We're having some DICE THRONE Christmas-time fun playing the SANTA v KRAMPUS edition of the game. I picked up this DICE THRONE box set featuring the two characters in a Kickstarter campaign by Roxley Games earlier this year. It's a DICE THRONE CHRISTMAS battling these two holiday spirits against one another in this tabletop game.
In DICE THRONE a player during his or her turn can roll dice up to three times to activate character's unique attack modes that are triggered by certain configurations of the roll of the die. An opponent can then roll dice to defend against attacks. Characters also have special abilities that can be utilized and upgraded during the game. Plus, players also have a deck of action cards that can be used to manipulate dice rolls or empower other actions to surprise foes. DICE THRONE combines strategy and an element of luck in a fast-paced game of role-playing gladiatorial combat.
Don't let his festive cheer, jolly smile and mugs full of egg nog lull you into a false sense of security. For those on the naughty list, you better watch out. You better not pout. Santa Claus is coming to pound!
Santa has a two positive status effects that can be earned during a game that are represented by tokens. These can be gained to provide positive benefits for your character or inflicted to deal some pain to your opponent. Status effects tend to be earned through being incorporated into an attack mode or granted via an action card. Santa's status effects are cheer and egg nog.
Cheer allows Santa to re-roll or change one of your die in a roll to a 6. Santa can cash in one cheer token to re-roll one of their dice. He can spend three tokens to change any one die to a 6 after a roll. Santa has a limit of holding no more than 3 cheer tokens in hand.
Santa can get a number of different benefits from Egg Nog. He can spend up to three Egg Nog tokens to provide him the opportunity to roll one die at any time to trigger a bonus effect. Santa can hold up to 5 Egg Nog tokens in hand.
On an Egg Nog roll if Santa gets an Axe symbol die he deals 2 pts of damage to an opponent that is undefendable. If Santa rolls a holiday bell, he gains 2 pts of health and gains 1 combat point. Combat points are spent to utilize action cards and some character abilities. If he rolls the Christmas Star, Santa gets 2 pts of health and draws 1 action card to add to his deck.
Santa has some truly festive attack modes. His "Trim Your Tree" attack involves rolling for axe symbols. If you get three axes that deals out 4 pts of damage to your opponent; four axes deals out 6 pts; and five deals out 8 pts. "Rosey Cheeks" is triggered by getting a small straight (1-4) which gains Santa 1 cheer token, then has him give out 6 pts of damage + an additional 1 damage point per Cheer tokens in his hand. "Reindeer Games" can be used with a large straight (1-5) created from one or a combination of your three dice rolls during a turn. This attack provides Santa with one Cheer token and two Egg Nog tokens then deals 4 pts of damage + 1 pt per Egg Nog in your hand + 1 pt per Cheer token. There are only five dice so you can never have six dice in a straight or one of a kind.
The Christmas Star die has a lot of power for Santa in DICE THRONE. A configuration of three Axes and two Christmas Stars unleashes "Festivities" which provides Santa with 2 Egg Nog tokens and doles out 7 pts of damage to an opponent. Four Christmas Star symbols triggers the "Holly Jolly" attack mode which gains Santa 2 Cheer tokens + 3 Egg Nog tokens and deals 6 undefendable damage points. Five Christmas Star dice provide you with "Comfort and Joy"...the ultimate attack! Santa gains 4 Egg Nog tokens, gives out 10 pts of damage and immediately gets an additional Offensive Roll Phase allowing to start a new attack from scratch right away skipping the opponent's turn.
When it comes to Defense, Santa Claus can "Egg Noggin' It." After an opponent finishing rolling the dice during their Offensive Roll Phase, Santa can roll four dice. For every Holiday Bell rolled, he gets an Egg Nogg token. For every Christmas Star rolled, Santa gets a Cheer token. While these don't directly off-set damage pts inflicted, Santa's defense does provide some nice ways to counter attacks.
At Christmas, Krampus brings bad tidings and coal to all who have misbehaved. And if he wasn't rotten enough on his own, Krampus has also scavenged through abandoned gifts and brough to life an army of minions. These Rejects love to support Krampus in causing great discomfort and pain!
Krampus has a negative and a positive status effect available to him. The negative is that he can give out coal tokens to opponents that prevent them from obtaining combat points. After an opponent has accumulated four coal tokens, the next time they would gain combat points they must remove all the coal tokens from their character board which has the effect of reducing the amount of points they would have earned by 1 pt. To be honest I'm not that impressed by this effect.
Krampus' positive status effect is that he can earn gift tokens. He can have up to three of these tokens at any time. Krampus can spend these tokens to add a Reject companion into the game.
A Reject companion put into play can be used immediately or you can wait to utilize the benefits it provides your character. Be strategic because there are action cards that can be combined with Rejects to really add some mischief to a game. Once you activate a Reject's ability to use against an opponent then it is discarded so don't just use them whilly-nilly. Rejects are an awesome way to overpower an opponent which can give Krampus a real edge in duels.
Krampus main attack is to use a switch to swat opponents. Three dice with a switch symbol deal 5 damage points; four deal 6 damage pts; and five deal 7 pts. A small straight (1-4) causes some "Misbehaving" gaining Krampus a gift (which can be used to gain a Reject) plus deals 7 pts of damage. A large straight (1-5) lets you add one Reject or activate the powers of a Reject in play without having to discard it thereby letting Krampus use it again in another turn. Plus, a large straight causes 9 pts of damage to an opponent.
The Horns symbol has a lot of power for Krampus. Rolling four Horns lets him gain a gift token, add a Reject companion, inflict 2 coal tokens on an opponent and deal them 9 pts of damage. Rolling five Horn dice creates "Discomfort and Pain" with Krampus' ultimate attack. He gains a Gift token, adds 2 Reject companions, and deals 10 points of damage. Plus, he may activate one Rejects powers without having to discard it afterward.
Krampus defense is "Deviled Eggs." He rolls three dice after an attack. If he gets two Switches, Krampus inflicts a Coal token on an opponent. If he rolls a Present, he gains a Gift token. If he gets a Horned symbol on his dice roll, Krampus deals back 1 pt of damage for each Reject he has in play.
So, which character is your favorite? The demonly Krampus with his Rejects or the saintly Santa with his Christmas cheer? Both of these characters can also be played against those in other DICE THRONE editions. How do you think Santa Claus would fare in a battle against Thor? Who would have the upper hand Krampus or Loki? Which other characters from the Marvel edition of DICE THRONE would you like to see Santa or Krampus battle against?
Have yourself some festive battles with DICE THRONE from Roxley Games. Roll, Roll, Roll! Merry Christmas!
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