I am a board game fanatic. In addition, due to the fact that it is very difficult for me to get around, I like board games even more, as it provides me a mode of entertainment. As a result, I play many games, and am often provided new games by friends as gifts, etc.

I was just given such a game the other day, which has a very interesting mechanic, one that I think would be cool for Descent to implement, perhaps for their co-ops.

The game is called Betrayal at House on the Hill. For our example, let's assume 5 people are playing.

In essence, all 5 people play and work together to explore a house. Much like Descent's co-ops, the board pieces are only placed out as you explore. As you move through doorways and new openings, new board pieces are placed. The House actually has 3 different floors as well.

Now the interesting mechanic. Based on certain events, calculations, and charts, a Haunt is triggered. Once the Haunt is triggered, 1 of the five people betrays the other 4. At that point, the group of 4 people get a manual and read a "quest" which provides them their goals and winning conditions. The other person (the betrayer - the Haunt) also gets their own manual which provides him/her their goals and winning conditions. Each of these groups of people read their own information in a separate room ... the information is secret.

Then the game continues playing 4 against 1.

There is a large amount of replayability, the house is always different, the Haunt trigger is always different, etc.

I am tempted to try and come up with something like this for a Descent co-op. I think it would bring the best of both worlds.

Thoughts?

Balance would be REALLY tricky to calculate...

To be clear- the traitor is known? That makes a difference. Would you think this player would control the monsters as well as his "hero," or would the monsters remain automated?

In BaHotH, the players all start in co-op mode, helping to discover (and place) rooms in the house. The longer the game goes on, the greater the likelihood that the haunt mechanic triggers. Once it does, the player that triggers it is not necessarily the turncoat, that is determined by what caused the trigger.

Then, whoever turns out to be the turncoat goes off and reads what his/her new objective is and plans the strategy while the rest of the players read their new objective and plan their strategy. Both sides know the basics 1) that something has happened and 2) they have a specific goal they need to achieve however, neither is fully clear on the specifics of the other side. But, the turncoat is now completely against the players. In BaHotH, there is almost nothing automated, it seamlessly moves from co-op to 1 vs 4 on the fly.

Great game.

How this translates to Descent 2e...like UM said, balance would be rough and getting a newb to be the turncoat/OL might prove too complex.

I think there will be two major difficulties in translating the Haunt mechanic to D2e. The first is balance. The second will be coming up with the actual mechanic that triggers the Haunt in D2e.

In addition, my thoughts are that the "hero" that becomes the traitor would be converted into a Lieutenant, which would present another set of challenges.

Nonetheless, I am really intrigued by this mechanic, and think it would be a good fit for D2e co-ops. Unfortunately, I pretty much don't have a creative bone in my body, so this will most likely end up being nothing but a thought exercise.

I think the haunt mechanic is doable. Do the players know what the possible triggers are? Honestly, it could be something as simple as "each time you open a door, place a fatigue token in a pile and roll a gray and a black. If the number of shields+ fatigue is greater than X, haunting happens.

It's simple enough to turn heroes into LTs based on archetype. Check out " Hired Swords " for one example:

...are treated as lieutenants, each in their own group. Their hero abilities and heroic feats are considered blank, but they retain their other characteristics excluding stamina, and have the following attack traits based on their archetypes:

Warrior: Melee, Blue/Red.
Reach. ±: +2 ≥,±:Pierce 1

Mage: Ranged, Blue/Yellow.
±: Doom, ±: +1≥,±:+1≥

Healer: Melee, Blue/Yellow.
±: Recover 1≥, ±: Poison

Scout: Ranged, Blue/Green/Green.
±:Pierce 1, ±:+1≥, ±: +2 Range

Please note that while I received the game Betrayal at House on the Hill (BHH), and have read the rules through once, I have yet to actually play it.

Since I didn't want to know more than I should, I only briefly (VERY briefly) looked at the charts that determine when the Haunt is triggered. At first blush, it is NOT something as simply as you (Zaltyre) suggested above. But then, I haven't played it yet.

I simply was intrigued by the mechanic, and am very pleased that krejaton stated that it was a good game. Looking forward to playing it.