First quest: The Maze or The Trial?

[Anderas]

Yes, that topic is existing.

I answered over there.

[Anderas]

I'm just curious; I've played The Trial with 2 different groups. The first time all the heroes died.

The 2nd group I had play The Maze before the Trial so they can maybe get some potions to help. I had to bend the rules (cast spells without line of sight, pass potions even though monsters are adjacent) just to crawl away from it.
Although there are no traps this map has the 2nd highest total of monsters then any in the Original Quest Book and it's got quite a few heavy hitters (3 Chaos Warriors, 1 Gargoyle, the guardian of Fellmarg's Tomb). Maybe it's easy enough in the European edition...

I'm just wondering how many other people feel the Trial should not be played first, or had all the heroes die at the first chance.

The main error is that it displays all the monsters and all the furniture. No surprise left for later quests.

A statistical loss of 21.7 BP, plus or minus 8, is quite a lot to ask from a beginner's group.

Especially younger players or those not feeling at home in RPG games might stop playing the game altogether.

[lestodante]

I had the questbook with The Trial as first quest, so we played that one! My players easily slained all the monsters as I can remember with no problems at all.
My group was composed by members of my famyly (age 15 to 30) and I remember my aunt was using the Wizard and leadind the whole team about the strategy. They teamed up since the beginning, none of them ever died played the first questbook.
But also I have to say that she was using Sleep spell unlimited times because on the italian card it is not written that it must be discarded after use like the other spells so it was a real pain in the axe for me!
I was only 13 years old and was unable to impose to discard the spell even if it was not specified on the card...

[The Admiral]

A statistical loss of 21.7 BP, plus or minus 8, is quite a lot to ask from a beginner's group.

Is that for the US or EU version?

[Anderas]

US Monsters... The EU version had no trial really.

[knightkrawler]

US Monsters... The EU version had no trial really.

Well, 2nd edition had The Trial, but it wasn't a trial.

[mitchiemasha]

If i ever revisit the base game quest book with a group, i'll go with making the trial the last quest. If it was a random one off event, a group not becoming a group, the Trial would be the choice to play with them, shame no traps though!

[The Admiral]

This topic has an existing thread.
I am one of the few proponents of playing the Trial right after The Maze
BECAUSE it will show the heroes death and difficulty.
It's that simple to me. Players should man up and they can learn a few tactics during The Trial.
Having said that, I DO allow spellcasting.

That could work. There are plenty of rooms to search for treasure in The Maze, and because it is so monster light, WM's are not too much of a problem. Therefore the Heroes should have a bit of money (plus the 100 gc) to buy a helmet or two and maybe a healing potion, This, combined with the 12 spells, should be enough to give the Heroes a real shot at the Trial...if they play as a team.

[Spookyhappyfun]

I've switched the order of the Quests a bit (and added a little more story) so it'll go Sir Ragnar, Orc Warlord, Melar's Maze, Magnus' Gold, and The Trial will be the fifth Quest, or first proper boss fight (against Verag, one of Zargon's lieutenants) where you level up at the end. After that the next three are normal and I'll add in an additional Quest, pushing Race Against Time to number 10. This will be the first time Zargon actually takes notice of the Heroes directly and I can use the Evil Wizard Cards for the first time, making getting out a proper race against time. They will then level up after that. Finally, the last 5 quests will be the same, making Return to Barak-Tor the 15th and final with the last level up of the base game.

So for me, The Trial isn't first, but is the first real boss fight and proper trial. I also have it so players don't get Monster Cards for reference until they encounter and defeat a monster the first time, so rearranging the Quests gives a nice buildup to The Trial where the Heroes encounter all the Monsters and are able to use the information they've learned.

[The Admiral]

Yes, Sir Ragnar/Orc Warlord would be my preferred start.