4/24/2021 0 Comments Castle Ravenloft Board Game Rules
The scenarios build toward the eventual hunt for Strahd, but it feels like anyone could do any of them whenever they want (mostly because they can).By this point, every other reviewer alive has chimed in about Castle Ravenloft.It was one of last years biggest releases, and everyone had to talk about it and argue about it and disagree about it and either proclaim it the best game ever created, or call it a heaping pile of rabbit pellets.
![]() However, thanks to Noble Knight Games, I finally have a copy of the latest big hitter in the dungeon crawl game category, and so I can now tell you why I will be playing it for a good long time, and why I am now even more upset that it will be several months before I can get a copy of Wrath of Ashardalon. If youve been living somewhere outside a Tibetan monastery for the last six months or so, youve probably already read half a dozen reviews about Castle Ravenloft (in fact, you have probably already decided whether you want a copy). So you probably already know that its a fully cooperative game where you go traipsing around inside Count Strahds gloomy house, investigating corridors and rooms and being attacked by an incredible number of monsters while looking for loot. You have characters ripped right out of Fourth Edition DD, like a dragonborn fighter and dwarf cleric, as well as a variety of unfriendly inhabitants who will pop out and hurt you. ![]() You cant swing a dead lolcatz without hitting a review of the game, so Im positive someone has told you how you draw cards and roll dice. Instead of being boring, lets just skip right to the good parts and the bad parts. The problem is, a dungeon master is able to make monsters act tricky, and prescripted monster reactions make them predictable. And that means that instead of a tactical game, it becomes almost a puzzle game. Youll find yourself attacking less attractive targets just because theyre on the right tile, or killing silly rat swarms because the treasure might let you level up. But just because you know what the monsters are going to do, that doesnt mean the game isnt tense. The game is not very hard to win, and thats why it isnt tense. I grant you that Ive only played three times so far, but we never had any trouble winning. Another problem with Castle Ravenloft that might make it less fun is that it lacks some of the feeling that youre playing out a story. Its a little too technical and dry, and just doesnt ooze theme the way I want it to do. Every attempt has been made to pull a tale of derring-do and dark adventure out of the randomized tiles and plastic miniatures, but that story is at odds with the game itself. You know this. If you dont draw a new tile, youre guaranteed to have to draw an encounter card, and then something bad will happen to you. And so rather than a story or tactical battle where youre sneaking through a dungeon, you wind up with a game where youre pushing forward, trying to clear out one tile before you pull another, ignoring some traps because you wont need to pass that tile again, or arranging your miniatures to best exploit your various powers. Another blow against the story is the fact that your characters cannot improve from one dungeon to the next. You start every adventure at first level, and maybe reach second level before youre done, and then the next time you play, your ranger forgot all the crap she learned last time. I like a game where each adventure feels like another step on a path, where every villain I destroy is just one step closer to the final confrontation.
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