Why are board games being sold as D&D?

[Echohawk]

I'm getting a major negative vibe towards my questions.

But... but... in your original post, you wrote "I'm playing a bit of devil's advocate here". Devil's advocate means "a person who expresses a contentious opinion in order to provoke debate or test the strength of the opposing arguments" (according to my MacBook's dictionary), so it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise that your post provoked a slightly hostile response!

I'm a D&D Collector, so I bought the Castle Ravenloft game, but I'm afraid that I struggled to get into it, and it has mostly sat on the shelf. That's probably because most of my gaming friends are horribly addicted to the Battlestar Galactica board game, so if we are playing board games, that's usually the first choice, and if we are spending time on D&D, then we'll play a proper game of D&D. When Wrath of Ashardalon arrives though, I'll take another look at both games and give them another try.

In my view, Castle Ravenloft isn't really something you'd want to buy as an accessory for playing normal D&D, except perhaps if you're sure you can put the minis and tiles to good use. However, if you are someone who likes boardgames with some D&D flavor, it might be something you enjoy.

 

[WizarDru]

I'm getting a major negative vibe towards my questions.

Okay, I'm not sure if your intentional being disingenuous or if you honestly don't realize that your original questions were not framed in that context. You specifically questioned whether D&D as a brand 'was healthy enough', that you were playing 'devil'ls advocate' and that you 'honestly just didn't get it' and asked if WotC was just 'taking money' from D&D players. Even this reply uses phrases like 'suckered in', implying you think WotC is trying to trick you out of yoru money, somehow. Your tone, including this reply, comes across as argumentative instead of inquisitive. Given that no one in the thread to this point seems to have sussed the meaning that you seem to think was obvious, I think you need to consider that maybe your questions might not have been clear enough.

I have a lot of board game geek friends that don't role-play: should the “D&D” on the box mean anything to them? Are there characters in the box they can bring to a weekly 4E or Encounters session?

I don't think we can make this any clearer. IT IS A STAND-ALONE BOARD GAME. It is NOT D&D, other than featuring concepts from the D&D brand, like dragons named Ashardalon and adventuring parties. It is no more a D&D product than Three-Dragon Ante, one of the D&D card games, is. It is RELATED to D&D, but it is not D&D. It is meant for people who want to play a 1-1.5 hour game, not unlike Descent.

Do they come with a little sheet that says something like “if you like this, try these products for the full experience”?

As I said before: "All of WotC's materials have featured cross-promotional materials." The minis in the games are unpainted DDM minis, so yes, you could use them for your D&D game...but they're not intended as such, that's an added benefit. They are components for a board game. I could do the same with components from several other games. Your assumption seems to be that WotC is trying to trick you into buying an expensive product simply by labeling it with the D&D brand. I don't believe that's their intention, any more than it was to label Gamma World as "D&D: Gamma World". It's leveraging an existing brand to increase brand awareness and possibly result in cross-title sales.

I think you're best off not getting it, as it seems to a product you don't want and don't need. It's not a good value for your money, given what you're looking for it to be (and what is not).

 

[TirionAnthion]

D&D Boardgames

I have purchased both recent boardgames. I have enjoyed both products. The game can be played in under an hour and plays very smoothly. It is easy to teach to new players and is not overly complicated.

I have used the components, mainly the minis, in my D&D games. They are the same scale as the D&D minis. Most of them are sculpts of D&D minis.

Overall they are a good addition to the D&D brand. Fun and accessible boardgames that can be played quickly. You can even mix the components of the two games. The Ravenloft game has largely undead and the Ashardalon game features more humanoid monsters.

Supposedly a third game in the series is coming this fall, The Legend of Drizzt. Also a game called the War for Nerath is scheduled for the summer. This is supposed to be a war/conquest game like axis and allies featuring a map of Nerath beyond the Nentir Vale.

 

[Canor Morum]

With the exception of one or two player character minis all of them are unpainted D&D minis sculpts. For a price comparison, just look at the Dracolich. The painted version for that one mini alone on the singles market will cost you as much as Castle Ravenloft itself. The Huge Red Dragon in Wrath of Ashardalon costs even more than the Dracolich. That's just one mini that's included with each game.

The tiles could also be used in a regular game of D&D as a randomized dungeon that can be used over and over again. With some modification to stats even the encounter cards and traps are reusable.

But really you should buy it if you just want a board game that feels like a D&D dungeon crawl minus the DM work. It's good when you don't have time for a full game.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

My group plays it when we don't have enough players for our D&D campaign - it plays well with as few as 3 people, which is the cut-off point for attendance to run a D&D game (we like to have at least 3 of our 4 players there, plus the DM).

It's a board game, but it has a very strong D&D "feel" - the rules work very similarly, and the characters feel like D&D characters, although very simplified ones.

We really like it - its a lot of fun. Personally, one of my favourite elements is that it is entirely cooperative - the players succeed or fail as a group, and the dungeon basically "plays itself" through rules baked into the various monster and encounter cards.

However, as stated, it is a board game, not a role playing game. There is no DM. There is no in character interaction. There are no attributes, skills, feats or non-AC defenses. Character creation is limited to chosing one of 6 classes and then selecting your powers from a very narrow list. Character progression is extremely limited, and doesn't carry over between adventures/missions. There are limited magic items, they are generally very bland, and don't carry over between adventures.

Some elements might be useful for your D&D game - the minis are exactly the same as the official ones, except they are unpainted. The tiles are okay for a random dungeon, though you may well find that the spaces they create are too small for most encounters. The encounter cards might be adaptable as well, if you want to randomly inflict bad things on your players. Some of the counters might also be useful.

That said, it is a board game, and if you aren't interested in such, it likely isn't a good buy for you. Not every product is for everyone. However, some D&D players do like board games, and some board gamers might want to try a game with "D&D" on it - and those are the people this product is aimed at.

 

[MerricB]

That's probably because most of my gaming friends are horribly addicted to the Battlestar Galactica board game, so if we are playing board games, that's usually the first choice

It helps that the BSG boardgame is unbelievably good.

Cheers!

 

[nightwyrm]

It helps that the BSG boardgame is unbelievably good.

Cheers!

First thing anybody does is to accuse everybody else of being a cylon.

 

[TirionAnthion]

First thing anybody does is to accuse everybody else of being a cylon.

That is just the kind of thing a toaster would say.

 

[DracoSuave]

That is just the kind of thing a toaster would say.

That's because if they didn't, they'd stand out, because the first thing anybody does is accuse everybody else of being a Cylon.

The second thing is deal with those frakkin' raiders cause you don't wanna be the guy who sabotaged the game that early.

 

[DJINNIMAN]

About a year and a half ago I got into board games pretty seriously. Probably bought 30 or 40 since then, and last summer one was Castle Ravenloft. I was a sucker for it because I played D&D quite a bit as a kid/teen/college age and Ravenloft was a favorite setting. My board game group loved it, as did I. The minis are incredible, the co-op feel is strong, and did I mention the minis are incredible?

Six months later, I've purchased half the Essentials products for myself, a group of new players who are eager to play D&D once a week if not more often, and I couldn't be more excited to be DMing again. If Wizards' goal was to get lapsed players back into D&D, they succeeded in my case, and I suspect others.