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| Art by the game designer: Nick Hayes. |
Before we get to the game(s), I also was on the hunt for some kneadatite (aka green stuff or GS). After having done some repaints of a few toys and game pieces, some of which I have featured here, I decided to give a crack at modifying some sculpts to make them useful for other games; I bought some 100 Heroclix for this purpose. Mainly I'm thinking figures for Pulp Alley and another game that I regret not buying at a thrift store some time ago (I'll write about that one later). Looking at the modding community online, many of them use green stuff to make their modifications or even to model figures from scratch. There are other putties out there, but the green stuff seems to be the most popular.
So, pricing out green stuff online, it was looking like an expensive proposition. On Amazon.ca (not known for very competitive pricing in the first place, never mind any kind of selection, but slightly easier for me on the receiving end than ordering from a U.S. company) I found a few suppliers asking over $30 for a couple of ounces of green stuff, if they disclosed an amount at all. Researching further, I discovered a post mentioning a FLGS in Calgary that they would recommend checking. Claiming the title of "largest game store in the world", The Sentry Box was certainly expansive and even a bit overwhelming. But I got the green stuff, for less than advertised on amazon.com even, and a pack of card sleeves. It was a lot of fun looking at all the miniatures, which seemed to be priced on par with anything I've seen online.
While the shopping and browsing were great, the food I ate that day (not at the Sentry Box) did me in. I spent most of the next day in the hotel room alternately reading, visiting the bathroom, catching up on the sleeping I didn't do over night, watching back-to-back episodes of Storage Wars, and playing Utopia Engine: Beast Hunter.
The Game
Now, I've played the first offering, simply titled Utopia Engine, in which the player is attempting to build the title device. In Beast Hunter, the player is someone on the run who wants to hide in a village, but must defeat the three terrible beasts that are harassing it in order to gain the villagers' trust and remain in the village.
In brief, either version of the game is basically described as a selection of mini-games. Each mini-game is an exercise in some method of dice roll management. It all comes together into an engaging story as the game is played out. Beast Hunter continues a few of the same mechanics from the original, adding some new ones to the mix. According to comments by other players, there's some pattern one may follow that allows them to win most of the time, but I haven't found it yet. After umpteen total plays of the original (a few years ago, which I never won) and Beast Hunter during my stay in Calgary, I only managed to finally beat Beast Hunter as I waited on Jenni to finish her last session. The game got me really annoyed at it as it killed me off over and over and over again during those days of playing. Being sick and sleep-deprived may have been a contributing factor as well. Ah, but finally winning was such a momentous occasion, I took a picture of the finished sheet. I was so close to losing this one, too.
The game is divided into days, and one chooses one action to do each day: build a tower, search one of the areas that surround the village, attempt to craft a special item, or rest to recover health points.
How the win went down
Day 1: An early find of the lair of the Giant of the Peaks and the rare material silver allowed me the opportunity to craft Silver Plate, which permanently reduced beast attack ranges by one. Also found some stone and encountered blood wolves which were defeated to gain me a beast pelt.
Day 2: I attempted crafting the Silver Plate armour, just barely succeeding.
Day 3: Terrible beast attack (don't remember which one attacked). Lost one hut. Went to confront the Giant before I lost the Sudden Clarity (+1 to attack range) in the Halebeard Peak Region. Luckily, the beast was cowed (which reduces its attack range) and I was able to defeat it handily. Defeating a Terrible Beast wins the favour of one of the village elders, I chose Epiphoros, gaining me two HP.
Day 4: Searched the coastal caverns and found the lair of the Dweller in the Tides. I didn't dare confront it with the Madness modifier in place there (+2 beast health). Also found some cord and fought a shell-cracker troll and took its oily meat.
Day 5: Built the southwest tower.
Day 6: Terrible beast attack - rolled the Giant's number, but he's dead, so no attack. I searched the Scar, tracking the Burning Man, but not finding its lair. Got some tar and encountered hollow birds, collecting some of their blood after taking them out.
Day 7: Rested
Day 8: Sudden Clarity was now active in the Scar, so I went back to search. Found a random encounter, which turned out to be an ash troll, I ended up with wounds and troll ash, which I used to make the reviving dose. Then I found the lair and with the Ambush bonus, I had to take it. The Burning man also came up cowed, but between it and the ash troll, I took a bunch of damage, including grievous wounds (reduce max HP). I chose the favour of Nikandros to recharge the balancing blade item I had used.
At this point I decided to take a chance and go after the Dweller as well. I think my four remaining HP coupled with the reviving dose and all the available re-rolls and free attack (recharged balance blade item) still available bolstered my feelings of invulnerability. The Dweller turned out to be cruel, meaning it did grievous damage on rolling ones. You can see the end result in the image (though all the determination points should be marked out). I fought the Dweller of the Tides while it was in a state of madness (giving it 2 extra HP). I used up every every re-roll available to me, the balancing blade, and the reviving dose to bring down the beast, barely surviving with one HP left.
How he managed to crawl his way back to the village, no-one ever figured out, but two of the village children found Mason slumped against the wall, unconscious under the tower he had helped build only days before.
His wounds should have killed him, but he still breathed. The elders had Mason carried into town and he was cared for by their wives. The wife of Sipporos was a grudging help, as this stranger had not proven himself in her mind, nor in her husband's. But as she sat up to watch Mason on the second night of his unconsciousness, cursing the council for forcing her to do this thing, he started to mutter and ramble about killing the last of the Terrible Beasts that had plagued their village. At first light, men were sent to confirm this unbelievable news. They brought back one of the beast's tentacles to show it was truly dead.
One day, the Blazing Star Regiment arrived at the village. The captain explained they were searching for a fugitive called Mason. The villagers denied any knowledge of a fugitive. The captain ordered his men search the village anyway, but they failed to search the wreckage of the hut most recently destroyed by the terrible beasts almost two weeks prior. Hidden under the remains, the wrongly accused fugitive named Mason quietly lay, listening to the activity around him, still too weak to stand on his own.
After the regiment moved on and Mason was moved to quarters more suitable to recovery. In time, he would recover from his wounds, except for a slight limp. Mason took a different name, in case the Blazing Stars should come again. He also took a wife, the sweet daughter of Halandros, the blacksmith. Mason, now called Dosarros, went on to raise his family of three boys and two girls and to benefit the village with the draughts and items he crafted from the local flora and fauna and the remains of the occasional dangerous beast brought down from the once forbidden valleys.
