well ...we have Base (doh!), well of darkness, altar of despair and RTL (doh! ...again)...

I haven't really used altar yet so its a "meh..." situation considering the monsters, equipment and heroes in there.

Any things in altar I should look out for ?! items, heroes (I know about the bracelets of brokeness)...and any monsters strong points ? any monsters I'd like to use or cards?!

In RTL no actual Avatar makes me want to go "I want to play this guy" and neither do the plots. So I was wondering if you got any advice on how and what plot I should use?!

I'm not asking for imba strategies to own my players...I'm pretty sure I will anyway...I'm just looking for something that made you feel like it was worth it and fun for you as the overlord...since I'm going to pretty much have to commit myself like all the players to the game, and not that I don't like to be overlord its just that I'd like to play the hero some time and knowing I'll be on the otherside of the table from my friends for a while I'd like to have fun at least...Not to be an A.I. replacement.

I'm playing the Titan, and that bonus for the red monsters, getting +1 die of the best type they normally get is nice. But really, there are a ton of other leaders I'd like to play too. I'd like to try the Spider Queen and the Wizard guy sometime. Overall I'd say just pick one that looks fun, and run w it, and leave the others for next time. It makes for great replayability. The whole while you'll wonder if you picked the best plot or leader, but it really doesnt matter, it's about picking one you'll enjoy playing for some time.

If I remember right, Tahlia comes in AoD and she is a nightmare for an OL. Someone who can move during their Guard order is a pain in the ass.

Dark Priests are a valuable asset, as they are just Threat generators during their attack due to being able to convert 1 surge = 1 Threat.

Deep Elves are fantastic for hit and run attacks since they have Shadowcloak.

Trolls are just one hit tank killers. If you Aim a Bash attack, it is very rare (at least in my experience) not to do at least +10 Damage and Pierce 4 on top of what ever you roll for him.

Chaos Beast...not the greatest IMO but they have their uses.

Blood Apes are cool mainly for the straight line area effect attack they can produce to let you hit those Heroes hiding behind the tanks, plus they are effectively immune to grapple when making a Leap attack.

Shadow Soul is one of the best familiars in the game, especially for a tank with low speed.

Personally, between AoD and WoD I think AoD was the better expansion for both Heroes and OL.

wow...thanks a lot

But as I said....no overlord actually yells out to me "pick me! pick me!" ...Im not trying to find something imbalanced....im trying to find something that maybe will be fun (even though crushing heroes is fun XD). My hero party leader is asking that I should play the most stubtle plot available...IMO thats shakles or blocking the sun...but then again...they all are pretty straight forword...

Well, if you like to spawn a lot, then the Beastman Lord's ability to flip the reinforcement marker cheaper will let you spawn more often.

Should you hate the phase at the start of a dungeon when you don't have Threat for anything, go for the Sorcerer King and his free 10 Threat at the start of each dungeon.

The Spider Queen with her Into My Parlor upgrade lets you grab the best traps you like, and make sure you have them in hand.

My additional .02 cents, bringing almost up to a nickel.

If your Heroes want a challenge, I recommend the following:

Take the Beastman Lord and do the Ascension Plot. You'll be able to raze Vyenvale without blinking an eye. Then when you get an Lt on Rivermarch and have a second one available with the Heroes coming down to potentially save the city, buy the Transport Gem and drop the Lt on Frostgate.

Big Remy said:

I really enjoyed the Beastman Lord and Ob Shackles.... spawn spawn spawn! Plus you get an extra die on seiges... and you have some plot cards that will help you raze cities too. Once you get silver master beastmen out there will command and the extra die from the BML.....

Oboewan said:

I played the Beastman Lord and it was a dreadful bore-fest most of the time. The heroes had Kirga and were very good at denying spawns (especially within attack range of the heroes). On more than one occasion they went through an entire dungeon without a single spawned creature getting an attack in.

It comes down to playstyle - of both heroes and OL.

StarBurn said:

As a first, I'd the Spider Queen - the cheaper and more damaging traps are nice and easy and will help the party learn to fear traps ... particularly with trapmaster and/or some nice cheap trap treachery.

The Spider Queen also upgrades beasts first as her favoured minions which I think are good for a first campaign. I've heard horror stories of sniping skeletons of the Sorceror King. The beasts can be quick (just look at those spiders and razorwings!) and can take quite a few hits - the blood apes are a good example of this. As such, I think the beasts work well for interesting and varied combats which challenge but not over-challenge the players.

As for plots, I went for Blocking Out the Sun but in hindsight I think Shackles would have been better (but probably not pursue the controlling one of the players in the final battle option, at least for the first campaign). Basically the first time you run the campaign, the players are going to be finding their feet a bit ... which means you are more likely to get a bigger conquest lead on them and the like and Ascension and Blocking Out the Sun allow the Overlord to prematurely end the game. As such, I think I'd favour Shackles because it takes the time pressure a bit off the players. Of course, if you take the other plots, you don't actually have to pursue the plots (or you could delay their introduction by [for example] not placing any sun scrolls before the campaign goes silver ...

Finally, make sure they know that the players aren't necessarily expected to earn conquest points at the same rate as the overlord so they should get too easily discouraged - if they make it to the final battle, they should have a decent fighting chance. Similarly, encourage them to be aware of the overlord's conquest points in terms of (for example) when to bail on a dungeon, so that the overlord won't have enough conquest for upgrading his first set of monsters to silver until after they have done another full dungeon. This is something they won't have had to think about for non-RtL Descent so it doesn't hurt to remind them.

All the best!

They are pretty masochistic... they keep saying I shouldn't hold back...but I only lost a few times as an OL and that was against a good friend of mine...we basically played descent like a game of chess, every day...and it was really hard to win one against eachother... the party is made out by 4 players...1 of which was the old overlord of the game and 3 new guys... I forsee pain and a land ruled by a overlord...but thx for all your recomendations