I read that FF held an event in which a couple alternate methods of play were introduced:

1. Two teams, each team with an Overlord and players, competing.

2. Two teams of heroes, no Overlord.

Did anyone attend this event? Do you have a copy of the rules that you might be able to share? I am looking for new ways to play and alternate methods of play would be great.

Argos said:

I've never heard of such a thing, although it may well have happened at the Realms of Terrinoth convention that went on a few months back.

I wouldn't mind seeing a write-up for two hero parties going at it, official or otherwise, as I think that'd be a cool way to increase players in a game without totally rewriting scaling mechanics.

The scenarios at Realms of Terrinoth weren't really "alternate rules", just individual scenarios that changed up the rules a lot. I'm not going to copy all the rules and maps, but I'll give a basic rundown:

The overlord vs overlord scenario basically has two identical corridors that meet up in the middle of the map. There's no obstacles or monsters in the corridors, instead there's a list of obstacles and monsters to pick from whenever a new area is revealed. The teams alternate turns as the heroes, then alternate as the overlord. The object is to get to the center, pick up an item, and get out first. Pretty basic, and the rules aren't terribly well written, but it's rather amusing.

The second scenario is basically an outdoor dungeon. It works just like a normal Descent quest, but uses the outdoor terrain tiles from RtL, as well as the spawning rules (monsters enter from the reinforcement points, instead of just spawn on the map). Since there's no doors, areas are just revealed as soon as any hero sets foot in that area. Aside from the spawning rules and different terrain, it doesn't have anything special.

The third scenario is a direct PvP match; there's several piles of treasure scattered all over the dungeon, and the object is to get the most loot. There is still an overlord in this scenario, and his object is to prevent the heroes from getting as much treasure as possible, or to kill of each team's "Knight" character (the knight starts with more goodies, but stays dead if he dies).

LinkN said:

The scenario may have changed this, but the normal rule is actually that an area is revealed as soon as any hero has line of sight to that area.

"Whenever a hero has line of sight to a previously unrevealed area of the map, it is immediately revealed by the overlord player." (Rules page 13, "Exploring")

There are other published scenarios where the area boundaries don't have doors - for example, WoD quest #8, "The Spiral of Death".

LinkN said:

So...the overlord basically gets to pick which team of heroes wins by focusing on the other team? That seems fairly lame.

Antistone said:

In the first quest it actually states that the normal method of revealing areas by gaining LoS to them does not apply, but that an area is revealed when a hero or monster sets foot in a previously revealed area adjacent to an unrevealed area. In other words, the areas get revealed when you step onto a tile 1 area away from them.

For the other quest the Overlord I suppose could just pick on one hero team to make the other win, but he'd guarantee a loss for himself if he did. The idea is for 1 hero team to amass more treasure at the end than the other hero team. The overlord can win by either killing both team's "Knights" (super heroes who are excellent fighters but can't carry treasure, and die permanently if killed) or by still having more treasure in his lair at the end than either of the hero team's treasure piles. The rules also state that if both teams Knights are still alive, the "boss" of the dungeon can only attack the team who is currently in the lead (though other monsters can still attack or delay whomever they wish apparently). The two hero teams each have 1 Knight and 1 Squire (hero who can actually carry treasure and re-spawns if killed) and are trying to ****** up the loot before the other team.

That quest really looks like it actually has some fun mechanics and is my favorite of any of the ones that came in the Realms of Terrinoth gift bag. I haven't actually had a chance to try any of them yet (my group is really wrapped up in its campaign atm), but I'm looking forward to the one with the competing hero teams the most actually.