Hi guys, looking at getting the descent game for my gaming group. Were all a bunch of old school RPG guys and love the theme of Talisman. We've been playing that one for awhile and with Xmas coming up am gonna introduce them to some more fun. My question is with descent 2nd edition, is there only one campaign and that's it? I know it has a number of quests but everything I read I just haven't gotten the exact answer I'm looking for. From the stuff I've seen , basically if yiu just play by quest or encounter you don't level your heroes up and they don't get certain items and such but campaign let's you do this. Can y'all just give me some clarification on that. I may have a couple of other questions for y'all too. Thanks!

The Cajun

There are currently two "full-sized" campaigns (core set and Labyrinth of Ruin) and two "mini-campaigns" (Lair of the Wyrm and Trollfens.) The next upcoming expansion (Shadows of Nerehall) is "big box" and therefore ought to include a third full-length campaign.

The full length campaigns are roughly 20-ish quests, most involving two encounters per quest. But they're also set up so that you only play about half of those quests in the course of the campaign. Players choose which quests to play as they proceed, and winning or losing some quests can influence which other quests re available later.

The mini-campaigns each have 5 short quests that run as a chain, culminating in one of two big finish quests. They're also designed to be integrated into the full-length campaigns as "side quests" in which case you only play a couple of them, but they weave into the longer campaign.

PS: You are correct about the distinction between one-shot mode and campaign mode, although one-shot mode has a few optional rules known as "Epic Play" to let you basically play a single quest with automatically leveled heroes, if you want to feel the power without playing through a whole campaign.

Ahh, I see. I can't wait to get started. I hope everyone will like it. I'm thinking of just getting a mini expansion like troll fins to have a few extra heroes to choose from for the guys. What do y'all think? And then later maybe work in the couple of side quests once we get moving and understand better. Come think of it, can you use the heros from other expansions to run other different box sets? Seems like ya can.

Heroes, hero classes, monsters, Overlord classes and a few other bits are fully interchangeable between the base game and expansions. If you want to start with expansions, I'd grab one or both of the small ones (Lair of the Wyrm or Trollfens) since the base game does have its own major campaign that will take you a while to get through, especially if you also incorporate small-box expansions. If you find yourself blowing through all that, or find that your current options are getting stale, then I'd get Labyrinth of Ruin. Happy gaming!

So if a scenario calls for 1 certain type of monster and and any other type then you have to use the one called for and the other can be one of the ones from the base game or expansion?

The Cajun

And hopefully it won't get stale Bouth. I've heard that the game has high replay value and that's why I was asking about if you can only run 1 campaign with the whole base box.

The Cajun

You have the same background as me, big Talisman fan for many years.

I would go for LoTR, more characters, monsters etc and more quests. I have enjoyed playing the LoTR quests more than the original, with some real close campaigns played.

The smaller sets are kind of optional to the main quest, initiated through rumour cards. They also play as mini 5 quest campaign. Sometimes 11 quests can be too much for a campaign, and they don't even have to be played.

They are all worth getting. LoTW has sentinal Hybrids which are really string. LoTR have Arachyura, which IMO are equally as good.

So if a scenario calls for 1 certain type of monster and and any other type then you have to use the one called for and the other can be one of the ones from the base game or expansion?

The Cajun

I think If I understand your question your asking if the quest guide calls for a Goblin archer do I have to use a goblin archer?

if I understand you correctly the answer is NO, there is a symbol on the top of the quest guide and the monster cards and you can change them out if you require but they have to be the same symbol type.

hope this helps

Lilikin

PS I love Talisman too

I think If I understand your question your asking if the quest guide calls for a Goblin archer do I have to use a goblin archer?

if I understand you correctly the answer is NO, there is a symbol on the top of the quest guide and the monster cards and you can change them out if you require but they have to be the same symbol type.

That's not correct. If the quest guide specifically lists Goblin Archers in the "Monsters" section then Goblin Archers are a "fixed group." Fixed groups must be used (and may be used whether or not their monster traits match the encounter.) You can leave in them in a corner of their starting tile and ignore them all quest long if you want to, but you have to use them. (Also, ignoring them would be a bad idea since most fixed groups are somehow tied to the OL's objectives for the encounter...)

"Open groups" may be selected from among the unused monster groups, including all expansion monsters you have available, and one of their monster traits must match the traits shown for the encounter. Note that you can only pick a given monster group once, which also means all fixed groups are out of the running for use as open groups.

Cool. I've been watching the tutorial on yiu tube on watch it played. That guy is really good. I've watched a number of games from there and he does a really good job. Check it out if you haven't seen any of their episodes. Anyway, I saw that you have to pick the ones that are mandated for that quest but like you said, on the open groups you can pick any other ones with a same trait. But the other thing you said about can't use them anymore, I'm assuming that means once you use that monster group once during a campaign for instance, you can't use them again for the whole campaign ?

Also, if you do use creatures from another expansion are they gauged to the level of the heroes? I wouldn't want to throw a horde of powerful creatures that will kill everyone to no avail easily. That wouldn't be any fun....lol

Thanks,

The Cajun

I believe what was meant by Steve-O is that monsters can only be chosen once in a given quest, i.e. if goblin archers are a fixed group, you can't choose them as an open group in the same quest as well. If, in a quest, you choose ettins as an open group, you can certainly use ettins again in a future quest of the same campaign (as long as traits match up).

Also, all monsters are designed to be pretty on the level to balance with heroes; this doesn't always line up in practice, but throwing hybrid sentinels from Lair of the Wyrm into the base campaign is a totally viable option. I've seen a mostly mutual consent around the forums that hybrid sentinels are a top OL pick, so take that as you will.

Steve-O basically had everything right about the difference between Big Box and Small Box expansions. The one thing I would correct is that the quests from the small box expansions are designed first to be run as side-quests along another major campaign. Later-on, they added (via downloadable PDF) the rules for turning them into a mini-campaign.

I'd also add that at least for the base game's campaign (The Shadow Rune) and Labyrinth of Ruin's campaign, you have to play through each campaign least 4 times to hit every quest. At that point, there will definitely be some overlap, especially in the early game, so if you just want to see how a couple of the other quests play through after you've already done most via the campaign, you may want to try the Epic Play, variants.

I believe what was meant by Steve-O is that monsters can only be chosen once in a given quest, i.e. if goblin archers are a fixed group, you can't choose them as an open group in the same quest as well. If, in a quest, you choose ettins as an open group, you can certainly use ettins again in a future quest of the same campaign (as long as traits match up).

It's actually per encounter, not quest (most quests comprise 2 encounters). All he means is that you can't simultaneously play with 2 identical groups of monsters. Doing so would mean a) that there won't ever be enough figures to accommodate both groups, and b) that it'll be really hard to keep track of which figure belongs to which group since monster groups all activate as a unit.

So I got it now. Seems well streamlined. I'm about to order the Xmas packages for me and the family, which expansion to get heroes and the hybrid sentinels is that?

The first one lair of the Wyrm.

i cant find lair anywhere. i found one place but by the time I pay for the game and shipping Ill be at almost 50$. Thats crazy. If anyone has any tips on a good place let me know. FFG dont have them either.

Lair of the Wyrm seems to be at the bottom of a print run right now. It's scheduled for a reprint in January according to the upcoming page, so it should start reappearing in stores round then.

well, Ill pick it up when it comes back out. It must be really popular. Well I went ahead an ordered my edition of descent 2nd edition and it should be coming in before long to put under the tree, (if I can wait that long..lol). IM gonna start reading the rules to get a head start. They should be online here somewhere I would think. Ill take a look. Thanks for yalls help.