I have NEVER actually won a game of "Barbarian Prince". He usually shuffled off this mortal coil, in a lot of interesting ways, in the South. I only came close... once. Prince Cal had (finally) accumulated enough gold, had made it back North, crossed the river, returned to the North, ready to reclaim his Throne, and died when he was bitten by a poisonous snake! So close... and yet so far! "ARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH", says Cal Arath, as he enters into the Halls Of Valhalla! What a game! Thanks for sharing this with us and sparking such great memories! I'm looking forward to your Victory!
@@dartmart9263 In my mind's eye, Cal killed the snake that killed him and died with a weapon in his hand = One Eternal Admission Ticket to Odin's Feast Hall. It made for a better story which is what solo wargaming is all about... and made me feel better.
"What is best in life?" A compass? An umbrella? Do dog whistles work on wolves? If so, one of them too. Where would be the fun in that? What I like is that this game introduces natural challenges like getting lost, running out of food and getting soaked to the skin. It can be just as interesting as simply rocking up to the portal of the dungeon at turn one and the game ending when the last item was looted from the last dead monster. I never got eaten by wolves on the way home. But surely I should have. Just once.
A great point! That is highlighted by JRR Tolkein when he talked about how adventures were mostly walking through misery, eating cold food on the foot, and long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of dragons and demons. This game captures that really well by putting a long grind through the wilderness up front, and the little moments of adventure and heroism pop up out of the blue later on.
@@TheJoyofWargaming you've conjured up a wonderful image of Gollum: "What's taters, precious? What's taters, eh?" Fish and chips for lunch for me tomorrow, I think!
I gave this one another attempt today after watching your video. The Barbarian died killed by 10 wolves on day 3... I think next time I'll create a D&D character and use the D&D "number appearing" and combat rules. Should be more fun.
I want to love this game so badly but part of why it's hard is do to a very, very dumb deign choice, the results are statically divided up but your bonus are not. The combat chart is a good example of this. A high roll isn't always good and a low roll isn't always bad but if you're really skilled you always get a bonus to your roll. This means you always roll higher and enemies get a penalty to their roll which means they always go low. This leads to situations where battling low skilled attackers can actually be more dangerous and your skill gets in the way and gets you killed. I've gotten killed by a single Combat Skill 3, Endurance 3 fucking goblin because my +5 would cause me to miss and his minus five would give him a 3 or -1 meaning his low skill was now making it so he hit more. Your might Combat Skill 8 is a liability. The same thing happens on rolls when you're in town or a temple. Every time I get a "helpful" event that gives me a +1 to another roll I know I'm in for losing half my gold the next time I want to roll for henchman men or rumors. To because of this genius choice, this game is totally a test of how lucky you are, not how skilled. Because I know this, every victory feels hollow since I only won because I just happened to roll the right numbers not to fuck myself and not because me choices mattered. So yeah, it's a hard game made almost unwinnable buy a really, really dumb decision.
Late to the party here, but can you actually hunt when you try to move? I was under the impression that you could only do one action, which means you should EITHER hunt or move.
One of the actions you may select from the list presented in r203 is "Improve hunting". This gives a bonus to your hunting roll. As hunting is not itself listed in r203, it does not constitute an action in the same way eating or drinking does not.
Could you have run away? In fact that may be one way to progress (refuse to use the word win here note) - discretion is the better part of valour they say (though not in Conans hearing).
Yes, that would have been the smart play. A 50/50 shot is better than nothing. That's how I escaped the Evil Clampett Family in the first episode. With so many attack s on that first round, if the wolves don't get you the starvation usually does.
I have NEVER actually won a game of "Barbarian Prince". He usually shuffled off this mortal coil, in a lot of interesting ways, in the South. I only came close... once. Prince Cal had (finally) accumulated enough gold, had made it back North, crossed the river, returned to the North, ready to reclaim his Throne, and died when he was bitten by a poisonous snake! So close... and yet so far! "ARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH", says Cal Arath, as he enters into the Halls Of Valhalla! What a game! Thanks for sharing this with us and sparking such great memories! I'm looking forward to your Victory!
Valhalla? For a simple snake bite? :)
@@dartmart9263 In my mind's eye, Cal killed the snake that killed him and died with a weapon in his hand = One Eternal Admission Ticket to Odin's Feast Hall. It made for a better story which is what solo wargaming is all about... and made me feel better.
"What is best in life?"
A compass? An umbrella? Do dog whistles work on wolves? If so, one of them too.
Where would be the fun in that?
What I like is that this game introduces natural challenges like getting lost, running out of food and getting soaked to the skin. It can be just as interesting as simply rocking up to the portal of the dungeon at turn one and the game ending when the last item was looted from the last dead monster. I never got eaten by wolves on the way home. But surely I should have. Just once.
A great point! That is highlighted by JRR Tolkein when he talked about how adventures were mostly walking through misery, eating cold food on the foot, and long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of dragons and demons. This game captures that really well by putting a long grind through the wilderness up front, and the little moments of adventure and heroism pop up out of the blue later on.
@@TheJoyofWargaming you've conjured up a wonderful image of Gollum: "What's taters, precious? What's taters, eh?" Fish and chips for lunch for me tomorrow, I think!
@@TheJoyofWargaming so interesting that this is how war, too, is often described, right?
Do you need to check for an event each day you are lost?
Looks like a fun game. Thanks for sharing.
Yup,this happens very often in this game,which makes it so great when you actually do well.
Down with the damned usurpers (Hamlet, Macbeth, etc)!
I gave this one another attempt today after watching your video. The Barbarian died killed by 10 wolves on day 3... I think next time I'll create a D&D character and use the D&D "number appearing" and combat rules. Should be more fun.
For the love of all that is holy, please, please, please free us from the foul usurper! Oh, and good luck in your game, too.
You made me L out L, bro.
My channel has the best commenters on RUclips. Bar none.
I want to love this game so badly but part of why it's hard is do to a very, very dumb deign choice, the results are statically divided up but your bonus are not.
The combat chart is a good example of this. A high roll isn't always good and a low roll isn't always bad but if you're really skilled you always get a bonus to your roll. This means you always roll higher and enemies get a penalty to their roll which means they always go low. This leads to situations where battling low skilled attackers can actually be more dangerous and your skill gets in the way and gets you killed. I've gotten killed by a single Combat Skill 3, Endurance 3 fucking goblin because my +5 would cause me to miss and his minus five would give him a 3 or -1 meaning his low skill was now making it so he hit more. Your might Combat Skill 8 is a liability. The same thing happens on rolls when you're in town or a temple. Every time I get a "helpful" event that gives me a +1 to another roll I know I'm in for losing half my gold the next time I want to roll for henchman men or rumors. To because of this genius choice, this game is totally a test of how lucky you are, not how skilled. Because I know this, every victory feels hollow since I only won because I just happened to roll the right numbers not to fuck myself and not because me choices mattered.
So yeah, it's a hard game made almost unwinnable buy a really, really dumb decision.
Late to the party here, but can you actually hunt when you try to move? I was under the impression that you could only do one action, which means you should EITHER hunt or move.
One of the actions you may select from the list presented in r203 is "Improve hunting". This gives a bonus to your hunting roll.
As hunting is not itself listed in r203, it does not constitute an action in the same way eating or drinking does not.
@@TheJoyofWargaming ah I see!
Could you have run away?
In fact that may be one way to progress (refuse to use the word win here note) - discretion is the better part of valour they say (though not in Conans hearing).
Yes, that would have been the smart play. A 50/50 shot is better than nothing. That's how I escaped the Evil Clampett Family in the first episode. With so many attack s on that first round, if the wolves don't get you the starvation usually does.