Today guys we are (almost) coming back to the Lurkers sub-campaign part of Frosthaven adventures. I am saying almost, because as you might recall during our last meeting with those gigantic crabs – in #53 Underwater Throne – although we killed the Seeker of the Abyss (a huge boss), we could not progress to the last scenario here (#60), as we were lacking one shard of the Lurkers Crown (I know, I know, sounds ridiculous but these are the rules of the game).

What is worse, we had no idea where to find that 6th element – we finished Unfettered & Algox story-lines but it was nowhere. Then, one branch in the scenario tree drawn our attention:

Scenario Map

Do you see scenarios #17 and #27? That is what I am talking about – they seem to be part of Algox campaign but they are not. We unlocked #17 thanks to resolution of some puzzlebook mysteries and honestly, this was the only place in regular campaign where we suspected the last piece of crown will be. So today we shall look at Scenario #17 Haunted Vault.

Our Frosthaven Campaign in scenario order:
#1 Town in Flames
#2 Algox Scouting
#4 Heart of Ice
#5 Frozen Crypt
#7 Edge of the World
#8 Crystal Trench
#9 Glowing Catacombs
#10 Crystal Enclosure
#13 Frozen Fjord
#14 Jagged Shoals
#15 Ancient Spire
#16 Derelict Elevator
#18 Crystal Fields
#21 Realm of Endl. Frost
#22 Ice Floes
#23 Spire Basement
#26 Quatryl Library
#28 Summit Meeting
#32 Ravens’ Roost
#33 Thawed Wood
#36 Buried Ducts
#38 The Way Forward
#42 Sunless Trench
#44 Nerve Center
#45 Living Glacier
#46 Dead Pass
#49 Beneath Sea and Stone
#52 Fleeting Permanence
#53 Underwater Throne
#55 Change of Heart
#59 Automaton Uprising
#65 A Strong Foundation
#69 Sacred Soil
#70 The True Oak
#99 Prison Break
#112 Raised by Wolves
#114 Work Freeze
#115 Pylon Problems
#116 Caravan Guards
#120 Under the Influence
#122 The Eternal Crave
#127 Derelict Freighter
Some interesting materials about Frosthaven World:
Frosthaven – first look – starting characters (1/2)
Frosthaven – first look – starting characters (2/2)

Our super-versatile, four heroes group grows in experience, skills and abilities; with every turn we understand better and better what to expect from each other, what are our strengths – but also weaknesses. Currently we have following set of characters:

  • Frozen Fist – level 6 (me) – a character with pretty unusual mechanics (losing health to recover cards), proves to be a decent damage dealer with incredible mobility.
  • Infuser – level 6 (Kuba J) – crazy mechanics with infusion, possibility to send swords as summons, strong attacks with decent health. Great damage dealer capable of taking some beating.
  • Snowdancer – level 6 (Kuba G) – crowd control and manipulation master, creates a lot of hazardous terrain and then pulls or pushes monsters. Also gained skill to move that hazardous terrain.
  • Drifter – level 4 (Adam) – This is super flexible character, who can heal, attack, take the beating and is no dependent on elements; very strong addition to our team.

Scenario Specifics

Below we analyze scenario, its set-up, win conditions and complexity levels:

So this is completely new, separate branch of crazy scenarios in some kind of Vault. All adventures in this group have three dots for complication, and I would also say – super difficult level, especially if you do not plan tactically well your operations.

In the initial scenario, we have as many as 6 (really, six!) separate rooms; in order to open a chamber, at least 2 pressure plates has to be occupied by characters. But when you do it, at the beginning of the next turn some monsters spawn – and it depends on the Room number what number they would have!

Believe me, this was like a puzzle to solve – whom to send where, what to press , in what order. There were errors – which almost finished in us dying / losing the adventure… But more on this below!

PS. As always, feel free to click on below images for full details.

Session Report

Scenario #17 set-up – honestly, after reading the special rules regarding how to open the doors as well as how the monsters will appear we were a bit confused. But then, after also having a look at the map we were simply terrified – that seemed a super hard adventure to tackle. And where is that treasure to loot?
The enemies were definitely not welcoming – Ice Wraiths could change the form and were flying; Living Spirits have huge shield; Living Dooms with their shield and potent punch could be very problematic.
Ok, so we started to strategize – we opened first two doors, entered the rooms and immediately come back for the monsters summons. We preferred to have four Living Spirits in one pack we can deal with than being separated in the rooms with much more potent enemies.
But you could not continue like this for too long. In order to open door number 3 I was left alone in my room, same for Snowdancer and Infuser in their own chanber. Well, that almost ended up in complete disaster as the Living Dooms…
…started to punch mercilessly Snowdancer, even adding a Bane on him!
We somehow survived and managed to close the doors in front of Living Dooms (well, that was epic!) However, when we entered Room 5, we realized that we do not have enough lettered tokens and Kuba G has to produce additional ones 🙂
Finally we get to the last room. We were curious what will stand in our way…
…do you think that those two Living Spirits and one Living Doom could withstood the fury of four adventurers really fed-up with all those puzzles, tricks, doors and pressure plates? Now way. They died quickly and we won!

Summary

Wow, that was long – very long scenario, very complex, pretty crazy I would even say. Nailing down what to press, in what order, where to leave which character was crucial and essential to the success. I believe we spent as much time on discussing this as on how to tackle the monsters.

You may ask – what next? Well, we of course move to #27, because as it occurred, in the last chamber we found secret door to the next part of catacombs. But we shall talk about it more next week…

More reports to come!