Joseph Lynn It's a compliment from a non English speaker...I guess

Sorry to hear that. I got quite a lot of plastic monster minis from games like these that came out in the 1990s.

I put aside Castle Ravenloft for much longer because it wasn't what I hoped for and got it out for solo play in 2020 when home for the pandemic. One review said it was too hard, but I found if I didn't keep my two heroes on the same tile (and had the Cleric) then I could win all the scenarios except the last in at most three tries. I needed three heroes for the finale against Count Strahd, the vampire.

I don't mind a _constrained_ board game version of D&D (don't like "dumbed-down"). I liked Dragon Strike quite a bit, but the rule that the DM wins if even one character dies makes the game less fun. It should be he's telling a story and maybe even on your side with an NPC? Although I'm told AD&D players hate that. Maybe you could do something like that.

@@sandal_thong8631 I played AD&D. We had NPCs (sometimes otherworldly ones) that we worked with or for, and we didn't detest story. Although there are many good things about newer editions (such as the combat system of 5e), the problem I have with it is that it is not as challenging. The PCs are superheroes, so the players don't really learn how to survive. And there are far too many player supplements -- the DM is left with nothing to really help them build their chops, and only more problems when players who buy all the latest books want to throw some new class/archetype or race in with all sorts of superpowers that throws the balance of the game off in a way that further limits the DM's ability to present an actual challenge. Yes, you can make things hard in 5e, but it takes a very skilled DM to make that happen -- and WoTC is really not very helpful in supplying DMs with ideas they can use to improve the quality of the game.

@@VioletDeliriums I only played D&D once, and didn't know what to do. I watched a video and I guess I was supposed to get a job at the keep and gain experience to level up. Then put together a party (since it was the DM and me, they would be NPCs) and travel to the monster's lair. And if I failed we would start over. Does that sound right? I did play GURPS as a fantasy adventure campaign, but I was just along for the ride, and my character's DX was so bad I couldn't hit so was pretty worthless, except the time I grappled so ST came into play! I saw GURPS Vikings were on the order of superheroes. So it depends what people want. If they want a challenging or exciting adventure then they need an advanced character. If they want something where they have to level-up then they should avoid combat because they can die easily.

@@sandal_thong8631 Well, the challenge in AD&D was surviving the low levels. It was so much harder than in today's version.

Ginger Aperol They answered and sent me 9 miniatures: everyone wrong!

@@giochiepassatempi That was my experience with getting a wrong ship in Merchants & Marauders: the game company sent me the correct one when I asked. Same with a game that promised something like 200 WW2 figures but maybe had 175. I think those were the only two missing pieces.

I'm wondering which game to get with Ravenloft. This one has a village, but all the characters are the same. So I won't get a paladin, but could have two fighters or two clerics in the party, or have one character choose from two sets of cards, assuming they differ.

If you want for a more RPG-like board game, look for Descent 2E, up to 5 players, one of the players is the Overlord (like a GM). I played a lot with my group of 4.

@@luiz92 I've played Descent 2E one-on-one and two heroes aren't strong enough for a party. So I can see maybe 4 players or 5 players with 3 and 4 heroes, respectively being winnable.

Scott Turrall doesn't compare to dungeon saga

When I didn't like Castle Ravenloft, someone suggested Descent so I got that. It was very antagonistic: DM vs Heroes; rather than a DM telling a story. I did two campaigns, first as hero, second as DM and the DM had such an advantage as the adventures continued that there was no way for the heroes to come back. I guess I was looking for a constrained D&D-type board game like Dragon Strike.

As to your first comment, I thought having a demon altar on one of the handbooks was asking for trouble. But they said the negative publicity helped boost sales! And the suicide bit was a lie, as was the idea that it was an intro to devil-worship. They also said people wanted more dragons, since it was in the name. I wonder how things would have been different if they called it "Dungeons and Demons." I think that's why the movie sucked because they had to have multiple dragons!

Without a GM/DM there's no way to have alternatives like talking to an NPC or searching for secret passages.