"Off the map" rules

By Sadgit, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Posted at

We have specific rules what knocked-out heroes may and may not do and how other heroes may interact with knocked-out heroes. I have summarized this in the CRRG under the entry Defeated.

I was wondering if the same rules apply to heroes who are not knocked-out but are still "off the map" . Let's say a Champion or an Apothecary has moved off the map through the exit or Tomble the Apothecary-Watchman has used his Heroic Feat.

1. Passive Abilities

  • As other figures may benefit from passive abilities of knocked-out heroes, this should be also true of heroes who are off the map. So the passive parts of Brew Elixir, Protective Tonic, Potent Remedies, Inky Substance, Glory of Battle should be still accessible by other heroes.

2. Abilities that require an active decision by the "off-map" hero

  • These abilities are indicated by something like “use this card“, "exhaust this card" or have fatigue costs. Examples are Herbal Lore, Secret Formula, or Protective Tonic.
  • Knocked-out heroes cannot use those abilities. Do we have any uFAQs that clarify if these abilities may be used by off-map heroes? My guess is that they can, but I am undecided. Do off-map figures still have turns? Do they have to test for Poisoned or Diseased? Does Ispher still recover damage from his Hero ability?
  • The set-up phase of a quest seems to be tailored to specifically avoid this problem. Heroes are placed before the traveling step when items (e.g. Lucky Charm) may be used.

Ideas or comments?

Edited by Sadgit
Posted at

I seem to recall a uFAQ in existence about targeting Tomble with an OL card while he is vanished from the map.

Remember that passive/active is not the only way to classify abilities. A Tomble monk bard would be pretty useless while off the map, as he's not "within 3 spaces" of anyone. It is an open question whether those passive abilities are "disabled" or simply "true for no heroes."

Posted at

Found an older uFAQ:

If an Apothecary is in play, but is off the map (as in Fortune and Glory, Encounter 1), can players still discard Elixir tokens to gain the basic healing effect? If so, can the Apothecary still use Elixir-related abilities, such as Herbal Lore, even if he is not on the map?

Quote

The quick answer is yes, other heroes may still use tokens of heroes that have left the map. The hero off the map cannot use or exhaust his skill cards, but their inherent effects are still available.

Thanks for playing,
Nathan Hajek
Creative Content Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/14849916#14849916[/q]

Edited by Sadgit
Posted at
15 hours ago, Zaltyre said:

I seem to recall a uFAQ in existence about targeting Tomble with an OL card while he is vanished from the map.

Remember that passive/active is not the only way to classify abilities. A Tomble monk bard would be pretty useless while off the map, as he's not "within 3 spaces" of anyone. It is an open question whether those passive abilities are "disabled" or simply "true for no heroes."

I agree. However, the examples I chose above do not have any distance requirement. The same would be true e.g. for the Prophet's Soothing Insight etc. I think it is unlikely that heroes off the map are intended to be targeted or affected, but I cannot find anything in the rules that would prevent it.

Edited by Sadgit
Posted at

True, none of the abilities you listed have distance requirements, but some do. I ak pretty sure that OL cards can't target KO heroes (except of course the explicit ones). But say Orkell is KO, blinding speed can't be his test.

Posted at

I believe that Brew Elixir actually includes the effect of the token as a reminder- the effect of discarding an elixir does not actually come from Brew Elixir, per the LoR rule book section on the skill cards.

Distance requirements is a really good question. Do all cards targeting heroes imply the phrase "a hero on the map"?