Dear fellow Descendants (i made a funny!)

I played 2 games of Descent yesterday based on the vanilla set. Need veterans to advice me on some noob questions:

The questions that came up:

If you re-equip, it takes 2 movement points. What if you re-equip MORE THAN 1 items? Is it something that stacks, or does it count as a whole 2 MP?

The reason for this doubt is because if my players drew some really good stuff from a chest and they want to re-equip more than one stuff at the same time, (eg. re-equipping a current two-handed axe for a better sword and also adding a shield since the sword is one-handed) do they need just 2 MP to readjust their entire inventory? Or do they need 2 MP each time they switch items or equip them? It states re-equip 2 MP, what about just equipping from nothing? Is it 1 MP?

Also, if a player makes an Advance on my Narthak giant in vanilla quest 1, and just before he reaches my giant, I play a pit trap and make him fall into a pit, does he still get to advance if he still has remaining MP (but deducting the 2 MP to climb back out) or does he end his turn as soon as he falls into the pit?

Another question: If a player fell into a pit but is still adjacent to the Giant, can he melee up? (he does NOT have reach) I was thinking the answer is no...

2nd last question: If a player is in a pit and a fellow mage throws an AoE into the area and catches the pitted player within the range, does the player also get damaged? I would think no since the pit is underground and the player ought to be safe from it... But I wana play by the official game rules, and it does not state anywhere that a player in a pit is safe from AoE.

Last question: If a mage casts a spell that can spend 2 surges to make it Blast 1, can he stack it just like how fighters stack damage on their melee weapons with surge to boost damage? (Eg. A mage rolls 4 surges. Can he spend all 4 to make the spell turn into Blast 2? Or does it stop at Blast 1? I asked this because there is a weapon out there that already has Pierce 1, and it states spend 2 surge for Pierce 1. This probably means the player can spend 2 or more further surges to turn the weapon into Pierce 2 or 3 etc.)

Thanks in advance... From a fellow Evil Overlord.

A re-equip action allows a hero to change around their equipment as much as they want. However, heroes can also immediately equip any item when they receive it, un-equipping and/or dropping other items to make room. For example, a hero that draws a sword from a chest can immediately de-equip his axe (putting it in his backpack) to equip the sword, but if he also wants to equip a shield from his backpack, he'll need to perform a re-equip action. This free, immediate equip works no matter how the hero gets the item - chest, shop, or received from another hero, you can always equip it immediately.

Furthermore, each hero gets a free re-equip at the start of every turn. You only need to spend the 2 MP if you want to change equipment again in mid-turn.

Traps do not end the victim's turn, unless they say they do (Paralyzing Gas, Curse of the Monkey God). A hero that falls into a pit trap is still entitled to any movement or attacks he had before the trap, and can spend fatigue to gain additional movement like normal.

Figures in a pit can only see into adjacent spaces, or other pit spaces. So if the hero is in a pit right next to a monster, he can attack the monster while still in the pit (with a melee attack or otherwise), but if there are no adjacent monsters, he'll need to get out of the pit in order to get line-of-sight first (unless using an attack that doesn't require line-of-sight, such as one with the Breath ability).

Conversely, figures can see into a pit from any distance - a sorcerer can still snipe a hero in a pit from across the room. Basically, the pit rules are designed so that being in a pit never helps you (except against rolling boulders and crushing walls, in the expansions).

Generally, Blast attacks do not distinguish friend from foe, and you can hit allies (or even yourself) if they're in the blast radius. As noted above, being in a pit doesn't prevent anyone from tracing line-of-sight to you, so it should provide no protection. However, there is a subtle bug in the wording of the Blast rules: they say the attack affects any figures that can see the target square, not that it affects any figures that can be seen from the target square. This is almost certainly a mistake, but if you want to apply it strictly as written, that actually means that Blast attacks centered on a pit can hit figures outside of it, and Blast attacks centered outside a pit cannot hit any figures that are inside.

If a special ability has ranks, and a figure gets the ability more than once, you add the ranks together. Most surge abilities are designed to stack. Yes, a mage with the Bane rune (SS: Blast 1) can spend 4 surges for Blast 2, and a mage with Crystallize (S: Pierce 2) can spend 2 surges for Pierce 4. I believe the only surge abilities can't trigger more than once are ones that give a special ability that doesn't have ranks.

You're a godsend.... I never knew players had free re-equips at the point they acquire new items as well as at the start of their turns.

I'm going to use the rule that pits protect figures from AoE since it feels more realistic. Players can also have more strategy by leaping into pits on purpose to get 1 Wound damage instead of more if their allies throw an AoE. They will of course have to pay the 2 MP to get out later. And if the AoE centers in a square that is a pit, it should only affect the entire pit but not outside of it.

P.S: Thanks for the super-fast reply.