Hello forum!

Last night my group played the Local Politics quest, I was the overlod. A couple of aspects of encounter 2 had us a bit confused and I'd ike to know what you guys think about them.

1. Is passage blocked in tile 55A?

Tile 55A looks like an old prison. It depicts the cells walls; the door to one cell is still intact. The cell door has the red dotted elevation line on it (despite it's hard to notice it in this picture ):

We spent some time figuring out whether a figure could move between the two squares marked by the arrow, because that would make a great difference in regard to the encounter's goals.

My hero players and me personally agreed that it couldn't. However, the manual says:

A figure cannot move diagonally across elevation through a shared corner of an elevation line and a wall (the black edge of a map tile).

If we abide to the manual's wording, since the cell wall is not the black edge of a map tile, it is still possible to move between the two cells.

We ended up following the manual and allow the movement. Nonetheless, we still think that the manual's rule didn't make sense in that specific circumstance - maybe it flew under the author's radar..?

What do you think? How did your group handle this?

2. Can magistrates move only 2 squares maximum ?

Quest rules say:

If a monster is adjacent to a magistrate, the Overlord may, at the end of each of his turns, move that magistrate by 2 squares.

Let's suppose that, at the end of the OL's turn, a monster is adjacent to a magistrate. The OL moves the magistrate 2 squares. The magistrate ends up in a square that is adjacent to the same monster (or even another monster). Can the OL move the magistrate 2 more squares?

We ended up limiting the magistrate movement to 2 spaces maximum.

That are your thoughts about this?

Thanks!

1. The black lines on the map count as "wall", so you couldn't have performed that move. The " (the black edge of a map tile). " shouldn't be there, (or at least, shouldn't be the only thing there, since it is correct, but not exhaustive)

2. It would be 2 spaces maximum i believe

1) It is the black edge of a map tile (being a black space edge on a tile) even if it is not the outer black edge of a tile.

2) While an argument could be made for the RAW text allowing repeat moves (end of turn is a persistent trigger which could still hold true after the magistrate has moved) I think there has to be an implied "once per round per magistrate." I've played this quest a number of times, and even WITH that limitation it is a difficult quest for the heroes- exceedingly so if they don't have a hero who can place himself on the far side of the portcullis.

Without the restriction on the magistrate movement of 2 spaces per round per magistrate, it would be a relatively simple matter for the OL to ensure his victory in a single round.

Thank you for your replies!

It's good to hear that, because the way we played the encounter actually favored the heroes significantly.

I had understood that only these could be treated as black edge of a map tile (tile != space) :

--

Luca

I dare say you are wrong. The black thin walls between the cells count as edges as well.

The intact cell door should have no effect unless otherwise stated. Is there really an elevation line? I can't see it on the photo, but if there is one, I'd say heroes cannot cross this line (because of the black walls of the prison).

I just checked it, you are right, there IS an elevation line. Funny that the red shows up as white on your photo.