Hey guys,

I love Descent and most of the game's expansions, but I have a question that has halted one of my games. I submitted this to the rules questions at the bottom of the page but after 3 weeks I still have no reply. So maybe you can help.

For the quest compendium on page 61 the special rules state "As soon as the monsters in any rooms come into the line of sight of the heroes, the monsters grab a stack of coins and head for the hills - in other words, the nearest activated glyph."

I am a bit confused by the "As soon as" does this mean that when a hero enters LOS of a monster that the monster then interrupts their turn to move towards the activated glyph? Or does this just mean that the monsters can not activate on the overlord turn unless a hero entered LOS with them on a hero turn?

Curator said:

I decided not to buy the Quest Compendium due to massive errors, but my best guess is your first notion and that it interrupts and moves but I could be wrong

Also, don't bother with the Rules Questions thing at the bottom of the page. I know of no one who has actually gotten an answer using that since the site was moved to these new forums. Either it doesn't work or policy has been changed to not answer those questions.

Not having the book, I would venture to say that it means that on the OL's turn, when he activates that figure, he now has the option of moving them to a Glyph and spending one MP to use the Glyph and leave the map...

-shnar

So what is the best way to get the answer then? Since you guys say support won't answer it.

Just ask the group you're playing with. Whatever consensus they come up with, go for it. It is, after all, just a game. When you have weird rulings like this, just use some common sense and make your own judgement and then run with it

-shnar

To get an official answer? There isn't a best way. Though as many of the most knowledgeable people on here will point out, answers from FFG to rules questions aren't necessarily the best things to go buy, as they sometimes conflict with other rules or do not make logical sense to apply from a gameplay mechanics standpoint (See their revision of line of sight that allows a multi-space creature in some situations to block line of sight to itself).

The best thing to do is post your question here like you did, and find out what the concensus is, paying the most attention to the afforementioned knowledgeable people. I'd put Corbon and Antistone at the top of that list, though there really are quite a few.

Okay I will await their answer. I usually do ask the group but this caused a rare game halt. This book is so confusing sometimes. I hope to get an answer from some one that has the book.

Is it against the rules in the forum to PM a person with a friend invite?

If you click on their profile, there's an "add to my list of friends" link up top. I have no idea if it works.

Okay I will try that to get Corbon's or Antistone's help. Thanks

Curator said:

I don't have the quest compendium, so can't be confident of any answer, sorry.

It does sound like 'flavour text' (which I would generally ignore totally actually) rather than 'rules text', although you stated that it was part of the special rules. I'd check that if I was you, confirm it is clearly rules text.

If it is rules text, then it is very badly written, even by FFG's low, low standards. "Head for" has no clear meaning - it is a deliberately vague term where I come from at least. And what do they do when when they get to the activated glyphs? There must be further text somewhere that might help clarify things...

Basically, From what is already written it is either an abominable bit of writing that basically doesn't have a solution or there is a lot more to it than I have access to for know. I suspect the latter, as it is too low a standard even for FFG otherwise.

The quest is written by Jon Kolvalic (He of Dork Tower fame) and is meant to be light-hearted. I'd be inclined to play it in the same light and not worry too much about rules on this one.

Okay...so....hrmmm. I will scan the page since FFG can't or won't answer. Then you guys can read it and I will take a vote.

Thanks for the help though. I understand this may be annoying to you for me to keep bumping.

Curator said:

I maed them run immediately (their normal move!) so as to surprise the players who had a very good time!

But to be official I would have to say to move them on the OL's turn.

I do have the Quest Compendium, but have not yet played this quest (or any of them for that matter). Just for clarification purposes for Corbon and others, this is not flavor text, but special Quest Rules.

For what it's worth, after reading the Quest Rules, my take is that it's kind of the designer's way of saying that once the monsters become aware of the heroes' presence (activated by their coming into LOS, specifically..), then the special rules would activate beginning with the next Overlord Turn. In other words, now that the monsters know they are discovered, they begin to take the described actions from that point on, but not until it is their turn. I see nothing there to justify letting them go out of turn. That is not explicitly stated. It's just that they now have a specific mission to accomplish, from that point forward. I don't think "immediately head for the hills" should be taken to mean they get to violate normal game rules and move immediately. It is something you would think an editor would have caught and clarified, unless the editor of Quest Compendium doesn't actually play Descent, but merely edits text.

Other than that, simply follow the instructions the designer provided. At least that's how I will play it unless further clarification is forthcoming from FFG.