Matt Carlson: Advanced Descent

In the past, I’ve read various commentaries here on BGN and over at the BGG on the boardgame Descent.  It is widely accepted to be a relatively long and involved game, but it has some popularity as a fast moving mix of role-playing and boardgaming.  In some cases, people go to great lengths to “trick out” their game by adding in 3 dimensional recreations of the game tiles and finding or creating fancy figurines to represent all the monsters.  I have kept my eye on the game without purchasing it (it is quite expensive) until I recently acquired the base game in a trade.  As I watched, I saw various expansions announced and released that add to and expand the game.  I have to ask, though, where is this game headed?  As an avid gamer (of all types) I also play boardgames, video games, computer games, and role-playing games when I can.  It seems to me that Descent is another instance of the merging of the worlds of boardgames and traditional role playing.

I know I’m not alone, living in multiple gaming worlds.  I swap Wii videogames with friends in my gaming group, and I play the RPG (role playing game) Dungeons and Dragons with a subset of my local group when we can find the extra time.  My experiences playing the new (4th Edition) version of Dungeons and Dragons over the past year has mad me realize that (for good or ill) D&D also has some attributes that are merging closer to a boardgame feel.  So, one could claim that Descent is becoming more like D&D and D&D is becoming more like Descent.  Lets look at what’s happening on the Descent front first.

Descent in its initial incarnation has some role-playing elements.  Characters have heroes that improve over the course of the game, but only slightly, through the use of additional skills or new equipment.  There is a small build-up of power of the characters as they proceed through a specific scenario.  However, when the next scenario is played out (presumably some other game night), players start out right back where they began in the previous game.  Last fall, the Road to Legend expansion was released.  This expansion provides rules for a campaign game where characters from one game can progress in power from scenario to scenario over the course of several games.  This captures one of the largest advantages of an RPG, the ability to create a character that grows more powerful over time.  A quick glance at the Descent web site and you can even find Build Your Own Hero instructions in PDF form, another big nod to the freedom of character creation in traditional RPG games.  To cap things off, later this year an expansion to Descent (Quest Compendium) is on offer containing sixteen new scenarios for the game.  A quick scan of the authors of the Compendium include names like Monte Cook (worked on the 3rd edition of the D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide), Keith Baker (creator of the popular D&D setting, Eberron), and Mike Selinker (worked on multiple titles during the 3rd and 3.5 edition era of D&D).  The pedigree of the authors speaks volumes towards the RPG leanings of the expansion.

On the other side of the coin, a new edition of Dungeons and Dragons was released last summer, 4th Edition.  This new edition went a long way towards streamlining the game to make it easier to learn and easier to play.  While I had initial reservations about the system, a year’s worth of playing has led me to the conclusion that the new version is far, far more balanced than ever before (which I had suspected) but has managed to retain a large portion of the freedom to create whatever persona a player desires (that previous editions had in spades).  In the new version, rules have been simplified whenever possible, and rather than needing to know piles of new rules for every situation, a player is given anywhere from a half-dozen up to a dozen or so different powers and abilities (depending on the level of a player’s character).  Know those abilities and a fairly short list of combat concepts and you know the game.  It is true there are little bits of information that someone (typically the DM, playing all the bad guys) should know, but the basics are very quick to pick up.  So, in many ways, D&D has become more boardgame-like with simpler rules and a faster playing time.  It is still primarily a tactical game (well, when played by a typical boardgamer or wargamer) but does have some longer-term development as players complete scenarios and advance in abilities.  However, that progression is quite slow as it is almost all done in-between games.  What has really tipped the scales towards boardgaming, however, is the recent emphasis on Dungeon Delves.  In addition to experiences as gaming conventions, this spring a book was released titled D&D Dungeon Delve.  It contains thirty different sets of 3 linked encounters (typically battles) that players can go through.  (The book matches the 30 levels of character power in the game, one Delve for each character level.) While these linked encounters can be folded into the story-like experience of a typical role-playing game, they are set up so that they can even be played as a game of DM vs the players.  The DM is trying to kill of the players’ characters (within the rules, of course) while the players are trying to survive the Delve, killing off as many of the bad-guy monsters as they can in the process.  (Hmm, where have I seen that concept before?)

So, we have a role-playing boardgame that can be played over many linked sessions and is bringing in talent from the role-playing world to beef up the overall story component, and we have a role-playing game that has taken cues from boardgaming (and, I must admit, computer gaming) to make a more streamlined, easier to learn game play experience.  There is still a gap, here.  Descent is still slightly faster playing and slightly more simplified than Dungeons and Dragons.  However, the volume of rules required for a team member in both games is still comparable.

So, how do the two game stack up when compared head to head?

In D&D we have games linked over many sessions where characters get progressively more powerful.  In Descent we have the Road to Legend rules which let characters preserve some improvements from game session to game session.

In Descent we have one player take on the role of the monsters while the other players team up to try to fight through to solve the scenario.  In D&D we have the Delve format where the goals are exactly the same.

In D&D we have very flexible (but balanced) character creation options.  In Descent we have rules for building your own hero (via the FFG web site.)

In Descent we have a scenario editor, the Quest Compendium, and a large volume of player made scenarios for download.  In D&D, there is the Dungeon Delve book of scenarios as well as a huge number of books, supplements, and fan sites for providing similar scenarios – up until recently there was even a monthly Dungeon Delve event held nation-wide at various gaming stores.

As a school teacher, I always have one question at the back of my mind:  yeah, but how much do they cost?  Well, Descent runs $90, and if you want to play linked scenarios you need the Road to Legend expansion ($50), for a total of $140 (about $100 if you get a good deal on them.) Figure $30 more if you want to also include the Quest Compendium to get more scenarios to play.  D&D requires three main books (Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual $105 total or $70 if you get a good deal on them. ¹) The Dungeon Delve book adds in another $30.  So even the costs of the two games is comparable.  (By that calculation, D&D is slightly cheaper but to play the game well you’ll need some dice, a square grid mat of some sort, and some tokens to represent good and bad guys.  I’m sure some will argue you need far more than that, but I will cite the examples of people spending large sums on tricking out their Descent games as a counter-balance…)

Bottom line, Descent is becoming like D&D and D&D is becoming more like Descent.  This means people who like one, might enjoy the other.  As this is a boardgaming site, the emphasis would likely be for Descent fans to consider the revised D&D game.  Why would you want to give it a try?  Well, if you’re a fan of Descent but really enjoy the story side of the game, D&D offers far more story and plot development possibilities.  If you always wanted more character growth and more character options in your Descent game, D&D has plenty.  If the scenarios are too limiting or repetitive, D&D was designed around the idea that one player will be developing new challenges and the new edition makes it even easier to try to make sure those challenges will be fairly balanced for the players.  If that is enough to make you curious, the publishers of D&D have released everything gamers need for a test-drive of the game.  If I can be self-serving for a moment, I’ll point you to a recent article I posted over at GamingWithChildren that goes over in detail all the files you need that can be downloaded for free to try out the new 4th edition of D&D without spending a dime.  I know it isn’t going to be for everyone (or even most people here at BGN) but for those that aren’t aware of recent changes in D&D, it may be worth a look.

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