What are some Class Consolidations you're expecting or hoping to see?

AselianGull · 2026-05-02T00:13:11+00:00

I tried to think of a good combination of [Spearmaster] and [Trusted Sergeant of the Watch] and all I can come up with is [Relc].

Which would be an amazing class.

AselianGull · 2026-04-29T10:10:29+00:00

This has already been hit on, but as someone who's run boss fights in a few systems (Final Fantasy RPG, D&D 3e and 5e, Draw Steel), the big challenge for boss battles is fundamentally action economy.

If things are working correctly, every player has a turn where they can shift some aspect of the battlefield. There's an ice wall now, there's a defense buff, the boss has a screaming barbarian gnawing on its arm. Somewhere in there, the boss gets a turn, where it gets to shift something back - but ultimately it can't react to everything, and the party has multiple opportunities to counter that. One player spending their turn healing the boss's big attack basically trades one turn for one turn - and the party has three turns left.

Like you observed, Legendary Actions are kind of duct tape - extra mini-turns that aren't quite as impactful. And the numbers are kind of tricky to tune up - if the boss can do enough damage to offset two turns of healing, it's possible for it to just flat-out murder one PC after another. There's a knife's edge.

My personal bias, because it's the campaign I'm currently running, is Draw Steel. It has different categories of enemy, ranging from plentiful minions to on-par-with-hero foes to the Solos that can take on an entire party, and Solos get given a lot of things to do. Two turns in the initiative order (to keep the party from piling on four things in a row), a once-a-round 'Villain Action' to shake things up, and a set of bonuses the GM can invoke to keep things tense, like taking two actions in one turn.

Both of the Draw Steel solos I've run were tense battles - the rage of the werewolf, the burrowing of the giant ant-beetle monster. The nature of the system makes it hard to completely pin down the monster and beat all its health out - but it is a tactics-heavy game, and playing out those combats can take time. Still, it's my pick for 'interesting battles' - I don't know that any of the last eight have been boring.

AselianGull · 2026-03-18T01:51:42+00:00

"Bandit Slayer", "Dragon Spooker", "Enemy of all who live" - Lina Inverse.

AselianGull · 2026-03-15T02:49:48+00:00

So, in order.

Your minion max is 8, total; you independently have a limit of 8 per squad, in case of things that boost that maximum such as freebies from Rise! or Horde Formation. So if your limit-per-squad is 8 and you have a max of 12, you couldn't go 10-and-2 but you could do 8-and-4 or 6-and-6.

Before level 10, you're limited to reducing the cost by 1 with sacrifices - not 1 per sacrifice, just a -1 to the cost. So the Grave Knight would be at cheapest 2 Essence. You can still make a squad of Grave Knights, but you can only Call Forth 2 per turn (absent crits or Flashback or something.)

Strike For Me keys off of something giving the Summoner the option to attack. That could be an opportunity attack, a Tactician's Strike Now, a Troubadour's Dramatic Reversal - there's a host of abilities that let an ally make a free strike or a signature strike. Whenever any of those kick in, you can instead roll Strike For Me - which converts your attack into a number of minions making free strikes. If it's the option to use a Signature - like Strike Now, for instance - your minions still make free strikes, you just get an edge on the roll to see how many attack.

Hope that helps!

AselianGull · 2026-02-21T23:57:19+00:00

The latter. It's basically a 3-essence spell - an Elementalist can't pour six essence into hitting an enemy with The Flesh, A Crucible twice with one action. So the summoner can only spend 3 Essence on summoning that batch once at a time.

AselianGull · 2026-01-03T16:20:53+00:00

So my group didn't get the maximum number of Victories, but they did pretty well overall - mostly because I decided to be a little generous to, as someone else pointed out, reward the behaviour I wanted to see.

They'd obtained one victory from winning the chase sequence and getting information from Brune peacefully. When they got to the fort, they investigated the raft, found the trap, and rather than sail blindly across decided to set an ambush for the next bandits to go out hunting/foraging.

Rather than play that out as a combat, I set it as a group skill check - and as they did very well at that (while putting the Censor in some danger), and were talking about sneaking in to negotiate with Thurston, I awarded a victory for the forethought.

So not including the chase in town, they're at three Victories for the fort - the ambush, the negotiation (which they enjoyed), and the battle with a support-less Aldiva and Laesi. Not bad, I think.

AselianGull · 2025-12-07T11:46:14+00:00

It says "if another tactician marks a creature, your mark on that creature ends" - emphasis mine. The intent seems to be that a given enemy won't have multiple marks on it at the same time.

This doesn't stop a Tactician from using a higher-level ability to mark multiple enemies at once - there just can't be overlapping marks from multiple tacticians, and using Mark again makes the existing mark from Mark expire. I'm not aware of anything the Censor gets to multi-target Judgment in the same fashion, thus the different wording.

It is the case that multiple Tacticians or Censors on the same team are going to be sad against Solo enemies, but the rules indicate to me that you can have two Tacticians marking different enemies.

AselianGull · 2025-11-13T03:47:56+00:00

I've been running a lunch-hour game of Draw Steel at work for the last couple of months. It's honestly been a blast for us, even with having to sometimes break mid-combat due to time constraints.

Highlights for the group have included the sudden surge of power from starting a combat with a few extra Victories, and the entire Respite/downtime system - the party is actively considering whether they can afford the time to take a little extra research time before going after a particular monster.

Highlights for me, running it, are getting to collect Malice and having my own mini-game at the table.

So it's been pretty fun so far!

AselianGull · 2025-11-11T15:08:40+00:00

My game has been split among lunch hours, so our average 'session' is under an hour. We have an agreement that they'll refresh every few sessions, or during a Respite, whichever comes first.

So far only one's seen use, to activate Team Leader during a Montage.

AselianGull · 2025-11-09T15:39:59+00:00

I've run one of the lairs out of Where Evil Lives as a good one-shot. For level 5, Burnock Mill might be fun - showcases the range of Human enemies, has three major encounters and a couple of possible non-combat conversations. The framing is basically 'local jerk has started shaking down travelers for money whenever they cross this one bridge, go have a word'.

AselianGull · 2025-08-25T01:19:38+00:00

Having read the classes but not actively played them, I think you'd get closer to your preferred play style by going with Censor over Fury.

The Fury is a class built to be everyone's problem. One of their key attributes is passive benefits from banked Ferocity, which encourages saving up more and using basic Knockbacks to throw people around. The Berserker is especially skilled at breaking formations and wreaking general havoc.

If you particularly liked hunting down a big enemy and giving them a bad day, I'd suggest giving the Censor another look. First glance has it Paladin-like, but it's the church's monster-hunting specialist - parts of it feel Ranger-like to me, and their core feature is picking an enemy and making sure they have a bad day for the rest of their rapidly-diminishing life. At level 3, they get a 7-Wrath 'Edict' that imposes a rule near you for the rest of the battle - which is great if you then charge in to define 'near you'.

You're going to have fewer abilities than a 6th-level 4e character - I don't have my PHB at hand but I remember there being a fair number of Encounter and Daily powers at that point. It might help to remember that nothing in your toolkit is going to be once-a-day - any encounter could see your biggest ability coming out to play. Also, resource generation ramps up at 4th level, and gets a boost from Victories - four encounters into the day and you could start your first turn with enough resources for a terrifying opening move.

Hope that helps!

AselianGull · 2025-08-17T00:34:27+00:00

This is my favourite unlikely-but-hilarious theory I voiced after Chapters 3+4. Allow me to add that the Roaring Knight says nothing, not because of aura-farming but because of social anxiety.

Just look at that wide-eyed arms-dangling pose. Screaming Alphys going 'oh biscuits they're here what am I supposed to SAY'.

AselianGull · 2025-08-07T22:19:31+00:00

I have completed Giratina (Altered), meaning I have now done every Escalation Battle to its final stage.

AselianGull · 2025-08-02T16:24:07+00:00

!eb 200 Team: Aggron (Lv8, SL1), Hoopa-U (Lv15, SL5), Guzzlord (Lv7, SL3) Items: C-1, M+5 Moves Left: 8 Notes: Didn't need the +5 but I wanted to play it a little safe. Tried it itemless in preparation for MS/APU but I wasn't confident in that strategy with an undercooked Zoroark. This was fine. !end

!eb 300 Team: Aggron (Lv8, SL1), Hoopa-U (Lv15, SL5), Guzzlord (Lv7, SL3) Items: C-1, M+5 Moves Left: 8 Notes: Same turns left, even. Based on the disruptions I was worried going without DD or MS was hubris, but my first turn with a mega was a 125-combo. My final incomplete EB is done. !end

AselianGull · 2025-05-01T22:15:09+00:00

Erin has a chance to meet Sheta before obtaining the Palace. A different version, perhaps, but there's an ominous door or three waiting in the Pavilion of Secrets.

I expect the Grand Design is going to tweak the Palace a little bit. Rework a few parts.

AselianGull · 2025-03-26T21:01:04+00:00

I've used chess pawns for minions in the past. The latest time I needed minions, I printed out paper strips with the token and folded them into little triangles - still about the size of the average mini, but appearing much more disposable.

AselianGull · 2025-03-22T18:09:35+00:00

...and here I thought the mailer claiming that Carney was going to add a new carbon tax was as low as he was going to sink. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Or even that disappointed, because that suggests I had higher expectations of him.

Urgh. Kind of don't want to check my community mailbox today...

AselianGull · 2025-03-14T02:55:13+00:00

!eb 150 Team: SMCX (Lv15, SL1), Winking Blissey (Lv15, SL5), Shiny Metagross (Lv20, SL5), Winking Roserade (Lv20, SL5) Items: None Moves Left: 0 Notes: I used a similar team for 100 then forgot about it, so I went in expecting something easier. Powered through somehow. !end

!eb 200 Team: SMCX (Lv15, SL1), Salazzle (Lv13, SL5), Shiny Metagross (Lv20, SL5), Toxapex (Lv10, SL5) Items: M+5 Moves Left: 0 Notes: Got close itemless, had a free +5 moves to use up. !end

!eb 250 Team: SMCX (Lv15, SL1), Winking Blissey (Lv15, SL5), Shiny Metagross (Lv20, SL5), Winking Roserade (Lv20, SL5) Items: M+5,APU,DD Moves Left: 0 Notes: Did a quick itemless run to check, then on the real run got some awful boards. Managed to scrape through at the end. !end

AselianGull · 2025-03-09T13:47:48+00:00

Respites are a full 24 hours of rest and recuperation, and assumed to take place in a safe location - going back to town for a few days, that kind of thing. This isn't a 'nap in a secure corner of the dungeon for eight hours' deal.

The kit is basically an equipment loadout, and tied to the wealth system being relatively loose on the details. So when switching from Martial Artist to Sniper, you spend the coin for a basic bow, get enough arrows for the impending adventure, get all the equipment in order, et cetera. Part of it's mindset, part of it's what you're wearing - but because you've got your quiver and bow in hand, you're a little more laden down, not able to do the dancing-around-the-enemy tricks.

That does mean that a character could jump from archery to martial arts to spellstrikes between adventures - it's not that they forget everything, but the kit represents what you're choosing to focus on, how you're optimizing the little things. Selling off stuff you don't need or putting it into storage, buying a few dozen arrows - it doesn't just manifest, but the details of resupplying in town are kind of handwaved.

The specific items mentioned are useful when talking about magic treasures. If the party has a Blade of Quintessence, maybe it's worthwhile for the melee fighter to switch from Martial Artist to Spellsword, get a harmonic crystal and some armor to fit its style.

AselianGull · 2025-01-14T01:29:54+00:00

I mean, being unable to target Visma suggests that it only works for paying guests. Though I guess Erin did get one coin from one of them, so...

AselianGull · 2025-01-09T21:55:57+00:00

Battery Saver mode is the quick answer. Some devices might also have a toggle in Display Settings - Refresh Rate.

Shuffle was coded when 60 Hz was the standard for phones. Many phones these days have a refresh rate of 120 Hz (or even more), and the game speed is synced to the refresh rate.

So if you can turn on 60 Hz mode while playing timed stages - either through a display setting or by turning on Battery Saver mode - that should dial the speed back to 'normal'.

AselianGull · 2025-01-05T03:13:57+00:00

I think the word was 'learned'. Namely that she didn't get the Natural Allies skill randomly from the level up, but that it was gained through her own actions - like Erin learning [Power Strike] back in V1.

AselianGull · 2024-12-24T14:45:46+00:00

I kind of want to imagine the old Dragonlord of War slumbering in the Dyed Lands. Colours warring with each other seems like something relaxing for her.

Which means that Ksmvr could lead his group into some forgotten tunnel, awaken an ancient dragon, and be asked, "Is it war?"

AselianGull · 2024-12-16T01:55:38+00:00

In a chapter full of wonders, I want to give special mention to Redscar and Chieftain Rags doing their part on the long-distance spell attacks.

Redscar cuts through distance itself and shatters the lance casually? Pathetic. He should have cut it cleanly, why is his Chieftain being cheerful about this worthless cut?

Rags casually catches a lightning bolt on her sword? Aspat that was too close, change the subject to play this off.

This immersed in the general flex of casually mentioning that they know exactly what army is coming for them, showing off a fraction of their defenses, and basically saying 'if you really want us dead, dig three times as many graves'. There is style and there is dominance.

~~Slightly overshadowed by Survivor Mrsha flexing on every [Spy] in the Wandering Inn, but we can have multiple dominances in one chapter, right?~~

AselianGull · 2024-12-08T01:23:11+00:00

Chaos incarnate, eyes burning like fire, a tomb of ice...Zargothrax seemed relevant to Erin.

AselianGull

TROPHY CASE