This didn't come up, because I didn't roll high enough, but it could.

Presuming that 'The Hunt' is the alternative ending sitting on the board and I have fewer than the four needed cards to win the game:

If I defeat the Lord of Darkness by enough to move me to the Crown of Command... am I just stuck there? The rules state you can't leave the CoC once you've landed on that space, and I don't meet the victory conditions of the alternative victory.

What happens?

I don't like being able to reach CoC in this manner at all.

I had a game last night where we played with the Dungeon and the Hunt. The winner emerged from Treasure Chamber directly to the Crown of Command, of course AFTER having collected at least 4 Enemy Cards from the Nether deck.

If you challenge the Lord of Darkness when you can defeat him by 8+ and don't have fulfilled the victory conditions of the Ending, man, it's your fault. You move to the Crown and are stuck there for the rest of the game, since there's no way to leave the Crown except a few Spells, which are often dependant on the other players (Transference, Path of Destiny).

By the way, this condition is not new; it was possible with other Alternative Endings (Warlock Quests, Sacred Pool, Assassins' Guild).

What Paolo said...

If it were my game I would rule that your character was killed and you would have to draw a new character. At least that way you can still play instead of sat at side of the board bummed out.

Another option came to mind.

Instead of teleporting to the CoC you take the next option down. This seems fairer and you get to keep your character. After all if you are powerful enough to get such a result it would be tragic to be punished for your capabilities in such a way.

It also makes sense in a way because the CoC would be impenetrable until the victory conditions were met.