I've read several posts that make me think I'm doing something wrong or I'm a bad Overlord

I read where OL are cycling through their decks in RtL. We are halfway through copper, and I have never cycled through a deck. The way I interpret dungeon/level setup from page 17 of the RtL rulebook, every dungeon has 3 levels (except special ones) and at the start of each level I draw a card, build the dungeon, place stuff, then I shuffle my deck and draw a hand of 3 cards. It doesn't say just do that on the first level, it just says level setup. So when the heroes enter level 2, I shuffle my used cards back into my deck and draw my 3 cards. Now it doesn't says specifically to put the used cards back into the deck but then why shuffle at all?

A second question, it doesn't mention anything about threat. In vanilla descent OL starts with 0, so I've been giving up my threat from level to level too.

I know there are treachery cards that allow you to draw more cards or just discard cards from the top of the deck and was wondering if that is what they're using or if I shouldn't be reshuffling the deck between levels.

Darkwerx said:

You're doing something wrong.

You only shuffle the deck and draw three cards at the start of the first dungeon level. In addition, you don't go back to 0 threat whenever a new level begins. The only thing that happens when a new level begins is you flip over your spawn "eyes" (that cardboard piece).

Reshuffling your deck is bad enough, but by also resetting your threat to zero you're making it very, very difficult on yourself. Your kills should go up dramatically once you start keeping your cards and threat.

Edit: Reading page 17, it does indeed seem to imply what you said. However, we've never played it that way, and from what I recall on these forums other people don't either. If that's the case, I'd be interested to know how page 17 should be read.

It's clarified in the FAQ:

Dungeon Levels
The Dungeon Level Setup rules on page 17 are misleading. The Overlord should shuffle his deck and draw a new hand only at the start of the first dungeon level, not every level in a given dungeon.

Every OL should have a copy of the FAQ on hand.

edroz said:

Hmm, I had no idea the FAQ was so necessary. "Misleading" is the wrong word, as page 17 is very clear that you shuffle and draw 3 cards every level. There's no other way to interpret page 17 except the incorrect way.

You are correct. The FAQ is essential. It shouldnt just be called FAQ - it should be Errata & FAQ

Paul Grogan said:

That's one of the reasons I get irritated sometime with some of the questions: If folk made a habit of reading the FAQ, this forum would have half the number of topics...

Of course, then I would have nothing to do all day long so I guess its not such a bad thing.

This may seem stupid, but where do you find the FAQ? I can only find the Journeys in the Dark FAQ on FFG website, and a google search only turns up broken links.

It's all one FAQ. The RtL stuff is at the end.

Yeah, it used to be much easier to find and access but it is all under the heading of Journeys in the Dark.

It's easiest for me to remember that a dungeon (not a dungeon level) plays out a lot like the Quests from normal Descent. So the 1st level, setup is similar to a Quest setup. In between though, you just "keep playing" with little changes.

Having said that, I *rarely* cycle through a deck in a 3 level dungeon. I guess my Heroes are just really fast or something...

-shnar

P.S. When are we going to be able to "subscribe" to threads FFG?!?

shnar said:

Same for me, I think I might cycle through once every like 4 dungeons.

Guess it depends on the strategy your heroes use. If your heroes are big on bailing, then they will probably not let you cycle. I cycle all the time though, mostly due to luck with Urgency and Evil Genius. 5 cards a turn is just wicked, even if you lose 2 without gaining threat. But never play Urgency first or you'll end up discarding Evil Genius half the time, of course.

My Heroes don't really go that fast though, and they have the bad habit of "clearing" out a level before moving on. Often times I could flip the spawn marker, but decide to save my threat so I get two spawns in a row on the next dungeon level. But even then, they go through fast enough that I'm lucky to cycle my deck even once (I've *never* done it twice).

-shnar

I can usually cycle the OL deck if my heroes stay in the dungeon until the third level. Recently, in the last dungeon prior to me doing my first upgrade to silver monsters they stayed and did all three levels. Thanks to a really hard second level I cycled my deck at the end of the second level. Then, I was able to almost do it again a second time on the third level. I was three turns away from doing it.

Currently (in the same campaign) the heroes are doing a rumor dungeon and just completed the first level. I am about half way through the OL deck, but have Evil Genius in play. I got EG about half way through the first level. I should easily cycle the deck during the second level. Going into that level I'm holding a hand full of cards and 42 threat. I figure I have enough power to spawn at least the first four, if not five, turns. That should keep them busy for a while.

edroz said:

I'm to lazy to print the FAQ...and I don't have a printer...and since my players won't print one...when we get in a argument about rules and I'm sure its in the FAQ...I'll just go and say "it's in the FAQ check it out"... they usually do. (and I'm right)