Hello all. A long time ago I was a hard core RPG guy, now I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to creating adventures. I think Descent is what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a game like Hero Quest, but more complicated, that I can pick up and play with little prep time. Any advice?

Descent is great for that, but it's not an RPG. You can roleplay your character if you want, but the system has no hooks for it.

With the Road to Legend Expansion the Hero's and Overlord do level-up and keep their progress from quest to quest which I'm sure is something that would appeal to you. But for a hard-core RPG person I would think this is the only element that they have in common the rest is all Board Game. But it is an outstanding game!

So normaly the characters don't advance in levels? Do they get items that carry over to the next dungeon?

They only keep their items and skills in the Road to Legend.

There are some simple campaign rules in the very first quest book, but they are nothing compared to RtL.

You could get the base game and see how you like it, and if you wanted to expand more, get the RtL....from there, you could get all the other expansions, they add more content...however, the content that each individual expansion adds is not supported by the other expansions. The Well of darkness does not make use of anything from Tomb of Ice....and visa versa.

The Descent base game is designed so that the heroes advance and grow within a single game, but then reset between games. I think it works very well; you get choices and power boosts in every game and constantly get to experiment with new tactics, but there's no problem with adding or dropping players between play sessions, no permanent record-keeping you have to do, and no inherent balance problem if you want to skip a quest, repeat a quest, try a homebrew quest, or otherwise do things out-of-order.

But if it's important to you that you keep a single character and slowly build him up over many play sessions, basic Descent doesn't provide that. You'll either need one of the extended-campaign expansions ( Road to Legend or the forthcoming Sea of Blood ), or to find another game.

Carn Malice said:

Descent has been compared to HeroQuest in that they are both fantasy adventure dungeon crawls, but that's about where the similarity ends. One thing to be aware of is that Descent is designed with the intention that both Overlord and Heroes have a chance at winning the game. There is no expectation of a hero victory like there was in HQ. As such it is less of an RPG and more of a competition. It's a fun game, but the cut-throat atmosphere is something to be aware of.

There are also a lot of weird things that happen in Descent which defy traditional logic. Trying to fix them has led many to the brink of insanity with scads of house rules. If you accept these logical conundrums at face value, the game is still fun, but it might make the role-player in you cry himself to sleep at night. An example: heroes can jump over pits but not over water. Water tiles exist to provide a mechanical obstruction that allows line of sight but stops movement. That is its purpose and it cannot be circumvented, even though there are rules for jumping over pits. This is but one of many such curiosities.

What I'm saying here is that while Descent is a truly epic and entertaining evening of dungeon crawling, it is not an RPG with pre-made adventures. If what you're looking for is an RPG with pre-made adventures to save you time thinking up stuff, you may find yourself disappointed by all the random elements and illogical rules, but it will at the least provide you with a map of a dungeon and a flimsy excuse for your heroes to come in and slaughter things. Certain "video game" elements may also defy the RPGer in you, such as the way all heroes get money when one hero picks up a pile of coins, even if some of the heroes are behind closed doors or even in town.

I love Descent, but I play it when I want to play a board game, not when I want to play an RPG. That's all I'm saying here. If that's acceptable to you then I'm sure you'll love Descent too.

Antistone said:

Though I haven't seen the rules for it yet (POST THEM NOW FFG!!!! ), I'd recommend getting Sea of Blood over Road to Legend. We're on our second RtL campaign now, and though we've house ruled and self-limited ourselves to make things more balanced, there are still some issues. From what peeks we've had of Sea of Blood, they worked a lot on getting the balance between Overlord and Heroes closer, and making the final fight (if it comes to that) something less one-sided.

If you're just looking for an RPG that takes little prep, the new version of D&D is very easy to run and play and you can get more adventures than you can shake a stick at with a subscription to their online player/GM system. Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide, Monster Manual, and the subscription will cost you about what you'll pay for Descent, Road to Legend, and an expansion or two. If you use a computer while gaming you don't need the Monster Manual, as all of the stats are online.

The new D&D is a lot more tactical than the older versions, and plays a lot like Descent-Heavy. If that's too much fidgeting with rules in combat, older versions are available through Wizards of the Coast or online sellers in pdf form. You can easily get a full rule set and a bunch of adventures for under $50.

If light roleplay and dungeon crawling is what you're looking for, I would recommend Warhammer Quest. Sadly, it is not published anymore and old copies sell for ridiculous amounts of money on ebay but... it is whispered that one day, the game will return and take up its rightful place in the throne of... the magical land of Lightroleplayanddungeoncrawlingia

As a competitive board game, Descent is fantastic. I love it. Its combat is ridiculously fun. But it isn't "roleplayish" at all. There is NO fluff in the rulebook or the quest guide. You can't really get into your character's skin, you can only go on quests, kill monsters and save the day. In focusing entirely on those things, Descent is very successful in my opinion.

Warhammer Quest, on the other hand, does provide you with more "roleplayish" elements and can be played both with and without a GM. Warhammer Quest is incredibly unbalanced and the combat rules, while simple, make you roll the dice so often your wrist will hurt in the morning, BUT... it is tons of fun. I particularly like the "travelling events" and "town events" in that game.

So it's all down to whatever you prefer

Descent follows on spirtually from Heroquest (see also: Advanced Heroquest, Dragonstrike, Warhammer Quest and D&D Boardgame) but the focus is more shifted towards competition between the party and the Overlord, rather than the Overlord being a moderator. This doesn't mean that you can't play the Overlord as a more traditional GM, if you pull your punches, but if / when the Heroes take a lead you may end up with a lacklustre gaming experience.

The original quests in JitD are somewhat problematic - most monsters die in one or two hits and - unless you start stockpiling cards like Dodge or Hordes of the Things, the Heroes can open the door to the boss fight, wail on him before he can even get a move and finsih the quest there and then - hardly the stuff of high drama! Later quests are a little more balanced and most at least give the end of level boss some cover and HP so the Heroes can't knock him out without some kind of fight.

RtL / SoB is the closest you'll get to role-playing in Descent. If you want the true RPG experience pen and paper is still the way to go - I highly recommend 7th Sea.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I think Descent is going to be the way to go for me and my friends.