Welcome to Tales from the Crit Season 3. Bigger,
badder, and stickier. By joining us today, you
have been officially upgraded to Crit Cat status.
So, welcome to the club. Tales from the Crit
is an actual play podcast where we focus on smaller
story arcs from some of your favorite RPGs, as
well as some of the less known or obscure ones.
We also play some highly narrative tabletop board
games and also some micro RPGs. All of those
feature a revolving cast of players, so you're
going to see a lot of variety there. And as always,
I am your host and your Crit Keeper, Riley Groves.
We're so glad to have you here with us today.
Now let's get into the episode. Content warnings
can be found in the description. Thank you. Welcome
to a very special episode of Tales from the Crit.
On today's episode, I'll be showcasing a game
that will be appearing on our Tier 2 Patreon
account, and giving you a sneak peek at what
that looks like. If you're wondering about our
Patreon, that's set to launch in June, unlike
originally planned in May. Time just has a funny
way of getting away from us. At the table today,
I have me, and that's it. Our Tier 2 Patreon
is going to feature games that are played by
smaller casts, either a single player or up to
two. But today's game, I'm taking you on a journey
with just me. I got a very special game to play
today, one I have tried a few times to beat and
have not been successful yet. So this may be
the God Run. We'll see. And that game is Spires
and Hildegard. This is a game I kickstarted back
in the day and have been very delightfully rewarded
with such a special little game. It is a single
player or a two player game. I've chosen to play
it solo for this so you guys can get a better
idea of what that second level of our Patreon
is going to look like. This game is made by a
company called Favreau. and you can find out
more about it at spiresend .com. I think they
have a sequel or another game along the same
lines out. It also has a couple expansions, I
believe, so very worth checking out. In the times
that I have played it so far, it has been very
fun. It's kept me coming back for more, and I'm
going to come back again and again until I do
eventually beat it. I don't think I've lost because
this game is necessarily very hard, but it is
a... story -driven, kind of choose -your -own
-adventure card game. So it goes through four
chapters. On today's episode, I'm going to take
you through chapter one, and essentially you
building your character, making choices, and
driving that story further. So it's very fun.
It's got a lot of replayability, and I may just
make poor choices or bold choices, if you will,
which have gotten me into trouble in my previous
playthroughs. But sometimes I just suck at rolling
dice too. So there is a dice rolling mechanic
in this game. It's got special dice where you're
trying to get different combinations of bullseyes
with those dice. Those dice are complicated by
some extra shot dice which have some positives
and some negatives. I'm going to go through this
a little bit more while I play the game so everybody
can get an understanding of how you play the
game. So we're going to be focusing a little
bit more on that as well as narrating what our
choices are and what our thought processes are
as we move through these games. So we're trying
to create a little bit more of an intimate experience
so you guys can get to know us a little better,
get to know why we make certain choices along
the way, and hopefully have a fun time listening
to us play games by ourselves. Solo gaming is
something that's near and dear to my heart. I
really enjoy a solo adventure. It provides a
very creative outlet for me, and I'm happy to
share that with all of you. To complete the ambiance
tonight... I have my favorite Woodwick candle
going, so if you hear some snaps, crackles, or
pops from that, just know that it's just a candle.
I left that in, and it's not just poor editing.
So my room smells like a delightful humidor,
because I am a fan of candles that smell like
leather and cigars. There will be no pod deck
interview deck question or any other questions
to start this episode. Maybe we'll add something
in for the Patreon later on. But without further
ado, I'm going to get started. This game starts
out with the choice of three different starting
cards. I think I get my character card in a little
bit. But I'm going to go ahead. I've got the
three cards laid out in front of me. We're starting
on chapter one, obviously, called the Gray Oaks.
And my first card, I'm going to select my middle
card here. And it reads. For the Baroness. You
wake up to the promise of adventure. A small
package has been dropped at your doorstep. Your
first delivery. It's a hastily wrapped box with
instructions. It's to be delivered in pristine
condition to the Baroness of Seacrest Cliffs.
I'm going to gain three gold and two feats of
markmanship. So I'll do that first. I've got
a neoprene mat and a dice tray set up here. So
you're going to hear me when I roll my dice a
little bit. Um, but hopefully the sound's dampened
quite a bit so that it doesn't get too annoying.
All right. I'm supposed to also pull cards 88,
89, and 90. Let's take a look at what those cards
are. Number 88 is my character card. So I can
finally see myself. I can add my three feats
of marksmanship to my tracker here on the card.
I'm going to throw my two gold up in the upper
left -hand corner. And that's that. So we're
going to move on to card number 88, Slingshot
and Pebbles. This slingshot is your most treasured
possession, carved from the heart of a thousand
-year -old pine. With this slingshot, you can
roll the black wild shot dice at the end of a
set. Place in your inventory. I have done that,
and let's see what the last card is, number 90.
Mysterious Package. You pick up the package and
turn it over. It's wrapped in paper with some
light markings here and there. You don't recognize
them. As much as you'd like to give it a shake,
you don't. Well, not yet. Wonder if you will
ever know its contents? For now, it will remain
a mystery. Place in your inventory. So that's
also going to go in my inventory next to my character
card here. Awesome. Then I have a choice. I can
either go to the merchant. For card eight, or
go to breakfast for card two? I feel like I'm
going to go to breakfast. There should be time
to go to the merchant later, I think. All right.
For breakfast. Before embarking into the wild,
you decide a hearty breakfast at the Hungry Hog
is in order. You haven't eaten since yesterday,
and your stomach is growling. Fair folly? Fairfally,
the barkeep asks what you'll have. I have a choice
of dried fruit and nuts, porridge and coffee,
or bread and buttermilk. I'm a huge fan of breakfast.
I don't think it should be taken lightly. The
dried fruit and nuts is completely off the table.
Porridge and coffee sounds really good, but so
does bread and buttermilk. I'm gonna go... You
know what? I'm gonna go against what I would
do. which is bread and buttermilk, and I'm going
to go for the porridge and coffee and move to
card four. And reason being, Hildegard is a little
bit more svelte than me and seems to be going
on a delivery run of sorts, and so I don't want
to get bogged down by just eating bread and buttermilk.
So I'm going to go to card four. Behind the curtain,
you slurp up the last of your porridge. Down
the rest of your coffee and pay up. Pay one gold
for breakfast. So that leaves me with two now.
You barely get out the door when a stout man
with odd spectacles blocks your path. You're
late. Get to the wagon. My two choices are to
play along or, huh, I'm not doing that. I don't
know. I feel like that's a bad choice. I feel
like that one's going to... get me in trouble
if i go along with this dude that i don't know
um so i'm gonna i'm gonna huh i'm not doing that
and i'm gonna jump to card number 15 all right
so it looks like i am unfortunately getting attacked
by the card peddler uh the spectacle man won't
take no for an answer wait wait wait you must
take this he demands then reaches into his jacket
pocket you are alarmed by his forcefulness All
right, so it's my first combat already of the
game. I have to get one bullseye total. My accuracy
is three, and this game accuracy lets you know
how many dice you can attempt to throw at once.
And I only have a set of one, which means I essentially
only get one chance to roll these dice. Here
we go. I, in fact, did... succeed i got two dots
and a full circle uh on this i could create a
bullseye with a dot and a circle this game does
have some really cool combat mechanics after
you throw the dice you can finesse them oh let
me actually i gotta throw my special shot dice
here before i get too ahead of myself and i got
a blank space so nothing good nothing bad just
completely neutral so that's really good i also
take one feat of marksmanship as a bonus having
an additional dot on my throw it's just a special
thing about this card so i hit i'm going to go
to card number 27 i haven't played this game
probably i'd have to say in a year or better
so i don't ever remember taking this path or
dealing with this person before which i'm pretty
excited about i've made it to chapter four several
times in this game and have died really soon
into that I think the only chapter I haven't
died in is chapter one, so hopefully this isn't
bringing us down that path, because that would
be pretty depressing. But I don't remember taking
this path or dealing with this guy in the past
either, so hopefully that'll prove to be something
beneficial. All right, card number 27. A scrap.
Outrageous. You could have broken my glasses.
An unsavory sort like yourself doesn't deserve
this, but I do what she tells me. Take it, please.
I haven't got all day. The little man waves the
card in your face like he's giving a stray dog
a scrap of meat. I have no idea what you're saying.
What's this about? You question. I'm old, I'm
tired, and I'm about to leave. You have to the
count of three. I have the choice of accepting
the card or resisting. I don't know. I feel like
it could be a boon of sorts. It probably won't
be, but I'm going to pull it. I'm going to go
to number 59. And I'm going to see what this
is all about. 59, that really jumps me up quite
a bit. So I've got card 59 in front of me. However,
it also says pull card number 86. So let's take
a look at what that is. The Mark of the Hawk.
You feel as if your senses are heightened. In
some instances going forward, you may be able
to use the Mark of the Hawk ability. Place in
your inventory. shit okay i don't know what the
mark of the hawk ability is yet but i'm eager
to find out so i've got that in my inventory
as well i think i'm doing pretty good so far
let's see what uh card number 59 has for us rations
it's setting in you're about to leave the gray
oaks maybe one more stop at the mercantile i
told you i told you i'd be able to go back to
visit the merc pull cards 93 94 95 unless already
purchased Yeah, I'm going to go to the mercantile
shop. I'm just going to see what's up. So we're
going to pull a card 93, 94, and 95. Okay, I
can either get a grappling rope, a chestnut popper,
or an enchanted boda bag, which is one of those
like wineskin kind of things. So the enchanted
boda bag is two gold. Mensos, the Grey Oak's
best leather worker, has been crafting these
for 50 years. Water placed inside will always
remain cool and fresh. This one looks like it's
seen some action. Okay, let's check out what
a chestnut popper is. Brisket, the store owner,
beams as you look over a nondescript chestnut
on a leaf. What's this, you ask? A chestnut popper,
handed over to me by mistake during, ahem, a
trade. You'd best not know the details. It can
be used to... If purchased, place in your inventory.
That's only one gold. No clue what it does. Or
the grappling rope is the last item. The rope
has a sharp set of barbs on the end to climb
up and down when hooked. Handy, indeed. But that
is, unfortunately, three gold, so that automatically
disqualifies this grappling rope. I feel like
either of these two things are going to come
in handy, but I don't want to spend all my money,
so I am going to buy the chestnut popper. Whatever
it does, add that to my inventory. That's going
to leave me with one gold. And I guess I'm going
to set the shop stuff aside and go back to card
number 59. You're approached by a shriveled up
woman who looks like a date left to dry in the
sun. You there, you a fisherman? She asks. On
occasion, you say, off guard. Well then, I know
a place you can catch something for both of us.
A little fishing might not be a bad idea. I have
the option to say sure, show me the place, or
decline. I would rather fish alone. Uh, I really
like fishing. You can usually learn something
from everybody, so I'm just going to move on
to card number 60. You've got the touch. The
partially mummified woman leads you across Edgewater
Bridge. What an awful thing to say about someone.
I've tried here. Nothing bites, you groan. I
need someone with strong arm, the right touch,
to cast all the way out into those cattails.
I can't reach them myself. She hands you a fishing
pole. The lure is an odd black stone, and it's
heavy. I only have one choice to move on to the
next card. Okay, here goes. Card 61. It is a
battle card. Looks like I'm battling some cattails.
I need to get five bullseyes. which is a lot
of bullseyes. I get four dice to try to do so,
and four attempts. If I can get six bullseyes,
I can get a bonus feat of marksmanship, which
would be pretty cool, but we'll see what happens
first. We'll cross that bridge when we get to
it. I do have three feats of marksmanship already,
so I do have some positive effects I could take
if I want to. But I might hold on to those. I
think they're pretty important. So let's see
what I can do here in the cattails. Okay, with
my first roll, I only got one dice that matches
what I can use for a bullseye. So out of four,
I'm going to keep just the full circle one. I'm
going to go ahead and finesse my shot. I'm going
to keep that one, but I'm going to finesse my
shot, which means I can choose three others to
throw again. I managed to get three pieces that
I can use. Two are just the half circles. One
is the half circle with a half a dot in the center.
So I'm like halfway there. I'm going to keep
that black dice as well as the white circular
dice. Still, that one's already locked in, so
I can change that if I wanted to. But let's see
what I can do in these next two dice here. All
right, I got the other side of one of those black
circles, so I was able to complete one bullseye.
I'm going to finesse my shot for the last time
here with my last die, and I wasn't able to use
anything. So right now I have one bullseye. I'm
going to put down a marker, and I have three
more attempts to do so. Actually, before I fully
count that one, I've got to roll my shot dice
again. That's a blank. That's awesome. All right,
so four more. Bullseyes to go. Three more attempts.
I've got one complete bullseye set here, so I'm
going to keep those two dice. I'm going to re
-roll two of them to finesse my shot further.
Alright, oh boy, I got 50 % of one and 50 % of
another. I'm going to go ahead and try to re
-roll my single white circular die. And I wasn't
able to. make anything happen there yet let's
roll the shot die another blank side so that's
great so that's two bullseyes i've got two more
chances left i really need to pick up two bullseyes
in one of these rounds to make the last round
a little bit easier my first throw i was able
to get another complete bullseye set and i have
two other dice one blank one's just a half circle
i'm gonna finesse those two And I got one more
full circle. So I just need another dot to complete
that bullseye to kind of make it look like a
target. And I wasn't able to get it that time.
I'm going to roll my shot die. Oh, and it actually
removed one of my bullseyes. So it's going to
cancel out the one that I did roll. So I'm three
chances in right now with two bullseyes. I need
to make something pretty big happen. The first
thing I'm going to do, I'm going to spend one
of my feats of marksmanship and I'm going to
add an additional shot die to this set. So I'm
going to roll a five and we're going to start
there. I got one bullseye and three dots. I'm
going to reroll two of those dots. I got a second
bullseye, and that's where I'm going to stop
because rolling one's not going to do anything
for me. Unfortunately, I do still have to roll
my shot die. That's a blank side, so I just got
two more bullseyes. I know this is my fourth
shot at it, and four doesn't do it for me. So
I'm going to spend my last two feats of marksmanship
and get an additional set. on this roll i'm now
all out of feats of marksmanship which they're
not the easiest things to come by so i'm hoping
i can actually get two bullseyes on this and
hit that bonus but we'll see back down to four
dice let's see i just want to get a something
good on this set all right i got just a single
lone dot which just needs a full circle around
it and i got a half of a black target finished
already so i'm gonna re -roll two of these dice
i'm gonna finesse them and i did manage to get
a full circle so i did get my fifth hit which
is great i should pass the card hopefully my
shot dice doesn't screw me let's see uh my last
dice didn't come up and get me that sixth hit
but that's all right let's just see oh shit i
actually rolled a full bullseye on my on my wild
shot dice so i actually did get six which is
fantastic. So I'm going to take one feat of marksmanship
back and take a look at the card. You take the
beaten up fishing rod and give it a shake. It
feels good enough, solid and balanced. You'll
give it a try. I sure did. I'm going to move
on to card number 62, which says catch. And I
got the tin. The lure plops down into the water
near the cattails. You feel a tug and the line
pulls. You have it. Reel it in, she says excitedly.
It doesn't feel like anything alive, more like
a lost boot or a tree branch. You reel in an
old tin. Give it here! The woman snatches it
and pries it open. She dumps a handful of gold
coins onto the ground and begins counting. Yes,
it's all there! She pulls off the fishing lure.
This is yours. For one gold, you'll want it.
If you pay one gold, place the magnet lure in
your inventory. I have one gold. I feel like
I'd like this. So I'm going to pay that last
gold. I'm in a pretty shitty spot, actually,
with my feats of marksmanship and gold at this
point. Told you I make some pretty bad decisions.
But I'm going to put that magnet lure in my pocket.
And then I have two choices. I'd like to catch
an actual fish or I'm done fishing. I'd like
to catch an actual fish. So I'm going to go on
and check out card number 63. It's called Tolog's
Tackle. you head down to the tackle shop to buy
some bait. You'll need it to fish. Talog, I have
no idea if I'm pronouncing that right. Talog
keeps a spare fishing rod for you behind the
counter. We've got three different colored blocks
here for a horsefly, a whistle cricket, and a
stink worm. The horsefly is free. There's one
in stock. The whistle cricket, there's only one
in stock, and it costs one gold. And the stink
worm... Costs two gold and only has one in stock.
So you can buy your bait up to three. Take a
cube of the associated color, red, black, or
gold. If you're broke, horseflies are free. Place
the fishing rod in your inventory. Alright, so
I got a flimsy fishing rod. My inventory is fucking
stacked up. And I only have one option. Well,
I'm going to take my red block for my horsefly
lure. And move on to card number 64, which is
called Fishing Lessons. Pull the three fishing
cards. Cards 91. Shuffle and place them face
down. Okay, I'm going to do that first before
reading the rest of the card. You can place one
or more bait cubes, well I can't, I only have
one, on the fishing spot cards you would like
to cast on. Alright, so I've got one. I'm going
to place this on the one to the far right. Roll
as you would during an encounter and attempt
to meet the conditions indicated on the fishing
spot cards. If those conditions are met, you've
got a bite. Turn over the card. If the bait you
used is listed, you have successfully caught
a fish. Only one player can fish per fishing
spot. All right, so the conditions for this are
I need one bullseye. I have an accuracy of four,
so I can roll four dice, but I only get one set
to do it in. So I'm going to roll my four die.
And for this one, I can only use a full white
circle, a center circle dot, and a half white
circle to make my bullseye. So I got two full
white circles, a black half target, and a half
circle. So I'm going to keep just one of those
full white circles so that I can maximize the
number of dice I'm going to throw. I didn't get
anything. So I'm going to keep just one of those
because I have to in order to finesse. I'm going
to roll my last two die here. I got a second
half of a circle, so I have two full circles
now. I just need a dot. I'm in search of a dot.
Please give me a dot. I did not get a dot. My
only two options for my last feat of marksmanship
are to add one shot die onto the next set, or
may re -roll a wild shot on a set. So I'm going
to roll my wild shot right now, see if I get
that bullseye. I didn't. It would cancel that
out. I've got two chances to roll a bullseye
on my wild shot die. So I am going to spend that
last feat of marksmanship. This is probably going
to prove to be foolish. I'm just fishing, but
I really like fishing. So I'd like to be good
at it. I'm never good at it in video games or
card games or anything. Let's reroll that wild
shot die. And I got a blank side, so I don't
get it anyways. No fish for me. What a waste
of supplies. I fish and then leave the gray oaks.
So I got skunked and I move on to card number
66. I'm at a crossroads. The road ahead forks
into town. An old sign marks Hickory Hills to
the right and Pointy Peaks to the left. Both
will eventually lead you to Crow Falls and from
there to the coast, but you're not sure which
to take. A crow lands on the right side of the
sign. Maybe the crow knows the way. But then
another lands on the left. Then another. They
start to caw at you and ruffle their feathers
furiously. These birds look angry. One of them
leaps into there and in your direction, the crows
attack. Advance card number 67 and 68. So let's
pull both of those and see what they look like.
Oh, they have a bunch of just wild crows on one
card and Hildegard on another. So it looks like
I am battling, which might be a mini boss or
something at this point. In this, it is a much
different type of battle than a regular battle.
I have a card which has my character on it and
a bunch of symbols that correspond with dice
below. And then on the other card, I have the
crows, which requires seven bullseyes to defeat.
There's a couple different combinations of dice
I can use to do that, but I feel like I'm actually
in like a pretty large... battle right now my
accuracy is four so i can roll four dice their
accuracy is three so it looks like they're gonna
roll against me and try to match the symbols
on my card in order so let's give it a try i
wish i didn't use all my feats of marksmanship
before this but hopefully i can win and get some
cool stuff from that all right here it goes all
right my first throw I got two dice that correspond
with the combo of dice that I can use. I'm going
to keep the one half target. I just got a second
half target, so that's awesome. So that's one
bullseye already. I believe this is just a fight
to the death, which whoever wins first is the
winner. There's no number of sets that this might
take to do so. So I'm going to reroll two die
after getting my first bullseye. All right, I'm
going to call it right there. I didn't get...
I got two dice, only one of them matches, and
it's the dot. And I can't make a bullseye out
of that. So I'm going to take one bullseye marker
and place it on the crow. So I only need to get
another six, which sounds like a lot. I keep
forgetting to roll my wild shot dice. So let's
take a look at what that does for us. I actually
got a second bullseye on that. So I'm going to
place the second bullseye marker on that stupid
crow. So they're actually down to five. So that's
really, really helpful for me. the crows roll
their three die and we do finesse the enemies
hits as well none of their three die match anything
that's on my health tracker here so i'm going
to re -roll two of those i'll keep the circle
so they still are missing out they need to match
the symbols on their die with the symbols on
my character card in turn order i finessed their
shot and they did not get they did not get any
matches so i'm still at full health there i'm
gonna roll my four the crows do not roll a wild
shot dice like i would all right i got two full
white circles i got a dot in the center and a
half circle so i'm gonna keep the half circle
and the dot um i got nothing helpful there so
i'm gonna re -roll one die and finesse it and
I got nothing there either. So let's roll a wild
shot dice. And I got a bullseye on that. That
was helpful. So now I've got three hits on my
crow friends. They've got nothing on me. They
roll three dice. They're going to keep one because
it does match, but it's a ways away on my character
card. So they need to hit theirs in order. I'll
reroll one die. Oh, shit. And they actually did
manage to hit me with that last die. So I have
one wound on my tracker here. And I've got a
total of six slots left, so they'd have to match
six. I'm going to roll my die. And I'm going
to keep my one dice that's got a full half circle
or half target on it. So now I have a black half
target and a white half target. So I'm going
to reroll two die. Neither of those helped. So
roll my last one here. That didn't help as well.
So another not good round for me. And I actually
rolled a red X, which takes one of my hits away,
which is super unfortunate. Wow. They just rolled
three dice and they hit me with every single.
hit. I currently have four out of seven of my
wounds and I've only hit them for two out of
seven of theirs. I'm gonna finesse. I love the
finesse mechanic in this game. I did get one
full bullseye so far. I can reroll one die. I
like it in any game but makes this game a little
bit more complicated which is great so it's not
just a regular choose your own adventure but
it's got you know some good engagement on it
as well so i rolled my wild shot dice and got
another bullseye so i got one bullseye naturally
from rolling my dice and one from that wild shot
die which puts the crows at four out of seven
held the guard and the crows are tied right now
we each got four out of seven the shittiest part
is how many times the crows can hit me in a row
they just got two hits oh shit only one more
and i'm doomed uh they did not get that so i've
got to have a big round if i had kept feats of
strength you can block incoming hits from happening
which would be really helpful for me but uh i
spent all those so which isn't good i got one
full bullseye and a full half target so i'm going
to reroll only one die all right i managed to
get two bullseyes on that so hopefully my wild
shot die cooperates here gives me a third come
on baby and it does all right that's three bullseyes
which puts me at beating the crows and they have
perished so i get an extra feat of strength for
that which is great i really needed that i have
a feeling the crows would have kicked my ass
if they had went one more round And they definitely
would. Their first roll would have killed me.
So I'm super pumped to have beaten those stupid
crows. Let's see where we go from here. Win,
move to card 73. Lose, move to card 69. Alright,
so we're going to 73. That card is called Plucked
Luck. Free of the birds at last, you start plucking
the pointy black feathers out of your hair and
clothes. For a brief moment, you're able to sit
in peace before you hear it. Something or someone
is rustling behind you. My choices are, do you
have conversation card number 13? I do not. Hurling
husks. Rather suddenly, you're hit in the back
of the head by something hard and blunt. The
blow knocks you over. You turn to see a scarecrow,
not 10 feet away, hurling corn husks at you.
This must be an enchantment to ward off those
rabid crows. With all the feathers flying about,
this one must be a little confused. Pull cards
number 96 and 97. Oh, great, this is the same
thing we had to do last time when we fought the
stupid crows. So it seems like we might be in
for another fight. Oh boy, this one's got some
different rules to it. Out of the two cards,
I have one with a diagram that has a corn husk
in the middle of it. It says, wild tame flub
hit. in a pattern so let's set that aside here
corn of chaos rules look out the scarecrow is
throwing corn missiles layout cards number 75
so i've got 75 that's another character card
for me and 76 as pictured and then i've got another
scarecrow guy yeah he looks pretty intimidating
he's hurling like corn missiles that have the
bullet effects from the matrix on there so he's
going to go opposite of me and then my little
diagram card that says wild tame flub and hit
on it is going to go in the middle of us at the
end of each of hildegard's sets turn card number
97 counterclockwise it starts with wild which
i have up there count Each complete circulation
of card number 97 with a cube for each circulation
add plus one to hit. Alright, so every four turns
he's going to get an additional one. That sucks.
The status effect listed will affect Hildegard's
set. During your turn, you may opt to use any
bullseye combination on the Corn of Chaos. It
can be removed after three bullseyes. The face
-off ends when Hildegard or the Scarecrow is
defeated. So if I hit the Corn of Chaos three
times, then I can remove it completely. But that
Scarecrow's got a health bar of seven, which
matches those stupid crows. He also has an accuracy
of three. I have an accuracy of four again, and
I have seven health boxes myself. Let's see how
we do here. Before we get started, though, I'm
going to read a little bit about those four status
effects. Flub, minus one shot die on the next
set, so that really sucks. Tame, no wild shot
on the next set. Graze, no finesse on the next
set. That one's going to really suck. And hit.
Hit on face -off. Hildegard's hit meter. So on
hit, I take an extra one. So there's only tame,
flub, hit, and wild. Oh, and wild is a positive
for me where I may reroll a wild shot on a set.
So that could be a positive. That could be a
negative. Very cool. I have one feat of marksmanship
left. I feel like I'm going to save it for as
long as I can. I may use it to block an attack
if I'm getting close to getting beat, but I'm
going to hold out for a little bit. So wild's
on top. So at the end of my attack, I'm going
to take a second wild shot. Which is great. I'm
going to start out with four die. So here I go.
It said I may use any combination. To hit the
wild card. Or the status effect card. Did not
say the same about the scarecrow. So I have to
match some symbols on there. I have one that
matches. It's a half target. So I'm going to
finesse that actually. I got. Just one helpful
die there. So I'm going to reroll two. I got
no helpful die there. So I'm going to reroll
one. And I completely missed. Zero bullseyes
for me on that. Rolling two wild shots. That's
one bullseye. So that's awesome. I was incorrect.
I'm not going to roll a second shot die. I'm
going to reroll a wild shot die. So I got one
bullseye on the scarecrow. He's got an accuracy
of three. So let's see. He matched two down the
line, but I still need to see if... Oh, he clobbered
me with all three. So that's a bad start for
me. We're going to turn that card counterclockwise.
So he automatically gets a hit on me. That's
terrible. I've got three. I'm on my last throw
here. I finessed my way to one hit. Let's confirm
that with our wild shot die. We got a blank.
so scarecrow is currently winning three hits
to two both of us out of seven and he actually
does another hit to me because of the corn of
chaos which gets spun around to the flub side
i only have three dice this turn i got two possible
hit combinations and i managed to get a hit on
one of those so let's see if i can manage a second
hit with my wild shot die i do not I get a blank,
so that's three for me. Four for the Scarecrow
on me. I'm going to use my last feat of marksmanship
and block one of my tiles so that he can't just
one -shot me. Because we have a ways to go with
this Badman Majamba. So he managed to match the
first one. Oh, yeah, good thing I did that. I
managed to block one spot. he did hit me though
for the first one so he's up i've only got two
hp left to his four and we're at the tame section
of the card of chaos which means i cannot finesse
in the shot let's just hope i get i got one bullseye
which is awesome i'm gonna roll my wild die it's
a blank side so i throw a fourth one up there
oh boy i really hope that the scarecrow does
not take me out on these hits so far no matches
so far no matches all right i survived another
round against the scarecrow and we're back to
the wild side i i really hope i can take him
out right here would be helpful i've got two
matching die so i can roll two more That match,
I didn't. We'll finesse one more time. I matched
one, so that's great. That's my fifth one. We'll
roll the wild die. No change on that one. It
is currently five to five out of both of our
only seven HPs. Oh, I could re -roll my last
wild shot, so let's do that first. Ah, another
void. Nothing to going counterclockwise, hoping
that he doesn't... get any hits in because he
might wipe me out he's gonna gonna hit me automatically
because of the corner of chaos card nothing yet
nothing yet nothing yet nothing so he misses
all three times again but i do take a hit so
i'm down to my last one i really need something
good to happen this time i got one bullseye i
need two left i've got two halves of good dice
here oh boy i don't know what to keep and what
to throw i'm gonna keep i guess the other half
of the bullseye and i managed to get the last
half of the bullseye that i needed so i take
two more bullseyes and i put them on the scarecrow
hitting him for seven as long as my wild shot
die doesn't screw me here it actually gives me
another bullseye so that's awesome getting an
eighth one doesn't do anything for me but on
a win i actually get five feats of strength back
which is tremendous because i have none the maximum
that you can have is six anyways so i'm feeling
good right now i just beat the stupid scarecrow
right after getting attacked by the stupid crows
i feel like i'm more of the scarecrow than he
is so let's see where do we go when we win we
go to card number 82 that card is the pummeled
pumpkin You watch in satisfaction as the scarecrow's
pumpkin head bursts into an explosion of orange
goop and seeds. Its tattered burlap arms drop
lifeless to its side. The fray has left you covered
from head to toe in crow feathers and pumpkin
innards, and you didn't pack any extra clothes.
It's been a rough morning, but it could have
been worse. After wiping yourself down, you notice
a note nailed to the scarecrow's post. If you
would like to read it, pull card number 84. Oy,
uh, I feel like I shouldn't. Just because, like
I said, I make a lot of bad decisions, and I've
made a ton of them so far. We just barely made
it out of some of those fights, although we did
have to fight both the mini -boss of the crows
and the boss right after that. I felt like I
was in a FromSoft game with how cruel that was.
But I think I'm going to read the card on the
scarecrow anyways. Maybe it'll give us something
good. Bog's Gift. To whoever is lucky enough
to read this, it's unfortunate for me, but fortunate
for you, that I have stumbled into incurable
misfortune. During my pursuits here in the hills,
I contracted crow fever. Due to this, and my
lack of lineage, I leave my most precious family
heirloom to you. On the path through the pointy
peaks, you'll come across the Oak of Elders.
I've hung it there. Please be respectful to the
others that rest. A warning! Keep away from the
crows. My enchantments haven't worked. They're
poisoned and will give you the fever as they
did me. It takes hold of your mind and drives
you mad. Sincerely, Vogue. Place Vogue's will
in your inventory. Will do. Alright, and then
my options after that on the pummeled pumpkin
card are head to Hickory Hills or the Pointy
Peaks. Well, this dude just gave me his will.
which is at the Pointy Peaks, so I'd feel pretty
discouraged if I didn't go that way. I feel like
the game wants me to go that way. I feel like
it sounds more dangerous than Hickory Hills.
Hickory Hills sounds like a nice place to get
some smoked sausages. But I'm going to go with
the Pointy Peaks. I'm going to see Vog's gift
through here. I hope what he said about the crows
isn't... real i hope i don't like get sick or
something further down the road uh but we'll
cross that bridge when we get to it so i'm gonna
head to card number 104 which brings us into
chapter two actually so we'll head a little bit
further and see what the pointy peaks has in
store for us jingle bells the trail follows a
creek up into the mountains from here you can
see the brake line a fresh coat of snow speckles
the pointy peaks it's a magnificent sight you
hear ringing A seasoned gentleman with bells
tied onto him from head to toe is coming your
way. With way too much enthusiasm, he scurries
toward you, arms raised. Oh my god, I've got
just the thing for you! Pull card 196. 196 is
far back there. Hope it doesn't have us skip
the whole chapter. Wild game. While you're out
in the wilderness, it pays to keep your eyes
open for wild game. Pull and shuffle cards 197.
There are four of them. And place them in a separate
stack face down. That seems like a little bit
of an odd card to get from this guy in Jingle
Bells. But I do enjoy me a good hunt as well.
Okay, I've placed them in a separate stack face
down. Let's continue the card. This is the Wild
Game Deck. Pull a card from this deck whenever
you encounter the symbol above. The Wild Game
Deck is only used in Chapter 2. Good luck and
happy hunting. All right, so it looks like we
can do some hunting. Going back to the Jingle
Bells card, it does have a wildlife symbol on
it, a wild game symbol. So I'm going to flip
that over, actually, because we did encounter
it, and I came across a nasty -ass field rat
who looks like he is attacking me. So I'm going
to gear up here to battle. Once again, I have
an accuracy of three sets. Number two, I need
to get two bullseyes. Three gets me a bonus.
I do match one full bullseye. I have no sense
in rerolling that third die. My wild shot die
doesn't do anything negative for me. So I hit
that route for one bullseye so far. Let's see
if I can get a second one here. I got a dot.
I'm going to reroll two other die. Neither of
them are any good. I'm going to reroll this third
die and see if I can get... I did not get what
I needed on that. Let's see. I actually remove
a die. But I'm going to use two feats of marksmanship
and just buy my last hit there and beat this
rat. So I'm going to add this field rat pelt
to my inventory. My inventory is stacked at the
moment. Um, going back to the jingle bells card.
Now looking at my options, I can either, uh,
I have a touch of leprosy be gone or let me guess
a bell. Uh, the first one's icky. So I'm going
to say, let me guess a bell. I'm going to move
to card one 10 card says bells and whistles.
The man pulls an old bell off his beard, gives
it a quick rattle, then hands it to you. This
will scare off local predators. Wear it on your
belt. Let it do the work. That'll be two gold.
Now, wait a minute. I have something far better
than a lousy bell, says another voice. A woman
walks up behind the man. Don't listen to this
fool. He's been out in the woods too long. I
have a whistle, see? She holds up a small curved
bone. Though this one dangers near. Three gold,
please. I, unfortunately, have no gold to pay
anybody. So... That only leaves me with two options.
Decline and head towards the stream or decline
and head up the trail instead I'm gonna decline
and head my ass up the trail Which brings me
to card number 123 before I do that this card
also has a wild game symbol on it So I'm gonna
flip that shit over and a golden pheasant. This
is a pretty dope looking little animal I gotta
get two bullseyes. I have an accuracy of three
so I can throw three shot dies but only one set
to try to do it in so Let's see what I can do.
Alright, I did not get anything, so I'll reroll
two. I mean, I've got 50 % of what I need. And
the last one does not give me what I need. And
my wild shot die also does not help out. So the
golden pheasant flees away from me. That's disappointing.
So let's move to card 123. The card is Troubled
Waters. You reach Peak Falls and come to an impasse.
Heavy rainfall has wreaked havoc on the area.
A stream, that's now a river, blocks your path,
and the bridge once here has been swept away.
Downstream, you can see the shards of a structure
jutting out of the water. You're glad this delivery
wasn't assigned to you last week during the storm.
There's a wall of rock to your left, a cliff
to your right, and a treacherous river in the
middle. Do you climb up over the cliff, wade
through the river, ride through the river? If
Mildred is acquired, Mildred looks like a horse,
which... I do not have, or use the grappling
rope if required, which I also could not afford.
So my only options are to climb up over the cliff
and wade through the river. Both sound super
dangerous. I guess I'm going to try to climb
up over the cliff. I feel like that's a bad idea,
which will bring me to card number 136. Before
I move on though this card also has a wild game
symbol on it, which is super dope So I flip that
that is the Twilight Squirrel. I have a accuracy
of three sets number two, which is great I have
to get two bullseyes a third will get me a feat
of marksmanship. There are only very few Combinations
that will get me a bullseye here However, I have
half of one. Let's see. Can I get the other I
did not Hit die is blank. So no. Nothing good
there. Reroll. Missing with all three. Got 50
% of one. And there's one die. Let's see if we
can get it done with our wild game die. And we
did not. We missed out. So the twilight squirrel
goes fucking setting off further into the woods.
Which brings us to the ledge. We reach a ledge
that leads to the other side of the river. Off
to the left is a nest. Do you check out the nest?
Or do you climb down to the other side? If you
have Mildred the Mule, discard her now. She is
unable to climb the cliff and must be left behind.
Glad I don't have to leave Mildred behind. I'm
just going to climb over the other side. I don't
feel like getting into a griffin's nest or some
shit is going to be great. So I'm going to head
to card number 150. I've made it to the campgrounds.
It asks if I used the grappling rope. I did not.
And I do not have to discard Mildred the Mule
either because I don't have her. With the river
at your back, you continue to climb until your
legs give out. Time to rest. To the left is an
open meadow, edged with wild berry bushes. On
your right, there are signs of game. You spot
rabbit tracks and scout from something else you
can't identify. Camp in the glade or camp near
the critter tracks. This card has a wild game
symbol on it. It would be our last one. A Cali
Greyhound. It looks like a dog with chicken feet
and a weird tail. And it's got horns. It looks
pretty sick. All the artwork in this game is
really, really cool. It's almost worth checking
it out just for that. So I have an accuracy of
3. I have 3 sets to accomplish 4 bullseyes. 5th
one gets me some bonuses. I got half of what
I need. I got one full bullseye, so I'm going
to leave that there. Roll my wild shot dice.
Nothing there. So I got one of those bullseyes.
Here's my second set. Nothing so far. Reroll
two. Reroll the last one. And that's a second
bullseye. Let's try to get our wild shot die.
Alright, so that's two. I got one set left to
get another two. I don't think I could even accomplish
getting three. I'm going to re -roll two of those
die, so I'm going to re -roll one of those die,
and I did get a third one, so let's re -roll,
or let's roll a wild shot die, and I got the
fourth bullseye, so I am going to take the Cali
Greyhound pelt and add that to my inventory.
I don't know what any of these things are going
to do, but now I've got a rat and a Cali Greyhound
pelt in my inventory. I think it'd be safer to
camp in the Glade rather than buy the Critter
Tracks. Maybe I'm just being risk adverse. So
we've exhausted our wild game deck at this point.
Also, just a note. The card says, thank the berries.
A cold breeze picks up at your ears and cheeks
as you attempt to start a fire. You rub your
hands together, then stoop over and blow on the
kindling. A flame leaps and the fire catches
hold. The smell of burnt hickory wafts up your
nose. There's nothing like the primal comfort
of a campfire. As you sit down to get comfortable,
a berry bush in front of you shakes. and twigs
begin to snap. My two options are to ring the
bell or blow the whistle, if required, which
not acquired, or I got nothing. What now? Moved
to cards 154 and 156. That's never a good sign.
Oh no, yeah, it's me. I have a character card,
which seems to advance, and a gray grizzly bear.
And that grizzly bear looks ferocious. So in
order to find out how I fare against this gray
grizzly bear, you'll have to subscribe to the
top tier of our Patreon, which goes live June
17th. You'll be able to subscribe to either tier
one, which will give you an additional bonus
episode per month. And to kick off that tier,
we are going to the prologue of We Deal in Lead,
the season finale arc of our first season, featuring
John as Betty Bob Cocker, Mikey as Cal McRae,
and Rebecca as Jessie Jane. And the second tier
of our Patreon will feature the continuation
of Spires and Hildegard, which we played today.
So please go check that out. That's at, which
is at patreon .com backslash wolfbeardpodcasts
with Wolfbeard Games being our game company and
sponsor. So please, if you've enjoyed today's
episode, go support us on that. Once again, that's
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