I was thinking on how to expand this already great game and here is one thought that I came up with. My hope is that maybe FF will even read this idea and run with it to make an expansion? In anycase here it is in a nutshell:

The Arena!

During the Campaign Phase, Heroes gain the option to visit the Arena after they are done their various other tasks. This would typically happen after the "Shopping" Phase and the "Choose your next Quest" Phase.

When visiting the Arena, Each Hero can pay an entry fee of 10 Gold per to enter the competition. The Arena has three rounds of fights! It is considered that the Monsters in the Arena are Battle hardened and so the Monster stats are ACT II! Use one Large outdoor tile for the Arena Floor. Heroes can use one Heroic Feat during the entire Arena phase. They also keep any damage or fatigue between rounds. It should have no obstacles in it. Knockouts of any Heroes are considered final, they may not Stand up as an action and are considered to be dragged out of the fighting area by the Arena Employees.

Round 1: Shuffle all available Search cards and draw one. Then Shuffle all Act II Monster cards and draw one. The Hero/Heroes fight the Selected Monster Group. If they win, they can either choose to keep the Search card or advance to the next round. The Item can be used during the next quest.

Round 2: Shuffle all available Act 1 Shop Item Cards and Draw one. Then Shuffle All Act II Monster cards and Draw one. The Hero/Heroes fight the selected monster Group. If they win, they keep the Act 1 Shop card or choose to advance to Round 3.

Round 3: Shuffle all available Act II Shop Item Cards and Draw One. Then Shuffle all Act II Lieutenant and Act II Monster Cards and Draw One. The Heroes fight the Selected monster Group or Lieutenant. If the Heroes win, they keep the Act II Shop Item.

If at the end of any round, the heroes opt to leave, they can sell the item they win for the gold amount. Return the item back to it's respective deck.

Of course there are particulars, like perhaps increasing the entrance fee. And the fact the monster cards are double sided, which means you would probably need to shuffle blind and then pick with your eyes closed. Then there is the fact that if this feature worked, it could be integrated into it's own expansion campaign (The heroes investigating something sinister going on behind the scenes of the Arena and having to forcefully enter as part of some actual Quests!)

Anyway... thoughts?

Glorious idea, I like it !

The issue is that Descent balance is on a so slight edge that a small advantage for a side may unbalance the experience drastically. To avoid that, you will need to make sure that both side can potentially receive a reward.

For now, I only see an advantage for the heroes. The overlord can only suffer from the result of the arena. Here is some food for thought:

- If hero fail on stage 1, the overload draws an extra card from his deck for the next quest

- If hero fail on stage 2, the overload draws two extra cards from his deck for the next quest

- If hero fail on stage 3, the overload draws three extra cards from his deck for the next quest

- All wound/fatigue/state carry on for the next travel/quest (exception would be if hero failed, they all return with full hp and stamina)

- Between each stage, each hero rolls a red dice and recover wound/fatigue equals to heart/surge

Continue your line of thought, I think that the basis of the idea is pretty good.

On the plus side, this variant would introduce monsters that are usually not selected by the OL.

I like your ideas to that and so I think they should be implemented in this. Nice thinking!

I like this idea a lot. I am gonna play and try to make into its own mini game where you can go until you get defeated and each round you win something to help you out as it gets harder. Modify it into some sort of survival mode. Your idea reminds me of final fantasy VI also which is my favorite of the series.