I play scenarios more often than I play adversaries, but even then I’d say I play a scenario at all about 20% of the time. Most common modifier for me is the Thematic Map.
My wife and I recently started playing with an extra island board, and we like that way better than scenarios or adversaries for adding difficulty. It increases the challenge without piling on extra rules that we always forget to implement!
Intriguing, @Trajector. About how much difficulty would you estimate it adds?
Anyways, more than a week has gone by, and I don’t expect to see any more submissions to the poll, so I might as well post the results.
Results
How often do you play with any Scenario?
Very Rarely (2), Rarely (1), Sometimes (1)
How often have you played each Scenario?
Scenario
Never
Very Rarely
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Very Often
Always
Blitz
0
2
0
2
0
0
0
Dahan Insurrection
0
2
0
1
1
0
0
Guard the Isle's Heart
0
1
1
2
0
0
0
Rituals of Terror
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
Second Wave
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
Powers Long Forgotten
0
1
2
1
0
0
0
Ward the Shores
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
Rituals of the Destroying Flame
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
Elemental Invocation
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
Despicable Theft
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
The Great River
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
A Diversity of Spirits
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
Varied Terrains
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
How much fun do you have playing each Scenario?
Scenario
Terrible
Not Fun
Somewhat Fun
Fun
Very Fun
Blitz
0
0
2
1
1
Dahan Insurrection
0
1
2
0
1
Guard the Isle's Heart
0
1
1
1
1
Rituals of Terror
0
3
1
0
0
Second Wave
0
1
2
1
0
Powers Long Forgotten
0
1
2
1
0
Ward the Shores
0
1
3
0
0
Rituals of the Destroying Flame
0
3
1
0
0
Elemental Invocation
0
0
1
0
0
Despicable Theft
0
0
1
0
0
The Great River
0
1
1
0
0
A Diversity of Spirits
2
0
0
0
0
Varied Terrains
0
0
3
0
0
Analysis
A Diversity of Spirits is the only Scenario which apparently no one (who took the poll) has ever played. Contrarily, Dahan Insurrection is the only Scenario that anyone (specifically, a single respondent) plays “Often.” Rituals of Terror, Ward the Shores, and Rituals of the Destroying Flame also seem relatively unpopular. And, as expected, the Jagged Earth Scenarios have all been played less then those from the base game and Branch & Claw.
Meanwhile, in the realm of funness, A Diversity of Spirits is still the least popular, being rated as the only Scenario to be “Terrible,” and it’s even 100% so. Simultaneously, Blitz, Dahan Insurrection, and Guard the Isle’s Heart are the only three to be rated as “Very Fun,” with one respondent saying so for each.
I don’t have enough breadth of play with scenarios or adversaries to give a really good feel of that. But, maybe…2? Ish? And it can be highly Spirit-dependant in that some are definitely less mobile (or want to be less mobile), which stretches our ability to control the board. There’s a section of the Jagged Earth rulebook that deals with having an extra island board, as there are a few extra considerations (like not placing initial Invaders, extra Blight starting on the Blight Card, or specifying that “once per board” things do happen extra times). The book also suggests that adding an extra island board adds more extra difficulty at higher initial difficulties, in a compounding effect.