Ravenloft delayed to August 31

[DonAdam]

Amazon pushed back, changed date on the WOTC website, and confirmed from FLGS. Three points make a plane. Or a demi-plane.

That's right, you've been denied the game and you only get my bad pun as comfort.

But I did play it at Gencon and had a good time.

 

[dvorak]

On a bright note

In the meantime you can download the rules Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Product (Castle Ravenloft)

and watch Mike Mearls unbox the game.

 

[JustKim]

Thanks for the link!

From the unboxing, it doesn't look like there are really very many tile pieces at all, there are just 4 sheets shared by counters. And I read in the instructions that you can advance to 2nd level only. This is a bit limited for such a high end game. I might just wait and see if there's an expansion planned.

 

[malraux]

Thanks for the link!

From the unboxing, it doesn't look like there are really very many tile pieces at all, there are just 4 sheets shared by counters.

There are ~41 4x4 tile pieces.

And I read in the instructions that you can advance to 2nd level only. This is a bit limited for such a high end game. I might just wait and see if there's an expansion planned.

with a playtime of ~1 hour, leveling more than once would require leveling every 20 minutes. That's a pretty steep leveling curve.

 

[JustKim]

with a playtime of ~1 hour, leveling more than once would require leveling every 20 minutes. That's a pretty steep leveling curve.

According to the instructions, leveling is as easy as rolling a 20, among other things. I expect that there will be opportunity to advance beyond 2nd level, but we'll be limited by the rules. A play time of 1 hour is also pretty short for this kind of game, but I wonder if that isn't underestimated to attract people.

41 tiles does sound pretty good. There really didn't seem to be that many in the video.

 

[Peter Lee]

From the unboxing, it doesn't look like there are really very many tile pieces at all, there are just 4 sheets shared by counters.

There are 13 sheets in all; for shipping stability, sheets 5-13 are stored below the black tray.

 

[JustKim]

There are 13 sheets in all; for shipping stability, sheets 5-13 are stored below the black tray.

Ohh, I see. Thank you for clarifying!

 

[malraux]

According to the instructions, leveling is as easy as rolling a 20, among other things. I expect that there will be opportunity to advance beyond 2nd level, but we'll be limited by the rules. A play time of 1 hour is also pretty short for this kind of game, but I wonder if that isn't underestimated to attract people.

The gencon numbers I've heard are <1.5 hours including learning the rules and punching out all the tiles.

 

[DaveMage]

For those that played - is it the kind of game you'd like to play again and again or is it the type that once you've played it, the mystery is gone?

 

[MrMyth]

Thanks for the link!

From the unboxing, it doesn't look like there are really very many tile pieces at all, there are just 4 sheets shared by counters. And I read in the instructions that you can advance to 2nd level only. This is a bit limited for such a high end game. I might just wait and see if there's an expansion planned.

Well, keep in mind that if you have too much levelling possible, that makes it a lot harder to balance the difficulty of the game. A group that levels fast overwhelms things; if you adjust enemies to compensate, a group with a few bad rolls will get wiped out. Plus, more to keep track of, as you need extra character cards, etc.

Having one bonus level seems a good approach - it retains the thrill of going up in level, without them needing to overhaul the entire game to adapt to it.