or are we just doing something wrong?

Just played our first dungeon in RTL And the overlord scored 40 conquest while the hero's would have scored around 8-12 if we had finished.

Is this average?

Just so i know we are not doing something wrong the only way to score conquest points in RTL are these right

kill level master

activating extra transport glyphs (do you score the starting glyphs?)

not roll a treasure when opening a chest

also when taking a pile of treasure does the party get a total of 400 gold?

Thanks

IIRC, It's entirely possible that the players wander into a dungeon where the best option is to RUN AWAY.

So which OL avatar is bening used? Sounds like the Great Wyrm is at it again.

Which heros are being played?

As far as I can tell YEs those are the ways to gain conquest points (CP). no you dont get the cp for the starting glyph. Sorry (i'll have to chk to be sure.

look at which hero the OL was focusing on to kill the most. This should tell that that hero in under equiped in some fashion.

did you do all thee lv's or just one? the last lv master is worth 4 cp.

don't forget to use the gaurd order as this as helped many a hero avoid death by killing the monster 1st. as well as glyphing back to get healed.

chk your OL monster cards and make sure he is using the right monster lv card. Sometime that can be missed. copper at staring lv's. also how many times did he spanw new monster. don't forget the reinforcement marker as the ol need to pay for this so that he can spawn again.

Youe heros get 100 gold each for taking a gold pile. and don't forgat that you also get 50 gold for killing a master monster. (red non lv leader monster)

hope this helps

Not all dungeon levels are created equal. As ced1106 said, it is sometimes best to run away.

However, expect the Overlord to score a lot more conquest during the early campaign. If he doesn't, he won't be able to keep up with the heroes later on.

To answer your question: No, you don't suck. You just may be somewhat inexperienced in RtL.

Joram said:

good point Joram, I forgot that part too.

Yes, you suck Just kidding.

If the heroes try too hard to push through a dungeon, even if common sense tells you to pack up and go home, the OverLord can continue to milk conquest off you like mad. In one level, with a tier four boss, Evil Genius and Doom in play, I kept flipping the marker and spawning like mad... the heroes tried to make it, but simply could not. 70 conquest for me, a bitter defeat for them.

On the other hand, it is entire possible to push through the first three dungeon levels while giving the OL only some 15 conquest.

There are too many variables, but when the odds are stacked against you, err on the isde of caution. Handing the OL 50 conquest in the first dungeon means you can start a new campaign.

yeah we restarted

the avatar was the beast man and his starting upgrades were the two lieutenants

we played maps 1,2,4 (I question how well the deck was mixed)

our party was mostly made up of level 4 characters and we were still dieing like crazy, we have since started to use ready actions. And now that we know leaving a map is not a bad idea I'm sure we will do that.

our plan was to do our first quest on the way to the city with the big Market and buy some good stuff there.
was that a good plan or should we head to some other city first?

You can not hire Lt's using the 15 free xp for the OL

What was the mix of hero's was it balanced 1 melee, 1 wizard, 1 ranged + 1 other (melee is a good choice)

Your first dungeon did the heroes finish all 3 floors or did they run after the first or second?

The heroes plan is good. That is the starting plan I quite often use myself.

Every hero costing 4 each is probably bad as there is always a hero or too that is easier to kill and gets picked on. A cheap 2 conquest hero gives the OL someone to pick on that does not cost the heroes as much.

short answer: No, you don't suck

Long answer: At copper, you are at a tremendous disadvatage. The OL can potentially screw you 8 ways to Sunday, the opposition is brutal, and the gear you start with is poo. It is not uncommon for the OL to enjoy a 2-1 ratio of conquest. It sucks, but it happens.

As you progress, you pick up better stuff, but you have to rock the markets pretty hard and raid those chests. Some of the dungeons favor the heroes in terms of conquest as well (mostly ones with villagers). Kevin Wilson himself tells us not to be afraid of running when the oppositon is to strong. Personally, I think thats a load of crap, and the difficulty scale needs to be addressed at copper (theres around a dozen dungeons that shouldn't show up in copper)

Otherwise, its all about the party mix. Your melee guys should be protecting the crunchier ranged guys. Your ranged guys should be setting Guard behind the melee guys if they don't have a shot. Your party should stay close enough to support each other if things get nasty.

And don't let one of your team get all glory-riffic and charge forward on their own. They'll get overwhelmed in short order, gifting the OL with delicious conquest.

Your starting mix of gear should be considered as well. For my group:

Melee guy: Chain, sword, shield

Other (presumably tougher) melee guy: chain, axe

Shooter: Crossbow, leather, shield

Magicer: Immolate, leather (or wizards robes)

then you toss the Ghost Armor rune to either the shooter or the magicer, whichever has more fatigue (or to Nanok, if you really want to make the OL cringe)

I think that leaves you with enough for a potion or two going in

This has been covered fairly thoroughly and deftly, for that matter. A couple points I would like to add.

When starting a campaign, you may want to save some of your starting money and then spend your first week by visiting Talamir's Market to score a good copper-level item or two.

Don't dawdle through a dungeon level. Being too cautious will translate into taking too much time and time is on the OL's side. It seems to make sense strategically for the heroes to bust into the dungeon, blowing lots of fatigue to get to and battle the first line of monsters. Carry more fatigue potions than healing potions so you can recover after this first assault.

Use dodge order! It works for every attack launched against the hero, unlike guard, which is used once and lost. The squishy mage and ranged hero should dodge a lot. Finish a dungeon level with a rest order to recover fatigue before descending to the next dungeon level.

When the first hero dies in the dungeon, have him spend a turn visiting Talamir's Market to get more copper-level goodies. You can only do this once per dungeon (it's a week), so make sure you have some treasure in hand to buy that dragon tooth hammer.

Descent is different from other dungeon crawlers in that you don't kill monsters to get treasure, you get treasure to kill monsters. And speaking of killing monsters, don't forget that you get conquest points only for killing dungeon-level masters, not the fodder. If you can avoid the fodder, do it.

Check out Kevin Wilson's Advice for Heroes: http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=5&enmi=Descent:%20Journeys%20in%20the%20Dark

Everyone here has posted excellent advice. Remember that your group does not have to kill every monster, and that sometimes( but not often) a decision can be made to tuck and run. The copper level is good time to save conquest and money which will allow you to upgrade and purchase much cooler things further down the campaign timeline. If the overlord has gotten the best of you with conquest points, I suggest hitting the legendary dungeon for mega money and xp.

Heres to sum it up:

Legendary dungeons for xp and money (if the overlord has more conquset than you)

Move quickly through dungeon levels (the more time you give the overlord, the more xp he/she will attain).

Glyph back to town during a level to heal, restock potions, and shop(if you have not exceeded the weekly limit)

You do not have to kill every monster (some spawned monsters are meant to lure you away from your objective.)

Learn to read the face and reactions of the overlord. Is he/she about to play a trap card? Is he/she stressed about his/her threat level? These untold reactions could give you a hint as to what your next move should be.

This also goes the other way. Learn to fool the overlord with your own fake reactions, and try to keep a "poker face" when you think you are in trouble. Remember this is a game of humans interacting and there are much more advantages than just what is on the game table.

thanks for the help everyone! keep it comeing