One of the things I am finding as I get older is that I just don't have to time to plan role-playing adventures, which is why I like Arkham Horror and Descent so much -- both boil the rpg experience down to the adventuring essentials. Lately, I've been wondering if anyone has tried to adapt the Descent model to adventuring in setting beyond the traditional dungeon. Settings such as the captured castle, or dark underbelly of the city, or the haunted forest. Mostly, I was thinking about finding a way to adapt Castle Ravenloft from the old TSR adventure into a Descent scenario. I think this would provide the basics of the rpg adventure starting things out, followed by the castle exploration. Any thoughts?

Descent simply works better in dungeons. Said this, you can obviously set a Descent quest in a different... well, setting. I tgink you should, anyway, always find an in-game explanation for some of the Descent mechanics. Some are easier, some others less so.

-Heroes start with a blank map of the place.

-Near-dead heroes are teleported to a safe place where they are healed. In standard Descent this is made possible by the Obelisque of Journeys, in Tamalyr.

-Heroes can teleport from the Dungeon to someplace where they can heal, rest and re-equip, and back. If they can't, the quest must consider this.

-Heroes have a time limit for their adventure. This is not set in turns, but the Conquest Token loss at the end of the Overlord deck set a effective limit to the possibility for heroes to wait and prepare.

I think that, as long you can find an accord with Descent mechanics, isolated vampire-haunted castles, undercity tunnels, and even ruined temples in magical forests are viable options.

I wait to hear something!

Millo

Well what you can try is have an outdoor "dungeon" area that the players need to explore. In this outdoors area, there are trees, a river bend, and lets say an entrance to a castle. The only way the players can enter the castle is by finding a key in the outdoor "dungeon" area first. Maybe have it in a chest, a certain monster drop it, or maybe they need to make search rolls by the river to find it. Once they do, they can use the key to enter the "castle", which can be represented by a more standard Descent dungeon layout. Just tossing some ideas out there!