Hi everyone. My friends and me just had a few starts in RtL and naturally some issues arose. Maybe someone could help me out there.

1. When exactly is a hero able to drink potions? For example, do i have to drink a power potion before i make the attack, or can i drink it during the attack by spending fatigue?
2. Do burn tokens stay on heroes if they port to town and go to the temple? If so, is there any way to get rid of those tokens other than to roll surges?
3. How far should the OL be ahead of the heroes conquest wise, to stand a chance against them at the end?
4. Is the boss on "14. Fountain of Life" supposed to be almost unkillable? Do the heroes not have a chance to get the conqest/money from the boss kill on that level?
5. Crushing blow is a very strong card... i know it's supposed to be only once in the OL's deck, i still feel it should be removed from the campaign altogether. Any thoughts on this?
6. Is it possible to knockback someone around an edge?

When exactly is a hero able to drink potions? For example, do i have to drink a power potion before i make the attack, or can i drink it during the attack by spending fatigue?

One potion per turn, and you have to do it before you attack.

Do burn tokens stay on heroes if they port to town and go to the temple? If so, is there any way to get rid of those tokens other than to roll surges?

They stay until you roll surges or die. In RtL and SoB they also go away when you leave a dungeon (permanently, not just by porting to town).

How far should the OL be ahead of the heroes conquest wise, to stand a chance against them at the end?

I don't know if he'll stand a chance no matter how far ahead he is. It depends more on their gear, the avatar chosen, and his luck at drawing Crushing Blows before the final fight.

Is the boss on "14. Fountain of Life" supposed to be almost unkillable? Do the heroes not have a chance to get the conqest/money from the boss kill on that level?

We killed him, though the overlord hadn't upgrade humanoids so we could pretty much ignore him until someone had bathed in the fountain.

Crushing blow is a very strong card... i know it's supposed to be only once in the OL's deck, i still feel it should be removed from the campaign altogether. Any thoughts on this?

It needs to stay. There are some incredibly powerful items available, and CB is the Overlord's only way to reliably deal with them. Buying replacement weapons and armor is always an option, and none of the other items are really necessary to a hero's survival so it's ok that Other items are hard to replace.

Is it possible to knockback someone around an edge?

Yes.

eNTi said:

1. You drink potions when you spend Movement Points. Our group plays that until the dice are rolled (or some other non-take-back event, like a Trap card), you can spend MPs (if you have any). For example, if Hawthorne declares a Battle action, says he's going to attack the Dragon next to him, if he hasn't rolled the dice yet, he can decide to burn a fatigue and drink that Power Potion.

2. Burn tokens stay until either A) they have burned off or B) the end of the dungeon or C) the curse doll is used. After a dungeon has been completed, all effects tokens (except Poison I believe) go away. Yes, it's odd to think a hero is going to the market while on fire, but maybe you should consider it the pain received from the burn and he's not actually on fire at that instant.

3. OL and Hero conquest is not really a 1 to 1 factor. The OL could be ahead 400 to 200 and the heroes could still easily win. The key factor is the Overlord's Upgrades. Did he focus on the end fight? Did he focus on the Plot? If the OL focused on beefing himself up for the end fight, *then* it could matter, but most likely the actual Conquests lead still won't matter that much.

4. There is a mention of that quest in the FAQ, but it doesn't talk about rewards. I don't remember the specifics to help with this question (post the text on the card next time).

5. Crushing Blow is the only recourse the OL has against the incredibly strong Gold weapons. If you're still in Copper, then it can seem a bit lopsided. Once you get to Gold, you'll see how easily the heroes walk over your monsters, and without things like Crushing Blow, you'd be in a world of hurt. However, if you feel it's too tough on the heroes, you don't have to use it. There are plenty of other cards to spend your Treachery on.

6. Knockback does *not* require LOS, nor does it require a "straight" line. ANY 3 spaces (similar to if the target was just moving) away is a valid end location for Knockback. My players really hate this and think it's "illogical" since they think the hero is shifting in mid-air and think that the hero should just be knocked back in a straight line. I keep explaining the squares is *not* how the hero is moving. That's a game-mechanic to get from point A to point B. The hero is still moving in a straight line, it just doesn't seem that way since "squares" are not a good way to get straight lines. The only good house-rule that I like is that knockback might require LOS. But I still have no problem with it written as is, since you can just picture the Giant knocking the hero *through* the wall...

HTH,

-shnar

On the subject of Crushing Blow, there's nothing forcing you to USE the card just because you drew it. You can discard it for threat if you don't feel it's needed to help you win right now. I would caution against banning the card entirely, though, because as others have said there are a few items that will absolutely stop you dead in your tracks if you can't get rid of them.

There are a few powerful cards on both sides of the equation (OL cards and hero gear) that, taken by themselves, seem way too powerful. Put them together in play, however, and you begin to appreciate the necessity for each one's potency. If you start taking cards out of the game (on either side) you will eventually run into a situation where the other team gets something awesome that seems unbeatable, but it's only because you're denying yourself the resources you could otherwise use to stop it.

shnar said:

yeah but if a mage with a staff + earth pact does only one point of damage to a monster, he can drag it around like it was on a leash, which is rather odd imho.

eNTi said:

*shrug* same thing, IMHO. It's a magic staff, it's magically teleporting the creature to its destination, or through the tiny crack in the wall, etc. Nothing odd about that...

-shnar

we just played dungeon 14 tonight.

very conveniently they drew a bronze weapon with the "knock back" ability. With that he was quickly knocked more than 3 squares form the fountain and killed off.