This review is from the perspective of only having the Revised Core Set and Dream-Chaser Hero cards. Obviously there will be greater synergies and options available if all the Revised Content was available but this is written for those that have just gotten into the game with the Revised Core Set and are looking at what to get next.
Overview of Contents
The Dream-Chaser Campaign Expansion contains the Quests and Encounter Cards from the Grey Havens Deluxe Expansion and Dream-Chaser Cycle.
Changes
The Campaign Cards are a new addition to this Repackaged Cycle, allowing players to play through the cycle as a Campaign with Boons and Burdens to be obtained based on how well, or how poorly, the Quests go.
There are also 2 Additional Ships added for the Campaign bringing the total number of ships available to 6.
Rough Story
Take to the seas to retaliate against the Corsairs that have attacked the Grey Havens and pursue them back to their City of Corsairs.
Interesting Mechanics
The Sailing mechanic is a welcome addition to shake up the questing that we have gotten used to in previous cycles. Having to set aside characters to complete the Sailing test so you remain on course and not get hit with the nasty effects of being off course from the Quest Card itself or the treachery cards.
This mechanic also allows the Quests to be focused on being on the water and having to deal with ship to ship combat and even the Corsairs boarding your ships. Thankfully not every quest takes place on board the ships so they don’t overstay their welcome.
Quests:
- Voyage Across Belegaer: Introduces both the Sailing and Boarding mechanic in a quest that isn’t overly difficult and gives a solid base for the rest of the cycle.
- The Fate of Numenor: This Quest focuses on exploring Uncharted Islands to Find what happened to Numenor. Uncharted islands are locations with Lost Island on one side and a revealed location on the other.
- Raid on the Grey Havens: In this quest players are having to put out both literal and metaphorical fires as the Corsairs are Raiding the Grey Havens and burning ships. The ships/locations that are in the Grey Havens can only take so much damage before the quest is lost, so players need to balance putting out the fires and dealing with the corsairs starting them.
- Flight of the Stormcaller: The Stormcaller is fleeing with the corsairs that burned parts of the Grey Havens, so players need to board their ships and make a desperate chase. There are 2 staging areas in this quest, one for the players and one for the Stormcaller, and it is only possible to interact with the stormcaller if both staging areas are in the same quest stage.
- The Thing in the Depths: This quest involves fighting with the corsairs that you caught up with in the previous quest only to be interrupted by a monstrous Thing in the Depths, causing a temporary alliance with the Corsairs the players were just fighting. Many tentacles appear in this quest which need to be dislodged from the ship in order to defeat the Thing in the Depths to continue the quest.
- Temple of the Deceived: This Quest creates an island map out of a set of island location cards that players must explore to find the Temple of the Deceived, but based on each location’s restrictions, revealed movement between the cards is hampered.
- The Drowned Ruins: This quest jumps between being Underground and Underwater. Underwater means players wont be able to play Allies or Attachments. The quest can only be continued by exploring Underwater locations, so players need to balance building up their forces while the Underground locations are active and pushing hard when the active location is Underwater.
- A Storm on Cobas Haven: Players need to take control of Objective locations that come Guarded from the Encounter Deck, which in return give positive effects while controlled but are easily taken back by the Corsairs. So there is a level of urgency to grabbing the locations while trying to hold them long enough to complete the quest.
- City of Corsairs: This Quest has the unique selling point of starting with a ship to ship combat/chase moving into fighting your way through the streets chasing the main villain of this cycle. Really builds on the strengths of both the Sailing and regular questing mechanics and also the storytelling through the mechanics.
Thoughts on expansion
The Sailing mechanics did not overstay their welcome in this cycle, there was a nice balance between these new mechanics and the normal questing. Temple of the Deceived and The Drowned Ruins stood out in this cycle for their clever use of locations to create an island and navigating underground chamber and swimming through to the next chamber respectively.
Though the real stand out of this cycle was the City of Corsairs for jumping from ships battling to fighting your way through the streets of the titular City of Corsairs, perfectly blending and perfecting the mechanics that were introduced and built upon in this cycle.
Pros
- 9 very unique quests to add to your collection.
- All quests are fairly challenging and none come close to the major difficulty of Carn Dum.
- A well implemented change in questing formula introduced at the rough halfway point of the revised release.
Cons
- Sailing can be frustrating if you can’t seem to pass the test.
- Some of the Sailing quests feel a bit samey when done back to back
Final Thoughts
The Dream-chaser cycle is a great second proper cycle released in the Revised release of the Lord of the Rings Card Game.
This cycle brings many quests and mechanics that provide unique experiences not seen outside this cycle. The Ship objective allies add depth to the narrative, an extra ally to quest/attack/defend with, but also you need to keep them healthy because, obviously, if they sink you lose the quest.
This cycle brings a great set of quests that are more even in difficulty over the course of the cycle, compared to the difficulty spikes in Angmar Awakened. All the quests are challenging in their own way, with some relying on luck as to how quickly you finish the quest.
The Dream-Chaser Campaign Expansion is a great addition to any new player’s collection and it is preferable to get this over the Angmar Awakened Campaign Expansion due to the former’s more balanced difficulty.
Using strictly the cards available in both the Revised Core Set and the Dream-Chaser Hero Expansion was not an overly difficult experience but did come with challenges throughout that required multiple attempts to complete.