joel cuthbert
United States
fort collins
Colorado
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So after tons and tons of research I finally began our campaign. You know the saying, "you build it they will come"? The rest of the guys have significant board gaming back ground. They have all caught on to Descent really quickly. The advanced campaign is a little trickier though. After our first real taste of a campaign the week before, we tried our hands at SoB. It was a mess, myself as the OL, I tried to go over some tactics and what to do as the heroes, but it just wasn't working too well. I was quickly demoralizing them. Coupled with the fact, that I forgot to spend 15 threat to respawn, we called it a night and said lets just start over next week, it was a good practice run.
From there I got to thinking of maybe I should be in the hero party and let one of the others in the group have a crack at the OL. Steve is the man. He jumped right into it and has picked it up well. He made a couple of errors, but I am sure he will learn from it.
I am going to follow similar formats. Conquest gains are in [] for the OL and () for the hero party.
House Rules:
-Divine Power (SoB catch-up rule. I have not talked with the group about it yet, but I am sure it will catch on.)
The game includes Steve as the OL, myself, John, Brian and Gilbert
Players select:
Gilbert: Landrec the Wise
Brian: Tahlia
John: Kirga
Myself: Zyla
The group pretty much stayed the same from the SoB practice we did the week before, except John wasn't feeling Shiver, so he re-picked. Steve the OL was gracious enough to let John have Kirga, although she has already proven to be a PITA
Skills:
Landrec the Wise: Spiritmaster
Tahlia: Weapon Mastery
Kirga: Eagle Eye
Zyla: Skilled
Landrec had a good skill selection, then got Spiritmaster on the last skill card, which coupled with Zyla, is just downright crazy.
The players elect to purchase:
Landrec the Wise: Sunburst, Tunic, Ghost Armor, 1 FP
Tahlia: Axe, Chainmail
Kirga: Crossbow, Iron Shield, Leather Armor
Zyla: Hammer, Wizard's Robe, 1 FP
We ended up with a net of 225 coin I believe.
The Demon Prince with Obsidian Shackles plot was chosen after careful consideration. The OL also picked Toughened, Soul Barrier and Focused (These didn't seem like good "Starting" upgrades but oh well, if they are really bad, would you consider letting the OL repick?)
Week 1
Overlord gains conquest [+1]
Sir Alric Farrow moves towards Nekerhall.
The party travels to Starfall Forest (1) without any encounter. #55 Big Bertha's Brewery. Woohoo our first dungeon, you can cut the anticipation with a piece of paper. John is nearly falling asleep he is
getting so bored already. We set up, place our hero's then the OL his monsters. He learned a huge lesson because out of the 5-6 he got to place, only 1 survived because after Zyla took a run action for 8, then used some fatigue to pick up some coin and open a door before the OL got any threat, Landrec came swooping in with a blast shot doing a battle action. Boom goes the dynamite! From there, we easily picked off the skeleton and it was onto the leader. Steve was so demoralized. He soon had sweet sweet justice though. So we killed the huge Ogre and undying kept him alive 5 times! Also in this dungeon level there are barrels, if the ogre drinks them, she is back to full health. We essentially killed her 7 times (2). Luckily none of us died. We also killed a Master Dark Priest and picked up 2 coin piles. There were no chests and the barrels could not be searched. Landrec now has a curse on him for the MDP kill.
At this time in the night, John was ready to go home, but I told the rest of the group that I would control Kirga, and lets see if we could at least do a snatch and grab. Basically Steve had over 40 threat easily, with a power card or two in play. He was only able to spawn once in the first dungeon, which was kept in check by Landrec with Spirit Walker and Kirga primarily. Onto #59 Jacob's Lament: now I am nearly positive we would have steamrolled this level if it weren't 1am and we had our heads on straight. We had a similar plan of leading with Zyla, activating the glyph, letting Landrec battle from Zyla and the other 2 go back to town, to restock, try to get some weapons and pop back up at the activated glyph. Accept that all I did was move farther away from Landrec, which sort of hosed us, but activated the glyph (3). From there we were about to die, and we didn't want to give the OL ANY xp, so we tried to make a dash for it, but Zyla sacrificed herself for [1]. Before we all left though, Kirga picked up Staff of the Grave and Screaming Eagle Staff from the market, while Landrec got 2 more Fatigue potions, since he and Zyla used theirs.
Overall Heroes 6 xp OL 2/2 xp 1,375 coin in the bank.
The one prop I have is the for group. They really did read the rules this time. I think after I was fumbling around so much the week prior it really helps to have people that have the rules fresh in their mind because let's face it, not everyone can remember every single rule and FAQ. The party has not only a really strong group, but their skills rock too, I think the Steve has his work cut out for him.
We all made our fair share of mistakes too. Steve is a new OL, I helped him a long on a few things, but after killing that Ogre 7 times and seeing his smug look on his face, I was scared of a hand full of cards (10) and nearly limitless supply of threat. He forgot to roll with extra power dice the first time he played DOOM!
The best suggestion for the night was something that John had said was to kill the Dark Priests and cut off line of sight so no more spawning 
Any suggestions for the OL? Any suggestions for the Heroes? We will be implementing the blitzing tactic for the first few dungeons. With our draws and our teams, I am almost thinking of not buying the guide, because I feel we should be able to win easily on the green encounters (although I have yet to try one). When we start, Landrec will have the Staff of the Grave and Zyla will get the Screaming Eagle Staff just in case AOE is needed, but will probably stick to the Hammer as it hits pretty hard.
Last question as I feel as though I know the answer to this even though it is directly in the rules, I just want to make sure I am getting it right. On a 4 squared monster like a bane spider, you can't use knockback on it correct?
Also if there are 2 characters already in town, 1 in the dungeon dies, and the other ones uses the glyph to go back into town, does the party automatically flee, or can they restock and then announce that they flee?
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Corbon Loughnan
Singapore
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Re: The Demon Price in the City of Beer 10/06/10
duhtch wrote:
Landrec the Wise: Spiritmaster
...after Zyla took a run action for 8, then used some fatigue to pick up some coin and open a door before the OL got any threat, Landrec came swooping in with a blast shot doing a battle action.
You are aware Spiritwalker is only range 5 in ACs?
FAQ pg13 (RtL Card Revisions)
Spiritwalker is reduced to 5 spaces, not the 10 that is printed on the card.
Quote: because I feel we should be able to win easily on the green encounters (although I have yet to try one).
Don't be fooled by the green/yellow/red encounters. Green ones are often harder than red ones. Although the basic monsters are usually weaker (lower tiers), there are usually a lot more of them and they can usually reinforce as well.
The razorwing encounter is possibly the hardest for a new party, and it is green. Luckily for you, you have Zyla, who is immune to Razorwings, but still...
Quote: Last question as I feel as though I know the answer to this even though it is directly in the rules, I just want to make sure I am getting it right. On a 4 squared monster like a bane spider, you can't use knockback on it correct?
Yes, effectively, although there are silver/gold weapons that can spend surges on extra spaces of knockback, and spiders will not then be immune.
You aren't actually prevented from using (basic) knockback on the spider, it is just that the distance you knock it back is 0 spaces!
RtL pg29
This is reduced by one space of movement for each space the target occupies beyond the first.
Quote: Also if there are 2 characters already in town, 1 in the dungeon dies, and the other ones uses the glyph to go back into town, does the party automatically flee, or can they restock and then announce that they flee?
The party never flees from a dungeon unless it chooses too. You are not required to have a hero in the dungeon.
RtL pg18
If the heroes decide that things are too grim for them to continue on inside a dungeon, they can decide to leave a dungeon and not come back. To do this, they must simply all return to Tamalir at the same time (via glyphs of transport – see “Using Buildings” on page 21) and announce that they’re fleeing the dungeon.
However, once you have a hero in the portal, as soon as all heroes are either in the portal or in town (ie none in the dungeon) that level ends and the next one begins - immediately. So once one hero enters the portal you need to be careful about the order in which you have your turns.
RtL pg18
Heroes remain thusly in transit until all of them either enter the
portal or move to town, at which point all of the heroes are moved to the next level.
Your party and skill set, BTW, are the perfect advertisement for why the rules don't actually allow for choice of heroes (unlike vanilla rules). 
That is some kickass bunch of heroes right there sir!
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Alain Gottcheiner
Belgium
Brussels
Unspecified
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Re: The Demon Price in the City of Beer 10/06/10
I think it is wise to choose 3 5-point upgrades at start, even if not directly usable. The OL will then have to hoard CPs for his first monster upgrade, and thereafter the 1-upgrade-per-week limitation will occasionally prove a handicap, so trying to get three upgrades at a time seems right.
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M.J.E. Hendriks
Netherlands
Velp
Gelderland
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Re: The Demon Price in the City of Beer 10/06/10
The OL held 10 cards at one point? That's not right. Max is 8 without the upgrade which makes it 9.
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Kelly Overholser
United States
Minnesota
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Re: The Demon Price in the City of Beer 10/06/10
Except that the demon prince gives him +2 to max hand size :P
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joel cuthbert
United States
fort collins
Colorado
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Re: The Demon Price in the City of Beer 10/06/10
corbon wrote:
The party never flees from a dungeon unless it chooses too. You are not required to have a hero in the dungeon.
RtL pg18
If the heroes decide that things are too grim for them to continue on inside a dungeon, they can decide to leave a dungeon and not come back. To do this, they must simply all return to Tamalir at the same time (via glyphs of transport – see “Using Buildings” on page 21) and announce that they’re fleeing the dungeon.
However, once you have a hero in the portal, as soon as all heroes are either in the portal or in town (ie none in the dungeon) that level ends and the next one begins - immediately. So once one hero enters the portal you need to be careful about the order in which you have your turns.
RtL pg18
Heroes remain thusly in transit until all of them either enter the
portal or move to town, at which point all of the heroes are moved to the next level.
An example I have seen before is everyone goes back to Town via a Glyph, and takes a few turns there to stock up and heal rather than waste a week restocking, correct? You have to choose to flee.
Merrimac wrote: I think it is wise to choose 3 5-point upgrades at start, even if not directly usable. The OL will then have to hoard CPs for his first monster upgrade, and thereafter the 1-upgrade-per-week limitation will occasionally prove a handicap, so trying to get three upgrades at a time seems right.
Ok, so even though it doesn't really effect the game right now much, it is probably good in the long term? The nice thing is he thinned out the OL deck -4 cards.
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Corbon Loughnan
Singapore
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Re: The Demon Price in the City of Beer 10/06/10
duhtch wrote:
An example I have seen before is everyone goes back to Town via a Glyph, and takes a few turns there to stock up and heal rather than waste a week restocking, correct? You have to choose to flee.
Correct
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joel cuthbert
United States
fort collins
Colorado
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Another quick clarification question, as I have read this somewhere on this forum.
The base game comes with 24 fatigue tokens. If you purchase fatigue from secret training, do you take it from what is left over from the 24 tokens (less what your heroes start with)? Or do you just put the +2 fatigue in your pool, much like wounds that are 5 or 10 that are provided?
Zyla 4 + 2 from skilled
Kirga 3
Tahlia 3
Landrec 5
that is 17 already fatigue used, so that means you can potentially have 7 left? 6 if tiger tattoo is to be purchased.
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Corbon Loughnan
Singapore
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duhtch wrote: Another quick clarification question, as I have read this somewhere on this forum.
The base game comes with 24 fatigue tokens. If you purchase fatigue from secret training, do you take it from what is left over from the 24 tokens (less what your heroes start with)? Or do you just put the +2 fatigue in your pool, much like wounds that are 5 or 10 that are provided?
Zyla 4 + 2 from skilled
Kirga 3
Tahlia 3
Landrec 5
that is 17 already fatigue used, so that means you can potentially have 7 left? 6 if tiger tattoo is to be purchased.
You total group fatigue can go to any number, but you will always be limited to the number of fatigue tokens available (24).
This means that sometimes you will have to choose a hero or heroes to not be at 'full fatigue' when they should be.
Example:
Zyla 8F
Kirga 5F
Tahlia 6F
Landrec 7F
When you start a dungeon or encounter each hero should be at full fatigue, but 8+5+6+7=26, so you will have to choose 1 hero to be short 2 fatigue or 2 heroes to be short 1 fatigue each.
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Posted Fri Oct 8, 2010 6:41 am
