by Mizake Mizan
I think this misses the point of the game, specifically Gloomhaven. For me at least, the fun in the game isn't the overarching story. There are games with much better story-telling: Tainted Grail and 7th Continent come to mind. In those games, it makes sense to make an "easy" mode because the cool part of the game isn't the game mechanics, it's the exploration and story-telling.In Gloomhaven, the funnest part of the game for me is the card-play. It's a tightly structured puzzle. It always amazes me how often the outcome of each scenario is in doubt until near the end. Rarely is there a scenario that is too hard or easy.
If you made the game too easy the play via your "Story Mode", I'm not sure where the fun would be. I understand your frustration at losing the first scenario multiple times, but that's most likely due to a rule error, or you just need to familiarize yourself with the game better. As you play more, you will see that you will improve to the point where you no longer need to handicap the game to succeed. In fact, once you really get going you often have to make the scenarios harder in order to get the same sense of challenge.