Quick Note: I didn't go into as much detail about the impact whips have on the hunt as I should have here. We'll address that in the Leather Worker video and the Hunt Phase one.
i have had my kingdom death for 6-7 years but never got past year 8 or so. enjoy videos like this as Gambler chess getting me to dust the game off as i LOVE the system and world. your videos are great approach and i will watch all!
Hey Fen! Awesome video! I would suggest being a little more focused and have less tangents, at least until further videos. There's no doubt that kd:m has a lot of mechanics and you can make a lot of combos and there's few people as knowledgeable as you of them, but for a new player jumping from item to story event, to disorder and back might create some whiplash. Looking forward for more!
Small correction: the Rawhide set bonus getting back your survival actually gives you 2x survival, not just 1.5x. This is because the refunded survival and also refund and so on. Therefore the sum can be calculated using the infinite sum of 1+1/2+1/4... = 2.
What a nice surprise to stumble upon your stuff on YT, Fen! I have been missing the KDM-centric audio content from you since Great Game Hunter! Subscribed :-) A few comments: - it might be worth adding that the first point of evasion is the least effective (~11% increased survivability against 2+ attacks), but combined with other early bonuses gets to be extremely good as each new point gets increasingly effective from a survivability standpoint. - I really like your comments on whips and strength. Strength is valued quite badly by much of the community, but strength adds a lot of low strength weapons into the pool of viable gear. - the value of hide compared to bones/organs early game (and later) is really good advice for new players! I don’t know if your 5:1 with bones is accurate, but it is an interesting thing to look into. My guess would be more in the line of 5 pieces of hide gear, 1,5 pieces of bone gear and 2,5 piece of organ gear for app. a 1:3:2 ratio. But that is guessing. Which node 1 and 2 monsters you are hunting and the composition of their resource decks might also be worth factoring in. - on noisy gear. It has occurred to me that the more content you get for KDM, the safer noisy becomes as you filter the hunt deck and roll less on the random hunt events. With the gamblers chest replacing random hunt event cards with new cards, the probability of the single show stopper event gets quite a bit smaller. Maybe the future for KDM is more noisy? Really looking forward to more content!
Noisy is a tough one, not just because of the frequency but because it's completely without any form of mitigation or protection beyond "don't use noisy gear" which is an unfortunate position for the keyword. Fragile, Soluble, Consumable, Flammable, Two-Handed and even heavy have either counterplay/mitigation options you can learn to employ or simply mean that the gear card with the offending trait is removed. Noisy means you occasionally get a showdown with -1 survivor. It's why many players I know ignore/reroll that particular hunt event, but I can't really record a video that says "Just ignore this hunt event." That's for individual players to decide on in their particular sandbox game. All I can do is highlight the danger, point out why it is so dangerous if you are completely following the letter of the rules so one can make the choice with some knowledge and forewarning. I wish it was different, but in the Gen 1 stuff it is what it is. Hopefully later stuff like the GCE changes this, and at that point my advice would change also. Also I do recommend people work out their own value system for resources, my one is an example and it's not even perfect because values of resources change depending on where they come from and what part of the campaign you're in. Ultimately it's thinking about both the value and cost of resources that matters most imo. Finally, Yes! Strength is such a great equaliser for many weapon types, I love the Monster-Tooth Necklace so much that I gushed about it in the next video.
This is so well needed because I know personally 8 people ( might not sound like a lot but if you know what it is means to get someone into playing ttrpgs it is) that won't get into Kingdom Death because that shit seems impenetrable.
Fantastic Video! This is a very easy breakdown and I like how you explained your reasoning for your decisions. Really helps new players understand and gain some insight behind it. Looking forward to future content! 🎉
Thank you for this! Currently in the middle of my third campaign that unfortunately has stalled due to scheduling issues (a classic), so always on the lookout for kdm content:) although now when GCE is so close I'm thinking of waiting untill it arrives and starting a new one... Love the weird music in the background, reminds me of Gideons theme from the first or second duels of the planeswalkers game for PC:)
Great video and review of options that the skinnery gives the players. I enjoy this format and the time you take to explain everything step-by-step Fen!
Personally, I wouldn’t build mutiple rawhide armors before moving onto leather, just one. Rawhide survivor will be both your utility, tank and attacker all in one early game while the others are just fodder or maybe have a good weapon/bandages etc. Move into leather quickly, it becomes your tank, rawhide your utility and maybe attacker, by late game it’s purely utility
I thought you were done with this game and had moved on, but evidently not. Nice to see you are making a series akin to the Great Game Hunters podcast, only this seems more focused, which is a plus. You mentioned a few things which I hadn't considered before about whips as I've never really tried them out much (except as a hunt track accessory) and opted for other weapons. You mentioned the fighting arts from Drums being "really good," but rhythm chaser is of course better with an instrument. You also mentioned the old and oft-repeated proviso of instruments being basically a "no-no" on hunts because of one event that is unlikely to occur on some of the hunt track spaces some of the time. Is that in fact a good strategy? Given that you can also die from a bad brain trauma roll 20% of the time, and the drum gives everyone insanity to prevent that, one hunt event shouldn't make or break it. I've always thought that avoiding an entire class of gear cards on hunts (admittedly, there are not many currently) because of harvester is a bit of a myopic view. Taking a whip on a hunt seems a much more important point to make since there are a TON more events that relate to whips, while relatively few relate to noisy. Anyway, the game has always been about the experience for me and less about min/maxing, but thank you for beginning this series. I'm looking forward to the next one(s).
Everyone has different playstyles, I don't think there's one true right way to play. Anyhow, mistakes are the best part of the learning experience. You only get to play KDM blind once!
Quick Note: I didn't go into as much detail about the impact whips have on the hunt as I should have here. We'll address that in the Leather Worker video and the Hunt Phase one.
Excellent summery. High quality vid - the thoughtful preparation of the gaming table for this vid makes this a very organized strategy guide.
It is great to see you are still going strong after all these years Fen! Your tips and insights are always welcome.
i have had my kingdom death for 6-7 years but never got past year 8 or so. enjoy videos like this as Gambler chess getting me to dust the game off as i LOVE the system and world.
your videos are great approach and i will watch all!
Finally some tactics!!!!! YES!!!!!
Hey Fen! Awesome video! I would suggest being a little more focused and have less tangents, at least until further videos.
There's no doubt that kd:m has a lot of mechanics and you can make a lot of combos and there's few people as knowledgeable as you of them, but for a new player jumping from item to story event, to disorder and back might create some whiplash.
Looking forward for more!
Small correction: the Rawhide set bonus getting back your survival actually gives you 2x survival, not just 1.5x. This is because the refunded survival and also refund and so on. Therefore the sum can be calculated using the infinite sum of 1+1/2+1/4... = 2.
I've learned so much. This series might get me back to playing KDM. Seriously. Thank you.
I hope it does, it's a really rich game with a lot to explore.
Nice video, I enjoyed your coverage of the shinnery and look forward to the other settlement location you will cover.
What a nice surprise to stumble upon your stuff on YT, Fen! I have been missing the KDM-centric audio content from you since Great Game Hunter! Subscribed :-)
A few comments:
- it might be worth adding that the first point of evasion is the least effective (~11% increased survivability against 2+ attacks), but combined with other early bonuses gets to be extremely good as each new point gets increasingly effective from a survivability standpoint.
- I really like your comments on whips and strength. Strength is valued quite badly by much of the community, but strength adds a lot of low strength weapons into the pool of viable gear.
- the value of hide compared to bones/organs early game (and later) is really good advice for new players! I don’t know if your 5:1 with bones is accurate, but it is an interesting thing to look into. My guess would be more in the line of 5 pieces of hide gear, 1,5 pieces of bone gear and 2,5 piece of organ gear for app. a 1:3:2 ratio. But that is guessing. Which node 1 and 2 monsters you are hunting and the composition of their resource decks might also be worth factoring in.
- on noisy gear. It has occurred to me that the more content you get for KDM, the safer noisy becomes as you filter the hunt deck and roll less on the random hunt events. With the gamblers chest replacing random hunt event cards with new cards, the probability of the single show stopper event gets quite a bit smaller. Maybe the future for KDM is more noisy?
Really looking forward to more content!
Noisy is a tough one, not just because of the frequency but because it's completely without any form of mitigation or protection beyond "don't use noisy gear" which is an unfortunate position for the keyword. Fragile, Soluble, Consumable, Flammable, Two-Handed and even heavy have either counterplay/mitigation options you can learn to employ or simply mean that the gear card with the offending trait is removed. Noisy means you occasionally get a showdown with -1 survivor.
It's why many players I know ignore/reroll that particular hunt event, but I can't really record a video that says "Just ignore this hunt event." That's for individual players to decide on in their particular sandbox game.
All I can do is highlight the danger, point out why it is so dangerous if you are completely following the letter of the rules so one can make the choice with some knowledge and forewarning. I wish it was different, but in the Gen 1 stuff it is what it is. Hopefully later stuff like the GCE changes this, and at that point my advice would change also.
Also I do recommend people work out their own value system for resources, my one is an example and it's not even perfect because values of resources change depending on where they come from and what part of the campaign you're in. Ultimately it's thinking about both the value and cost of resources that matters most imo.
Finally, Yes! Strength is such a great equaliser for many weapon types, I love the Monster-Tooth Necklace so much that I gushed about it in the next video.
Really glad you have started making TH-cam videos!
It's good to see you bringing out content. I loved you on the great hunters pod cast !
Thanks, hopefully this series can build upon the knowledge we've all gained over the past few years and provide some new insights.
This is so well needed because I know personally 8 people ( might not sound like a lot but if you know what it is means to get someone into playing ttrpgs it is) that won't get into Kingdom Death because that shit seems impenetrable.
Awsome to see fen making videos.
Fantastic Video! This is a very easy breakdown and I like how you explained your reasoning for your decisions. Really helps new players understand and gain some insight behind it. Looking forward to future content! 🎉
this is wonderful! Just got our copy of gamblers chest and we are about to get back into KDM so some of this kind of video is very helpful.
thank you.
Thank you for this! Currently in the middle of my third campaign that unfortunately has stalled due to scheduling issues (a classic), so always on the lookout for kdm content:) although now when GCE is so close I'm thinking of waiting untill it arrives and starting a new one...
Love the weird music in the background, reminds me of Gideons theme from the first or second duels of the planeswalkers game for PC:)
Kevin Macleod is the lead composer for the internet!
Well made guide. This is the video I’d always wanted for KDM
Great video and review of options that the skinnery gives the players. I enjoy this format and the time you take to explain everything step-by-step Fen!
This is awesome, well spoken. Looking forward to more.
Also can't wait to get my own dwelling.
Great video! Well done, very helpful. I just started my new campaign in preparation for the GC to hit the table later this year. Keep them coming.
Amazing content! Subscribed!
Personally, I wouldn’t build mutiple rawhide armors before moving onto leather, just one. Rawhide survivor will be both your utility, tank and attacker all in one early game while the others are just fodder or maybe have a good weapon/bandages etc.
Move into leather quickly, it becomes your tank, rawhide your utility and maybe attacker, by late game it’s purely utility
Please do another video quickly! I’m on holiday away from my KDM and I’m missing it!! 😂😂
really cool video!
I thought you were done with this game and had moved on, but evidently not. Nice to see you are making a series akin to the Great Game Hunters podcast, only this seems more focused, which is a plus. You mentioned a few things which I hadn't considered before about whips as I've never really tried them out much (except as a hunt track accessory) and opted for other weapons.
You mentioned the fighting arts from Drums being "really good," but rhythm chaser is of course better with an instrument. You also mentioned the old and oft-repeated proviso of instruments being basically a "no-no" on hunts because of one event that is unlikely to occur on some of the hunt track spaces some of the time. Is that in fact a good strategy? Given that you can also die from a bad brain trauma roll 20% of the time, and the drum gives everyone insanity to prevent that, one hunt event shouldn't make or break it. I've always thought that avoiding an entire class of gear cards on hunts (admittedly, there are not many currently) because of harvester is a bit of a myopic view. Taking a whip on a hunt seems a much more important point to make since there are a TON more events that relate to whips, while relatively few relate to noisy.
Anyway, the game has always been about the experience for me and less about min/maxing, but thank you for beginning this series. I'm looking forward to the next one(s).
Oh, video content! Subscribed for sure! I just made a cup of coffee as well.
Wow, just started my first campaign in 1.6, and did so many mistakes 😅 Anyway, excellent video!
Everyone has different playstyles, I don't think there's one true right way to play. Anyhow, mistakes are the best part of the learning experience. You only get to play KDM blind once!
Is this THE Fen?
One of me, yes.
What program are you using?
Algorithm comment!