Results 1 to 15 of 15
  1. #1
    nice to meet ya! master of read's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    36,272

    Default shadows of brimstone board game

    anyone here play SOB? if so, what core sets do you have?

  2. #2
    Silver Sentinel BeastieRunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    West Coast, USA
    Posts
    15,262

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by master of read View Post
    anyone here play SOB? if so, what core sets do you have?
    Is that the Western RPG dungeon crawl thing?

    It looks really cool and fits a niche I want to see more of in board games (dinosaurs being the other).

    What are the mechanics like?
    "Always listen to the crazy scientist with a weird van or armful of blueprints and diagrams." -- Vibranium

  3. #3
    nice to meet ya! master of read's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    36,272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BeastieRunner View Post
    Is that the Western RPG dungeon crawl thing?

    It looks really cool and fits a niche I want to see more of in board games (dinosaurs being the other).

    What are the mechanics like?
    it is a western dungeon crawl but it also has a japanese version too.

    so you can have a gunslinger and a samurai working together to fight zombies.

    once you know the mechnics, the turns flow well.

  4. #4
    Incredible Member Robotech Master's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    878

    Default

    My friend and I have both the cave core set and forbidden fortress, plus multiple expansions

  5. #5
    Silver Sentinel BeastieRunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    West Coast, USA
    Posts
    15,262

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by master of read View Post
    it is a western dungeon crawl but it also has a japanese version too.

    so you can have a gunslinger and a samurai working together to fight zombies.

    once you know the mechnics, the turns flow well.
    Quote Originally Posted by Robotech Master View Post
    My friend and I have both the cave core set and forbidden fortress, plus multiple expansions
    How does the game play? Do you have an example of the mechanics?
    "Always listen to the crazy scientist with a weird van or armful of blueprints and diagrams." -- Vibranium

  6. #6
    nice to meet ya! master of read's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    36,272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BeastieRunner View Post
    How does the game play? Do you have an example of the mechanics?
    basic set up: you pick your character, name them and gear them up on their character sheet. the fortress/mine/swamp comes with these cut out boards. you start at the entrance and go through the mission.

    1: hold back the darkness. at the start of a new turn, you roll 2d6. this is to go with a small depth track with two markers on the ends of it: one to represent your party and the other, the darkness inside the place. depending on where your party marker determines what you need to roll. example: if the party marker at the start of the marker, you have to roll 7 or higher. if you succeed, then nothing happens. if you fall, the darkness moves up the track. sometimes, if you fail to hold it back, it can trick you drawing a darkness card, creating some kind of effect to benefit the monsters you will have to fight. if you roll doubles, you trigger a depth event that goes along with the number rolled. most of it is damage and sanity stuff.

    2: movement. next, going initiative order (all characters and monster have a initiative stat), you roll a dice to determine how many spaces your character can move. if you roll a 1, however, you earn a grit token. a grit is used to re-roll dice for almost any kind of skill check in the game. grit is hard to come by so you have to be careful with how you use them. once you are done moving, you can do one of two actions: if you are on a map tile, you can "scavenge", which is just you looking around on the ground for useful stuff. you roll 3 dice. if you roll any 6s, you succeed and can draw one card from the scavenge deck. somtimes it can be something good or bad or nothing happens at all. if you enter a door, you can do the second of the two actions, "look through the door". when you do, you draw from the map deck and attach the next section of the map to that piece. then you place down a exploration token. once all party members go, you flip over the token.

    3: exploration. when you flip over that token, it will show you if you found one of the clues to complete the mission, how many doors are in this room, if there is a encount or if you have to fight. if there are less doors shown on the token then there are on the tile, you have to roll to see which way is open and which are dead ends. encounters are skill tests you take when you draw from the encounter deck. you can get gear, XP, dark stones or money from these. if you drew a fight action, you draw from one of the threat decks which are seperated into 4 decks; low, med, high, and epic. the threat will depend on the size of your party.

    4: fight. when fighting, you roll either your melee or ranged dice. (if you have a melee of 3, then you roll 3 dice). each character has a "to hit" stat which tells you what you need to roll to hit your foes. (if you to hit stat is 3, you have to roll 3 or higher). once you confirm that you hit, you can assign the damage and you can spread out the damage to whoever is in range of your attack. for heroes, they have a def stat, meaning what they need to roll to block the hit. (if their stat was 3, then they need 3s or higher). you roll as many dice as the number of hits you take. for enemies, their def stat just means you subtract whatever their def is from your damage roll (if your roll was 4 and the monster's def is 2, then they take 2 damage) if a character has armor, then they have one last chance to block any more hits. you keep this up until all monsters in the room are dead. after you do, you "catch your breath": either roll a d3 to heal that much or just gain a grit. then you can draw a loot card and get some money, swag or dark stone.

    the mission ends when you complete the objective for the scernio. then you get rewards, heal your damage and leave the dungeon.

    then you can go into town to do whatever you want: sell gear you can't use, heal injuries, buy new weapons and gear, gamble for more money etc.

    dark stone is the major loot to get. it sells for a log of cash and can be used to upgrade your weapons and gear for the next mission. but on the flip side, holding darkstone can lead to mutations and madness for your character.

    one great thing about SOB is other world portals. sometimes, portals can open up in the dungeon and it can take you to different worlds across space and time. one minute, you are in a mine in the old west and the next, you are in feudal japan or the pits of hell or an alien dessert.

    that's just the basic gist of the game. there is more to it than that but i don't wanna go to nuts.

  7. #7
    nice to meet ya! master of read's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    36,272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robotech Master View Post
    My friend and I have both the cave core set and forbidden fortress, plus multiple expansions
    i got swamps of death, fofo, the temple of shadows, and a few enemy packs. took advantage of the 3 for 2 sale on the suppliments.

  8. #8
    Silver Sentinel BeastieRunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    West Coast, USA
    Posts
    15,262

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by master of read View Post
    basic set up: you pick your character, name them and gear them up on their character sheet. the fortress/mine/swamp comes with these cut out boards. you start at the entrance and go through the mission.

    1: hold back the darkness. at the start of a new turn, you roll 2d6. this is to go with a small depth track with two markers on the ends of it: one to represent your party and the other, the darkness inside the place. depending on where your party marker determines what you need to roll. example: if the party marker at the start of the marker, you have to roll 7 or higher. if you succeed, then nothing happens. if you fall, the darkness moves up the track. sometimes, if you fail to hold it back, it can trick you drawing a darkness card, creating some kind of effect to benefit the monsters you will have to fight. if you roll doubles, you trigger a depth event that goes along with the number rolled. most of it is damage and sanity stuff.
    D6!? Nice! I wish more games used that because I find it easier to get non-RPGers and non-board gamers in. The game has phases? Nice ... I like that.

    2: movement. next, going initiative order (all characters and monster have a initiative stat), you roll a dice to determine how many spaces your character can move. if you roll a 1, however, you earn a grit token. a grit is used to re-roll dice for almost any kind of skill check in the game. grit is hard to come by so you have to be careful with how you use them. once you are done moving, you can do one of two actions: if you are on a map tile, you can "scavenge", which is just you looking around on the ground for useful stuff. you roll 3 dice. if you roll any 6s, you succeed and can draw one card from the scavenge deck. somtimes it can be something good or bad or nothing happens at all. if you enter a door, you can do the second of the two actions, "look through the door". when you do, you draw from the map deck and attach the next section of the map to that piece. then you place down a exploration token. once all party members go, you flip over the token.
    I like that take on initiative. Does the track change every "round" if you will? Sounds like Mice & Mystics / Stuffed Fables in that regard. I like that style of initiative. The grit sounds like a fun mechanic.

    3: exploration. when you flip over that token, it will show you if you found one of the clues to complete the mission, how many doors are in this room, if there is a encount or if you have to fight. if there are less doors shown on the token then there are on the tile, you have to roll to see which way is open and which are dead ends. encounters are skill tests you take when you draw from the encounter deck. you can get gear, XP, dark stones or money from these. if you drew a fight action, you draw from one of the threat decks which are seperated into 4 decks; low, med, high, and epic. the threat will depend on the size of your party.
    IT HAS A MYSTERY TO SOLVE!? Yes ... !!! Are they like Betrayal at the House on the Hill with stories or more like Dead of Winter with objective-based plot points that players fill in?

    4: fight. when fighting, you roll either your melee or ranged dice. (if you have a melee of 3, then you roll 3 dice). each character has a "to hit" stat which tells you what you need to roll to hit your foes. (if you to hit stat is 3, you have to roll 3 or higher). once you confirm that you hit, you can assign the damage and you can spread out the damage to whoever is in range of your attack. for heroes, they have a def stat, meaning what they need to roll to block the hit. (if their stat was 3, then they need 3s or higher). you roll as many dice as the number of hits you take. for enemies, their def stat just means you subtract whatever their def is from your damage roll (if your roll was 4 and the monster's def is 2, then they take 2 damage) if a character has armor, then they have one last chance to block any more hits. you keep this up until all monsters in the room are dead. after you do, you "catch your breath": either roll a d3 to heal that much or just gain a grit. then you can draw a loot card and get some money, swag or dark stone.
    Sounds a bit over complicated but combat often does when you type it out ... some books are needlessly wordy on that front. I might have to check out a video to see what it is like.

    the mission ends when you complete the objective for the scernio. then you get rewards, heal your damage and leave the dungeon.

    then you can go into town to do whatever you want: sell gear you can't use, heal injuries, buy new weapons and gear, gamble for more money etc.

    dark stone is the major loot to get. it sells for a log of cash and can be used to upgrade your weapons and gear for the next mission. but on the flip side, holding darkstone can lead to mutations and madness for your character.

    one great thing about SOB is other world portals. sometimes, portals can open up in the dungeon and it can take you to different worlds across space and time. one minute, you are in a mine in the old west and the next, you are in feudal japan or the pits of hell or an alien dessert.

    that's just the basic gist of the game. there is more to it than that but i don't wanna go to nuts.
    Sounds super cool.

    Thanks a bunch! I appreciate that you took the time to write all that. Would you consider it fairly entry level or more on the seasoned gamer side of things?
    "Always listen to the crazy scientist with a weird van or armful of blueprints and diagrams." -- Vibranium

  9. #9
    nice to meet ya! master of read's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    36,272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BeastieRunner View Post
    D6!? Nice! I wish more games used that because I find it easier to get non-RPGers and non-board gamers in. The game has phases? Nice ... I like that.



    I like that take on initiative. Does the track change every "round" if you will? Sounds like Mice & Mystics / Stuffed Fables in that regard. I like that style of initiative. The grit sounds like a fun mechanic.



    IT HAS A MYSTERY TO SOLVE!? Yes ... !!! Are they like Betrayal at the House on the Hill with stories or more like Dead of Winter with objective-based plot points that players fill in?



    Sounds a bit over complicated but combat often does when you type it out ... some books are needlessly wordy on that front. I might have to check out a video to see what it is like.



    Sounds super cool.

    Thanks a bunch! I appreciate that you took the time to write all that. Would you consider it fairly entry level or more on the seasoned gamer side of things?
    1: the game comes with a lot of d6s and 1 d8 for specials like with two-handed weapons or when you modify your weapons with dark stone.

    2: initative can change, depending on what goes on in battle. like drawing darkness cards when you fall "hold back the darkness" rolls can affect all of your stats, including initiative. so one round you can be faster than your foes and a bad draw can make you slower.

    3: each adventure has a different objective. like my last one was closing a portal. there are 2 clues to find: first, you have to find the first party that went in before you. when you do, you find their bodies and the monsters that killed them. after beating the monsters, you find the book among the bodies needed to close the portal. the next clue is the portal itself. one party member has to focus on closing the gate while the other protects them from monsters that spawn out of it. if you fall your "darkness" rolls, more monsters spawn in. had a hell of a time with that one.

    4: there are tons of vids on SOB. one-stop co-op shop and meet me at the table have some playthroughs of a couple of missions. al graham has a long running series called "the adventures of hattori hanzo". check out that one too.

    5: it's very beginner friendly. like i said, picking a character and naming them is about as deep as "character creation" you can get. if you are interested, i'd get either swamps of death or forbiddien fortress. most SOB players tend to shy away from "city of ancients".

  10. #10
    Incredible Member Robotech Master's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    878

    Default

    My friend and I maxed out the original starting characters going through City of the Ancients, that alien world with the gas mask people, the Undead Outlaws, the Town expansion, and I think at least one other big expansion.

    We didn't get too far in Forbidden Fortress since we're occupied with the new Sword & Sorcery campaign and Dwellings of Eldervale.

  11. #11
    nice to meet ya! master of read's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    36,272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robotech Master View Post
    My friend and I maxed out the original starting characters going through City of the Ancients, that alien world with the gas mask people, the Undead Outlaws, the Town expansion, and I think at least one other big expansion.

    We didn't get too far in Forbidden Fortress since we're occupied with the new Sword & Sorcery campaign and Dwellings of Eldervale.
    so far, i'm using a small party of two, yojimbo the wandering samurai and far runner the indian tracker. haven't cracked into the temple of shadows.

    also, bought bel'al as a XL boss monster for later.

    there is so much to this game that i wanna get.

    i considered getting S and S but can't find the core set anymore. might have to wait a bit.

  12. #12
    Silver Sentinel BeastieRunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    West Coast, USA
    Posts
    15,262

    Default

    Yikes ... it is like $100 ... worth it?
    "Always listen to the crazy scientist with a weird van or armful of blueprints and diagrams." -- Vibranium

  13. #13
    nice to meet ya! master of read's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    36,272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BeastieRunner View Post
    Yikes ... it is like $100 ... worth it?
    you can get the core sets cheaper on either amazon or miniture market. i rarely go to flying frog's site unless there is a holiday sale.

    but for the content and weeks of fun, it's more than worth it. the only other game that i'd suggest paying that much for is gloomhaven but that's another story.

  14. #14
    Silver Sentinel BeastieRunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    West Coast, USA
    Posts
    15,262

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by master of read View Post
    you can get the core sets cheaper on either amazon or miniture market. i rarely go to flying frog's site unless there is a holiday sale.

    but for the content and weeks of fun, it's more than worth it. the only other game that i'd suggest paying that much for is gloomhaven but that's another story.
    I've played Gloomhaven and thought about getting a copy but this looks more fun. Are the minis hard to put together?

    Also, I found a 2 pack of City of Ancients (looks like Gothic horror to me) and Swamps of Death, both revised versions, for $150.
    Last edited by BeastieRunner; 07-02-2021 at 12:06 PM.
    "Always listen to the crazy scientist with a weird van or armful of blueprints and diagrams." -- Vibranium

  15. #15
    nice to meet ya! master of read's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    36,272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BeastieRunner View Post
    I've played Gloomhaven and thought about getting a copy but this looks more fun. Are the minis hard to put together?

    Also, I found a 2 pack of City of Ancients (looks like Gothic horror to me) and Swamps of Death, both revised versions, for $150.
    just get some rubber cement and a hobby knife or something similar and you'll be good to go.

    that's actually a pretty good deal since both sets do run about 80-100 bucks a piece. so cop it if you can.

    also, before you get them, i'd invest in some storage options because you will need it. i can offer some suggestions if you want.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •