The Man Who Would Be King

The Man Who Would Be King is one of the multiplayer scenarios in Palaeo Diet, but I gave it a solo run yesterday. Four hunters are competing to become the next chief; there is a predator and two small herds of beasts on the table. The hunter who kills the predator becomes the next chief, but there's a time-limit and if no-one has killed the predator by the end of the game then victory goes to the hunter who kills the most herd animals.

This was my setup -the four hunters were Blonde Axe, Blonde Spear, Dark Axe and Dark Spear. There was a group of three giant birds and another of three horses, plus a giant monitor lizard.

Blonde Spear got off to a good start, killing one of the birds.

This attracted the giant lizard, of course.

The other hunters were trying to kill some horses, but without success. Both the birds and horses scattered and evaded the hunters.

Blonde Axe gave up on hunting the flight birds and horses, and struck a blow at the lizard instead. This made it cross (and wounded) and the hunters soon found themselves with a fight on their hands. In fact Dark Spear tried to scare the lizard away, but it attacked him.

The hunters closed in on the lizard. One more hit would kill it and the hunter who did this would be chief. But try as they might they couldn't finish the monster.

It hissed and roared and the hunters backed away.

But Dark Axe took a gamble, and rushed into the attack, risking a reaction from the lizard. A blow from his axe felled the predator, and Dark Axe was declared chief!

This was an entertaining game, although would be a lot more fun with more players, since there's a lot of scope for messing up other hunters' plans in this one.

Earlier on I'd played another game, where I ran a group of five hunters facing a rival tribe run using the Outfolk tables from Palaeo Diet: Fireside Tales. I wanted to see what kind of a skirmish it gave me.

To be honest it wasn't an entirely satisfying game. The complex predator reactions of the Outfolk made it hard to keep track of things, and to be honest it was weighted too much in my favour. I finished off all five hunters in five turns, although to be fair I lost two of mine.

The Outfolk have some interesting reactions, though, so might make an interesting complication for a more conventional hunt.