I sent a couple of questions to FFG that I couldn't find answered anywhere, but after about a week I still haven't gotten a response, and with a campaign continuing in the next couple of days, I thought I might as well ask the lot of you.

I'm just going to quote the message I sent to them:

Hi!

First of all, I hope you're having a great day. Second, I've got a number of questions relating to Descent 2nd Edition.

1) Pertaining to the "Reach" ability, what does "up to 2 spaces away" mean? Does it mean two open spaces between the user and the target, or does it mean one open space between the user and the target? Essentially, which of the following two would be correct? A: http://i.imgur.com/4iyTFvc.png or B: http://i.imgur.com/8dqyMB8.png ?

2) Are Familiars allowed to act in the turn in which they were summoned? Can a hero use an Ability to summon a familiar as their second Action, followed by activating the familiar?

3) Are Reinforcements (for the Overlord) activated in the turn in which they arrived on the map? Or does the Overlord place a new minion/master on the entrance tile (usually) and then wait with activating it until the next turn?

4) Relating to #3, how would large units that arrive as Reinforcements be handled, if reinforcements can only activate on the next turn? Since reinforcements happen at the start of the Overlord's turn, if any part of the Entrance tile is covered, many large monsters would be unable to be deployed. If monsters can activate on the turn they reinforce, this question is moot - blocking the entrance tile so the Overlord cannot reinforce with large monsters should be a legitimate tactic, I'd think.

5) Can Heroes or Monsters activate as many Actions as they have Action Points? For example, The Staff of Light Relic allows you to use an Action, with the result "Each hero within 3 spaces of you recover 1 Heart and 1 Fatigue" . Would a hero be able to use this twice, using both their Actions? This is assuming abilities that does not specifically mention "Exhaust this card to ..." , of course.

6) In Labyrinth of Ruin, on the 2/8 Travel Event card, there's an event stating "A traveling healer offers you a mysterious method of healing. The heroes choose 1 hero to suffer 2 ❤. Another hero of their choice recovers all ❤ and discards all of his Condition cards." Given that heroes restore all their health and have no conditions after finishing a quest and being in the Campaign Phase, how is this supposed to work? Is it supposed to be Exhausted and Discarded during the upcoming quest, or what?

That's all for now. Thanks for a really great game, and I hope to have this cleared up real soon, because I've got a game coming up on Monday/Tuesday. Take care! :3

Regards,
<my name here>

That's it, really. I'd be supremely grateful if anyone could take a crack at answering any (or all!) of these, although I suspect that without FFG answering, some just can't be answered with any degree of certainty.

Hello there,

I hope you have gotten the answers to your questions from FFG, however, if not, I'll answer them. First, I think you should take a look to the Glossary of Terms for Descent Second Edition of our friend here, Zaltyre . Although it is not official, it is the best document to solve this type of problems and uses official sources, such as rulebooks and FAQ spread in the forums. Now, for the questions:

1) Whenever you have to count spaces (uo to 2 spaces away, within X spaces, etc.) you should take the space where the figure is as 0, then the adjacent space as 1 and so on. Therefore, the option A of your example is the correct one.

2) First, any figure (including familiars) activate only once per round , and they do before or after the hero's turn (this means, before or after step 3 of the hero summary card turn ). That being said, yes, familiars can activate the turn they are summoned ; unless , they have already been activated in that round. For example, the necromancer of your party has the Reanimate on the map. He decides to activate the Reanimate to kill a monster, so the reanimate activation is over . Then, he decides to activate his hero and moves it closer to another monster, then, as a second action, he summons the reanimate, BUT, the reanimate cannot activate now beacuse he has already activated this round.

3) Yes, following the same logic mentioned above, the reinforcements of the Overlord may activate if they spawn at the start of his turn. Note, this is for the case of reinforments at the start of the Overlords turn only.

4) If the place where a monster should be reinforce is blocked (e.x. a hero blocking the entrance) the Overlord cannot reinforce the monster until the space is clear. For instance, if the entrance (place of reinforcing monsters) is block by 1 hero and the Overlord wants to place a Shadow Dragon, he wouldn't be able to do it due to the dragon being able to fit in the map. Also, if it was a minion shadow dragon blocking the entrance and the overlord would like to spawn a goblin archer, he wouldn't be able either, because the dragon blocks the entire place.

I hope I helped Have a good time playing

6) previous travel events could have caused a hero to suffer a condition or damage. This would be a chance to recover, if applicable.

I don't have much to add for 1-5. For question 6, consider that this may not be the first travel card. Maybe in the first travel card a hero took 3 wound, and then at the next travel icon everyone suffered a wound. If your card is the third travel card, a hero with 14 health might suffer 2 wound to let the poor mage (who is now at half health) heal up.

Hello there,

I hope you have gotten the answers to your questions from FFG, however, if not, I'll answer them. First, I think you should take a look to the Glossary of Terms for Descent Second Edition of our friend here, Zaltyre . Although it is not official, it is the best document to solve this type of problems and uses official sources, such as rulebooks and FAQ spread in the forums.

Thanks a lot for the link, though - it looks really helpful and I'll actually print it today and read through it later. Haven't done so yet, so bear with me if I sound argumentative and if I'm wrong. I may find a more thorough explanation explaining just exactly why I'm wrong, later.

Now, for the questions:

1) Whenever you have to count spaces (uo to 2 spaces away, within X spaces, etc.) you should take the space where the figure is as 0, then the adjacent space as 1 and so on. Therefore, the option A of your example is the correct one.

Hmm.. I think the issue is that there's a difference between "within X spaces" and "up to X spaces away", in my mind. "Within 2 spaces" suggests that it needs to be within that number of spaces, and applicable to the example you gave - 0 (figure), 1 (adjacent), 2 (target). But "Up to 2 spaces away" would imply to me that it's 2 spaces away from you, and the LoS/Range rules all cover distances in this fashion, afaik - that is, a range of 4 means that corner-to-corner, there can be 4 open spaces within Line of Sight. So I'm not convinced.

Maybe I'm missing something?

2) First, any figure (including familiars) activate only once per round , and they do before or after the hero's turn (this means, before or after step 3 of the hero summary card turn ). That being said, yes, familiars can activate the turn they are summoned ; unless , they have already been activated in that round. For example, the necromancer of your party has the Reanimate on the map. He decides to activate the Reanimate to kill a monster, so the reanimate activation is over . Then, he decides to activate his hero and moves it closer to another monster, then, as a second action, he summons the reanimate, BUT, the reanimate cannot activate now beacuse he has already activated this round.

3) Yes, following the same logic mentioned above, the reinforcements of the Overlord may activate if they spawn at the start of his turn. Note, this is for the case of reinforments at the start of the Overlords turn only.

4) If the place where a monster should be reinforce is blocked (e.x. a hero blocking the entrance) the Overlord cannot reinforce the monster until the space is clear. For instance, if the entrance (place of reinforcing monsters) is block by 1 hero and the Overlord wants to place a Shadow Dragon, he wouldn't be able to do it due to the dragon being able to fit in the map. Also, if it was a minion shadow dragon blocking the entrance and the overlord would like to spawn a goblin archer, he wouldn't be able either, because the dragon blocks the entire place.

Actually, I think this is wrong. I found the answer to the question just earlier today, in the Quest Guide (Core), on pg. 2, under "Reinforcements", it states (at the end): "If a reinforcing monster cannot be placed as indicated in this section because the tile is full, the monster is placed in the closest empty space(s) instead."

So as much as I think that it's odd that the heroes cannot "block the door", nothing seems to stop reinforcements (if there are any).

5) Yes, a hero, monster or lieutenant can use both of their actions to perform special actions if the card doesn't exhaust. In the case you mentioned, a hero can use both of his actions to use "The Staff of Light"; a barghest can use both of its actions to perfom "Howl", for example. Note that special actions that cotain attacks for monsters (such as Fire, for Elementals) may be only once per activation, beacuse monsters can only perform one attack action.

6) There are certain events that may appear to be useless due to not having effects; however, as I read from your transcription (because I don't have my things with me ATM), I would say that you are force to chose a hero to suffer 2❤ without gaining anything in return. This because the card says " choose " and not " heroes may choose ", forcing, then, to apply the effects without any benefits.

I hope I helped Have a good time playing

6) previous travel events could have caused a hero to suffer a condition or damage. This would be a chance to recover, if applicable.

I don't have much to add for 1-5. For question 6, consider that this may not be the first travel card. Maybe in the first travel card a hero took 3 wound, and then at the next travel icon everyone suffered a wound. If your card is the third travel card, a hero with 14 health might suffer 2 wound to let the poor mage (who is now at half health) heal up.

Thanks a lot, guys, I guess you're right. It was likely the wording on the card that threw me off, I guess, but I suppose that from a narrative point of view, they could've been poisoned, or the healing simply being too.. radical. Or whatever.

Either way, again, thanks a lot, even just discussing some rules helps iron things out and it's very helpful.

1) There is no difference in Descent between something being '3 spaces away from you' and 'within 3 spaces'. '0' is always the start space you are counting from.

4) You are correct. Reinforcements cannot be prevented by blocking the reinforcing tile. The reinforcements will simply place in the closest empty space(s) to the tile that will accommodate them.

5) An action counts against the attack limit of a monster if part of resolving the action involves performing an 'attack'. The simple rule of thumb is, if you are rolling an attack pool vs. a defense pool, measuring range, spending surges, etc. you are performing an attack. Thus, Bel'thir's "Cry Havok" action is an attack, but a Barghest "Howl" or an Ettin "Throw" is not.

1) There is no difference in Descent between something being '3 spaces away from you' and 'within 3 spaces'. '0' spaces away is always the start space you are counting from.

1) But even if you "count from 0", it doesn't change the problem. You'd still (potentially) have 0 (Figure), 1 (Reach), 2 (Reach), 3 (Target). I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just not seeing the answer or why it'd be correct.

If it was a ranged attack attacking "two spaces away", it would function as in example B , from "corner to corner", needing 2 range to hit.

But with Reach, it essentially requires you to count to the far side of the target, as in example A ? Why'd that be?

1) But even if you "count from 0", it doesn't change the problem. You'd still (potentially) have 0 (Figure), 1 (Reach), 2 (Reach), 3 (Target). I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just not seeing the answer or why it'd be correct.

If it was a ranged attack attacking "two spaces away", it would function as in example B , from "corner to corner", needing 2 range to hit.

But with Reach, it essentially requires you to count to the far side of the target, as in example A ? Why'd that be?

From the rules:

Reach : This monster may attack targets up to 2 spaces away.

and

The Reach keyword allows the figure to use a Melee attack to target a figure up to two spaces away, rather than only adjacent spaces. The target still needs to be in line of sight.

When a figure has reach, they would be able to attack the figure in example A, but not the figure in example B.

The counting of spaces is the same with ranged attacks. Your "Example B" has a figure at range 3 , not at range 2. The corner-to-corner measure you are talking about it is used for determining line of sight, not range.

[...]

It is the same with ranged attacks. Your "Example B" has a figure at range 3 , not at range 2. The corner-to-corner measure you are talking about it is used for determining line of sight, not range.

Oh? I was just sitting with the rulebook, trying to find something on this, poring over the rulebook, but I couldn't find anything. Using the example on pg. 12 for Line of Sight , I would've assumed that with the shot passing through two squares, Leoric would need a Range of 2 to hit.

Edit: Nvm, in the example given on pg. 14, the goblin is clearly included in the count. Huh.

[...]

It is the same with ranged attacks. Your "Example B" has a figure at range 3 , not at range 2. The corner-to-corner measure you are talking about it is used for determining line of sight, not range.

Oh? I was just sitting with the rulebook, trying to find something on this, poring over the rulebook, but I couldn't find anything. Using the example on pg. 12 for Line of Sight , I would've assumed that with the shot passing through two squares, Leoric would need a Range of 2 to hit.

Edit: Nvm, in the example given on pg. 14, the goblin is clearly included in the count. Huh.

The only reason Leoric needs 3 range, in the particular example given, instead of 2 is because you can not count spaces through blocked terrain (Map spaces with solid red outline).

Line of Sight and Range are not mutually inclusive. In some instances you will be able to trace LoS through more or less (as in the example) spaces than the spaces you need to count for range.

This was one of the rules our group played wrong for the longest time and I'm pretty sure I hurt my brain trying to understand it. I feel you pain buddy!

Yeah, I always thought of it as a single process, but I when I start thinking of it as two separate processes, it makes a lot of sense. Technically, if I had Line of Sight, I could count spaces around corners if I wanted to.

Obviously, that never happens, but thinking like that highlights that it's two completely different processes. Line of Sight just determines if you're allowed to make an attack, and then afterwards you count spaces.

It makes a lot more sense to do it like this, but I just never thought about it before. I need to just make it a mantra; two separate processes, two separate processes, two separate processes.

Thanks a lot for the help, guys, this has really helped iron it out in my mind and I shouldn't have a problem explaining it to the others next session.

Yes, LOS and Range are two things. One can be done with independence from the other. Take for example "Heart Seeker", a bow from MoR Act II Item, it says: " You do not need line of sight to perform an attack with this weapon. ". However, you still need Range. This become funny when you have a bounty hunter with "Long Shot", firing to monster even across the map hahaha; OR, using "Army of Death", where you need LOS but not Range: " ...This attack affects each monster in your line of sight, ignoring range;... "

Maybe these two examples could easier the understanding of these two concepts.

Yes, LOS and Range are two things. One can be done with independence from the other. Take for example "Heart Seeker", a bow from MoR Act II Item, it says: " You do not need line of sight to perform an attack with this weapon. ". However, you still need Range. This become funny when you have a bounty hunter with "Long Shot", firing to monster even across the map hahaha; OR, using "Army of Death", where you need LOS but not Range: " ...This attack affects each monster in your line of sight, ignoring range;... "

Maybe these two examples could easier the understanding of these two concepts.

Army of Range probably can't be used with Heart Seeker, though; Army of Range specifically stipulates "...each monster in your line of sight..." as part of the ability, even if the weapon itself makes a general exception to the regular rule for attacking in regards to Line of Sight.

I could be wrong, though.

But if I am, that could potentially break a couple of Encounters, too, because you wouldn't be able to block the attack with anything whatsoever. Ignoring only Range is fine, because you need Line of Sight, and most obstacles block it. Ignoring only Line of Sight is fine, because you can't count Range through obstacles. But ignoring both? No way, José.

Generally speaking, anything which blocks space counting will block LOS. Good news, army of death is a reanimate attack, so it doesn't matter what weapon the necromancer has equipped.