Hi everyone,

I've recently ordered Descent and the expansion Road To Legend both at once because I felt so attracted to the innovations that expansion seems to introduce. I've played Warhammer Quest - the "Roleplay version" - with my friends for quite a few years now and while I love that game, it's getting quite worn and old and I felt we could use something new. Descent seems to be just that. I've also been GMing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay for the same group for a while so my friends are pretty used to "narrative gaming" if you will. Having an epic campaign to do, moving from city to city, encounters in the woods, all of these sound like a great way to get the group hooked right away.

Here's my question: we've never played Descent before, so I wonder if it would be a good idea to jump straight into RtL right away. Or do you think we should try the vanilla version first for a while and then get moving with RtL?

Welcome to the awesome land of Descent.

I would play a few of the vanilla quests just to get the rules down. The game has a lot of little quirks that you'll miss in your first few plays (like: "Oops guys, I wasn't suppossed to spawn monsters like that, sorry I killed you all twice apiece...") It's better to get the errors out in a one off game rather than a 60+ hour campaign setting that takes a while to setup as it is.

Just a note: I am also an avid Warhammer Quest and RPG gamer. DESCENT IS NOT A ROLEPLAYING GAME. Descent RtL has more in common with a campaign-based wargame than a roleplaying game. The Overlord is trying to kill the players, not facilitate a storyline. Every single player whom I've met that tried to play Descent as an RPG ended up disliking it whereas those who approach it as a tactical boardgame have loved it.

Enjoy!

I half agree. Descent is certainly no RPG. By a long shot. At the same time, playing the descent RTL as a min-maxing super-competitive game is a terrible idea. The system is kinda balanced, in a bell-curve manner. But as the game is 100+ hours, that's at least 30 or so hours of not so fun gaming that either side will have to endure if everyone explicitly "goes for blood." Basically, don't go easy on the other side, but at the same time don't be a prat. All gaming groups have their acceptable limits of "this is BS," and just because Descent is essentially competitve does not give permission to overstep those bounds of your particular group. If you do, the experience will not be a positive one. However, if you are the overlord, thinking you are the GM of an RPG (and therefore the other players facilitator) is as much of a mistake.

Sam, that isn't half-agreeing. I didn't say it had to be bloodthirsty 60+ hour grudgematch. I was just saying that it is a tactical board game and not an RPG.

Apologies. I'm just used to all the crazy posts on BGG that advocate min-maxing bloodthirsty competition.

Thanks for the tips!

I don't expect Descent to be an RPG, but it does have a narrative quality, doesn't it? I mean, it does make the players feel like they're on an epic quest, I hope.

The fact that the Overlord is a competitor is part of what made me want to buy this game. In my group, I'm that guy who buys everything and most of the time ends up being the GM. I enjoy GMing very much but sometimes I want a slice of the action too.

We've had a lot of fun with Star Wars Miniatures as well, so tactical games certainly do appeal to our group.

Anyway, I'll let you guys know what our experience was after the first session! Which should be this weekend if all goes well.

Another hind:

It helps a lot if everyone has played the OL at least once before starting a campaign, and the best would be if everyone has at least 5 to 6 games under their belt. And the one owning the game and thus (in most cases) knows the rules best should not be playing OL in the first campaign. Thus, the heroes will have a slight advantage over the OL, which they will definitely need. Additionally, there are some clever hints on BGG in the "strategy section" for RtL, which I would recommend to read. This helps a lot, especially after playing some "Vanilla Descent", as the game mechanics are shifted a bit in RtL compared to "vanilla Descent".

So far I've only managed to play through the first dungeon with me as the OL and my girlfriend controlling Runewitch Astarra and Andira Runehand. It was fun and I love the combat system; I only hope that further dungeons will provide a bit more traps & tricks and such.

Yes, the traps get much better later on. I am currently on Quest 7 playing solo. (solo rules I use are in the Homebrew section).

What I love about this game is the overlord deck provides lots of good damage dealing traps. It is kinda like the random traps in Warhammer Quest.

My guess is the expansions will have cool new static quest traps and Overlord Cards to dish out random traps on people!