As someone who was a Navy Seal for 25 years, I think I am well versed with your grandmother's thoughts.
 
As for the FAQ issue, it is one that has existed since this game existed.  I have begged, pleaded, and even offered my own time and efforts to create such an FAQ, to no avail.
 
They last "updated" the FAQ in February of this year, and it was a year before that for the last "update".  Both "updates" were pathetic efforts.  It was almost as if someone said, "ok, I added two sentences to the FAQ, that should satisfy them".  The amount of information, rulings, expansions, etc. that is missing from the FAQ is STAGGERING.
 
If you want to see what a true effort for an FAQ looks like, download the one on this site for X-Wing.  Then compare that to Descent.  And realize that Descent has existed for a longer amount of time.  Then try not to cry.
 
This community, and the one on BGG, has created more extensive support documents in several days, than FFG has created in YEARS of time.  Individuals such as myself and Zaltyre have put forth more effort supporting this community than anything produced by FFG.
 
That is what is both remarkable, and sad.
 
I realize that my two posts within this thread display alot of anger and frustration; but enough is enough.  Somebody has to be willing to say something, and stand up for this community.

Mana Weave is a Rune. It is the only non weapon rune I can think of off the top of my head but there may be more.

Some of the side quests use tiles from the expansions.
It is a coincidence that you didn't see any monsters from the expansions in the opening quest. I've played it a few times and once the only base game monster I saw was the Elemental.

This just happened to my group and it didn't cost us a week.  The shop items available changed but everything else was fine. 

Hi All,
I would love to see the RtL app incorporate a LoS calculator.  The app already knows what map tiles exist and the 3D map is already clickable for tokens and doors.  The only information that the app needs is the source square and target square (or squares for large monsters) and any additional blocked squares.  My thought would be to enter a LoS Calculation mode where the user is prompted for the source, target and any blocked squares.  The app would then draw any successful LoS in green or a "No LoS" message if there is no LoS.  I understand that there can be exceptions with some class cards but this must be understood by the players.  This would be GREATLY helpful for those of us who find calculating LoS quite difficult depending on the situation.  What does everyone think?
 
williaps

One thing to note is that you aren't wasting the weeks. Any unused weeks will carry over between main quests.

One thing to note is that you aren't wasting the weeks. Any unused weeks will carry over between main quests.

You could add various Relics to this issue as well, such as Staff of Light.
 
It has been stated before by others, but the thing that bothers me the most is simply the lack of consistency when it comes to text on various cards.
 
It really would not be that hard for FFG to create a database of key phrases, and when they go to create a new card, make sure that the text adhere's to one of those phrases, and not something that is close or could be interpreted the wrong way.
 
When you have a lack of consistency, people (especially rules lawyers) tend to read each card literally, meaning that in this case, if it does not specifically say "(including you)", then it must mean it does not.  And this is the case even if the basic rules of the game contradict this position.
 
This is what makes this lack of consistency so annoying ...

One thing to note is that you aren't wasting the weeks. Any unused weeks will carry over between main quests.

One thing to note is that you aren't wasting the weeks. Any unused weeks will carry over between main quests.

You are correct to observe that mobility is extremely crucial in most Descent campaigns.
 
As a general rule, if a character has a speed of 3 and low stamina, then unless I've planned for a hero to acquire a means to overcome a movement deficiency via Elven Boots (only available to 1 character), skills that give +1 speed or other movement increases (e.g. Carve a Path), teleportation abilities, or movement assistance from another character (e.g. Syndrael), then I simply don't take them on a traditional campaign.
 
They hamper the entire party on a multitude of quests, and end up frustrating to play as they struggle to keep up.
 
However, such slow characters do okay in co-op campaigns and in Road to Legend. These game types tend to have a lot more emphasis on scripted close quarters combats. The gradual map-unveiling means less rapid travel is required, and the automated AI does not exploit movement deficiencies the way an intelligent Overlord easily could.
 
As an example, I pretty much never consider Trenloe the Strong for a normal campaign despite his extremely impressive Heroic Ability, but he often kicks butt in the co-ops. Warriors in general can also make up for the deficiencies somewhat by playing as a Knight.
 
I personally weigh mobility very highly in comparison to other traits. This is why I believe Astarra to be the best mage in the entire game. She is the unparalleled queen of mobility, capable of traveling a jaw dropping 4 spaces in 1 movement point every single round, through difficult terrain and enemy figures, without requiring line of sight. Its kinda absurd and has made the Overlord nearly flip the table in frustration, as he is unable to stop her from hitting him from any angle with vicious Blast attacks.

I'm 100% positive that FFG will be putting out expansions to fill in the gaps that will have the hero figures and the monster figures from the first edition.  FFG doesn't overlook an opportunity like his. 

I honestly don't think it would have been any less expensive without the conversion kit.  My guess is they wanted the price to be at $99.95 from the start.  This is the price of Star Wars Rebellion and it seems to be where their big box games are headed.  
 
I think the decision was whether or not to included the conversion kit in the box or to make it a separate purchase and decided to eat the cost of the conversion kit and put it in the box.  This does two things for them.  It garners a little good will from all the 1E owners who are going to complain about a second edition.  The second thing it does is gives them a lot of flexibility on how to sell the monsters to customers that don't own anything from 1E or just own some of it.  They just need to sell the plastic now.  No cards, counters, tiles, everything is included already.  I would think in the long run they will save a lot of money by not having to included this material in future monster/investigator expansions.     

Short answer, yes.
 
While we don't yet have the physical game in hand, we can tell a lot from the app.  And unless there's something truly wrong with the contents of the box we're looking at an amazing reinvention of this game.
 
The first edition had several problems.  Setup took too long, tracking monster health was fiddly, and a single misplaced card could screw up the whole evening.  But the truly fatal flaw of that game was that it wasn't really all that expandable.  Yes it had two expansions, and a whole bunch of print on demand titles, but while those each added new stories they largely failed to actually expand the base game itself.
 
The original version relied on specific story cards to be seeded throughout the map, as well as others used to track the pacing on the doom clock.  This meant that for each scenario they had to print a separate deck of cards that was only really usable for that story.  Then there were additional alternate cards that gave variations on each scenario.  But few of these cards would ever be used more than once, as once you've played through a particular story, there was little incentive to repeat it.
 
Now most of those were actually very good stories, and I really hope we eventually see new versions of them using the new system.  But back then it just meant that about a third to half the cards you got in the box were only ever going to be used once.  This actually got more true in the expansions, and the print on demand packs were entirely designed for single story use.  More than once I looked at my collection and marveled at the giant stacks of story cards, likely never to be used again.
 
This of course made custom scenarios difficult, as you had to proxy the story cards or compensate for them in some way.  And designing a map layout was not as simple as arranging the tiles.  You had to plan out the web of discovery and there were no tools from FFG to help you.
 
Games like Descent 2.0 and Imperial Assault have since arrived, using new methods to plot out a story on the board.  And for a long time I've dreaded that Mansions would be rebooted to use the same map tile system they share, and be doomed to the curse of constant combat.  I love Descent, and I'm very interested in IA, but Mansions is an exploration game, not a grinder.
 
But FFG has completely surprised me.
 
The map tiles remain the same, allowing all those giant gorgeous rooms to remain.  They were originally conceived to have room for small cards to be laid out on them, and the design allows for large atmospheric artwork.  Simple lines still divide the rooms into manageable spaces, allowing for multiple investigators and monsters per area, without becoming an overly technical grid.  Even if you somehow don't enjoy this game these could easily be used to construct maps for other Mythos games.  This release brings the total to over 50 available tiles, all double sided.  And there's definitely more to come.  Honestly if they had abandoned the game and just released more tiles like this I'd have been content.
 
The investigators are still pretty top notch.  There's been a few meh ones here or there, but overall they're distinct and expressive.  Though I am surprised they've added new people when the original game was only 16 into the established Arkham cast of 48.  But looking at Descent I think it's likely we'll be seeing monster/investigator/map packs coming soon.
 
The monsters are the only part of this I wasn't thrilled by, but I've largely warmed to them having seen the actual scenarios.  This release is heavily Innsmouth themed, even if they don't really shout that on the cover.  I'd have preferred better bases, but I'm hardly surprised they continued with the ungainly base and token system from Arkham and Mansions 1.0.  The good news is with the new system it looks like you're free to rebase them at will.  I was already planning on it, and they'd made it a lot easier to do.
 
So what does the app do, and what does it not?
 
For one, it makes tracking monster health a breeze.  All monsters are individually tracked in app, and you have total control over their damage.  As with most skill checks and such you roll the dice and tell the app the result.  Pass/Fail or amount of damage.  This means if you're really having a hard time of it you can fudge a critical number now and then if it becomes necessary
 
Each monster past the first has a unique identifying symbol added to a corner of it's portrait.  I can only assume the box will come with stickers to add to the bases to match.  If not that's an easy paint job, and a couple of painted strips with similar symbols off to the side mean the tokens don't even have to be in the bases.  This is something we toyed with to simplify the first game and I'm thrilled they implemented it here.
 
Setup is simple, but not mindless.  Search, Interaction and Exploration tokens are placed inside and on the edges of revealed tiles respectively.  This allows for plenty of interaction points without having to worry about stacks of cards.  Remove a search token and the app will handle the reveal, very much in the same manner as the original game.  You may need a specific item to get past that token, or you may need to solve a puzzle.  Remove an exploration token and new tiles will be added and new tokens placed.  The feel and pacing of the original game is absolutely preserved.  If anything the atmosphere has been improved, given the added level of story bits that appear throughout.
 
Tokens are also used for various NPC's to fairly good effect.  Honestly I've not gone through all the scenarios yet, so as not to spoil the story entirely, but so far I've yet to see an NPC do much to help in combat or even move around much.  However they are well used to add story and interaction points.  I wouldn't mind seeing a miniature pack for them.
 
The app does a fair bit to hold your hand, though not in an obnoxious way.  And in the easiest scenario it did not seem even to be possible to actually lose the "race against time", though I doubt that's true for some of the others.  In fact one of the best changes to the overall game is the absence of the hated "Doom Clock".  In the original game you were dissuaded from doing much exploring off the beaten path, as there were more often than not a finite number of turns before the Keeper simply won.  While there are certainly stories that benefit from a race against time, it was grossly overused.  This time around exploration is absolutely encouraged, and even necessary to progress past certain points.  If you dawdle too long you may find yourself hit with an "event" or two that can easily result in loss of health or sanity, but the feeling of "rush-rush" in greatly reduced.
 
As for the loss of the Keeper, the game does a fine job replicating them.  So much so that I didn't notice much of a difference overall.  Creatures still mostly spawn according to specific rules and story points.  Combat still plays out with the same descriptive flourishes the original did so well.  And investigators still get hit with personal attacks from out the blue.  Those who were fond of playing Keeper may be disappointed, but Investigator players don't seem much affected by the change.
 
Best of all, it appears that virtually everything in the box will be reusable.  So expansions can actually "expand" the game, rather than just string it out.  New stories and scenarios are far more likely to appear regularly, as they require much less work to create, and can be entirely digital.  No more waiting for the next POD to print and ship.  And while there is no leveling system like Descent, a campaign system of sorts is more of a possibility now.
 
While it's likely we'll be relying on FFG to provide those stories for a while, it is not unthinkable that this might be opened to allow for custom scenarios down the road.
 
If you don't already own the original game, this is a solid buy.  If you do, this is a must buy.  And as many have already pointed out, the components from the conversion kit will undoubtedly be reprinted.  So grab the originals if you see them cheap, as it is still a good game, but you'll probably be able to get the bones cheaper later.
 
For those that worry about the price of this box, remember that this is all good meat.  There don't seem to be any one-time cards this time around, so the replayability and potential customization level is MUCH higher than before.
 
I'm very happy with the state of Mansions right now, you should be too, and I'm eagerly looking forward to what's coming next.

I'm 100% positive that FFG will be putting out expansions to fill in the gaps that will have the hero figures and the monster figures from the first edition.  FFG doesn't overlook an opportunity like his. 

If you do want to try to track down the 1e expansions for the sake of the tiles and minis... try searching for the non-English language versions.  Some of them seem to be much more available.  A Japanese Edition of Forbidden Alchemy recently sold on EBay fo $10(!), and I was able to obtain a copy of the Italian version of FA (I already have the English versions of the base set and Call of the Wild) for less than $30.  The tiles and minis are basically non-language dependant, so it works great!

Not sure what your experience is.  I have used the Descent2 app and had all of the monsters and heroes from the expansions show up in the online quests.  It looks like the same will be true for MoM2.

From what I see, MoM2.0 compares to MoM1.0 as EH compares to AH. In essence, it's a different game.
Both in the case of AH and MoM1.0 (and Elder Sign, for that matter) they tried to introduce minor fixes with expansions. Those proved to not be enough. The flaws in these games were something more fundamental and a larger redesign was required to address those.
First, Mansions of Madness got Call of the Wild. While theoretically it's an expansion, it replaces a large portion of the original content. The CotW scenarios have gameplay that's completely different than previous ones.
The gates of Arkham for Elder Sign does the same - it disdains the original adventure and mythos cards.
 
In the meantime, the Eldritch Horror appeared. While it has some flaws on it's own it fixed basically everything players complained about in Arkham Horror. This couldn't be achieved without starting the design from scratch.
I think MoM2.0 does the same. While technically a great game, MoM still was very flawed. Any future expansion would need to require Call of the Wild to be accessible. As neither MoM nor CotW were cheap, it wouldn't be reasonable to address expansions only to those who own both boxes.
The most viable solution was a complete redesign, and this is what we are getting.

Organization, dude , organization. Its the only thing you need .
 
 
I am curious to see what they will bring on. Opens more and more possibilities for both games in the future. They have a fantastic tool in hands.

I did not intend to lecture. My point was, as Luckmann said- if randomness is not something your group enjoys, you will need to house rule much more than the shop step. Some of it (placement of objective tokens/unique search tokens) will be very difficult to mod.

Someone woke needing a hug today .... or a cookie.

You specifically asked for experiences with the system. However the hell you play the game is entirely up to you and your table, but if you pop into a forum full of fans, asking for opinions, don't act all "Jeez I do not understand people sometimes herp derp" when said fans happen to give you their opinion on the topic.
 
He's entirely correct in everything he said. It's not about purism or looking for reasons not to mod the game, it's about the fact that it's very fundamentally not chess, nor intended to be. If you specifically do not enjoy randomness, you either picked the wrong game, or you're going to have to mod a hell of a lot more than just the shop, to the point where it's really not about modding Descent anymore, but about making your own **** game.

Or a beating.

No kidding. I will try and resist as long as I can, but the only reason MoM doesn't get played is that I don't like being the OL and no one else in my group is interested in trying it.