In this RtL level the rune locked doors (there are two) are not unlocked via a rune key (the usual method is that a rune key is automatically given to the party when the level boss dies), but instead the party is required to simultaneously stand on 4 ? spaces (2 each side of the dungeon, for each door).
Think of it as a lever door, and it requires 4 simultaneously pulled levers to open.
Edit: The doors are consecutive, not side by side. Although it is all one 'area' the only way to the second half of the 'area' is through the first runelocked door, just as though it was a new 'area' in a standard quest.

a) So, can the named Monster open the doors without standing on the levers?
IMO RAW she can. And therefore can close the doors as well. (see FAQ1.4 pg1)

b) Does this mean that the heroes must all go and stand on the ? spaces again to reopen the door?
IMO RAW they do.

However, this can bring up a problem...

If the door can be closed by the monster after it has been opened (or by the use of a card such as Poltergeist) when the heroes are split on either side of the door, then they are unable to reopen the door - at least until those on one side or the other all die. While there are glyphs on both sides of the first door (and the second is to exit the dungeon level, so not a problem as much*) the use of 2 Event treachery enables a cunning OL (or one like me that just prefers to find more interesting things than massed CrBlw to use Event treachery on) to prevent the use of the second glyph to transport in and out of town from (not to mention the 2CT saved).
Thus, if the OL thereafter ignored the heroes who had passed through the first door way and refused to attack them, they would be forced to suicide in order to enable the party to move forward, or even escape the dungeon.

Now this is probably costing the OL at least 3 Event treachery (since the Leader is a large, slow moving Naga and unlikely to be able to get to the door to shut it while there are heroes on both sides) - treachery which are not being used on Crushing Blow.

So, the question(s) to throw out there is;

1. Is this a reasonable return for the OL, or cheesy/sneaky beyond the realms of reasonableness (subjective question)

2. Do you agree with the rules questions a) and b) above? (The wording on the card (which I don't have with me but did check) is very clear that the heroes must stand on the ? spaces to open the door, not to unlock it, or get a runekey or anything) (slightly more objective question).

3. Would you answer to 1. above change if it was mid gold and the heroes were ahead 350-150? (trick question)

*to exit a level only one hero is required to go through the last door, the rest can either go through the door or be in town.

PS I bought the level card to work to refer to when writing this and now can't find it. Can someone please give me the Boss Naga's stat bonus (I think 8 wounds, 1 Armour and 2 free wounds on a grappled hero at the start of her turn?) in case the card doesn't turn up before we run the session. TIA.

The complete text for the card:

Special: In order to open the yellow rune-locked door, the heroes must stand on all four encounter markers in the southern section of the map at the same time. In order to open the blue rune-locked door, the heroes must stand on all four encounter markers in the northern section of the map at the same time.

Leader: Malem the destroyer is a master Naga with 8 extra wounds, 1 extra armor, and ironskin. The overlord may, at the start of his turn, coose one hero who malem has grappled, that hero suffers 2 wounds 9ignoring armor).

As far as how to play this, I think that you are correct according to RAW. I would treat it somewhat differently. After the hero's stand on all four markers at the same time, the door opens. If any hero is on the far side of the door when it is closed, then they can open it from that side on their own. For hero's still on the original side, they still need to stand on all four markers. The way I think of this is that on one side their are four levers to pull, while on the other side is the actual lock that is easy to open from that side.

Brian

bneumann said:

Thanks, both for the text details (I forgot Ironskin) and the alternate way of playing it.

Err, there is actually a bigger (and simpler) problem with the RAW here.

It is the fact that since the Heroes must all END their turn on the 4 encounter markers to open the door, the Naga can potentially IMMEDIATELY shut the door, meaning that the Heroes must all END their turns again on the markers, and the Naga just shuts the door again. This means that the Heroes can NEVER progress to the second part of this level.

The simplest solution is to just say standing on the plates unlocks the door (ie. gives Heroes the relevant runekey); another solution is just to say once open, the door STAYS open.

The_Immortal said:

I'm pretty sure that was the intent with most of the level designs. Hard to tell though.

The_Immortal said:

There is no requirement for the heroes to END their movement on the ?. They only have to be there simultaneously. The best way to do it is move three heroes into position and leave one central to prevent spawning. Then that one moves to the fourth position, the door opens, and the other three heroes have their full move left. So there is no such problem.

That might be the simplest solution, but normally it is specified that the heroes get a runekey (when they kill the Boss. In this case no runekey is mentioned, and in fact the Boss is behind the first Runelocked door. So clearly the intent as well as the literal reading precludes a runekey.