Hello!

I have the base set for Descent, and was just wondering if - and I stress if - I decide in future to get an expansion for it, which one provides the most extra "oomph" in terms of how much fun it is? I mean not necessarily in terms of rules added (Descent already seems to have quite a lot of rules) or extra pieces (Descent already has a lot of bits and bobs), but just most fun, you know? I'd like to hear what people think.
Thanks.

Rakshasa said:

This is a tough one. Personally all of the first 3 expansions are pretty much equal in quality and added value. In fact they really compliment each other. I'm talking about Well of Darkness (WoD), Alter of Despair (AoD) and Tomb of Ice (ToI).
But if you really only want to sample one I would first get them in the order they appeared as listed above.

You're right that Decsent does have a lot of rules and the expansions do add some but they really don't make it game more complex. If there is any added complexity it's from adding more status effects like 'Bleed' and such; that is more small attributes to remember.

Judging from your question I would say forget Road to Legend and Sea of Bloos until someday when you're still really into Descent and want to extend your gaming session a lot.

I concur that Road to Legend and Sea of Blood should be avoided if you don't want new rules. Well of Darkness has been noted for kicking things up a notch in terms of difficulty, Altar of Despair gave the Overload all sorts of new toys (within the same basic ruleset + treachery) and Tomb of Ice looks like it gives the heroes a boost with the new Feat cards (Our group hasn't really gotten into ToI yet.) So if one side or the other is flagging behind at your table, you might consider one of those two. Tomb of Ice, having come out after Road to Legend, also includes a small number of bits for the extended campaign presented in that expansion. Only a minute amount - all of about 5 cards I think, and you'll notice the map tiles are double-sided, which is something that got brought in with RtL for outdoor encounters. The vast majority of that expansion can be used with the base game, there's just a couple components you won't know what to do with, if that's the sort of thing that would bother you.

If you want me to name a single expansion to consider, I'd say Well of Darkness. It was the first expansion after the base game. It will turn the heroes' world upside down without adding too many new rules. It does have a fair pile of new bits and doodads, but they all have those.

I'd say Tomb of Ice because of Feat cars, which are really cool. Or the one with the boulders, I think it's Well of Darkness, because it hast one of the coolest (and most difficult) dungeons, Raiders of the lost A ... Temple.

Well of Darkness. It adds lots of interesting new bits without being over the top, and follows on nicely from the main set, along with balencing out the treasure decks.

If you ever buy a second, the ToI, then AoD last.

Thanks very much for all your replies. Might look into Well of Darkness, then!

I'd buy Tomb of Ice. Of all the vanilla expansions, it's got some of the most creative additions. One hero has 5 melee trait, it has a stomach the heroes can be swallowed in, and the largest map piece in the game. It's a pretty cool expansion...

-shnar