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Author Archives: The Professor


During the Kickstarter for Pursuit of Happiness I noticed some folks talking about how it was not a true “worker placement” game. I had heard the term a few times, but never really looked at the genre. The same folks stated that Lords of Waterdeep was the quintessential entry-level worker placement. I took a look at it on BoardGameGeek and it seemed intriguing so I put it on my Amazon Wish List (side note: everyone should have an Amazon Wish List, it makes gift giving so much more convenient), and promptly forgot about it until I received it for Christmas.

What is Worker Placement?
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In our first play through I chose the Rogue (Merisiel) without hesitation. I’ve always loved rogues for a few reasons: Lots of Skills, High Dexterity = Hard to Hit, and the ability to do well on their own (usually via Sneak Attack)
Merisiel had 4 skills (Acrobatics, Disable, Stealth, and Perception) and a D12 for Dexterity with the option to get it to +4. She also had the ability to Backstab in the form of when she is “the only character at [her] location, you may recharge a card to add 1d6 (upgradable to +2) to your combat check, or discard it to add an additional 1d6.”

As Chubby Unicorn mentioned, we followed the Suggested Deck Lists in the rule book, so Merisiel started with:

  • Weapons
    • Dagger
    • Dart
  • Armor
    • Leather Armor
  • Items
    • Caltrops
    • Crowbar
    • Potion of Glibness
    • Potion of Vision
    • Thieves’ Tools x2
  • Allies
    • Burglar
    • Guard
  • Blessings
    • Blessing of the Gods x4

Some things I didn’t like about her:

  • Favored Card: Item – with only 2 weapons to start with, I sometimes had to scramble to find a weapon.
  • Starting Weapons – if I was playing her again, I would have dropped both of those weapons for a pair of Light Crossbows (1d8 > 1d4)
  • Starting Items – in hindsight, I would have dropped the (single use) potions for a Codex and a Sage’s Journal

After completing Adventure 3, I chose the Thief role. This opened up some great additional powers. My favorite? When you play a blessing to add to your Dexterity check, you may recharge it instead of discarding it. I grabbed the Use Magic Item power (You may use Charisma in place of any skill on any check to recharge an armor, item, or weapon with the Magic trait.) early and never got a single successful use out of it. I didn’t realize how useful the Sabotage Location power (Add 2 to your noncombat check to close a location.) was, but once I got it, it proved a big help.
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As a result of several brutal and mysterious murders, rumors had been spreading all around the village about the possibility that werewolves were responsible. As the mayor of Lobstopia, it was my job to calm the populace. Thus, I called a town meeting. Looking back, I realize that setting the meeting just before dark on the night of a full moon was not my wisest course of action. In my defense, no one else had a better meeting time. Unaware of the danger, everyone gathered anyway.

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“We’ve made good progress,” Shutter said when everyone had been gathered, “but we could use some help. I’d like to send Chubby Unicorn and Clumsy Ninja out to gather new allies.”
 
“I’m not sure that’s the best pairing,” President Gamer said, and Space Cat agreed.
 
“Why?” Shutter asked. She knew that President Gamer was either Merlin or Morgana, so she was interested to know why President Gamer was objecting.
 
“They’ll get sidetracked,” he said.
 
Shutter glanced at Chubby Unicorn. “I think they can handle it.”
 
Chubby Unicorn, secretly Morgana, knew she’d have to be careful, but also knew she couldn’t let the Loyal Servants of Arthur succeed. She’d have to keep Clumsy Ninja from discovering her true identity.
 
They set out, but as President Gamer predicted, they easily became sidetracked and couldn’t manage to recruit a single new ally.
 
President Gamer took charge of the next meeting, and suggested he, Shutter, and Space Cat go out to fight the Saxons.
 
Professor and Chubby Unicorn objected, though they couldn’t say it was because they were evil. Clumsy Ninja also objected.
 
“I want to redeem myself,” she said, and Chubby Unicorn quickly agreed to this idea.
 
President Gamer relented, a little, and allowed Clumsy Ninja to go in his place. The group went off to battle and easily bested the Saxons.
 
Despite this victory, they faced a new threat: the Picts.
 
“I think Professor, Shutter, Clumsy Ninja, and Chubby Unicorn should handle this one,” Space Cat said.
 
Shutter and Clumsy Ninja immediately protested. After all, they had just been out fighting. President Gamer also voiced concerns.
 
“Fine. I’ll go back out, and I’m taking President Gamer, Chubby Unicorn, and Professor,” Space Cat said in a tone that brooked no further arguments.
 
Perhaps the Picts were just too fierce, or Space Cat wasn’t as prepared for another battle as she thought. It could have been Chubby Unicorn and Professor sabotaging the mission. In any case, the four retreated in defeat.
 
Shortly after their return, Professor came up with a wonderful idea. He suggested they attempt to retrieve the Holy Grail. Knowing it was highly unlikely that anyone would find it, he still chose his team carefully: himself, Chubby Unicorn, and Space Cat.
 
“I can’t possibly go,” Chubby Unicorn said. “I need more time to recover from all that fighting.” She didn’t say that she was afraid the others were beginning to suspect her of being evil.
 
President Gamer, Shutter, and Clumsy Ninja objected to being left out of such a historic opportunity, so Professor relented and allowed the three of them to tackle the practically impossible quest. He felt sure they would return without the Holy Grail, so he was surprised when they actually did return with it.
 
Chubby Unicorn needed to do something to salvage the mess Professor had made of their plans, so she informed the others of a rampaging dragon that needed slaying.
 
“We really need to take care of this menace,” she said. “I think Professor, President Gamer, Clumsy Ninja, and Shutter are the perfect team for this.”
 
“I don’t think I want to fight a dragon,” Professor said, a little worried that Chubby Unicorn was turning on him.
 
“Me neither,” Shutter said.
 
Space Cat objected to the team just because she could. This irritated Chubby Unicorn, so her new team pick was Clumsy Ninja, Shutter, Space Cat, and herself. After all, if she went herself, she had a better chance of making the mission fail.
 
Despite her best efforts to get the others roasted on accident, they managed to bring down the ferocious beast.
 
Chubby Unicorn then met with Professor in secret.
 
“We’re out of time. We need to kill Merlin. It has to be either President Gamer or Shutter.”
 
“I’ll take care of it,” Professor said.
 
As he was slipping through the silent hallways that night, he caught sight of Shutter out and about as well. Initially he was going to kill President Gamer, but he thought perhaps Shutter’s presence meant she was Merlin. He quickly dispatched her, but discovered his error the next day. He and Chubby Unicorn fled, their wicked plans thwarted.

Technically you aren’t supposed to play Smash Up with more than four people, but if you have expansions you can make it work. We recently acquired the Pretty Pretty Smash Up expansion; we felt it had groups that members of our gaming group would like (Space Cat – Kittens, Chubby Unicorn – Mythic Horses, Shutter – Princesses, etc.). Unfortunately Space Cat’s calendar had a catastrophic failure and didn’t tell her it was game night, so she missed out on this game.

Groups Chosen:

  • Chubby Unicorn: Mythic Horses and Steampunks
  • Shutter: Bear Calvary and Fairies
  • Clumsy Ninja: Ninjas and Zombies
  • Professor: Princesses and Wizards
  • President Gamer: Dinosaurs and Pirates

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The posts on the blog will, generally, fall within two broad topics: Story and Play-by-Play Breakdown.

Story mode posts will strive to frame the game play using a narrative structure (e.g. Kyra and Merisiel entered Sandpoint and headed for the Rusty Dragon Inn to see if there were wrongs that needed righting.), while the Play-by-Play Breakdown will speak more to the choices being made in the games (e.g. Kyra and Merisiel start at The Rusty Dragon Inn; Kyra explores, encounters a Mace and acquires it).

Furthermore the following categories are used to help delineate game types:
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