Hello folks,

I'm new to this wonderfull game and ofcourse I have a question.

Do you base the level of the monsters on the number of heroes playing the game or the number of players in the game (including the Dungeon Master)?

esteinsen

It's the number of heroes + overlord, so the cards with the "2" stats will never be used, since you always have at least 2 heroes.

Veinman said:

Ummmm - I don't think that's right... I believe it's based on the number of players - EX.

Overlord + one player (controlling 2 heroes) = the #2 cards

Overlord + two players each with their own hero = #3 cards

This is partly moot as they have the same stats on each side of the cards...

Overlord + three = #4 cards

Overlord + four = #5

That's how I understood it.

The book says players, but that makes absolutely no sense. Why should a party of 4 heroes have it easy simply because one person is controlling them?

Yes - the book says Players - which includes the overlord...

The #2 and #3 player cards are they same for the monsters - as that would be - as I typed above:

#2 cards - overlord - and one player controlling 2 heroes

#3 cards - overlord - and two players each controlling 1 hero

If you - for example - have 1 overlord - then 2 players each controlling 2 heroes - THEN you would use the #5 cards for the monsters... as it would be like there were really 5 players all together.

Veinman said:

Well, if we're going by players ... and we're assuming the Book thinks that each player is controlling only one hero (since any instance of one player playing multiple heroes is only emulating the fact that there should be an extra player), then it's simply a matter of heroes plus the overlord. So the book is right in that sense.

I've always played (incorrectly, perhaps) number of heroes. So 2 heroes uses #2, 3 heroes uses #3, et cetera. I've played several missions where 3 heroes have been outright tromped using the weaker (#3) versions of the monsters, which is why I never would have thought they were supposed to be fighting even harder baddies.

Either way you look at it, though, one of the printings is just pointless. If the former method of number of players holds, then #2 is not going to be used. I mean, who goes into a dungeon with only one hero? At the same time, if the latter method of number of heroes holds, then #5 is useless, since there's a maximum of four heroes.

*shrug*

EDIT: I think the important thing I'd like to clarify is what to do when there are three heroes. Since the 2/3 monsters and the 4/5 monsters are of equal stats, differentiating within each of those pairings is not as important. But when exactly do we go from the 2/3 card to the 4/5 card?

iConjuro said:

Might want to read the cards again... Yes - the 2/3 cards are the same. But the monster stats on the 4/5 cards are different. Therefore it is actually important to play with the numbers according to what I typed above...

2 = OL and 1 player controlling 2 heroes
3 = OL and 2 players with 1 hero each (the stats are the same as the #2 cards because there are the same number of heroes!)
4 = OL and 3 players with 1 hero each
5 = OL and 4 players with 1 hero each

Not that hard to understand.

Ah! Yes, I did indeed misread the 4/5 monster stat cards ... my bad. That lineup sounds about right, then ... though it is goofy that they printed both 2 and 3 player monster versions despite them having the same stats. Though I guess they had two sides of the card to fill so they might as well. *shrug*

iConjuro said:

That's kinda what I figured too - that they would have had to print something on the otherside of the card... We did have to sit and think about that for a bit when we first looked at the rules and started our first game.