Ravenloft, the Flying Dutchman of Board Games

[MerricB]

Given the difficulty some people have reported finishing some scenarios, you might have just been lucky or perhaps you got some rules wrong.

Things that you might get wrong:

* The group starts with a total of two healing surges. (page 10)

* You draw an Encounter card at the beginning of the Villain phase if (a) you revealed a tile with a black arrow or (b) you didn't reveal a tile this turn. (page 7)

* You can only gain one Treasure card per turn (I keep forgetting this one). (page 13)

* XP goes to a group pile. You can spend 5 to level up only when you (a) roll a natural 20 or (b) draw a "level up" treasure card. You can also spend 5 XP to cancel an Encounter card. (page 14)

* You place the new tile and monster after your hero phase, so the monster always gets to attack first.

* When you level up, you do not heal - you just get another HP or two.

* If you draw a monster card you already control, discard it and draw a new one.

* If two of the same monster cards are out, both monsters activate during the villain phases of the players who control them!

Cheers!

 

[Kildran]

Yah we played with all of those rules and still found it easy. The good thing about the game is that you can easily alter the rules to make it harder.

 

[MrMyth]

I played through 2 scenarios with friends last night, and definitely enjoyed it. We tried the intro scenario first (Hunt for the Icon of Ravenloft), and were victorious without any surges spent.

Then we played through the hunt for the Dracolich, and ended up dead. Which was actually rather awesome - we had him down to 4 hp, but some bad planning had left us fending off enemies on several fronts, running through trapped rooms to get to his phylactery, and had all the characters barely standing when we finally had two of us go down without any surges left. So it was good to see the game can actually be challenging, and that you do need to stay on your toes and play smart.

 

[jimmifett]

I played the treasure hunt scenario earlier today with my 5yo, wife, and younger brother. We fudged a few rules since we were still getting used to the game. I LOVE the game. Just be sure to thoroughly shuffle the monster cards. After pulling 3 flaming skeletons, we were hurting badly and barely managed to escape Ravenloft. I'm not sure which is a worse threat, the monsters or the enoucnters. The sunset mechanic was also clever and fun.

It's fun, tough, and can't wait to take it to board game night at my flgs (if they don't already have a demo copy out). Best $45 i've spent in a while that did not include a bacon wrapped steak.

Question tho, what do I do with the Monster tokens? It doesn't say anywhere what they are used for.

 

[MerricB]

Question tho, what do I do with the Monster tokens? It doesn't say anywhere what they are used for.

They get used in later scenarios: against the Howling Hag for instance. They randomize the number of monsters appearing on a tile.

Cheers,
Merric

 

[Wycen]

Played it for the first time last night. First we did the intro session to find the icon and then we did the escape from the zombie dragon. We didn't get the idea it was easy at all, though one of our first encounters forced us to move away from other players in order to avoid taking a point of damage each turn. We won the first session using one healing surge I think.

The second session may be a bit "iffy" if we won because some of us, like 3 out of 5, and maybe a 4th, interpretted the rules so that the dead mage moved into the escape staircase during his hero phase, thanks to the encounter card. Then the rest of the party escaped alive, (after two others had to use the healing surges) and brought my body back to town for resurrection. Perhaps a specific rule covers the situation but the game was too new for even the owner who'd previously played a 2 player game to know and for the 3 or 4 of us the shenanigans of rules lawyering was a moral victory at the least.

 

[MerricB]

The second session may be a bit "iffy" if we won because some of us, like 3 out of 5, and maybe a 4th, interpretted the rules so that the dead mage moved into the escape staircase during his hero phase, thanks to the encounter card. Then the rest of the party escaped alive, (after two others had to use the healing surges) and brought my body back to town for resurrection. Perhaps a specific rule covers the situation but the game was too new for even the owner who'd previously played a 2 player game to know and for the 3 or 4 of us the shenanigans of rules lawyering was a moral victory at the least.

Hmm. You don't draw Encounter cards during the Hero phase.

1) Hero phase begins. If you are on 0 HP, spend a healing surge and stand up (or everyone loses the game).

2) Exploration phase begins. Reveal a tile and place a new monster if adjacent.

3) Villain phase. If you drew a "black arrow" tile or didn't draw a tile, then draw an Encounter Card. Then activate the villain. Then activate the monsters you control.

You can escape from "Blood and Fog" only at the end of your Hero phase - there's no way you can escape if you're dying.

Cheers!

 

[Wycen]

The card I drew was not drawn during the hero phase. I don't remember the specifics but it was quite clear that when dead I could choose which ever tile I wanted to move to during my next hero phase and by that time the escape tile was on the board so I escaped. Dead, but that did not matter

 

[MerricB]

The card I drew was not drawn during the hero phase. I don't remember the specifics but it was quite clear that when dead I could choose which ever tile I wanted to move to during my next hero phase and by that time the escape tile was on the board so I escaped. Dead, but that did not matter

The problem is that you weren't "dead". You were on 0 hit points. At the start of your turn you then MUST spend a healing surge (and recover the hit points). Not during your turn, at the start of your turn. If you couldn't spend the surge, everyone lost the game.

It's not an option. You have to spend the surge.

Cheers!

 

[Felon]

Well, it finally shipped a few hours ago. I like what I'm hearing hearing hear. Of course, I did check boardgamegeek, but only found one substantial review.