If I'm starting a campaign running the Messenger of the King contract, do I only record two heroes, since the MOTK hero is put into play late in setup and is technically *not* one of my chosen heroes? If I'm right, it is not, but if it dies it is added to fallen heroes...

Why would it add to fallen heroes? I thought you had to have a hero in the discard at quest's end for that -- and a slain MotK is an ally in the discard.

You could freely swap out MotK as you progress through the saga, but sadly the permanent boons wouldn't be able to go on a MotK.

9 minutes ago, dalestephenson said:

Why would it add to fallen heroes? I thought you had to have a hero in the discard at quest's end for that -- and a slain MotK is an ally in the discard.

Good point... So I guess you can discard the MOTK ally to the Balrog, deal damage equal to its threat cost, and still use it of the rest of the campaign. Shenanigans!

Trouble is that MotK (and Sword Thain) don't actually have threat cost. Instead they are hero-ified by the contract, paid for by a raise in threat.

Ouch. Just checked the wording. *That's unfortunate* 😢