by dyeyk2000
Hey all,Long time Descent game owner here. I have a copy of the base game and the expansions Labyrinth of Ruin and The Trollfens. Let me start by saying, I’m not the biggest fan of Descent and in fact I’ve given it a 6 on the BGG scale which connotes to “Fair. Some fun or challenge at least, will play occasionally if in the right mood.” which is exactly how I feel about the game. It’s not a 7, because I’m usually not willing to play it, but it’s also not a 5 since I do find some appeal in the overall chrome and grandiosity of the game.
In the past, I had many failed attempts to get games/campaign of Descent going on. I just found the preparation for it quite cumbersome. A single reading of the rulebook is not enough, as you have to read up on new scenario rules every session, while still keeping in mind a lot of small rules on travel, rumors, secret rooms, campaign mode, monster abilities etc. It’s easy to lose player interest and sometimes it feels like you’re just trying to keep the rules together in your head, rather than just letting it flow and playing the game.
But yesterday, we decided to give running a campaign one more shot… and we succeeded! We ran The Trollfens campaign in a day for 8 straight hours. Thought it was our best shot at completing a campaign. Here are some of my thoughts. Let me preface by saying that a lot of it will sound negative. However I am not bashing the game at all. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have kept it for 2 years. However, I want to get out some of my raw impressions on some aspects of the game.
Bear in mind that I’ve played exclusively as the Overlord in all of my play sessions and that will definitely play some part in my impressions of the game.
-The game is as cumbersome as I remember it. Even with the benefit of a shortened campaign, there’s just so much for the Overlord to absorb and explain in order to keep the game together. There were several moments in the middle of the game, when I would catch other important information in the scenario rules that I missed which greatly affected gameplay and hero strategy. Instances like this can really ruin the game.
-Which upon much thought, I think my main gripe is how the scenario rules are written. It feels like they were written without much thought on how the reader can quickly absorb them. Clarity on the goals is not apparent until you’ve had to read 15-25 paragraphs of text. Set-up is provided without much background on what needs to be achieved as the goals themselves are at the end of the document. It’s not a simple task of reading the goals first either, as they are usually abstract information unless you read the body of text first.
-An example would be the Finale of the Trollfens campaign where the heroes would win if they had 5 fatigue markers, while the Overlord would win if he achieved those as well. By reading that alone, it’s difficult to understand what exactly is the scenario about. Alternatively you can read through the wall of text that explains set-up, and the small rules on movement, secret levers and passages which are not even directly related to the goal, but simply scenario particulars only. It feels like FFG could really use some work editing and working on the layout of scenario rules. Just for everyone’s information, that scenario is actually a race where the Overlord is trying to get his monsters to escape first (which had an equivalent in fatigue markers), or the heroes were trying to kill the monsters (which had an equivalent in fatigue markers as well). It feels like a short summarized explanation at the start would go a long way in absorbing scenario rules quickly. In this situation, FFG could have also presented the information on fatigue markers and how to earn them in table form as they are essentially acting as a points system only. At a glance players would have been able to understand what they are trying to achieve.
-Of course all these gripes of mine can be resolved by careful and thorough study of the rules beforehand. Which let me make it quite clear, I own over a 100 board games so I am not averse to studying rulebooks. It’s just that it seems with the problem I presented, the only way to truly enjoy the game and let the rules flow is to spend 10x longer on reading Descent rules material compared to the average boardgame rulebook.
-There truly is no hope in keeping track of the hero abilities either. There’s just so many things going on between holding the scenario rules together in your head that it’s difficult to remember what all the other heroes are capable of as they progress through the campaign. The same goes for all the different monsters and abilities that you have. I kept on forgetting that my monsters had damage surges, since I was focused on their abilities on the back. Of course that’s my bad.
-Which leads me to say that the above is also solvable by taking down meticulous notes and running the whole thing like a tabletop RPG. Again not a bad thing, but probably not the amount of work and preparation I wanted to do for a board game.
-I guess in the end, playing Descent feels like work to me. It’s simply not enjoyable. Sure I can run it just fine. But sometimes it feels like you’re zoning out on the game as you’re simply trying to keep the rules together in your head. The game just doesn’t flow for me. And is perhaps due to my refusal to put more work and preparation into the game beforehand.
Whew. Thanks for reading everyone. Congratulations on making it till here. Hope nobody flames as I’m just trying to get my thoughts on the game out there.
PS
Perhaps I’ll try being a hero next time. Seems like less “work”.
