How much life do Agents have? I read the FAQ already, but it only states that they are instantly killed on a 'Kill' result. But what if you deal 1 damage to them? Do they only have 1 life?

Another question is regarding the Encounters. From what I understand, Dracula can have a total of 5 encounters. If he gets Brides, he can get up to 7 encounters. But at the start of the game how many encounters does Dracula start with? And also how does he gain more? From what I have been playing, I draw encounters only when I move to a new location, and I draw 1 random encounter from the pool and place it immediately over the location. Is this wrong?

Somehow it feels like I am supposed to have some encounters in my hand, and I get to choose which to place on the location when I move to a new place. But if this is the case, how do I replenish my encounters? Or can I discard encounters for that matter?

Wanderer999 said:

IIRC, the combat cards for agents are so cross-referenced that any result will result in a kill or end combat, no wounds.

Wanderer999 said:

You start with 5. When you move to a location, you place an encounter at the location, then replenish.

Wow! This means I get to choose my encounters! I had been drawing them at random all this time...

Wanderer999 said:

Dracula hasn't won much, has he ? Man, I can't imagine having to HOPE to draw a Vampire encounter .

Actually I won as Dracula

It was one **** good fight:

-FIRST turn i started in Berlin, and i moved down to Prague.

-Lord Godalming's turn and he drew a Hired Scouts event card, he chose 2 cities: Berlin and Prague..........

What are the chances of that??? All the players immediately closed in on me, but I used Hide and they started counting wrongly on my steps of cities, but they quickly found back my trail within their 2nd turn. I wanted to quit, it was crazy. I was forced to launch out to sea and managed to move south towards Sargossa area and just when I thought I had FINALLY lost them, some idiot went and played Money Trail......... Wasn't long before I got hounded again. I went down to 3 life after several turns. No thanks to sense of emergency, that card really smells! I did manage to survive 2 days, defeat 1 Lord Godalming and badly injure a Van Helsing but he ran off with the aid of his friend's card (cant rem the name, but it stopped all combat even if the hunter was not involved)

Both my new vampires (which I managed to draw out of all the encounters) were killed by LUCK during the day. I almost died of frustration when my new vampire was at 6th location on the trail and some idiot stumbled across it BY LUCK!?

It boiled down to that final moment when I had that 3 life left and I sailed off to sea once more, making for Castle Dracula. I was 1 VP away to victory and the day was ending (just before midnight), but sadly, that was a pretty obvious move considering how low my health was. And if I was in my fort, I would be far stronger in combat. The hunters played all kinds of cards and used their last resolve to teleport over to my square yet again. They managed to reach me before I could enter Castle Dracula. Thankfully, due to terrible luck on their part, I miraculously killed a Van Helsing intent on being the one to end the game with a single stake. (I just so love Mesmerize) AND I WON THE GAME! It was pretty **** close, and guess what? This was our FIRST game ever Now that I know I could have 5 encounters in my hand and I could choose, I think I will much much stronger than the first time.

And Dam, (not cursing anyone) you seem pretty solid in Dracula from the posts u made. May I know if there is any incentive for the players to face agents? That was what my players asked and I had no answer for them. What's to stop them from running everytime they encounter an agent? There's nothing to be gained from killing one, other than risking injury from fighting them.

Wanderer999 said:

For Hunters? No reason. But then, they shouldn't know when an Agent is going to come up, though in Eastern Europe they may expect them more (since they are better there). From Dracula's POV, if the Hunters know where you are and you know they'll jump on you next turn, dropping an Agent puts a buffer between you and them, one they need to clear. Even better if you have 1-2 of the Event card that forces another combat with a minion. Note also that if they run, they still need to win the roll (with Escape) or take damage (at least that's my recollection of how the combat cards interact). Additionally, if they don't defeat the agent, it stays in the board, that's one less unknown encounter in the bag and also another hole for Dracula to move to, should the noose be closing in.

Another wow! Now I know Agents CAN be left on the board in the event they are not killed. I thought they go away if the hunter escapes them.

Wanderer999 said:

Often new vampires are killed during the day (too often, I'd say). Anyway, a little suggestion: try to use encounters combo with the help of the Hide card. Place the new Vampire in the location you are, in the following round play Hide and an encounter able to force the Hunters to stop. I usually play

1) Location + New vampire
2) Hide + Fog (or Bats)

Since Dracula is allowed to decide what monster the Hunters have to deal first, if somebody enters the city during daylight, you can decide they have to face the second encounter before the New vampire. And this can be a great advantage for Dracula

Page 5 of the rulebook explains about your beginning encounter hand. I just wanted to be clear. You still draw your initial 5 encounters at random, then when you move you choose which of those 5 to play. Then draw at random one to replace the one you just played. Hope that helps.