Saradyn in flames rules question

By theundead, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

"Any figure adjacent to a puzzle-cut edge that is not connected to another tile..." What does this mean? And BTW, is there no FAQ or errata for heirs of blood?

Thanks!

There is no FAQ or errata yet. The campaign is very well constructed and hasn't really needed one from what I've seen.

The text refers to a figure that is next to the edge of a tile that is not connected to anything. This normally isn't possible because complete maps have no edges that aren't capped off by end pieces. In this map, the floor is meant to be falling out from under you, so parts of the map have exposed edges as neighboring tiles disappear.

Edited by Charmy

So this doesn't mean just moving off through the black border?

BTW, can you offer strategy on this quest as OL?

I can take a look when I get home from work if no one else has provided one by then :)

OK, thanks.

So this doesn't mean just moving off through the black border?

No, the black border does not count as a 'puzzle cut edge'. In order to fall off the hero has to go to a space adjacent to where there used to be a tile, but it was demolished on a previous turn, and spend a movement point.

BTW, can you offer strategy on this quest as OL?

I haven't played this particular interlude before, but it seems the key to this quest is to reduce the number of objective tokens the heroes can get, as well as getting them into the Depths as soon as possible. Both of your open groups are in there, as well as Eliza Farrow, so that is a lot of damage you can pour onto them.

I can see one very powerful move is to use a card like Dark Charm or Grease Trap to hurl a hero off of an edge into the depths, cutting them off from the other heroes and leaving them open to a massive attack once they land. Alternatively you can trap a hero on a tile with a trap card, or use the Cave Spiders to block until Alric can destroy the tile they are on.

The sooner you can get a hero falling, the sooner the heroes may abandon their attempts to get clergy + search tokens, and instead rush to save their companion. You want to make this happen asap.

Obviously you will want to prioritize the heroes that are most likely to be carrying Tyrus., but just be careful that you don't leave yourself open, because the heroes will be able to act before you do when they land.

Use Eliza to drain the fallen hero of stamina and keep her safe behind a wall of your other monsters, because the heroes will be gunning for her in order to escape.

It entirely depends on composition of the hero party, but at first glance, two monster groups I would be in favor of taking as an open group are Bandits and Kobolds. You want monster groups with lots of figures so you can spend lots of actions searching the hero's bodies once they go down.

Bandits are amazing for doing very high damage, and they can pluck valuable potions off of fallen heroes. Kobolds will have plenty of time to reach full size on this map, and with Swarm in such a confined space they can do *tons* of damage! They will also provide reinforcements on a map which normally does not have any. Alric's Overpower ability is also great for forcing a hero into a space where they can be completely surrounded and swarmed. A surrounded hero that is forced to perform a stand-up action instead of getting revived is very advantageous for the OL.

Positioning your forces in the Depths so that no tile is safe to land in, as well as preventing blast and other multi-target attacks is critical. Also be aware that a Kobold play is somewhat risky because if Helena is revealed, all the minions within 3 spaces will die. Watch out for Helena for this reason, and ideally make sure Helena is found before over-committing with your kobolds.

If you don't have Kobolds or are really worried about revealing Helena and losing a bunch of them, then I think Volucrix Reavers are a strong choice too. Their high mobility means that no matter where the heroes choose to land in the depths, they can spring on them and do high damage. They also have the toughness to survive Helena.

Also, if the heroes have Army of Death.. well.. you need to keep the Necromancer fully fatigued at all times or you're in for a very bad time.

Edited by Charmy

Sounds like a sound plan... Problem is, I only have the core set and heirs of blood. Any suggestions for just that?

Thanks.

Guys, a question:

"Surge: Reveal 1 objective token on the target hero's Hero sheet."

Does that mean the OL gets to pick one at random, and that way could reveal Tyrus on the first try?

Guys, a question:

"Surge: Reveal 1 objective token on the target hero's Hero sheet."

Does that mean the OL gets to pick one at random, and that way could reveal Tyrus on the first try?

Without something saying otherwise I've got to assume that just like when a hero moves a large monster and therefore gets to choose where it expands, that when the OL spends this surge he gets to pick which token gets flipped.

I guess it all comes down to luck, again :/

Anyway, another question: what if the heroes enter a Secret Passage, and the tile the entrance to it is on gets demolished by Alric?

That's absolutely an FFG question. My best guess would be that when the hero leaves the secret passage (would be placed back on the demolished tile) he is instead set aside and is falling.

Alright, I'll ask them that (still waiting on a reply for my last question though :) )

Its worse than that:

If the tile the entrance to the secret passage is on gets demolished by Alric, set aside each hero figure on the secret room tile to designate they are falling and discard all tokens on that tile. Then discard the secret room tile. I realize this has been overlooked in the current ruleset, and will include it in the next FAQ.

Thanks for playing,

Kara Centell-Dunk

Game Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

So its destroyed before the heroes might even have the chance to fully explore it!

Its worse than that:

If the tile the entrance to the secret passage is on gets demolished by Alric, set aside each hero figure on the secret room tile to designate they are falling and discard all tokens on that tile. Then discard the secret room tile. I realize this has been overlooked in the current ruleset, and will include it in the next FAQ.

Thanks for playing,

Kara Centell-Dunk

Game Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

So its destroyed before the heroes might even have the chance to fully explore it!

However, wouldn't this auto-complete the room for the heroes? Not great, but not the worst.

Hmmm, I'm not sure. Hadn't thought about it like that.

No, if the secret room is discarded due to Alric, the secret room is not completed and the heroes receive no reward.

Thanks,

Kara Centell-Dunk

Game Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

No, if the secret room is discarded due to Alric, the secret room is not completed and the heroes receive no reward.

Thanks,

Kara Centell-Dunk

Game Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

Aww, :( that makes me kind of sad. Oh well- so let it be written, so let it be done. Down with the heroes.

Edited by Zaltyre

Another question for this one (we haven't been able to play it yet due to unforseen circumstances)

The rules state: "At the end of each overlord turn the figures that are falling return to the map. Each hero returns to the map first, then the overlord returns his monsters to the map. When a figure returns to the map this way, its controlling player chooses a unique space on the depths, places his figure in that space, and suffers 2 damage. If that space already contains a figure, that figure suffers 2 damage and is placed in the closest empty space by the player controlling the falling figure. "

What if the falling figure dies from suffering the 2 damage. Does it still damage a figure already in the selected space? And is it still moved to an adjacent space, even though nothing will fill the space it is currently in?

Edited by Atom4geVampire

The other figure would still be moved/damaged. Because the two figures cannot occupy the same space, the first thing that must occur after one figure enters is one of them must leave. Then, resolve damage for the entering figure, then the one that was moved.

I'll be playing this quest for the first time soon and I was reading it from the perspective of the OL, when I realized a potential flaw in the quest.

I want to bounce this off of you guys. What happens if the Overlord never moves Alric from the entrance tile after he is placed there on the Overlord's 2nd turn?

If he never moves, then he never destroys a tile, if he never destroys a tile then there is never a puzzle-cut edge from which to jump down into the depths. The heroes can thus never escape from the map.

Doesn't this result in an infinite stalemate? Its made even worse by the fact that Alric is unmovable, so not even a Crossbow could force him onto a new tile.

This also allows the Overlord to simply delay for 11 turns while he draws his entire hand of OL cards before moving Alric. Yes, this means the heroes get all the search tokens and clergy on the upper level, but the Overlord gets a turn with a full hand of cards once the heroes land in the depths.

Thoughts?

Edited by Charmy

Hmm... that may be a potential exploit- but then you've got an OL who is essentially refusing to play the game. This is a strategy (if you want to call it a strategy) that the OL would have to commit to immediately- it doesn't work to move Alric and then later decide to hold him steady.

You're also giving the heroes a rather large advantage letting them survey all the tokens, and the overlord receives no reinforcements- so the monster forces will be decimated.

Edited by Zaltyre

Well, the spiders and zombies are decimated, but the two groups in the depths are unharmed. It becomes a balancing game of full hand of OL cards vs. All clergy and tokens collected. Hmm...

Seems like the quest could use an errata, at least to fix the infinite stalemate exploit. Easy fix would be that Alric starts one square from the entrance tile and it is destroyed immediately. Problem solved.

Edited by Charmy

After playing this quest a while back I have another question. Basically, we were planning to block Alric in the first doorway with summoned stones, but a very unlucky Blinding Speed (and admittedly bad positioning on the heroes side) moved alric past all of the heroes on his first turn and so all heroes fell into the depths. Which of course sucked.. (so watch out for that)

Anyway, falling into the pit filled with Golems and Hellhounds, Leoric, our Geomancer who was carrying the token representing Tyrus, used Ways of Stone to teleport back to a stone that was still in the doorway on the 'upper level'.

This is allowed right? I mean, the quest rules say Alric can climb back out of the depths, but it doesn't say anywhere that heroes can't leave the depths under any circumstances. And I believe Ways of Stone says 'to a stone anywhere on the map '.

So basically, Leoric teleported out of the depths, hid behind his stones (which had extra defense), then kept out of Alric's reach, while the rest of us heroes cleared the depths before he jumped back in.

Seems like the quest could use an errata, at least to fix the infinite stalemate exploit. Easy fix would be that Alric starts one square from the entrance tile and it is destroyed immediately. Problem solved.

I think it would be better if the quest would say something like 'and his first action needs to be a move action towards the heroes'. Otherwise Blinding Speed (or Dash) will be even easier to perform.

So basically, Leoric teleported out of the depths, hid behind his stones (which had extra defense), then kept out of Alric's reach, while the rest of us heroes cleared the depths before he jumped back in.

Wow, that is sneaky! Kudos on your creativity. I don't think I've ever taken that skill playing a Geomancer, but in this case it has tremendous value. I suppose the way to deal with this with Alric is just to destroy the tile the summoned stone is on, prior to following the heroes into the depths.

I think it would be better if the quest would say something like 'and his first action needs to be a move action towards the heroes'. Otherwise Blinding Speed (or Dash) will be even easier to perform.

The problem with that is if the Overlord never performs a move action, the infinite stalemate remains. Unless the wording was "Alric must perform a move action on his first activation, and it must be towards the heroes."

Edited by Charmy