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Post by Rusty Radiator on May 31, 2016 14:35:39 GMT
There are several things I want yo talk about regarding the new book AND THEY'RE ALL SPOILERS!
Look away if you haven't done it yet- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.....
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Post by Rusty Radiator on May 31, 2016 14:55:38 GMT
Firstly, Anseng's Kurosami.......
GRRRRRRRR!
It's like some kind of punishment for completing the book first time- such a Weapon-tease. DAMN!
If it had given another 2CS and most importantly, not exploded it would have been such a cool alternative to the Kai Weapon..
The most horrible thing about it is giving those Sweet imperial +1/+2 Weapons in Pensai, THEN TEMPTING YOU TO THROW AWAY BOTH OF THEM (given you can only keep one on the traumatic crossing to Dwala) in the hopes of having some kind of Zombie-Mower.
JD, you are a Bad Man.
I wouldn't mind as much, but despite being notoriously vague in various rule black spots, JD is meticulously specific in stressing that this Chai Spear of Suck must take up a Weapon slot. Okay, you got me on that one.
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Post by Rusty Radiator on May 31, 2016 15:05:16 GMT
On the positive side I LOVED all the riddles. I was in Riddle-Heaven!
This actually made the book for me- I am a total riddle addict and have been disappointed by what seemed a dwindling number in the later books. Well, he was obviously saving them up! It's like he heard me moaning "where have all the riddles gone- it's one of the things I loved in Lonewolf!?" and said "PREPARE TO GET RIDDLED!"
He's learnt Grand Riddle Mastery!
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Post by spartanroarke on May 31, 2016 16:30:06 GMT
Loved the book, but couldn't agree more about Anseng's Kirusami. I'm pretty sure it actually makes the last fight in which you can use it much harder as compared to just using your kai weapon. I plan to leave it with Anseng in subsequent playthroughs.
On another topic, anyone else probably way too excited to get a quiver that holds twelve arrows?
Also, one big question I had regarding combat in this book: which enemies are undead? As there are several useful items for fights with undead, this makes a significant difference in combat ratios throughout the book. It seemed to me that the Chagarashi are almost certainly undead based on their description, but the other scavengers you repeatedly encounter (Skarada, for example) may not be. Some fights clearly label an enemy as undead while others merely describe a foe in a way commonly used to describe undead creatures in other fantasy lit (rotting flesh, for example). Any help is appreciated.
I havent yet read books 23 - 28, so apologies if this information can be found in those books. I decided to jump right in to book 29 with my kai grand sentinel of slightly above average stats. Going into the book underpowered made the entire adventure quite a bit more harrowing. I limped into Pensei on my last few endurance points, and fought for my life on the run to Ishir's Tower before finally being cut down in the first round of combat against Zashnor. Along the way I consumed more lamspur than I ever have in any ten adventures. It seemed like many times I had the necessary skill but not a high enough rank to avoid getting knocked around, and not having kai screen makes the second half of the book a nightmare reminiscent of (but not quite as bad as) my first playthrough of Ixia. Overall a ton of fun, can't wait to replay it once I've completed a few more New Order books.
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Post by Rusty Radiator on May 31, 2016 20:51:22 GMT
Yes, I really don't fancy trying this book without Kai Screen, think I can say I have NEVER seen a discipline that has so many uses in one adventure, not even Kai Alchemy...!
Incidentally, I think Chagarashi are 'creatures of chaos' so to speak, not undead. Anseng, Xaol & the ghouls are the only undead I think.
Here's another thing I loved- the illustrations! Really dark and disturbing, mostly, and the women are good looking...
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Post by Rusty Radiator on Jun 1, 2016 5:28:33 GMT
QUESTION
Let's assume I dropped the kurosami like the Cursed Artifact of Mockery that it is. The Bows from palace armoury are marked as +1CS. But I never use my Bow in Combat! Can I assume this means +1 RND, like a weak version of the Silver Oak Bow of Aren't You Glad You Played Through All The Books? There is never any confirmation of this, but it seems like the only possible interpretation- this will make me even more gutted I lost it in the Tkukoma Estuary.... (Cruel, cruel Dever!)
I had been waiting for a decent bow that gave a bonus, now it's LOST FOREVER...! Boo Hoo
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Post by GhostofLandar on Jun 1, 2016 19:25:34 GMT
I bet you could fight with a bow in close quarters but maybe you'd have to see what kind of fight it is. So when the Chagarashi falls on you in that one place you couldn't but if you engage in one round of combat, you'd just lose an arrow per round?
I was excited to hear what had happened in Shadaki but wonder why THAT could not have been the bonus adventure! I think the bonus adventures at this point should really be the other grand masters' adventures or someone of that stature, rather than someone we don't know. I enjoyed the book but at this point I'm wondering if the final 2 books should be more like what we've had recently or like Masters of Darkness or Curse of Naar. I think for the last 2 I'd prefer the grand confrontation with evil in which Lone Wolf plays a part. I foresee Lone Wolf being the one to take on Agarash (with the Lorestones imbued within him and the Sommerswerd) while our Grand Master hero (mine is True Fire) takes on Vashna or something of that sort. Who of the great figures of Evil is left at this point?
And can you get to the end and take on the Big Baddie without help if it's Vashna or Agarash or Shamath or someone like that?
As for the contents of Storms of Chai, did anyone feel like the loss of the companions was handled with more tenderness? It isn't that Joe neglected to talk about Lone Wolf's tears or bitterness at the loss before, but the descriptions of sobbing and shock hit home a bit more than I remember them. I think he did a great job of not ignoring the loss and also of saving a couple of them by sending them home. And it's still not certain that Quang is gone.
What about the future of the series? There three tales left and at least one of them is going to be the cataclysmic final confrontation with a resurrected Vashna or Agarash or perhaps even Naar himself. Where should the GM go next? (I think we know where but maybe 31-32) What lands do we not know well or want to revisit? I confess I don't have interest in Telchos in terms of the GM visit and I think we've been in Southern Magnamund for so long. I'd like to meet the Starn Giants, since we've met every other sort of Drodarin from Ogrons to Dwarves to Kloons. Heck, wouldn't it be great to fight alongside the Giants and Dwarves in one of these last battles?
I think the emphasis should now be less on individual combat and more on battles where you happen to fight someone similar to Lone Wolf at Ruanon, etc. If Naar is really letting it all hang loose, sheer numbers should make this more likely.
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Post by Rusty Radiator on Jun 4, 2016 19:38:40 GMT
There was some genuine pathos in their deaths, I really hope the Magi warned the poor bastards of the low survival rates of non-royal Kai companions. When Deng and Bai were moping over Chao's death I felt like saying why don't the lot of you do one now, I'm sure I can steal a boat and eat some Sabito or something. In fact, as soon as one of them visited their family that loved them so much I wanted to slip away and take my chances solo; you knew it wasn't going to go well for them...
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Post by Rusty Radiator on Jun 4, 2016 19:41:45 GMT
I'd like it if I could rescue Steel Hand next adventure & plow through the Acolytes like Bad Invisible Mother Kai.
WOOOOO-HOO!
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Post by Rusty Radiator on Jun 5, 2016 5:57:09 GMT
Hey, here's another thing that really Grinds My Gears-
Star Lynx, foppish Magi's Pet that he is, got a new magic sword for his efforts. What do we get- a spear that hurts you & breaks before it gets any good. Great! Could he not have insisted that the Magi make Blue Steel Armour, cool new weapons and some Crystal Explosive for all his Kai Grand Master pals? I mean, we've seen their Funky Forge now, who else is more deserving of special armour and weaponry than the superspys they send regularly into the Heart of Darkness?
Just saying... They're quick enough to dish out the missions, but would it kill them to dish out some of their Sweet Gear...?
Especially when we could be fighting undead Kai Grand Masters in the future!
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Post by GhostofLandar on Jun 6, 2016 3:07:09 GMT
There was some genuine pathos in their deaths, I really hope the Magi warned the poor bastards of the low survival rates of non-royal Kai companions. When Deng and Bai were moping over Chao's death I felt like saying why don't the lot of you do one now, I'm sure I can steal a boat and eat some Sabito or something. In fact, as soon as one of them visited their family that loved them so much I wanted to slip away and take my chances solo; you knew it wasn't going to go well for them... I forgot about how the companions responded to the refugee situation too (I know it's spoiler-filled but I didn't want to give away too much.) I am hoping this is all leading to an end to Supernatural Evil on Magnamund. I've felt that was what was coming, but maybe I'm wrong. That does not remove the potential for Kai Lords doing their work against Evil or misguided Men. But I think after so many decades, it's time for us to get our final victory and tip the balance of Aon. |
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Post by Rusty Radiator on Jun 6, 2016 5:41:12 GMT
I am hoping this is all leading to an end to Supernatural Evil on Magnamund. I've felt that was what was coming, but maybe I'm wrong. That does not remove the potential for Kai Lords doing their work against Evil or misguided Men. But I think after so many decades, it's time for us to get our final victory and tip the balance of Aon. I'm hoping Alyss will intervene on the side of Naar, in an attempt to restore the balance, then we can kill her too... )  |
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Post by Wise Eagle on Jun 7, 2016 18:56:43 GMT
I'd probably take the weapons in book 26, the wardstone and kengha's ring in 29 before a new magical sword any day. (Assuming it would be like Skarn-Ska with +5 and a special vs some creatures.)
I actually would not pick up the kirusami. It has an activation price. Low +CS bonus, you can use the bonus from one weapon only. And fighting with the Kai Weapon is better every day of the week.
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Post by Rusty Radiator on Jun 7, 2016 21:26:27 GMT
I'd probably take the weapons in book 26, the wardstone and kengha's ring in 29 before a new magical sword any day. (Assuming it would be like Skarn-Ska with +5 and a special vs some creatures.) I actually would not pick up the kirusami. It has an activation price. Low +CS bonus, you can use the bonus from one weapon only. And fighting with the Kai Weapon is better every day of the week. Totally agree about Kurosami, but Kenga's does very little and may be limited to stopping tiny amount of 'Eye-burn', and the dwarven weapons are only like Kai Weapons without special bonuses- bit disappointing. Yes, I like the Korlinium Armour and the Wardstone, but look how chuffed Star Lynx was with Star Ska- it MUST be better than his Kai Weapon! And did you check the stats on that Blue Steel Armour- it's Freakin Awesome! |
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Post by Wise Eagle on Jun 7, 2016 23:13:15 GMT
I'd probably take the weapons in book 26, the wardstone and kengha's ring in 29 before a new magical sword any day. (Assuming it would be like Skarn-Ska with +5 and a special vs some creatures.) I actually would not pick up the kirusami. It has an activation price. Low +CS bonus, you can use the bonus from one weapon only. And fighting with the Kai Weapon is better every day of the week. Totally agree about Kurosami, but Kenga's does very little and may be limited to stopping tiny amount of 'Eye-burn', and the dwarven weapons are only like Kai Weapons without special bonuses- bit disappointing. Yes, I like the Korlinium Armour and the Wardstone, but look how chuffed Star Lynx was with Star Ska- it MUST be better than his Kai Weapon! And did you check the stats on that Blue Steel Armour- it's Freakin Awesome! Well, with Kai screen it has 40% chance to reduce the eye burn to 0. What is more interesting is if it can reduce the eye burn per round vs the 2 main bosses, Klüz and Zashnor. More doubtful about Klüz, but protection from energy drain from evil seems applicable, also in that case, although the ring does not mention this specifically. The main use of the dwarven weapon is to try to smash the claw with them instead of the Kai Weapon in book 27. This will prevent you from taking a -1 or -2CS reduction from the Kai weapon. Also in some cases you specifically drop the Kai Weapon and can use the backup instead and keep the high cs bonus. I doubt the Star-Ska weapon is much better than Skarn-Ska, but it would probably be on same level. It probably has another special. The blue steel armour, now there is a nice armor. Believe it is by far the best in any LW book. |
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