Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So after Dreadfleet got its official announce, and once again all my Warhammer Quest dreams where smashed to pieces, I am pondering on trying out Descent.

So I'm wondering if there are many Dakkanauts out there who have a copy and can tell me how it plays, is it similar to Quest? Do the mechanics work nicely, do you level up like with WQ etc. Also how much do the expansions add.

Looking at the prices it seems I can get Descent and an expansion for little more than the price of Dreadfleet, so which expasnion would probably be best for new players. Also I have an eight year old that I will probably introduce this to asap, are the rules overly complex or simple to play?

Any help/info will be greatly appreciated.

I thoroughly enjoy it, though it's definitely a different game than WHQ. You do level up and gain skills and buy items, etc. The rules are fairly complex and it can take a little bit to get a handle on. The games can be a bit rough with only a small amount of players too.

I don't want to explain too in-depth because they're about to drop a new edition and I'm not sure what's going to change. I would say to go ahead and grab a starter box for the massive amount of minis alone.

I would wait for the new edition and see what it's like then. The D'n'D boardgame is pretty straightforward, and you could easily expand it into a better campaign system if your young fella is interested.
I've enjoyed every game of Castle Ravenloft or Wrath of Asharldon I've played.

Da Boss wrote:I would wait for the new edition and see what it's like then. The D'n'D boardgame is pretty straightforward, and you could easily expand it into a better campaign system if your young fella is interested.
I've enjoyed every game of Castle Ravenloft or Wrath of Asharldon I've played.

I agree with this.
We've played a few games of Castle Ravenloft and Ashardalon as pickup games and it works great.

Just hope that you don't draw the Horrid Chamber and get Ashardalon the first time you explore. We never got past that.

Although I never played WHQ, I own Descent and a few expansions. It's very good at what it does, which is RP-less dungeon crawl. If you want any sort of RP at all, please just buy some Pathfinder books. But you played WHQ so I've no doubt you know what you're asking for. Here's FFG's own write up on Second Edition:

Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition is a board game in which one player takes on the role of the treacherous overlord, and up to four other players take on the roles of courageous heroes. Featuring double-sided modular board pieces, countless hero and skill combinations, and an immersive story-driven campaign, Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition transports heroes to a vibrant fantasy realm where they must stand together against an ancient evil.

This updated version of the classic board game of dungeon-delving adventure features a host of enhancements, including new heroes and monsters, streamlined rules, a class-based hero system, campaign play, and much more.

Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition includes –

A rulebook and quest guide
Eight hero figures and 38 monster figures
Nine custom dice
Nearly 250 cards
48 Map tiles
Over 150 tokens

MSRP looks to be 80 USD. Maelstrom lists the release date as October 22 and they price it at 53.99 GBP. There's more than enough in that box to keep you busy until some Second Edition expansions are released.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Alternatively, they'll be selling a conversion kit to bring the first edition up to speed. MSPR $24.95

Thanks to everyone who posted, and cheers, it seems waiting for second edition seems the best option atm.

On a side note, could someone tell me the scale of the figs, I know they are not GW scale, but I was wondering if they where D&D scale. Been looking for an excuse to pic up some Red Box figs for ages.

Here's a comparison of a few random minis and the Descent ones. The models are all from the big first edition box and they're all heroes. The monsters are all a bit bigger, however.

Ah spot on, Hmm, looks like Tre manor's stuff won't sit out of place.. methinks I'll be finally grabbing some of his figs as replacement heroes.

You can read more about Descent at Boardgame Geek.

Descent's pretty fun, but the few times I've played it's taken absolutely forever to get set up and then play. Also, I'm not a big fan of having to have one person be the dungeon master in games like this. I know nothing about WQ though so I don't really know how that compares. There's definitely character improvement as the game goes on. You can go back to town and buy things mid-game, and it generally feels like a longer-termed dungeon crawl. The dungeon tends to repopulate itself when you're gone though.

I'll be another to throw in with the Ravenloft/Ashardalon camp though. Setup and play is quick, fun, easy, and everyone gets to be one of the heroes. There aren't as many characters included, which is unfortunate, but the other expansions seem generally compatible. You can only advance by one level, you generally only get one shot with special abilities, etc. It takes less time, but the dungeons also tend to seem like quicker outings as well, if that makes sense.

If you're looking for a dungeon crawl specifically to play with your kid, have you checked out Super Dungeon Explore? The demo I played was pretty simple, fun, etc. It should be coming out in a little over a month, I think.

Zefig wrote:Descent's pretty fun, but the few times I've played it's taken absolutely forever to get set up and then play.

Yes, Descent sessions are long, about 4 hours is absolute minimum.

First edition Descent rules are somewhat buggy (esp. Advanced Campaign rules), and FFG isn't really the quickest to FAQ stuff up. Hopefully new edition fixes things up.

Descent is in Hobby Games The 100 Best (2007) which is a good recommendation.

The review says it usually takes four to eight hours if the heroes win, but is quicker if the dungeon master wins.

We found that for every section/area of map, it would take about 2 hours.

So we block played. We checked time whenever we opened a new area and decided if it would wait until the next session.

Road to Legend worked awesome for that. Single area maps, and some travel, and the game night felt like you accomplished something.

As Overlord, I feel like you can go for the TPK, or just play as an especially mean DM.
It's fun to let the group get to the Big Bad, and then crush them.

In the campaign, I consciously chose to play it so the group could make it through to the Villain.
It took on more of an Epic RPG feel.
It did not mean I played nice during the dungeons, but I didn't play the Lieutenants as aggressive as I could have.
Just enough to pressure the group into moving forward in the campaign.