|
2 years ago ::
Nov 25, 2010 - 6:39PM
#21
|
Date Joined:
Nov 15, 2010
|
I am new, and I played it Friday night. It was very nice.
I played D&D back in the early 80's and I am back!
Played again last night, and we (2 people) beat level 2. Very nice game
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Dec 31, 2010 - 5:53PM
#22
|
Date Joined:
May 30, 2010
|
One of my kids got this for Christmas and we have played scenario 2 a couple times with the whole family. My wife had not played D&D before and was able to jump right in. It has a lot of the flavour of 4e, but is pruned down to something less intimidating to the beginner - in a session you will have 4-5 power cards, there is only one defense (AC), and two conditions (slowed and immobilized), and the monster cards tell you exactly what they do on their turn. Best of all, if my kids want to play and I don't have a 4e adventure prepared or don't care to DM that night, we can break this out.
As for the 42 minis, I prefer to paint them myself anyway, and they could be used in 4e play. The interlocking dungeon tiles would also be useful for minotaur labyrinths or any other time you need a random dungeon generator in 4e. Most of the other game materials are not that useful beyond the CR game.
On the whole, I am pleased with the game and give it the thumbs up.
Method Actor 83%; Story Teller 75%; Specialist 67%
Tactician 67%; Power Gamer 33%; Casual Gamer 17%; Butt Kicker 8%
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jan 01, 2011 - 7:14AM
#23
|
Date Joined:
Jan 20, 2004
|
Castle Ravenloft is a great game!
Played it with my wife 2 nights ago and had a great time.
( She has never played D & D before . . . )
In the next few days I will have a game with my 2 daughters.
Can't wait ! ! !
I will be picking up Wrath of Ashardalion in Feb. as well.
( Hope I spelled that right? )
Good work WotC ! ! !
Great way to get people into D & D.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jan 03, 2011 - 7:55AM
#24
|
Date Joined:
May 11, 2010
|
It's good, but not as good as Warhammer Quest. But that game is uber-pricey and out of print. (It has a killer RPG book that no other boardgame will ever top)
I think it is definitely better than Hero Quest though.
Even though Descent is much deeper, it takes 4-5x as long to play and is 10x more complex so it is really hard to teach new players and get people interested in investing the time. (You could play a real RPG in that amount of time).
So I think the game fits a really nice niche. I hope they make a Underdark version in the future.
Ashardalon will add some type of campaign rules (probably just keeping an item between adventures or something).
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jan 03, 2011 - 8:28AM
#25
|
Date Joined:
Sep 26, 2009
|
I agree that Castle Ravenloft is a great intro to D&D. I love the D&D RPG, but even I get a bit daunted and frustrated with how complicated it is at times. That is why I have been playing much more DDM or D&D Minis Battles (using modified DDM Guild rules) than I have of the RPG.
I find Castle Ravenloft to be a nice balance between the overly complex RPG and the overly simple DDM games. It is much easier to learn and get into than even the D&D Encounters modules.
My wife, who is good at video games and who plays DDM with me, does not like the RPG. She says it's too slow and that there is way too much arguing and not enough action. Castle Ravenloft fits the bill well for her too. It gives her one character to role play (as in the RPG) but the rules are as easy to learn as the ones for DDM.
The game is so accessible that even my sister and brother-in-law (neither of whom have ever played D&D and know nothing about any form of it) were willing to play Castle Ravenloft with my wife and I recently. We were over at my grandma's house for New Years Eve and we played the game while waiting for midnight. We got so into it that when one of our characters died, we "ressurected" him and kept on going. We didn't reach the senario goal by the time they had to go home and get a bit of sleep (none of us are able to stay up all night anymore it seems). Then they came back to Grandma's the next day and finished the game.
My sister and brother-in-law enjoyed it so much that she invited my wife and I over to their place to play it again sometime. This from a person who thinks that the things on Facebook are "games" and who hardly ever plays board games with anyone anymore.
I've also discovered some discussions about this game at boardgamegeek.com where people have posted templates so that you can make your own hero cards and power cards. They also have posted some additional quests and rules modifications.
I wish I had known about the quest writing contest on Wizard's Website before now (learned about it through boardgamegeek). I would have entered if would have had the time.
I've made a couple of my own heroes and they play fairly well with the game. I've always loved the hero building aspect of D&D. With Castle Ravenloft, it's just as fun but much easier even than using the Character Builder program!
This is a great game! I hope that lots of fans of the game make and post new scenarios. Although since the game's board is modular and layed down mostly at random and the monsters are drawn at random; you never really play the same game twice in a row even if you pick the same scenario from the book. That's the best part of the game! Unlike so many board games, it has a lot of replay value right out of the box.
|
|
|
