Are the monster cards open for everyone to see who is playing?

We have been playing that the stats and abilities are hidden - BUT - we re-read and found this:

3B. Randomize the Chest Markers and
Lay Out Monster Reference Cards
The overlord player separates the chest markers into
their three types and then randomizes each type, making
sure to keep the markers’ number side down. Then, he
selects the set of 12 monster reference cards that corresponds
to the number of players in the game and lays
them out face up near the playing area where all players
can easily see and reference them.

From Vanilla rules.

Fraid so. The only times I can recall from memory that you don't have to share information is the layout of the maps and any non standard special abilities named monsters have.

So the only hidden things then would be:

Heroes feats from OL

and

Overlords hand - and special abilities of bosses.

SoylentGreen said:

Correct... almost. The quest guide Map is not displayed to the heroes.

Sometimes there is quest information that is hidden - at least until the heroes fulfill some task. The Quest Guide details this. Its something like you read out the gray passages and don't read out the normal ones, or vice versa.
And sometimes there will be a ? counter on the board for example, and the heroes don't know what it does until they end their turn on it and you are instructed to read them something new. Or there might be spaces marked only on the quest map (which only the OL sees) by shading or Xs (there are no X tokens for placing on the board so these are obviously hidden things that only the OL knows) that allow certain things to happen - like bonus spawn spots, trap triggers, web surprises etc etc.

Each such case will have its own instructions and triggers, all in the quest guide.

Oh yes - I would never show them that!

But yeah - up until now - I have held the enemy cards to myself - that is really the only change we will need to make in our play.

Feats - OL hand - map - all secret!

Making the standard monster stats secret wouldn't really work, even if they wanted to, because they never change, so players will end up memorizing them.

But regardless, they're definitely open information.

Antistone said:

I don't think I was thinking of the masters - but rather the final dungeon boss... When they have any sort of special abilities - we do not need to share them at all - until the overlord decided it is time to unleash the special abilities.

These would fall into the items from within the quest book/quest instructions that the OL would not read.

You said monster cards. The cards list the stats and abilities for normal and master monsters.

Named monsters may have differences listed in the quest guide. You reveal their stats immediately, but their abilities are secret.

"When the heroes encounter a named monster, the overlord player must explain any different or special stats the monster possesses. The overlord player is not required to reveal any special abilities the monster may have." (p. 16)

Antistone said:

Yes - that's what I meant! I'm just not wording things well today. The way you wrote is how I do/will do from here on out. (Being that we have been playing with hidden monster stats.

You can always make a house rule that hides the basic monster stats. I can just hear a pirate from the caribbean saying "Arrr, they're more like guidelines."