We're new to Descent RTL and are in the beginning of our first game. Our OL tells us that when he depletes the OL deck 3 times during a normal dungeon run of 3 levels, we are forced out by him (like fleeing). He also said that for legendary and rumors this is 4 cycles.

Is this true?

If it is, then basically, you have one deck cycle of per dungeon level to play?

Ps. Our OL has 85 points against our 37 so far... should we give up already, or is it normal to be behind in the copper level?

Thanks for helping out!!

KingFolko said:

That was the ruling from a previous FAQ. The current FAQ has a different rule:

The Overlord's Deck
If the Overlord cycles through his deck twice in the same dungeon level, the heroes are ejected from the dungeon and are forced to flee it. Note that the Overlord's Keep is not subject to this rule.

If you don't have the FAQ, get it now. You can find it on the Descent Support page.

Ahh, thanks! So if the OL starts level 2 with just 3 cards, and depletes, and reshuffles, for the remainder of that level we have 1 deck rotation left until the next level. Then in the 3rd, we again have 2 deck rotations!

KingFolko said:

The fact that you are worrying about deck rotations is a pointer to why you are so far behind in CT. An early ratio of 2 or 3 to 1 is not uncommon in inexperienced groups, but is not 'normal' (among experienced groups). This is mostly because Heroes make nearly all of the critical choices, particularly early in the game, and inexperienced groups simply don;t know what are good choices and what are not.

However, back to the main point...
If the OL is deck cycling on you (once), then you must be spending at least 15 or so turns , probably more like 20-24 turns (it depends on how many expansions you are playing with and when/if certain cards are played) in a single level . That means you are going too slowly as a hero group. The longer you spend in a dungeon , the more resources the OL will get to throw at you - therefore, almost by definition, the more damage he will do to you.

First, do some research on the 'blitz' strategy. Basically it entails going into dungeons as fast and as hard as you can at the start, grabbing as much loot as you can get, and then getting out. It is the heroes who control the pace of the game and the availability of CT for the OL.
Remember, your starting 'heroes' and in fact nobs , with only a single skill and no fancy equipment. It is not their job to clear local areas of bad guys, it is their job to gain experience, training, skills and loot enough for them to become the heroes who can save the world form the evil OL.

Secondly, take some dungeon levels out and set them up then practice speed-running them. There are several that can be entirely cleared by a starting heroes party (with not more than a single treasure each and a single potion each) within one or two turns. At that stage the OL simply hasn't had the resources (threat, drawn cards) to interfere most of the time.
Somewhere in another thread I gave several play-by-play example of this.