Dungeon Twister: Rookie Mistakes to Avoid

I do a lot of Dungeon Twister demos locally. Sometimes, it's formal - I'll make arrangements with a local game store, and I'll show up with my game, and teach people to play for four or five hours. Sometimes this is in conjunction with a tournament. Other times, I'll be going to a game store to shop or hang out, and someone will point me out as "that Dungeon Twister Guy." Or someone will ask me if I know of a good game.

Either way, I've seen a lot of rookie mistakes in the five and more years I've been playing and teaching this game. Here are the ones I see the most, and a few tips on how to avoid them.  Most of these tips are tailored for the original Base Set, but some of them cover Prison, as well.

There are exceptions to every single one of these guidelines. There are (as ever) extremely good players (including at least one World Champion) who vehemently disagree with my analysis on one or more of these points. Take what I say here with a grain or two of salt.

Trolls on the Starting Line
I like having diversity on my starting line, so I can react to what my opponent has placed in my front two rooms. That means I want at least one Hitter and at least one Runner. I also want to be able to conserve my AP - especially early in the game, where my card choice is restricted.

If you put a Troll on the starting line, he's too slow to reach the fight. You're better off using the Warrior as your starting line Hitter. He's just fast enough to be able to get in the way for 1-2 AP most of the time.

Clerics in the Maze
I nearly always put my Cleric on my starting line. If I put him in the maze, I'll put him in one of my front two rooms. The reasoning for this is simple: If I lose my Cleric, I lose the ability to heal. If my opponent reveals the Cleric, they'll probably be able to thump him before I can move him to safety. So I always want my Cleric in a room where I get to reveal him.

Spending Your Last Action To Reveal A Room
Christophe Boelinger used to beat me because I'd spend an action to reveal a room only to be unable to respond to what I found in that room - even if I placed it well, I wouldn't be able to take advantage of that placement. The primary exception to this is if your opponent is in a position to reveal that same room - it's nearly always better to reveal rooms yourself so that you have some control over its contents.

Forgetting That the Wizard Can Fly
This is an issue both on offense and on defense.  I can't block your Wizard just by standing in front of him. Similarly, I need to remember that my Wizard can fly past you, too. Someone who forgets this on offense will probably forget it on defense, too.

Attacking a Troll

If you attack my Troll, then I get to spend one Action next turn to stand him back up. If you win. Even if you gang up on him, as soon as you wound him on your turn, he's safe until the next turn, which is mine. I don't throw a combat card greater than +0 when my Troll is defending. This will use up your combat cards and we'll both waste one action - you to attack, me to regenerate. It's no gain to you, long-term.

Starting Fights You Aren't Willing to Win

A shorter way to say this is "Don't bluff with combat." If it will take the +6 to win a combat, don't initiate that combat unless you are going to play your +5 or +6. If I attack your Cleric, it's not because I'm trying to burn your combat cards (unless I'm starting a fight I know I can't win). It's because I want to wound your Cleric. And then kill him next turn.

Leaving Enemy Wounded On The Board
Just kill them. Really.  Their Strength is a zero, so you should be able to kill them fairly easily. And it's a victory point that you need to win the game.  If you leave enemy wounded lying around, you give your opponent a chance to get a Cleric there to heal them.  Or someone else there to carry the wounded character off the board, costing you your chance to kill them (and gain that point).

Rotating Rooms to Set Up Future Turns
It's silly to try to set up future turns by rotating rooms. Especially if your opponent has any character on a Rotation Gear that controls it - this goes double if it's the Mechanork. You should only rotate rooms for two reasons. Either you need the room turned so you can take advantage of the rotation right now or turning the room will make things more difficult for your opponent. Any other reason for turning the room is a waste of AP.

Relying on Items
This is an easy trap to fall into. That Fireball Wand ... it's a Victory Point! So is that Treasure. But you can't guarantee that you'll be able to get your hands on either of them. You can tip the odds in your favor, but you never know what's in a room until you reveal it. You will never be sure you can get your hands on them, so basing your strategy on them is doubly silly. If my strategy is Victory through Fireball Wand and Treasure and I never get my hands on ether one of them ... well ... my odds are looking pretty bad.

Giving the Treasure to the Goblin
It's predictable at this point. Rookies always seem to try to get the Treasure to their Goblin for a quick three.points. It's really good - if you can do it. But if I have a choice between running the Goblin out this turn or grabbing the treasure and running out next turn, well ... I'm going to look long and hard at where my opponent is on the board. Can he kill my Goblin with 5 Actions? Can he turn a room, blocking my escape? How many extra actions will it take me to grab the treasure and get out? Would those actions be better spent putting a Hit on one of my opponent's characters?

Escaping Before It's Time
My Thief isn't just a victory point waiting to escape. She's a toolbox that is used for helping other characters escape.  Even though she's fast enough to get out in two or fewer turns (most of the time), I very rarely escape her until she is my 4th or 5th Victory Point.

The thing to remember with escaping is that every character who escapes is one fewer option I have on the board. I'll run my Goblin off as soon as I can. His Strength of 1 isn't significant in Group Combat - not enough to be worth the extra AP to get him to the scene, at any rate. The Wall-Walker is similar to me - she has other uses, but her best use most of the time is getting off of the map. The rest of them usually stick around long enough to be useful. Warriors and Trolls pick fights. The Thief clears the path for the Wall-Walker and Goblin. The Wizard - once he's used his Fireball Wand - should run for the border, too.

Now these aren't - by any means - all of the rookie mistakes people make.  But they're the most common. And (as I said at the beginning), all of them have exceptions. Avoiding these mistakes will improve your play almost immediately, however, and will make you a more competitive player.

Blockers: Stopping the Run

Sounds like a football post, doesn't it? I'm actually talking about Dungeon Twister again, here.

I've mentioned previously that I divide the game's characters into four groups - Hitters, Blockers, Runners, and Specialists. Hitters excel at attacking other characters. Runners are all about escaping the board. Blockers slow down opposing Runners so that your Hitters can inflict pain. Specialists do everything else.

In general, Hitters are characters with a Strength greater than 3; Runners have a Speed greater than 3; Specialists are all over the map in terms of Strength and Speed.

Technically, I think Blockers are a subset of Specialists - they are characters who excel at slowing opposing runners down. Most Blockers will have Strength and Speed hovering around 3 - but not all of them.

Using the Block as your strategy is very similar to using the Hit - the difference is that you wait for your opponent's runners to come to you before you pound them. It's a little riskier, because your opponent's fast characters will be close to your starting line (and their freedom).

To block effectively, you need to be aware of the choke points on the map. The key is to force your opponent to choose the wrong ones. To do so, you need visible menace near a few of them to steer your opponent towards the less-safe ones. The goal of the Block is to get your opponent's characters to a position where your Hitters can reach them.

The Wizard with the Fireball Wand is one of the better route deterrents - but he's a one-shot.  If he's sitting (visibly) a few AP away from a choke point, your opponent should be hesitant about wandering in his range. But he's one of the most versatile characters in the game - he can Hit (once), he can Run, his magic-using makes him a Specialist ...

The Stone Elemental is an amazing Blocker. His Speed of 3 makes him an effective mover. His Strength of 8 makes him ideal for planting in front of a choke point.  The fact that he can't attack means that you just need to put him in the way, forcing your opponent to attack him in order to get past.

The Ice Dragon is excellent for stopping your opponents in their tracks. His power to freeze opponents makes him extremely useful for the Block. He's a bit too slow to be completely effective, however.

The Living Trap is ... odd, but extremely useful when forcing your opponents to find another way around.  If your opponent is having trouble dealing with Traps, he's an excellent Blocker. Because you can't move from one obstacle to another with a rope, he can very easily be placed next to a trap, forcing your opponent to find another way around.  And he's fast enough to reposition himself in a hurry.

The Araknis is another good Blocker - provided your opponent isn't using torches.  Torches are one of those items that not everyone takes. They're potentially critical.

Any character who can drop more characters into play - the Breeder or the Necromancer - can be useful. More characters makes it easier to set up group combat.

The Red Dragon with a good line of sight makes an excellent Blocker - much like the Wizard with the Fireball Wand. Only significantly less flexible.  He can cover a single choke point (or more, depending on how the rooms are).

The Prophet let you decide how rooms start. I've mentioned numerous times that controlling the rooms is one of the keys to the game - the Prophet gives you an edge right from the beginning of the game.

The Mechanork is the king of Room Control. I've talked a great deal about him previously, so I won't belabor the point here.

The Illusionist is one of the best Blockers in the game. Her ability to throw up illusory barricades should not be underestimated, as there are very few ways to clear them.

So what about items?

The Fireball Wand should always be in play if the Wizard is in play. If you didn't bring your Wizard, don't bring your Wand. Which, I realize is, common sense that doesn't need to be repeated.

Ropes help your Blockers get into position without a great deal of re-routing. Just don't let the rope fall into your opponent's hands.

Armor makes your Blockers more durable when you start fighting. In general, I prefer Armor to weapons. I think I've discussed this in the past.

The Charm Scroll is useful for forcing your opponent into places they don't want to be in. The only drawback is that it requires a Magic-User to use. Mind you, since you should have the Illusionist in the party, you have that covered already.

Cursed Items are useful for forcing your opponent to either find another way around or suffer the consequences for the remainder of the game. Placing one in a choke point makes that choke point a whole lot less appealing.

The Ring of Chaos is another tool of room control that not only strengthens your control, but it can also weaken your opponent's control.

Hopefully these pointers will help your game more than they've helped mine.

One quick reminder: We're only a few weeks off, now from SCARAB. I'm going to be there.  Stephanie will be there. I hope it'll be big.

Kill The ________ First!

I get a lot of e-mail that (basically) consists of, "I'm playing Dungeon Twister, and my opponent as [CHARACTER] and [CHARACTER]. Which one should I wound/kill first?"

Believe it or not, it's not always that easy.

But here are my thoughts on Characters You Need To Kill.

First of all, my standard disclaimer: These are my opinions. There are many many players who are better at the game than I who will disagree with me. Take my advice with a grain or two of salt.

The first question you need to answer is this: What is your opponent's play style?

When I'm playing my friend Gahan, I know that he likes to get points by killing my characters. This means that his Hitters need to be the first characters I have to deal with. Geoff, on the other hand, finds more prestige in points scored through escape, so I need to deal with his Runners first. Or block him up so his runners can't escape.

If you don't know your opponent's play style, then look at the characters they have chosen and extrapolate as best you can.

This week, I'm going to talk about dealing with opposing Hitters.

So who are the most dangerous hitters in the game?

1) The Berserker, from Mercenaries. She gets less powerful as the game goes on, but the ability to throw two combat cards is huge. I recently played a game in which I was able to wound three opposing characters by using the two-handed sword and burning two high combat cards.

For all that she's a great Hitter, she's not great when defending which makes her an excellent high-priority target.

2) The Dragons. There are Dragons in four sets (and there is a fifth promo dragon, as well). Most of them have a base Strength of 6. The Undead and Gold Dragons are more dangerous than the Red one most of the time (because the Red one needs Line of Sight in order to kill you). Of the two, the Gold Dragon is faster, but the Undead Dragon is harder to kill due to its special. The Ice Dragon is tricky to use effectively, but its Strength of 5 is still pretty terrifying. And its special ability will frustrate you to no end if you are its target.

To deal with Dragons, you really need a DragonSlayer. You can do it without one, but it means either waiting until your opponent is out of good combat cards (by which time the Dragon has already torn through your forces), using another Dragon, using a Berserker, or attacking in Group Combat. The DragonSlayer is by far the best way to deal with an Undead Dragon (unless your Group Combat includes an Assassin).

3) The General. Mercenaries added a bunch of marginal hitters to the game - with the General in the room, however, even marginal hitters become a threat. If your opponent is fielding a General, he should be a priority. Maybe even a higher priority than the Dragons, now that I think about it. The General is equivalent to giving a sword to every character in the room.

4) The Mummy. Strength 4 and Speed 3 is a decent Hitter with a good Speed. He's Undead, and there aren't enough Undead characters to justify bringing a Holy Cross most of the time. Torches are easy enough to get that you can usually drop him to 0 Strength in a pinch.

Try to keep the marginal hitters (Strength 3) from getting any weapons, if you can.

Honestly, those are the biggest threats - the other Strength 4 characters (Troll, Golem, Dwarven Troll-Slayer, and Mammoth) are scary, but they're slow enough that you should be able to run away from them most of the time.

Keep in mind that standalone play makes some characters more effective - in Fire & Water, for example, the Barbarian is an extremely effective Hitter.

The Assassin is scary, but only in group combat. Her Strength is just too low to make her an effective Hitter. More on her later.

So how do you deal with these Hitters, once you catch them?

1) Group Combat, Group Combat, Group Combat. If you can include an Assassin in your group, so much the better. If you have a force of Runners, it shouldn't be too difficult to get into a good position for Group Combat.

2) Standing a Cleric behind someone can keep that someone alive. It also allows you to throw low Combat cards in hopes of burning off your opponent's better combat cards. Similarly, if you can stand next to a Fountain of Youth, you can heal yourself if you lose, no Cleric required.

3) Push him around. The Ring of Repulsion is great for pushing opposing characters into traps and other hazards. You can also push them away from the Fountain of Youth so that you can get the coveted Fountain spot. The Banshee is less efficient, but has a longer range.

4) Control him. The Charm Scroll is excellent for putting characters in inconvenient positions (even if you can't run him into one of the legal suicide spaces), and any Magic-User can use it. If your opponent has a lot of Hitters, he's not likely to have many Magic Users who can take advantage of this item.

5) Fireball. Yes, it's a one-shot, but you can take out that pesky ... um ... anything with that one shot. Provided you can get your Wizard in position to use it.

Hopefully this is enough to get you started. At some point in the (hopefully not-too-distant) future, I'll talk about blocking your opponent's Runners up (and killing them as well).

Dungeon Twister Characters: Multiple Uses Part VI - Prison

Here's the same warning I've put on each of the other Multiple Uses posts: The following is my analysis. There are very good players who disagree with me. There are very good players who agree with me.

This is my sixth set-by-set entry in the series - I'm skipping the French-Only sets for now, but will get back to them, because they bear discussion. This entry will discuss Dungeon Twister: Prison.

Base Set Average Movement: 3.625
Base Set Average Strength: 2.00

Prison Average Movement: 3.875 (Includes 3 characters repeated from the original base set)
Prison Average Strength: 1.875 (Includes 3 characters repeated from the original base set)

As you can see, this set is a hair faster and not quite as strong as the original base set was. This set also includes three repeat characters - the Wizard, the Cleric, and the Mechanork.

I'm not going to rehash the Wizard, Cleric, or Mechanork - you can find them here.

Chris did a great job with this set - there isn't much in the way of ambiguity about what these characters are meant to do. This makes Prison an excellent intro to the game, so this is more of an overview of these characters than necessarily multiple uses for them, although I hope to hit a few of those as well.

Colossus
The Colossus is an excellent Hitter. In fact, he's the strongest non-Dragon Hitter in the game. He has a few advantages over the Dragons in this role, too - he's only worth 1 VP if killed and he isn't vulnerable to the DragonSlayer.

He's slow, but he can help your Runners by breaking the portcullises open (just like the Warrior could previously). Just be sure to back him up - there are three characters in this set alone who can run right between his legs. I suggest leaving an empty space between him and his backup (unless there is an intersection to slip through) - it makes Group Combat more likely.

Naga
The Naga's ability to move through the Arrow-Slits combined with his Speed of Six makes him an excellent Runner. You can also use him very effectively as a flanker to set up Group Combat, or as a retriever to grab items you want (or want to keep away from your opponent). Give him a Rope, and he's nearly unstoppable anywhere on the map.

Banshee
For 2AP, the Banshee may push any character in line of sight back one space. The Banshee is a ranged Ring of Repulsion. Those of you who have played Fire and Water are cringing already. The ability to push a character back a spaces is a nice quick way to kill off your uncareful opponents.

A lot of people complained at how dramatically the Ring changed play when Fire and Water was released. By including the Banshee in the new base set, people get to start paying attention to positioning right off the bat. The Banshee also introduces a bit more Action Management by having a special ability which requires an additional Action Point.

With the Banshee's speed of 5, it's also a good Runner, especially if given a rope.

Backstabber
The backstabber can open Portcullises like the Thief. She's a bit slower and has the same basic combat stats as the Thief, but she has +2 Strength in Group Combat if at least one unwounded friendly is involved.

She's completely straightforward in terms of ability, and I expect a lot of people will have her following the Colossus around. I'd argue that doing so is a waste of the Backstabber's ability - she should follow one of your runners around. Pairing her with the Colossus means you'll have combat strength of 9 + card, which is completely overwhelming. Pairing her with the Naga gives you 6 + card, which is nearly as difficult to overcome and means you have a fast-moving flexible hit squad that doesn't look all that scary until after their first combat.

In extended play, pair her with the Assassin.

Telepath
The Telepath chooses his opponent's combat card in one-on-one combat. This ability reminds me a great deal of the Weapon Master from Paladins and Dragons, but it's both more and less useful - for one, the Telepath has a base strength of zero. Since he can't choose to force his opponent to play a '0,' he will have to play at least a three in order to beat even the weakest characters. And that number goes up the more often he's in combat. If your opponent hasn't thought through this themselves, his ability looks pretty scary. It means your opponent may devote significant resources to taking the Telepath out, making him an effective decoy.

The best use I've found for the Telepath involves cleaning up wounded opponents - since the Strength for wounded characters is zero already, it's easier for the Telepath to be useful against them.

Dungeon Twister Characters: Multiple Uses Part V, Fire & Water

I'm going to preface this with the same warning I used last few times: What I'm about to say is my analysis. There are players who are better than I who will disagree with every word I type. There are also players who can regularly trounce me who will agree with every word I type. Your mileage may vary.

This is my fifth entry on Set-By-Set Dungeon Twister Character Strategy, and will cover Fire and Water.

Base Set Average Movement: 3.62
Base Set Average Strength: 2.00

Fire and Water Average Movement: 4.25
Fire and Water Average Strength: 1.62

As you can see, F&W has a signifiantly higher average speed than the base set, and the average strength is down dramatically. This is the fastest set in the game, being 13% higher than average. It's also the weakest in combat, at only about 68% as strong as the overall average. These numbers, by the way, do not include terrain bonuses to Strength (the two Elementals in this set have such bonuses).

Were it not for the speed, I would argue that this set was almost all Specialists. As it is, I see seven Runners (most of whom can also serve as Specialists, one can double as a Hitter) and one Specialist. There are some very powerful characters in the set, even if you don't dig too deeply.

The new items in the set are game-changing, especially the Ring of Repulsion. You'll see what I mean after a play or two.

Magophage: Were it not for the speed of the character, I'd mark the Magophage as one of the more unusual Specialists in the game. His ability has necessitated a list of what is magic and what is not in the game, and is fundamentally game-changing. With clever placement, you can use him as a shield for friendly characters. Explanation of this actually requires an image:

The Acrobat doesn't have to worry about the Scroll of Confusion, as he is in the Magophage's null-magic area. It's also worth noting that the Magophage's placement denies healing to the Prophet, should he become wounded.

In fact, the Magophage is all about denial. I tend to park him near a Fountain of Youth if my opponent doesn't have a Cleric to deny the use of the Fountain to my opponents.

Acrobat: Next to the Thief, the Acrobat is the best mover in the game. In a set lacking in Hitters, the Acrobat can be fairly easily moved into flanking position to trigger Group Combat. The Acrobat is also excellent at item (and wounded character) retrieval.

Barbarian: The set's sole Hitter - and an effective one. He can't use any magic items, but - let's be honest - that's not a huge loss, especially when he gets +1 Strength versus Magic Users. In Free Choice play, the Barbarian is an excellent fast-moving Hitter.

Fire Elemental and Water Elemental: There are three rooms in this set which contain Lava spaces and three which contain Water spaces. In tournament-legal play, there are seven rooms containing Lava and seven containing Water. Two of those seven contain both. That's out of 72 tournament-legal rooms. There is also room pair P2, which has lava spaces. The Water Elemental is slightly weaker than the Fire Elemental, however - the Fire Elemental can carry wounded characters in its native element. Beyond that, they're too weak to be good Hitters - in their (sparse) native element, they're decent hitters, but not phenomenal. In fact, I rarely use these characters in Free Choice unless I'm being cruel to my opponent and choosing rooms containing their element. I say that it's cruel because (with one or two exceptions) these seven rooms per element are nasty. Keep in mind, however that these two characters are still only mediocre in a fight.

Courtesan: Remember waaay back when I started this series? How I mentioned that I tended to use my Troll more or less as a Living Wall? The Courtesan is better at this than the Troll. A lot better. There is no better Living Wall than the Courtesan. She's the best Blocker in the game.

Prophet: He's a decent Runner, with Speed 5, but the Prophet should nearly always be on your starting line if you choose to use him. The ability to align an unrevealed room in the direction of your choice cannot be emphasized enough. Remember how I love the Mechanork? Paired with the Prophet, he's nearly twice as effective - it means that rooms will start to your opponent's disadvantage. Then the Mechanork can keep them that way. In Free Choice, they're a powerful combo. The ability of the Prophet to use Scrolls and other Magic-User Only items is icing on the cake.

Telekineticist: Another item-retrieval specialist. She can also function as an anti-retrieval specialist - she can move items to more difficult locations to keep them out of your opponent's hands. In fact, she is a better choice for this than many characters for two reasons:
1) She can easily move hard-to-reach items to even harder-to-reach locations.
2) She can deny items to your opponent without having to actually reach the object in question. She also doesn't have to be near the opposing characters, keeping her relatively safe.

Dungeon Twister Character Uses: Part IV: Mercenaries

Notice I didn't say "Multiple Uses" this time?

There are multiple uses for some of these characters, but I'm going to talk more about how to effectively use them.

I've played Mercenaries a lot the last few weeks, so that I could get a good handle on the characters and how they work.

This is a tough set.

Base Set Average Movement: 3.62
Base Set Average Strength: 2.00

Mercenaries Average Movement: 3.375
Mercenaries Average Strength: 3.123

Looking at the average, you can already see the point of this set. Please note that the Average Strength listed for Mercenaries is not adjusted for the special ability of the General.

This set contains one Runner, one Specialist and six Hitters.

The objects which are new to this set all enhance Strength - mostly when attacking. In fact, this set is balanced to give the attacker the edge over the defender.

Here's the character overview with a couple of tips for each character:

Angel of Darkness: As the fastest character in this set, she is your best retriever. Her flying ability only functions in half of the rooms in this set, but she can work very well as a runner in Free Choice play. My most regular opponent suggests giving her a Two-Handed Sword - it allows you to have a Flying attacker with a surprising amount of punch that your opponent may not be expecting.

Crossbowman: Ranged combat. Yum. It doesn't change the game hugely, but it does entertain me greatly. My preferred trick with the Crossbowman is to try to trap an enemy character in his line of sight and then force my opponent to waste combat cards while I take potshots at him. I spent four actions shooting at my opponent's Samurai, once. Since the Samurai and the Crossbowman have the same Strength, my opponent had to figure out if I was bluffing with my +0 or burning a card to wound the Samurai. It was a very good way to burn him out of cards.

Assassin: This is a character I use a lot in Free Choice. Any time you are assembling a Hit Squad, include an Assassin. The ability to kill rather than wounding is huge. She's at her best in Group Combat while adjacent to multiple foes. She pairs extremely well with the Weapon Master from Paladins and Dragons.

Berserker: I don't use her very well, but she's rapidly becoming one of my favorite characters. Her ability to throw two Combat Cards when she's attacking alone makes her an extremely good Dragonslayer. Especially when given a weapon to use. She can also be used to burn down your opponent's Combat Card stack - just attack alone and throw a +1 and a +0. This is risky, of course, as your opponent may throw something high enough to wound her. Even this, of course, burns one of your opponent's combat cards.

Gold Dragon: Too many people force their Gold Dragon to lug around its treasure, rather than giving it a weapon. A Gold Dragon with a Two-Handed sword has a base Strength (when attacking) of NINE! If you can get your General into the room, that becomes a TEN. A Ten will wound most characters at a +0, even if they throw their +6. If you're worried about losing your Dragon in combat, use him as a vulture and kill enemy wounded characters rather than attacking healthy characters.

General: The General is the most straightforward character in this (extremely straightforward) set. His allied characters gain +1 in Close Combat in the same room. It doesn't require Line of Sight, Adjacency, or any of the other limits which can be set. I tend to Phonebooth my OWN general when I find him in a room. True, he won't escape, but my opponent won't be killing him very easily, either. In Free Choice, he can either buff up your Runners (making them a credible threat in combat), or he can make your Hitters and Blockers even more effective.

Dwarf Troll-Slayer: His primary ability, it is worth mentioning, doesn't function in this set. It only works in Free Choice and Equal Forces play. The Troll Slayer is the counter to the Troll. It's that simple. Otherwise, he's a decent hitter.

Samurai: Before doing something risky, I count out my opponent's characters and movements: "If I run my Assassin forward, he can still reach me with his Dragon, but he won't have a spare AP to attack." The Samurai makes this more difficult, because I have to remember that he doesn't spend that AP to attack me. Give the Samurai a Two-Handed Sword, and I'll sometimes forget that he can choose not to use it.

Dungeon Twister Strategy: Putting It All Together

I'll start by picking a strategy - I choose to go with the Run, so I want to focus on maneuverability. Four "strategy match" characters (in this case, Runners), two Blockers and two Specialists.

I choose the Thief, the Elf Scout, the Pickpocket and the Prophet as my strategy match characters - they all move 5 or more, and the Prophet has the added bonuses of being able to orient rooms before I reveal them AND being a Magic User. For my Blockers, I'll choose the Troll and the Weapon Master. I'd choose the Undead Dragon, but I'm concerned about running into the Hit strategy, and a dead Dragon is 2 VP. A dead Troll is only one.

For Specialists, I'll include a Mekanork on general principle and a Wizard.

This way, I have eight characters - four theme matches, two Blockers, and two Specialists to support my team. Using the Prophet and the Mekanork gives me a great deal of control over the maze. The Wizard can fly, which enhances my mobility. It also gives me a second Magic User, so I may consider including some Scrolls in my item mix.

The next thing I want is Items. My party is combat-weak, with an average combat value of Pathetic. But I've got two Magic Users.

Given that I'm pursuing the Run, I'll start with at least one Rope. I'm also going to grab a Key - there's no telling what sort of rooms my opponent is going to challenge me with. I think I'll also take an Elven Shield so I can bypass the Falling Rocks squares (if any) which show up in the maze. The Seven-League Boots will allow a character to fly for ten squares, and it fits well with my strategy thus far.

I have two Magic Users, so a Scroll or two wouldn't hurt. Plus, my opponent wouldn't be able to use them without a Magic User - I think the Scroll of Flight would be overkill, but the Scroll of Inversion and Scroll of Confusion both appeal to me.

My only worry is having some of my items falling into my opponent's hands.

Now, to rooms. At some point, I'll be taking photos of the rooms so that I can show them off.

I don't want to give my opponent the chance to animate or create anything that helps him against me. This removes most of the rooms from Créatures Sylvestres, as they have Trees. It eliminates a couple of rooms from Forces of Darkness, as they have Tombs.

I have two Magic Users - it might be worth grabbing the Library room (part of Pair 16) from Fire and Water. The drawback is that the Anti-Magic room which is paired with the Libraries can make my Magic Users (and the Scrolls and the Elven Shield and the Seven League Boots) useless for at least part of the time.

The other two sets of rooms I'm looking at have the Fountain of Youth in them - with no Cleric, I'd like to make sure I can heal if necessary. The rooms I'm looking at are Pair 22 from Mercenaries, and Pair 28 from À feu et à sang. Both rooms have the Fountain of Youth I want. Both Fountains are in difficult positions - Pair 22 has it surrounded by remotely-triggered traps, and Pair 28 has it surrounded by Water.

Both rooms in Pair 22 have the Ultra-Gravity Holes, so no Flying will function in them. They're also covered with Remote Traps that I may not have control over.

Pair 28 is newer, so my opponent may be less familiar with them. They also have Chasms, Water and Small Bridges (which won't impact me, as I have low-Strength characters).

Any of the three pairs will work for me - For this group, I'll choose 16 and 28.

... and, with that, I've assembled a tournament force.

Dungeon Twister Strategy: Narrowing It Down II

Continued from my previous post.

Step 4: Choose Items Which Reinforce Your Team
Items can be used in two ways: they can enhance the strengths of your team, or they can reinforce the weaknesses of your team. They can also define your character's roles a bit more specifically. There are also utility items which should not be neglected.

An Elf Scout with a Potion of Speed won't be in the maze for much longer - the potion enhances his strength. A Thief with a Shield is the equal of an unequipped Warrior, because the Shield shores up her weakness. A Troll with a Two-Handed Sword is a Hitter. A Troll with an Elven Shield is a Blocker. A rope will help any character in nearly any room in the game.

Some character/item combinations are just silly, however - the Stone Elemental, for example, should never be given a weapon (unless it's to keep it out of your opponent's hands).

Choose items which make sense given your character selection and strategy.

And that leads us to the final step:
Step 5: Choose Rooms
In a Free Choice environment, you will be selecting two pairs of rooms to bring to the table. Again - choose rooms which make sense. If you have the Elf Scout, the Elf Enchantress and the Elf Archer, then pick some of the rooms from Créatures Sylvestres which feature the secret passages or trees. If you have more than one flying character, then don't choose any rooms with the "gouffre d'ultra-gravité" squares. If you have a Cleric, you won't need Fountain of Youth. My contrast, if you DON'T have a Cleric, you may find that need somewhat more pressing.

If you know your opponent, you may also be able to choose rooms specifically to frustrate him (or her). Many of the rooms from Fire and Water are ideal for this.

Just remember: if it's easy for you to pass through, it's probably easy for your opponent as well.

So let's put this all together and drag out a tournament force.

Dungeon Twister Strategy: Narrowing It Down

As I mentioned in my last post, you have a lot of narrowing down to pick your team - especially if you hurried out and bought the French sets, rather than waiting for the English releases.

So how do you narrow it down to the eight characters, six objects and two pairs of rooms you need for Free Choice Tournament Play?

There are four steps I follow when setting my force up:

Step 1: Determine Your Strategy
Will you be using the Hit, the Run, or a balanced strategy? You need to decide this early, as your core strategy impacts the other decisions you will need to make.

If you can't decide on a strategy, play a couple of games with your friends - use the characters and items from one set and the rooms from another. Figure out if you get more points from escaping the maze or from killing your opponents, and build your strategy accordingly. I don't suggest using the Mercenaries set of characters for this, as it's set up primarily to support the Hit.

Step Two: Determine Your Balance
Regardless of what strategy you're going with, you'll probably want a character or two who can support a different strategy. When I'm going for the Run, I'll still tend to include a couple of Hitters. You also need to balance your offense and defense - will you be including Blockers? What Specialists or support do you need?

My usual mix is four strategy match characters, together with two Blockers, and two Specialists. If I know my opponent, I may juggle that a bit. Against the Run, I tend to add more Blockers, for example.

Step 3: Determine Your Strong Characters
I don't use my Wall-Walker very effectively. For me, she's a weak character. Because of this I will almost never include her in a free choice team. By contrast, my Mekanork is one of my stronger characters - I'll use him in almost every team I assemble.

Know who your strong and weak characters are. Build your team to your strengths. I know that this is something that should be plainly obvious, but far too many people overlook it in favor of cool-looking or cool-sounding characters that they can't use effectively.

There are two more steps but - once again - this post is getting a bit long. I'll post those two steps (Choosing Items and Choosing Rooms) later.

Dungeon Twister: General Character Strategies

As I mentioned the other day, I'm not quite ready for a "Multiple Uses" post on Mercenaries. I'm sorry. As part of my busy weekend, I plan to play a few games of Dungeon Twister, ideally including some of my French expansions.

There are two basic strategies when playing Dungeon Twister - Hit and Run. Players can also go for a more balanced strategy with a mixture of the other two strategies.

A strategy based on the Hit will score victory points by pounding the opponent's characters into pulp. It's all about the combat - forcing your opponent to fight you to get out, twisting rooms to minimize escape paths, and forcing Group Combat as much as possible. It requires careful use of your Combat Cards and you need to be able to move so that your characters have the edge in combat. I've also seen Hit Squads assembled, where a small group of characters patrols the maze, double-teaming any opposing characters they happen to find.

A strategy based on the Run will score its points by escaping the maze. It's all about choosing characters who can get around over and across obstacles, and the objects to support them. It requires characters who can get away from your opponent's hitters, as well - you'll want to make sure that any combat you engage in is Group Combat with your side having the superior numbers.

To support these strategies, there are four types of characters:

Hitters: Hitters are characters who will either have a high Strength or whose special abilities support other Hitters in some way. Good examples of Hitters are the Dragons and the Golem. Another character I consider a Hitter is the General - even though his Strength is only a two, his special ability makes other Hitters more effective.

Blockers: While Hitters can double as Blockers, the best Blockers have a special ability that allows you to slow down opposing characters in some way. The Troll is an excellent Blocker, for example - they can knock the Troll down, but it'll just get back up again. Other key blockers include the Illusionist, the Courtesan, the Living Trap, and the Stone Elemental.

Runners: Runners are characters who can either get through obstacles or whose special abilities can enable others to get through obstacles. They also tend to be faster characters. The Thief is the first (and most obvious) runner. The Acrobat and the Elf Scout are both excellent runners, as are any Flying characters. The Druid's ability with the climbing vines puts him into the Runner category, as well.

Specialists: A specialist is a character whose abilities or stats don't put them in any of the other categories. Most Magic-Users, the Magophage, the Cleric and the Pickpocket are all examples of specialists.

It's possible for characters to fit into more than one category - the Troll, for example, can easily serve as a Hitter or as a Blocker.

It's also possible to use Hitters to support your Run strategy or Runners to support your Hit strategy - the Golem's ability to clear walls can make movement much faster and easier for your runners, for example. Runners can make excellent flankers to aid in Group Combat, as it's easier to get them into position.

Objects and nearby characters can also impact a character's classification. A Troll with a Sword is a Hitter. A Troll wearing Armor is probably a Blocker. A Warrior with an adjacent Cleric is probably a Blocker.

In Free Choice play, each player chooses eight characters, six objects and two pairs or rooms. This selection is your first strategic decision, and all three sets of decisions (characters, objects, and rooms) are tied together - if you're not bringing any Magic Users, then you won't need any Scrolls. Are you bringing a Cleric to trail your Hit Squad, or will you be relying on Fountains of Youth? If the latter, will you bring your own or hope that your opponent does?

If you have all the English releases so far, you have 24 different characters, 19¹ different items (plus duplicate ropes and keys), and 16 different pairs of rooms. In France, they have 48 different characters, 33² different items, and 32 different pairs of rooms.

So how do you narrow it down? This post is getting a bit long, so I'll go over that later this week.



¹ This number includes the two-handed sword held by the Statue
² This number includes the Grail from À Feu et à Sang (Likely English title: The Fire and the Blood)

Coming Soon: General Dungeon Twister Character Strategies

I know you are expecting my Mercenaries character overview this weekend.

Sadly, I will be disappointing you on that front - see, I hit a bit of a snag:

Every character in Mercenaries is completely straightforward.

I know there are alternate strategies for them somewhere. I know there are ways to use these characters in new and interesting ways. I just haven't found them, yet.

See, when Chris sits down to design another DT expansion, he looks for a rules-based theme on which to build the expansion. Forces of Darkness, for example, is all about dealing with wounded characters.

Mercenaries is about effective use of combat and combat cards. This means that the special ability focus of the characters is combat, which tends to be pretty straightforward.

Instead, I will be posting something different this weekend - a general overview of team selection strategy for free play. I'll break down the basic strategies of the game, the four basic character types (in my opinion), and discuss how item selection can impact (or be impacted by) your strategy.

The post will probably be late - this weekend promises to be strangely busy - but I should have it up no later than Monday evening.

Dungeon Twister Characters: Multiple Uses Part III (Forces of Darkness)

I'm going to preface this with the same warning I used last two times: What I'm about to say is my analysis. There are players who are better than I who will disagree with every word I type. There are also players who can regularly trounce me who will agree with every word I type. Your mileage may vary.

This is my third entry on Dungeon Twister Character Strategy, and will cover Forces of Darkness. I'm proceeding in the order of English-Language release, because the bulk of you who read this aren't French and don't read French. I'll get Mercenaries up next week, and will TRY to get Fire and Water up without too much of a delay.

As ever, please feel free to let me know what you think.

Eric

Base Set Average Movement: 3.62
Base Set Average Strength: 2.00

Forces of Darkness Average Movement: 4.1
Forces of Darkness Average Strength: 2.1

Christophe told me a while ago that every set has a rules-related theme around which it's built. Forces of Darkness is all about wounded characters and how to deal with them.

Angel of Light: For the most part, she's pretty straightforward. The fact that she flies supports a runner strategy very well - and she's fast, too. Her ability to illuminate Darkness makes it possible to move through some otherwise impassible rooms.

I've also seen her used as an Undead-Killer - Give her the Holy Cross, and have her fly over an opposing undead character. If they're not carrying anything, you can drop the cross on them as you fly past. Since six of the eight basic characters in this set are undead, this is a powerful strategy in standalone play (to counter it, make sure your undead characters are carrying an item). I'll usually use the Angel as one of my starting four, and place the Holy Cross in the room directly in front of her.

The Pickpocket (From Paladins and Dragons) can work well as suport for the Cross-Bomb strategy - but there may not be enough undead on the opposing force to make it worthwhile.

Undead Dragon: Much like the Troll from the basic set, the Undead Dragon makes an excellent Living Wall. Just make sure he's carrying something to protect him from the Cross-Bombs (torches are readily available in this set). Two VP is a lot to give up that easily.

Ghoul: The first character to reflect the set's theme. The Ghoul can carry your opponent's wounded characters as well as your own. He can be used to counter a living wall strategy, or to temporarily deprive your opponent of an exceptionally powerful character (characters being carried by the Ghoul can't Regenerate, for example). AND he can carry that character off of the board for 1 VP.

But you don't have to run off the board with the Ghoul. There are still Traps and Chasms - if you leave a rope on a trap, you can sprint the Ghoul across that space. Drop the opposing character and pick up the rope - one more VP for you without giving up your Ghoul. The Ghoul is fast enough to get in and get out quickly.

I will frequently use the Ghoul in free-choice play.

Mummy: There are a lot of Math People on the Geek. I'm totally cool with that, because they keep trying to break down charactaers into values. The Mummy tends to be rated fairly low, despite his above-average movement AND combat scores.

The key to the Mummy is to hold him back for Group Combat against multiple foes. This makes it less likely that you'll be forced to throw your +0 card (although a combat value of 4 often means you won't need much more).

In Free Choice play, the Pickpocket (from Paladins and Dragons) can defend the Mummy from having to do throw your +0 - you only need to steal one torch!

I did see one player give his Mummy a Torch before sending it out to hunt his opponent's Mummy. I laughed for a good long time about that one ...

Necromancer: I've seen a LOT of people use the Necromancer only to raise Zombies from graves. This is silly - the Necromancer is one more way to deal with a Living Wall strategy, for example. First you knock the Undead Dragon down, then you turn him into a Zombie. The Necromancer excels at depriving your opponent of useful characters (once you've wounded them). True, you don't get a VP for killing them or carrying them off the board, but you've deprived your opponent of one character while adding another to your side - one that you can move off of the board for 1 VP. Eventually.

Zombies are Token Characters - see the general rules clarifications page for general Token Character information. Otherwise, just remember that Zombies are characters with no special abilities.

Shadow: I have to admit - Darkness Squares annoy me. I'm unfond of the Shadow, in general. The rulebook has an example that covers the extent of my Shadow knowledge - you can use him as a surprise ambusher to trigger Group Combat instead of a one-on-one.

[EDIT: My Wife reminds me that the Shadow can use the Ring of Light to illuminate Darkness creating a path for other characters. He can also retrieve items which are placed in Darkess when a room is revealed.]

I suspect that there is a great deal of Shadow-related strategy that I'm overlooking, and I VERY much hope that someone can fill me in ...

Specter: This is the character who triggered these entries. Everything I said previously about the Ghost applies to the Specter (except for the bit about easily escaping). The Specter's "special ability" makes it very unlikely that she will escape the maze. But she can function like a one-shot Necromancer to deprive your opponent of a useful character or to stop a Living Wall. She's more powerful than the Necromancer in that stealing a body maintains the special abilities of that body - can you imagine controlling two Undead Dragons?

And yes - you can steal your opponent's Specter with your Specter.

Vampire: If you're running a Hitter strategy (victory through elimination of opposing characters), the Vampire can become quite powerful. Early on, use the Vampire as part of a Hit Squad, and just Group Combat enemy characters. Later, the Vampire can hit on his own.

His ability to turn to a Bat makes him extremely useful for getting across a series of obstacles so he can turn rooms for your non-Flying characters. [EDIT: My wife, again, points out that by turning into the Bat, he can also fly across the Holy Cross if it's blocking a critical hallway]

Dungeon Twister Characters: Multiple Uses Part II (Paladins and Dragons)

I'm going to preface this with the same warning I used last time: What I'm about to say is my analysis. There are players who are better than I who will disagree with every word I type. There are also players who can regularly trounce me who will agree with every word I type. Your mileage may vary.

This is my second entry on Dungeon Twister Character Strategy, and will cover Paladins and Dragons.

Base Set Average Movement: 3.62
Base Set Average Strength: 2.00

Paladins and Dragons Average Movement: 3.63
Paladins and Dragons Average Strength: 2.5

As you can see, P&D has a higher average combat value than the base set, and the average speed is up just a hair. I don't think of it as Power Creep, however, because the set of special abilities is so different.

Red Dragon: A very powerful piece. But also limited – the Red Dragon will never escape the maze. If your opponent reveals this Dragon, you'll need to scramble to get the Teleportation Ring to him for him to be useful. If you reveal your own dragon, then you'll want to put him in one of two places: A corridor with good line of sight so he can control that rank and/or file, or a chokepoint where your opponent has to get through. There are a few spots that occasionally fit both ideals, but they are few and far between.

For Free Choice play, I rarely take this character – his inability to move combined with the number of rooms where his breath doesn't have any sort of range makes him almost useless for my needs. On those rare occasions when I DO take him, I'll always include the Teleportation Ring in my collection of items.

Elf Scout: He's fast. Very fast. His Speed of 7 makes him the fastest character in the game, even when the other expansions are added to the mix. His ability to run across Trap spaces can be either very powerful or completely useless, depending on the rooms in play. Even when there aren't a lot of traps, his speed still makes him useful. He's an excellent retriever, and is the character in this set with the best chance to escape the maze. He also makes a very good ambulance – send him out to rescue your wounded characters and bring them to the Fountain or to your Cleric for healing.

In a Free Choice game, I'll occasionally use my Scout, but I'm more likely to use a Thief, as she is more well-rounded.

Ghost: Since I'm so fond of items, I don't use the Ghost anywhere near full potential. I usually use the Ghost to hang out in the Pentagram Chamber or to rotate rooms (which seem to be the primary uses for this character). Occasionally, I'll plant the Ghost on an object so that my opponent has to fight me in order to get it. He's also a fairly easy victory point if you just head towards your opponent's starting line.

In Free Choice play, I'm more likely to take the Spectre than the Ghost (for reasons I'll get into with my next strategy entry).

Golem: The ability to clear a path is a double-edged sword. Every wall I bash is another shortcut you can use, too. Even so, the ability to smash out a shortcut is useful, even though it's only 3x per game. A few sets from now, there will be ways to repair walls (or so Chris tells me). Pairing the Golem with a character who can repair walls makes for an interesting plan - open the wall up, send the party through, close it behind you.

I've also seen the Golem used as an ambusher - most people forget that he can smash walls. for two Action Points, I can smash your Cleric if you're not paying attention. I can also wait an action or two and trigger a group combat that is larger than you expected.

For Free Choice play, I will occasionally use the Golem. His Strength of 4 is nice, but I'd rather use a Troll, because of how much more useful the Troll's ability is.

Illusionist Lots of people use the Illusionist to throw up obstacles to impede their opponent's movement. I tend to throw up the Rubble square to block my opponent's Red Dragon's line of sight. I'll also use it to block critical passageways to slow my opponent's advance (which is what it was designed for). Don't forget that she's also a Magic User, so can use any of the Scrolls. There are 3 Scrolls in Fire and Water, and another one in Creatures of the Forest.

Weapon Master The second-most straightforward character in the set. I tend to use my Weapon Master in Group Combat against the Red Dragon. Her ability is among the most useful in the game, and she fits well into play with multiple expansions. Her abilities sync very well with the Mercenaries character abilities and objects.

I will nearly always use her in Free Choice play.

Paladin Here's a quick question for you: How many suits of armor can the Paladin wear? See, Dungeon Twister is not a simulation. It's a game. The Paladin can carry and use two objects – the Paladin can wear two suits of armor. I've seen a lot of people use the Paladin solely for Dragon-slaying. The 2 VP's are nice, if you can get them, but the Weapon Master is better-suited to it. I frequently see the used Paladin as a heavy ambulance, as well.

Pick-Pocket As I said a few characters ago – use of objects is essential. So is denial of objects – Magic Users lose a fair amount of their cool if they don't have scrolls to use, for example. My favorite trick to use with the Pick-pocket is stealing my opponent's key or rope, limiting their mobility – I won't necessarily hang on to it, either. I'll either drop it in the maze where they can't easily get to it or else I'll hand it off to another of my characters.

Dungeon Twister Characters: Multiple Uses Part I: Base Set

I'm going to preface this with a warning: What I'm about to say is my analysis. There are players who are better than I who will disagree with every word I type. There are also players who can regularly trounce me who will agree with every word I type. Your mileage may vary.

There was a thread on BoardGameGeek recently where a player questioned the viability of the Spectre as a character. The limits placed on his escaping the maze seemed overly complex - and it occurred to me that I had no such issues with the Spectre. That, indeed, I find the Spectre one of the better characters in the Forces of Darkness expansion.

I thought it'd be a good idea to go over the characters and outline some possible alternative uses for characters that may seem less-useful.

I'm sure some of you will have ideas I've missed - feel free to leave a comment and contribute. I'm going to go set-by-set with tips for standalone play. I may have tips for play with mixed sets, but most of those tips will come from Expansion characters. And the order in which I plan to proceed is the order of English release - that way, I'll have a better grasp of the Fire and Water characters before I write about them.

Base Set Average Movement: 3.62
Base Set Average Strength: 2.00

Cleric: Much like the Mekanork, the Cleric's primary use is clear and well-developed enough that I haven't seen alternate uses. I have, however, seen the Cleric used with the Warrior in a "Living Wall" strategy (see the Troll below).

Goblin: Decoy. I usually don't even try to get my goblin out of the maze. I make it look like I'm trying, but if I can (for 1 AP) get my opponent to waste two or more AP pursuing or attacking my Goblin, I call it a success.

Warrior: I freely admit that the Warrior is one of my weaker characters, so I have to rely on what I've seen others do. The most amusing use I saw for the Warrior was as a pathfinder - my opponent handed his Warrior a rope, and proceeded to bash down every portcullis between himself and the exit. Even Chris Boelinger laughed at how many portcullises had been knocked down - but it did the trick. The Warrior escaped the maze, along with another character that he had in tow.

Wizard: Once the Fireball Wand is gone, the Wizard is less useful in the base game. I tend to use him as a retriever. He's slower than the Thief, but his ability to fly over enemy characters makes him invaluable in this role - especially when there is a race to an item. This ability becomes more useful with the more complex boards in later expansions (such as Fire and Water), where movement becomes difficult.

Mekanork: To be honest, I've not seen any alternative uses for the Mekanork. His primary use (control rooms) is very clear and very well-developed. Skilled use of his ability is one of the keys to the game.

Wall-Walker: I've seen a lot of people just run their Wall-Walker out of the maze as quickly as possible. She's my weakest base-set character, strategically - I'll either just run her out of the maze or use her as a retreiver. I have seen her ability used solely to add an additional +1 in Group Combat - her ability makes it relatively easy to get to the combat.

Troll: A lot of people see the Troll as nothing more than a slow combat monster. I have never used my Troll like this. I use my Troll as a living wall - I'll find a critical corridor and put my troll smack in the middle of it so that my opponent has to fight the troll (and burn a combat card) or find a way around it. If he wounds the Troll, I just regenerate on my next turn. Note that this does not work as well with the 3/4 Player Expansion, as the troll is vulnerable for up to two turns before you can regenerate him.

Thief: Chris Boelinger describes the Thief as a "Toolbox" - she is the best support character in the basic game. She can disarm traps so that friendly characters can move through, she can open doors (and close them again behind), and she can quickly carry wounded characters back to the Cleric for healing. I very rarely move my Thief out of the maze unless she's about to die in combat or she's my fifth Victory Point.