We are going to redo that last encounter because of the ordeal with the Web Trap.

Artaterxes makes some good points, but I would hasten to respond to a few things.

As for the first point about expansions, we actually started with the Base Game and Lair of the Wyrm. I acquired the other two expansions more recently and we just added really added the Travel Cards, Items, and Monsters. I'm not using OL cards from those later added sets. So far, I have 2x Web Trap and 2x No Rest for the Wicked. When I buy more, it will be limited to the Saboteur or Punisher decks. In fact, I haven't even used monsters from LOR or Trol, save for the Volucrix Reavers once. I'm not sure how overwhelming it really is then. In fact, it seems to me that virtually all of our rule confusion has been about things that are particular to the base game (e.g. Web Traps on Jain's feat). Furthermore, what little we have used beyond Lair has largely benefited them in the form of equipment.

When I said that they "forgot" that Merriods have reach, I should have instead written that they didn't take Reach into their defensive calculus as well as the cards in my hand that made this turn possible (Frenzy and Dash). I exploited what seemed like a small vulnerability and they also didn't realize how hard Merriods can hit.

I've also offered them an opportunity to look at deck. They have told me that they know what cards I have. Nonetheless, I've been thinking about printing them off a list.

You also seemed to implicate Sole Purpose as a possible source of my dominance thus far. But the thing is this last encounter is the first time I've even used it. I didn't want to overcomplicate the game for myself either so I have been using the Plot Deck rather sparingly.

I follow your hesitance to add too much too soon. For the most part, I've been holding back on using certain abilities or skills because I am still feeling my way through them. Nonetheless, you are right that the games can be a bit competitive. However, I'm not sure about the suggestion to lose intentionally at the OL. There are too many horror stories on this forum about major fortune reversals in Act II. I don't want to spoil any chance for victory for me.

I know as a competitive person playing OL it can get very frustrating. In that same game I was talking about in an early post, I had a hero blow up complaining about how this game is unfair and basically rage quit when the lost the Interlude "The Overlord Revealed. This is very frustrating for me, basically because I was playing on easy mode so I thought. I want to win a competitive game. But I am also teaching new players a new game. I am basically 101ing GM. I tried to give them hints as we were playing on what to do.

I personally, based on what you are describing, would play with nothing more then the core set for at least 1 full run through the campaign and then judge were the heroes are at from there and see what you can add in.

We also made a facebok group. And in the group I posted links to the rulebook, faq, and also a couple of youtube videos, such as watch it played. All these things seem to help them along with there understanding of the game.

Ultimately. I enjoy this game a lot. And I need other players who also enjoy the game a lot so we can keep playing. I have SoN just sitting on the shelf. I opened it but have never played with it because i don't have a group ready for an expansion.

I feel your pain. It still sounds to me like the biggest problem you guys are having is experience. Tell your heroes to just suck it up, kill a lot of boars and level up. JK Lol

With all due respect to those suggesting it, starting the campaign over is not an option. They aren't on the verge of quitting, and they still enjoy playing. There has just been some frustration over the losses on their part. Tomorrow we will resume gameplay and redo the first encounter of the Monster's Hoard, this time using the traps correctly. I doubt that I will win given their use of Prayer of Peace. My repertoire of ranged monsters isn't great, so it will likely be Flesh Moulders to counter that.

I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the advise so far. We are taking into account quite a bit of it.

We replayed the first encounter of the Monster's Hoard. It went long and came down to the wire. The heroes won, but they were knocked out a lot. The key event was when they were able to stun the Master Merriod in the narrow hall, which prevented him from attacking an immobilized Frederick in my next turn. Jain then thinned my ranks with two attacks. The rest of the heroes lagged behind and had already suffered a lot of damage. This allowed me to knock them all out one more time, but Frederick just had too much health and was too far ahead.

The heroes made huge strides in how they played this last time. Certainly, they took longer to plan their turns, but they were much better able to anticipate the OL cards that I could have played and even deduced what cards I hand in hand a few times by observing when I paused to think. Overall, their positioning was much better, though they did make an error in the first turn, but they were able to recover from this. The biggest boon for them, and blow for me, was when they were able to acquire the Dragontooth Hammer during the Travel phase.

For the next encounter, I will start with seven cards but only two threat tokens. Unfortunately, I used three in the last encounter: one for Sole Purpose and two to add to attribute tests. It was a calculated risk that I took to kill Frederick and it didn't pay off. The heroes will begin with a lot of damage, but that can partially be remedied by use of Avric's feat. I'll update this thread after we play the second encounter. Thanks everyone. The heroes were a bit exhausted, but they felt like they accomplished something.

Edit: Oh, I learned that Merriods are awesome. Flail + Reach + Three Dice + Immobilize really hurts the heroes.

The Merriods are awesome

Update: Finished the second encounter of The Monster's Hoard. It was very close, but the heroes won by a hair. Grisbane escape with the bow on the last possible turn. He had only one movement point remaining. The game was very tense and this made it more exciting for both sides. I did make a few mistakes in regard to monster placement and there was one card that I used too early that should have been reserved for later. They also made a fair share of errors. You should have seen their faces when I Played No Rest for the Wicked to move an Elemental onto the portal a knocked out Grisbane was on. This prevented Avric from using his movement point to move closer to Grisbane and revive him. Instead, they got to fight an elemental that blocked their progress and delayed a revive action. My wife gave me the evil eye for quite a sustained time period and my cousin was aghast. They weren't thinking with portals.

I did help them a few times. For one, I reminded them to continually think about the possible cards that I could have in my hand. This made them check the discard pile, which helped them formulate their turns better. "He doesn't have frenzy, so he can only attack once" and "He might have No Rest for the Wicked/Web Trap, so we can't risk that," were phrases both heard tonight. Another thing I did was remind them to use the portals in a few instances. This resulted in one more search before the game ended.

This means a few things. (1) I have to watch myself. They aren't pushovers anymore. (2) I can stop advising them. (3) They've learned with your help. As such, I'm not sure if more updates are needed unless we have more issues or someone really wants updates on our campaign.

Edit: They did get unlucky in the placement of the Trueshot Bow. It was on the other side of the map. They used Jain's feat to move her over there on turn one--right through the lava--just in case of this. Near the exit it was passed to Grisbane in case I had a web trap, which I did.

Cool man. Thanks for the update. Hope your games to well