I just bought RtL and there is some things I just can´t sort out.

1. On p.16 it says "..a lieutenant can Reinforce any kind of monster listed as one of its legal minions on his lieutenants card". The problem is that some lieutenants dont have any minions. I thought that meant that they cant reinforce monsters, but Dar Hilzernod has a special ability that only triggers when he is reinforcing. Can lieutenants without minions reinforce any kind of monster?

2. I don´t have AoD or WoD so I am not that familiar with the concept of treachery and will use the simplified treachery rules. I am not sure how it works though. I guess it works like this. If the Overlord has 1 spawn treachery, at the start of a dungeon he can either get 4 threats that only can be used for spawns or one extra random card from the OL deck. Is spent treachery gone for the rest of the entire campaign or can the OL use them again in the next dungeon?

3. I am not sure how to use simplified treachery in lieutenant encounters. Is it possible to use it at all?

Thank you all helpful descent fans out there

mooselord said:

1. I rather suspect it is a misprint and should read 'fortify'. Failing that, if the OL has Monster Treachery then DH may get reinforcements through spawn cards.

2. Treachery once bought remains for the rest of the campaign and can be used in every dungeon and Lt encounter.

3. Not sure (rules pdf on a different pc). Far better to use the non-simplified rules anyway and take 'normal' cards at the 2/1Treachery rate (eg 1 Event, 1 Trap and 1 Monster Treachery could be a hand of 1x Danger, 1x Rage, 1x Crushing Block, 1x Pit Trap, 2x Beastman War Party)

Corbon, I find your inclusion of the Beastman War Party spawn card in this suggestion puzzling.. My understanding of Lt. Encounters is that reinforcement of minions is the only means of bringing additional monsters on the board. I don't believe that you can BOTH spawn monsters AND reinforce monsters. The rules state that the Reinforcement token is not used in encounters. I take that to mean that spawning is not allowed, although the point could certainly have been made more clearly. It seems to me like it would give the OL an unfair advantage to be able to both spawn and reinforce monsters, particularly once the Lts get more powerful.

However the rule is not written clearly, in my humble opinion, and I could always be wrong about this. But in my experience, every Lt. encounter I've seen has been virtually unwinnable for the heroes, with one exception, when the OL got way too overconfident with a Lt. and nearly lost him.. If spawning were allowed, this condition would only be further amplified. Obviously you disagree..

It's always disturbing when I discover that the way I've been playing something for all this time could be DEAD WRONG!

Oy Vey.... Corbon, I think you may just be confusing him....

1. It's not a misprint in any way. There is at least 1 LT that does have any reinforments listed and therefore they just don't get any. However, there is nothing stopping the OL from using treachery to buy spawn cards for use in encounters. The "reinforcment marker" is indeed not used however this does not prevent spawning. Spawns in LT encounters are placed off the board and can move onto the board on the OL's NEXT turn (just like Reinforcments). The 1 spawn card per turn rule still applies.

2. You are mostly correct. For each point of spawn treachery, at the start of the dungeon you can spend it on 4 threat tokens that can ONLY be used for spawn cards. The OL gets this option at the beginning of each dungon (not dungeon level). Once you've bought into treachery, it is available for the rest of the game.

3. In LT encounters, the OL can spend 1 point of treachery to gain 2 cards of that type that do not have a treachery cost . You have 1 spawn treachery and can take 2 spawn cards of your choice from the OL deck for use in the LT encounter (no power cards).

Hope that helps

Schmiegel said:

As far as I know you can play spawn cards during encounters, BUT the monsters are not spawned on the board. Instead, it's just treated as if the overlord just reinforced those monsters (they appear off-map, next to one of the entrances, and then move onto the board next turn).

Oboewan said:

Sorry for not being clear enough.

The OP specifically enquired about Dar Hilzernod who's special abilities may in fact be misprinted. DH is the one with no minions, so he just doesn't get any reinforcements (except possibly from Treachery spawn cards). But his special reads " when DH is reinforcing roll a black power die at the start of the OL's turn. On a surge every hero on the board suffers 1 wound (ignoring armour), This wound may not be prevented." In the place where a power card ability is normally written it says "Special (See Below)".

To me this is very obviously 'fortifying' instead of reinforcing, it just doesn't make sense otherwise - especially since its is the only special power that would fit in the 'power card' slot sensibly. I strongly suspect that fortifying was originally called reinforcing and the term was changed to avoid confusion with reinforcements. The DH card is yet another unedited relic of a pre-release version.

For the benefit of Schmeigal...
As for spawn cards in Lt encounters - you most definitely can use them - but they come on as reinforcements and are not 'spawned' on un-LOS-ed areas of the map. Otherwise Monster Treachery would be almost entirely useless!
From the Gathered List of Answered Questions:
Can spawned monsters in outdoor encounters be activated the same turn or are they treated as reinforcements?
They are treated as reinforcements in all respects. The normal limit of one spawn card per turn still applies. They do not get to move until the next turn

.

Thanks everyone.

1. I agree with Corbin. The Dar-Hilzernod card might be a misprint.
One possibility of course is that the reinforcing ability only is valid when DH is fortifying. That means the card could have been written “When DH is fortifying and he makes a reinforcement, roll a …”. That might be the intention of the card but to me that seems like an underpowered ability, especially since the great wyrm is rather weak when it comes to spawns.

2. Great.

3. Let say I have a 1 trap treachery. So since no card has a printed treachery cost I could pick any 2 cards from the deck as long as they are traps? It seems slightly overpowered to get dark charm and another trap card but maybe that’s the intention. I guess lieutenant encounters are quite rare anyway and that the lieutenants without minions needs it.
By the way is the idea of crushing blocks falling in the woods slightly weird and kind of funny. Meteors. Whohoo!

mooselord said:

How about them trebuchets from over the hill reinforcing the lieutenant. That way the rubble is only around a few hundred pounds of rock.

Brian