Five different games came to my mind, check them out:
1. Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion
2. Tainted Grail
3. Lands of Galzyr
4. It's a Wonderful Kingdom
5. Roll Player
Lands of Galzyr is one in my future plans already for sure!
Roll player looks interesting as a game if I'm in a light mood, correct me if I'm wrong on that look. The original 2016 version you suggest to start? I noticed there's the Adventures one, but it's about twice the price. Would you suggest 1 over another?
Based on your criteria, Roll Player Adventures (RPA) is definitely the better fit. Roll Player is all about creating a character while Adventures is a campaign adventure game with a story and encounters. I guess with the Monsters and Minions expansion with Roll Player you get a flavor of combat but RPA would be a better value at that point.
**Victorum**
Has a gladiator fantasy setting swords, archers, and whatnot. The game is played through a whole campaign where you move around a map. You have a leader character who can get stronger over the course of the game and you build a small army as well. There’s a good handful of characters to choose from and each one is their own class with their own skills.
It also has an rpg feel with the combat, somewhat similar to DOS2 where you have multiple enemies moving around the map and attacking while you move your units around and attack.
Not every encounter is a combat, there’s also “sport events” like king of the hill or capture the flag. Helps spice up the gameplay.
Complexity wise is hard to say since you are brand new. Personally I found it not too bad to learn compared to their other game that’s similar **Too Many Bones** which is definitely too complex for a newbie haha.
Arkham Horror maybe?
Not fantasy, but there are swords, magic and monsters :D
Deck progression and upgrade between each scenario, 5 classes with dozen investigators and builds to try, each campaign is story driven, not so hard to play solo with 2 hands...
Only drawback? Core set is just a tutorial, you really have to invest into at least on campaign and investigator set to play the "real" game.
Something more light and self-contained: Massive Darkness 2. A nice dungeon crawler with pretty miniatures, loot, 6 classes and fun character evolution.
As for the different approaches in the call to adventure games you make the story and progression of your character, there are various events and each one has 2 ways to deal with them, the choices and the results shape the "story" of the character.
If you want something very rpg-esque you can try the Dungeon & dragons games or the pathfinder adventrue card games, there are also huge and expensive games like mage knight, gloomhaven and others, but I think it would be better to start lighter.
If you don't mind something lightweight and closer to a rogue-like then you could try Mini Rogue.
I too will suggest Arkham Horror: The Card Game. More horror than fantasy but it’s very immersive with fun campaigns, different classes with different approaches, that can be upgraded with xp between scenarios, etc.
But if you really want fantasy then I would suggest Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion or Decent: Legends of the Dark
Massive Darkness 2 checks a lot of the boxes and has a campaign expansion called Heavenfall. It's strength is that it has numerous unique classes.
Sanctum is a lesser known title but it's simple and has a very video game/RPG like feel and you can pick it up for around $40.
Oathsworn is my favorite fantasy game but on the more complicated end of the spectrum and Tainted Grail has both combat and diplomacy but you don't always get the choice of which way you approach the encounter.
World of Warcraft the Board Game solo/co-op variant is also fantastic but is out of print so you'd have to purchase it second hand. The character progression is one of the best out there though.
MD2 looks great, thanks for the suggestion! It's something I may look at in the future, but it's a bit hard to get and with the price tag being so high I feel it's a future buy.
WoW is much the same, but it's one I certainly have a lot of interest having used to be a wow player. I don't know much about the board game but from bits I've seen, it looks up my alley. Hopefully I can afford it in the near future.
Oathsworn looks fantastic, but likely 1 I need a bit more time in board gaming as from what I understand it's a bit complex and perhaps not too new player friendly.
May I ask, if you've played it, would you suggest something like aeons end legacy? The theory of it sounds great to me, but gameplay videos have me on the fence
I've never played Aeon's End but I've certainly researched it a few times. I think if I were to get into it I'd probably start with Aeon's End: New Age because it's not a legacy game (more replayability) and it has a lower price point. I don't think you can go wrong with either New Age or Legacy though. And I think if you planned on eventually getting both, Legacy is the place to start. The only reason I haven't bought it yet is because I already have LoTR LCG and Marvel Champions, so I'm good on card games for now.
I'd suggest Sword and Sorcery, Ancient Chronicles. Definitely fantasy based, you can choose different characters and different alignments. Some progression aspects are locked to those choices but others are not. Plays faster than Gloomhaven but it can be crunchy. You don't have to play the campaign if you don't want to, they've designed it to where you can just set up the different scenarios. Player powers have a cool down system that's pretty cool. I've enjoyed it.
Five different games came to my mind, check them out: 1. Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion 2. Tainted Grail 3. Lands of Galzyr 4. It's a Wonderful Kingdom 5. Roll Player
Lands of Galzyr is one in my future plans already for sure! Roll player looks interesting as a game if I'm in a light mood, correct me if I'm wrong on that look. The original 2016 version you suggest to start? I noticed there's the Adventures one, but it's about twice the price. Would you suggest 1 over another?
Based on your criteria, Roll Player Adventures (RPA) is definitely the better fit. Roll Player is all about creating a character while Adventures is a campaign adventure game with a story and encounters. I guess with the Monsters and Minions expansion with Roll Player you get a flavor of combat but RPA would be a better value at that point.
**Victorum** Has a gladiator fantasy setting swords, archers, and whatnot. The game is played through a whole campaign where you move around a map. You have a leader character who can get stronger over the course of the game and you build a small army as well. There’s a good handful of characters to choose from and each one is their own class with their own skills. It also has an rpg feel with the combat, somewhat similar to DOS2 where you have multiple enemies moving around the map and attacking while you move your units around and attack. Not every encounter is a combat, there’s also “sport events” like king of the hill or capture the flag. Helps spice up the gameplay. Complexity wise is hard to say since you are brand new. Personally I found it not too bad to learn compared to their other game that’s similar **Too Many Bones** which is definitely too complex for a newbie haha.
Arkham Horror maybe? Not fantasy, but there are swords, magic and monsters :D Deck progression and upgrade between each scenario, 5 classes with dozen investigators and builds to try, each campaign is story driven, not so hard to play solo with 2 hands... Only drawback? Core set is just a tutorial, you really have to invest into at least on campaign and investigator set to play the "real" game. Something more light and self-contained: Massive Darkness 2. A nice dungeon crawler with pretty miniatures, loot, 6 classes and fun character evolution.
As for the different approaches in the call to adventure games you make the story and progression of your character, there are various events and each one has 2 ways to deal with them, the choices and the results shape the "story" of the character. If you want something very rpg-esque you can try the Dungeon & dragons games or the pathfinder adventrue card games, there are also huge and expensive games like mage knight, gloomhaven and others, but I think it would be better to start lighter. If you don't mind something lightweight and closer to a rogue-like then you could try Mini Rogue.
I too will suggest Arkham Horror: The Card Game. More horror than fantasy but it’s very immersive with fun campaigns, different classes with different approaches, that can be upgraded with xp between scenarios, etc. But if you really want fantasy then I would suggest Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion or Decent: Legends of the Dark
Massive Darkness 2 checks a lot of the boxes and has a campaign expansion called Heavenfall. It's strength is that it has numerous unique classes. Sanctum is a lesser known title but it's simple and has a very video game/RPG like feel and you can pick it up for around $40. Oathsworn is my favorite fantasy game but on the more complicated end of the spectrum and Tainted Grail has both combat and diplomacy but you don't always get the choice of which way you approach the encounter. World of Warcraft the Board Game solo/co-op variant is also fantastic but is out of print so you'd have to purchase it second hand. The character progression is one of the best out there though.
MD2 looks great, thanks for the suggestion! It's something I may look at in the future, but it's a bit hard to get and with the price tag being so high I feel it's a future buy. WoW is much the same, but it's one I certainly have a lot of interest having used to be a wow player. I don't know much about the board game but from bits I've seen, it looks up my alley. Hopefully I can afford it in the near future. Oathsworn looks fantastic, but likely 1 I need a bit more time in board gaming as from what I understand it's a bit complex and perhaps not too new player friendly. May I ask, if you've played it, would you suggest something like aeons end legacy? The theory of it sounds great to me, but gameplay videos have me on the fence
I've never played Aeon's End but I've certainly researched it a few times. I think if I were to get into it I'd probably start with Aeon's End: New Age because it's not a legacy game (more replayability) and it has a lower price point. I don't think you can go wrong with either New Age or Legacy though. And I think if you planned on eventually getting both, Legacy is the place to start. The only reason I haven't bought it yet is because I already have LoTR LCG and Marvel Champions, so I'm good on card games for now.
I second Roll Player, Arkham Horror and obviously Gloomhaven based on your criteria. Also Too Many Bones.
Unmatched Tales to Amaze
I'd suggest Sword and Sorcery, Ancient Chronicles. Definitely fantasy based, you can choose different characters and different alignments. Some progression aspects are locked to those choices but others are not. Plays faster than Gloomhaven but it can be crunchy. You don't have to play the campaign if you don't want to, they've designed it to where you can just set up the different scenarios. Player powers have a cool down system that's pretty cool. I've enjoyed it.