Don’t disregard “Descent”

The players turned the corner to find a giant, a manticore, two giant spiders, and three beastmen. So I spawned four skeletons behind them. I ran past their tanks to annihilate their unarmored wizard. I then quickly dispatched their ranged fighter.

Was I being a bad DM? Not at all; I was being a very good Overlord for "Descent: Journeys in the Dark." "Descent" falls somewhere between a miniatures game and a board game. Players randomly select heroes and then delve into a dungeon that is created as they play. This game is too much fun.

One of the most exciting aspects of this game is that it has a player party versus gamemaster feel to it, but since it's a strategy-based game, the Overlord is actively trying to win. It gives the game a sense of danger that similar games don't offer, and it gives hateful gamemasters a chance to truly do their worst.

If you've played "HeroQuest", "Descent" is like that but orders of magnitude more awesome. If you haven't, think what "Diablo" would be like if it was turned into a board game. The dungeons are exciting and the player characters widely vary (20 different heroes!). You also get some customizable abilities every time, even if you use the same hero.

There are also items to purchase, so you can take different angles with your character whenever you play. The items you'll love, however, are in the treasure chests. As you progress through the dungeon you'll collect more and more powerful items until you finally hear your Overlord say, "That's just ridiculous."

The Overlord isn't at a complete loss. The Overlord gets to control all the monsters on the board as they are revealed, but that's not where his power lies. The Overlord has a deck of cards with different "bad guy" abilities on them, so he can spawn additional monsters or lay traps. The most satisfying part about being an Overlord is linking cool combos with the cards, like turning the strongest hero into a monkey when he opens a chest then enraging your giant to kill the little monkey!

One complaint about the game is its $80 price tag. This game is a lot of fun, so that really takes away some of the pain of $80. It's also a hefty game, with plastic miniatures and sturdy tokens for everything in the game. The other nice thing is that the interlocking dungeon pieces and miniatures are the same scale as your D20 games, so everything can easily be used in a roleplaying session.

Another complaint is that the game only comes with nine quests. Luckily, on Fantasy Flight Games' website, there is a quest-making tool that's pretty easy to use and creates book-quality maps. They also have a database up with player-made quests rated and downloadable.

The rulebook is written poorly as far as rulebooks go. It makes sense if you read it straight through, but there's a lot going on in this game and referencing the book is a pain. But once you are over that hurdle, there's nothing but fun ahead.

The combat is easy to do, yet offers a depth to strategy. The miniatures are cool, and immerse you as dungeons unfold before the heroes. Devious Overlord cards add a real excitement to the game. The treasure heroes can collect range from cool to hardcore. This game is worth playing, and if you have the cash — or the patience to wait for Christmas — it's worth buying. There is also an expansion due in October, and frankly, I can't wait.