Legend of Drizzt Board Game: A Dungeons & Dragons Board Game

This game is the third installment in the D&D "Adventure System" of board games. If you're in search of more opinions, you should definitely check out the reviews for Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon, as the games are all very similar. I also own and enjoy Castle Ravenloft.

They all use very loose adaptations of 4th Edition D&D rules. This particular game is (obviously) based on R.A. Salvatore's books about dark elf orc-stabber extraordinaire, Drizzt Do'Urden. As such, all the adventures are based on Drizzt's literary exploits (all the way up to Gauntlgrim, I was surprised to see), and the choice of heroes includes the Companions of the Hall, and there are rules for playing as (as well as against) the notable trio of ne'er-do-wells Entreri, Jarlaxle, and Athrogate.

Playing the Game
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Each player chooses one of five pre-made heroes, and then chooses which of that hero's powers they'll use for the adventure (you take 4 or 5 out of around 10). Next, you follow the Adventure Book's rules to setting up whatever adventure you're playing (there are about 15 different adventures), and you make your way through the dungeon trying to complete the adventure's objective.

The "board" is made up of jigsaw puzzle-style pieces which you shuffle before the adventure like cards. You start with one tile as the "start tile", and then each player has the chance to draw a tile on his or her turn and add it to the tiles already played, which I'll get into next. This is how the play area expands.

Each player's turn follows the same order - move and/or attack with your hero, add a dungeon tile (unveiling a new monster), then activate the monsters you've unveiled. So, each player controls not only his hero, but the monsters he or she reveals. This is done by following the instructions on the monster's card, which tells you how the monster acts.

When a player dies, he or she uses a Healing Surge, which acts like a "continue". If a player dies and there are no Healing Surges left (you start most adventures with 2), the players lose. So, it's a no-man-left-behind situation.

You win, as I mentioned, by completing whatever objective the adventure sets out. Usually, this involves reaching a specific tile and killing whomever is hanging out there.

Enjoying the Game
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At the end of the day, this is a very streamlined game. The heroes have no stats other than AC, HP, Speed, and Surge Value (the amount you heal when you use a surge). You don't equip your guy, you can't level up past Level 2 (which entails adding 2 HP, 1 AC, and a new daily power), and there is no continuity between missions.

Strategically, the game is pretty simple. You don't have a whole mess of options, and sometimes it can be pretty obvious what the best move is, meaning the game can feel like it's playing itself sometimes. Honestly, when I first started playing these Adventure System games, I was disappointed. Being a "gamer", I'm no stranger to complex rule systems and this was just too simple for me.

But then I added friends. And not just any friends; non-gamer friends. Non-gamer friends, and booze. And jokes. And silly descriptions, and trash-talking (despite the co-operative nature of the game), and bouts of not paying attention. Basically, everything that absolutely ruins a regular D&D session.

The simple nature means there's very little to keep track of (once everyone learns the flow of play), and you don't need to clear your entire calendar to schedule a session. I've had a blast every time since then, and the game has quite a following now among my gamer and non-gamer friends alike.

If you go into it expecting it to be a very rich, very complex board game version of D&D, you're not going to be happy. But if you recognize it as the big box of toys that it is, man can you have some fun.

I own all three of the D&D board games and this one is easily the best yet. The abilities are more fun, the playable heroes finally branch out somewhat from the tired old standard classes, there are eight playable heroes instead of five, and the new team challenge adventures and betrayal adventures are great additions to the rules. I also like that the rock walls look jagged and organic: the straight-line sameness of the dungeons in the previous two games made the environments dreary and boring.

My only complaint is that there are too few challenging monsters: these heroes and items are a lot more powerful - frequently granting the ability to reliably deal 2 damage per turn - and the 1-hp goblin monsters never stay on the board longer than 1 turn. Owners of Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon can remedy this by adding more challenging monster cards and figurines from those games - the Cave Bear and the Gargoyle come to mind.

I do think that "Legend of Drizzt" is an inappropriate name. Having played a half-dozen adventures in this game I can confidently say that Bruenor Battlehammer is the star of this show, and that nothing, nothing at all in any of the D&D Adventure System board games, can compare to the moment when he deals the killing blow to a dragon or a balor with his "headbutt" ability. Especially if he himself is at 1 HP at the time of use.

Because of this, my friends and I have affectionately renamed the King of Mithral Hall "Headbutts McGee," and we have dubbed this game "The Ballad of Headbutts McGee"

Dude will headbutt anything. And then it will die. I'm not even kidding.

Pluses: loads of plastic minis, modular and laminated map sections and accessories, and a fun jumping off point for beginning players. Also, for advanced players, the stuff in the box is a great bargain versus buying separate maps and minis.

Minuses: The rules are far too simplified for experienced players, and the packaging really doesn't allow storing all the random bits and markers without getting them mixed up.

I mainly purchased this set as an accessory to my regular gaming kit. The little plastic minis are more fun than cardboard tokens anyday, and the heavy laminated cardboard map sections are wonderful for setting up a map ahead of time, or making one up as you go, depending on your gaming style. There is also a wealth of little condition markers, which while inferior to chits like the ones made by GF9, are nonetheless useful, especially to the GM on a budget.

If you choose to play it as advertised,the rules have been simplified to streamline play and keep up the pace of the game, which is a draw to new players, or those who fancy a quick game of solitaire, as it were. Long time D&D players will probably find those rules unsatisfying though.

All in all, a good product, no matter which way you decide to use it. Pity about the lack of separated storage in the molded inlay though. I hate sorting all the markers every time I open the box...

-RJ