Overview
Descent comes in a big box. That's the first thing you notice about it. After that, you'll see the cover features a trio of adventurers (representing magic, melee, and missile weapons) facing off against a dragon in a cavern. But the first thing you notice is just how big that box is. Sometimes a big box means a lot of empty space. This is not one of those times.
Opening the box, you'll see that Fantasy Flight Games has suffed it with figures, cards, tiles and tokens. There are 60 plastic monster figures in here, ranging from skeletons and beastmen up to giants and demons (and the dragon from the cover). There are two colors of monsters, indicating normal and elite, or "master" monsters. There are also 20 plastic hero figures (although for the three from the cover, you'll have to pick up Well of Darkness, the first expansion).
Looking again in the box, there 61 map pieces representing the hallways and rooms of the dungeon. They fit together like puzzle pieces, allowing you great freedom in building your dungeon (some of the pieces may be stubborn, but they will fit). Pits, water, rubble and stairs are all available as flat tiles to further outfit the dungeon. The dungeon doors are inserted into little stands to divide up the dungeon.
Most of the information in Descent is kept track of with cardboard tokens. There are tokens for the health and fatigue values of heroes. Other tokens track how much money your character has found. Certain monsters and effects might afflict you with a status token, such as webbed, burn, or poison. Conquest tokens track how well the heroes are doing, while threat tokens power the Overlord's abilities.
If it's not a token, then the information is probably on a card. Each hero has a character sheet (with a pretty cool portrait), while each monster has its stats on two cards (with stats varying based on how many heroes are playing). Other cards list the special talents heroes may learn. Item cards cover store bought items as well as the magic items found in chests. Finally, there is the Overlord's deck, containing the various powers and effects the Overlord is able to use.
Can't forget dice. Descent comes with a dozen special six-siders. The three base dice, red, blue, and white, correspond to Melee, Missile (or Ranged), and Magic attacks. There are two each of the modifier dice, with green and yellow representing extra damage and range respectively. Each face contains some combination of damage, range, and surges (which activate special abilities on weapons); the red, blue, and while die each have an "X" on one face, indicating a miss. There are also five black power dice. These have one blank face, two faces with a single surge, and three faces that add one to range or damage.
Two booklets round out the contents. The rules book explains how to play, and the quest guide contains nine scenarios. Descent carries a pretty high cost, but you're getting a lot for your money.
Rules
Descent is reminiscent of an adversarial game of Dungeons & Dragons, or perhaps Diablo 1: The Board game. One player is the Overlord (Dungeon master) and the other one to four players are the heroes. Each hero player randomly selects a hero (two if there's only one hero player), while the Overlord controls all the monsters and traps in the dungeon.
Each player on the hero side picks out a hero (the rules suggest a random draw, but my group has been happier with choosing, which also allows a more balanced group). Each hero has a certain amount of skill in the three attack forms, receiving 3 power dice divided up among them (so you have pure fighters with their 3 dice in melee, fighter-mages with 1 die in melee and 2 in magic, jacks-of-all trades with 1 die in each category, and every other combination). Each character has a unique special ability and receives three draws from the skill decks; how many cards they draw from each deck is often, but not always, based on how their power dice are distributed). As in Diablo, Ranged attacks are associated with thief-like abilities (something that is reinforced with the new skills in the expansions). You'll note that the cleric/healer is the only classic D&D archetype not represented (as in Diablo). For healing, there are potions and a few runes of healing. One quick trip to the shop deck for a weapon, armor, and potions, and you're set to start your first adventure.
Setup on the Overlord's side is a little more involved. First, a quest must be selected; the main box contains nine, the expansions add nine and six respectively, and there are several more available for download (created through the use of Mike Zebrowski's scenario editor, also available for download). Each quest has a map to lay out, set monsters and obstacles, and flavor text giving the quest background and brief descriptions of each area. The Overlord is responsible for all monsters. Additionally, the Overlord draws two cards from a special deck each turn. The Overlord accumulates Threat tokens each turn to pay for these cards, and can also discard to gain extra Threat. There are four types of Overlord cards: Spawn cards introduce new monsters into the dungeon (with the requirement that the spawned monsters must be placed outside the line of sight of any heroes); Traps are played when trigger conditions are met, such as pits when a hero steps in an empty space, or explosions when a chest is opened; Events give one-time benefits to monsters or penalties to heroes, such as allowing a monster to move twice its speed or make two attacks; Powers are expensive but permanent bonuses to the Overlord, such as allowing an extra card to be drawn each turn.
Each quest has an objective stated at the beginning. Typically, the heroes are trying to kill a Named Monster (a more powerful version of a regular monster), while the Overlord is trying to kill the heroes. Death is not permanent; the hero is returned to town at full health and allowed to re-enter the dungeon next turn. Half of the hero's accumulated gold is lost, and the heroes lose 2-4 Conquest tokens, depending on the hero. Conquest tokens? Oh yes. The heroes start with a set number, normally five, and can gain more in chests and by completing certain events. When these run out, the Overlord wins.
Each turn, a hero chooses one of four actions: Battle allows the hero two attacks but no movement; Advance allows the hero to move and make one attack; Run lets the hero do a double move; Ready combines a move or attack with a special order. Movement points are not just for moving on through the grid dungeon. They also cover what D&D terms as Move-Equivalent actions, like drinking a potion or opening doors. Monsters are limited to a single move and attack.
Combat is a major part of Descent and is where all those dice come in. The dice rolled in an attack are listed on each weapon and on each monster card. An axe rolls a red and a green, signifying a powerful melee attack, while a bow uses a blue and a yellow die, meaning it is a long range, low damage attack. Additionally, heroes add in power dice if they have any skill in the weapon. As long as an X doesn't come up (and enough range points are accumulated to reach the target for Missile and Magic attacks), the attack hits. Damage is totaled up and surges are spent to activate the weapon's special abilities (the axe adds a point of damage for each surge, while the bow can gain extra range or damage).
Along the way, the heroes will find Copper, Silver, and Gold chests. Opening these chests grant each hero one or more draws from the appropriate treasure deck. Treasures include weapons and armor far more powerful than the store-bought equipment, as well as special items. The Copper treasures represent a slight increase in power, while a Gold weapon can kill even the strongest monster in a single hit.
The treasures are part of the reason Descent works best for one-shot dungeon crawls. A party equipped with Gold treasures would blow through everything in a dungeon, preventing the Overlord from ever gaining traction. There are campaign rules presented in the game, but they are limited to giving heroes more starting gold as they win more quests, but also giving the Overlord bonuses to keep pace.
In Play
So far, my group has played the first six quests included in Descent and enjoyed every one. The quests are designed to be played in order, with each quest introducing new monsters and elements to the game. Descent is not a short game, with quests typically lasting around four hours. This is with four heroes, so I imagine a smaller group might go a bit faster, and I know one of my players slows things down with rules questions. This time figure also doesn't include quests that the heroes lose; my players will usually get beaten once or twice before they're able to figure out how best to win the quest.
The board gamer in me loves the game, pitting my wits and monsters against the heroes. The role-player in me wishes there could be a little more connection between the quests. The heroes are evocative of some gander world, but there's nothing about them besides the name and portrait (although I understand that most if not all are featured in Runebound). The third expansion is rumored to contain some campaign rules, so I'll be looking forward to that.
The game's biggest flaw is balance. The game starts out pretty balanced, perhaps with the heroes at a disadvantage. Each treasure chest opened tips things more to the heroes, until the Gold treasures make them almost unstoppable. I'll note most of my wins as the Overlord have come early in a quest. It strikes me as pretty anticlimactic when the heroes can enter the last area and kill the quest boss before it has a chance to react.
Overall, I recommend Descent. It's a fun way to spend a Saturday when you just want to kill things and take their stuff. It's a good group game in that no one can be eliminated early, so no one has to sit and watch while everyone else has fun for two hours. The nine quests included should keep a group busy for a while. After that, there are several quests online, or you can create your own. The figures look a little small when compared to D&D minis, but they could work in a pinch, and I'm considering using the dungeon tiles for my games. The two expansions that have been released add some very nice options to the game, and I'm looking forward to playing those quests.
