Reanimate attack, corpse blast, revive, attack // Final battle with Zachareth and Dragon

By gaarge, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

I have a couple of questions:

1. Is it possible to: move and attack with the reanimate / corpse blast / bring back the reanimate / move and attack again with the reanimate? it came up in the game last night, and we decided it was not possible for the reanimate to move and attack again, since, in spite of being reborn, our reanimate had still used up his move and action that turn. (I've just realised that the intelligent way to pull off the above would be to use fury of undeath followed by corpse blast…)

2. In the final battle with Zacharaeth and the dragon, when the heroes die, do they stay dead? if not, doesn't that make the final battle much too easy for the heroes? In our battle, none of the heroes died, so thankfully we were spared any heated discussion, but as soon as we had taken down zachareth, it became immediately apparent that the heroes had a massive advantage. This, even though the OL received a 12 health bonus at the start…. I would be interested to hear other people's experiences on this final battle, their strategies etc.

gaarge said:

1. Is it possible to: move and attack with the reanimate / corpse blast / bring back the reanimate / move and attack again with the reanimate?

No, the Reanimate can only be activated once per turn, even if it leaves the map and gets resummoned. Barring abilities like Fury of Undeath, of course. One natural activation per turn, if you will.

gaarge said:

(I've just realised that the intelligent way to pull off the above would be to use fury of undeath followed by corpse blast…)

Yes, that sequence would be legal.

gaarge said:

2. In the final battle with Zacharaeth and the dragon, when the heroes die, do they stay dead?

Yes, they do stay dead in the final battle. This is only true because of a quest-specific rule that says so, mind you. The second encounter of Gryvorn Unleashed has a special rule called "Playing for Keeps" that says the heroes stay dead if they are defeated in this encounter. The same rule also appears in the second encounter of the other Finale quest, FYI.

However, if there were NOT such a special rule in the quest, then the heroes would be able to stand up as they usually do. Quest rules trump main rulebook, but only if there actually are quest rules that specify how they alter the rules.

Ensuring that such unique rules are not missed during play is one of the reasons why all players are allowed to read the Quest Guide. If your OL is keeping the book to himself, you might want to refer him to the "Public Information" sidebar on the inside cover of the Quest Guide.

Thanks, Steve-O, you are a saint.

Our OL did not restrict access to the rulebook, or quest book. The problem is, I am not the owner of the game, so I can't read them unless I'm at the gaming table. By that point, in order to conserve time, we trust the OL to summarise, or read out the pertinent points. I guess soimetimes we miss key bits of info.

Do you know if there are online resources for rulebooks, hero abilities etc? I would love to study up while I'm away from the table.

Thanks very much, Rico. Good resources.