First play test

By leewroy, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Hello there!

Today, finally, I started to play for real. Only the core game, first quest (First Blood), with 4 players (Tomble as a thief, Leoric as a runemaster, Ashrian as a spiritspeaker and Grizban as a berserker). And me also in the role of the overlord. Weird, but can be done for sure. :lol: I'm willing to learn the better I can before playing with other people.

Well, it was somewhat hard to play this way. Paying attention to all the "passive" habilities of the heroes, like Leoric and Ashrian was difficult. But the main problem is being the overlord at the same time, due the cards to trigger.

Anyway, was just a playtest and after all was funny. Some questions needs clarification for me, tough. And I'll appreciate your replies.

1) The Ashrian hability, for what I understood, makes all minion monsters unable to act if in the start of the overlord turn they are adjacent to her (due the stun effect). Is that right? If so, in the first quest, seems to be a good strategy to put her to block the path to the goblin archers, avoiding or making harder to leave the map, while the other battle with Mauler (and the other Ettin in this case)

2)If two heroes are in the entrance of the place where the Ettin (Fire Pit) side by side, while they are alive, the ettins can't leave the place. Is that right?

Well, thta's my first questions, I´m sure that I'll remember more soon ;)

Thanks in advance!

Hey there. I solo playtest all the time. It can be hard, but as long as you have the mindset of wanting both sides to win, then it can be quite fun. Just as long as you are mindful of the OL cards and triggers. I don't know if you can solo some quests though, specially in Nerkenhall, where some things are kept secret.

In anycase, questions:

1) Ashrian's ablity does indeed stun any minion monsters adjacent to her. Be aware though, that Stun only forces the monster's first action to discard the condition though, after that it can move or attack per usual.

2) Yes they can block the pathway if both of them are standing there.

Hey there. I solo playtest all the time. It can be hard, but as long as you have the mindset of wanting both sides to win, then it can be quite fun. Just as long as you are mindful of the OL cards and triggers. I don't know if you can solo some quests though, specially in Nerkenhall, where some things are kept secret.

In anycase, questions:

1) Ashrian's ablity does indeed stun any minion monsters adjacent to her. Be aware though, that Stun only forces the monster's first action to discard the condition though, after that it can move or attack per usual.

2) Yes they can block the pathway if both of them are standing there.

Thanks dude. Seems I've got confused with the stun effect and the "knocked out" situation, cause unlike the players, the monsters can attack just once. I really forgot about the othe action that monstes have :wacko:

So, if the heroes are side by side, they block the path, but if they are in a diagonal to each other, the Ettin can shrink and walk between them. Gotta brainwashe myself for acceptance of this rule :rolleyes:

Just an additional note on Ashrian's stun ability, as there can be bit a bit of counter play with this ability.

As far as a remember the stun only triggers when the monster activates (not the group, but the individual monster).

So for example in first blood. If Ashrian was KO'd by some of the monsters, the any others that were adjacent won't be stunned if they activate after she's KO'd.

Same would apply to the Master Ettin's ability to throw. The Ettin could throw Ashrian to move her away, then the Goblins wouldn't be stunned when they activate.

Just a note, as they can be bit a bit of counter play with this ability.

Just an additional note on Ashrian's stun ability, as there can be bit a bit of counter play with this ability.

As far as a remember the stun only triggers when the monster activates (not the group, but the individual monster).

So for example in first blood. If Ashrian was KO'd by some of the monsters, the any others that were adjacent won't be stunned if they activate after she's KO'd.

Same would apply to the Master Ettin's ability to throw. The Ettin could throw Ashrian to move her away, then the Goblins wouldn't be stunned when they activate.

Just a note, as they can be bit a bit of counter play with this ability.

Very well pointed, dude. Now that you mentioned, looks like I ignored the throw ability of the master Ettin :S

About the Ashrian stun ability, guess I understood. Happened at certain point, she was knocked out, then, in my point of view, in the next overlord turn the goblins were not knocked out anymore and could rain arrows over the party again :)

Thanks for your reply!

While you activate each monster group as a group, the individual monsters in the group are activated one-by-one individually.

So if you have 4 goblins, and the first 2 knock Ashrian out, the last 2 would NOT be stunned, since at the time they get their own individual activation, she is KO'd. You don't have to wait until the next entire Overlord turn (at which point she'd probably be standing again anyway since she'd probably have been revived).

Understood. Thanks! :)

Hi there.

Played my second adventure today. First blood again, with the four different heroes/classes I didn't pick before. This time, the adventure takes less time, mainly cause I learned more, of course. But some interesting questions comes to mind.

On a side note, the OL loses again, even with a better management of the cards than in the first time. I also switched the strategy. This time, instead of attack with the goblins, as in the first adventure, I tried to run with them to exit the best I could. This time 1 goblin could escape (in the first time, none) but I had to use the dash card to do this.

Well, let's go:

1) One of the heroes found on a search token a treasure box, resulting on a crossbow. The hero was a disciple. That kind of weapon is more oriented to the scout archetype, but there's no rule to prevent him from use it. Is that correct?

2) If this was in a campaign, the hero could keep the crossbow. But not the potions they find on the other search tokens, right?

3) If the necromancer is knocked out, what happens in this very turn to this familar? It shall be instantly removed from the map? If this is not supposed to happen, and in the next round the necromancer performs the stand up action, and the reanimate is still "alive", he can do the normal actions (walk/attack)?

4)The last one. This didn't happen, but I don't know exactly what could be done in this example. The question ends in two circunstances: if 5 goblins scapes or if the heores defeat Mauler. What if

four goblins already escaped and the fifth is really near to scape. Let's say one move action to the goal. The nearest hero would not be able to reach and kill him on the next turn; then the heroes defeat Mauler. The adventure ends immediately, or there still time to a next turn and the heores lose, or...tie?

Thanks in advance!

1) There's nothing stopping him/her from using the weapon, no.

The only real reasons that certain classes/heroes use particular weapons is that their skills and abilities may require certain weapon types. For example the Disciple has a few skills that require a Melee weapon. Most of the Wildlander skills require a Bow weapon etc. There's nothing stopping them using the weapon and using basic attacks, but they wouldn't be able to use these skills and as such may be less effective.

2) Yes, you keep the crossbow. You don't keep search item cards (i.e. potions etc.), but the Treasure Chest lets you select a Shop Item card. These you can keep (because they are not search items, they are shop items).

3) If the necromancer is KO'd, the reanimate does not also KO. It remains alive and can activate as normal.

4) In this scenario, it is called a close game :P The heroes win the quest, but the Overlord gets to ramble on about "how close" he was!

1) Anybody can use ANY weapon (exept all class cards)

2) Potions will be discarded at the end of quest, not encounter.

3) Familiar is 5th "character", so he will be alive even with dead necromancer

4) When Mauler is dead the quest ends. In Descent there is NO TIE AT ALL.

Seems my decisions are done correctly in the game then.

I'm aware that the rule book never tell us anything about a tie, but the scheme I described made me confused. I'm greatful it didn't happened in a real game session, lol.

Thanks a lot for replying :D

3) Familiar is 5th "character", so he will be alive even with dead necromancer

The reanimate can activate before the Necromancer stands up on his turn. However, Once the necromancer stands up, his turn immediately ends, so the Reanimate cannot activate after the Necromancer stands up.

Notably, while the Necromancer is knocked out, he cannot use his skills. Therefore, even if the Necromancer has "vampiric blood," the Reanimate will not have that yellow die while the Necromancer is KO.

1) Anybody can use ANY weapon (exept all class cards)

2) Potions will be discarded at the end of quest, not encounter.

3) Familiar is 5th "character", so he will be alive even with dead necromancer

4) When Mauler is dead the quest ends. In Descent there is NO TIE AT ALL.

I've seen quests/ situations where there have been ties.

Just wanted to point out if you didn't know already: The search items do indeed go back to the search deck, but not before you calculate the amount of gold each item is worth, then add the amount of gold to the heroes' money share. Even the items you used.

I've seen quests/ situations where there have been ties.

Then you've seen victory conditions executed wrongly. There is no possible situation where a quest can end in a tie. If you find one, please post it, and I'll be happy to explain how it's bianary (or how it needs an errata, but I am not aware of any quests for which this issue exists.)

Edited by Zaltyre

@Zaltyre: I understand what you mean, but not sure about the yellow die bit. Isn't the reanimate attacking with a red + blue die, as the card shows?

@Omnilash024: Sure, thanks. I wonder if I'll be able to play all the questions alone, tough. Previously you said that some for Nerkhall are not possible to avoid spoilers. If's just a matter of put tokens, my wife will gladly do it for me. A pitty I can't convince her to PLAY for real, lol. Anyway, I still don't own thisd expansion...for now ;)

There is a skill the Necromancer can purchase called "Vampiric Blood", that adds a yellow die to the Reanimate's attack pool, causing him to roll blue/red/yellow. However, if the Necromancer is knocked out, he can't use his skills/abilities. Therefore, Vampiric Blood will be "inactive" and the Reanimate will only roll the blue/red printed on his card.

Ah, I see. I didn't payed much attention to the skill cards yet, but I have to do it from now on, since I played the first quest and the heroes gained XP. Thanks!

I've seen quests/ situations where there have been ties.

Then you've seen victory conditions executed wrongly. There is no possible situation where a quest can end in a tie. If you find one, please post it, and I'll be happy to explain how it's bianary (or how it needs an errata, but I am not aware of any quests for which this issue exists.)

Ultimately, yes either the Overlord of the Heroes will actually win a quest. Specifically though, and what I should have emphasized, I am referring to "scenarios". Typically the first scenario.

Take "A Fat Goblin" for instance. Here the scenario ends when all crops are either saved or stolen. I have seen this scenario end several times where 2 out of 4 crops were saved/stolen. That's a situation where it ended up in a tie. Of course, "Fat Goblin" doesn't end there, but you get my drift.

I can also take an example from "Gathering Foretold". Here, There are several outcomes. The heroes win they get 100 gold. If they KO Splig, another 100 gold. But Then The OL can win and if Splig gets away the OL gets "Splig's revenge". So here is a quest where, you could sort of consider it a tie, where 1 side might get the victory, but the other side still got something out of it.

Ah, yes- that makes much more sense. There are certainly quests which can have beneficial results for both sides (or negative results for both sides.) I apologize, I thought you were referring to a tie in the sense that both (or neither) victory conditions were fulfilled, and that's what I was saying was impossible. Either A or B must occur, and they cannot both occur at the same time.

Hi there.

Started playing "A fat goblin" first encounter, with the party from the very first play. Upgraded some abilities and got a new axe for Grizban ;)

Although this was asked before, and since Ashrian is in play again, I'm still confused with this stun ability. I payed attention to the condition card, it says: "dircard this card of token. This is the ONLY action you may perform on your turn while you have this card or token"

For me, seems the same condition for a knocked out hero, except you don't roll the red dice to recover health/fatigue. The statement is very clear, the ONLY action. So, if the minion monsters begin ativation adjacent to Ashrian, they're actually immobilized until Ashrian moves away.

Is someone willing to clarify it for me in another way?

Thanks in advance.

If you start your activation Stunned, the only action you can take is discarding the condition. Once done, you are free to spend your second action as you want. Notice that while stunned, you still can do anything that is not an actions, as moving with fatigue, or using actions skills. Disciple could use his Prayer to heal himself, and if he has Cleansing Touch, he would discard the Stun with no effect for him.

For monsters, the same applies, and they can use their first action to discard the condition and fully use their second action. Notice that OL can still use cards on them to give "free movement points" which they could use without using an action, even while stunned.

On the contrary, when you are knocked-out, you cannot do anything but standing-up, using one action. Once done, your turn inmediately ends, so the other action is wasted, and you have no time to do anything else. Notice, though, that any passive effect that triggers "at the end of your turn", would still take effetc, as on this moment the hero would not be defeated anymore.

Edited by AndrewMM

Hmm... I see. So the fact is: I'm confusing the word ONLY with UNIQUE, actually. Well, this way the ability isn't that useful. If the monsters are already adjacent, ready to attack, and don't have to waste 1 action to move, they just can discard the stun and then attack her or others adjacent. **** you, Ashrian, I thought you're a better girl! :lol:

Thanks a lot, dude, I guess the problem is really over now.

Ashrian is better at keeping monsters from attacking others than stopping them from attacking her.

The text on the card can certainly be confusing though. For the longest while I thought the way you did. But here is what it is saying:

While you have the condition, the only action the figure can perform is to discard the card or token.

A figure has two actions during it's turn. The first action it can't do anything other then discard the card or token. Once the token has been discarded, the second action can be spent.

Additionally, if Stun is inflicted during a hero or monster's turn, it can use it's second action to discard it and be fine next turn.

Indeed. I'm sure to understand now. The only (or unique? lol) problem is that an ability SO good turn to aa ability almost unuseful, in my opinion.

Side note: the travelling step was funny. First card: nothing. Second card: You meet a sage, bla, bla, bla: see and take away one card form the overlord hand (cool). Third card: you see smoking ahead, bla, bla, bla... the overlord draws one card. LOL!