hi, i have every expansion, and one thing im having alot of issues with is the game balancing. we like to play with just 2 heros, cause for the most part, its usualy just 1 dm and 1-2 playrs. one thing im curious about is how come each monster is virtualy the same on all the # of player cards. seems like the difficulity for 1 hero is virtualy the same as one for 5 players. i was thinking, had you put any thought into giving the monsters a diffuclity rating, like 1 to X and then listing each dungeon area with the posssible spawns you would allow in the room, with the total point total allowed, and having a different point total based on the num of players. ive tryed making my own mod of this, but it really is very time consuming for just 1 person. everytime i play, and we use 4 heros, they seem to mop up with the mobs, and when we use 2-3 they get owned. or dam nearly owned, depending on the luck of treasure draws. 1 hero usualy cant get threw the 1st area. does anyone else have any experience with this?

also i keep seeing on the site about the new flash dungeon editor, and ive heard that its actualy live and able to use. but i cant find it on any site. anyone know the link?

this game or runescape would make the ideal xbox live game, ive heard rumors about runscape going on there, anyone know any solid details.

thanks, Myth

The scaling for different party sizes doesn't work. At all. The game is widely acknowledged to be virtually unplayable with only 2 heroes. And it doesn't even theoretically support 1 hero.

Adjusting the set of monsters based on party size is a possible approach, but I don't think it's the easiest or most effective one, and don't forget you'd have to overhaul spawn cards as well.

Here's what I did instead: The Enduring Evil . Supports 2-5 heroes by using monsters that actually take multiple hits to kill. It requires a printing a bunch of cards and isn't compatible with standard quests, though.

And the flash dungeon editor has been promised for years, but we've never seen so much as a screenshot. I recommend this .

wow, im very impressed, are you a designer for the company, or are you just a huge fan?

another thing im finding anoying is, and ive tryed to make one myself as well is. with all the expansions, im constantly swaping books to get the rules for this or that, and then theres the rule mods in the new books that over ride the old rules that dident work or were changed. is there a downloadable book to print that bascily makes it 1 book, with everying in proper sections.

i would also like to ask, have you found or made any good ways to blindly auto play the dm, so you can play without one. i have a few ideas about this that work well, i just cant get a system for the dm cards and threat. like for the monsters, i usualy make it so you have to play honestly even if your chars will die. use rules like mob will always attack hero with lowest armor in his available target range, they never stand bakc and wait, they always mob you, thus they are mobs. anyway.

thanks myth

The closest thing to ''The One Rulebook to rule them all'' can be found here : http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/438245

I'm just a fan; I have no relationship with Fantasy Flight except as a customer.

There are a bunch of threads on BoardGameGeek touting various rules for playing without an overlord, but I haven't looked very closely at them. Short of using a computerized AI, I don't think you'll find anything to eliminate the overlord without significantly changing the tactical feel of the game.

I think you could play without an Overlord pretty easily, just keep his hand of OL cards faceup so you know what he can do and when. You'd need to "play honest" as someone else said, use the monsters to best effect and play the cards that ought to played when they ought to be used. If the players aren't willing to do that then any system you come up with will be fatally flawed.

Even with best intentions in line, you might want to give the OL some sort of handicap to account for the way his traps and aim/dodge/charge/etc are no longer the surprises they ought to be.

Obviously, it's possible to play as the overlord (with all the usual decisions and responsibilities) in addition to playing as the heroes, if you think you can compartmentalize your planning so that neither side takes advantage of the other's hidden information. And I've done it several times. But that still involves having a human being consider all the overlord's options and plan out strategies to maximize his chances of winning, just like normal. I'd hardly describe that as playing "without an overlord," and Myth17 specifically asked for a way to "blindly auto-play the dm". I just don't think that qualifies.

Hi!

Can you explain why the game is "virtually unplayable" with 2 heroes? Is it too easy or too hard or...?

What do you think about using 5 players monster stats for 2-3 heroes games in easier quests in order to make the game more interesting?

Thx!

badbocian said:

See reply #1.

The game is mostly too hard with only 2 heroes. The heroes just don't get enough attacks/actions to chew through the necessary amount of obstructions to make progress at the necessary speed. The game is really above all else a race.

Because the scaling doesn't work well it really doesn't matter al that much what stats you use for monsters. The vast majority of them will still die in the same number of attacks anyway (mostly 1 hit kills most monsters).
The limited scaling down does allow weaker heroes to have a decent chance to still one-shot monsters with only 2 players, but even that only matters until the first few treasure chests have been opened.

And sorry, your 5-player stats for 2-3 player game is a bad one. The problem is too hard not too easy, and the stats aren't enough different to make much difference either.

Note: the first few quests are extremely easy for the heroes, and can be won by the heroes with only 2 heroes occasionally. After that you need a whole bunch of things to coincide (good draws for heroes and skills, bad OL card draws, good hero play, bad OL play and probably some dice luck as well) for a 2 hero party to have any chance at all.

On top of the action count disparity, two heroes will not be able to cover spawn points as readily as 3+ heroes can, meaning more monsters for even more of an imbalance.

Thanks a lot, guys! I'll try first quest with 2 heroes then, and afterwards we'll figure smth out.

Cheers!

Keep in mind that the first few quests are weighted in favor of the heroes. Even if it goes great with just 2 heroes, that's not an indicator of how the entire game works.

I know, however using this:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/271256

will help to balance the game in each quest a bit (thx to Antistone for the link).