3 – The Stars are Wrong

Following our skirmish in a long lost library, my daughter picked The Stars are Wrong from the Frostgrave Folio as the next scenario for my wife and I to play. In this scenario, some schools of magic aren’t available and pillars that surround the battlefield can randomly unleash damaging lines of eldritch fire.

Before the game, my apprentice was finally summon a snow leopard as her animal companion, so Otto the Thug was dismissed before his first outing. My wife again failed to cast Awareness despite the bonus from the Silver Tower. It was no surprise that I picked to remove Illusionist spells and my wife picked to remove Witch spells for the scenario. That meant I wouldn’t have access to Fog or Mud and my wife would be unable to cast Fool’s Gold, Glow, or Invisibility.

I won the roll to pick a board edge. The treasure layout seemed to favor me with 3 treasure tokens towards my side of the board and only 1 favoring my wife. Given that advantage and having one more soldier on the field gave me a lot of confidence that I’d be able to get at least 3 and maybe even 4 of the 5 treasure tokens.

The first two rounds were looking pretty good for me. My druid and apprentice cast Strength on both animal companions and I was able to get in position to claim 3 treasure tokens early. Unfortunately, a ghoul showed up on one flank of the battle, and I knew that would complicate my plans. The first eldritch blast unleashed by the pillars also hurt Nils the Tracker while missing the figures in my wife’s warband.

Unfortunately, my luck got even worse after that. The ghoul took out multiple soldiers and prevented me from claiming the treasure on that side of the board. Then my bear and barbarian both unexpectedly fell in combat against my wife’s wizard. Another blast of eldritch fire seared a line across the battlefield putting my wizard in danger, but he thankfully survived. After I finished off the ghoul, a pair of giant rats showed up on the same board edge and took out Red the Demon Hunter. In a final attempt to claim that treasure, my wizard charged my wife’s wizard and went down after a solid hit from her staff.

In the end, that meant despite how we both expected the battle to go, my wife ended up claiming 3 treasures to my 2. When making recovery rolls, I also lost my just-hired woman-at-arms Arya. My treasure haul ended up being a magic two-handed weapon, a grimoire of Blinding Light, and 60 gold coins. My wife claimed a ring of teleportation, grimoires of Steal Health and Strength, and 160 gold coins. I used my coins to hire a replacement for Arya. My wife hired a new ranger with her coins.

The Druid’s Warband

• Audric Silverbeard the Druid (+2 levels: improved Strength, learned Brew Potion)
• Roslin the Apprentice
• Jormund the Barbarian
• Nils the Tracker
• Dimitri the Archer (rested & recovered during the battle)
• Red the Demon Hunter
• Arya the Woman-at-Arms (dead)
• Yara the Thug
• Harold the Thug (dismissed after the battle)
• Otto the Thug (dismissed before the battle)
• Jarl the Bear
• Jaeger the Snow Leopard
• Sansa the Woman-at-Arms (new hire)

The Trickster’s Warband

• Freya the Trickster (+2 levels: +1 Fight, improved Fleet Feet)
• Ophelia the Apprentice
• Kate the Knight
• Alissa the Tracker (rested & recovered during the battle)
• Jamie the Archer
• Robb the Thug
• Scarlet the Thug
• Moira the Thief
• Jess the Thief (badly wounded & dismissed)
• Annabelle the Thief
• Archibald the Ranger (new hire)