive material benefit from all this in the form of weapons, armor, various amulets, etc. To control all this disgrace, a character card, dotted with many checkboxes, and a marker will come to the rescue. The idea of ​​drawing is, of course, interesting, you have your own character, which over time acquires a set of unique properties, and you choose this set yourself. But it would be very useful if there were 5-10 of these cards in the box, and somehow you don't want to spoil one single one, especially when the game will potentially need to be sold. For this case, on BGG, it has long been possible to download and print separate sheets of all characters (they are also more convenient) with which you can create whatever you want.

So, where does the adventure of an ordinary tracker begin. First, the selected character needs to make a deck or, if we talk thematically, fill his backpack with all sorts of useful things. The number of cards of each type is indicated again on the card. The player has the right to decide for himself what he will go to the first task, and for the lazy at the end of the rules, the recommended composition of the deck for each of the heroes is given. According to the law of the genre, the characters differ from each other: a warrior has a bunch of swords in his inventory, a magician has a whole book of spells, etc.

On the back of the hero's business card, his abilities and a set of skills are described, in which he is especially strong. It is worth noting that the power of the skill here is expressed not in numerical values, but in dice with a certain number of faces, the hero will roll these dice during all kinds of checks.

Each hero also comes with a second card, let's call it a profession, it can be obtained after completing a certain adventure. The reward in this case will be the opportunity to choose one of two development options for your hero.

As you can see, all attention is paid to pumping, and this is not surprising, because the card embodiment of Pathfinder tries to convey the spirit of the role-playing game as best as possible, combining it with the advantages of the board game (it will take about an hour for a session, and the host is not required).

With the characters, it is more or less clear, it remains to choose an adventure. V Pathfinder it is recommended to play the campaign, namely to go through the scenarios in strict sequence. The scenarios here are connected by one adventure, which, in turn, is part of several adventures, united by a large mega-adventure (adventure path). Such a mode will allow not only to gradually develop your character, but also to transfer the found loot and assistants hired along the way from one scenario to another. Of course, no one forbids playing a separate quest, but it should be borne in mind that it will be rather difficult for the "green" characters to complete the later tasks.

One side of the scenario card identifies its purpose - usually it is to search the area and find a specific villain. On the other side is the set of locations required to recreate the area. By the way, at this stage, the only moment that is responsible for the scalability of the game appears - the more participants in the adventure, the more locations they will have to explore.

So, the locations were taken. Now each of them needs to build a deck. The principle is the same as when forming decks of heroes, only in the location, in addition to allies and items, monsters of all stripes and various obstacles are added, traps there, locked doors, less often chests with good. After the decks for each location are formed, key enemies need to be resettled in them - the main villain who needs to be caught and his minions. The villain and his entourage are shuffled, after which one card is shuffled into each deck.

As a result, we have several locations, consisting of ten maps that need to be investigated for the presence of a villain, and a group of adventurers ready to take on this business. The last nuance is a deck of blessings, the cards in which do not carry any semantic meaning, but act only as a party timer. For everything about everything, the players have 30 moves.

To begin with, everyone chooses a starting location, marking their stay on it with a special card, called a "token" in the rules. It is not clear why ordinary tokens or tokens with stands, as in Arkham, could not be made for the characters, but oh well. After that (or before - not so important), the players draw their starting hand. Let me remind you that everyone starts the adventure with decks of 15 cards. The story with the limit of cards in hand is the same as with the skills and abilities - it can be pumped, and it is different: the war at the end of the turn can have only four cards, while the magician has six. It is also worth mentioning that each character has a preferred type of cards, and if at the start he did not "get" any such card, then the hand is discarded and a new one is drawn - until what is needed comes. Such is the kind of mulligan.

Everyone takes turns. The player's turn begins with turning over a card from the blessing deck, which is responsible for the number of moves remaining until the end of the game. Let me remind you that there are only 30 moves. There are always more cards in locations when playing with 2+ participants. This means that often the heroes will have to hurry up and spend good cards not for their intended purpose, but for exploring an additional location on a turn (of course, if the property of the card allows this to be done).

After this, the character can be moved to any location and start exploring it. Exploration is a core element of the gameplay, and everything you do in this game comes down to showdown and passing all sorts of checks.

Now let's consider what or who you can meet on your way during the adventure, and how to deal with it. The main threat is, of course, enemies. They require you to pass a combat check. Combat and, in general, any check is a roll of a die, the number of edges on which depends on how strong your hero is in a particular skill. If you have a suitable weapon in your hands when meeting a monster, you can add a weapon cube to the skill die, thereby increasing the chance of success. Moreover, in this game, when using something, in most cases it is enough to simply show the card.

To defeat a monster, you must roll more or equal than the value of its strength. If the player succeeds, then the enemy is considered defeated and is removed to the box. If the attack fails, then the hero "receives" the difference in the form of wounds, and the monster mixes back into the location. The number of lives in this game is equal to the number of cards in the character's deck, therefore, when the hero is injured, the player discards the required number of cards from his hand. If at the end of the turn the player has nothing to get, then the character dies.

As you can see, cards should be handled sparingly here, and it is for this reason that most cards have double properties, where the strongest works when folded - a kind of temptation. The rest of the cards, as I have already said, are simple enough to show. There are many more that, after use, return back to the backpack, that is, they are slipped under the bottom of the deck, and thereby do not waste precious lives.

Remember, at the beginning of the game we mixed the villain and his minions in the location. So, if you managed to soak the henchman, then the hero can immediately try to "seal" the location. This usually requires some kind of verification as well. After the closure, the location is no longer of interest to us, since the boss is already definitely in some other place.

Thus, gradually narrowing the circle of locations, the players, in the end, stumble upon the main villain. There are two possible outcomes. If there are still open locations, the enemy escapes into one of them - from the box (the villain was killed) or the "timer" deck (the villain could not be killed), random blessing cards are drawn, shuffled together with the villain and randomly shoveled across locations. If the villain has nowhere to run, that is, all locations are sealed, then by killing him, the team celebrates the victory.

Heroes can also stumble upon various traps that require, for example, a dexterity check or, in good terms, meet allies who are ready to join their ranks. To recruit allies and get the items found, the player will again have to roll dice. Speaking of dice, the set comes with only one of each type (from d4 to d12), and in the game you often have to throw three or four pieces, two or three of which are the same. A trifle, but a little annoying.

In principle, this is the whole point of the game: methodically go through locations, helping each other with cards and in battle until the main villain is caught. If successful, as a reward, players get the opportunity to pump some skill or ability. Also, regardless of the outcome of the scenario, all found loot can be divided among the participants, of course, observing the limit on the types of cards in the deck of their characters.

Impressions

To begin with, the box is really scary, it's huge. This is due to the fact that, firstly, the cards are stored vertically in the organizer, secondly, a bunch of add-ons are planned, and, thirdly, these add-ons are recommended to be stored in the original boxes right there, which, in my opinion, is too much.

The illustrations are rather inconspicuous, some pictures are frankly weak. Also, the colors by which the types of cards are distinguished are extremely poorly selected, some pale shades of purple or red.

As for the game itself, before I got acquainted with it, I was skeptical. I simply didn’t understand what the beauty of these constant and the same type of checks was. After five games, I still do not share the super-high rating of the game on BGG and all this excitement, but, in principle, I understand how it can attract. Probably, many are attracted by the process of becoming their character and the excitement of showing cards and the checks themselves, because by and large Pathfinder Is "push your luck" with bells and whistles.

I personally liked the pumping element and the cooperative aspect, which is played quite well here: a lot of cards and the properties of heroes directly allow you to help a friend in battle, even without being in the same location with him. Plus, when the sworn enemy is caught, the heroes "holding" other locations can try to temporarily close them in order to narrow the circle of places where the villain can escape. By the way, I also liked the runaway trick, it is quite thematic.

It is clear that the game is pretty straightforward in terms of making some serious decisions and building winning strategies. Here you can make a choice in favor of this or that card or skill, but this choice will be blind, since you absolutely do not know what is useful in a particular scenario - the set of tests in locations still remains random. I repeat, the solutions are mostly obvious, and the fault lies in this very mechanics - cards are both means and lives, so there is often no point in protecting them, especially during a battle, since in case of failure they will have to be thrown off.

Another weakness of the game is the monotony. It manifests itself in almost everything: in constant checks, goals in the script, properties of cards. The only difference here is the style of play for different characters.

About the share of the case, I think, there is no need to rant too much, it is huge. You can roll at least five dice, but if they fall in ones or twos, then any, even the most pitiful lizard hangs your character on the most unimaginable.

Another omission is terrible rules and a lot of jambs on the cards. I myself figured out the rules (with grief in half) only after watching a lot of video reviews. There are no explanations for the properties. Somehow the FAK and the errata, containing more than 100 corrected maps, help!

It is also felt that some minor mechanics / nuances are not fully worked out, which often leads to deadlocks. For example, playing a solo warrior, you can run into an enemy that can only be killed with magic. Or another example: one trap makes you fight a monster from the current location, and what to do if there are no monsters left in it is not said. It is interesting that the author himself has not yet decided what to do with this trap, he said, they say, we will think about it, wait. Funny people. In general, there are shoals and during the game they are not at all pleasing.

I am loyal to the random, so I'll keep the game for now. And Katya seemed to like wandering around the locations, throwing dice. Let's play, maybe it will be more interesting further. Although after a quick glance, nothing fundamentally new in the scenarios seems to be foreseen, except that, starting with the third adventure, the base cards will be permanently out of the game, which means that the items will be cooler and the monsters are stronger.

Rating: a stretch 7 /10 points. Having just played a thoughtful to the smallest detail, a beautiful and varied adventure - the card Lord of the Rings, I cannot put higher. And turning over the cards, in my opinion, does not pull for more.

"Pathfinder. Board RPG" is an RPG in the setting of the famous card game "Pathfinder. Return of the Rune Lords". The role-playing version of the game appeared in 2009, that is, before the release of the card counterpart, which appeared only in 2013. It is worth noting that since the release of "Pathfinder. Role-playing game. Starter set" received many honorary awards and for a long time held popularity and sales.

In general, the game is an expanded and improved version of D&D 3.5 rules. This version was created specifically in order to increase the interest of playing within the framework of one character - and, as it turned out later, the game completely coped with this. Many of the rules have been simplified, so Pathfinder RPG Starter Kit is a great choice for anyone looking to start their journey into the world of true RPG. In essence, this is a verbal adventure game where all the action takes place in the imagination, and the individual game components simply simplify the game and increase the level of immersion.

"Pathfinder. Role-playing game. Starter set" is a basic set that contains the necessary minimum for a great journey into a new world rich in interesting stories! Of course, you first need to read the "Player's Book", create your character and find a master who will become your guide and narrator of the adventure. The set offers essential descriptions of various places, creatures, items and more. With a high-quality double-sided map and many features, your adventure will not only be exciting, but also comfortable!

What is RPG?

Many have heard the term RPG (RPG - Role-Playing Game), but they understand this concept as games in which you can somehow pump, that is, develop your character, for example, as in computer hits like Diablo. So many consider "Munchkin" to RPG games, which is not entirely correct.

In fact, character development is just the tip of the iceberg - in real role-playing, to which this masterpiece belongs, you literally play the entire role (therefore the game is also "role-playing") of a character created according to certain rules and are free to do whatever you want on his behalf. The scope of possibilities is regulated by the master of the game or the leader, and the outcome of events is regulated by throwing various dice. The most important role in mechanics is played by the Master and Player rulebooks - they must not only be read, but also have a good understanding of the material.

The role of the master

As mentioned above, one of the participants in the game is the Master, he is also called the presenter, storyteller or game master. In his hands, the power over the plot of the game and the game world is concentrated. The game story, main plot twists, key events - all this is also worked out by the DM, so that his role is quite creative. Since the players work together and are not at odds with each other, the Master is the link between the game world and the players. He does not play against his comrades, but it is he who has to set a goal and set the difficulty for it - arrange the forces of monsters, place traps and treasures, draw up a map. In addition, in controversial situations, it is the Master who interprets the rules and resolves issues.

Who has won?

Winning is not the main goal in RPGs. The main pleasure comes from incredibly deep immersion in the world of the game and due to the absolute possibilities within the universe. However, in any scenario there is a main goal that our heroes strive for, and, if it is completed, the whole group will prevail.

"Pathfinder: Tabletop RPG Starter Kit" includes:

• A 64-page Player's Handbook, containing basic rules for playing and creating characters, as well as spells and equipment descriptions
• A 96-page Host's Guide, featuring adventures, monsters, treasures and tips for scripting and playing games based on your own heroic stories
• Complete set of 7 special dice
• Over 80 colored tokens depicting heroes and monsters
• Four pre-filled character sheets - just pick one and start playing!
• Durable, reusable, double-sided playing board that can be painted with water-based markers
• Only in the Russian edition! Player's Kit and Master's Kit with an additional adventure, Furious Barbarian class, and more
• Only in the Russian edition! Adventure "Master of the Shattered Stronghold" adapted for the starter set
• 20 small and 2 large plastic coasters

Pathfinder: Role-playing game. Starter kit "(Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box) Is a luxurious edition that will introduce you to the wonderful world of the most popular role-playing system Pathfinder. If you've never played an RPG before, now is the time to give it a try.

Starter kit- the basis of the role-playing game Pathfinder, supplemented by detailed descriptions of locations, monsters and objects. Via Starter kit you can create an unlimited number of adventures and characters. All the tools are in your hands! For a quick start, the set comes with pre-created characters and adventures. Sophisticated role players will appreciate the convenient structure of the rules, colorful design and professional localization.

For publication Starter kit we need your help! Please support our project. If successful, we will definitely launch new campaigns on CrowdRepublic to publish other books and kits for the Pathfinder RPG system. The first book in line for further localization - Pathfinder: Role-playing game. Basic rulebook " (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook ) .

Plus the ingredients added by the achieved supergoals. Thanks for your support!

In addition to this, all project participants will receive a set of 8 promo cards for the Pathfinder card game!

In the role-playing game Pathfinder, each player controls the actions of their character. You can play a warrior or wizard, priest or rogue. You can create a unique new character by following the rules described in the player's book. You also have the opportunity to choose one of the already prepared heroes.

You start out as an aspiring adventurer. By playing out scenarios and defeating opponents, you can make your hero much more skillful.

You get a lot of information about the surrounding situation from the facilitator. It is the presenter who controls the actions of neutral and hostile characters. The facilitator prepares the adventure scenarios and breathes life into them. The facilitator's book is filled with a huge amount of tips and advice, which allows you to create an exciting, cohesive and highly meaningful world.

How does it all look in practice? Watch our Pathfinder gameplay video:

Below is an example of a page from a player's book. You can not only deal with the example game, but also evaluate the quality of the translation. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Pathfinder's role-playing system is very popular. Now Pathfinder competes on equal terms with Dungeons & Dragons.

See an overview of the starter kit from the captain-curator of the official campaign of the Pathfinder role-playing game Maxim Nikolaev:

We bring to your attention a translation of feedback on the Pathfinder RPG Starter Kit from RPGGeek.com

"The quality of the components, the replayability, the attention to detail and the price make this the best RPG product in the last 2 decades." - JIm Adams

"The best-ever COMPLETE RPG starter kit ever." - Sebastian Sohn

“I bought this set after purchasing the basic Pathfinder rulebook. Even if you already know the rules of the game, this set is very useful for attracting new players. In addition, there are many components in the starter set that are useful on their own. For example, a set of dice, a field and a decent set of cardboard character and monster tokens. " - Mostly Harmless

"Pathfinder RPG Starter Kit is the best of the best RPG Starter Kits." - Baron Hayt

In this section, we'll tell you more about the rewards and add-ons you can order.

Early Bird - Pathfinder: RPG. Starter set and Pathfinder: role-playing game.Startingkit"

These are the main awards of the project. You will receive a Russian version of the Pathfinder RPG Starter Kit + supplementary booklets - translation GM Kit, Player Pack and Master of the Fallen Fortress, as well as 2 additional sheets with cardboard miniatures of new monsters and barbarians.

Naturally, all materials will be in Russian. The components of the set will be produced in Russia, with the exception of cubes and stands for characters / monsters.

The set of the game is almost the same as in the original. We will have cooler cubes and the box will be square. The only thing that will not be in the starter box is the Transition Guide, a booklet for transitioning to advanced rules. The Transition Guide will become part of the Core Rulebook localization when the time comes.

Thanks!

Everything is simple here. This is your additional contribution to the development of role-playing games in Russia. Thank you so much for your support!

Cubes

Additional set of cubes Pearl Blue for Pathfinder RPG: D4, D6, D8, D10, D%, D12, D20. It is convenient to have a set of dice for each player. The leader will need cubes too!

Orc Totem Dice Tower

This is a tower that will help you in throwing dice. Load the cubes, click on the fly agaric, and then ... Then the tower clicks its teeth, rolls its eyes and throws the cubes, providing the most random result possible in this universe.

The tower has two adjustment modes - "Uu" and "Waa". For larger cubes, a dedicated download portal is provided.

More pictures and details about the tower - in.

Pathfinder: card game

You have the opportunity to purchase the card version of the Pathfinder game at a very competitive price. The kit also includes The Skinsaw Murders add-on and set of eight rare promo cards.

You can find more information about the card game Pathfinder at Hobby Games.

Attention! The Pathfinder card game is not compatible with the Pathfinder RPG. This is a separate game with its own very interesting mechanics.

Munchkin Pathfinder Deluxe

Munchkin Pathfinder is a standalone game based on the original Munchkin: play it as it is or mix it with other Munchkin sets. There's also a cool board game, cardboard figures and John Kovalik's always hilarious illustrations - everything a real munchkin needs to comfortably experience Level 10!

The composition of the game:
Playing field
168 cards
12 chips
with stands
1 cube
Rules of the game

Protectors

We have agreed with the manufacturer of the protectors, MayDay, to supply directly to CrowdRepublic. Thanks to this, we can offer you the best prices. Pathfinder RPG doesn't need protectors because it doesn't use cards. Protectors can come in handy for the card version of Pathfinder or other board games. We offer you Mayday Games "Almost-a-penny" protectors for standard size cards (63.5mm x 88mm).

Pathfinder: Role-playing game. Starter kit- a joint project of the companies Hobby world and Studio 101.

Hobby world- the largest Russian publisher of board games. The company's portfolio includes the best hits in the world of board games translated into Russian, as well as games of its own design. More than 200 games have been released under the Hobby World brand.

Studio 101- a well-known publishing house that produces board role-playing games in Russian. It has published translations of such books as Savage Worlds: An Adventurer's Diary, Deadlands: Dead Lands, Cthulhu, Fiasco and many others. The work on the translation of "Pathfinder: Role-Playing Game" has been carried out for six months by a large team of people who love and know board role-playing games, with great respect for the original.

We carry out the crowdfunding campaign, CrowdRepublic... Game edition CrowdRepublic has already prepared five successful projects with the support of our participants. In total, we managed to attract almost 3 million rubles. Thank you very much for your support and trust!

Four out of five CrowdRepublic games have already been delivered to project participants. The fifth successful project, Bruges, is currently being delivered. We are focused on keeping the gap between project completion and award delivery as small as possible. Of course, life can make its own adjustments, but we try to minimize deviations.

In case of successful collection of the required amount, we plan to start delivery of awards in February. Please note that the scheduled delivery date for awards may shift due to reasons beyond our control. In the event of a defect (as happened with Bruges), the components are completely reprinted. However, the delivery date may shift to an earlier date. We will make every effort to please you as quickly as possible, but not at the expense of quality.

Thanks for your support!

The word "Pathfinder" in board games is most often associated with a fantasy role-playing game. In essence, this is an improved copy of another role-playing game - Dungeons & dragons ... Several years ago, the publishing house Paizo , which releases role-playing Pathfinder , decided to make it a desktop analogue. The first set came out called Pathfinder. Card game: Return of the rune lords. Basic set (this is the name of the game in the Russified version from Hobby world ). There was a fantasy theme in that set, and I haven't seen it yet. The second base caught my attention - Skull and Shackles ... It is dedicated to the pirate theme, and it is about it that I will tell you today.

What is it and what it is eaten with

Card Pathfinder Is a big card co-op adventure. You can even play it alone. This game is an attempt to transfer the role-playing game to a different, tabletop view. The main difference between the games is the absence of a storyteller (aka DM or GM) who leads the players on adventures. All adventures are now created using cards that automatically erect barriers for players.

In the base box, you will find one educational adventure and another adventure that is the starting point for a big, big adventure. The game includes a lot of cards (510 pieces) and 5 dice (d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12).

Unfortunately, there is no organizer in the localization (I am reviewing the localization from Hobby world ). Instead of compartments for cards, the box contains thin ziplocks, into which the cards fit with great difficulty, so I decided to drag the decks of cards with rubber bands.

How to throw cubes correctly

I'll start my brief overview of the rules by explaining how this game works in general. Card Pathfinder divided into independent sets, of which there are already 4 pieces (so far only the first 2 sets have been released in Russian). The sets do not fit together in any way, they are completely different sets of adventures. Each set is divided into 6 parts. The first part is the basic large box, which contains one independent adventure and the first set of adventures, from which the global passage of the set begins. Adventure Sets 2-6 sold separately. Thus, each set consists of 6 adventures. In turn, each adventure includes 6 scenarios, which are played in a strict sequence. If you buy all the sets for the set, then you will have as many as 36 scenarios. That's not counting 6 independent scripts out of the box. Also, a separate set of additional characters came out for each set.

So, you bought a basic set, and you have 2 adventures, one of which is independent, and the other is part of one big adventure. If you are playing for the first time and want to get acquainted with what the new base has to offer, then it is better to start playing with your own adventure. If you are already familiar with everything for a long time, then you can safely open the box of the first set and start with it.

The essence of the game is pretty simple. Each player chooses a hero card for himself, after which he collects a deck of 15 cards for himself. Based on the scenario, location maps are selected. Each location has a deck of 9 cards. This deck can contain both items useful for players and monsters with villains to fight with. The players' task is to find the main boss in one of the decks, defeat him and prevent him from escaping to another location. Before the battle, players who are in other locations can try to temporarily close the villain's path to their location. Also, the location is closed if there are no cards left in it. If the villain is not defeated, he remains in the same location. If you defeat him and there are open locations in the game, then the villain escapes to another open location. If there are no open locations, and the villain is defeated, then the players win. Absolutely all scenarios will follow the same principle.

And now about all this in a little more detail.

The rules of the game are pretty big, so you will have to read a lot. I re-read the rules several times, and some points even 10 times, because not everything was immediately clear. Unfortunately, I can’t call it perfect.

As in the role-playing game, the card game also has characters that the players play as. Only in the card game, players do not need to think about how to spread their skill points - everything has already been invented for us. The player just needs to take a card of his hero, on which everything is written - what the hero can do, what skills he has, how he can be pumped in the future and what cards make up his deck. On the same hero card, it is specifically written how many weapons the hero has, how many spells, blessings, armor, etc. The players themselves collect the appropriate cards for themselves, however, in the very first scenario, you can only take cards of the initial level (this parameter is indicated on the cards).

Preparation in the game takes a very long time. After preparing the heroes, you need to select the location cards (indicated in the selected scenario). Each location card indicates which cards are selected for its deck. There will be either cards that you can pick up on your hand or with which you will need to fight. For the game, 30 blessing cards are randomly selected, which serve as a counter. When this deck of blessings ends, the game comes to an end (players are defeated).

Ships became an innovation of the "pirate" set. They give players bonuses, but if they take more than one damage, then the player loses his cards from his hand equal to the amount of damage.

After collecting the hero's cards in hand (each hero has his own hand size) and choosing his starting location, you can start the game.

In this game, players take turns. Each turn consists of several phases, some of which can be skipped.

Phase 1 - discard the top card of the blessing deck. The counter is ticking!

Phase 2 - you can transfer one card from your hand to another player who is in the same location with you.

Phase 3 - you can move your hero to another location. And if you move on the ship, then you can take with you other heroes from the same location.

Phase 4 - time to explore the location (in fact, this is the most important phase). We open the top card and interact with it. If you come across a find (weapon, armor, companion, spell, etc.), then you can try to take it into your hand or drive it out. If you come across a test (obstacle, monster, villain), then you will have to fight with the map.

All interactions with open location cards occur using dice (this is called a check in the game). The cards in the upper right corner indicate the skill parameters for the victory test. For example, battle 3, wisdom 5, intellect 6. There can be one or several skill parameters (then any one is chosen). The hero card indicates which dice are rolled for specific checks. Sometimes a hero's skill parameters have modifiers. For example, 1d6 + 2. This means that you need to roll 1 d6 die and add 2. If your hero does not have the specified skill on the card, then you will have to roll 1d4. Before throwing, you can use cards from your hand. However, there is one caveat - you can play only one card of each type. Cards from your hand allow you to roll additional dice, reduce damage taken, and much more. In addition to all this, on the revealed map of the location, there may be different requirements that are triggered before, during or after the check.

If the total after rolling the dice is equal to or greater than the difficulty of the check, then the check is considered passed. In this case, the player can take the find into his hand, and exile the monster or villain from the deck (unless otherwise stated on the monster / villain card). Otherwise, the check is considered failed, and the find goes into the box, and the villain / monster is again scrapped into the deck.

In addition, after defeat, the player can take damage from a monster or a villain. The player subtracts his result from the difficulty of the check and discards as many cards from his hand as is the difference.

Phase 5 - closing the location. If there are no cards left in the location deck, or the defeated villain's card will indicate the possibility of closing the location, then the player can proceed to this very closing. The closing conditions are written on the location card, and they are different for all locations (for example, pass a test, discard a card from your hand, etc.). As you remember, the villain cannot escape to a closed location.

Phase 6 - hand renewal. If the player does not have enough cards in his hand (each hero has his own limit), then the cards can be drawn. But if there are not enough cards in the player's deck to complete the set, then he is eliminated from the game. Also, cards are discarded if you have more cards than you should. After that, the move is transferred to another player.

If, before the deck of blessings ended, the players managed to defeat the boss in one remaining uncovered location, then they successfully complete the scenario. If the deck of blessings is over, and the villain is running around the locations somewhere, then the players are defeated. In this case, the script must be replayed. You can play with the same characters, you can choose others.

If the scenario is successfully completed, then players can upgrade their decks before taking on a new scenario. To begin with, they receive the trophies indicated on the back of the location. Also, trophies can be obtained using a ship (the ship has one trophy at the start, and others are obtained after victories over enemy ships). Regardless of the outcome of the scenario, players create new decks for themselves. To do this, they mix in one deck all their cards that were both before the start of the game and after it ended, and choose from the resulting deck those types of cards and in the quantity that are indicated on the hero's card. The rest of the cards will be returned to the box. This way your new deck will be slightly stronger and more variable than the previous one.

Some location cards bring improvements as a reward. They can be marked with check marks on the hero card. I don’t really like drawing on maps, so I printed these sheets that can be downloaded from the HW website.

Scenario by scenario, adventure by adventure, we come to victory.

Impressions

Right at the very beginning I will say that Is a very specific game. This is not a board game that I would recommend to everyone, because this is not a masterpiece of the game industry (although Anthony from Pittsburgh would definitely say that this is a must-have). This game is not for everyone, so carefully read my pros, cons and specific points in order to figure out later whether you need such a game or not. I perfectly understand why this game can be loved and why you can not understand the rave reviews about it.

Let's start with the pros, gradually lowering the heat from the game.

pros

First of all, I liked the idea with a long walkthrough. First, you buy a large box, then, if you like the game, slowly buy the remaining adventures. I myself did not notice how I got hooked on the game. I played with what was in the database, and then began to look closely at the dopas and the deck of additional characters. I am very interested to know what will happen next. What will be the new locations, items, spells, monsters, villains. If all this was sold together with the base box, then it would cost much more. And that would not be very profitable, given that the game may not be available. In this case, you can play the base and then decide whether you need to finish off the adventure or stop and sell the base, because there is no desire to continue playing. I liked this solution. Roughly speaking, the base is such a demo game with good tools.

Each game is played for a relatively short time. This is mainly due to a counter that marks the approach of the end of the game. You have strictly 30 rounds for everything and not a round more. On his turn, a player usually does the following things - remove one blessing card, move, explore, set / discard a hand. All other phases are played only periodically. Most of all, you have to tinker with research - to determine the skill, pick the right cards, roll the cubes, decide on the result. In principle, a game can be played in a little over an hour. With a rather monotonous gameplay, such a time for one game seems ideal.

In addition to the importance of the deck of blessings, the deck of the player is equally valuable. Firstly, it is very correctly written in the rules that you need to build your deck wisely. If you put a body kit for warriors into the sorcerer's deck, then you will definitely not go through the scenario. Secondly, the player's deck also directly affects the defeat. some players do not like the fact that if their deck is over, they are eliminated from the game. Like, this is somehow implausible - there is nothing to renew your hand with and you have already lost. And I like it because you start to think more about what to play right away and what is better to leave for later. You start monitoring the composition of the location deck in order to go where it will be easier for you to survive and collect useful items. I have not merged yet due to lack of cards in my deck. But, probably, for the same reason, I often fail to win. I constantly leave useful cards for later, but you can spend them on doing 2 research instead of one in your turn (no more, 2 is the maximum). So the game is not stupid at all, in fact. You need to keep a close eye on your cards. It is better to fold something, transfer something to another player, play something right away.

Unfortunately, I did not play the very first arc - Return of the rune lords so i can't say worse Skull and Shackles or better. Judging by the feedback on BGG, the difficulty has increased in the second arc, because the first arch was easy enough. The rest of the games are about the same. So it was not in vain that I immediately drew attention to the second arch, tk. suspected that the roughness of the first arch would be eliminated in it.

Probably the most interesting thing about this game that keeps me going through it to the very end is upgrading my decks at the end of the game. The starting deck consists of entry-level cards. These cards are pretty weak and not very interesting. In the card Pаthfinder It is interestingly thought that players in the course of the game find various useful cards in the decks of locations. They get there randomly, so there can be both entry-level and advanced cards. The latter are definitely more powerful than the starting cards. And at the end of the scenario you can leave them in your deck. True, the limit on cards remains the same, so weak cards will have to be thrown away. In this regard, the game reminds me of computer grinders and action / rpg type Diablo ... There, too, everything is tied to the search for gear and pumping. It happens that you have been sitting for 3 hours and you think - now I’ll finish leveling and that’s all, I’ll go to sleep. Before getting leveled, you find a wildly cool sword that you can't put on yet. You get a level, try on a sword and are dragged by how wildly it knocks everyone down. You think - well, okay, I'll play a little more and I'll definitely go to sleep. And then the intermediate boss is somewhere nearby. You take it out, choose a cool shield, you see that you can get another level soon. And you play further =) Here in Skull and shackles the same topic. It doesn't matter what the plot is, the main thing is to grab a cool armor in the end, with which no damage is terrible. Therefore, after completing one adventure, I want to take on another to find new cool clothes and meet more powerful monsters. Such things are dragging me in thoroughly.

The reviewed board game is full of all sorts of epic moments. They are mainly associated with unrealistic dice rolls. For example, when the players have the last chance to win, and they throw out such a result that breaks the villain into the trash, so that he cannot even escape anywhere, and this is a victory. Or, for example, the last location remains, the hero has an epic body kit, and he rolls 1's and 2's on the dice. Such moments will forever remain in your memory.

As you already know Pathfinder. Card game is a board RPG adaptation. And, in principle, it really looks like a role-playing one. Only very stripped down. Heroes have skills and stats, dice are rolled during checks, gear and stats are upgraded. But then there are no stories, epic quests and role-playing. So for me this card game is an attempt to remove the gamemaster from the role and replace everything with cards. In my opinion, at Paizo happened.

Board players always have special requirements for cooperative games. For example, they should be moderately complex and not very light, but best of all, so that the complexity can be adjusted by yourself. Also, everyone is always interested in how the leader's problem is solved in the cooperative. I can't say that in Skull and shackles there are many interactions between players. Still, there is more self-delusion in this game. Still, there are elements of cooperation with other players, and they are very important. For example, you can give cards to other players who are in the same location with you. You can transport several players on one ship to another location. You can enhance the abilities of other players by discarding certain cards. So the co-op works more in this game than not. It is especially important to help each other with objects. With the problem of the leader, the rules are written clearly - each player makes decisions independently and no one has the right to change your decision. Therefore, the player keeps all cards face down. But if you trust each other and you have no dislike for the fact that someone will insist on their decisions, then you can play openly. But you play your move yourself and no one has the right to climb up to you. In my opinion, the co-op in the game is quite good.

The characters in the game are completely different. The gameplay with one set of Persians and the other will be different. Someone is imprisoned for taking out monsters, someone for support, someone for treatment. If you put together an unbalanced team, it will be extremely difficult to win. For example, I played as an oracle, and I rarely had good damaging spells in my hands. Mostly I worked to help other players and research. It was hard for me to fight monsters. And if I were alone in the game, then I definitely would not pass anything. After completing the adventure with one team, you can try to go through another team of heroes again. This is why you can find an additional Deck of Heroes in the stores, which will have even more options for choosing adventurers. If the game drags on, then you will also want to buy new characters.

Specific moments (for someone a plus, for someone a minus)

Topic. I never really liked pirate books, movies and games. I am not drawn to the seas and oceans. Skull and shackles kind of like a game about pirates too, but it also has a lot of fantasy. The magic has not gone anywhere, among the monsters you can see sharks, huge rats, flocks of crabs, mermaids, etc. Therefore, this game is not far from fantasy, which makes me happy. But in general, the game has a lot to do with the sea and pirates, which may not please those who do not like this topic.

Random. For some, this will be a big disadvantage, because it is impossible to win with your mind in this game. Judge for yourself - this is a CUBES CARD game. Those. it's random squared. The cards come out randomly, on the cubes they can throw out something that makes you want to cry. Each time you will only know the composition of the decks of each location, but what kind of cards lie there is a big, big secret. There can be both simpler monsters and fat monsters, which are very difficult to endure. Clothes can also be both entry-level and advanced. Well, I don't even have anything to tell you about the cubes. You can collect cubes to the maximum and throw ones and two on them. Or you can create a miracle with one cube. For example, roll 8 on d8, which is the minimum when checking. If you like to calculate everything and do not like randomness, then this is definitely not your game. I'm lucky that I love tossing cubes, so the randomness didn't upset me.

Arts. In general, the game seems to be framed well. In many of the illustrations in the rules, I paused for a few minutes to look at all the details in the figure. Many characters have a huge number of knives, trinkets, ruffles in clothes, boots such and such. In general, in addition to the attractive size of the breasts, the female characters in the art have something else to see. The objects and different characters on the cards are very well drawn. But I have one complaint about the cards - many of them have white backgrounds. I don't understand this, to be honest. In I, too, was indignant about this. Visually, it somehow does not look very nice when a good drawing is placed on an ordinary white background. Either the artists did not have enough money to pay, or they decided to save on paint. Looking at the next sets, I found out that there is the same situation. Obstacle maps are best designed - they have a large picture without white inserts.

The choice of action is often obvious. It is unlikely that you will rack your brains over which solution out of a dozen possible will be the most optimal. When exploring, you interact with an open map, which always leads to verification. When you choose cards to check, you naturally choose the best weapon (eg, obviously, 1d12 + 1d10 is better than 1d12 + 1d6). Yes, sometimes you have to take the risk of not sending cards from your hand to the discard to modify rolls, hoping that you will roll the right number on your current dice. To be greedy and save the card, or to use every opportunity to defeat the card for sure - that is the question. But most of the solutions are pretty obvious.

Due to the long setup, the constant selection of dice and the obviousness of the solutions, I thought about the fact that the electronic version could be of higher priority. I know that in Steam there is definitely some kind of adventure (perhaps this is the very first base). You don't need to cook anything for a long time, the computer will throw the cubes for you, the cards for you, too, he will scaffold. But in this case, the game will turn out to be completely primitive, because you just have to press a couple of buttons and get the result right away. In the live version of the game, all the fiddling with cards makes it more difficult or something. Those. this is such a moment that somehow it doesn’t matter =)

In some moments Skull and shackles similar to Innovation ... Remember those weird notions - archive, credit, etc.? So in Skull there are terms such as recharge, bury, expel. This is confusing at first. After reloading, the card can then still be taken into hand. After discarding, in theory, the card can also be returned back if you play another card that allows you to do this. But if the card is exiled, then it definitely cannot be returned to play. I got confused with this for several games and played it wrong.

New to this set are ships. They seemed to me specific in their properties. On the one hand, it's great that they give players special opportunities, ships can also be changed during the game, and after the passage of the scenario, the ships leave the players with trophy cards. But if the ship takes one damage, then its ability changes, and any new damage hurts the players' hand. Sometimes it is a little offensive to lose cards from your hand just because of one floating trough, which cannot do anything sensible.

Minuses

At first I was very surprised at the size of the rules. The book has 32 pages of rules, the font is smallish, but, it is true, there are many pictures. The rules were hard to read. The author of the game (Mike Selinker) tried to tell as much as possible about all the principles of gameplay of the game. On the one hand, this is good, since the rules are carefully chewed so that the players have no questions. On the other hand, after a few pages, you start to forget what you read about before. There is no training mode in the game. It would be more convenient for me to spread out a small demo batch first, and then read the complete rules and take on the main adventure. Therefore, after reading all the rules and expanding the first scenario, I regularly ran into problems and tried to study the rules again. In some moments, I was wildly enraged by the description of game situations.

Most of the anger was the conduct of inspections. The card says "fight". My hero has no combat skill. There is only strength. Is strength a fight or not? But there is also melee combat. I looked at all the characters and found that no one had a fight. The rules say, "If you don't have the skill you need, you roll 1d4." On the other hand, I have cards in my hand that read: "During your battle check ...". Does this mean that "combat" and "combat check" are one and the same. I'm used to the fact that "combat" and "combat" in CCG are different terms. Therefore, this inconsistency blew up my brain. I re-read individual paragraphs 10 times. I was looking for the answer on weapon cards and monster cards. In the end, he decided that the weapon cards directly affect the combat check. Because no one has the fighting skill. After all, the weapon cards at the same time say - if you enter a battle, you can use your dexterity / wisdom / strength, etc., to take such and such dice. Probably, the answer to my question could be found faster on BGG. But I decided that I could do everything myself, and paid for the time to search for an answer.

I also had big problems of understanding with the ships. The funny thing is that on the BGG forum I found a whole note from the authors of the game about how the ship is played correctly and what is its essence. Rulbuk describes the ships VERY clumsily. As it turned out, for many moments you have to climb on BGG. And this is bad, considering that the rules are already 32 pages. I bet it bad.

I already wrote about the connection Skull and shackles with role play. On the Internet, you can find disputes between board gamers - is there atmosphere and narrative in the game? Some say that the game is purely mechanical and there is no story in it. Others answer them that the players invent the story themselves, it is enough to have a rich imagination. In this case, I am on the side of the former. In a role-playing game, the whole story and atmosphere is created by the gamemaster. He tells you the plot, leads the players from one quest to another. In a role-playing, players can act outside the box - they can enter into a dialogue with NPCs, they can interact with surrounding objects and areas. Therefore, roleplay is like a book. In the card Pathfinder there is no book. At least I don't feel it. I don't know what you can think of based on location maps and strange monsters coming out of it. The role-playing game will first tell you that something rustled in the bushes, the players will determine who will go on reconnaissance. And only then an armed goblin will appear in the plot. In the card game, the goblin will appear just like that. Or a shark. Or rats. Or crabs. Or a mermaid. They will just appear, without any history. If someone likes to come up with stories for this case, then you are always welcome, I am happy for you, but I do not know how. Card for me Pathfinder Is a random set of cards with no plot. But this is not a bug, but a feature.

It takes a very long time to prepare for the game. This may be due to the lack of an organizer. The western edition has a dedicated card slot. There are ziplocks in the HW version. At first I tried to pack everything into sachets. Some types of cards took not one, but a package, because they did not fit into one. When I prepared the game for the second time, it turned out that the ziplocks are small, it is difficult to remove the cards from them, and all this is completely inconvenient. In the end, I tied the decks with rubber bands, which seemed more convenient to me. Each preparation for the game involves a long selection of cards. Select locations, prepare decks for each of them, build decks of heroes, add villains to the decks of locations, count 30 blessing cards, shuffle everything, etc. etc. At the end of the game, everything has to be sorted by type again. Sometimes it seems to me that getting ready for the game takes longer than the game itself.

All scenarios follow the same principle - find the boss, kill him, having previously closed all locations. Locations can change, but the essence of the game remains the same. Until I found interesting scenarios where I would need to find an item, find a specific companion, visit locations in turn, etc. They say that sometimes something like that appears, but I have not yet reached such tasks.

The game includes 510 cards. It seems like a lot. But soon you will realize that the cards are essentially the same. Most often, the scenarios differ by villains, and all sorts of monsters and body kits are chosen at random. Sooner or later, you will start to come across repeated cards in locations that you have already studied for a long time. Those. passed one scenario, beating rats and crabs, went to another scenario, and there again the same rats and crabs were caught. A little variety comes from add-on cards.

Very often you have to roll the same die several times. Unfortunately, in the game all the cubes are one at a time, so always take a pen and paper with you. In general, the minimum number of dice in games happens quite often. You can, of course, buy additional cubes, or buy a ready-made additional set, as does FFG, but in this case I think that the publisher is greedy.

Outcomes

As you can see, I got a lot of pluses and minuses. The game Pathfinder. Card game: Skull and Shackles obviously not everyone will like it. But she hooked me. After the very first game, I wanted to play again in order to get more cool clothes, to go through a new scenario and meet new villains there in order to pump my skills and deal with opponents without any problems. I wrote about this at the beginning of the review - either the game immediately captures you, or it is not your game at all. There can be no other option. Plus, I love to roll the dice. I like to lose, being one step away from victory. I like to analyze my failures and change the deck for the next game. I am that mad munchkin who wants to clear all corners of locations in order to find something epic there. I'm already looking forward to finding out what's in the new adventure decks.

I do not exclude the possibility that after a few adventures I will get tired of the game. Or maybe I won't get tired and will reach the very end. So I don't count card Pathfinder a masterpiece, but I still like the game, and I'm ready to twist the heads to the sharks in order to lustfully open the ancient chest that the sharks are guarding.

The game is not for everyone, but if it hooks, then it will be impossible to stop.

Diablo on the cards. Simplified Dungeon & Dragon. The classic roguelike. A lot has been said about the game that will be discussed today, even more has been written, opinions are like stars in a clear sky, and, what's interesting, there are practically no indifferent reviews, this game is either loved and praised, or hated, speaking of primitiveness, randomness and linearity of the gameplay. Today, for your judgment, a review of the board game Pathfinder: Adventure Card Game. Created on the role-playing system of the same name, which has won the hearts of many desktop lovers.

I'll tell you honestly, I don't know what's wrong with this game. Simple design, uncommon and simple rules, dryness of the gameplay, downtime when playing more than three. But! You know, there is this damn "but" everywhere. I personally want to play this game over and over again, and what is the secret I cannot understand, alas. However, in vain I probably began my review with the words "for peace", I must tell you about the game.

Holding the box in his hands for the first time, an uninitiated person will think about the wide filling of this cardboard embellishment with components. However, upon opening the drawer, bewilderment comes with an admixture of disappointment. What is it? Uh-uh, stop, and where is the field, the chips, the devil only knows, figures, cubes, although no, there are cubes. But the hell is there, more than 500 cards, 5 cubes and nothing else. Here it is, the ascetic set of a young naturalist, or rather an adventurer and RPG lover. More than 500 cards, you can imagine this heap of cardboard, these are incredible quantities (I ask the fans of MtG not to interfere with the rhetoric). This is just the basic box, which also comes with the first adventure. In total, there will be six adventures, and if you remember that each additional set is also cards in the number of 110 pieces, it is not difficult to imagine how the complete set of this game will look like.

What is really missing is a normal organizer, bundled with the game, of course, there are bags for sorting, but this is horrible as it is inconvenient, and so much has already been said about this that I don’t want to throw my fishing rods into the trolling swamp. ... The main thing is that the publishers managed to make the game affordable, and in our time of instability of the financial system, this is far from being unimportant. I think glue and straight arms will help in solving this problem.

So what is Pathfinder. This is a classic RPG with all the consequences that come with it. There are scenarios, there are heroes, of course there is loot, as well as bad guys eagerly awaiting the opportunity to pull your hero's eyes on his butt. According to the gameplay, this is Descent without figures, and without a master playing for evil. Probably it is this set of characteristics that makes the game interesting and exciting, but this is in my subjective opinion.

At its core, the gameplay is very simple and straightforward, perhaps this is what causes a negative reaction from the opponents of this game. Preparation and play can be broken down into points that look something like this:

1. Choosing a Character and preparing his personal deck
2. Choosing a scenario and preparing locations
3. We go through the scenario, we beat the opponents or we ourselves get luli
4. After the script, we lick our wounds, exchange finds with other characters, download the characteristics of our own, repeat paragraphs 2 to 4

It's hard to be horrible, isn't it. But, this linearity is the whole point. Well, remember Diablo, any version, was it different there? Everything was the same, but what pleasure did we get from the game, great pleasure, and the joy of acquiring cool clothes? Eh, there were times. I'll tell you honestly, in order to be fully imbued with the Pathfinder, you need to have a developed imagination, read a literary text and imagine not a pile of cardboard on the table, but a whole world full of dangers, in which you, a brave hero, must defend the weak in order to help good triumph , and send evil back to the depths of the underworld. Sounds corny, I know, and dick with him.

At first, the game may seem like a kind of derivative from Munchkin, yes, you heard right, it was Munchkin. But this feeling goes away after going through several scenarios. The scenario system, by the way, is a very interesting find in this game. For passing them you get good and useful "buns", and if you go through an adventure, and this is a thematic set of scenarios, then the bonuses become even more, from cool items to character leveling.

Pumping. Where can we go without it, since we're talking about RPGs. Each character in Pathfinder has a strict set of characteristics, namely: Skills, Abilities, List of cards in the deck. Skills have migrated from classic role-playing systems and show how many and which dice you will roll during checks. Once again, I repeat, the dice decide here, your every action is the result of dice rolls, they rule the show here ( in the background, a prayer to the great rand sounds). The abilities of the characters are mainly static properties that act when a trigger is triggered. For example, if the character Valeros is in one location, we affectionately call him Valerchik, then another character, in the same location, will roll one more die during the battle. A trifle but nice. A deck of characters' cards, it is also an indicator of their lives, acts as a duffel bag behind the hero's back, which contains everything necessary for the successful passage of the game. All players start with an underdeveloped deck, wars with bad, rusty weapons, mages with weak spells. But as you progress, the deck will improve, helping the heroes to overcome more difficult obstacles.

At the time of writing this review, we went through five scenarios, some I replayed several times playing with other people, and to be honest, I'm looking forward to the day when we continue, it's very interesting for me to watch the smooth metamorphoses of my character from a "dead man" to a real knight ... See how the weapons in your hands change, and childishly rejoice in finding cooler weapons and uniforms.

Yes, the game is not without its drawbacks. There are many weaknesses in it that interfere and sometimes annoy. As an example: you cannot go through some scenarios with a purely warrior, since some bosses can only be defeated with magic, that's all, how to proceed further if no one took mages in your company? And there are many such misunderstandings.

Yes, I know, many will disagree with my conclusions about this game, I understand, but there is a zest in it that attracts me and other players. Personally, I want to say a huge thank you for the localization, let's hope that there will be no problems with the additions, and we can go through the adventure to the end.

Thank you all for your attention. Victories to you!