I have the base set and my friends and I are going to run through the whole campaign. I’ve played a few times with a few different people, but never consistently enough to even get to the interlude, let alone Act 2. But this time is different. We’re going to get through the whole thing. Honest.

Of course, now I’m thinking “What’s next?” Specifcally, I’m trying to figure out if we play this through to the finale and then I pick up Trollfens, Labyrinth of Ruin, Shadow of Nerekhall, or the upcoming Manor of Ravens can we just continue the game from there? Can we start those campaigns with all the advancements and whatnot from the base campaign?

And what about Lair of the Wyrm? If I was interested in that should I incorporate it from the start of the campaign? I kind of don’t want to buy the whole line until it’s clear I’ll use it, but am I better served incorporating them all at once?

I ask in part because we’re playing this in lieu of an RPG. I no longer have the energy to GM and this seemed like a low stress alternative. Frankly, the nine sessions that the base game offers would probably match most of our RPG streaks, lately, but if we could roll characters over into something longer that would be much more satisfying.

Each of the bog box expansions have a complete new campaign in them. In addition, they have additional heroes, monsters, OL card sets, additional shop items, relics, etc.

Once done with any of the campaigns, you would start completely over - you would select new archetypes, heroes, classes, etc. You don't carry anything over from one campaign to the next.

Small box expansions tend to include new rumors, secret rooms, conditions, etc.

I own everything, and I think it adds a lot of flavor to the game.

So players can't really continue characters from one campaign to another? That's a little disapointing.

And yet, it allows you and your group of players to try out new archetypes, classes, heroes, skills, etc. Quite frankly, I have found that after a lengthy campaign (20+ hours), my heroes look forward to trying something different.

Quite frankly, I have found that after a lengthy campaign (20+ hours), my heroes look forward to trying something different.

This, by the time you get to the end of the campaign you really do want to try something completely new.

Also remember that there are more than 9 quests even in the base game. So even if you do go back and run the same campaign, you aren't going to get the same quests.

Also, as Descent is a more strategic game, depending on the type of gamers you have (if like me), some may enjoy playing the same quest with a different set of heroes and abilities. Every time I play castle Darion now it's super intense, because everyone at the table "Knows what's up."

But yea the expansions don't continue the campaign, they flesh it out. Also no overlord wants to fight a hero with more than 9 xp...

If you want to test the waters, grab Trollfens or Lair, but if you really enjoy the game and want to dig in, I personally think Shadows of Nerkahl is the most value in what you get as far as new monsters/heroes/items/content.

Oh also if you haven't already, buy ONE lieutenant at least. 10 bucks or so and it evens things out for the OL a bit, as well as adds some more strategy.

I'm desperately trying to resist the urge to buy everything. At the moment I'm trying to restrict myself to one of the small box for rumors, some monster/hero sets (because I like having more monsters to chose from) and the lieutenants (primarily for the figures). If I do the lieutenants, I might just start with Spig(?) and buy whichever figure were going up against next as the game progresses.

Or, you know, maybe I'll just buy it all. Who needs rent, really?

I started out not caring for the lieutenants, since tokens don't bother me, and the plot decks will be less likely to see frequent use the more of them you own (if you own all the lieutenant packs, you may never use some of their plot decks.) My current position is to pick up just the big baddies. Zachareth, Valyndra, Queen Ariad, Bol'Goreth, Mirklace and soon to be Skarn. Currently I just own Queen Ariad and Mirklace (and I got Alric as a gift.)

In terms of other expansions, I haven't yet bought Trollfens, and I've only got one H&M. I'll probably get them all sometime in the future, but it's too much all at once.

Or, you know, maybe I'll just buy it all. Who needs rent, really?

In the interest of sparing your wallet, I'll just point out that you can enhance replayability by introducing expansions one at a time rather than getting them all at once.

Pick up one small box for some rumours and whatever LTs you feel like, then hold off on other box expansions until you're ready to move on to LoR or SoN - then pick up another small box to go with it.

Or if you want to replay Shadow Rune, buy a new small box to add on to it the second time around.

Personally I think the game is perfectly replayable even without other expansions to add on to your chosen main campaign, but this logic might help you space things out so you don't end up getting evicted and have to take shelter in a fort built out of Descent boxes =P

Expansion boxes and Pokemon have something in common...

Or, you know, maybe I'll just buy it all. Who needs rent, really?

In the interest of sparing your wallet, I'll just point out that you can enhance replayability by introducing expansions one at a time rather than getting them all at once.

Pick up one small box for some rumours and whatever LTs you feel like, then hold off on other box expansions until you're ready to move on to LoR or SoN - then pick up another small box to go with it.

Or if you want to replay Shadow Rune, buy a new small box to add on to it the second time around.

Personally I think the game is perfectly replayable even without other expansions to add on to your chosen main campaign, but this logic might help you space things out so you don't end up getting evicted and have to take shelter in a fort built out of Descent boxes =P

There aren't enough expansions and small boxes to make a worthwile shelter out their boxes. He'll have to go to his local grocery store and get some banana boxes to supplement them.

So players can't really continue characters from one campaign to another? That's a little disapointing.

If you allowed the heroes to keep everything between adventures you would soon find yourself in a situation where you cannot hope to win many of the act 1 quests. Your group would soon tire of the game as they would max out on character level.

Have you considered picking up Descent First Edition? I personally think that Descent 1 offers a more complete dungeon delving experience. I am not wholly satisfied in the direction FFG chose to take this game. If Descent 2 had been called something like "Skirmish Wars; Tactial Battles in the Land of Terrinoth" or some such silliness, then chose to market the game as a spin-off to a Descent 2 that more closely followed Descent 1, but without cluster---k rule system, I think it would have been better.

You could certainly continue the campaign with the same heroes, but you would return your old skills and items to the game box after each campaign. If your group plays Descent in lieu of a traditional RPG, you can get a similar experience by role-playing the interactions between your characters. It could be very fun to play out the interactions between Grisban, Leoric, Avric and Jain (or whichever heroes you picked) as they travel around Terrinoth battling evil, even if the characters' stats don't persist in the same way as a normal RPG.

I played Descent 1 once or twice and prefer the game play for 2nd much better. But I don't have any of the 1st edition stuff myself.

Ok, thanks for the feedback, all.

There aren't enough expansions and small boxes to make a worthwile shelter out of their boxes.

Not yet. Give it a couple years and he could be the King of the Homeless in his Descent-box-palace! =P

If you want to test the waters, grab Trollfens or Lair, but if you really enjoy the game and want to dig in, I personally think Shadows of Nerkahl is the most value in what you get as far as new monsters/heroes/items/content.

I find Shadows incredibly disappointing. I would go with Labyrinth of Ruin.

I like the monsters in SoN, and having a set of "city tiles" is always cool for homebrew efforts. I was a little disappointed with the production quality on the cards, though (a first for me with FFG), and the quests didn't have as much juicy Terrinoth fluff as I was hoping.

I'm willing to admit my expectations may have been a little high on the last one, though. Shadow Rune was absolutely packed with world lore, so the reference to Nerekhall, a Free City of yore, got me daydreaming about the possibilities.

At the end of the day it's a decent expansion (see what I did there?) but I don't think it's my favourite.

If you want to test the waters, grab Trollfens or Lair, but if you really enjoy the game and want to dig in, I personally think Shadows of Nerkahl is the most value in what you get as far as new monsters/heroes/items/content.

I find Shadows incredibly disappointing. I would go with Labyrinth of Ruin.

I can respect that, but I urge you to give changelings another chance, they are absolute game changers in some very specific quests.

Sorry probably a really dumb question but what are the small expansions?

Sorry probably a really dumb question but what are the small expansions?

Big Box: Base Game, Labyrinth of Ruin (1st), Shadow of Nerekall (4th), Manor of Ravens (5th)

Small Box: Lair of the Wyrm (2nd), The Trollfens (3rd)

Small expansions are those that do not include a full new campaign, but generally add some heroes and/or monsters and/or rumors and/or classes, and/or conditions, etc.