Labyrinths

I'm back in Karlstad again after a short visit back home to meet my old high school friends and playing some board games with my sisters. And I entered some time traveling event in Nyköping, telling the story of the city. Left Karlstad this Friday, went to Nyköping at Saturday and later the evening went to Oxelösund to meet my friends. Today was more board gaming and later sitting on a train (hate train travels in the summer without an air condition) back to Karlstad. Really nice gathering of familiar faces, but some people I expected to be there weren't. Sadly, but fun to see some I haven't seen for a while.

What board games did we play? We went for one round of the Finance world, which I failed at. The only fun part is that during the game it progressed into a long period of good times when the economy of all players went thru the roof, then suddenly a housing boom with heighten rents. And of course this is followed by a huge crash in the economy with a bad time. Just like in real life, it's so amazingly funny, hahaha... what do you mean I'm to much a political scientist?

The other board game was the Swedish produced Dungeonquest (Drakborgen). A great fantasy game set in a castle/keep after an evil wizard with a huge treasure chamber in the middle guarded by a ferocious dragon that sleeps on the treasures. If that wasn't enough you have giant spiders, mountain trolls, orcs, svartálfar, undead, traps and dead ends. The castle/keep changes interior as you build it for every playthrough and apparently the success rate for the game (to get to the treasure and get out) is 15 %. Awesome. It was released for the first time in 1985 and only had four playable characters, the knight Sir Rohan, the viking Sieger Sharpaxe, Bardhor the Bowman and Aelfric Brownhood whatever he was (maybe a warrior monk) (excuse the bad translations and names, have a hard time remember the characters).

If the original wasn't hard enough they released an expansion Drakborgen II (divided in two sets in the english version). More cards, new heroes, an underground level and new monsters and treasures. You have the ninja Yubara Tori-Jima, the berserk Charak Hai the wolf-killer, Mrishnahk the magician, the knight lord Thargrim the Dark, the assassin Durim Daggerbuckle, the princess warrior Iril Fëaneline, the seer Dzála Náryn and her reptile protector, an oracaz and the samurai-ish Yushugom Bogd-Uul.

Really fun game. First day I played as Thargrim the Dark and was really badass. Surviving a collapsing room and fights with some monsters and almost getting stuck I make it to the treasure chamber, get some gold, leaves and gets trapped in a room one room away from the exit with a shadow demon following my footsteps as the sundown came closer. Right before the dragon awakened, the demon leaps forward and kills me. At least I was the last surviving hero. Next day I took the shoes of Yushgom Bog-Uul with his three sword (why he has that many I don't know as he only wields one anyway) the most well-balanced character and highest hit-points, but without the ability to use magic items (and they actually ends up killing you more instead of helping you). I actually won one of the rounds, brining out the sun- and moonstone earning 10 000 gold coins for that, plus some extra treasures. Last day was the day of Mrishnakh, awesome magic spells that could fry any monster (except the dragon) with the only downfall that you had to rest one turn to regain your strength. All other spells more or less drain your life. And his stats suck with 1 Strength, 4 agility and 3 in armor. Only luck is a bit better with 6 or 8 out of the normal 5. Also quite good hit-point with 15, even the ninja and assassin and some other has lower (but these two only has 10 hit-points). Fighting, he's the best if you got the time, but the first round I get bitten by a creature that poisoned me (due to low armor or agility) and I lose one hp per turn, then I get stuck at the wall which was my plan as I had a spell to pass thru walls, IF I have over 6 hp, which I hadn't. then the night came and I died. Next session I fell thru a bottomless well (how that is possible) at the beginning of the game, not able to roll lower than the agility of 4. He really should have a levitation spell otherwise it's just cruel.