X Marks the Spot

Stefanie and I recently played the third game in our Ghost Archipelago campaign. This time we used the X Marks the Spot scenario from the main rulebook. That scenario is fairly basic, a good thing given how much time has been passing between our games, but it made the central treasure a little harder to claim.

The Crews

Theofanis

• Theofanis the Heritor
• Ishaastal the Wave Warden
• Afzal the Crewman (two-handed weapon)
• Diego the Guide
• Eckhart the Crossbowman
• Kamal the Man-at-Arms
• León the Crewman (hand weapon)
• Rasheed the Tomb Robber
• Themba the Crewman (hand weapon and shield)
• Valérian the Crewman (hand weapon)

Jean-Phillipe

• Jean-Phillipe the Heritor
• Amina the Earth Warden
• Albert the Crewman (hand weapon and shield)
• Anton the Crossbowman
• Ariel the Pearl Diver
• Carlos the Herbalist
• Gabriel the Crewman (two-handed weapon)
• Ivan the Crewman (hand weapon)
• Klaas the Infantryman
• Petar the Crewman (hand weapon)

The Battle

Both Theofanis and Jean-Phillipe had heard news of a treasure that had been abandoned by another heritor’s crew after a disastrous foray into the jungles. Each of them led their crews towards the spot mentioned in the stories, but unfortunately that meant they would be pitted against one another again.

The treasure was sealed under a large stone in the center of a jungle ruin. When the crews arrived, a stalker was prowling those ruins. Theofanis’s crew were the first to spot the saurian, and they knew they’d have to take it out in order to claim the hidden treasure. Diego sent an arrow towards it but missed. Eckhart then fired his crossbow and the saurian fell as the bolt pierced its chest. Ishaastal then cast a spell to create a pool of deep water on the far side of the marked spot to slow down their rivals.

On the other side of the ruins, Jean-Phillipe’s crew advanced. Gabriel and Carlos quickly moved to pick up smaller treasures from amidst the ruins. Jean-Phillipe and Anton meanwhile moved forward enough to fire their weapons, but their arrows and bolts went wide of their targets.

Under fire, Theofanis and Kamal rushed towards the central treasure while Eckhart tried but failed to hit Klaas with a bolt from his crossbow. Amina then cast a spell to have the earth carry a nearby treasure closer so that Ivan could easily pick it up. Meanwhile, Ariel rushed forward to contest the central treasure and was able to easily cross the pool that Ishaastal had created even as the snake-woman cast another spell to try to attack her with the water from the pool.

Diego sent another arrow flying and managed to wound Ivan and cause him to slow down even more under the weight of the treasure he was carrying. Two additional stalkers and a snapping turtle had been stirred up by the fighting. They moved to attack Eckhart, but he was surprisingly capable with his dagger leaving one saurian dead and the other wounded.

With Ariel contesting the central treasure, Theofanis and Valérian moved to fight her and knocked her out of the fight. Kamal then tried to shift the rocks out of the way, but he was unable to lift them. Luckily, Kamal looked up in time to deflect an arrow and a bolt sent his way from Jean-Phillipe and Anton.

Themba, who had tried to prevent Gabriel from escaping with a treasure, ended up cut down by both Gabriel and Petar. Petar then advanced on Diego while the saurian and snapping turtle injured Eckhart. Anton and Jean-Phillipe then scored two hits on Kamal and took him down. With his crew starting to struggle, Theofanis tried and failed to shift the stone covering the central treasure.

On the other side of the battlefield, Rasheed tried to prevent the group that Amina was leading from carrying off a piece of treasure. He wounded Klaas, but then took a magically hurled rock to the head from Amina. Albert then charged into melee with Ishaastal, but the warden quickly knocked him to the ground with her staff.

Back in the middle of the ruins, Theofanis finally managed to shift the rock off of the central treasure. That allowed Diego to grab the treasure and start moving it away from the fight. Theofanis then moved towards Jean-Phillipe along with Afzal in an attempt to chase off his rival.

As the heritors dueled, Eckhart faltered and was taken down by the remaining stalker. The saurian then started to advance on Ishaastal. The warden backed away, and Valérian left the same area in order to support Theofanis.

Jean-Phillipe decided that with three treasures already claimed by his band, there was no reason to risk his life in a fight against Theofanis. With a final shot of his bow taking out Valérian, he faded away into the jungle. Anton, abandoned by his heritor, was then cut down by Theofanis and Afzal.

That left the area under the control of Theofanis and his crew, and they quickly carried off the central treasure and the one other that they had claimed.

The Aftermath

Theofanis

This battle took a toll on Theofanis’ followers. Rasheed died from the head wound inflicted by Amina’s Projectile spell, and Eckhart’s wounds from the saurians would force him to miss the next expedition. Down two specialists, Theofanis pulled two members of the ship’s crew into his active group. The treasures claimed, two herbs of marginal value and only 60 gold coins, did not feel worth the losses suffered. The experience did allow for Theofanis to unlock more power from his bloodline with his Mitigation ability becoming easier to manifest and a new ability to push his legs with Sprint. Ishaastal meanwhile improved her ability to cast Pool.

Jean-Phillipe

Jean-Phillipe’s crew fared much better. All of his injured followers quickly recovered from their wounds. The treasures they claimed also proved to be more valuable. They found a magical two-handed weapon and 130 gold coins. Jean-Phillipe’s skill with his bow increased after his experiences in the battle, and Amina improved her ability to cast Projectile.