Wrath of Ashardalon Review

[Peraion Graufalke]

my experience was that while Raven loft was threatening, it was winnable (but not always) and very enjoyable, even to new players. Ashadalon is mostly about being poisoned and dazed all the time while fighting monsters that summon more monsters and dying horribly, which was not what i wanted for the new players i introduced it too (same results with mildly more experienced players too).

Has anyone else felt this while playing?

You missed being cursed in addition to being dazed and poisoned. But that's why you have Quinn and Keyleth in WoA.

To my group it feels less threatening than CR, and we're always playing with the "Ashardalon Arrives!" card regardless of which scenario we're in. We haven't lost a single game, although there was one where we retreated from the dungeon early on because we kept drawing traps that made exploration very difficult. We've also either beaten Ashardalon or escaped from him while completing our mission every single time he appeared. Maybe we're just lucky.

IME it's even easier if you're playing a campaign in WoA - after you've completed the first two or three missions, that is.

 

[jcrog]

I kinda feel the better treasure in WoA makes it a bit easier. That said poison can really ruin your day...

 

[fba827]

i keep hearing people talk about how hard this game is.
I've played it all of 5 times now (one of which was solo, the others were with some friends). and each time i won. i don't think i'm doing anything wrong from the rulebook, so i'll chalk it up to dumb luck.
I finished the solo game with 3 hp (and no surges) left. But the group games, i noticed we were closer to not winning the more people we had (i.e. when it was just 2-3 players, we seemed to get through without too much issue; but when it was 4-5 players we were running around desperate for every last item and power we could muster)

anyway, i'm still having fun with it, so that's all that matters to me.

(i will admit i'm not a fan of the premade heroes, but that's another story that can be rectified after a little homebrew work).

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

I kinda feel the better treasure in WoA makes it a bit easier. That said poison can really ruin your day...

Yeah, WoA has more magic items that allow a second attack on your hero's turn. Poison is nasty when the dice are cold.

Also, I have the impression that the encounter cards in CR are nastier, as is appropriate for its genre. The monsters seem a bit stronger to me, too; there's more area damage (Blazing Skeleton, Gargoyle, and the Wraith when it's laid to rest) compared to WoA (Gibbering Mouther is the only one, I think), and there are more monsters that deal damage on a miss, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Larrin]

Interesting. Its good to hear from others. Since i can put a finger on what made Wrath more deadly in my (limited) games I can believe there may have been bad luck + poison. Poison needs to go away IMHO, or at least if it did, i wouldn't miss it.

 

[hewligan]

I play this game with my 6 year old. We have tweaked the rules a little to make it fit better with his age.

We do less encounters (only on a black triangle tile when first stepping onto it) and less treasure (we pre-agree a few places for treasure cards to be found).

Half the time I set up the dungeon with monster cards laid (face down), and with a large room at the end with our goal, but several intermediate goals (e.g. you have to find one room to the right to get a key to open the main room where the cultists and their leader have their church). He seems to prefer this approach as he can see how near to the end he is.

The other approach is simply to follow the adventures in the booklet. They are okay, and the unknown element of exploring can be fun.

For £50 (in the UK) this is a brilliant game. He loves it. I love it. We get to play together, and without any help on my part he normally does much better than me.

 

[Jhaelen]

my experience was that while Raven loft was threatening, it was winnable (but not always) and very enjoyable, even to new players. Ashadalon is mostly about being poisoned and dazed all the time while fighting monsters that summon more monsters and dying horribly, which was not what i wanted for the new players i introduced it too (same results with mildly more experienced players too).

Has anyone else felt this while playing?

Not at all. I found Ravenloft way more challenging. Encounters and Boss monsters are harder and the magic items are weak. Also the Ashardalon heroes have some very strong powers (e.g. blade barrier, flaming sphere) that can turn scenarios into a cakewalk.