First Look
Unlike the giant-doesn't-fit-on-the-shelf box that Descent came in, Well of Darkness (WoD) is in the square box that's the standard for Fantasy Flight games. The series title, "Descent: Journey in the Dark," is at the top of the box, with "The Well of Darkness Expansion" below. Pretty big letters so you know this is an expansion; if you don't play Descent, you're not going to get much use out of this game. The cover painting show three heroes facing off against several razorwings; coincidentally, these are three of the new heroes in the expansion.
Lifting the top is like opening a toy box. More plastic figures to go with the ones from Descent- here we have 6 new heroes and 3 new monster types with a total of 27 pieces. Ten new map pieces allow for larger dungeons. We have more effect markers, mostly new ones but we get a few more of the older ones. There's lots of stuff to add to the dungeon, with lava, mud, traps, and even a large boulder. And, we have 110 new cards, providing more skills, more items, and many more options for the overlord.
The rule book explains all of the new, contains errata, and has nine new quests.
New Heroes
WoD includes six new heroes to add to the 20 from Descent. These six are featured on the covers of WoD and Descent. For those keeping score, there are four males and two females, with three melee specialized, one magic, and two ranged (the females). We also see the first dwarf in the game (previously there had been orcs, elves, minotaurs, and even a lizardman).
Of the new heroes, Nanok of the Blade has the strongest special ability: he can't wear armor, but his Armor rating is equal to 2 plus his Melee trait (starting at 2). Gold spent training up that trait gives him more armor than anyone except those lucky enough to get a gold or silver armor. Laurel of Bloodwood is also pretty good, as she can convert excess range on an attack into damage.
New Monsters
Three new monsters are added in WoD: kobolds, ferrox, and golems. Oddly, while Descent had an equal number of monsters using each attack, all of these new monsters use melee.
Kobolds are small and weak, but they have the Swarm ability, giving each one additional power dice for every monster adjacent to their target. The master kobolds also lower the threat costs of traps.
Ferrox are savage bloodsuckers. They inflict bleeding wounds, and the masters drain fatigue.
Golems are large, powerful creatures with high armor (5/6, putting them on par with the Descent's giants, and ahead of anything else). They're immune to many effects and special abilities.
New Cards
There are 110 cards in WoD. The cards are just slightly taller than the original Descent cards- not a huge deal, but it's noticeable. That's the only bad side of the cards. On the good, all the new cards have a little well symbol in the corner so you can separate them from the original cards. Also, the backgrounds of the cards have changed; instead of the tan of the originals, all melee skills and spawn cards are red, magic skills and traps are purple, and subterfuge and events are green. It helps differentiate cards at a glance.
Twelve of the cards replace cards from Descent, clarifying or changing the cards. Most of these changes are called out in the FAQ posted on Fantasy Flight Games' site, but replacements are nicer than pasting the new text onto the card. Everything else is a new addition to the game.
There are four new skills for each category. Generally these are pretty good, although the magic skills can be pretty worthless. Each magic skill is a pact with an element, allowing the hero to ignore some type of obstacle; the water pact lets the hero cross water, while the earth pact allows the hero to ignore rubble. These can be handy, but if there's no water on the map, or no lava (since that wasn't added until this expansion, that means all the original quests), the skill isn't much use. There are secondary effects, but gaining knockback or burn with a staff is going to be disappointing since the runes are almost always better than staffs.
Seven new items are in the shop. The one new melee weapon is a walking stick, weak compared to a sword or axe, but it gives the wielder the reach ability. The new ranged weapons don't offer anything of advantage over the originals. The new runes are intriguing, offering the powerful Blast or Stun abilities, previously only available through treasures. However, these require three and two surges to activate, so it can hard for a hero to use the power. The one new armor is the tunic. It has zero armor, but the wearer gets to roll a power die for each wound suffered, stopping a point of damage for each blank rolled. This applies against traps as well as attacks, but it's only a 1 in 6 chance of stopping each point.
A variety of treasures are added, with ranged weapons getting the most additions. The best item is not a weapon, but the Superior Healing rune. A gold treasure, it allows the user to spend one movement point to heal two wounds on himself or an adjacent character.
The largest portion of the cards go to the Overlord. Three cards, spawns for the ferrox and kobolds, are added straight to the Overlord deck. Everything else is a treachery card, allowing the Overlord to customize the deck (the treachery rules are explained below). These cards tend to be more powerful than the base cards. The spawns are either larger versions of base spawns (the Elite Beastman Warparty adds a second master beastman to the standard spawn group) or are powerful monsters that previously only appeared as part of the quest set up, such as manticores and naga. New event cards include Ambush, allowing the Overlord to activate monsters on the heroes' turn, Crushing Blow, which can destroy a hero's items, and Danger, which is discarded for a quick ten threat.
New Rules
The biggest addition to the game is Treachery. For each quest, the Overlord gains a certain amount of Event, Trap, and Monster threat. Each of the new Overlord cards has a treachery cost on it. The Overlord purchases cards with the treachery, adding these to the deck while removing a number of base cards equal to the number of treachery cards purchased. If the Overlord doesn't spend all of the treachery on cards, then he starts with an additional card in his hand for ever two unspent points. Treachery values for the quests out of Descent are included, and each new quest has the treachery in the description.
Treachery costs range from one to three, giving an idea of the card's power. However, I don't agree with some of the assessments of worth. The Lone Golem card cost 3 treachery and summons a golem (and not even a master). A powerful figure, yes, but for 1 treachery you can add Lone Manticore to your deck, allowing you to spawn a master manticore, a that attacks twice each round with pierce and poison.
WoD contains the FAQ and rule changes/clarifications from the FFG site. Pretty useful for a group that doesn't want to keep looking at the website to find out a rule works. There's even a diagram showing how the breath effect works around corners.
New Quests
There are nine new quests in WoD, doubling the total quests for Descent. On the whole, these look more difficult and more innovative than the Descent quests. Larger too, as each quest has at least five areas, some as much as eight.
The first quest is Buried Alive, which takes place in a collapsing mine. Each turn, the Overlord removes a section of the map, forcing the heroes to keep moving or die. This is the only quest I've run from WoD so far, and if felt harder than any of the ones from Descent. Treasures were harder to come by and the heroes constantly running out of fatigue, having no opportunities to rest. Other quests are spider or kobold themed, and one is an homage to the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, complete with boulder and gold idol. The final quest is the eponymous Well of Darkness, a quest so difficult the heroes receive four artifacts before it starts.
New Purchase?
If you're enjoyed Descent, WoD will add to your fun. The replacement cards are handy, while the customization allowed by the treachery system is fantastic. I've only had the chance to play one quests, but the rest look challenging and fun, as well as looking like the creator is realizing how he can break out of the formula of Find the Boss Monster and Kill It.
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