any2cards said:

I'm wondering if your times for the video are off, as the map shown at 0:49 is the first quest, one of the smallest maps in the book and the same as the map at 0:41.  The map at 0:22 and 0:29 (both the same map) is the second half of a quest.

Most of the maps in the first half of the campaign (the starter quest, which is a single map, and the first 5 quests, each of which are two different encounters) are about the same size.  The interlude is a single encounter, and much larger than most other boards, about the same size as a D1 quest.  Most of the act 2 quests are also quite a bit larger, though there's still a few small maps here and there.

15 cards may seem small for the Overlord deck, but keep in mind you're only drawing one card per turn instead of two, and you're not pitching most of the cards you draw for threat.  There's no spawn cards in 2E, since monsters getting added to the board are all built into the quest itself (actually, there is one "spawn" card, but it's the level 3 Warlord card and spawns an entire group of monsters at once).

I'd also like to point out that there's rules that let players start with some experience, so both players can do a bit more customization even if you're not playing a campaign.  There's also a good amount of replayability in the quests, since they have objectives that aren't just "kill heroes a lot" for the Overlord.

Anyway, I was at Realms of Terrinoth and picked up a copy of the game for myself, so if you've got any questions, feel free to ask.

LinkN said:

I must admit that it is possible that the times are off, based on what tool you are using to view the video.  The more important factor is that you have actually seen the game, so if you are familiar with D1 maps, then I guess I have to take your word for the fact that some of the quests in D2 have maps as large as D1.  If so, this is welcome news.  If not, my point stands.  Keep in mind that my group is one of those that did not care that quests could take days in D1.  We thought that was a point in the games favor.

As for the OL's deck, you can put whatever spin you want on it, but it remains that the base deck is 15 cards.  I can memorize that in less than 5 minutes.  This means that as cards are drawn and played, I can easily determine what is coming up, and prepare for it.  This was far harder to do in D1 with a 48 card deck.

In addition, there are opportunities for the OL or Heroes to look at the top 4-5 cards on the deck, and arrange them as desired, or discard some as desired.  This only reduces the remaining cards and once again makes it very likely for both sides to prepare and play accordingly.  No matter how you spin this, it definitely reduces variability and replay ability.

Map size: I took a look through the quest guide again, and I'll admit that most encounter maps are fairly small.  Not as small as the maps in the video, but it's also worth remembering that only three of the game's quests are only a single encounter.  One of those three is the first quest, which is intentionally small, but the other two single-encounter quests are fairly massive.  Not as large as the biggest maps in 1E, mind, but I'd say around the average point.

Don't get me wrong, the quests in 2E are definitely shorter than most 1E quests.  But to me, that makes the game flow better, especially when you look at it in the form of a single large campaign rather than individual games.  (It's also worth noting that you miss quite a few quests, especially the act 2 ones, in a single campaign, so playing multiple campaigns is an option.)

As for the overlord deck, one thing I did forget to mention was that they talked about it a bit at Realms.  Because the only customization and exp spending the overlord gets to do is adding new cards to the deck, they wanted to make sure that most of those cards he buys actually show up - it's no fun to finally buy a level 3 card (which likely won't be until after act 2 starts, unless the heroes have been losing a lot), only to go through the next two quests and not draw it.  They said that in playtesting, they wanted to make sure that the overlord would usually have to shuffle the deck before the quest ended.

It's also worth noting that before each quest, the overlord gets to re-make his deck however he wants with the 15 basic cards and any cards he bought, as long as it stays at 15 cards or higher, and the heroes don't know what cards he's removed.  So they'll know what cards he's bought, but not the exact contents of the deck

Also, unless I missed something, the heroes don't get to look at the overlord deck at all, and the only interaction they get with the overlord's cards is one skill that forces the overlord to discard.  (The overlord does have one card that lets him look at the top 5 cards of his deck and replace them, but it's not one of his basic cards, so he might never get it.)

I appreciate the time you are taking to provide information both about the actual game, as well as what was discussed at Realms.  I must admit that I can at least appreciate the point of view of wanting to actually see the cards you purchased come into play at some point.  I can't tell you the number of times I speant treachery in D1 to swap out base level cards, only to get an unfortunate shuffle that put a majority of the cards at the end of the deck.

Having said that, you still will have to play a quest/encounter or perhaps two within a campaign where you don't yet get to buy any cards.  For those quests/encounters, I will know exactly all 15 cards in the deck, and can play accordingly as cards come out.

I guess I just wished that the number of cards provided was say 30 or 45, and from that the OL draws/deals 15 cards for his base deck.  At least that way, you wouldn't know what was within the deck.

One of the reasons why that I really hope as they move forward, expansions are released that include additional base deck cards as well as additional campaigns, quests, and encounters.

I guess this leads me to an additional question.  Suppose I choose to never play in campaign mode (won't happen, but just suppose), but just decide to play individual quests/encounters (perhaps because I am always playing with different people - no continuity, no reason for a campaign).  It is my understanding that in this situation all you ever will play with, as the OL, is the base deck.  In that case, you run into the same problem I have been discussing.  Can you confirm this?

I suppose I could always make some kind of homebrew rule, but … just curious.

any2cards said:

Not quite,  the game rules allow you to choose a method of play.  If you opt not to play the campaign, you get to choose a level to play at.   Each player would then be able to build his hero/OL with the gold and XP branted them by that specific level and then play the campaign.  This lets you vary the play experience and not have to worry about playing only with the same 15 cards each time.

Unclechawie said:

To expand a bit, you can play at basic, advanced, or epic level.  Basic level is just starting equipment and skills for heroes, and starting deck for overlord.  Advanced gives the heroes 3 exp and 150 gold per hero, plus access to the full act 1 item deck to buy whatever they want (act 1 items mostly range between 75 and 150 gold), and the overlord gets 4 exp.  This lets the heroes get any skill they want, and even multiple skills if they don't pick the top-tier ones, and the overlord can either get any four cards or build up to get a level 2 card.  Epic level gives the heroes 6 exp and 250 gold each, plus access to the act 2 item deck (most items range from 100 to 250), while the overlord gets 8 exp, which is enough to build up to a level 3 card (all of which are devastating - one is an instant kill on a hero if he fails an attribute test, or heavy damage if he passes).  I believe the heroes are supposed to know what cards the overlord buys for the game, but not what's actually in his deck.

Back to the actual deck, I think the problem with having a "customizable" deck like that is it's not easy to balance that many cards against each other, so it would likely boil down to the same 15-card deck, with a few changes based on the quest, or if the base deck is dealt at random, a lot of issues of the game being impossible for one side just because the overlord got a good/bad deck dealt out.  Still, a few more basic cards would probably be welcome.  (I'll also point out that it doesn't feel like any of the basic cards are useless.  Not all of them would be good in all quests, and the purchased cards are certainly better, but I think there won't be any cards that I'll leave in the box for the entire campaign.)

LinkN said:

Well, that's nice to hear. =)