First few games of Strange Aeons!

[Skunk]

I played 5 games of Strange Aeons today in 3 hours. I lost all but one but had tons of fun! I have yet to play as Threshold, but next week I'll get to put together a list of agents. Lurkers seem a little pricy point wise for what they can do, but i guess it makes the campaign aspect possible. The most time consuming part of the games were me putting together new lurker lists. Im thinking of taking an empty little journal (I occasionally buy journals if they have cool covers, pretty handy for games) and just making a bunch of lists from which I can pick from at the start of a game based on what scenario was rolled. That random force generator from another thread is AMAZING! I wish it was an app I could get for my tablet. We were confined to a 12 x 12 room because there were x-wing and MTG events going on, but it turned out to be great because there was a lot less noise. Next time I will take pictures.

[Grumbling Grognard]

IMHO, the Lurker player is quite disadvantaged if you pre-prepare lists, etc.

IMO, one of the big 'leveling factors' in the game can be the way the Lurker has full knowlege of not only the scenario but also full visibility of the Threshold list *before* they buy their first figure.  If done well, a Lurker list can take advantage of holes in the Threshold list very easily.  IMO, this can be quite "Lovecraftian" as Murphy's Law strikes...  It also will make the game less of an "item buying/gathering exercise" (gee I have the Vorpal Sword now I can kill them all!), and the long hated practice of "min-maxing" a list, well, it is just part of the game, should be expected and must be planned for by the Threshold player by making their list as well balanced as possible.

For example a threshold player that takes lots of guns, weapons, armor, and forgets to take salt, a holy book or even antivenom can have a weak spot that can be easily exploited to regain "balance" if the Lurker is careful with a single ghost or a poisoned weapon.

My two cents,
Scott

[obsidian3d]

I'm in agreement with Scott. Another reason I'd suggest building the Lurker list on the spot is that a lot of the scenarios have requirements or restrictions for what they can take. It's to the Lurker player's advantage to build the list after the scenario is rolled. If the Threshold never quite know what they're going to be up against, it'll make them a lot more nervous each game...which is truly part of the fun.

[Grumbling Grognard]

Yes, but, to add a bit to what I said...

I do *not*, at all, nor will I ever again, play games competitively.  Of any sort.   Strange Aeons, would be damned hard to do this with anyway.

So, when I sit down with another player, it is with full knowlege that we are both there for one thing, to have fun.  I could go on, and on, but I think my point is clear.  

If I see a glaring "hole" in a Threshold players list, such as no salt, no holy book, nothing to slow a ghost of any sort...  I *will* point it out, let them fix it, then, if they don't fix it, I can then show them the error of their ways in our next game.  

But, for me, it should always be clear to everyone that fun, is the name of the game, not winning, or quite frankly, I won't be hooking up with you to play again anytime soon.  

[Skunk]

I see what you guys are saying. But, how do you speed up the lurker hiring process? Im thinking I could get a lurker log sheet and have it printed on cardstock and laminated so I don't waste a bunch of paper.

[Grumbling Grognard]

I see what you guys are saying. But, how do you speed up the lurker hiring process? Im thinking I could get a lurker log sheet and have it printed on cardstock and laminated so I don't waste a bunch of paper.

Well, for me, it has always been a snap.  I only buy what I have figures for, so that limits it, I have my favorites, etc, but it is generally what I am in the mood for at the time.  MiGo, for example are 5pts each, and I know from experience that weapons make them really "pop", but they can get by without in a pinch.  Zombies, and their ilk (dogs, limbs, ghouls) are all old stand-bys to fill in gaps and use points.  I am currently loving witches and how they can rock a Threshold player's world for 4pts a each... 

Like I said, it is more mood for me...and really that means theme.  I always have an overall plot theme for my Threshold player.  A "map piece" is not just a freaking point/token and often is not a piece of a map at all, but instead a "clue" I give the player (along with the perks it allows in Uncle Mike's game).  For example: "...you rolled a six so you found a match book with a phone number on it for a well known attorney that works uptown..."  That sort of stuff. 

Lurker lists, for me at least, have not been a time consuming effort.  I know they can be, but then again, I now some gamers that simply rolling a dice can be a "time consuming effort"...   

[obsidian3d]

I don't play games competitively either. However, there should and will be glaring holes in Threshold lists. They quite simply can't be good at everything, as pointed out earlier. That again, is part of the fun. This should be measured however, as the Lurker player can go to the extreme in exploiting those weaknesses.

For me, Strange Aeons is more about telling a story on the table than trying to kill all my opponent's agents. I'll often choose a creature profile for it's surprise value more so than its killing power. A list with lots of guns and high dexterity suddenly up against witches and ghosts is going to have a hard time of it, but win or lose...what a story they'll have to tell afterward!

[mdomino]

The advantage of some pre-built lists is simply speed and convenience. It is sometimes nice to have a bunch of 15 pt lists and a bunch of 20 pt lists. After the scenario is rolled, look at the lists and decide if one might be suitable. Then modify the list according to taste. We don't do it all the time, but with 2 tables running at the same time it is nice to have some bits prepared before. This helps us get 6 games in the span of 3 hours or so, and occasionally 8 games.

[WallyTWest]

For me, Strange Aeons is more about telling a story on the table than trying to kill all my opponent's agents. I'll often choose a creature profile for it's surprise value more so than its killing power.

I'll often limit my lurkers to a theme- picking a "faction" in the COC LCG or an old RPG module and rolling with that.

[Grumbling Grognard]

The advantage of some pre-built lists is simply speed and convenience. It is sometimes nice to have a bunch of 15 pt lists and a bunch of 20 pt lists. After the scenario is rolled, look at the lists and decide if one might be suitable. Then modify the list according to taste. We don't do it all the time, but with 2 tables running at the same time it is nice to have some bits prepared before. This helps us get 6 games in the span of 3 hours or so, and occasionally 8 games.

I hear you, but if I were to do this, I would try to at least tie the games together with a theme by using lists in "Thematic Sets".   Each list in the "Thematic Set" would have only the basics and be priced on the very low-side so they that could be fleshed out later by adding weapons, or a skill or two (and for other reasons...)  

I guess this could work, and perhaps save time, but the Threshold player can take as *few* points as they wish also.  A single, lone agent, is not unheard of in our games.  I think my second "team" was a solo character and they started out at ~8pts total.

My over-priced two cents,
Scott

[WallyTWest]

Wow- you brought up two great concepts!

1.) the art of playing threshold.
Ex- low point agents to force the lurker to take certain choices in various scenarios.
Ex- making the best points efficient use of wargear
Ex- activations, wargear and positioning on the field
Ex- proper use of the skill tree vs equipment points

2.) the thematic use of lurkers
Ex- themed scenerios and lurkers

And sort of the unspoken third issue- making proper use of the Nemisis-

[Grumbling Grognard]

Wow- you brought up two great concepts!
...
...
And sort of the unspoken third issue- making proper use of the Nemisis-

I actually have not gotten deep enough into any single campaign to use a nemisis yet, but...

To be 100% honest, I love them and the Nemisis is actually the very, very first thing I plan out (in my head) to oppose a Threashold list.  Hell, it may be weeks, months since we only play a time or 2 each month, but I already know the Nemisis that 2 of my mates will face, someday...

By picking the nemisis first, I then back track down the peon ladder to build a plot line.  Using my previous example of "Grave-robbing-cultists" leading to a trio of wandering Gypsy Witches leading to a group of MiGo in the hills...leading to a Mad Scientists who was the nut-job that stirred up the MiGo again after so many years/decades/centuries.  Thus, my first idea was the Mad Scientist, then I back-tracked from there.

This is not a perfect method, hell I don't even know if it works well.  I just know it flows for me when I have to make a plot line.   

Scott

[gruulgor]

IMHO, the Lurker player is quite disadvantaged if you pre-prepare lists, etc.

IMO, one of the big 'leveling factors' in the game can be the way the Lurker has full knowlege of not only the scenario but also full visibility of the Threshold list *before* they buy their first figure.  If done well, a Lurker list can take advantage of holes in the Threshold list very easily.

I was wondering, how do you "implement" this in demo games? I have a couple of demo weeks in two weeks and one of the players has asked me if could bring some pre-made lists, so I'm having a few problems exploiting the holes of my own lists 

[Grumbling Grognard]

I was wondering, how do you "implement" this in demo games? I have a couple of demo weeks in two weeks and one of the players has asked me if could bring some pre-made lists, so I'm having a few problems exploiting the holes of my own lists  

Well, in regards to a "demo" it may work if you are just teaching one player but I had great difficulty when I had a full slate such as I will have at a convention.  I do not see how this can work with pre-built lists unless the same person builds both lists, or perhaps they swap them via email before hand (ah....nothing like living in the 21st century!).

Teaching the rules, answering questions and umpiring 3 games at the same time with 6 newbies just will not work well IMO.  When I tried this a few weeks ago, we had fun, but I will be using pre-generated lists/battles for our convention this Summer and will be play-testing some of the lists this Sunday (with any luck at all).  It just provides a much, much smoother entry into the game system for newbies IMO.

I could drone on, and on, but IMHO, one of the absolute best aspects of this game is the (IMO) very intimate nature of the game, the battles and indeed the very campaign between two players, up close and personal.  IMO, this dynamic can be easily lost at a convention in a "multi-player" setting or where a newbie is blindly trying to build a list just to get the figures on the table to play a bit.  

I am building 3 sets of 3 games each and will let the 5-6 players fight their ways through the mini-campaign of 3 games each in our 4 hour time slot.  I did build my lists with as much 'flavor' as possible given my figures and toys, using special items, skills, and plot points as much as pratical so that the new gamers would get a good idea of some of the neat stuff in Strang Aeons.  The later lists (for example) have agents that have suffered a few major injuries and they will all face their nemisis in the final game.

Scott

[Mason]

When we used to play SA (a lot!), I ran a campaign for all of the other players.
There were five or six of them and they all ran Threshold teams (M.O.O.S.(E). in our British Isles-based campaign), while I played the Lurkers (most of the time, sometimes they played the Lurker list against another team).

The Lurkers were always thematic and usually consisted of members of the Cult of the Purple-headed Worm and their creatures or the evil machinations of the Mad Scientists of the Asylum, Dr Hugh Jarse and Dr Dixwith-Nayture and their creations.

My favourite Lurkers, to keep them on their toes, were Maniacs for the Cultists and Zombies (hoping to get a Construct!) for the Asylum, with a few other things thrown in now and again to create a little variety.

I always tried to make the lists competitive but with a common theme throughout.

Lurkers probably are more expensive, points-wise, but this helped as it usually made the Agents favourites and they should win if they were sensible and not too unlucky.

I have a fair few other themes to use in our next campaign and am looking forward to it later in the year.