Undying - Wounds carrying over?

By Karui_Kage, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Originally, in "Vanilla" Descent , the extra wounds dealt to a creature with Undying would carry over an ignore armor. This was changed with Road to Legend , but until the latest expansion, we (our group) had thought it was limited to Road to Legend . Tomb of Ice is out now though, and it's glossary of terms label Undying without the wounds carrying over.

I could see this going either way, honestly. It may be an intentional change, as there are numerous ways to negate the Undying ability through new items and such, AND players have Feats now... or it could be a leftover from Road to Legend .

Any official word or thoughts?

It is not a change. Undying has a legitimate difference between Vanilla vs RtL.

Undying is only mentioned in the ToI rules on the Special Abilities summary on the back. Those summaries have always been notoriously unreliable in conveying the full rules of the actual ability. That wording for Undying in that summary has been in existance since the Well of Darkness expansion actually, not just ToI. Even the original wording of Undying in the JitD rulebook uses the same sentence, it just has the part about the damage rolling over added to it.

The latest FAQ, which came out after ToI, actually has a new answer in it referring to Undying and damage rolling over in vanilla Descent:

Q: In "vanilla" descent, extra damage done to an undying figure "rolls over" when it rolls a surge. Does the damage need to get through armor again? Or is armor already accounted for in the original attack. What happens to lingering effects such as burn? Do they go away when a surge is rolled? Or remain until the figure stays dead??

A: It does not need to go through armour again. Lingering effects remain until the figure fails an Undying roll, or the lingering effects expire normally.

So it is not a change in the Undying ability in vanilla Descent.

Vanilla: Roll a surge, creature back to full wounds, damage rolls over, effects remain.

RtL: Roll a surge, creature back to full wounds, no damage roll over and effects are removed .

Karui_Kage said:

Originally, in "Vanilla" Descent , the extra wounds dealt to a creature with Undying would carry over an ignore armor. This was changed with Road to Legend , but until the latest expansion, we (our group) had thought it was limited to Road to Legend . Tomb of Ice is out now though, and it's glossary of terms label Undying without the wounds carrying over.

I could see this going either way, honestly. It may be an intentional change, as there are numerous ways to negate the Undying ability through new items and such, AND players have Feats now... or it could be a leftover from Road to Legend .

Any official word or thoughts?

ToI Special Abilities Summary is just that. A Summary (not a glossary). It doesn't list the full rules for the items in it, just a brief summary.

Fuller rules are found in the DJitD and RtL rulebooks. These differ.

Note that ToI summary doesn't say anything at all about what to do with extra wounds (which is different from 'extra wounds do not carry over').
If playing a RtL campaign, use the RtL rules. They are compatible with the ToI summary, just 'deeper'.
If playing a vanilla quest, use the Vanilla rules. They are compatible with the ToI summary, just 'deeper'.

We played it with the damage carrying over last night, I just wanted to make sure. There were thoughts that "Vanilla" Descent might just mean Descent: JitD, no expansions, since the expansions add other cards to help get rid of Undying (I believe), thus the change to Undying was warranted. If "Vanilla" just means "any non-RtL Descent", then yes, the FAQ clears it up.

Corbon said:

Karui_Kage said:

Originally, in "Vanilla" Descent , the extra wounds dealt to a creature with Undying would carry over an ignore armor. This was changed with Road to Legend , but until the latest expansion, we (our group) had thought it was limited to Road to Legend . Tomb of Ice is out now though, and it's glossary of terms label Undying without the wounds carrying over.

I could see this going either way, honestly. It may be an intentional change, as there are numerous ways to negate the Undying ability through new items and such, AND players have Feats now... or it could be a leftover from Road to Legend .

Any official word or thoughts?

ToI Special Abilities Summary is just that. A Summary (not a glossary). It doesn't list the full rules for the items in it, just a brief summary.

Fuller rules are found in the DJitD and RtL rulebooks. These differ.

Note that ToI summary doesn't say anything at all about what to do with extra wounds (which is different from 'extra wounds do not carry over').
If playing a RtL campaign, use the RtL rules. They are compatible with the ToI summary, just 'deeper'.
If playing a vanilla quest, use the Vanilla rules. They are compatible with the ToI summary, just 'deeper'.

I play in a relatively friendly game of Descent, meaning as the OL I try not to pull out all the stops. After reading these posts, I wonder if there is a more official ruling on wounds not carrying over in RtL?

The above argument makes sense, but as we currently carry over wounds in our campaign, changing it would ideally be because it is clear we should (we try to stay away from house rules as much as possible).

I'm fairly certain other rules from JitD are applied in RtL, though they only exist in JitD, so in my mind we cannot rule out the full text from JitD even though it differs from later printings.

Though the FAQ quoted in this thread states they do roll over in vanilla, that doesn't automatically mean they do not carry over in ToL.

Are there additional or official rulings on this?

Thank you,

Vorth

I'm glad I read this, I forgot they changed it for RtL. I've been rolling over wounds. :(

Vorth said:

Corbon said:

ToI Special Abilities Summary is just that. A Summary (not a glossary). It doesn't list the full rules for the items in it, just a brief summary.

Fuller rules are found in the DJitD and RtL rulebooks. These differ.

Note that ToI summary doesn't say anything at all about what to do with extra wounds (which is different from 'extra wounds do not carry over').
If playing a RtL campaign, use the RtL rules. They are compatible with the ToI summary, just 'deeper'.
If playing a vanilla quest, use the Vanilla rules. They are compatible with the ToI summary, just 'deeper'.

I play in a relatively friendly game of Descent, meaning as the OL I try not to pull out all the stops. After reading these posts, I wonder if there is a more official ruling on wounds not carrying over in RtL?

The above argument makes sense, but as we currently carry over wounds in our campaign, changing it would ideally be because it is clear we should (we try to stay away from house rules as much as possible).

I'm fairly certain other rules from JitD are applied in RtL, though they only exist in JitD, so in my mind we cannot rule out the full text from JitD even though it differs from later printings.

Though the FAQ quoted in this thread states they do roll over in vanilla, that doesn't automatically mean they do not carry over in ToL.

Are there additional or official rulings on this?

Thank you,

Vorth

Edit: Misunderstood the question.
Double Edit: Or maybe not. Anyway, as long as you are happily sorted out, all good.

RtL pg 30
Undying
When an Undying figure is killed, roll one power die. If a power surge is rolled, the figure is instantly restored to full health, and any lingering effects are removed. An Undying figure must stay dead in order for effects that take place when it is “killed” to actually occur.

DJitD pg 23
Undying
When an Undying figure is killed, roll one power die. If a power surge is rolled, the figure is instantly restored to full health ( although any leftover damage from the killing blow is then applied to it). An Undying figure must stay dead in order for effects that take place when it is “killed” to actually occur


The DJitD Undying specifies that leftover damage is carried over. The RtL version deliberately removes that specification. Without that specification there is no reason whatsoever to carry the damage over. The attack happens, the monster dies, the undying kicks in, the monster is instantly restored to full health. End. Of. Story. (with respect to additional wounds carrying over that is).

The original specification (in brackets) is actually a clear change to how the 'normal' rules would work - because 'normally' a monster must be actually killed by the attack first (which is the final effect of an attack) so the attack would be 'over' at that point. The 'normal' response to a successful undying roll would not have the extra wounds carry over because the figure dying is the final effect of an attack and the attack is finished. So to get wounds to roll over they actually had to write in an additional passage to make it so.
Then they specifically remove that passage for RtL and you think that removing that passage doesn't mean that the extra wounds no longer roll over? And you want an additional or official ruling on this? RT*M! If you are playing RtL, then use the RtL rulebook because it changes the DJitD rules. If you are playing 'vanilla', with or without expansions, use the DJitD rules.

The FAQ question is refers specifically to 'vanilla', is in a 'vanilla' section of the FAQ and refers to effects that are not applicable to RtL. It is quite simply irrelevant in a RtL campaign.

If you are currently rolling over wounds in your RtL campaign then you are in error and may change with a clear conscience. The RtL version of Undying has no roll-over effect at all (and for good reason too - undying would be utterly pointless later on in the campaign on lesser monsters when the heroes are routinely dealing out 4-5 times the damage necessary to kill them).

Corbon said:

Vorth said:

Corbon said:

ToI Special Abilities Summary is just that. A Summary (not a glossary). It doesn't list the full rules for the items in it, just a brief summary.

Fuller rules are found in the DJitD and RtL rulebooks. These differ.

Note that ToI summary doesn't say anything at all about what to do with extra wounds (which is different from 'extra wounds do not carry over').
If playing a RtL campaign, use the RtL rules. They are compatible with the ToI summary, just 'deeper'.
If playing a vanilla quest, use the Vanilla rules. They are compatible with the ToI summary, just 'deeper'.

I play in a relatively friendly game of Descent, meaning as the OL I try not to pull out all the stops. After reading these posts, I wonder if there is a more official ruling on wounds not carrying over in RtL?

The above argument makes sense, but as we currently carry over wounds in our campaign, changing it would ideally be because it is clear we should (we try to stay away from house rules as much as possible).

I'm fairly certain other rules from JitD are applied in RtL, though they only exist in JitD, so in my mind we cannot rule out the full text from JitD even though it differs from later printings.

Though the FAQ quoted in this thread states they do roll over in vanilla, that doesn't automatically mean they do not carry over in ToL.

Are there additional or official rulings on this?

Thank you,

Vorth

It is not an argument, it is an explanation of the facts. You can't get more official than the rule book(s)?

There are two different descent games.
One is commonly referred to as 'vanilla' and is quest based. This uses the base rules for DJitD and rules from any of the non-RtL expansions you happen to be using (WoD, AoD, ToI).
The second is Road to Legend and is not Quest based. RtL uses DJitD base rules and any of the other expansions you are using, but also significantly changes a lot of the base rules, just for RtL, in the RtL rulebook (which states that there are new rules for the advanced campaign but that unless the basic rules are overridden (by the new rules) they remain in effect).

If you are playing a 'vanilla' quest then the rules for undying are found in the DJitD rulebook. The RtL rulebook has no relevance to your game and nothing in it applies to your game. If it is a ToI expansion quest, then the DJitD rules still apply but there are some additional rules from ToI. The 'summary' of effects at the back of ToI is neither comprehensive nor detailed and does not override the basic DJitD rules.

If you are playing a RtL campaign then you use the rules for Undying that are found in the RtL rulebook and override (change) the rules found in the DJitD rulebook.

The FAQ entry for undying is a vanilla undying reference and does not change anything.

There is no need for any official ruling for this, it is all there in the rules in black and white.

Thank you again Corbon, that makes things much clearer. Our mistake was in not giving the RtL rulebook precedence over the other rule books, we looked at them all as equal/coincident, and therefore had difficulty when there were contradictions between them which weren't clear.

I appreciate the follow up.

Thank you,

Vorth

Post with words contained therein simply to get my computer to stop telling me there is a new message in this thread when there isn't one.

Big Remy said:

Post with words contained therein simply to get my computer to stop telling me there is a new message in this thread when there isn't one.


cool.gif

Corbon said:

Big Remy said:

Post with words contained therein simply to get my computer to stop telling me there is a new message in this thread when there isn't one.


Thanks, so it wasn't just me. cool.gif

No, my good man, it was not just you.

I suspect that occurs when a post other than the last post is edited, or something like that.