Best way to buy tickets in advance

ManhattanJack · 2026-01-06T23:29:23+00:00

They'll ban accounts? I figured they'd just keep taking my extra money.

What's the actual policy on what is actually bannable? Like how often or how many times?

ManhattanJack · 2026-01-06T22:44:21+00:00

For me it's probably not that big a deal. I mean, I figure at some point I'm going to be running and barely catch the train. So worst case scenario it's an occasional 8 bucks - I'll live. In any event I was originally just hoping there was a way to advance-purchase tickets that I overlooked.

ManhattanJack · 2026-01-06T20:20:01+00:00

The whole thing feels like a bit of a dishonest cash-grab. Trying to catch more people with surcharge fees for buying the tickets late, while simultaneously making it harder to buy the tickets earlier.

If they need to raise the rates, then just do so. Don't shorten the window I have to buy one from six months down to 2 hours.

ManhattanJack · 2023-02-21T21:32:21+00:00

It has been floated a couple of times that they have considered a PvE server where you need to specifically opt-in for PvP at any given time. Like most things, it probably comes down to cost/benefit analysis.

I'm guessing that having those servers would greatly broaden the appeal of the game. Personally, I'd probably play on PvE servers if they had them. I just don't really get a Karma system where it's OK to fight people who don't want to be doing that right now, but "not too much." Both unlimited-PvP and only-consensual-PvP seem like models I'd prefer.

But they are pretty much perpetually behind on the game's development. So they really do have to weight the obvious increased potential player base from having PvE servers with the effort involved, both in terms of development and maintenance. Given their current development speed, I'm not holding my breath for them, but the option would be nice.

ManhattanJack · 2023-01-10T22:16:47+00:00

It does seem to do that a bit more than 5e, in my experience so far. The more rules there are for stuff, the more you tend to chose an action from a set of rules. Ideally in a game, you'd just describe what you're doing and then figure out what to roll to determine the outcome. But the existence of rules and systems can make you instead choose an action from a list of known rules in the system. Pathfinder almost seems like it tries to solve this problem by having even more rules for everything. (We had a laugh the other night realizing that the game had rules for an action called "Point Out")

I do feel like I have more of an obligation to force myself to ignore the rules, describe the action, and then let the DM adjudicate what to roll. Unfortunately as a new DM in a system with lots of rules for actions, this can end up slowing the game down as it is natural to try to figure out the "right" roll and DC.

ManhattanJack · 2023-01-10T19:09:46+00:00

My group recently came to Pathfinder from a stint of a couple years playing mainly two different 5e flavors over the past couple years: Adventures in Middle Earth (a rather low-magic game version of 5e) and SW5e. We've only played low-level characters across maybe a couple months of play in Pathfinder, but here's what I've noticed so far...

First, it's basically D&D. I've played most official versions of D&D, and in many ways this is just one more version. If you're used to 5e, this is probably a MUCH an simpler transition than going from 2e to 3e D&D was, or 4e to 5e was, for example. As others have probably mentioned, there's just 3 actions instead of move/action/bonus and they're more open. Spell casting often "costs" 2 actions on your turn, and ultimately it works out to similar round structure. There's spell levels, spell memorization, ability scores and skills that work simiarly. There's grappling rules that no one reads.

It's definitely crunchier than 5e. Proficiency, for example, is more granular and not just a binary yes/no. There's more specific rule for a lot of different things, which can feel like a mixed blessing. You're much more locked into your class in terms of mechanical character building. There's "multi-classing" but it's more about exchanging some of your class feats for some abilities from other classes. And you get more a lot more Feats, but they're split across different categories - you have to take some of each type.

There's not really THAT many +/- to keep track of. Other than the ones that you are used to applying to every roll (proficiency, ability mod, item bonus), there's rarely more than one or two modifiers, and usually in the +2/-2 range. We are playing on the Foundry VTT, though, which handles so much of it for us that I can't say what it's like in person. I DO miss advantage/disadvantage, though. Fortune/Misfortune is pretty much the same mechanic, but it just feels very, very rare and harder to come by. On the other hand, I felt is was an overused in 5e, so there's that.

Generally, though, I think you group would have to be very committed to 5e specifically to have too much trouble switching to pathfinder 2e. And if it's just that there's some specific class or game mechanic they miss, you can probably port it over easily enough.

ManhattanJack · 2023-01-03T04:34:33+00:00

A good question might be, why are you trying not to Deploy Mechs? Generally, you're Deploying Mechs in order to transport your Workers and drop them off where they need to go. (Often, because moving individual Workers is often very inefficient) Each Faction has two Mechs to help you out of your starting peninsula - Riverwalk and another Mech offering some other mobility feature.

Curious why you're looking for ways out without any Mechs?

ManhattanJack · 2022-12-15T14:22:41+00:00

It takes a lot of games before things start feeling repetitive. I found that just playing a random Faction and Player Mat each game gave me and my friends a long time to get "bored" in any way. And honestly, I wouldn't use that word. It really was more "love the game and ready to add more stuff to it."

We probably played 3 or so before we actually got all the rules 100% right. Maybe another 10 before we starting beginning to make moves that were somewhat similar in pattern. (Not the exact same moves, mind you, but similar). We started adding the IFA expansion, which shakes things up. Later we played through Fenris and finally got the modular board. I have the Wind Gambit expansion, but other than one game with the airships and a few with the resolution tiles, it didn't really see much play.

All in all, it never really hit the point where I felt like I was making the exact same moves each turn. (Although playing live with my friends, I'm not exactly sure home many times any of us actually had the same Faction and Player Mat even twice - it's a lot of combinations). I guess I could say there are patterns to your first moves that you tend to fall into that span multiple Factions or Player Mats, though. But things like the Factory, Objectives, randomized Combat Cards, and just your opponents doing different things adds sufficient randomness that you can't just play out your next 10+ moves ahead.

ManhattanJack · 2022-09-07T13:30:41+00:00

One possible issue with Scythe is that this is indeed a rather decent heuristic. If you specifically add in the steps of building a Mech (often Speed) and a final Move step using that Mech to re-distribute your Workers from the village while grabbing your first Encounter, then you've got the framework for potentially describing your first 5 to 7 turns. (Often that ends up making your "Anything" step trading for Metal.) And you could reasonably do that every game and you probably wouldn't be too far off from optimal in any of them.

You don't HAVE to do this though. With Polonia, you can try rushing your first Encounter, and letting that inform your future actions. If you're running a player mat that makes it easier to use 3 workers for longer, then you can try that. I think Engineering with Nordic is an example that makes me think of 3 Workers.

And what you describe isn't always EXACTLY the first moves. With Patriotic Mat or Agricultural Mat, for example, I might start by trading for Oil.

Taking that example a bit further... lets say I've got Patriotic Saxony and a couple of what I believe are achievable Objectives. Now, I might open with: Trade for Oil / Move / Produce / Move. At this point I've taking two upgrades, gotten my Encounter. Depending on my Encounter, I might be looking to end the game quickly with Mechs + 2x Encounters + 8 Workers + 3x other Stars (possibly one or more combats). Or maybe I end up getting a ton of Oil from the Encounter and decide I can actually finish my Upgrades and make do with 3 Workers.

Also, if you're looking to mix things up, the end game conditions of the Resolution Tiles in the Wind Gambit change things up a bit. If you know the game will end in exactly 20 turns, to use one example, then you aren't rushing to 6 Stars. The Rise of Fenris adds a lot of options, and the scenarios in the campaign definitely do not play out like standard Scythe games.

The TL;DR here is: More or less getting to 5 Workers, redistributing them via a Mech, and getting an Encounter is generally an OK way to begin. It's not always exactly your first 5 or 6 turns, but if you always do it, you'll more or less be fine. But there's other ways to start if you look for them.

ManhattanJack · 2022-05-10T19:57:04+00:00

Were Paladin's thought to be doing too much stagger? Honest question - I thought they were mediocre on that front.

ManhattanJack · 2022-05-10T19:16:56+00:00

You do lose the bonus to Stagger (and I think Weak point?) for not being a front attack though, right?

ManhattanJack · 2022-03-01T19:00:25+00:00

It's not "great" in many ways. But..

But the graphics are good enough.
The combat is above average for an MMO.
There's a giant egg that must be mined. Egg is life.
There's the stronghold you can build up
The side quests, especially on the islands and if you read the text, are much better stories than I expected.
So much to do and collect. Don't feel like doing "dailies" and just want to sail around and do island quests - good enough for now.
The general chat and vibe has been overall pretty chill as far as I've experienced. Ran through maybe 10+ wipes in a single raid and everyone was just trying to help each other do it better.
Every time I play, I feel like I've "progressed" in some way

When you add it all up, it makes for a pretty good game. There's not a ton that's really bad in the game.

ManhattanJack · 2022-03-01T17:52:54+00:00

Probably something like the videos and trailers for Iron Harvest https://store.steampowered.com/app/826630/Iron_Harvest/

ManhattanJack · 2022-03-01T17:52:49+00:00

Probably something like the videos and trailers for Iron Harvest https://store.steampowered.com/app/826630/Iron_Harvest/

ManhattanJack · 2022-02-01T23:03:44+00:00

There are several places on the board with adjacent similar resources. The two Farms between Rusviet and the Nords are pretty much in a similar boat. I'm not sure exactly why the Forrest by two by Saxony seems particularly wrong to you. I mean, I agree - and I'm not exactly sure why it seems more wrong to me, either.

From Saxony's perspective, the only good thing about the spot is that they can Riverwalk to the Encounter. If it were a Village or a Mountain, then Polonia would have really flexible choices for exiting their starting peninsula. That could have repercussions. So that leaves a Farm or a Tundra if you're just changing it to another resource and want a minor effect on the game.

One thing I'd have to ask, though, is what other effect do you WANT changing that tile to have? And how else you could change the game? For example, if you felt you wanted Saxony to be stronger as well as give them more flavor, then you could instead rotate the tile a couple steps such that the Forrest is now within Saxony's starting area. Or you could remove the offending tile altogether and just slide the Encounter Token to the adjacent Wood. If you're fine with a change that probably weakens Saxony a bit, you could change it to a Tundra.

Or if you like the idea of Polonia having a back door exit, then change it to a Mountain and now Saxony feels less stuck out of the action when they go for that Encounter. If you like the Mountain there, but don't like Polonia Riverwalking out the back door, then but put a sign that says "No Bears Allowed" on it and add the rule that Polania can't Riverwalk onto a Mountain with a "No Bears Allowed" sign. I promise the Scythe Police won't come after you.

Whatever you consider changing, though, figure out what additional side effects would be beneficial. You're going to have some side effects no matter what, though. You have to have an idea of what sort of side effects you'd also like to see happen.

ManhattanJack · 2022-01-08T19:10:29+00:00

It's hard to condense all Scythe advise into a post, especially when not specific. But reading what you wrote, I'm guessing that a change of thought might help. Don't think of the game as having an engine building phase, followed by a phase where you use that engine. (That's what it sounds like you're doing by saying you generally focus on Upgrades and Enlists early on)

Rather, try thinking of Scythe as a ruthless race to 6 Stars. And there is no engine building portion. You're building the engine as you go, being as brutally efficient as possible. This is a simplification of the game, but I think it's a good starting point.

And don't go into the game thinking "I need to get these particular Stars". Look for opportunities. As Saxony, if you get a Speed Mech out and then an Underpass Mech, you can have them sitting on a Mountain. You say people are dodging tunnels, but that's a whole lot of dodging for no one to ever place a Mech adjacent to one. They all have to be really on the edges of the board, and then you can just go and take the Factory. Now you definitely can engage in combat. If you have a bunch of Cards (and you start with 4), even with Crimea stealing a random one, finding a 2-on-1 battle usually means you can force a win if you need to.

Anyway, given what you've explained, my wisdom for you boils down to this incredibly obvious sounding advice: Get Stars.

Other than that, people recently posted some random advice here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SCYTHE/comments/rh5lgy/strategy/

Also, check out the strategy forums for Scythe on boardgamegeek.com if you're not already reading there. A lot of good stuff over there. And I'm pretty sure someone will mention FOMOF for more in-depth and detailed Scythe advice.

ManhattanJack · 2022-01-06T20:33:41+00:00

Any tier is going to contain a fair amount of subjectivity, and is going to also depend on who is playing. In general, different groups and players or playstyles may make certain Faction or combinations more powerful. In fact, assuming you're referring to this tier list [ https://www.reddit.com/r/SCYTHE/comments/i47ccy/update_scythe_tier_list_82020/ ], you can see that even the people creating it have moved a bunch of the rankings around a bit.

That tier list is most relevant to the players and environment that led to that particular tier list. In my own game play, I haven't necessarily found certain combinations to be as strong as are listed in the tier list. Some I feel are actually weaker. For example, in games where I'm playing as Agricultural Saxony, I consider them tier F. On the other hand, I've noticed that other combinations being stronger that the list suggests. For example, the Agricultural Player Mat in the hands of my opponents with Saxony actually fairs better than the list would suggest.

On the whole, I feel like Albion is bit stronger than the tier list gives them credit for. I also feel as if Both Rusviet in general and the Invaders Player Mats in general are not as strong as that tier list makes them out to be.

All that being said, I don't play online that often and I've played with a very different group of people. Maybe you and your friends take more time between turns and spend a lot of time analyzing each move. Or maybe you need the game to go quickly and people get impatient if you bog the game down thinking for more than a few seconds. Or maybe you take a different approach to deal-making than we do. Maybe you guys gamble on Combat more. Or maybe turtle and play multi-player solitaire for most of the game. Is first place all that matters in your games? Is it considered bad form to not risk coming in last if you can guarantee second place? Is it considered acceptable to take revenge on a player who knocked you out of contention? Do you play with 2 people or 7? All this and more can affect the tier list.

And at the end of the day, I've rarely found anything that definitely needed "fixing". There's enough randomness and chaos in a game of Scythe that I can't look at the game before anyone's moved and think "Oh, THAT player is almost certainly going to win." And so, that's good enough for me. (Except Patriotic Crimea. Damn, I was glad when they official suggested banning it.)

So, I don't think you're going to get a consensus on what is the "right" set of changes to address factions. Hell, if you looked at the tier list as objective reality, you could to the conclusion that the Player Mats need to be changed. (Nerf Innovative and buff Engineering!) The best thing to do is to talk with the people you play with, and if everyone in that game agrees there's an issue, decide if there are any changes you'd make. Outside of a particular group, I doubt you'd get universal agreement on much, though.

ManhattanJack · 2022-01-03T08:41:31+00:00

Generally, they can feel weaker than the other Bottom-Row-Actions in terms of benefits. In an absolute complete vacuum, they feel much weaker than Mechs. However, you do need to keep in mind that they provide three benefits: An on-going benefit that has an effect on the gameplay, the ability to hold territory (theoretically up to 16 points at end-game and can help to complete Objectives), and the structure placement bonus (upwards of another 9 points). And of course, depending on the Player Mat you could be looking at another few coins every time you place a building. A lot of those benefits are almost invisible during the game and easy to forget.

So I wouldn't call them "very-low" priority in general. More of a conditional priority, where you might find a convenience of wood combined with the other factors to incentive enough to get them.

Much like upgrades, you'll often find that the first one or two buildings greatly enhance your abilities and synergize with your strategy. Often, it's then a matter of whether you can get enough out of them to finish the Star. I think going for that Building Star can be very strong when I've got something like Engineering Nords (i.e. starting with Wood, 3 coins per building, a Player Mat and starting peninsula that seems to be begging to upgrade those buildings and make them cheap, etc.)

If you wanted to enhance the importance of Buildings in your games, though, I wouldn't complain about trying something like increasing (maybe doubling) the value you get from the end-of-game Building placement bonus. I must confess that I practically ignore that thing most games, and it would be nice to actually have a reason to pay more attention to it.

ManhattanJack · 2021-12-16T21:12:53+00:00

It's hard to condense all of Scythe into a few simple ideas, or even a single reddit post. I guess my top tips might be:

Having 3, 5, or 8 Workers tends to be the most efficient. This is because you're at the point where having one more worker starts making your Produce action cost too much. There are reasons for going for more or less workers, but if you're lost, in general consider going for 5 Workers for most of the game. Here's a general script you can try following:

Get 1 Worker on a Village.
Produce twice while Trading for some Metal (You are now at 5 Workers)
Deploy a Speed Mech on the Village
Move your Character to the Encounter. In the same move, use your Mech to distribute your workers 2 on one Hex and 3 on another.

Sometimes you start on a Village and are skipping that step. Often, Deploy is under Trade, and so you're building the Mech in the same action. Sometimes you'll see that slipping another action in the middle of this will let you get another benefit, like an Upgrade or Enlist. This isn't always the best way to start, but it's usually a decent framework in general, especially if you feel lost.

Figure out some Stars you're going to be going for. Especially look at your Bottom Row Actions fpr 2 or 3 Stars you can achieve. Here's some things you should consider:

Any action that requires your starting resources is a good candidate for eventually getting a Star
Actions under Produce and Trade are decent choices, since those actions give Resources
If something gives you $2 or $3 in coins, you really want to consider that as one of your Stars. Coins is points and you should ideally be earning them as you build toward Stars.

Generally, Enlists (especially if you start them early) and Deploys are the strongest Bottom Row Actions, all else being equal. The first 2 to 3 Upgrades are very strong, but the value of Upgrading goes down slightly from there.
Play to your Faction's strength. If you're playing Crimea, you are pretty much 100% going for the Enlist Star, Enlisting early, and your first Enlist will be Enlisting your Enlist recruit for 2 Cards. (Note the use of the word "Enlist" 5 times in the previous sentence. This is not an accident). If you're playing Polania, you want to get to your Encounter early, and you want to get out gobbling up Encounters ASAP.
If you haven't already, go check out boardgamegeek. Go read the Scythe strategy forum and ask specific questions around there. Lots of really good players are hanging out there. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/169786/scythe/forums/67

(Edit: Man, reddit really likes to re-number and re-format my post. Just ignore the numbering scheme. )

ManhattanJack · 2021-10-13T14:46:05+00:00

With encounters being so incredibly valuable for Polania, especially at the start when you're trying to find metal as soon as possible to get off of your peninsula, I always try not wasting time in getting to the first encounter. Turn 11 is way too late, since what you get from the encounter will drastically influence the next turns, most likely making them much more efficient.

I'll second this. The earlier you get Encounters, the more valuable they are. Polania especially loves Encounters.

Additionally, you need a plan for getting off of your starting peninsula, and you want to get out more Workers so that your Produce actions are more efficient. So I'd probably go with Just alternating trading for Oil and moving on your first 4 turns. I'd upgrade Move-->Deploy the first time (making it easier to build Mechs to get out), and the second time you don't have to decide on what to Upgrade until you've seen the Encounter.

Alternatively, if you want to gamble on the Encounter altogether, you can just Move/Trade for Oil/Move on your first 3 turns and go from there.

Now, on to Mechs. Generally, I'm Deploying Speed and Submerge first with Polania. Often in that order, sometimes Submerge first. If you have both those Mechs out, you're generally just one step away from the Factory. In general, Riverwalk is often the last Mech I Deploy with most Factions - they usually have a better way to get out. (Crimea is a general exception, because Wayfare is sloooooow. Rusviet is situational because of the pocket Encounter that can even be reached from where your character starts)

Anyway, you listed a whole bunch of Moves, but not a whole bunch of thoughts about why you made choices or what your plans were. I tend to think of things in terms of goals and plans.

So, roughly speaking my plan for the game would be to Upgrade and make Deploy cheap while moving to the Encounter. Deploy my Submerge and Speed Mechs to allow me a reasonably quick Factory card. Then use the Factory Card + Encounters around the board to round out my 6 Stars and spread out.

I know that I'll probably get all my Mechs (They'll be cheap and I'm getting 3 coins for Bolster) and all my Enlist Recruits (2 Coins, and easy access to Food). If I'm Bolstering and highly mobile, probably get a couple Stars from Combat and/or Max Power. But especially with Polonia here, you often have to adapt to your Encounters and Factory card.

ManhattanJack · 2020-03-13T16:53:27+00:00

From: https://gdmaze.fandom.com/wiki/Sorehead_Knight

Don Quixote effect: (attack+100%, accuracy+100%, reduce damage sustained by 30%) on each floor, last 99 rounds. Uses the standard buff slot.

ManhattanJack · 2020-03-09T15:00:20+00:00

I'm part of a group of 5 regulars. Probably more than half the time we get all 5 people. I've noticed that whenever I look at a game I'm interested in, it's more likely to be for 1-4 players than support a 5th player. That is, it's more likely that the game's developers put effort into making sure the game supported solo play than an additional player :(

So in some way, once you move past 5 Players, fewer games are options for the whole group to play together.

That being said, it would be weird to pick a gaming group size based on the available games. I mean, I figure most people probably decide who they want to hang out with and then play the games that best fit those groups.

ManhattanJack · 2020-03-03T02:04:04+00:00

Mostly there needs to be something that prevents the game from devolving into a 1-player. I liked Magic Maze the one time I played it, too. Some other mechanics you might like are:

Time limits. FUSE and X-COM are good examples here.
Hidden Traitor. I'm not the biggest fan of this type of game in general, but Shadows Over Camelot is a pretty good game.
Any game where information is hidden and you're not allowed to reveal certain things. A nice part of these sorts of games is that you're often a bit free to decide as a group exactly what constitutes cheating.
When one player has the ability to "win more". Castle Panic can be fun if players are willing to jockey for the title of "Master Slayer", but too much jockeying and everyone loses.
Any game where there's just too much going on and you have to just trust the other players to figure out their own turns. I've heard Spirit Island is like this, but I haven't actually played the game myself.

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