Fire Breath & Blast across elevation

By Dado0017, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Hi All,

Can someone explain how would fire breath or blast work across elevation.

For example in quest Civil War of Shadow of Nerekhall campain you have situation where you can firebreath few guards and leaders but some of them are on oposite side of elevation.

Thank you for any help.

Elevation lines do not disrupt adjacency, in other words two spaces separated by an elevation line are still adjacent. It means AoE effects like Fire Breath or Blast apply as normal, regardless of presence of elevation lines.

Tnx Indalecio, I was aweare of that, my question was more about do you get black defense die if affected by firebreath.

So if my hybrid sentinel was on one side of elevation together with his first target, but i roll surge and then want to affect some targets on a different side.

If you do not get what I mean I can also post a picture.

The additional black dice is only granted to the target of the attack, and it only works against Melee attacks without Reach. So additional figures affected by the attack due to AoE effects wouldn't get the extra dice. Hope that helps

EDIT: To be clear, these additional figures you want to include in your AoE attack are NOT targets. They are only AFFECTED by the attack. The target is the one figure you attack. Only that figure is entitled to get the extra black dice if the right conditions are met. Note some special attacks have multiple targets. In that case each target would potentially benefit from the extra black dice.

Edited by Indalecio

The additional black dice is only granted to the target of the attack, and it only works against Melee attacks without Reach. So additional figures affected by the attack due to AoE effects wouldn't get the extra dice. Hope that helps

EDIT: To be clear, these additional figures you want to include in your AoE attack are NOT targets. They are only AFFECTED by the attack. The target is the one figure you attack. Only that figure is entitled to get the extra black dice if the right conditions are met. Note some special attacks have multiple targets. In that case each target would potentially benefit from the extra black dice.

This is right. You may house rule it if you feel it doesn't make sense flavour-wise.

The additional black dice is only granted to the target of the attack, and it only works against Melee attacks without Reach. So additional figures affected by the attack due to AoE effects wouldn't get the extra dice. Hope that helps

EDIT: To be clear, these additional figures you want to include in your AoE attack are NOT targets. They are only AFFECTED by the attack. The target is the one figure you attack. Only that figure is entitled to get the extra black dice if the right conditions are met. Note some special attacks have multiple targets. In that case each target would potentially benefit from the extra black dice.

This is right. You may house rule it if you feel it doesn't make sense flavour-wise.

And accept the consequences of house ruling a game mechanic that has specifically designed a particular way.

The additional black dice is only granted to the target of the attack, and it only works against Melee attacks without Reach. So additional figures affected by the attack due to AoE effects wouldn't get the extra dice. Hope that helps

EDIT: To be clear, these additional figures you want to include in your AoE attack are NOT targets. They are only AFFECTED by the attack. The target is the one figure you attack. Only that figure is entitled to get the extra black dice if the right conditions are met. Note some special attacks have multiple targets. In that case each target would potentially benefit from the extra black dice.

This is right. You may house rule it if you feel it doesn't make sense flavour-wise.

And accept the consequences of house ruling a game mechanic that has specifically designed a particular way.

I don't know about that. The chances of fire breath crossing over an elevation line seem like a low chance of happening. Blast, i'm sure has a higher chance of happening, but these still seem very situational. Flavour-wise, it also makes not much sense. When attacking, you target what you want to attack, not the figures above or below the elevation line. So when a blast would occur, it wouldn't be able to reach through the wall and floor. That's why I think a black dice should be given out.

The additional black dice is only granted to the target of the attack, and it only works against Melee attacks without Reach. So additional figures affected by the attack due to AoE effects wouldn't get the extra dice. Hope that helps

EDIT: To be clear, these additional figures you want to include in your AoE attack are NOT targets. They are only AFFECTED by the attack. The target is the one figure you attack. Only that figure is entitled to get the extra black dice if the right conditions are met. Note some special attacks have multiple targets. In that case each target would potentially benefit from the extra black dice.

This is right. You may house rule it if you feel it doesn't make sense flavour-wise.

And accept the consequences of house ruling a game mechanic that has specifically designed a particular way.

I don't know about that. The chances of fire breath crossing over an elevation line seem like a low chance of happening. Blast, i'm sure has a higher chance of happening, but these still seem very situational. Flavour-wise, it also makes not much sense. When attacking, you target what you want to attack, not the figures above or below the elevation line. So when a blast would occur, it wouldn't be able to reach through the wall and floor. That's why I think a black dice should be given out.

If it is so situational, why change it in the first place? The rules are not written so that they provide 'theme' (or whatever that means) or a narrative, but to make sure the game is balanced. Even though the change seems minor, it could lead to a precedent where you house rule a lot of minor details that sums up to almost a different game. I am not saying you can't house rule something, but I would highly discourage it if the change is made from a 'thematical' perspective.

Edit: To clarify a bit more about setting a 'precedent': what might make sense to one person, doesn't necessarily make sense to another. In a competitive game, this could lead to the parties arguing about whether or not some part of the rules should be changed so that the rules make 'more sense'. As far as Descent goes, don't let theme be captured in the rules, but try to understand the world using the rules with your imagination. For example, monsters can't discard the weakened condition like they can with stun because monsters can't perform a rest action. Our group likes to think that the OL brewed the coffee too strong at the 'evil monster meeting':)

Edited by Ceasarsalad101

The additional black dice is only granted to the target of the attack, and it only works against Melee attacks without Reach. So additional figures affected by the attack due to AoE effects wouldn't get the extra dice. Hope that helps

EDIT: To be clear, these additional figures you want to include in your AoE attack are NOT targets. They are only AFFECTED by the attack. The target is the one figure you attack. Only that figure is entitled to get the extra black dice if the right conditions are met. Note some special attacks have multiple targets. In that case each target would potentially benefit from the extra black dice.

This is right. You may house rule it if you feel it doesn't make sense flavour-wise.

And accept the consequences of house ruling a game mechanic that has specifically designed a particular way.

I don't know about that. The chances of fire breath crossing over an elevation line seem like a low chance of happening. Blast, i'm sure has a higher chance of happening, but these still seem very situational. Flavour-wise, it also makes not much sense. When attacking, you target what you want to attack, not the figures above or below the elevation line. So when a blast would occur, it wouldn't be able to reach through the wall and floor. That's why I think a black dice should be given out.

If it is so situational, why change it in the first place? The rules are not written so that they provide 'theme' (or whatever that means) or a narrative, but to make sure the game is balanced. Even though the change seems minor, it could lead to a precedent where you house rule a lot of minor details that sums up to almost a different game. I am not saying you can't house rule something, but I would highly discourage it if the change is made from a 'thematical' perspective.

Edit: To clarify a bit more about setting a 'precedent': what might make sense to one person, doesn't necessarily make sense to another. In a competitive game, this could lead to the parties arguing about whether or not some part of the rules should be changed so that the rules make 'more sense'. As far as Descent goes, don't let theme be captured in the rules, but try to understand the world using the rules with your imagination. For example, monsters can't discard the weakened condition like they can with stun because monsters can't perform a rest action. Our group likes to think that the OL brewed the coffee too strong at the 'evil monster meeting':)

The reason i'd like to change it is because of theme. My playgroup really enjoys how thematic this game is, and i'd like to assume a lot of users on bgg would think so too, with it's high thematic rating (50 something). This is our second house ruling, with the first involving elven boots and immobilize.

I also lost it at the end of your edit :P