Review: Dungeons and Dragons Adventure Board Games

Wizards of the Coast has released three different board games (well, really one game with three different settings) that are essentially D&D Lite - Castle Ravenloft, Legend of Drizzt, and Wrath of Ashardalon.  These games have the same feel as Descent: Journeys in the Dark, but instead of one player versus the rest, these games are entirely cooperative.  They split up control of the monsters/adventure between players so everyone is involved and the adventure is even more of a team event.

The game starts with players selecting an adventure to go on with its own setup, goals, and villains.  Then they each select one of the five heroes to play.  Each hero has a whole slew of abilities that they must trim down to their starting set.  With the board and heroes all set up, any player can start the game (usually the fighter-type character should start).  On every turn, players can either move and attack, attack and move, or move twice.  If the players end their turn on an unexplored edge of a tile, they reveal another tile and a new monster (they might also have an encounter).  If they did not explore, then they draw an encounter card (which are usually pretty rough for the players).  That player then activates the monsters they control (such as they one they might have revealed on their turn) and play continues clockwise until the players achieve their victory condition or one character has no health left and there are no health surges (extra lives) left.

One of the first complaints most D&D players have with this game is that the monsters almost always get an attack off on the players before they can do anything.  However, if players got to attack first, this game would be way too easy.  As it is, they are perfectly challenging games.  I have yet to play a game where a player has not had 0 health and had to use a health surge.  There is a good balance between randomness and protection from losing/winning streaks on rolls.

My only problem with the game is that since everyone is working together, it's very easy to interpret rule ambiguities in the players favor, which sometimes felt like cheating to me.  For example, monsters generally move from one tile to another, but on each tile are 16 squares that they can be placed on.  I couldn't find any rule that says which square they should go on and having them adjacent to heroes will change what attack they do on subsequent turns, so deciding which square a monster should go on is up to the players and can drastically alter the difficulty of the game.  (My friends and I have made a house ruling that monsters will go on the monster spawn points on each tile when they enter a tile from moving so it's always a set location.)

All in all, if you don't have time or a DM for a proper D&D romp, these are a nice alternative with quests taking a couple hours each and an option to play a campaign of multiple quests.

Zugg's Journal: Day 5

Zugg is my Dungeons & Dragons character.  He is a Chaotic Neutral, Half-Orc Druid with a animal companion wolf, Snarl.

Day 5

In the morning, as we were eating breakfast, the elf came in.  Good to see she made it out alive.  We start discussing our next move and decide to go back in and see if we can find out where that dark mist came from.  The elf leads us back to the secret door she exited the tunnels from and we start backtracking to the prison cells.  We pass a few junctions when we start hearing moaning coming from all around us.  The halls are only big enough for us to stand in pairs, so Foldout and Tanner guard one side while Seebow and my wolf, Snarl, guard the other.

Pale men come shambling towards us from both sides and trap us between two intersections.  I start summoning more wolves to try to keep our escape route clear, while Tanner and Foldout keep them from pushing us from their side.  They seem to be holding off the zombies, but Snarl gets grabbed by one and pulled into the mess of them.  My other wolves and Seebow try to clear out the other zombies so Snarl is safe.  Suddenly, the dark mist comes back from Tanner and Foldout's end of the battle.  It seeps past the zombies without touching them and reaches Tanner and Foldout.  It seems to try to grab them, but they keep managing to escape.  Seebow turns the remaining undead so that we have a way to get out.  Snarl loses consciousness as the mist grabs the elf who ran in from of Tanner and Foldout for some reason.  It also manages to grab Tanner as he tries to rescue the elf.

I quickly say a chant to heal some of the wounds on Snarl, just enough for him to regain consciousness.  As Foldout tries to rescue both Tanner and the elf, Seebow, Snarl, and I run back to the entrance.  A few moments after we're back in the sunlight, the rest of the group come running out.  It looks like Foldout managed to save them all.

While resting for a few hours, we discuss what just happened.  Both times the dark mist has come after us, it has snuffed out any torch it has come across, but it doesn't seem to follow us into the daylight.  We make a plan for a third trip into the tunnels; two of us will go in tied to ropes the others outside are holding.  When the mist goes to grab the two, they will try to produce magical light to see if it affects the mist.  If not, the rest of us can pull them out.  I have my misgivings, but I see no better plan of action.

To be continued...

Zugg's Journal: Day 4

Zugg is my Dungeons & Dragons character.  He is a Chaotic Neutral, Half-Orc Druid with a animal companion wolf, Snarl.

Day 4

I'm not sure how much time passed exactly while I was trying to figure out a way out of my cell, but after awhile, I hear a bunch of people walk in.  I look over and see Foldout and everyone else being escorted into a separate cell.  At least the band is back together, I guess.  One of the humans that was at the dinner - I think his name was Tanner? - was with them as well.  Foldout must have said something wrong because he's being escorted out of the prison somewhere else.  Tanner keeps messing with the door, I guess trying to figure some way out.  The guards come in with some gruel.  I tell them to bring some meat for my wolf, but they ignore me.  So, I sit there calmly eating gruel waiting for a chance to escape.  Suddenly there's a ruckus over in the other cell.  I look over and can't see the gnome anywhere.  It seems he must have escaped somehow.  The guards unlock the door and as they open it, Tanner picks the whole thing up and pushes the guard who opened it into the cell with it and now Tanner is outside.  I guess now is a good time to strike, so I start summoning dogs around the other guards in the hall.  I'm still trapped, so I try to do it subtly so no one notices.  My dogs' bites seem to only annoy the guard; this could be trouble.

Right when I'm starting to fear that this isn't turning out well, a strange black mist starts pouring out one of the doors.  When it reaches one of the guards, he seems to get pulled backwards into the mist by something. Everyone seems to notice this and the guards start running.  Tanner helps me open my door and we all start running the other way.  We start to follow the running guards when Snarl starts going down another path.  I trust him way more than any of the humans, so I start following him.  Seebow and Tanner follow me, but the elf is nowhere to be found.  I guess she kept following the guards.  After a couple more twists and turns in this strange labyrinth, we see a couple more guards cross our path.  We try to ask them if they know what's going on - while still running, of course - but they just keep screaming and running.  That is not a good sign.  We stupidly follow them to a dead end, but fortunately, the black mist wasn't that fast, so we double back and see light coming from a nearby stairwell.  We run up there as fast as we can, but based on the screams, it sounds like most of our guard friends didn't quite make it.  One is still with us and as we run outside.

Once outside we stand on either side of the door and peer back inside.  It seems the mist isn't following us anymore, but we hear some groaning coming closer, so something is following us.  The guard with us tells us there's an armory nearby, so we rush into there to re-equip ourselves.  We come back out and form a line just in time to see six men come out of the doorway.  They look very pale and seem to be shambling.  They come straight for us, so we have no choice but to attack.  I've used all the chants I can remember, so I just send Snarl in to attack.  The first man he reaches, he bites its leg clean off and it falls to the ground.  Tanner and Seebow charge forward to fight the rest.  The guard with us is whimpering uselessly next to me, not that I'm much better.  With no chants, I use my sling to try to hit these men from a distance, but instead I hit Tanner in the back of the head.  Eh, I'm sure he deserved that for something.  Eventually, despite my help, we manage to finish off the men.

We head back to town to regroup and figure out our next plan.  Tanner tries to explain to the city guard what was going on, but they seem to ignore him.  He suspects something bigger going on, so we head back to the stable (apparently owned by Tanner) to talk in safety.  Foldout finds us there and while he's explaining what was happening to him - something about being told to go to some mountain somewhere for something or other - Tanner says he knows some trustworthy people in the city guard we can get to help.  I guess he said something wrong because Foldout hits him square in the face with his shield and knocks him out.  He says he was warned not to trust anyone from the city guard and starts tying Tanner up.  Seebow and I explain how he fought next to us against those pale, shambling men.  Foldout unties Tanner, but leaves him knocked out in the stable, while he and Seebow go get rooms for the night.  I find an empty spot in the stable and go to sleep for the night.

Zugg's Journal: Day 2 (Continued) and 3

Zugg is my Dungeons & Dragons character.  He is a Chaotic Neutral, Half-Orc Druid with a animal companion wolf, Snarl.

Day 2 (Continued)

After licking our wounds, it was time to head to this dinner.  Upon entry, all my other companions were disarmed, but seeing as I just carry around a large stick and a piece of cloth for weaponry, they left me alone.  We get into the hall and sit down at a large table.  There are way too many humans here for my comfort.  But I guess that means they can't pull any treachery unless they're going to kill everyone or everyone here is involved.   I pushed my food around to appear like I was eating, but I don't trust these humans enough to actually eat.  Once I finally get back to the woods, I'll hunt down some nice, juicy rabbits.  Finally, after what felt like forever, the dinner was completed and we were "invited" into a back room with the Mayor, his adviser, and various other humans.

Once there, Snarl kept looking over at the adviser uneasily.  Fortunately, I had memorized the chant that allows me to speak with Snarl earlier.  So I talked with Snarl to find out what was wrong.  He said the adviser was very powerful and that something wasn't quite right about him.  So I decided to go have a chat with the adviser to see if I could figure this out.  At first glance, it did seem very strange that he was wearing such a heavy jacket inside a building on such a nice evening.  I asked him where he was from, to which he replied south of the druids.  That's definitely very strange that any outside would know where our enclave is, but maybe one of our younger druids wasn't careful and got spotted near the enclave.  It's also very strange because the only thing south of us is a large desert.  I've also been hearing rumors from other druids that something powerful is in the desert that we need to watch out for.  I'm beginning to suspect he may know something about this, but based on what Snarl said, I don't think I can just directly confront him about it.  I excuse myself and go to a corner to see if I can tell if this guy is magic, but after chanting to detect magic, I couldn't sense anything.  Looking at Snarl, he suddenly seemed very relaxed, so I guess whatever was bugging him has resolved itself.

The rest of the evening is fairly uneventful, so we all head back to the inn and discuss our plans for the next day.  That cave we visited earlier isn't sitting right with me, those creatures didn't seem like they would be there naturally and I know I can't explore it by myself, so we decide we'll head there tomorrow.

Day 3

The next day, after breakfast, we head out towards the cave.  On the way, Snarl suddenly runs off after something.  I've learned to trust his instincts, so I leave the group to follow after him.  He seems to be digging at a particular spot on the ground, so after careful inspection, I discover a trap door hidden here.  Snarl seems very eager to head down it, so I follow him in.  He seems to know where to go except for a few times when he stopped.  The first time it happened, I kept walking and suddenly a bell up above us started ringing.  The second time, I kept walking and took an arrow to the knee....I guess I really should pay more attention to when Snarl stops like that...unfortunately, I didn't have any time to redeem myself as a group of well armored humans suddenly approached us and shortly after more men came up behind us.

Suddenly, I recalled something that old man said about there being some sort of rebellion under the town that we're supposed to be helping.  I mentally retraced our steps and I think we may be under the town now, so these must be the rebels!  I tell them that if they are who I think they are, I'm on their side.  Snarl seems to be shaking his head, but it's too late.  I'm immediately escorted into a nearby prison cell.  I guess these weren't the rebels I was looking for...

Zugg's Journal: Day 1 and 2

Zugg is my Dungeons & Dragons character.  He is a Chaotic Neutral, Half-Orc Druid with a animal companion wolf, Snarl.

Day 1

I was tasked by the other druids to pick up the provisions we needed from town.  I hate getting stuck with this job.  Villages are just so unnatural...not to mention filled with lousy humans.  I got sidetracked in the forest awhile, so I didn't make it into town until evening.  By then, the general store was closed.  I checked the inn to see if he could help.  Inside was an obnoxious human who kept spouting, "I'm a noble!"  Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice me as I walked in and talked the innkeeper into letting me buy some provisions from the back.  Unfortunately, he spotted me on the way back.  I agreed to share a drink with him to see if that would shut him up.  It didn't.  His name is Foldout Couch (pronounced Fulldoot Cooch).  He turns to talk to a very tiny man sitting next to him (I have never seen such a small man before!) named Seebow Stumbleduck.  I take this distraction as a chance to escape.  I manage to get outside the inn and am trying to leave the town when five tough looking men block my way.  They all were fairly well armed and I didn't see a way passed them, so I reluctantly headed back into the inn.  As I walk back in, a female elf beckons me over to a corner table.  Thankfully, Foldout is not with her, so I join her.  She seems to have gotten Seebow to join at the table as well.

At this point, the bar goes completely silent (except for that idiot, Foldout) as some men enter.  Foldout spots them and immediately beckons them over to tell them that he's a noble (at least he's consistent).  It's pretty obvious to see that these men are getting upset and are not people to trifle with, so the elf and I try to coax Foldout over to our table and away from these men.  I really didn't want to get involved in a bar fight, especially with these guys.  I was getting enough odd looks from people who noticed I'm a Half-Orc who can actually speak intelligently...On their way out, the leader of the group of men comes over and invites us to dinner at the mayor's place tomorrow.  It's fairly obvious this is an offer we can't refuse.  It's getting late, so I ask the innkeeper if I can spend the night in the stable.  I'm far more comfortable in there with the animals than in a room.  There's a pony stuck in here with the other horses with a missing shoe.  It probably belongs to that numbskull, Foldout...

Day 2

As soon as I wake up, I leave town.  I know my way around the forest much better than anyone else, so they'd never be able to stop me once I'm there.  Once I'm in the forest, I notice that I'm being followed.  I start walking in circles to see if I can lose the tail when I trip on a root, stumble through a bush, and flop down in front of the elf from last night.  I'm not the most graceful creature, even in my natural habitat.  Foldout and Seebow meet us as well, so I tell them about my follower.  We formulate a plan to catch him by having the elf hide in the bushes while the rest of us keep walking on.  The plan works perfectly and with the elf holding him with a knife to his throat, we find out he's been tasked with keeping track of us to ensure we go to that dinner tonight.  Guess I just can't escape...he says he'll be killed if we don't go and he loses us, so Seebow and Foldout promise him we'll all attend.  I'm still trying to find a way out of this mess...

The elf tells us we have to visit a farm nearby, but doesn't explain why.  Since I don't feel like having the three of them hunting me down, I join them.  The elf keeps giving Foldout the cold shoulder and ignoring his questions, so he leaves us to go rest under a tree.  I'm beginning to like this elf.  We go inside this building and talk to some old man.  I don't really pay attention because I'm still trying to come up with a way to escape.  Something about the town being taken over by a Thieves' Guild...king killed...blah blah blah human problems.  After what feels like ages, we finally leave.  With plenty of time to kill, the elf and I try to find the guy that was following us before.  We head back to where we left him and I start tracking him.  Suddenly, a bunch of giant spiders come out of the bushes and attack us.  They are probably just looking for something to eat, but I can't let that be me, so I sadly end up killing them, but not before one takes a chunk of my flesh...Feeling a little woozy, I head back into town to try to heal my wounds.  I run into Seebow who apparently is some sort of Cleric.  He prays for my wounds and that instantly heal.  I guess he's not so bad.

There's still plenty of time until that dinner, so we all go back to the forest to find that guy who was following us earlier.  We find a trail of blood where we left him and follow it to a cave.  Inside the cave, Snarl's ears start to perk up and he looks around.  I try to follow his gaze, but I don't see anything, so we keep going.  Out of the darkness, a spear whizzes past us as we suddenly we realize we are surrounded by kobolds.  A harrowing battle ensues with six kobolds, three in front and three behind.  I do my best to help, but without Snarl's aid, I would be completely useless.  Eventually, we kill the kobolds and as the elf starts looting them, Foldout gets a very focused look as he peers further into the cave.  Suddenly he passes out!  We're not really sure what just happened, so we grab his limp body and head back to town to nurse our wounds.

To be continued...

Viewing Life Through Alignment Grids

I don't know if it's because I just started playing my very first D&D game a few weeks ago or if I saw a bunch of versions of alignment charts posted on Facebook, but I have started to view many shows and movies lately trying to figure out what D&D alignment grid characters belong to.

If you don't know what a D&D alignment grid is, it is a 3x3 grid that classifies characters' behavior and attitudes. Essentially, it dictates how a character will react in any given situation. The table looks like this:

Lawful Good	Neutral Good	Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral	Neutral	Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil	Neutral Evil	Chaotic Evil

Growing up with D&D computer games, I got used to these terms, but never really understood them in great detail. Although, the first one I remember where it really affected anything was Planescape Torment because your alignment could change based on your actions. The more I play games with moral choices, the more I notice patterns of mine. I almost always play as a character that will save as many lives as possible, but then rob everyone blind if they let me. I'm still not really sure where that puts me. Other than the robbing, I definitely play Neutral Good because I won't blindly obey the law if it means harming innocents. But if I'm robbing you blind so I can buy better equipment to fight larger monsters and save more towns, that's still Good...right?

But besides the introspection, I've also noticed I've been making similar observations while watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and Bleach. I haven't tried to classify everyone, but there are definitely some characters that I keep focusing on. For example, I argue Captain Picard is Lawful Neutral. There have been a number of episodes where he chooses not to aid people because it would break the Prime Directive. Dr. Pulaski is Chaotic Good since aiding people comes above all else. I'm still trying to figure out what Kenpachi would be. All he cares about is fighting the strongest person, nothing else matters. I feel like that's some form of evil, but I'm not sure if it's Lawful or Neutral...

What alignments are your characters? What alignment are you?

Just for fun, here are some alignment charts: