by M Cotton
My wife finally wants to play a campaign where she is Overlord, but there's a clear agreement that, not only am I the strategist (professionally, really), but I also am there one who tends to remember what all the classes and monsters and items we have can possibly do. So, when I play Overlord I am able to to fudge things enough to drive the pace of the campaign and keep it feeling really balanced and fun.The worry though is that if she plays overlord for the first time, and will likely need my help and suggestions for some of the choices along the way, then how do we balance it to keep it intense and interesting? And so one idea I've been thinking about for a "handicap" is to play a three-hero team but allow the monster group limits to be what they would be for a four-hero game.
Anyway, I'm curious what other experienced Descent players think about that. Is it a reasonable handicap, or does it feel too guaranteed to break the game?
We still have a very exciting campaign with me as OL running, so I will not be able to play Mok, Logan, or One-Fist. And I cannot use Bard, Beastmaster, or Treasure Hunter. However, I'm considering strong exciting hero choices like Lindel as Ravager/Berserker, Jaes as Battlemage/Skirmisher (note that no runes are taken by her team), Avric, Andira, or Ispher as Crusader/Knight, or even an Astarra Conjurer, Seer Kel as Necromancer or Truthseer/Bountyhunter or Truthseer/Thief, or Okaluk/Rakash as Watchman/Thief, or Serena as Watchman/Wildlander, etc.. lol
Also, she won't be able to use the Zachareth plot deck or BasicII, as we still have that running in the other campaign. But she could do BasicI with Splig, Belthir, Skarn, BolGoreth, Valyndra, Serena, Raythen, or Tristayne.
I'm thinking that if we were to set the roles for the campaign as, say, she starts with Belthir or Skarn +Basic I, then also stipulating that, while I play a three-hero team we set the group limits at max/4-hero, then this might be the ideal set up for some intense fun without her feeling overwhelmed.
Maybe it depends which campaign we play? We're currently running a Labyrinth of Ruin, so it needs to be one of the others. If it's a Mists+Chains campaign, then maybe the handicap is too strong, but if it's Nerekhall or Heirs of Blood would it still make sense?