What would you say is the overall plot to the game?

By Zogwort, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Silly question I know but bear with me.

I just got this game maybe a month ago and spent one night with 3 other friends staying up until 4am playing the game. We all had a blast, but at the beginning of the campign, as I was setting up the board for "First Blood," one of my buddies asks me what is this campaign about. Hmm… I wonder as I flip through the Quest Guide as I look for something that resembles the setting but didn't find anything. Best thing I came uo with on th fly was "you guys are trying to prevent me from taking over the world" and then I read out loud the fluff text to First Blood out to everyone as well as the fluff text at the beginning of any quest we've played that night.

After playing a couple of the quests, my best guess is that the Overlord's minions are after a certain group of individuals known as the Shadowbinders for reasons I do not yet know,

I know I could probably just go ahead and read the fluff text for every quest in the Quest Guide, but being a first time player myself, I do not want to spoil any suprises.

So, is it possible for anyone to give me a quick plot synopsis without spoiling anything so that I can go back to my friend and say "this campaign is about blah blah blah" because I really am having the feeling that there is a lot more to it that "you heroes gotta prevent me from winning!"

There is some flavour text in the rules about starting a campaign at the end of the normal rulebook (not the quest guide) about the overall story:

The twin baronies of Rhynn and Carthridge lie on the outskirts

of Terrinoth, far from the Free Cities. Baron Greigory often hosts

his friend and ally, Baron Zachareth, at his seat in the capital city

of Arhynn, and, over the years the two baronies have aided one

another in times of both war and peace. But now, both baronies

are in peril. Monsters stalk their forests and mountains, moving

with more purpose and coordination than ever before. A new

Overlord is rising, a wicked and dangerous foe, hidden in the

shadows, manipulating events according to his master plan. If the

Overlord isn’t stopped, Rhynn and Carthridge alike will fall into

darkness, and the rest of Terrinoth will soon follow. Fortunately,

a small group of heroes are on the road to Arhynn…

Also don't forget to check the backstories to the monsters, luitenants and heroes in the back of the booklet.

Zogwort said:

After playing a couple of the quests, my best guess is that the Overlord's minions are after a certain group of individuals known as the Shadowbinders for reasons I do not yet know,

That is essentially correct. We could tell you more about why the Overlord wants the Shadow Binders, but I suspect that would qualify as "spoilers." If you don't even want to read ahead in the quest guide yourself as the OL, then I suspect telling you any more myself would also be unwelcome.

There is a long and storied history to the Terrinoth setting, spread across several different games in FFG's library including Descent. I have a "Runiverse Fluff" document up on BGG when you're ready for it (fair warning: spoilers galore!) that compiles all the setting information I could find about Terrinoth.