Hello everyone , I know this is probably old hat for you guys but we just started playing the Base set of 2nd edition I can't seem to find anything on this situation.

My players want to know if after satisfying the victory conditions for an encounter can they still search any search tokens that remain on the map?

Thanks in advance for any info

Toxicjedi

Most definitely not

It adds a sometimes rather large risk element for the heroes to get all the search tokens before sealing a victory often giving the overlord the opportunity to sneak in a win he might not have otherwise gotten if the heroes went straight for the victory conditions and not the search tokens.

It also gives the overlord an opportunity to limit the amount of gold the heroes obtain, limiting the gold the heroes get can be a massive advantage for the overlord.

As an overlord you cannot give the heroes in this game any slack what so ever or you will soon find them near-impossible to defeat. There is alot more leeway for the heroes than there is for the OL, so take up every opportunity you get to slow down their procreation of gold, experience points and relics.

I agree with Bento-san. The encounter ends as soon as the described victory conditions for one side or the other have been met. Nothing else may be done.

If you want a thematic explanation to throw at your hero players: The world doesn't stop just because you've nullified the threat in this specific location. The Overlord is still out there moving his plans forward and the heroes need to move on to the next challenge if they want to stop him and save the world.

Agreed. The heroes still need to rush to the second encounter (or their winning the first was wasted), and even after the quests, they need to head back to home base to see what to do next. Or, it could be that at that point, in the rush of the ending of the quest, the other potential search spots became scavenged by others.

Whether to try to accomplish the goals of the scenario or take the time to search for more treasure is often the biggest trade-off that a scenario presents. If you can do both, fine. But lots of times you can't and that's intentional.

Thanks guys..thats kind of what I thought but I had to make sure.