Raven1015 said:

Thanks!  The nice thing is this mechanic wouldn't use any additional tokens, etc., and it would represent a natural extension of the existing questing process.  Appropriately, it usually wouldn't be a good option for non-secrecy decks, because progress tokens on enemies wouldn't change their engagement cost.  For a secrecy player, though, it would open up some interesting decisions about speed versus stealth--do I try to blow through this location, or slowly sneak past the Great Cave Troll?  Seems to fit thematically.  The only problem is that it might become a little confusing to tally threat to determine whether you have quested successfully.  There are probably some workarounds, though, to make it easier.

Titanium said:

I agree.

My other complaint (similar to these lines-you'll see where I'm going in a sec) is that often the encounter decks are too small for four player games. I've often said that the game seems balanced and tested well for two players, either side of that and you have some serious deviations from the standard encounter experience- either too easy or too hard.

My solution when introducing new players is twofold. Chuck in a couple of the "easy" encounter sets from the core sets or first adventure cycle. This makes the deck larger meaning I dont have to shuffle the damn thing every second round and makes the game a tad easier for the newbies. It's not in many adventures that you wouldn't expect to see a "generic" orc or spider or something, so it doesn't take away from the theme. The other one is, that since you basically have to run Elanor, that we errata her that the treachery that she counters DOESN'T get replaced. Done- easy quests, no muss, no fuss, only one person has ever said to me, "You are supposed to draw a replacement" so it it doesn't take away from the theme too much. The thing that irks me is that you pretty much have to run Elanor in a four player game, but thats another story.

For the other extreme, my understanding is that they ARE in fact publishing nightmare modes with encounter card substitutions.

Very good ideas, Ian.

In my opinion, the variant recommended in the rule book for new players, eliminating the use of Shadow Cards in combat, eliminates a major part of the gameplay and theme.  It just seems too watered down to be an appropriate introduction to such a great game.

NotAZombie said:

NotAZombie, that is an interesting deck concept.  Seems it might be rough going initially if you don't pull Vilya in your opening hand or mulligan, since you're only getting one resource per turn to start off.  Does it tend to be hit or miss?

Yeah, it can be hit or miss for sure. As long as you get either Vilya or Resourcefulness in your starting hand though, it works out pretty well since Elrond can pay for any sphere's allies. Card draw is also critical (gleowine ftw!)

NotAZombie said:

Seems you would need a mix of cheap allies for the austere start and expensive ones for when the Vilya machine is chugging along.