I have a dilemma. I'm more of a casual player and I like to make my decks thematic rather than spending hours maximizing a deck for a particular scenario. However, after reading about the nightmare decks I've learned that they don't just make scenarios harder, but in many cases actually improve the theme, which I like the idea of. Has anyone tried using only part of a nightmare deck, or figured out a way to use the theme improvements without making things excessively challenging?

Giant disclaimer: I've never played NM, but have had the same idea that you've had... looking for a way to enjoy the theme and different mechanics they have without the crushing difficulty. One of the ideas I've toyed with is combining it with "sleazy" mode (extra resource at start, but not removing the more difficult cards) AND maybe giving myself a couple of key cards in my opening hand. Dunno if it would be effective or not, but thought I'd throw it out there...

I guess you could remove the regular cards with the ',easy"" mode icons and keep the nightmare cards.

I guess you could remove the regular cards with the ',easy"" mode icons and keep the nightmare cards.

This seems like not a great idea - essentially you would be increasing the concentration of nightmare cards in the encounter deck. Even the least terrible nightmare cards are generally depressing to draw.

I would go with Trialus' suggestion of playing partial 'easy' mode and giving yourself extra resources to start. Alternatively, you need to be selective about the quests you play nightmare in. Easy quests, like Passage Through Mirkwood, are not really worth playing normally but are greatly improved by nightmare. Other quests are difficult or enjoyable enough in normal mode and severely punishing in nightmare.

I'll say that I have really enjoyed Passage Through Mirkwood, Journey Down the Anduin, The Seventh Level, Redhorn Gate, and Foundations of Stone nightmare quests. The Tales for the Cards blog also has a pretty informative nightmare buying guide: https://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/nightmare-buying-guide/

Good luck!

I guess you could remove the regular cards with the ',easy"" mode icons and keep the nightmare cards.

This seems like not a great idea - essentially you would be increasing the concentration of nightmare cards in the encounter deck. Even the least terrible nightmare cards are generally depressing to draw.

LOL! I did not think about that!!! Sorry... I was trying to be helpful...

Thanks everyone! I'll check out that article and see what I can come up with.

Hi, did you end up getting some of the Nightmare decks?

If so, which ones did you play, and how did you "nerf" them in order to make them more casual (while retaining the added theme).

And was the added theme noticeable?

One possibility to make it easier would be to add removed cards back in unless there is a direct replacement in the nightmare deck. So for example, if you added all the removed cards from Passage Through Mirkwood (except Ungoliant's Spawn) it would likely decrease the difficulty significantly while still having nightmare cards.

Another possibility would be to reduce the added nightmare copies to a single copy.

The two possibilities could be combined, of course.

I’ve been toying with this idea: many decks really want ONE card in their opening hand so start with that card automatically. Then draw five, no mulligan, and begin.

You could also try my Favor of the Valar game mode, which prevents you from ever completely stalling on a quest:

I'm not sure this worth the effort. Or, to be more precise, not that many nightmare worth it. This thematic add is not systematic, it is in many times more mechanical. You have more scenario specific cards (less cards from generic packs) but sometime it doesn't change a lot because this is some spider instead of some others.

My advice would be to look after the scenarios with the best thematic add. Playtest them with the methods you like, and only if this work with them you can look for less thematic nightmare until you (may) found a point where the only nightmare remains deserve a "make the game harder" purpose.

For example to me Cair Andros is awesome with more battleground locations, through mirkwood is cool with a location+spider theme, the quest with many quest 2 in khazad dum have some new quest stage. But, for exemple, even if this is the quest I play the most battle of the five armies nightmare have don't really get a thematic boost.

12 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

One possibility to make it easier would be to add removed cards back in unless there is a direct replacement in the nightmare deck. So for example, if you added all the removed cards from Passage Through Mirkwood (except Ungoliant's Spawn) it would likely decrease the difficulty significantly while still having nightmare cards.

Another possibility would be to reduce the added nightmare copies to a single copy.

The two possibilities could be combined, of course.

I've been thinking of doing exactly that for a while now adding the removed cards back in and choosing/randomizing the replacements. Having a thicker encounter deck would take the sting out of the nightmare cards a bit (reducing the number of copies is a nice touch too, I like that ). Someone on the CotR discord coined the term "slightmare" and I think that is a fitting name.