I am new to this game, and I used to play a lot of HeroQuest as a child.

Reading through the rules has left me with a lot of questions, but I believe that is because my intuition is in the way?

When setting up the game, do you actually lay down the entire map on the table at the start, or do you only set up the current area that the players are in and reveal the tiles for the new areas as they are discovered?

Also, are pit tiles revealed when seting up a new area, or do they need to be discovered by the players?

Thank you.

You build the entire board. It is explained that the heroes always receive a map of the dungeon before they go. However, you only place down the monsters and obstacles area by area (doors, chests, etc). Each quest is divided up into areas in the overlord booklet; when the heroes open a door to an area, everything in it is revealed regardless of line of sight.

thanks for clearing that up.

This was put in due to people complaining of the time it took to "reveal as you go" in Doom; Descent predecessor. I like to NOT lay the entire map down, but lay each section down as is it "discovered" by the players. If you have the rooms preassembled, it doesn't take long. And yes, you put anything pictured in the room down when the heroes reveal it...