Question on the limit to the number of potions

By dlmvii, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

So, (in the base game, at least), there are only 9 potion tokens - is this a limit on how many potions that can be in play at a time? (i.e., if heroes already have 9 potions between the 4 of them, can nobody buy anymore until somebody uses one?)

dlmvii said:

So, (in the base game, at least), there are only 9 potion tokens - is this a limit on how many potions that can be in play at a time? (i.e., if heroes already have 9 potions between the 4 of them, can nobody buy anymore until somebody uses one?)

Yes, thats right.

Also, this means that if the heroes reveal a new area that has potions in it but none are available from the stockpile then you can't put any on the board (even when the heroes make them available later by using them!

Red Die is correct. It's worth noting that, even with popular potions in our group such as vitality or power (in AC at least), this limit has rarely if ever presented a problem.

If your group finds itself regularly wanting more potions than are available, I would first suggest that your players try using them more often. Odds are they're hoarding way more than they need to anyway. =P

Even more generally, all game markers and figures are a limit on how many of that element can be in the game at once. Well, all of them except for fatigue and health but I've never seen it come close to not having enough of those.

Steve-O said:

Red Die is correct. It's worth noting that, even with popular potions in our group such as vitality or power (in AC at least), this limit has rarely if ever presented a problem.

If your group finds itself regularly wanting more potions than are available, I would first suggest that your players try using them more often. Odds are they're hoarding way more than they need to anyway. =P

Seconded.

My players use a runner fairly effectively to distribute potions when in dire need. After all, the runner's most likely to glyph to town in the first place as they activate the majority.

Like Steve-O said, most players will eventually learn to use potions regularly enough to avoid exhuasting the stockpile

James McMurray said:

Even more generally, all game markers and figures are a limit on how many of that element can be in the game at once. Well, all of them except for fatigue and health but I've never seen it come close to not having enough of those.

There isn't any good reason to assume that fatigue markers are not a limited resource.

Wound markers are at least a shared resource (both sides use them) which is a good reason to think they are not limited.
The next FAQ will hopefully address all markers whether they are supposed to be a limit or not.

Sorry, I thought the FAQ or the GLoAQ said that both fatigue and wound tokens weren't a limit.

James McMurray said:

Sorry, I thought the FAQ or the GLoAQ said that both fatigue and wound tokens weren't a limit.

would you mind showing where that is? currently i play with what i have. as there is nothing in the game that says to make up thing i don't have that is given to me in the game.

I looked for it after Corbon's post but couldn't find it anywhere. I may have been misremembering somebody's house rule as RAW or just flat out off my rocker.

duhtch said:

James McMurray said:

Sorry, I thought the FAQ or the GLoAQ said that both fatigue and wound tokens weren't a limit.

would you mind showing where that is? currently i play with what i have. as there is nothing in the game that says to make up thing i don't have that is given to me in the game.

I don't think there's an explicit statement concerning wounds or fatigue (at least, not fatigue) anywhere official or quasi-official right now. There IS a thread for it in the FAQ discussions sub-forum (fatigue at least), so that may have been where James was reading about the subject.

In general, FFG games usually limit all components to what's provided in the box unless there's an explicit exception for certain components of a given game, so it's not entirely out to lunch for someone to assume wounds and fatigue are limited to components provided (since it doesn't say otherwise anywhere.) However, making that assumption could lead to some very interesting consequences if you ever run out of wound or fatigue tokens during a game. I believe it was Antistone who pointed out monsters PLACE wound tokens when they take damage, so limiting those could theoretically make monsters invincible.

To my knoweldge, however, there are enough wound tokens that running out is not a terribly common danger. Fatigue tokens, on the other hand, can easily run out in the advanced campaign, as the FAQ discussion thread mentions. So an answer for one (or ideally both) would be greatly appreciated.

with all the additional wounds provided throughout the expansions, we have not even come close to running out of them. we have been to our max fatigue really early in silver, albeit, we have some of the highest fatigue characters in the game.

i think in the future they can expand the fatigue levels, but as of right now i don't think it would work, especially with rapid fire/cleaving in the mix. I wouldn't change it to an exhaust on use, I would just think of a new similar new skill card, like they did with the "Mark's" in SoB.