Once I play through all of the quests of the core set, I want to buy an expansion. It seems that while each new release adds layers to the ones preceding it, there is enough distinction between them to fore go buying them in release order. RtL seems interesting since I would like to thread quests together, but may suffer if only backed up with the core set. I understand that SoB is too cumbersome to be worth the time navigating its various issues. What do you think?

Check this thread . It contains also a link to a good overview thread at BGG. I would go for WoD at least before bying RtL, preferably add AoD as well. RtL just with the core game is only half the fun. And you can spice up your vanilla quests with WoD or AoD features also, so you might want to add them after, say, having played 4 or 5 quests of the base game.

Thanks! I will check out the thread.