Wizards of The Coast Legend of Drizzt: A Dungeons and Dragons Board Game

by Wizards of the Coast

Product Features

• Designed for 1 to 5 players
• Features multiple scenarios, challenging quests and cooperative game play
• Contains: 42 heroes and monsters, 13 sheets of interlocking cardstock dungeons tiles, 200 encounter and treasure cards, scenario book, and 20-sided die
• Rulebook and scenario books
• 20-sided die

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 12.3 x 8.4 inches ; 6.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: 0786958731
• Item model number: 5512665
• Manufacturer recommended age: 12 - 15 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,101 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #90 in Toys & Games > Games > Board Games
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The adventures of Drizzt Do'Urden, as told in the New York Times best-selling Forgotten Reams novels by R.A. Salvatore, come to life in this thrilling board game. Take on the role of the legendary ranger or one of his famous adventure campaigns, battle fearsome foes, and win treasure and glory.

Product Description

The adventures of Drizzt Do'Urden, as told in the New York Times best-selling Forgotten Realms® novels by R.A. Salvatore, come to life in this thrilling board game. Take on the role of the legendary drow ranger or one of his famous adventuring companions, battle fearsome foes, and win treasure and glory.

Designed for 1-5 players, this board game features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play. The contents of this game can also be combined with other D&D® Adventure System Cooperative Play board games, including Castle Ravenloft™ and Wrath of Ashardalon™, to create an even more exciting experience.

Components:
 42 plastic heroes and monsters
 13 sheets of interlocking cardstock dungeon tiles
 200 encounter and treasure cards
 Rulebook
 Scenario book
 20-sided die

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This game may not amuse you, but you can certainly amuse yourself with this game., November 9, 2011

By 

SXT (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wizards of The Coast Legend of Drizzt: A Dungeons and Dragons Board Game (Toy)

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.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice as a boardgame, excellent as a resource!, November 18, 2011

By 

Robert Tatge Jr. "Crispy" (Danville, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wizards of The Coast Legend of Drizzt: A Dungeons and Dragons Board Game (Toy)

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

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real Basic Dungeons & Dragons boxed set, November 15, 2011

By 

Michael J. Tresca "Talien" (Fairfield, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Wizards of The Coast Legend of Drizzt: A Dungeons and Dragons Board Game (Toy)

When Heroscape came out from Wizards of the Coast I was livid. It was a board game that had fantasy elements and yet nothing in common with Dungeons & Dragons, and yet the Open Game License had been adopted by publishers everywhere to spread the D&D brand far and wide. It was like Hasbro thought the D&D license was good enough for everybody else but their own games. That all changed with 4th Edition. The Legend of Drizzt is the culmination of a synchronized brand strategy that's been decades in the making.

Long before Drizzt Do'Urden was a duel-wielding archetype envied by every power gamer, I read his originating tale in the Icewind Dale trilogy - along with Bruenor Battlehamer, Catti-brie, and Wulfgar. That was twenty years ago. Now the guy who was originally conceived as a sidekick for Wulfgar has his own board game, The Legend of Drizzt. Drizzt, you've come a long way baby.

The first thing you notice about The Legend of Drizzt is the sheer size of the thing. The box is heavy and for good reason - it includes over 40 plastic figures, 13 heavy cardstock sheets of tiles and a bazillion cardboard accessories, 200 encounter and treasure cards, a rule book, a scenario book, and a 20-sided die.

Let's start with the plastic figures. They're unpainted but molded in a variety of colors that match their appearance - water elementals and ghosts are in blue transparent plastic, trolls and goblins are in green, heroes are in dark blue, villains in gray, drow elves in purple...you get the idea. Speaking of villains, Drizzt's archenemy Artemis Entreri is here too in case you're interested in playing an antihero. Up to five players select a placard representing their character that includes critical stats (HP, AC, Speed) along with power cards for that character's class. There are at-will powers and encounter powers. Fans of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons will recognize how much the tabletop role-playing game has in common with the board game. Critics of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons will notice how easy it is to turn the tabletop role-playing game into a board game.

This isn't really so much a game about Drizzt as it is a modular system that can accommodate any setting. Change the tiles around, switch out the characters and molded pieces, and the same game could easily take place in Castle Ravenloft or in a dragon's lair, which is why the game is compatible with Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon. You could just as easily use the components to complement your own role-playing game.

And that's the brilliance of The Legend of Drizzt. It takes the elements and branding of the role-playing game and takes it to its logical conclusion as a board game. The Legend of Drizzt is filled with dozens of fiddly bits, from stances to damage counters to healing surges to treasure chests. You can even level up from first- to second-level, which officially makes this the real "Basic Set" for converting gamers to the role-playing hobby.