The rules leave this option open - what do most people do and why? Have heroes select randomly or choose their characters? If random, how many redraws?

Vaapad said:

As far as I know the rules clearly say that every player is dealed 3 hero sheets and may then choose one of these three...

MaHaPaTe said:

The rules support both

From pg6, set up step 2A:

"The first hero shuffles the cardboard hero sheets, and then deals one randomly to each hero player, starting with himself and continuing clockwise. Alternately, if the overlord player agrees, the hero players can simply choose the heroes they will play, again starting with the first hero and continuing clockwise."

So you can do it either way. I personally, playing either Hero or OL, go for the random deal as I've always found it more fun and you get more diverse parties. Choosing tends to stack the Heroes towards the more powerful ones, but if you players are having trouble with the game it can help. However, by the rules there are no redraws for the random deal. You work with the three that you get. Of course, you are welcome to house rule this one, as I know plenty of people who have.

We always draw randomly. If you draw a character that you have already played before (and survived the quest), then you use the same skills and get the +100 (or +25) gold coin bonus. We kind of mixed up the simple campaign rules because our Descent group differs each time.

I prefer playing with random characters too, it beats seing the same heroes everytime.

For our group, it's both. The hero selection process usually goes like this:

Friend #1: "So, any suggestions on what we should play today?"

Friend #2: "Sure, how about Des..."

Friend #3: "I'll be battlemage I hope no one minds I always play him I luv battlemage I'll be pwning demons like there's no tomorrow on the first turn now where's the mini oh blast I left it at home can I borrow yours ok thanks."

My sister: "Oh really? You'd better make sure it's not minus four win tokens by the second turn... ha ha *helps herself to a dragon mini* choose yourself a character, everyone else!"

Me: "Oh. Thanks. No, really, thanks. I cannot decide whether I'll be having tea or coffee and here you force me to choose a character out of 19. *shuffle shuffle draw* Gee, I'm a wiz too."

Friend #1: *sits at my sister's left* Let's see. I think that's enough mages for now. I'm going to play Silhouette, someone's gotta help you casters out of trouble."

Friend #2: Hey, I was scheduled to play her tonight! See, I want to play each character at least once."

Me: "Why don't you choose a fighter you haven't played yet? We seem to be lacking in the brawn department."

Friend #2: "But I've already played them all... oh, expansions!!!! There, that's me tonight."

Friend #3: "I have carefully considered each available option to maximize our chance of survival and I'll be playing this char *points* on the grounds that she's hot."

I like the RTL method: Pick 3, keep 1. That gives your heroes the ability to choose a diverse party, lets them rule out some characters that they'd rather not play, yet doesnt allow them to pick perfectly optimized combinations, so they have to improvise. It also brings into play more of the characters that wouldn't otherwise get played.

If there were only 3 (or worse, 2) heroes, I'd favor more direct choosing.

Personally we go for 1 card drawn at random and no changing it.

I think by having Choice and the three card rule you make the group make up of the Heroes very strong and possibly too hard for the OL.

We have had many a time where our group make up was 3 Magic and 1 Ranged with no Melee and Tank. Makes for a bit more thinking.

I like the draw 3 pick one but I typically go by turns so if someone draws 3 chars that others want a chance to play they have the possibility of drawing them... we used to roll dice but its too unwieldly now with all the characters

The problem with random draws are as follows:

1. People like to emphasise with their characters. Being forced to play a character you don't like personally is a hastle. If you're playing a character you like, the game goes better. If you end up with a character you don't, then the game becomes less fun

2. Random draws can easily create a party that dosen't fulfill the roles neededd for a party. For instance what if the 4 heroes you drew were all melee fighters. Sure you might be able to hold your own in close combat, but you'll do crap all aginst things with the Ghost ability or soaring monsters and allows the Overlord to run circles around you pegging you with ranged fire with no way to respond. A good functional party requires 1 melee, 1 ranged, 1 magic and one Verstile. If you don't have these kind of dynamics, the party becomes ineffective.

Thus I usually allow people to chose their own characters. The game is more fun and balanced that way allowing them to make a party that fits the situation they need.

Darkfire14 said:

In that case, you could also make 4 stacks of hero cards, 1 melee, 1 ranged, 1 magic, 1 versatile.

Than you can randomly draw a varied group.

Siebeltje said:

That, or just allow limited redraws if more than one group spot is unfilled - if the players are experienced and know what they're doing, they should be able to compensate (and might even draw added fun out of it).

We've used this Hero Selection Variant , for non-RTL games. or we choose from the deck.

I agree it sucks to play a 5hours game with a character you don't really like in the first place.

I stole this idea from a game called "Prophecy".

1. Deal each player three Hero cards. put the rest away.

2. Each Hero looks at the three. They pick one to keep, one to pass left and one to pass right.

3. Each Hero looks at the three. They pick one to keep, one to pass left and one to pass right.

4. Each Hero looks at the three. They pick one to play and discard the others.

Throughout the process, they cannot discuss their deal or picks.

If I'm teaching newbies (I do this a lot), I lay out all the figures and let them pick one. Peopleusually play the Hero they think looks/sounds coolest .

There is only one thing worse than being a player stuck with a character they don't like (no matter how good they are) and that is being the Overlord having to put up with that player's incessant whinging for three hours.

As a result, as Overlord I go for the "draw 3: pick 1" rule.

I like the sound of the passing round the table ruling - an interesting idea, albeit flawed to some degree when playing with people who know each other well. Inevitably the characters certain players want are likely to be passed their way (if for nothing else than to keep them happy and shut them up).

One shot random draws can be entertaining, and I agree that they can heighten the need for thinking, but on the whole my experience with them has led to some pretty shocking parties and very quick games.