Quick Question about outdoor encounters

By Gropp, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

When the heros have the staff of the wild they are allowed to travel two trails.

Q: So do they have to roll for both possibilities for an encounter? Can they choose?

Clarification is urgent (have my next play on wednesday)

THX

I thought it even said it on the card, but I have it down as you choose one of the 2 trails you passed over and roll for an encounter on that one. So not only do you move faster, but you get more choice on where you get to encounter.

Hammerdal said:

I thought it even said it on the card, but I have it down as you choose one of the 2 trails you passed over and roll for an encounter on that one. So not only do you move faster, but you get more choice on where you get to encounter.

Yes, read the card. It explicitly states that the heroes only make one encounter check, choosing which of the possible encounters they will roll for. If you have guide, you can use this to make a space with only 1 die normally go down to 0, effectively avoiding any encounter at all.

Furthermore, the faq also clarifies if you get an encounter at the 2nd half of the trail and draw "lost" that you go back to the interim location.

The party chooses one the encounters the overlord can proceed, but what if the seccond trail doesn't have an encounter, can the heroes choose the trail without encounter to avoid any encounter at all or they have take the only one existent ?

The upgrade says they have to choose between 2 trails to check the encounter, but how can they choose an encounter that does not exist?

"I'm guessing they doubled the speed on water , but if there is an encounter on the path they must take it, they can choose wich one and if there is no 2 choices there is nothing to choose.

They choose which of the two trails they'll roll for. So if they're going from Tamalir to Dawnsmoor they would choose whether to roll 1 die for a red encounter or two dice for a yellow.

Yes but last time i played there were 2 trails: one with an encounter and one without any. They chosen the trail without encounter and the overlord couldn't check for encounter , can they do that or if there is only one encounter they have to choose that one. Can they choose a trail without encounter ???

The heroes choose which trail's encounter they will try, so if there is no encounter on the trail they choose then it's tough luck for the Overlord - simple as it is.

Slapul said:

Yes but last time i played there were 2 trails: one with an encounter and one without any. They chosen the trail without encounter and the overlord couldn't check for encounter , can they do that or if there is only one encounter they have to choose that one. Can they choose a trail without encounter ???

It helps if you can post the text of the card.

Most card texts are available at www.descentinthedark.com but not all items are in their database yet.

is it sob? when not.. where is that trail without encounter?

Turric4n said:

is it sob? when not.. where is that trail without encounter?

Of course! It must be, as there are no trails without encounter markers in RtL.

And as a RtL component the Staff of the Wild (or whatever the name is) should not be used in SoB.
SOB pg44
Due to the differences between the two campaigns, there is only a limited amount of compatibility between them. Specifically, all of the Dungeon Level and Rumor cards may be used in either expansion. Other components should not be shared between the two expansions .

Keep in mind that the heroes have to choose the trail they want to check first, and only then the dice are rolled. If that's what caused one trail to have no encounter and it was RtL. If you're speaking about SoB, then, yes, the Staff of the Wild won't work there.

It doesn't make any sense lore-wise, either :) There is no wild jungle they'd have to cross in water trails :P

i think this is all bull ... when u move for the first trail u check for an encounter, if there is one, the second trail you move to cant be, because of the one encounter per week rule ( besides the liutenant encounters, where this rule does not apply ). If the first trail wasent an encounter then you roll for the second trail you move. I really dont see why the heroes would get to chose , and why moving two trails would be any different, from moving trail one at a time.

svarun said:

i think this is all bull ... when u move for the first trail u check for an encounter, if there is one, the second trail you move to cant be, because of the one encounter per week rule ( besides the liutenant encounters, where this rule does not apply ). If the first trail wasent an encounter then you roll for the second trail you move. I really dont see why the heroes would get to chose , and why moving two trails would be any different, from moving trail one at a time.

Because the card itself might say the heroes get to choose?

From Feanor, early in this thread.
read the card. It explicitly states that the heroes only make one encounter check, choosing which of the possible encounters they will roll for.

For your convenience, the full text of the card:

"The heroes may move one extra trail each week. They still only make one encounter check, choosing which of the trails they are traveling along to check for encounters."

That is pretty clear and concise, as far as I can tell. Doesn't smell either, so it's no bull at all.

well i did not say, that what i am saying is by the rules, but i guess its my house rule, but i think if u play "by the rules" it ruins the whole encounter meaning... when the heroes get to decide where when and how...

They only decide how many dice they roll happy.gif Dunno, the heroes in my one RtL campaign had a hard enough time as it is. And the party upgrade does cost 1500g, it better be good to be worth that much.

But of course as long as your entire gaming group agrees, you're free to house rule whatever you want angel.gif

and one more thing the red encounters lose their meaning because you can always avoid them...

svarun said:

well i did not say, that what i am saying is by the rules, but i guess its my house rule, but i think if u play "by the rules" it ruins the whole encounter meaning... when the heroes get to decide where when and how...

do you have the slightest clue what you are talking about or can you make a valid point why exactly it is bull in terms of game mechanics instead of random ranting (about fluff)

I just checked: there are exactly 6 cards with only a red shield. 1 of them is a training encounter and some are even not that great (golems i.e)

So in conclusion , can the party choose a trail without any encounters in order to avoid them at all, or if there is only one encounter there is nothing to choose from ? The card doesn't say exactly but i guess it was made to make encounters less difficult not to avoid them

If they cross along an encounter they must check it , with that card if they cross along 2 encounters they check the less threatening one, but they have to check an encounter, if there is nothing else to choose from , bad luck....

If they're crossing a trail with an encounter symbol and one without, I'd assume they they can choose the trail without. But it appears to be a moot point,since there are no trails on the Road to Legend map that don't have an encounter symbol. What encounterless trail are you talking about?

Slapul said:

So in conclusion , can the party choose a trail without any encounters in order to avoid them at all, or if there is only one encounter there is nothing to choose from ? The card doesn't say exactly but i guess it was made to make encounters less difficult not to avoid them

If they cross along an encounter they must check it , with that card if they cross along 2 encounters they check the less threatening one, but they have to check an encounter, if there is nothing else to choose from , bad luck....

Where you are confusing people is that in RtL, there are no trails that don't have an encounter shield on them. So its not possible for the heroes to choose a trail with no encounters on it to avoid having an encounter. So your questions doesn't make any sense for RtL.

If you are playing SoB, the problem is moot because you can't use the Staff of Winds in SoB.

I think it is possible to reduce number of dice rolled on one trail to zero using a guide, and then choose the trail with the staff.

Then again I'm the overlord, and we've just started RtL, so I don't know exact wording of guide.

D.

You could do that, but you're modifying a roll, not choosing a trail without an encounter on it.

I'm talking about "sea of blood"

It's not Staff of winds but is a similar card witch let's you travel 2 trails on water and you can choose the trails to check for encounters