So, the Rise of the Runelords rulebook includes a curious idea (which the technical director, Vic Wertz, was skeptical about), that people might want to play the scenarios in any order.
Really, that makes no sense, and later rulebooks dropped the suggestion entirely.
The game is designed for the scenarios to be played in a specific order. You start with the first scenario of the B adventure, and you work your way through all the way to the last scenario of adventure 6, in order.
(*You COULD skip the B adventure, but why do that? It's fun and it makes your characters stronger.)
The first scenario, Brigandoom!, has been regarded as the hardest or second-hardest (after the final scenario of 6) in Rise of the Runelords. So, you're a bit unlucky, but not completely different from the norm.
I'm guessing there are strategies and tactics you could use to improve your results quite significantly. If you post what characters you are using, and describe your basic strategy & the problems you are experiencing, we could advise you.
The first scenario, Brigandoom!, has been regarded as the hardest or second-hardest (after the final scenario of 6) in Rise of the Runelords.
Really?!? Can you point me to a discussion on the matter, as I'm really curious - there's literally more than a dozen other scenarios I'd consider 'difficult' in ROtR, while Brigandoom! is the bog-standard "corner and defeat the villain" AND it also has scenario power that nerfs the Henchmen. I literally don't understand where such perception is coming from?
OP: As elcoderdude said - we'd need more data on what difficulties you're experiencing, as -in my dissenting opinion- 0-1 is literally one of the easiest scenarios ever, and if you're consistently failing there - you're probably doing something fundamentally wrong, to the point where there's no sense in trying other scenarios before you get the correct understanding of the game.
1) What is your party - only 1 char for you and the GF each, or you play several chars simultaneously? Which ones?
2) Did you pick your own Basic cards, or you're playing with the "suggested decks"?
3) You say you "died mid-scenario" - so there's probably something wrong in how you approach combat. Can you gives an example of a battle (cards and number of dice you used) that you lost and really damaged your hero?
4) Are there any particular Monsters/Barriers that really mess up your day?
5) Do you chars stay together or spread over locations? Do you remember to temp-close if you run into the Villain prematurely?
6) How often and why do you discard Blessings and Allies? Do you have the capability/remember to heal?
7) Most importantly, can you think of anything specific that you're doing different than in the "easy game" with your friends?
etc...
You'll find that people around here are awfully helpful, but we'll need to identify your problem first, before giving adequate advice.
That said, "Once you go PACG, you never go back". Stick around until you menage to beat that annoying Jubrayl Vhisky, and you'll be hooked, guaranteed. Welcome to the forums!
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I was trying to be encouraging (kind of the opposite of "one of the easiest scenarios ever" ). And "has been regarded" is kind of vague - I don't need a consensus for that to be true. There have been such posts.
Depending on your party composition, there are RotR scenarios that can be harder. The difficulty of 0-1 is your characters are at their weakest - no feats, and the worst decks. If you run into the hardest banes, it can be trouble. Also, the players are at their greenest, if it's their first time.
RotR does get fairly consistently easier as you go. Even though the first scenario is objectively easier than any other, if you start it with no experience and the terrible* recommended decks I can easily see it being the hardest scenario in practice.
But yeah we'd need to know what wiped you out to give specific advice. The party size helps too because the approach is different depending on it.
* I say terrible comparing them to the decks you could make with basic cards, but they're still a useful resource to start with and probably better on average than the decks completely inexperienced players might make. I usually use them myself anyway for the extra challenge, the base set scenarios are much more interesting if there's more cards available that would improve your deck.
Chief Technical Officer
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This post goes into some detail about why the starting deck lists in the rulebook aren't optimal.
One of the easiest ways to build your own starting decks that are better than the ones in the rulebook is this: Build all of the *active *characters' decks using the suggested deck lists, then go through the other Basic B cards left in the box looking for improvements.
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As I already mentionned, I personaly strongly recommend to start any new adventure path with totally non-optimal decks!
This is actually why in our home games we never allow players to bring their own class decks and create their initial decks out of it (which will create by essence already quite optimal).
There is a bunch of reasons fort that:
1) It makes acquiring your first boons a very rewarding experience
2) It pushes players to trade between games which is quite fun process (I should have mentionned, we play with 5-6 REAL players - so no one plays multiple characters - and that's a major plus for the game).
3) It makes during the first 2-3 scenarios some players potentially quite weaker than the others. With 6 players and only 5 turns each, you cannot just say "I don't care, my character is great, I'll let the other in their mess", because if you don't help the others raise to a (at least reasonably) good deck, you just won't win the scenario.
4) If you only get one "good" card of a certain type, it's gonna be much more of a discussion when another player asks you to play it on his check.
5) No Cure yet? That's a (free!) side quest in itself: we need to find that spell.
6) What? We only start with ranged weapons and/or divine spells? Time to (re)learn how to survive with a leather armor and a bunch of potions. Trust me: you WILL remember how you started when you reach AD6. That's what heroes are about.
7) It adds a bit of replayability (if you always start your Magus or Summoner with the same optimized deck, well your adventure will much more look like a rerun).
8) And so on... I could write a full blog on why we just start "naked".
Bottom line it pushes interactions and collaboration. It's our game, and we like it this way.
So what does it means really when we start a brand new adventure?
A) Throw whatever cards you want in the box. Usually we put all the cards from the AP we are playing, plus maybe, to make it feel a bit different than last time, we add AT RANDOM in the box:
- a FEW (so you don't destroy the general look and feel of the environment of the AP: you can find ONE gun in MM as a kind of fun artefact, not 20) promo, "class deck" or other AP cards
B) And then we just check EXACTLY how many of each type of boons we need to start with as a whole for the group (12 weapons, 9 spells, 8 armors.... whatever). We draw them at random from all the BASIC of that type in the box, and throw them in the middle of the table.
Then starts the fun "Market place" discussion on who takes what to make her starting deck. Knowing one of us will have to take that stupid potion that only affects Stealth checks, when no one has that skill. Or that 4th copy of Detect Magic (hey? only 2 Arcane Attack spell? But we are 3 Arcane casters! Too bad... New free side quest: find a Frosbite!).
Remember last AP you started? Your Wizard deck was optimal. On the very first exploration the Barbarian encounters a Frosbite. He has nearly no chance to get it. And you don't care because all your spells are already at that level or better.
See the difference now. Your 4 spells Wizard starts with Detect Magic, Cure, Strength and Call Weapon. Suddenly you feel the stops the Barbarian from just banishing the Attack Spells and starts trying to charm all other characters into spending Blessings to help a Barbarian suddenly learn magic.
Your hero story (I mean your real player's Charisma ability, not the one on your character's sheet) just started with the first exploration of the first scenario, and it wasn't even your turn...
Why would you shortcut that?
An AP is only 30 or so scenarios long. It always ends up too soon. Mark my word: the more you make the very start fun and puzzling, the better.
And btw, obviously, when between scenarios you need to draw additional cards from the box to complete your hand, we NEVER chose. We just draw the first random one (of the needed type) that matches our rule:
Scenario finished was level 0 : random card must be level 0 basic
Scenario finished was level 1 : random card must be level 0 basic or elite
Scenario finished was level N=2+ : random card must of level max N-2
Yes, you can end up drawing a level 0 basic card just after finishing a level 6 scenario (but that means something went really wrong in that scenario (*), so you get what you deserve).
(*) With 5 or 6 players, unless you all play very similar characters, it is very rare that you cannot complete your game with leftovers from the other players. And at level 6, those leftovers are usually already pretty good.