D&D Castle Ravenloft

[HeroQuestFrance]

Just browsing through this file, looking at the picture of the Howling Hag, WONDERFUL!! What is her role? Surely worth a Quest of her own? Reminds me of someone close? Cannot think who!!

Yep !
It's a boss played in some quests.
And in your house may be...

[Blackthorn]

I have to say that I really didn't enjoy this game as much as I thought I would. My 21 year old daughter and I gave up just before the second adventure was completed. We found the rules, cards and counters too fiddly and the game play too complicated to run smoothly. We were constantly forgetting the order of play and all of the conditional rules on the cards. We'd realize too late that we had forgotten to play a certain card or move a counter and we ran into questions that the rules could not clarify. We eventually got weary of being beaten down by monsters and encounter cards as we made our way through the castle which lacked the atmosphere of our beloved HeroQuest. In retrospect , I don't think the cooperative nature of the game really suits the dungeon crawl experience as you have to constantly alternate between your character and the evil things that attack it. We do enjoy Forbidden Island which is a cooperative game with smoother mechanic and a nice theme. You really start to feel the tension as the island sinks beneath your feet.

Anyway, you'll probably see my copy of Ravenloft for sale here. Perhaps someone else would like to give it a try...or just use the miniatures for HeroQuest.

[HeroQuestFrance]

Sad to hear you didn't like the game. To me it's a quick boardgame very easy to set up & play for the beginners (not like Descent)

1 The turn of a heroe is clear and simple : just move twice, or move & attack in any order. You can replace an attack to disarm a trap.

2 Then you see if you have finished your turn on a unexplored edge to know if your draw a encounter card directly or if you pick up a new tile to place with a new monster.

3 you activate the monsters : boss / your traps / your monsters. if another player has the same monster on the board you activate his monster too

Each character has his own special power (unlimited ones, special effect and power attacks) you can win gear and lvl up.
Not in this box, but in the second and third it includes a campaign mode with boss chambers. You can sell items win gold and buy things into a shop.
Wrath of Ashardalon which is the second box includes a reminder for the rules at the end of the quest book. There's also an official FAQ (questions/answer) on the website of WOTC USA. I think you can find your answers if it's not too late on gameboardgeek.

[Blackthorn]

Sad to hear you didn't like the game. To me it's a quick boardgame very easy to set up & play for the beginners (not like Descent)

HQ France, thanks for the summary. I can see how people who like meatier rules and the D&D world would like this game, and I must admit that the game play feels very tight. The rules seem simple the way that you present them, but with the healing surges, levels and all of the modifiers on the cards, tokens and adventures we found it easy to forget a crucial step. It seems simple on the surface, but it really isn't in practice. I also agree with some reviewers who feel that the game punishes you for exploring and for staying in one place. Those encounter cards were more fearsome than the monsters!

I like the idea of cooperative games, but a dungeon crawl typically has aspects of roleplaying where your character becomes your alter ego in the fantasy world. I found it hard to constantly switch gears and assume the role of a goul or a gargoyle who attacks my character or a fellow adventurer, even though the monster's tactics are clearly spelled out. I think these types of games work best with a GM, whether evil, benevolent or somewhere in between. This aspect of Ravenloft actually made it seem like the game was playing itself at times.

[joec]

I got this about a year ago thanks to the now-wife, and It really can get challenging... But we find some of the rules too vague. Especially in the quest where the tiles are already laid out. I'll have to revisit the Quests and pinpoint it exactly. Great minis and modular pieces, though. The idea is good, but it's tougher to understand than HQ, by far. Daily powers, utilities, and at-wills? Why wouldn't you use an at-will every time?

[LordZeke]

My wife and I really like it as it plays really well with 2 people and it can be pretty challanging. The game play is intense, the game makes sure something is always happening. We started with LoD, it was fairly easy, the heros were more powerful. Ravenloft is much more difficult we found ourselves winning but with maybe one HP left. I have only played one go of WoA, (with 4 players), and we got our butts handed to us.

I think it is hard to compare these games to Heroquest because they don't have a DM. I think Heroquest is closer to Descent (I havent played that though).

If you are looking for a Dungeon Crawl that doesn't need a DM and you don't need the same group of people to play it for continuity, then this system works fairly well. If you are looking for a "planned out DM let adventure" then this is not what you are looking for. I love Heroquest but it is really hard to get the same group of people together to play. The D&D adventure system helps. If nothing else it comes with alot of nice minis!