by ctcharger
I recently joined a PBF game as the Overlord and we are almost done with the first encounter.Initial thoughts so far:
Playing against people vs playing against a system is much more intense. Reminds me of the first time I played Doom against a friend over a modem no less. I can't finish even a short Road to Legend game.
With the map tool and the D2 Cardviewer extension, playing a PBF game is really easy. The websites and articles people have written really help to make the game and all of the expansions manageable especially to someone new. It really helps you move up the learning curve quickly which is nice.
Free diagonal movement was a design mistake I think. I really like the tactical experience with the minis but the no cost diagonal movement takes away from that. I would prefer a every 2nd diagonal move you make during that mini's activation costs 1 extra mp. Too late now though as it would almost certainly unbalance the scenarios.
I really like the PBF experience. I have time to plan my moves and react to what the players have done and what I should do about it. Being newish to the system, it is a big help. I feel PBF or PBEM is the better experience for a lot of games though. Did I say how cool the map tool is?
I had to pick up the Heirs of Blood book as my core game had the older adventure. $20 delivered and it appears to be worth it so no complaints. I would be happy if more campaign books were published either by FFG or 3rd parties. I am going to see if anyone made versions of classic D&D dungeons.... I do think some fog of war would be nice when it comes to the maps. The players should have to face some uncertainty when descending into the dark besides open group monsters.
I have been reading various strategy articles related to playing the Overlord. Those have helped me move up the learning curve as well, time well spent and highly recommended. Because it is a competitive game against live opponents, you won't get the perfect strategy but will likely save you from making really bad mistakes due to lack of experience. (that way I can focus on making the usual mistakes I seem to make)
FFG appears to be done expanding Descent with physical packages which kinda stinks but holy cow there is a lot here already, I doubt I could ever play it all anyway and the community is quite active so no worries. It may be a plus as the game system settles down a bit. Depending on the hero mix the players pick and the OL cards picked, I imagine the replay value is very high. In our game, someone has a whip which can move the monsters around which means blocking strategies are now rather suspect. One crack in the seam and foxes are in the hen house! (Stupid free diagonal movement!)
There is the making of a really interesting RPG here especially if Runebound 3 is added in. However, they went with their RPG system from Star Wars instead which doesn't do much for me. I would love to see a Player's Guide and GM Manual for using Descent and Runebound as basic for creating adventures. I feel that way about the Pathfinder Adventure card game too but there doesn't seem to be the demand for boardgame/RPG combined gaming so probably the right call on their part.
VASSAL and other 3rd parties tools are well supported which is really nice. I still need to get my physical game organized though, what a mess. Don't even ask about my Imperial Assault state of affairs.
Other game companies take heed, FFG and GMT support VASSAL and the like... you should too! I did buy a bunch of paints with the plan to paint them all. I started with the rats, it has not gone well.
Might be nice if a 3rd party created some (ok a lot) of tokens/counters/pogs using the game art for the game to go with the miniatures... maybe they do already?
I like the artwork, I think Pathfinder is my favorite but I like this too.
No comment on the custom dice... been said already...
Overall:
So far so good, fun stuff, happy to be getting a return on my investment!