Custom Box Art Hero - Ocvist the Dragonslayer (with Drakon) [Maze of the Drakon]

By AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Topic moved to BoardGameGeek!

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2567530/ocvist-dragonslayer-custom-box-art-hero-maze-drako

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drakon_front_en.jpg?pub_secret=ee529777d8 drakon_back.jpg?pub_secret=1f40f45779

Czech version:
ocvist_front.jpg?pub_secret=a4b469f406 ocvist_back.jpg?pub_secret=f1f4aee9ac
drakon_front.jpg?pub_secret=e209e26d57 drakon_back.jpg?pub_secret=1f40f45779

maze_of_the_drakon.png?pub_secret=526617

This hero (1/5) is part of the custom expansion Maze of the Drakon
this hero is finished , read about the play-tests here

maze_of_the_drakon_original.png?pub_secr

_bg_new.jpg?pub_secret=cf12ed0447 _both_front.jpg?pub_secret=fbdf56443d

FAQ:

Do I recover Fatigue when an attack targeting me is a miss?
Yes.

Do I recover Fatigue when I am affected by the AOE attack like Fire Breath or Blast and the attack is a miss?
Yes.

Do I recover Fatigue when AOE attack does not deal any damage to me, but deals damage to other affected heroes?
Yes.

What 'if possible to place the Drakon figure in your space' means?
It means 'If possible to fit entire Drakon figure base in your space, considering your occupied space empty'.

How do I move as the Drakon?
Rules for Large Monsters applies to you.

Can I use skills like Oath of Honor as the Drakon?
Yes. If it is not possible to expand on the selected target space, expand to the closest possible empty space. Keep in mind, that you cannot perform melee attack if you are not adjacent to a target.

What happens when I am killed as the Drakon?
You place your Hero Token on one of the 4 spaces you occupied (your choice).

What happens when I am killed as the Drakon and then resurrected, do I return as a Drakon?
No, you replace your Hero Token with your figure.

In the end of the Heroic Feat, do I choose where to place my figure?
Yes, you place your figure on one of the 4 spaces you occupied (your choice).


About:

I am integrating heroes from FFG Drakon 4th , which includes two heroes from the Descent box & rules art - Knight and Ranger and also great proxy for Tyrus . I wrap them under custom expansion "Maze of the Drakon" . Goal here is to make them interesting as much as possible, bringing something new to the game - I would rather have them weak with something new than overpowered.

Starting with the Knight, warrior archetype. Idea is, that he can use his heroic to turn into tanky 2x2 dragon ( Drakon ) - temporary. I think that being 2x2 character is really strong, especially in some quests. You can easily block passages, objective tokens and cards which affect adjacent targets are incredible. I would prefer buffing defense instead of attack.

It would be much appreciated, if you leave any feedback, suggestion, find typo, fix bad wording, anything.

Artwork:

We have box artwork from Belibr, however big part of his body is missing . Then we have Drakon box art and Drakon hero card .

I decided to use box art and Drakon box art to cover missing piece. I still had to improve image quality and paint some missing parts. Final result is alright, even though it would be great to have his whole body.

Name:

FFG didn't name him, Belibr, artist of the of box art didn't name him and community named him " Angry Geddy Lee, the Ranger Smasher ". However that's just a joke name, so I came up with more Fantasy name:

Ocvist the Dragonslayer

Ocvist is dragon in the Witcher and the design matches fairy tales dragons, Drakon and Smaug - dragon hording gold in the cave. Also in the Witcher you can find Dragonslayer Saesenthessis who is dragon that can transform into human.

Name fit nicely with other heroes like Leoric of the Book , Grisban the Thirsty , Reynhart the Worthy and more.

Fluff text:

“One of you will be allowed to escape. The rest will be my next meal…”

This is official quote from the Drakon 4th from Drakon herself.

Biography:

In Descent from FFG we have nothing . However we have some story from the Drakon 4th:

The Knight story is here :
The knight stepped quickly down the spiral staircase, his chainmail clinking as he moved. His sword was drawn and clean, and it shone in the torchlight. The knight had already overcome trials in this unnatural labyrinth. He had escaped the allure of the magical harp. He had survived the dragon’s cruel games. He had collected nearly all the gold he needed to escape. Around the corner ahead, he saw it – an unmistakable gleam. Torchlight on golden coins. Only a few more feet and he would have his salvation. But as he stepped forward a windstorm rose around him, and the golden gleam vanished…

The Drakon story is here :
Drakon snarled and the heroes she’d captured stumbled away. On other days, she would already have eaten them in a flurry of snapping jaws and pitiful screams. Today, it seemed her appetite was diminished. Still, to release these thieves would send the wrong message entirely. And a little game would certainly enliven the dreary chambers of her dungeon. Drakon opened her vast, toothy maw, and hissed, “One of you will be allowed to escape. The rest will be my next meal…”

And here :
They had been trapped in the labyrinth for mere hours, but their partnership had broken in seconds. The druid moved more carefully now, hand pressed firmly against her side to help the blood clot. She entered a new chamber, and she peered left and right for any sign of Drakon or her former companions. Either would attack on sight, given her weakened state. In the center of this room, a wooden horn, carved with runes and archaic sigils, rested on a small altar. Before she set the horn to her lips, not a breath of air stirred the dust underfoot. But then she sounded the horn, and with its booming voice she called the hurricane…

Ocvist story should be +-100 words and should include connection between the Drakon and him, expanding the Knight story.
Idea is that he slayed original female Drakon and people started to call him "The Dragonslayer" without knowing that it was at some cost - that he became one.

Yet to be written.

Stats:

4 Speed, 12 Health, 4 Stamina, 1 Gray defense.

These stats are most common for warriors: Alys Raine , Syndrael , Reynhart the Worthy , Sir Valadir , Nanok of the Blade .

Attributes:

I would go with 5 might - well it's a dragon knight, I would expect him to be strong.

5 Might, 3 Willpower, 2 Knowledge, 1 Awareness.

Exactly same as Grisban the Thirsty . Other heroes with 5 might:
Corbin has 5 2 2 2, Steelhorns and Mordrog have 5 3 1 2.

Hero Ability:

You have the Drakon card. Each time you are attacked and suffer no Heart, recover 1 Fatigue.
Each time attack that targets you is a miss or is resolved and you don’t suffer any Heart, you recover 1 Fatigue.
- buffed to also works with AOE attacks that does not directly targets you and wording changed to match Obsidian Scalemail

This is quite general ability to recover fatigue with slightly different condition then other heroes have. I expect this hero to be tank that forces enemies to attack him in his dragon form so I would expect him to have benefit from it. Excellent with Knight's Defend skill.

Item Obsidian Scalemail does the same with stronger effect: "Each time you are attacked and suffer no Heart, recover 2 Fatigue.".

Similar Hero Abilities:
Alys Raine : Each time a hero adjacent to you suffers 1 or more Heart from an attack, you recover 1 Fatigue.
Karnon : Each time a monster adjacent to you is defeated, recover 1 Fatigue.
Mordrog : Each time you suffer 1 or more Heart, you may recover 1 Fatigue.
Varikas the Dead (CK) : At the start of your turn, recover 1 Fatigue.

Heroic Feat:

Use at the end of your turn, if possible to place the Drakon figure in your space. Until the end of your next turn, replace your figure with the Drakon figure.
During your turn until the end of your next turn, if it’s possible to expand, replace your figure with the Drakon figure. By this all unspent movement points are immediately lost . During transformation, rules for Large Monsters applies to you, add 1 additional gray dice to your defense pool and your movement is limited to 3. You cannot use Additional movement or items to increase it.
- usage of "possible to place" instead of "possible to expand" since it's always possible to expand by the rules (you just expand on the closest empty space)
- changed from "During your turn" to "Use at the end of your turn" to get rid of lose of unspent movements points.
- reduced text and split into new "Drakon" familiar card.

It doesn't cost action, because it doesn't immediately do something - you just became bigger and stronger, no explosion. Sentence " if possible to place the Drakon figure in your space " means " if possible to fit entire Drakon figure base in your space, considering your occupied space empty ". You replace your figure at the end of your turn and replace it back at the end of your next turn.

In consideration was:
Push enemies away when expanding.
Way too strong, heroic on it's own - Astarra Heroic: " Use at the start of your turn to move each other figure within 3 spaces of you 1 space. ".

Drakon card:

To reduce amount of text from the hero card, I decided to create additional "familiar" card.

While your hero figure is replaced with the Drakon figure, add 1 additional gray die to your defense pool, 1 additional green power die to your attack pool, your speed is limited to 3 and you cannot gain movement points from items or suffering Fatigue.
- added additional green power die to add some buff for Hero turn
- removed "rules for Large monsters applies to you" because it's obvious
- improved sentence to correctly limit movement points gain

You are bigger and you got slightly better defense and attack - that is good enough. As 2x2 hero your biggest advantage is blocking passages, standing on objective tokens, etc.

In consideration was:
Adding Fire Breath attack action.
Way too strong, heroic on it's own - Leoric of the Book Heroic: " Action: Perform an attack with a Magic weapon. This attack ignores range and targets each figure adjacent to you. 1 attack roll is made but each figure rolls defense dice separately. "

Do not buff attack.
During your turn, being 2x2 character which can't spend fatigue to move could be disadvantage and that is not intention. Added green power die as a little bonus - Additional surge/hearth or both is good in every situation.

Add Black defense die instead of Gray.
Instead of doing that, buff of both attack and defense is more appropriate. Warrior already can get additional dices, so adding black die is not necessary.

" Each time you are not defeated on an attack targeting you, add 1 additional brown die to your defense pool. "
Clunky, way too much text for such a simple mechanic.

Thank you for your time reading this ❤️ .
https://instagram.com/awesometree_in_the_dark/

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

Descent Custom Hero Creator

This will help even if you will need a bit of work with photoshop to have a perfect result.
But keep in mind those miniature really look ridiculous in terms of size compared to Descent V2, especially for the last ones.

Feat "transforming" heroes are really bad ideas and really hard to balance. You can change the text to something simplier :

"Use at the start of your turn. Until the start of your next turn, replace your figure with the Drakon figure. While as Drakon, your speed is reduced to 3 and add 1 grey defense die to your defense pool"

In term of rules, if you "remove" and "replace" your figure with a larger one, you place it in the "closest possibility", so, no use to speak about expand (for example, if you had to reinforce a monster that can't fit in the respawn square, place that figure in the closest space so it can expand, so same here). There's trouble with weapon, armor, and all. Isn't it a bit strange a dragon attack with a sword ? And a "no explosion nor firebreath dragons ?" I would be fair to have "alternate" stats, but would be really complex to do.

Thank you so much for your feedback! Much appreciated.

On 8/19/2019 at 10:15 PM, rugal said:

Descent Custom Hero Creator

This will help even if you will need a bit of work with photoshop to have a perfect result.

No problem with that. I already did some (e.g. Challara ), but I have them in Czech language, so no really point sharing them here right now.

On 8/19/2019 at 10:15 PM, rugal said:

But keep in mind those miniature really look ridiculous in terms of size compared to Descent V2, especially for the last ones.

I do realize that, they fit nicely with original 25mm heroes and of course perfectly with Descent V1. Here is size photo comparison .

On 8/19/2019 at 10:15 PM, rugal said:

Feat "transforming" heroes are really bad ideas and really hard to balance.

I do understand the problems with balance, that's why I think that effect should be temporary. However it doesn't seems like bad idea, it feels quite unique and interesting. Requires some thinking, how to place yourself the best way.

On 8/19/2019 at 10:15 PM, rugal said:

In term of rules, if you "remove" and "replace" your figure with a larger one, you place it in the "closest possibility", so, no use to speak about expand (for example, if you had to reinforce a monster that can't fit in the respawn square, place that figure in the closest space so it can expand, so same here).

Make sense, thanks for that!

On 8/19/2019 at 10:15 PM, rugal said:

There's trouble with weapon, armor, and all. Isn't it a bit strange a dragon attack with a sword ? And a "no explosion nor firebreath dragons ?" I would be fair to have "alternate" stats, but would be really complex to do.

Well as you said, it would be really complex to do and it's just thematic. Without those changes, you basically scale perfectly with strength of your hero, not screwing balance of the game. Better sword -> better dragon teeths, better armor -> stronger dragon skin. Adding something like "Surge: Fire breath" would make this hero ridiculously overpowered. I think that being 2x2 is already really nice in some quest (blocking passages), sometimes not that much, but still good with some class skills. Extra defense dice is also thematically nice, that you are big tanky dragon.

On 8/19/2019 at 10:15 PM, rugal said:

You can change the text to something simplier :

"Use at the start of your turn. Until the start of your next turn, replace your figure with the Drakon figure. While as Drakon, your speed is reduced to 3 and add 1 grey defense die to your defense pool"

Alright.
So no ' Rules for Large Monsters applies to you. ', because it's probably obvious, correct?
And no ' You cannot use Additional movement or items to increase it. ', because it's clear with ' your speed is limited to 3. ', correct?
Make sense to change ' During your turn ' to ' Start of your turn ' because then we can skip ' By this all unspent movement points are immediately lost. '. However I think it would be better, to change it to end - ' Use at the end of your turn. Until then end of your next turn ... ' because then you can better position yourself before getting movement limited to 3, also you can't immediately use your skills, so overlord have time to react -> run away with monsters.

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

I'm more interrested in a druid hero sheet since I want à druid for descent 😉

The link to Vyrah point out to Red scorpion as a warrior. You know she is a scout ?

There is no use to precise the "rules for large monster applies to you" since the large monsters have no such rules it's obvious since it's base is large as drakon is.

I would have Just did : "feat : Action : perform an attack. This attack has fire breath" with the fire breath rule.

Using it at the end of the turn is pointless since drakon has no attack bonus. Basically, he is Just a tank.

On 8/20/2019 at 11:02 AM, rugal said:

The link to Vyrah point out to Red scorpion as a warrior. You know she is a scout ?

Fixed the link . Yes I know, it's Eliam hero sheet for her, I have too many scouts in collection :)

On 8/20/2019 at 11:00 AM, rugal said:

I'm more interrested in a druid hero sheet since I want à druid for descent 😉

Didn't think about that hero yet! Let's do it one by one.

On 8/20/2019 at 11:11 AM, rugal said:

There is no use to precise the "rules for large monster applies to you" since the large monsters have no such rules it's obvious since it's base is large as drakon is.

I would have Just did : "feat : Action : perform an attack. This attack has fire breath" with the fire breath rule.

Using it at the end of the turn is pointless since drakon has no attack bonus. Basically, he is Just a tank.

Well not really pointless. You can run long distance with your hero (like two movement actions + additional movement with fatigue) and block some passage.
I like that idea of adding Fire Breath feat, but it seems quite strong, unsure about that. I would definitely add "perform Melee attack" to that feat. At least if you transform at the end of your turn, Overlord can run away from you (fear the Drakon!) or position smartly his minions, so it wouldn't be that devastating. At the start of your turn, in good situation, you could just attack 4 minions twice.

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

While I hate to undercut this with abject silliness ... you may want to look here.

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/32429787#32429787

As stated, those two strike a solid resemblance to the Descent box art heroes. And... the folks at BGG have affectionately nicknamed those three

  • Angry Geddy Lee, the Ranger Smasher
  • Shoulderpads McLantern
  • Oblivious, the Paranoid Ranger.

That being said, someone did make some hero sheet stats for the characters (listed in the linked thread). You may want to look at those for a starting point.

... also, how's Drakon? fun game?

Edited by thinkbomb
35 minutes ago, thinkbomb said:

... also, how's Drakon? fun game?

Best game ever !

On 8/20/2019 at 7:34 PM, thinkbomb said:

... also, how's Drakon? fun game?

I didnt played it yet, but I really look forward to. :) Received the game few days ago.

On 8/20/2019 at 7:34 PM, thinkbomb said:

While I hate to undercut this with abject silliness ... you may want to look here.

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/32429787#32429787

As stated, those two strike a solid resemblance to the Descent box art heroes. And... the folks at BGG have affectionately nicknamed those three

  • Angry Geddy Lee, the Ranger Smasher
  • Shoulderpads McLantern
  • Oblivious, the Paranoid Ranger.

That being said, someone did make some hero sheet stats for the characters (listed in the linked thread). You may want to look at those for a starting point.

I know about that, I even like that, but I would like to go with different, well, slightly more serious approach.
Mentioned hero sheets have incorrect class Healer for Knight, also I don't like Shoulderpads McLantern as a Scout. And the abilities are not really bringing something new to the game.

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

Oh my Dog, Geddy Lee and Oblivious, the Paranoid Ranger made it into a board game!

Also why is Deedlit in there?

Since I can only read english and french I can not help more 😕

51 minutes ago, rugal said:

Since I can only read english and french I can not help more 😕

I am updating text in English in the first post :) That image was just preview, I can also make card in English if anyone would be interested, but right now, there is no point.

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

For a healer druid I wish yes

Also what size are the mini's compared to Descent?

28 minutes ago, Bucho said:

Also what size are the mini's compared to Descent?

img_20190816_131606__01.jpg?pub_secret=6

I have replaced Drakon base with proper sized one (2x2) and added some additional gold coins with green stuff. Also finally finished his hero card and drakon card - check first post!

img_20190911_071413.jpg?pub_secret=b34de img_20190908_194404.jpg?pub_secret=2779a

https://www.instagram.com/awesometree_in_the_dark/

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

Done and done! Check his hero card and the Drakon card in the first post.
Thank you so much @rugal , for your help!

ocvist.jpg?pub_secret=97ab67098b
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https://instagram.com/awesometree_in_the_dark/

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

You're welcome. Maybe the wording can be changed to "after an attack targeting you resolves, if you do not suffer heart, recovers 1 fatigue" so, even if missed, you would recover

Maybe the feat should "push" other figures away when used ?

after "is possible", i think a " , " is missing.



So, need so help on other ones ? ;)

Edited by rugal
7 hours ago, rugal said:

You're welcome. Maybe the wording can be changed to "after an attack targeting you resolves, if you do not suffer heart, recovers 1 fatigue" so, even if missed, you would recover

Original Hero Ability text used to be " Each time attack that targets you is a miss or is resolved and you don’t suffer any Heart, you recover 1 Fatigue. " which is basically what you are saying. I changed text to " Each time an attack targeting you misses or deals no Heart, recover 1 Fatique. " based on the Augur Grisom hero, which says " Each time a monster misses or deals no Heart on an attack targeting you, recover 1 Heart. " - with change of also counting other figures attack and not just from the monsters.

7 hours ago, rugal said:

Maybe the feat should "push" other figures away when used ?

I also was thinking about that, but for multiple reasons I wouldnt do that.
1) It would be easier for you to use heroic and it would be impossible for overlord to place monsters to block you - which is not intention
2) Move up to three figures without action feels like heroic by itself ( Astarra )
3) It could lead to some problematic situations when moving both heroes and monsters, who moves first and where. If you decide where figures moves, then it would be even more overpowered.
4) its massive buff on map with tiles with pit, lava, etc.

7 hours ago, rugal said:

after "is possible", i think a " , " is missing.

Will take a look at it. Sadly I am also not native english speaker, so I have difficulties.

7 hours ago, rugal said:

So, need so help on other ones ? ;)

Yes! I am already searching and preparing some artworks, because I really dont like Drakon 4th heroes artwork. Next is going to be Ranger , I will start new topic later on and hopefully more people will give some ideas and feedback. I hope that painted Ocvist and Drakon will increase popularity a bit.
For Mage I found this . Terrinoth art for Elf ( https://terrinoth.fandom.com/wiki/Elf ) which looks really similiar to her.
For Grisban brother I found this , but I will look for more cartonish version to match Grisban the Thirsty art style.

Grisban ? You mean the dwarf from drakon ?

21 minutes ago, rugal said:

Grisban ? You mean the dwarf from drakon ?

Yes, dwarf from the Drakon 4th. He really looks like Grisban brother:

img_20190816_131642__01.jpg?pub_secret=3

I have the game, so I know, but I hadn't looked things that way.

I rather want to create healer and mages since they are the least one in descent

Play-tests:

I already played multiple games with various people as and against Ocvist.

This hero is quite easy to play and very beginners friendly. This hero plays and feels like you would expect from the warrior and playing his heroic is just awesome!

He is clearly designed and excels great as the Knight . After picking 1 XP Defend skill , you take as many attacks as possible and immediately recovers Fatigue when attack doesn't deal any damage, so you can defend again! Of course that doesn't happen that often - you usually takes just 1 damage (obviously!). For Overlord it's recommended to hit this hero very early and when he turns into the Drakon in the crucial moment, he no longer have much health left and dies without a big struggle.

Playing his heroic feels great and is great. Turning into 2x2 Drakon is just too cool and something that this game was missing. It add's new layer of game-play and possibilities with passage block in the best moment or quest token block - which can decide the winner of the encounter. Extra defense die help with tanking and synergies nicely with his Hero Ability. Extra Green power die is nice little touch which usually adds +1 Heart/Surge to the attack result, but it's nothing devastating. During hero turn as a Drakon movement is bit clunky, especially because you can't spend Fatigue to gain movement points, but Knight starting skill Oath of Honor solves the position problem.

I am very happy with the multiple play-tests results and I will no longer make changes to this hero - he is finished! He feels likes the true Knight we were missing and he is great replacement for Syndrael .

nerekhall_prey.jpg?pub_secret=3bae01d007

Edited by AwesomeTree_in_the_Dark

I assume you meant that "you cannot spend fatigue on movement points". You can't spend fatigue to increase your speed anyway.