I was planning on buying this game when it first came out but after reading the rules online and watching a few reviews the combat system completely turned me off from getting this game. The combat seemed like it really bogged the game down and didn't fit in with the rest of the quick and frantic play style of the rest of the game. But I just recently discovered that ffg released four alternate ways to handle combat online and I was wondering has anyone tried these alternates? and if so which one is the best? and do they speed up the game and fit more in with the style of the game?

The card system is very divisive among players, but some do really love it. Others, though they appreciate it unto themselves, believe it is not well suited to the game... more a game within a game. The alternative combat systems released by FFG are also somewhat sound, but again not always liked. There are others to be found in the file section of the DQ3 page at BoardGameGeek.com. Overall, there are plenty of options if you wish to give this game a try, but I found it rather pricey for the amount re-tooling required... and still my group won't play it with me anymore. I honestly can't blame them, though hope springs eternal with a some potential tweaks yet to come. Hope that helps.

JCHendee said:

Just curious how come your group wont play it anymore?

Did they just get tired of trying all the different alternates?

I can state the classic rules make Dungeon Quest near impossible, or quick to enter and leave. The game needs house rules, which the rulebook itself provides a lot of by itself. Adopting variants, my friends enjoy the game.

1). Start off with three runes versus one.

2). In a classic game, there is no reward for battling and killing a monster, making the "rock, paper, scissors" combat pointless. My house rule is that you gain one Treasure card for combating and killing a monster (the monster-kill rune doesn't earn a Treasure).

3). You must enter the treasure chamber in the center of the map at least once; otherwise, you cannot leave. You do not have to carry any treasure out however.

Also, two pieces of advice to make the game even more enjoyable:

1). Get a nice scrap piece of paper to track highest scores as well as record what were the craziest moments in the game.

2). Find a Crown-Royal bag to put your room tiles in.

If you were having second thoughts: don't. I much enjoy the game as part of my collection. Furthermore, if you have Descent, Rune Bound, and/or Rune Wars, the six figurines come with separate character cards for each of those games. While the figurines are always in my Descent tackle box, the character compasses work absolutely fine as the figurines, and to delve into the Catacombs, I always use a Determination token.

Tromdial said:

I find myself particularly intrigued by this house rule. On the one hand, I agree that fighting monsters would be better if there was some tangible reward, but on the other hand, giving out Treasure cards for it seems like it might be too much. Cheapen the value of Treasure cards and maybe even make going to the dragon's chamber pointless (barring your other rule about needing to tag it before leaving.)

I'm curious: how has this rule, in particular, played out at your table? Are Treasure cards still significant, or does everybody have a couple after a few turns and it no longer matters?

Another idea would be to simply make each monster worth a raw gold value (total wounds x50, perhaps?) when defeated. This gold would be tracked on paper, or perhaps by borrowing coin tokens from another game, like Descent. In that way, you get something for killing monsters, but the Treasure cards are still reserved for those who actually brave the dragon's wrath.

Comments? Rebuttals?

What about allowing a corpse card draw upon killing a monster? I know that deck is a bit weighted to the negative, but maybe that might be an interesting variation. Personally can't see monsters in this place carrying around much treasure at all, likely having stowed it away or returned it to their master's vault.

I just think this game fantastic. I didnt play the 80s old version, but i dont think this game needs variants or house rules. I played with the original combat systems and its perfect to me. I agree that this systems slow down the flow of the game, but our group plays Dungeonquest without requesting fast moves or frenect action. We play Dungeonquest trying to living the adventure and with interest on other players progress too. Its doesnt mean that we take several hours with Dungeonquest, its so brutal and is normal all players dead at the end, but (after more than 50 sessions until now) we still love playing Dungeonquest.

Its not a strategy game, Dungeonquest is an adventure game whith too much luck involved. Of course its a point regards tastes, but in my opinion Dungeonquest deserves at least one chance. (And you always has the option to use variants and house rules... )

My gaming group likes this game but refuses to play it. It sounds like an oxymoron but there are two major reasons they refuse (sometimes a third)

The sometimes reason (it is only 4 players and my group is typically larger than 4)

But the two reasons it is voted "no" are:

1) It takes a long time to set up for how short of a game it is

2) People can literally die on turn #1 and then they just sit and twiddle thumbs while the rest play.

Very true about dying on first round. Funny story: I was teaching my friend how to play and first round I drew a pit and failed my luck. I then said, let's start over so you can see how the game really plays, tongue in cheek.

This is how my gaming group began to love the game, because the rediculous luck factor and the labyrinthine dungeon is just so cool and challenging. We also usually play 2 to 3 people, not the full four. When somebody dies very early in, we usually let them catch up their rounds on the last corner. With set-up time, we also never play Dungeonquest just once; we usually play 2 or 3 times before moving onto another game, depending how fortunate our delve is.

Steve-O: the balance of monster loot seems very balanced in our group. Most of the battles happen before getting to the treasure chamber, and half the time they end fatally anyway, so treasure means nothing if someone keeps finding monsters haphazardly, or burns it up by waking the dragon. I remember I was a skeleton one time with 2 hp and I ended up murdering Lindel from full to no hp. Most mini-combat games do a decent amount of damage, and no one has gone purposely monster hunting because even if people were looking for Old-Bones cards in Crypt and Dead Adventurer decks, the lessons learned from combat as well auto-damage from other card effects shuffled therein hinder that tactic. Plus, those treasures are not guaranteed if you enter the center and it just gets burned up in the end. Like the game, if you're lucky enough to both survive, come out unscathed from the treasure trove, and lastly run out before the dungeon seals shut, monster drops our a nice bonus but I don't see them adding in too terribly often.

Players are just usually thankful they make it out with their lives and some spare change.

Also, someone mentioned thematically monsters carrying treasure around is nonsensical, but Kalladra likes foolish adventurers to find feeble rewards so brushing with death is that more enticing, and they may wonder if this is the stuff they find on minions, what treasures lie in wait at the dungeon's core…?

I've owned FFG version of this game for about a year and get to bust it out at least once a month with different groups. The majority of the time we play with the dice variant. It's quick, as brutal as the cards, and doesn't bog down the game. Those that have played with the cards and the dice mostly prefer the dice. (Note: I haven't played this version with anyone who's played the original besides myself.)

The ones that prefer the cards are the serious strategy gamers, those who take forever thinking about their next moves in Game of Thrones, Risk, Twilight Imperium, etc. They are also the gamers that are good at Chess or Go. They say they like the cards cause it gives them the chance to bluff or strategize against other people. While they do like DungeonQuest, I can tell that they dont' like it as much as others due to the high luck involvement.

Generally if we use the cards, games could take up to an hour and a half to two hours while the dice variant usually cuts that time in half. This is ideal for me because people usually want "another go" at it and we'll have enough time to test our luck again. I also prefer to play it atleast twice in a row given the set up time.

Also to note; no sneaking a peak at the cards when not playing. Part of the fun of the game for people is in not knowing what could happen.

As far as house rules go, we let people pick their characters, new players pick their characters first, followed by youngest. I usually pick my character last as a good sport or randomly draw one. I have a top score board written on the back of the box cover along with the loser score board (those who made it out but didn't touch the dragon chamber first). They record the name of the player, score, and their character. I also have a tally of deaths and those who've made it out (the "losers" are included in the tally for those who've made it out). This has changed gameplay in alot of ways, but it also has helped the game become more accepted by my game groups. They see there has been roughly 60 deaths vs the 12 who've made it out. They take my advice and not take the game too seriously because they'll die, die, and die some more. It also gives them the goal of getting onto the box, or unfortunatly staying around too long in the hopes of getting the high score. (Them wanting the high score has led to the majority of the last 20 or so deaths)

It also should be noted that we have played with 5 and 6 people plenty of times (two people starting at the same entrance). We've modded the rules to accomendate this in several ways. One is that two hereos starting at the same start location must move in a different direction and we let two heroes occupy the same tile if needed/there is no other option besides going into hostile squares or dead ends. We also take dead heroes treasure and put it into the discard and shuffle the discard pile into the treasure deck when it runs out. So there's still incentive for the late comers to make to the treasure horde. We also encourage people to move quickly to keep the momentum up.

This game is perfect if you just want a good drinking game. Or a casual luck game to wind down the night after an intense strategy game like Twilight Imperium or Game of Thrones. It really helps bring the group together since the players are not really competing against each other, just against the board. My groups have loved it for what it is, a brutal carnage luck game of torture and dashed dreams. Everybody remembers when they first are actually able to make it out alive or when they make the new high score. Generally everybody is happy when one person is able to make it to the dragon chamber and back out again. Good times.

Cool thread to read!

It's a really fun game, it's somewhat quick but long enough to appreciate all the evil luck this game is based on, it's a bit stressful since you never know when you'll stumble on a pit or any other deadly room and it's a lot of laughs when played with good friends that have open minds and are ok with a game that could get your toon killed in minutes!

Seriously, get it!

Rawrz said:

Yeah, we do a survivors-only hall-of-fame for DQ, likewise writing down the player, his character used, and his total gold at the end of game. Doing this has I believe made the game extremely common to play in our group because everyone wants to get their name at least once on the piece of paper that I score the wins with, and again and again after they realize how stupid hard and difficult it is to even make it on the list. It's just a cruel and funny game.

I own the 80's/90's version and hate it. From what I have seen from the FFG version it doesn't want me to go out and buy the game BUT I want the mini's for Descent.

Is there a way we can just buy the minis without the rest of the game?

I own the 80's/90's version and hate it. From what I have seen from the FFG version it doesn't want me to go out and buy the game BUT I want the mini's for Descent.

If you hated the 80s version, you'll probably hate the FFG version too. Unless, perhaps, the thing you hated so much was the weirdly shaped card decks. =P

Is there a way we can just buy the minis without the rest of the game?

Not that I know of, barring eBay perhaps. I checked Auggie's (an online store known for selling Descent in bits) but they don't appear to have DQ. Probably because they know darned well the only individual bits anybody would want are the figs and that would leave them with a huge pile of tiles and boards no one wants. =P

If you're the type to make PnP games, I suppose you could always use the rest of the components as stock for other projects though.