RtL: Encounters, Lieutenants and card draw for treachery

By Ronac, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

"At the start of the encounter the overlord automatically puts into play, for free, the lieutenant’s Power card; and if he has any treachery, may spend it on a hand of cards at normal costs. Additionally, 2 cards without a treachery cost may be added for 1 treachery of the correct type (no Power cards). Cards may be played or discarded for threat as normal, but can only be played once."

Q1: "may spend it on a hand of cards at normal costs" - OL can choose and take treachery cards from treachery deck while the sum of treachery cost is equal or below what his avatar has?

Q2: "may be added" - is this a random draw from OL deck? Or can OL choose the cards he wants and for 1 treachery he gets 2 cards.

Q3: If OL chooses spawn cards, can he spawn creatures not on lieutenants list?

Q4: We just started a RtL campaign, so I don't have any idea how to play OL. What is the reasonable ammount of treachery during the campaign (for a sorceror king).

Hi,

Ronac said:

"At the start of the encounter the overlord automatically puts into play, for free, the lieutenant’s Power card; and if he has any treachery, may spend it on a hand of cards at normal costs. Additionally, 2 cards without a treachery cost may be added for 1 treachery of the correct type (no Power cards). Cards may be played or discarded for threat as normal, but can only be played once."

Q1: "may spend it on a hand of cards at normal costs" - OL can choose and take treachery cards from treachery deck while the sum of treachery cost is equal or below what his avatar has?

Q2: "may be added" - is this a random draw from OL deck? Or can OL choose the cards he wants and for 1 treachery he gets 2 cards.

Q3: If OL chooses spawn cards, can he spawn creatures not on lieutenants list?

Q4: We just started a RtL campaign, so I don't have any idea how to play OL. What is the reasonable ammount of treachery during the campaign (for a sorceror king).

Q1: That is correct. Just make sure you buy treachery cards of the correct type.

Q2: You can choose (from the correct type), but note that power cards are not allowed.

Q3: Yes. Note however that they are not spawned like in a dungeon; instead, they appear outside the exit peaces and can move on the map next turn.

Q4: That depends on your style of playing. If you buy lots of treachery, you will have less XP left for monster upgrades, lieutenants or avatar upgrades. I think at least one point in event treachery is more or less essential for crushing blow , and as the sorcerer king, I love to buy three cheap trap treachery to play dance of the monkey god . gran_risa.gif I avoid monster treachery, as it is the most expensive - although with upgraded eldritch (which you should do first before anything else), legions of the dead looks quite appealing...

I recommend having a look at all the things you could buy with XP, and make some kind of long-term shopping plan. Expect to have 100-120 XP per campaign level to spend, and bear in mind that you should be prepared to buy two avatar upgrades quickly in case the rumor the twins appears. Also, I'd strongly recommend upgrading eldritch to silver ASAP; from then on, it's up to you how you want to play. Choose one strategy and try to stick to it, probably also depending on your plot.

Hth,

-Kylearan

Qu1: Exactly.My spider queen has 4 trap treachery, so she can choose trap (purple) treachery cards of a total maximum points of 4.

Qu2: You can choose these from the Overlord deck.

Qu3: Yes, he can, but they are treated as reinforcements, i.e. you need to place them outside an exit and can move them unto the map next turn.

Qu4: As much as you can afford. But note that the avatar card lists a maximum for each type. This will usually be 4 for your favorite type, 2 for the most expensive one, and three for the type in between.

In RtL u have to buy treachery, the cost for 1 point is listet on u Avatar sheet, when u have spend xp to buy them, u many spend the points on cards in a encounter with a lieutenants, the treachery cost for cards are printet on them.

insted of picking cards with treachery cost, or if u dont have the other expanction, u can buy normal cards from the over lord deck, picking 2 card for 1 point treachery, but the have to be the same catagori as the treachery u have purchased

and yes u many chooses spawn cards, and spawn other monster them the lieutenants reinforsment

as for Q4 i don't know, we only finish the first dungeon, so i havent purchased any treachery, but ill buy as many points as posible, because u can pimp u OL deck in every dungeons with them

Many thanks for responses.

I got lucky and got quite a few XP from the first dungeon (32xp), so I'll go for a lieutenant first and some cheap upgrades just so I don't discourage the players.

Current plan is: Lieutenant, Eldrich to silver, Event treachery, Snipers.

I started with lawlessness and 1 trap treachery.

Ronac said:

Many thanks for responses.

I got lucky and got quite a few XP from the first dungeon (32xp), so I'll go for a lieutenant first and some cheap upgrades just so I don't discourage the players.

Current plan is: Lieutenant, Eldrich to silver, Event treachery, Snipers.

I started with lawlessness and 1 trap treachery.

No no no.... get the silver upgrade for your minions first!

Ronac said:

I started with lawlessness and 1 trap treachery.

Interesting. Are you saying that you started the game by buying a point of treachery with your initial 15 XP? I guess I say that is not legal.

In my reading of the rules and FAQ I thought the initial 15 XP had to be spent on non-lieutenant "Avatar upgrades". Treachery is listed as a seperate type of upgrade so I considered those not available for purchase with the initial 15 XP.

Anyone else allow treachery to be purchased with the initial 15?

edroz said:

Ronac said:

I started with lawlessness and 1 trap treachery.

Interesting. Are you saying that you started the game by buying a point of treachery with your initial 15 XP? I guess I say that is not legal.

In my reading of the rules and FAQ I thought the initial 15 XP had to be spent on non-lieutenant "Avatar upgrades". Treachery is listed as a seperate type of upgrade so I considered those not available for purchase with the initial 15 XP.

Anyone else allow treachery to be purchased with the initial 15?

I looked up the section (p24). The overlord has three seperate types of upgrades listed in bold print. Avatar upgrades which includes lieutenants, Treachery upgrades which is just for treachery, and Monster upgrades for the different types of monsters. Based on this I think you are correct. The initial 15xp says "6. The overlord player begins the Advanced Campaign with 15 xp to spend on Avatar Upgrades. See "Overlord Upgrades" on page 24. Note that these xp do not affect the overlord's conquest token total. These xp cannnot be saved for later, and any not spent at this time are wasted." I believe there is an erratta that says you can not buy a second lieutenant as well.

My reading of the quote would be that the initial 15xp can be spent on the cards which say either "any Avatar" or that name your specific Avatar.

Brian