Dicey Dungeons, a tactical combat RPG

Oh! I thought you were taking this character into the Lady Luck fight.

Episode 6: Lady Luck (Part 1)


The story of Dicey Dungeons is that the characters increasingly suspect Lady Luck is rigging the game show (and the Wheel) to make them lose repeatedly, so as to trap them forever by their own ambitions, and that she thoroughly enjoys this. After completing the Bonus Round with every character, you get to confront her about it and her astounding dental work.

Since we haven't seen him yet, I'm choosing the Warrior. (I went with the Witch on my first run. If you do that, she plays more like the Sorceress enemy in this round -- four fixed pieces of equipment and no spellbook).


No treasure chest on Floor 1. In fact, we're not going to see any treasure chests for the duration of the episode. It's still best to attack the Magician first.


The Warrior's equipment is simple to use; we use the Reroll tool to get rid of any dice below the average (unless we have 6-6, in which case we obviously reroll a six) and invest all others, usually prioritizing the shield. I manage to reroll this into 3-3 and then 3-2; figuring that the apple will heal the Warrior anyhow, I do diverge from the plan and use the 3 for the sword, since the Magician can use a shield of his own, which indicates that 1 extra damage is meaningful.

Our reward is, of course...


This has been telegraphed by the Switch Fighter button, if nothing else. After thirty-six episodes of 1v1 RPG combat, Dicey Dungeons decides to ditch that restriction. Even more impressively, this ends up working well; the one complaint I have is that I cannot change everyone's name to "Rydia".

Characters who join your party keep the equipment they had just used as enemies, but their HP is changed to 10 + 2 * (floor of recruitment).


Here we fight the Ascended Gardener, who has broken free of the shackles of lagomorphia and is presently taking the form of a boss from Xenogears that you don't remember. He has a shovel that deals damage equal to the invested value and inflicts Weaken 1 on a six. I roll 5-4, invest the 5 into the Shield, and switch to the Magician to deal 5 damage via Magic Missile.


You can get around Weaken more easily in this episode. Nonetheless, since Switch Fighter is limited to one use per turn, it can still obstruct your plans. Having consumed the apple (you choose which party member to heal for a flat 10HP), we head downstairs.


The challenge in this episode largely arises from spreading out the damage across your party members correctly, as healing is very limited, and getting the sacrificial lambs in with "tempo" -- a 6 with a good Shield up signals that the Gardener should take this one. You can't preview the equipment of the fighter you rotate in, so memorizing that adds to the challenge.

If the Warrior dies, it's game over. Anyone else isn't immediately critical to the mission, but might still turn out to have been, and this game is rogue-like enough that it will have none of this Phoenix Down nonsense; dead stays dead.


With an apple available and the Magician being both already injured and decently useful in the long run (by ensuring that 1 or 2 don't fully go to waste), I let him tank a turn against the Pirate (with the intent to use the apple on him), then grab the Limit Break; having rolled an additional 2-4-6-4, I figure that, after Magic Missile and taking 2 burn damage to add 3 Shield, this is the best possible opportunity to use the Stereohead.


In another twist peculiar to this episode, Floor 3 ramps up the danger much more than Floor 2; normally, you'd have assembled your mid-game toolkit by now, but here you're still stuck dealing 6-8 damage per turn, whereas nothing in our party can withstand two about-average turns from this without a Shield, except for the Warrior. What's more, the Vacuum can blind all our dice at a 58% chance (there are no XP levels in this episode, so we're stuck with two dice per turn still), which makes Switch Fighter much more of a shot in the dark.

The Floor 3 layout is such that this fight will be immediately followed by a Fireman, with no apple in between, so the Warrior must not take too much damage, or we cannot rotate him in safely against the Fireman to use his Shield; if we don't, the Fireman can certainly KO anyone in a turn (two Fireballs, which use even dice to deal value damage and inflict Burn 2; four dice per turn).


For two blind dice, odd-even is more likely than odd-odd or even-even and the Magician will always be able to do something relevant, besides being a sensible apple target, so I switch to him on T1 and stick with him on T2 when I get Blinded. On T3, I see 6-2, which indicates that I should add Shield 6 with the Warrior to impede the Vacuum's draining attack; the 2 can be invested into Magic Missile since the Warrior already can't deal more than 5 damage per turn.


On T4, I switch my fighter after investing both dice. The Limit Break is imminent, so I want the Pirate here, who can make the best use of the four extra even dice, since he has three pieces of equipment, one of which re-equips when used with a 4. Spare sixes could then be picked up (or re-rolled) by the Warrior or Gardener.


Not many fights take more than three turns in this game. At least the Vacuum has a great toolkit to remedy our low damage output, and even though his drain attack has mild anergy with shields, this will rarely matter in practice, as any dangerous enemy can easily break through Shield 6.

Next update later today, I hope. Edit: The LP might not resume before Saturday.

Episode 6: Lady Luck (Part 2)


The second Floor 3 enemy is a Fireman. To recapitulate, his weapons are two Fireballs (one even dice; deals value damage, inflicts Burn 2). His chance of rolling 6-6 is (4 choose 2) * (1/6) ^ 2 == 16%, dangerous enough that, for my T1, I decide to use my 6-6 roll to add Shield 6, then switch to the Gardener and swing the Shovel at him.


The Fireman does hit a 6-6 of his own, and with a weak even roll, I'm forced to switch back to the Warrior for damage control, since the Magician can't add Shield with even dice. It stings, but the T3 roll serves up 6-5-4 with a Limit Break, giving the Vacuum a good opportunity to rotate in, not least thanks to its draining attack, which we can use before rotating out on T4.


I still end up one damage short on T4 and decide to sacrifice the Gardener -- sporting just one piece of equipment, he's not going to be useful for much longer, anyhow, since we're going to pick up extra dice and more frequent Limit Breaks; his turns would be wasteful.

Afterwards, I use the unlocked apple to heal the Warrior back to full health.

Rather than performing their usual service, all shops, upgrades, and trader's wagons award you +1 dice per turn in this episode. I think it's always two in total; I pick up the first one after this battle.


Floor 4. The Singer is certainly dangerous, but I'm still fighting her because she's a tremendous asset in the final battle -- Lady Luck does not use more than two pieces of equipment on any given turn, making Weaken 2 very desirable; High Note allows the Singer to deal a total 20 damage on a single turn with a Limit Break, far more than anyone else on our team (the runner-up, the Fireman can do 12 + Burn 2 at most). 20HP (i.e. higher than 18; you'll see) is the icing.


But first, the Wicker Man. 6-5 roll is optimal for the Warrior's equipment; I switch to the Magician (at 6HP left), since his 5 dmg / 3 Shield output is obsolescent, but still relevant at this point, wherefore he's a good damage sponge. The Wicker Man rolls 5-1-1, reducing my Shield to 1 with his Venus Flytrap (sword that restores 2HP on 6) and his Wicker Staff countdown to 10 (deals 9 damage, inflicts Burn 2). Quite lucky.


T2 deals me 2-2-2, though. Nobody can make good use of this roll; the Stereohead is expendable, but Weakening Fireball only eliminates the Burn effect, which is pointless on a sacrifice anyhow. Since the Staff countdown is still so high, I decide to switch to the Fireman, who can exploit the Wicker Man's elemental weakness for double damage; while 6-6-4, 6-5-5, 6-6-5 and 6-6-6 in any order can all threaten to deny the Fireman one die here, that's still only a 10/216 (~=5%) chance. More likely, we'll just take minor damage from the Flytrap and KO next turn with dual 4+ Fireballs plus whatever.

Incidentally, he does pay 4HP for each burning die -- that damage is also Fire-elemental.


Sumer is icumen in.

Afterwards, Val gives us an extra die, which is the third time a trader's wagon has contributed anything to any of my runs in Dicey Dungeons. The second time was the extra die on my previous backstage run, and I don't remember which trade I've made the one time that it seemed sensible. These could have been designed to be more relevant, I think.


Best foot forward. This roll is a particularly great opportunity for the Fireman, as he's hardly affected by her Weaken 2 response, either, and she'll always pay for Burning dice thanks to her countdown weapon.


T2 doesn't go as well, though. I switch back to the Warrior and luck into a 6 from re-rolling, allowing me to refresh the Shield again in anticipation of High Note.


Her second roll turns out not to suffice for that, and I switch to the Vacuum on my T3, since I happen to have a 4 on hand; it won't get OHKO'd by her maximal output behind Shield 7. Neither would the Fireman, but the Vacuum can use its draining weapon after the inevitable devastation, after which an apple restores its health to full.


The second-last stand. I'm not convinced that the Rat King (who essentially has a lot of poisoning Cauldron-esque weapons) is a worthwhile addition and the damage he inflicts varies wildly depending on the dice he "cauldrons" up -- I decide to skip him and move directly on to the boss. We could have faced Buster as the final boss of any prior episode; he specializes in the Burn status. The previous time I went backstage, the Floor 5 boss was Buster as well, so he might be guaranteed here.


His equipment is three 5-countdown weapons inflicting 4 Fire-elemental damage and Burn 1 apiece. Our initial roll is so good that we can switch to the Singer on T1 and immediately go for the High Note with a Limit Break. It's still just a third of his health accounted for.


The Stereohead takes one for the team; he had been at 7HP for a while and is outclassed by the Singer, although that doesn't mean he's much worse. Apples are tight, though.


The battle takes a while due to his mountain of health, but he's not notably more dangerous turn-by-turn than a Fireman otherwise. The Singer and Fireman demonstrate their pivotal roles. I make the mistake of thinking that the Fireman resists Fire when he doesn't; this leaves him at 1HP after Burn damage.


Sneak attack?


...MISTAKE.

Tune in for the series finale next time.

Episode 6: Lady Luck (Part 3)


"Not that kind of girl."

The stars behind her swirl in the arch.

Fortune Favours The Bold
Her battle theme plays with much of the material you've previously heard on the soundtrack. Or not, since I've neglected linking to half of it. I think it loops in "tiers" as the battle proceeds (like Dancing Mad), but I didn't pay much attention to that.


This cutely nonsensical, deliberately casuistic clause may have been inspired, categorically, by the Munchkin CCG.

In any case, Lady Luck's first few turns mainly ask for dodging Judgment, or cursing yourself for having skipped/sacrificed a fighter that Judgment would have hit for 1. For all intents and purposes, this opening phase is only meant to screw with whatever "standard" moves you've been carving out for yourself, as nearly nothing can take Judgment without fulfilling the (ever-changing) clauses.

It also serves to foreshadow her second phase: her attacks are themed around following her arbitrary commands (which will usually drag out the battle), or suffering a harsh penalty.


I don't bother with the shield, of course. Shielding 1HP is mostly pointless against Lady Luck.


"Surprise."


The only Level 1 Machine monster I can think of is Cyber Valley Gradius' Option the RoboBot; we've never encountered it on this run, so death is inevitable for the next fighter I end my turn on (a Vacuum behind Shield 4+ would survive, but the grievous damage would still not be worth it); I choose the Magician, as Shield 3 is unlikely to matter, and a reliable five damage is no longer useful here.


I wonder what determines these Judgment clauses; anyhow, clearly, you're meant to end your turn on Buster here.

As a design idea for a "superboss", I like these unforeseen clauses about properties that were always in plain sight, but have never mattered before (though writing this out, it reminds me of Chrono Cross in a certain sense, and not just favourably), and I gather that the aim was to avoid players having to repeat the backstage episode just to draw a more favourable Judgment arbitrarily. It's amusing, too, that Lady Luck is apparently rigging the game in the player's favour -- to keep them in the game, which she wants above all.

Nonetheless, this isn't exactly a puzzle.


At any rate, it does effectively prevent me from launching the Limit Break this turn, and more "flavourfully" so than having Lady Luck cast Silence 99 or something like that (ignoring, for the sake of argument, that Silence isn't a stackable effect).


The usual transparency of the game makes it all the more effective when the rare nebulous item comes up. On that note, I lost my first Parallel Universe run with the Warrior due to having picked up the shifted version of Last Stand; the base weapon lets you survive one would-be fatal hit. The shifted version has a description of "Survive for three turns. After that...", and I took this to mean that I had to survive for three of my enemy's turns, then it would be hit with instant death -- reasonable to assume in a game where most battles are over faster than by your T4 (even bosses sometimes), but the odd endurance match comes up.

Suffice to say that I had it exactly backwards.

Anyhow, from my previous run, I know what the Wheel does, of course (it hits the skull field), and you might have caught on from the Judgment clauses already. Since the ready Limit Break and an expected incoming damage of 0 already make a good case for using the Singer, I figure it's worthwhile to find out if Weaken 1 changes the effect here.


It does. Once more, this doesn't mean what I first thought it did, though.


After Lady Luck has used the Wheel of Fortune, you've reached the second phase of the fight. Her equipment becomes much more varied now.


I think the commands are themed to your active fighter and your current roll. If not, they're masterfully designed in that they seem to do that, every turn. I do love the idea of a boss that demands you play by its rules for its own satisfaction, but leaves you free to "get serious" -- mutually. (Gogo in FFV comes to mind, but of course, that's essentially a trick question rather than a boss battle.)


Her equipment this turn doesn't exactly convince me that her rule is worth upholding. I have nothing much better than dual Sad Verse for the 4-4, except for the Pirate's "sword" that happens to re-equip on 4. The Pirate also happens to be at 13/14HP, though; he'd already dodge the doubling effect, but if I take the 5HP hit with the Singer first, the Pirate will be able to stomach the undoubled Sword for one more turn (and you'll see the Divine Sword more than once). Weaken 2 doesn't matter here.


Locking half our dice is dire, and would almost completely steal any fighter's ("half-")turn (even given a Limit Break). I dare not defy this rule when it comes up; Fire equipment is found on two of my stronger fighters, sure -- but both the Singer and Warrior are better yet, and the Vacuum is about on par.


The Divine Dagger is very much worth Weakening -- it goes from "reusable" to "three uses per turn", so you'll take 6 from the Lady instead of 15. Kids, remember your triangle numbers! (And when do those come up in RPGs otherwise?)


Once again, her rule seems tailored to the situation. I'm certainly not wasting six extra damage on the Limit Break gauge, though; to boot, the Singer is "resistant to Blind" because the damage from Sad Verse doesn't matter that much and High Note consumes most of your dice anyway, high or low value. The Pirate drops by to soak the second Divine Sword hit, as planned some turns ago.


I have to ask which kind of self-respecting axe, much less a divine one, fails specifically against a shield. This weapon asks for the Warrior, of course.


I do love the ways in which this game aims to create flavour from within the conventions of JRPG language. Curse doesn't carry over between turns, lest this would be grotesquely careless to defy.


Her weapon for the turn is concerning, as it doesn't come with a dodge clause (only about 2/3 of her turns do, at this stage) and Weaken All is one of the worst status effects to face. I decide that Buster is the best damage sponge here, as Weaken merely takes away Burn 1, he still has enough HP to survive the attack (unlike the Fireman, who would also have been a candidate to ignore Weaken with), and importantly doesn't waste too many opportunities due to Blind.

The next update is the final one. I didn't get it all done today, unfortunately.

Lady Luck seems like a much more reasonable version of the superboss from Dream Quest.

I'm not acquainted with Dream Quest, but it seems I should get so, given what I've now read about it. There's no port to Linux, though. Perhaps someone knows if it can be made to run via wine?

Episode 6: Lady Luck (The End)


Technically, Poison is a moderate danger -- the Singer is at 9HP and would not appreciate getting into range for the 6-damage weapons, for instance. However, the counter gets reset to zero if any fighter dies, making this rule very much worth defying. The Pirate takes this one.


Right afterwards, Lady Luck pulls out this weapon, of course. I have an alternative mitigation tactic, though. The Pirate dying also allows me to send in the Singer with "tempo" (or, in this case, not having to defy the command and incur a penalty known as serious), as so often in 1v1 team-based RPGs.


Weaken is the most powerful status effect against Lady Luck, to the point that my sacrifice of the Stereohead can be called into question (the Magician should have been thrown under the bus before him, at least).


At some HP threshold (it might, in fact, be 60; it is probably a number close to the usual Floor 6 bosses' HP), she channels Gilgamesh (and also Tellah) and enters her third phase. Unlike most of what she uses, the Meteor is potential player-side equipment; I've had a Thief run win with a kit centered around the Chocolate Cookie (a countdown to Fury), the upgraded Meteor (which deals 25) and the Crowbar+, along with some duplicating / dice-manipulation equipment.


Weaken is still your friend. Lady Luck no longer issues commands at this stage.


At this point, the battle becomes an overt damage race. Her countdown weapons make Burn more relevant (and could be mitigated by Lock/Freeze, but I didn't have those available here).


Again, you probably don't want to take a turn with Freeze All applied. I didn't know in advance that said effect would also be Weakened (though I could have "figured"), and sacrificed the Fireman; while the obscurity of BUC status is meant to be part of the game, there's an excellent equipment spoiler over on the fan wiki, for instance.

It's unlikely that Lady Luck defeats you -- by design. Consider it your lap of honour after completing everyone's Bonus Round, and a showcase of how malleable this game can still be after thirty-six episodes (mod tools were released in the February update). Regardless, I like that the final battle is a war of resources more than one of "big turns" (greetings from GORSIA...?).


The screen flashes white a couple of times after this line, then...


...

"I want to know how you did that with your teeth."


All part of the show! Which is not to say that she isn't, in fact, slightly "nefarious", as are all my favourite game designers.


She's exaggerating. Dicey Dungeons is not that difficult, and a good part of your tactical decisions will be obvious each turn. The beauty lies in its astoundingly solid and varied encounter design, which is interesting both when you see enemies for the first time and when you've grown accustomed to them. The main challenge, then, consists of correctly evaluating the equipment you come across as it relates to your current toolkit (and that's why the Witch and Jester are the most difficult characters) and the possible upcoming enemies and Bonus Round rules.

I wish I had found more opportunities for puzzle plays on these runs -- the Witch in particular has a few tools that can make her go infinite, usually revolving around Duplicate, Cauldron variants (the Bronze Cauldron most of all), and the Crucible+ (provides four extra burning dice) -- but I hope that I could do the game justice nonetheless.

My favourite episode that I didn't show off is the Thief's Uptick (all your rolls are 6 on your first turn, then 5 on the next, etc. -- and the counter doesn't reset between fights), and generally those that make your dice reliable (the Witch has a similar one, where she eternally rolls 6,5,4,3,2,1,6,5,etc.). The most difficult episodes are Inventor Elimination Round and Witch Hard Mode. The Jester can be tremendously powerful, but as you've seen from my Hard Mode failure, deckbuilding offers a variety of traps.

Who better to send us off than our host, though:






(This is only the first page of the credits.)

Thanks for reading.

This has been a "guided tour" LP more than an attempt to show off the complete game, of course. If anyone reading, whether now or in the distant future, wants to take over this thread, I hereby give my blessing. Myself, I'm thinking to LP another game -- a well-known CCG that comes with built-in variant challenges -- but I'll have to see whether I can say enough about it.

Critiques are welcome. It may have been apparent: I've never done an LP before, not only on TT. The one "trick of the trade" I've picked up and that I'd like to share here is that Imgur allows you to resize images simply by appending certain letters to the filename; search-replacing ".jpg" to "l.jpg" was my standard play more than any Cauldron or Limit Break here.

May your dice be kind.

Bravo! I've enjoyed this LP, and the game has made my wishlist.

I also enjoyed the LP. It let me enjoy another roguelike in my usual fashion - vicariously. So thanks.