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Descent Sea of Blood Rules Web
Descent Sea of Blood Rules Web
While fell armies stalked the lands of Terrinoth, mighty ships sailed the waves among the distant isles of Torue Albes. A place where every port held secrets and treasures beyond imagination, Torue Albes was plagued by troubles as well. Powerful forces rallied to the banners of darkness, led by a malevolent overlord. However, as always, whenever darkness arose to threaten the land, light would oppose it, ancient powers making themselves known to those in need. In this case, a group of heroes stumbled across a legendary ship built by the Ancients the Revenge. It could be called or dismissed as needed, and was somehow tied to the glyphs of transport left by the Ancients. The power of the Revenge would be critical as the heroes opposed the forces of this new overlord. Thank you for purchasing this advanced campaign expansion for Descent: Journeys in the Dark. Like Descent: Road to Legend, The Sea of Blood includes new game components, new rules, and dozens of new maps for your heroes to explore. This expansion focuses almost entirely on the Advanced Campaign, where heroes will explore new lands, delve into multiple dungeons, and fight multitudes of evil. In this variant, players create heroes and follow them throughout their entire careers, keeping their skills and equipment from one dungeon to the next.
Components
Below is a list of the components found in The Sea of Blood expansion. The descriptions make it easier to recognize each component, and provide a general explanation as to how they are used. This Rulebook (the second part of which is a Quest Guide) 10 Dice (5 Silver Power Dice and 5 Gold Power Dice) 4 Avatar Sheets 6 Boxes (4 Hero Boxes, 1 Overlord Box, and 1 Graveyard Box) 1 Pad of Campaign Sheets 1 Torue Albes Map Board 1 Ocean/Island Poster Map 220 Cards 40 Campaign Monster Reference Cards 30 Dungeon Level Cards 28 Avatar Upgrade Cards 21 Plot Cards 20 Incident Cards 15 Location Cards 15 Rumor Cards 7 Lieutenant Cards 9 Ship Upgrade Cards 24 Torue Albes Skill Cards 5 Buried Treasure Cards 4 Cannon Reference Cards 1 Daggertooth Shark Reference Card 1 City Shop Card
3 Double-sided Map Pieces 2 Intersection Pieces 1 Portal Piece 8 Double-sided Ship Pieces 2 Forward Sections 4 Midship Sections 2 Aft Sections 32 Double-sided Cannon Markers 8 Runeblast Cannons 8 Hawkeye Cannons 8 Coldsteel Cannons 8 Dragonfire Cannons 38 Prop Markers 1 Whirlpool/Cavern Entrance Marker 1 Large Shallow Water/Sand Bar Marker 6 Shallow Water/Sand Bar Markers 4 Shallow Water/Reef Markers 6 Tree/Shrub Markers 1 Cage/Pipe Organ Marker 4 Barrel/Statue Markers 5 Shark Fin Markers 5 Tentacle Markers 10 Plastic Shark Fin and Tentacle Stands 24 Torue Albes Map Markers 1 Hero Party Marker 1 Home Port Marker 1 Overlord Keep Marker 1 Rumor Token 7 Small Lieutenant Markers 14 Siege/Razed Markers 1 Lighthouse Marker 3 Ancient Key Markers 5 Binding Markers 2 Large Lieutenant Markers 8 Bleed Tokens 4 Money Tokens 18 Wound Tokens 96 Training Tokens 12 Silver Magic Upgrade Tokens 12 Silver Melee Upgrade Tokens 12 Silver Ranged Upgrade Tokens 12 Gold Magic Upgrade Tokens 12 Gold Melee Upgrade Tokens 12 Gold Ranged Upgrade Tokens 4 Copper Wound Upgrade Tokens 4 Copper Fatigue Upgrade Tokens 4 Silver Wound Upgrade Tokens 4 Silver Fatigue Upgrade Tokens 4 Gold Wound Upgrade Tokens 4 Gold Fatigue Upgrade Tokens 15 Miscellaneous Tokens 1 Reinforcement Marker 2 Familiar Markers 4 Treasure Map Piece Tokens 2 Anchor Markers 6 Sail Markers
Rulebook
These new power dice are included to allow the heroes and monsters to grow more powerful over time. The silver and gold dice have the same number of power enhancement, surge, and blank sides as the black power dice, but an enhancement and surge side on a silver die doubles the surges or enhancements, and a gold die triples them.
Table of Contents
Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 An Overview of the Advanced Campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Beginning a New Advanced Campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Advanced Campaign Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Game Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Quest Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Ships and Sailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Swimming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Cities and Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Using Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Hero Upgrades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Overlord Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Upgrading Power Dice With Fatigue During Play . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Hero Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Simplified Treachery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Plots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Collected Obstacles and Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Advanced Campaign Special Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Collected Lingering Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 New and Revised Familiars and Companions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Combining Road to Legend and Sea of Blood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Map Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Map Legend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Quest Guide: Dungeon Levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Quest Guide: Island Levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Quest Guide: Rumors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Quest Guide: Ocean Encounters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Quest Guide: Overlords Keeps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Avatar Sheets
The overlord player receives a sheet representing a physical Avatar of darkness. In the Advanced Campaign, this is the overlords character. For a detailed Avatar sheet diagram, see page 7.
Boxes
These six boxes are used to store important game components between game sessions. Each hero is stored in one of the hero boxes, while the Avatar is stored in the overlord box. Finally, there is a graveyard box for storing cards that have been removed from the campaign for good.
Campaign Sheets
These sheets allow the players to write down information about the campaign that cannot be easily recorded in other ways. For a detailed campaign sheet diagram, see page 11.
These tokens are used to track important people and items on the Torue Albes map, as well as the current status of the cities. Some of these tokens represent Quest Items, important objects that both the overlord and the heroes want to possess.
The game board represents the land of Torue Albes. The heroes journey around this map seeking out treasure and adventure, while the overlords lieutenants attempt to besiege and destroy the cities of Torue Albes. For a detailed game board diagram, see page 13.
Map Pieces
This large paper map has two sides. One side depicts open ocean and is usually used in encounters (see page 15), while the other side depicts a large island and is usually used when exploring islands (see page 21).
Like the map pieces from the core game, the ones included in The Sea of Blood link together to form a dungeon map. However, on the back of these map pieces are outdoor terrain pieces. Outdoor pieces cannot be linked to dungeon pieces.
Ships
These large cardboard markers represent ships during encounters. There are enough pieces for two ships the heroes ship and one enemy ship. For details on ships, see Ships and Sailing on page 24.
Ocean Side
Training Tokens
New training tokens are included to allow heroes to upgrade their black power dice to silver power dice, or even gold power dice, as well as to gain extra fatigue and wounds during the Advanced Campaign. For details on purchasing hero upgrades, see Hero Upgrades on page 32.
New monster reference cards are included for use in the Advanced Campaign. Each monster is presented with statistics for four different power levels. From weakest to most powerful, they are:
Props
Copper
Silver
Gold
Diamond
A variety of new props to populate dungeons and outdoor encounters are included in The Sea of Blood. For more information, see Collected Obstacles and Props on page 35.
Monsters begin the Advanced Campaign at Copper level and are upgraded from there by the overlord. For details on purchasing monster upgrades, see Overlord Upgrades on page 32.
Most lieutenants are represented by their Torue Albes map marker when they appear in an encounter. However, four of the lieutenants would be too big to fit on the Torue Albes map when represented in scale, so additional markers are provided for use in dungeons and encounters. There are only two of these markers, but they depict a different lieutenant on each of their sides.
Avatar Upgrade cards allow the overlord to grow more powerful over the course of the Advanced Campaign. Some Avatar cards are available for any Avatar to purchase, in which case they read Any Avatar under the title. However, some are specific to a particular Avatar, in which case the Avatars name is listed under the title. For details on purchasing Avatar Upgrades, see Overlord Upgrades on page 32.
Additional wound and money tokens in larger denominations are included for use in the Advanced Campaign.
Lieutenant Cards
Effect Tokens
These tokens are used to track the bleed lingering effect of the daggertooth sharks for those who dont already own Descent: Well of Darkness. See Collected Lingering Effects on page 42 for complete details.
Lieutenant cards allow the overlord to recruit powerful beings to assist him. Lieutenants move around on the Torue Albes map once recruited, and can be used to lay siege to, and even destroy, the cities of Torue Albes. Like Avatar Upgrade cards, some lieutenants are restricted to specific Avatars. For details on purchasing Lieutenant cards, see Overlord Upgrades on page 32.
Miscellaneous Tokens
Plot Cards
The reinforcement marker is used to track how often the overlord is allowed to play spawn cards, while treasure map piece tokens are accumulated by the heroes for completing dungeons and islands. When the heroes complete a treasure map (requiring four pieces), they may travel to a Treasure Site (marked by an X on the Torue Albes map) and dig up buried treasure there (see page 22). Sail and anchor tokens are used to track the state of a ships anchor and sails during encounters, and finally, there are two new familiars, as well as tentacle and shark fin markers. Plastic stands are included for the tentacles and shark fins.
At the start of the Advanced Campaign, the overlord player selects one of three evil Plots with which to create havoc in Torue Albes. Plot cards may also be purchased during the Campaign in the same way as Avatar Upgrade cards, except that they may have special conditions the overlord needs to meet first.
These cards are used to generate random dungeon levels as the heroes explore the depths of Torue Albes. For complete information on dungeons, see Dungeons on page 18.
Rulebook
Incident Card
Location Card
Incident and location cards are used to generate random outdoor encounters as the heroes explore the Torue Albes map. For complete information on encounters, see Encounters on page 15.
Rumor Cards
As the heroes move from city to city, they may decide to stop in the local Tavern and buy everyone a round of ale in hopes of hearing a juicy Rumor. Following up on them can provide the heroes with valuable rewards. For complete details on Rumors, see Rumors on page 21.
The heroes have discovered a magical ship at the start of the campaign the Revenge. Although the Revenge is a powerful relic from a past age, many of its most powerful enchantments have faded or been lost over time, and the heroes will want to renew them. See The Shipyard on page 31 for complete details.
These 24 cards represent new and unusual skills commonly taught in Torue Albes, but rarely seen in Terrinoth. When playing in Torue Albes, they replace 24 old skill cards in the skill decks (see page 9).
These five cards represent great treasures buried in out-of-the-way places in Torue Albes. When the heroes complete a treasure map (see page 20) and travel to a Treasure Site (see page 22), they receive a Buried Treasure card at random as a reward.
Other Cards
In addition to the cards listed above, there are also reference cards for the four types of cannons in Torue Albes, as well as for the deadly daggertooth sharks that haunt its waters. Finally, there is one new card that should be added to the city shop deck (Remove Curse).
Rulebook
The Basics
Most of the time that is, when the heroes are exploring the dungeons of Torue Albes the Advanced Campaign plays like a normal game of Descent. The heroes still choose one of four actions each turn, still place orders, still gain conquest tokens for activating glyphs, and so on. The major differences between regular Descent and the Advanced Campaign come in the times when dungeons are not being explored, as the heroes sail across Torue Albes and receive advanced training. However, unless the basic rules of Descent are specifically overridden by the Advanced Campaign rules, they remain in effect.
The Advanced Campaign is designed for a party of exactly four heroes. If there are fewer than four hero players, one or more must control an extra hero. To save time, extra heroes should be given to the most experienced players. Collectively, the four heroes are known as the party. They travel together at all times, except when momentarily split up by a members death. In the Advanced Campaign, the heroes pool their wealth into a party treasury, from which any hero may spend. Heroes do not lose coins when they die in the Advanced Campaign.
The Avatar
The overlord, while still a powerful otherworldly creature capable of controlling his forces mentally, also has a physical form his Avatar in the Advanced Campaign. The heroes can seek out and kill this creature, and if they do, they win the campaign. The Avatars form is variable; it might be that of a skeletal pirate captain, a shapeshifting serpent, or some other nefarious creature. Each option brings with it some basic abilities, as well as access to other, more powerful abilities, that can be purchased over the course of the Advanced Campaign. The overlord player chooses his Avatars form at the beginning of the Advanced Campaign, and it will remain the same for its duration.
Lieutenants
Lieutenants are exceptionally powerful monsters that the overlord can move around the Torue Albes map to collect valuable items and lay siege to cities. Lieutenants can even attack the heroes directly, although this is dangerous, because a slain lieutenant is lost to the overlord forever.
In the Advanced Campaign unlike the normal game heroes retain their items and other upgrades between quests. Each heros information is stored in his hero box between games. The overlord can also gain new abilities over the course of the Advanced Campaign. Treachery, Avatar Upgrades, and monster upgrades can all be purchased and retained. Overlord power cards, on the other hand, are discarded when the heroes complete or retreat from the dungeon the overlord acquired the cards in.
Rulebook
5. Avatars Special Ability 1. Avatar Name Each Avatar has a unique name. 2. Keep Location When this Avatar has been chosen, this determines where the Overlords Keep will be located on the Torue Albes map. 3. Avatar Attributes This section describes the Avatars statistics. Most Avatars have the same traits as a master version of a particular monster at Diamond level. One exception is that Captain Bones lacks the Undying ability Master Skeletons normally possess. 4. Treachery Upgrade Costs Each colored hexagon in this section lists the Experience (or XP, see page 8) cost for the overlord to buy one treachery of that type. Additionally, the space below each hexagon lists
6. Monster Upgrade Costs the maximum number of treachery of that type that may be purchased. For example, the Master of the Hunt can buy one monster treachery for 15 XP, but may not do this more than three times. (Treachery was introduced in The Well of Darkness and The Altar of Despair. Groups that do not own either expansion should refer to Simplified Treachery on page 34.) 5. Avatars Special Ability Each Avatar possesses a unique special ability, which is described in this section. 6. Monster Upgrade Costs This section lists the XP cost for the Avatar to upgrade each of the three monster categories to the next level. For example, it costs the Master of the Hunt 25 XP to upgrade his humanoid monsters from Copper level to Silver level, or from Silver level to Gold level.
Rulebook
The heroes have recently discovered a magical ship named the Revenge. This ship allows them to sail around the islands of Torue Albes and is mystically tied into the glyphs of transport. By visiting a city, the heroes may designate that city as their Home Port. In the event that they are killed or the Revenge is sunk, its powerful magic causes them to return to their Home Port intact. In addition, the ship can be summoned when the heroes need it. Therefore, when the heroes need to travel overland, they automatically dismiss their ship until they need it again. As the heroes journey across Torue Albes, they can upgrade the Revenges weapons and capabilities at the shipyards in the various towns they come across.
The Revenge
heros conquest value is reduced by 1. In this instance, Mad Carthos, whose conquest value is 2, would have his conquest value reduced to 1. On the other hand, for every full 25 conquest tokens the heroes total is above the overlords total, the overlords conquest value is increased by 1. So, in the example above, Mad Carthos, whose conquest value is 2, would have his conquest value increased to 3. Conquest value changes take place immediately after an event takes place that widens the conquest token gap past one of these thresholds. However, conquest gained by a single event (such as several heroes being killed by a single blast attack) is all accumulated at once before the values can change.
Heroes and lieutenants move between the dungeons and cities of Torue Albes by way of trails. There are normal, ocean, and secret trails. The party begins with the ability to travel along normal and ocean trails, but must purchase the Dead Mans Compass card to travel along secret trails. When the party moves along certain trails, it must check for encounters (see page 15). Lieutenants, conversely, can always move along all three types of trails, and never need to check for encounters. Note: Due to the Queens patrols, the party never runs into encounters when traveling by land. It is only when traveling by sea that they need to check for encounters. The Great Maelstrom Once the heroes purchase the Dead Mans Compass, they may travel between the two ends of the Great Maelstrom on the Torue Albes map. This process is explained on page 15.
While the heroes journey and grow more powerful, the overlord doesnt remain idle. At the start of the Advanced Campaign, the overlord chooses one of three evil Plots he will pursue, to either destroy or conquer the world. If the overlord ever manages to complete his Plot, he immediately wins the game.
The overlord can strike at the cities of Torue Albes by using his faithful lieutenants to lay siege to them. By moving into a city and remaining there, a lieutenant can weaken and eventually raze it. The heroes can try to prevent a lieutenant from razing a besieged city by moving there and attacking him. Razing cities accelerates the overlords plans for conquest and severely hurts the heroes. If the overlord ever razes at least five of Torue Albes cities, he immediately wins the game. There is no single city the overloard may raze to win the game. In the Advanced Campaign, monsters are divided into three categories: humanoid, beast, and eldritch. Humanoids, such as Beastmen and Giants, are similar in form to humans. Beasts, such as Dragons and Hell Hounds, come in many different sizes and shapes. Eldritch monsters, such as Sorcerers and Demons, have powerful magic. Each monsters category is indicated by the icon in the upper right corner of its monster reference card.
Experience Points
Conquest tokens earned by the heroes and overlord are converted into experience points (XP) that they can use to purchase training and other upgrades. For each conquest token the overlord earns, he gains 1 XP. For each conquest token any hero earns, every hero gains 1 XP. The players keep running totals of XP earned and spent by both the heroes and the overlord on the campaign sheet.
Monster Categories
Campaign Level
The overall power level of the campaign at any given time is called the campaign level. Most campaigns begin at Copper level, advance to Silver level, and end at Gold level. The campaign level increases when the total number of conquest tokens earned by the heroes and the overlord combined passes certain thresholds.
Divine Favor
It has often been said that the gods of Torue Albes shine their fortune down on those in need, whether those individuals are good or evil. In Sea of Blood, this is represented by divine favor. For every full 25 conquest tokens the heroes conquest total is below the overlords total, each heros conquest value is reduced by 1, to a minimum of 0. So, if the heroes have 25 conquest, and the overlord has 57 (a difference of 32), each
Humanoid
Beast
Eldritch
Rulebook
Quest Types
The heroes will face a variety of different types of quests in the Advanced Campaign. Each is summarized below. Encounters Encounters are minor, random quests the heroes may have to deal with while traveling across the Terrinoth map. Unlike in Road to Legend, these encounters take place at sea. Dungeons Dungeons are quests of three levels each. Their levels are drawn randomly from the Dungeon Level deck, and joined to each other by portals. The monsters populating a given dungeon level are usually headed by a named leader. Completing all three levels of a dungeon gives the party one piece of a treasure map. Islands Islands, like dungeons, are quests with three levels. However, the first level is always a special island level. Other than that, islands share many of the attributes of dungeons. Rumors Rumors are quests the heroes can learn about by buying rounds of drinks in Taverns. Like dungeons, each Rumor has three levels. While the first two levels of each Rumor are drawn randomly, the final level is specific to the Rumor in question. Completing Rumor quests allows the heroes to earn powerful rewards. Treasure Sites Treasure Sites are locations where large caches of treasure have been buried. In order to retrieve this treasure, the heroes must first assemble the four pieces of a treasure map, then enter the treasure site. Upon entering the treasure site, the heroes immediately receive the treasure buried there without a battle. The Overlords Keep Assuming that the heroes protect Torue Albes from falling to the overlords armies and stop him from completing his evil Plot, their final challenge will be to storm the Overlords Keep and face his Avatar.
Many skills commonly available in Terrinoth are unknown in Torue Albes, and vice versa. To simulate this, add the twentyfour Sea of Blood skill cards to the appropriate skill decks, then remove the following skills from each deck: Fighting Deck: Bear Tattoo, Brawny, Furr the Spirit Wolf, Knight, Leadership, Parry, Taunt, and Unmovable. Subterfuge Deck: Acrobat, Alertness, Deflect Arrows, Ranger, Rapid Fire, Shadow Soul, Skilled, and Swift. Wizardry Deck: Bardic Lore, Divine Retribution, Earth Pact, Sharr the Brightwing, Spiritwalker, Telekinesis, Water Pact, and Willpower. Note: The Torue Albes skill deck may be used when playing non-campaign adventures if desired. To do this, simply modify the skill decks as described above before playing.
Rulebook
10
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B
Sir Valadir Silhouette Mordrog Bogran the Shad.
C
5/105
D A J
110
City Status
15 10 12 8
215
X 1
E
Home Port
H I F O
DOOM
Lieutenant Locations
22
M
1 0 0 18
Current Treachery
N
Overlord Status Information (Only used if the heroes end a game session in a dungeon)
Exploration Record
X X
X X X
2
This example demonstrates what a campaign sheet might look like partway through an Advanced Campaign. Here, the campaign has been going on for some time and has advanced to Silver level (A). The heroes have earned 110 conquest tokens so far (B), while the overlord has earned 105 (and spent 100 of them) (C). The total conquest is thus 215 (D). Notably, Hardell has been razed (noted by the X in the Siege column of the city status box) (E), and Sweetheart is currently besieging Tarianor (F), which has one siege token (G). Additionally, the heroes have chosen Shellport as their Home Port (H), and have assigned the current Rumor to Mount Arrik (I).
So far, the overlord has upgraded his humanoids to Silver level (J), and has bought one trap treachery (K). At the end of the most recent game session, before the players packed up the game, the heroes completed the first level of the dungeon at Weeping Reach, and are now ready to begin the second (L). The overlord had the DOOM! Power card in play (M), with 18 unspent threat (N). He also had 22 cards in his discard pile (O). His hand of cards didnt need to be recorded, as it was placed in his overlord box. (For further details on recording campaign information between sessions, see Storing the Game on page 5.)
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At the Silver campaign level Once the overlord player has chosen a Plot, he reads the flavor text on the zero-cost card associated with that Plot, and puts it into play (i.e., faceup on the table). The cards associated with the two Plots not chosen are placed in the graveyard box and removed from the campaign. 8. Search through the treasure decks and remove the following cards: Copper Deck: Minor Healing, and all Treasure Cache cards containing invulnerability potions (found in The Altar of Despair). All treasures found or bought are Silver treasures. The heroes may upgrade all of their trait dice to silver power dice, and up to three trait dice to gold power dice. The overlord may upgrade all of his monster categories to Silver, and one of them to Gold. The overlords lieutenants, ships, and daggertooth sharks use their Silver level statistics. The overlord cannot have more than three Power cards in play during any given dungeon at once.
A Silver campaign becomes a Gold campaign at the beginning Silver Deck: Greater Healing, and all Treasure Cache of the game week when the heroes and the overlords cards containing invulnerability potions (found in The Altar combined conquest tokens equal or exceed 400. The heroes of Despair). should have explored approximately another 45 dungeons to reach this level. Gold Deck: Superior Healing, and all Treasure Cache cards containing invulnerability potions (found in The Altar At the Gold campaign level of Despair). All treasures found or bought are Gold treasures. Additionally, if you do not possess The Well of Darkness, The heroes may upgrade all of their trait dice to gold remove from the Incident, Rumor, and Dungeon Level decks power dice. any cards with a well icon ( ) on them. Similarly, remove any The overlord may upgrade all of his monster categories to cards with a stone altar icon ( ) if you do not own The Altar Gold, and one of them to Diamond. of Despair and any cards with a skull icon ( ) if you do not The overlords lieutenants, ships, and daggertooth sharks own The Tomb of Ice. use their Gold level statistics. The overlord cannot have more than four Power cards in Once these steps are done, Advanced Campaign setup is play during any given dungeon at once. complete! Players begin the campaign with the first game week (see The Game Week on page 14).
At the beginning of the game week when the heroes and the overlords combined conquest token total equals or exceeds 600, the hero party discovers a way into the Overlords Keep and the Final Battle begins. Prior to that point, the heroes cannot enter the Overlords Keep, although they may move the party marker to its location on the Torue Albes map. See The Overlords Keep on page 23 for further details.
Most campaigns begin at this power level. At the Copper campaign level: All treasures found or bought are Copper treasures. No hero may upgrade more than three of his trait dice to silver power dice. The overlord cannot upgrade more than one of his monster categories to Silver. The overlords lieutenants, ships, and daggertooth sharks use their Copper level statistics. The overlord cannot have more than two Power cards in play at once during any given dungeon.
If the players wish to start the Advanced Campaign at a higher level than Copper (usually in order to play a shorter campaign), they may. Beginning At Silver Level To begin the Advanced Campaign at Silver level, first conduct campaign setup normally. Then, the overlord and heroes each receive 100 conquest tokens, and 10,000 coins are added to the party treasury. After that, the heroes may look through the Copper treasure deck and purchase any Copper treasures they wish (other than Treasure Caches) for 250 coins each. Next, the heroes may purchase any training that they could receive in Gafford. Finally, the hero players, as a group, choose two cities and/or secret masters, and may then purchase any training they could receive at those locations. The campaign then begins as normal.
A Copper campaign becomes a Silver campaign at the beginning of the game week when the heroes and the overlords combined conquest tokens equal or exceed 200 (e.g., if the heroes have earned 85 conquest tokens and the overlord has earned 115, together they have earned 200 conquest tokens). The heroes should need to explore approximately 45 dungeons to accomplish this.
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4. City Buildings
1. Torue Albes Map Area This area of the board depicts the land of Torue Albes. The heroes party and the overlords lieutenants move around this area, traveling from city to city. 2. Game Week Summary The sequence of events that take place each game week.
3. Torue Albes Map Key An explanation of the various symbols that appear on the Torue Albes map area. 4. City Buildings Areas where hero figures are placed to indicate which buildings they are currently located in when they visit a city.
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Beginning at Gold Level To begin the Advanced Campaign at Gold level, first conduct campaign setup normally. Then, the overlord and heroes each receive 200 conquest tokens, and 20,000 coins are added to the party treasury. After that, the heroes may look through the Copper and Silver treasure decks and purchase any Copper and Silver treasures they wish (other than Treasure Caches) for either 250 coins (Copper) or 500 coins (Silver) each. Next, the heroes may purchase any training that they could receive in Gafford. Finally, the hero players, as a group, choose three cities and/or secret masters, and may then purchase any training they could receive at those locations. The campaign then begins as normal.
purchasing an upgrade between issuing orders to different lieutenants. Lieutenant Orders The overlord may issue one order to each of his lieutenants per game week. Each order may be to either move, or besiege a city. Move: When moving, a lieutenant moves its marker from its current location, along one trail (of any type), to a new location. He does not check for encounters. However, lieutenants cannot enter Treasure Sites or Secret Master Areas. If a lieutenant enters the partys location he may (but does not have to) attack the party (see Encounters Involving Lieutenants on page 18). Besiege a City: If the lieutenant begins his turn in a city, he can besiege it. If he does, the overlord places a siege token on that citys space, as long as it currently has fewer siege tokens than the citys Defense rating. (If it currently has siege tokens equal to the citys Defense rating, the overlord does not add additional siege tokens.) Upgrades The overlord may purchase one upgrade per game week with his XP. Upgrade examples include Avatar Upgrades, Plot cards, treachery upgrades, and monster upgrades. For a full list, see Overlord Upgrades on page 32.
1. Time Passes
First, the players evaluate the heroes and overlords combined conquest token total to see if the campaign level advances from Copper to Silver (at 200 combined XP), from Silver to Gold (400), or from Gold to the Final Battle (600). If the campaign advances, the new status takes effect immediately. Then, the overlord gains one conquest token, plus one additional conquest token for each city he has razed. This represents his slowly growing power. Thus, even if the heroes do nothing, they will eventually be forced to face him and at a significant disadvantage, since they wont have gained any skills or equipment!
4. Party Actions
When it is the partys turn to act during the game week, the hero players collectively select one of the following: the Move action or the Recuperate/Train action. Move Action When moving, the party moves the hero party marker from its current location on the Torue Albes map, along one trail, to a the next location on the trail. The heroes cannot split up and go to different locations. They may move to the location where the Overlords Keep is located, but they cannot enter it until the Final Battle begins (see The Overlords Keep on page 23). The party can always move along normal and water trails, but may not move along secret trails unless it has the Dead Mans Compass. Moving along certain trails requires a check for an encounter according to the rules for Checking for Encounters on page 15. If the heroes end their movement in a dungeon or island area, they receive one conquest token if theyve never been to that area before. They may then may enter the dungeon or island according to the rules under Dungeons on page 18 or Islands on page 21. Exception: While the party may end its movement on the Overlords Keep, it may not enter the Overlords Keep unless allowed by another game effect. If the heroes end their movement in a city, they may each go to a building in that city and follow the instructions for that buildings visit circumstance. (Note, however, that heroes may not visit a Training Ground or Shipyard upon ending a move action.) Different heroes are allowed to go to different buildings.
2. Resolve Sieges
First, remove all siege tokens from cities where at least one of the overlords lieutenants is not also present.
Then, for each city that has a number of siege tokens on it equal to its Defense rating, roll a black power die. On a surge, the city is razed. On any other result, simply leave the siege tokens in place. Razed Cities When a city has been razed, it is destroyed for the remainder of the campaign. Flip one of the siege Razed tokens over to the razed side, and remove the Token others. The heroes can still move through the razed citys space on the map board, but the city no longer provides any services to them, such as the Market, Alchemist, and so on. Note: If five or more cities are razed, the overlord immediately wins the campaign.
Siege Token
3. Overlord Actions
When the overlord acts during the game week, he may do two different types of actions: issues order to his lieutenants, and purchase an upgrade. He may do these in any order, even
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In addition, when the heroes end their movement in a city, they have the option of moving the Home Port marker to that city. This city now becomes the partys home port. This is where heroes return to when they are killed or travel through a glyph to restock. Exception: Heroes returning to a town after exploring a dungeon or island during that week do not get to visit the town. Instead, the game week ends immediately. If the heroes end their movement in the same area as a lieutenant, they may (but do not have to) attack that lieutenant (see Encounters Involving Lieutenants on page 18). The Great Maelstrom Once the party possesses the Dead Mans Compass Ship Upgrade, they have the option of sailing through the Great Maelstrom. The two ends of the massive whirlpool are found in the south of Torue Albes (near the Torrents of Dreadpeace) and in central Torue Albes (near Midnight Cove).
Quest Types
The heroes will match their power and skill against several different types of quests during their journeys in an Advanced Campaign. Each is described in detail below.
Encounters
Encounters are incidents that occur while the heroes are traveling on the Torue Albes map. Because the Queens patrols quell any dangerous forces operating on land, encounters only occur at sea. Therefore, encounters in Sea of Blood tend to involve ship-to-ship battles. Checking for Encounters To determine whether an encounter takes place when the party travels using a game week move action, the overlord looks at the trail being traversed. If the trail is marked with a colored shield and a number (usually any trail at sea), there is a chance for an encounter. The color of the shield indicates the danger level of the trail, while the number represents the amount of traffic on it. The overlord rolls a number of black power dice equal to the number on the shield. If the shield is green (a safe trail) then any blanks rolled indicate an encounter will occur. If the shield is yellow (an unsafe trail), then any surges rolled indicate an encounter will occur. If the shield is red (a dangerous trail), then any power enhancements rolled indicate an encounter will occur. Determining the Encounter When an encounter occurs, the overlord shuffles the Incident deck and draws cards until he draws one that has a shield in the lower right corner matching the shield color of the trail the heroes are on. For example, if the heroes were on a trail with a red shield, the overlord might draw until he draws The Water Horse, which has a red shield in its lower right corner. Non-combat Encounters Some Incident cards describe non-combat encounters, and have prominent text that indicates this. When these cards are drawn, the overlord simply reads them aloud in their entirety and executes them as described, after which the party continues traveling to its destination. Combat Encounters Incident cards without a prominent non-combat designation generate combat encounters. When these cards are drawn, the overlord shuffles all of the Location cards and draws one. The Location card shows the map on which the battle will take place, and describes a special rule that applies to the battleground. Once a Location card has been drawn, the overlord assembles the map as shown on it, and leaves the card out for easy reference. Note: All encounters in Sea of Blood take place on the ocean map included with the game. Terrain, ships, and figures are set up on top of the ocean map. Anatomy of an Incident Card Each Incident card (other than non-combat incidents) describes a named leader, a number of minions that follow him, and a set of abilities. In addition, some Incident cards indicate that an NPC ship has been encountered. Rulebook
To sail through the Great Maelstrom, the heroes must move into one of its ends as part of their normal Move action. Their ship is then pulled into the Maelstrom, traveling under the ocean and emerging at the other end. Once their ship emerges, it is immediately moved into the adjacent location (either Torrents of Dreadpeace, or Midnight Cove, as appropriate). This entire process counts as moving along one trail. However, sailing through the Great Maelstrom is not without risk. The terrible stresses placed upon the Revenge may tear the ship apart! Roll 1 red die, 1 white die, and 2 green dice. The partys ship suffers the rolled damage, ignoring armor. Miss results are ignored for this roll. Lieutenants cannot travel through the Great Maelstrom unless their Lieutenant card specifies otherwise. They do not suffer damage from traveling through the Great Maelstrom. Train Action The party may only choose the Train action when in a city or Secret Master Area. If a hero trains while the party is in a city, he goes to one of the buildings available in that city and follows the instructions for that buildings train circumstance. If a hero trains while the party is at a Secret Master Area, refer to the instructions under Secret Training on page 32. Alternately, a hero may spend 50 coins while training at a Secret Master Area to be restored to full health and fatigue (similar to training at the Temple in a city).
Once the players complete all of the encounters and/or dungeons arising from the game weeks events, a new game week begins.
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The leader is always a named monster of a particular type. The Incident card explains any special abilities the leader may possess. The leaders force of minions is a group of unnamed monsters that assist him. Standard rules apply to these monsters. In addition, because encounters in Torue Albes occur at sea, a ship may be listed in italics just under the cards name as well. For further details on this, see NPC Ships on page 30. The abilities are a list of special powers that can be activated by the overlord with the threat he gains during this encounter. Overlord Cards and Threat in Encounters The overlord begins a combat encounter with zero threat and no Overlord cards. In fact, the Overlord deck is not used during outdoor encounters, even when lieutenants are encountered. The overlord receives one threat per hero per turn, in addition to gaining his usual one threat for every two surges he spends when making attacks. This threat may only be used to activate the encounters abilities that are listed on the Incident card. However, in addition to these encounter abilities, there are two general abilities that are always available to the overlord during an encounter: Ability Move a monster one extra space (like a hero spending a fatigue for speed). Add a black power die to a monsters attack roll, or upgrade a power die by one step (like a hero spending a fatigue on an attack). Threat Cost 2 2
The party moves from Orris to the Narrows of Gracor. This is a water trail (indicated by its blue color), so the heroes dont need any special items to travel along it. The trail is marked with a green shield with a 2 inside it. This means that the party must check for an encounter. The green shield indicates a safe trail, meaning that encounters only happen on the roll of a blank, while the 2 indicates how many black power dice must be rolled. So, in this instance, two black power dice are rolled, and if any blanks show up, the hero party has an encounter. Assuming that at least one blank is rolled, the overlord draws cards from the Incident deck until he draws a card that has a green shield in its lower right corner, because green matches the danger level of the trail the heroes are on. Once the encounter is resolved (or if no encounter had occurred) the party resumes its journey to the Narrows of Gracor, arriving without further incident. Upon arrival, if the party has not entered this location before, the heroes each receive one conquest token as a reward for exploration. Finally, the party can immediately begin to explore the island at the Narrows of Gracor, assuming they havent explored it in the past.
The Reinforce Ability in Encounters The Reinforce ability (a common ability on many Incident cards) allows the overlord to place a new monster (or monsters) of the listed type off the board. Reinforcements are not considered to have been spawned, so hero lines of sight and abilities that prevent or interfere with spawning do not affect their arrival. Reinforcements are purchased and placed at the end of the overlords turn, and may not be activated that turn. However, since they arent on the map yet, heroes cant attack them, either. On the overlords next turn, he may move the reinforcements onto the map as though they were one space away from the hold spaces (see page 27) of the NPC ship. Monsters may not end their movement on top of other figures when moving onto the board. Exception: Monsters with the Soar or Swim abilities are instead placed next to one edge of the ocean map, and are considered to be one space off that edge of the map. When entering the map, they may enter into any space along that edge (determined by the overlord), but must move completely onto the board and cannot end their movement on top of other figures. If the leader in an encounter has been killed, the Reinforce abilities of that encounter can no longer be used.
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Ship Setup and Ambushes After the encounter location has been assembled on the game table, the overlord must establish whether the heroes have been ambushed, because this determines how the NPC ship is placed on the ocean map. Each Incident shows one or more die faces in the lower left corner (a surge, a power enhancement, and/or a blank). To check for an ambush, roll one black power die. If the roll matches any of the die faces shown on the card, the encounter is an ambush. Example: The Plague Ship shows a surge in its lower left corner, so the overlord rolls one black power die. If the result is a surge, the encounter is an ambush. If the result is a blank or a power enhancement, the encounter is not an ambush. Once an ambush has been checked for, the ships are assembled as explained on page 24. Ships are then placed on the map, starting with the largest and proceeding to the smallest (brigantines first, then galleys, then sloops). If both the overlords ship and the partys ship is the same size, the heroes must place their ship first. Note when placing your ship first that it may be uncertain which side your ship will be attacked from, depending on the Location card. If that is the case, you may wish to build your ship for the encounter in such a way that your cannons are evenly split between the two sides of the ship. When placed on the map, a ships rear edge must be touching one edge of the ocean map. The rear of the heroes ship must be placed exactly in one of the green areas shown on the Location card. If the encounter is not an ambush, the rear of the NPC ship (if any) is placed exactly in one of the yellow areas shown on the Location card. If the encounter is an ambush, the rear of the NPC ship (if any) is placed exactly in one of the red or yellow areas (overlords choice) shown on the Location card. All ships begin encounters with all of their sails and their anchor raised. Place raised sail and anchor tokens next to the appropriate stations on the ships to show this (see Manning the Ship on page 24). Exception: In the Shipwreck location, any NPC ship in the encounter is replaced by the shipwreck, which has the NPC ships normal cannons (up to six), but cannot move. If the Shipwreck location is drawn for a lieutenant encounter, discard it and redraw. Hero Setup Once all of the ships are placed on the map, the heroes may place their figures on any square on their ship that they could normally enter. Spaces that are half water and half ship are always considered to be ship spaces. Monster Setup After the heroes are placed on the map, the overlord places the leader and his minions on the map. Figures without the Soar or Swim abilities must be placed on the NPC ship. Figures with the Soar or Swim abilities may be placed along any edge of the ocean map, but they must be at least five spaces away from the heroes ship. Large monsters must be placed completely on the map.
Sharks The oceans of Torue Albes are infested with the deadly daggertooth sharks. Each Location card has a shark fin with a number between 0 and 5. This is the number of sharks placed on the map at the start of the encounter. Sharks are set up like monsters with the Swim ability, as described above. A monster reference card is included for the daggertooth sharks, but the sharks do not upgrade their rating as other monsters do. Instead, they are more like lieutenants, in that they always use the attributes of the current campaign level (i.e. they use their copper attributes at copper level, silver attributes at silver level, and their gold attributes at gold level.) In addition, each time a shark is killed, a new shark instantly spawns (as a reinforcement with the Swim ability) for free. Initiative If the encounter is not an ambush, the heroes take their turn first during the encounter. If the encounter is an ambush, the overlord takes his turn first. Hero and Overlord Turns Once initiative has been determined, the overlord reads the entire text of the Incident card to the hero players, including all abilities and special rules. Then, the heroes and overlord alternate taking turns (starting with the side that has initiative) according to the normal Descent rules, until the encounter ends in one of the way described under Possible Encounter Outcomes, below. For details on how ships behave during encounters, see Ships and Sailing on page 24. For information on swimming in ocean waters, see Swimming on page 30. Leader Death When an encounters leader dies, heroes receive 100 coins and 2 conquest tokens whether they dealt the killing blow or not. In addition, the overlord cannot use the Reinforce ability for the rest of that encounter. Hero Death Since there are no glyphs of transport on the encounter maps, hero death during encounters does not follow the normal procedure (see Hero Death on page 34). If a hero is killed in an encounter, the overlord simply receives the heros conquest value in conquest tokens and the hero is removed from the board until the end of the encounter (see Party Recovery, below). Fleeing A ship flees an encounter when any portion of it leaves the ocean map. If the overlords ship flees the map, the encounter ends in Party Victory, below. If the partys ship flees the map, the encounter ends in Party Flight, below. A figure not on a ship may flee the map by simply moving off any edge of the map, whereupon it is removed. A hero or monster that flees an encounter may not return to it later (although replacement monsters may still be reinforced by the overlord).
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Possible Encounter Outcomes The three ways an encounter can end are described below. Party Victory If the heroes kill all of the monsters on the board or sink the NPC ship, they win the encounter and may loot the wreckage. To do this, the party rolls four black power dice and consults the chart below for each die to see how many coins they find:
Second, the overlord automatically puts the Power card listed on the lieutenants cards into play, free. Third, a lieutenant in an encounter may Battle (attack twice without moving), Run (move up to twice its speed without attacking), or Ready (either move up to its speed or attack once and place an order) as heroes do. Lieutenants may only place an Aim, Dodge, or Guard order when Readying. Fourth, a lieutenant can Reinforce any kind of normal monster listed as one of its minions on its lieutenant card. For example, Darkwind can Reinforce Razorwings. The threat cost to Reinforce one monster of a given type is listed below.
Monster Type Bane Spider Beastman Blood Ape Chaos Beast Dark Priest Demon Deep Elf Dragon Ferrox Giant Golem Hell Hound Ice Wyrm
Threat Cost for one Reinforcement
Encounter Loot
Die Result Enhancement Surge Blank Copper Campaign 50 coins 75 coins 100 coins Silver Campaign 75 coins 100 coins 125 coins Gold Campaign 100 coins 125 coins 150 coins
Monster Type Kobold Lava Beetle Manticore Medusa Naga Ogre Razorwing Shade Skeleton Sorcerer Troll Wendigo
Add up the coins generated and add it to the party treasury. The only conquest tokens the heroes can receive are the two awarded for killing the leader. Then the heroes continue their game week Move action. Total Party Kill If all heroes are killed during an encounter or the Revenge is sunk, the encounter ends and the hero party marker is moved to the city containing their Home Port marker on the Torue Albes map board (see page 15). The partys game week action ends immediately, and the overlord has scored a resounding blow! Party Flight If at any point during the encounter any part of the Revenge moves off the map, then the party escapes. The heroes receive no loot, but continue their game week action. If the heroes ship leaves a hero behind on the map when fleeing, the hero catches back up to the Revenge after the encounter ends. Party Recovery At the end of every encounter, regardless of the outcome, the following occurs: 1. Any heroes who fled or were killed during the encounter rejoin the party. 2. Heroes who were killed return with full wounds. Heroes who were not killed are not automatically healed. 3. All heroes are restored to full fatigue. 4. All heroes may drink any number of potions and use any healing items they wish. Note that, as described in the Advanced Campaign Hero Changes box on page 10, Ispher and Red Scorpion immediately heal fully at the end of any encounter. Encounters Involving Lieutenants When the heroes attack, or are attacked by, a lieutenant, an encounter ensues that is similar although not identical to a normal encounter. First, rather than drawing an Incident card, the overlord uses the lieutenants card as the encounters Incident card. In addition, if the Shipwreck location card is drawn, discard it and draw again.
3 4 5 7 4 7 4 7 4 7 5 3 7
2 4 5 4 4 6 4 4 3 4 6 4
Fifth, a lieutenant may flee off of the board through an edge of the map just like a hero. Doing so ends the encounter in a party victory and the overlord immediately moves the lieutenant one trail away as if it had moved. Any Quest Item the lieutenant was carrying is left behind for the heroes to take. Sixth, if a hero kills the lieutenant, the heroes gain 250 coins and 4 conquest tokens (instead of the usual 100 coins and 2 conquest they get for killing an encounters leader). This also immediately ends the encounter in a party victory, as the other monsters on the map flee in terror. The lieutenant card is placed in the graveyard box, and is no longer available to the overlord.
Dungeons
When the party ends their game-week at a dungeon location they havent explored yet, they can enter and explore it. Each dungeon consists of three levels, which are linked together by portals. Each level is generated individually, when the heroes enter it, and each dungeons levels are explored sequentially, one at a time. Dungeon Map Icon
Dungeon Level Setup When the heroes enter a new dungeon level, the overlord draws a Dungeon Level card. The card describes the levels leader and any special rules associated with that level. The number on the card and its title refer the overlord to the map and
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associated minion list in the Dungeon Levels section of the Quest Guide at the end of this book (see pages 4697). Note: The Dungeon Level numbering continues from the cards in Road to Legend and Tomb of Ice, starting at #45. Once the overlord has set up the dungeon level board according to the map, the hero players place their figures on, or adjacent to, the activated glyph as normal. Next, the overlord places the levels leader figure (or figures) in the location indicated on the map and chooses his minions. Unlike encounters, most dungeon levels have several different minion options. Where options are given, the overlord may choose among them, but note that group C usually requires The Well of Darkness expansion, group D normally requires The Altar of Despair expansion, and group E normally requires The Tomb of Ice expansion. Once the overlord has chosen his minions, he deploys them on the board. He may place his minions anywhere except in the red-shaded portions indicated in the Quest Guide map. As when revealing a new area, the overlord may ignore hero lines of sight, and abilities that interfere with spawning. The overlord also shuffles his Overlord deck and draws a hand of three cards. However, if he has bought any treachery, he may adjust his Overlord deck first. (This assumes you have The Well of Darkness, The Altar of Despair, or The Tomb of Ice. If not, see Simplified Treachery on page 34.) Finally, the overlord reads aloud the dungeon level description (found in the Quest Guide, next to the map), as well as the entire Dungeon Level card, including all special and leader text. Lieutenants Fortifying Dungeons If there are any lieutenants on the Torue Albes map in the same location as the current dungeon, or in a location only one trail away from the current dungeon, any or all of those lieutenants may fortify the current dungeon. Although this does not move any lieutenants or their minions physically to the current dungeon, it provides a different and powerful benefit to the overlord. Before beginning the dungeon, the overlord looks through his Overlord deck and places the cards listed beneath the portraits on the cards of any fortifying lieutenants into play, free. Furthermore, these cards do not count against the number of Power cards in play (see Advanced Campaign Stages on page 12). Running the Dungeon Level Once setup is complete, play begins normally, starting with the heroes. The overlord uses his Overlord deck as usual in dungeons, drawing two cards per turn, and so on. He also gains threat at the usual rate. The overlords hand of cards, threat, and Power cards in play are maintained for all three levels of the dungeon, but are lost when the dungeon ends. Rewards for Defeating Leaders Unless otherwise stated, the leader on each dungeon level carries a red runekey. Unless otherwise specified, upon the leaders death (whether caused by the heroes or not), the heroes Rulebook
Summary: Lieutenants
When purchased as an upgrade, a lieutenant begins play on the Torue Albes map at the Overlords Keep unless its card states otherwise. If a lieutenant begins a game week in a city, he can besiege it. To do so, the overlord places a siege token on the city, unless there are already siege tokens equal to the citys Defense rating there. If there are siege tokens equal to the citys Defense rating, the overlord rolls a power die. On a surge, the city is razed. Otherwise, the siege tokens simply remain in place. A lieutenant may move along one trail of any type each week during the Overlord Actions step. Lieutenants cannot move to Legendary Areas or Secret Master Areas. If a lieutenant ends its movement on the heroes current location, he can attack the heroes. A lieutenants statistics vary with the campaign level; each lieutenant card lists statistics for Copper, Silver, and Gold campaign levels. Lieutenants, unlike most monsters, can Battle, Run, and Ready like heroes (although they can only place Aim, Dodge, or Guard orders). Lieutenants can also flee from encounters the same way heroes can. When a lieutenants position on the Torue Albes map is at, or within one trails length of, a dungeon the heroes party is exploring, that lieutenant can fortify that dungeon. This allows the overlord to put the Power card listed under the lieutenants portrait into play, free. When a lieutenant is killed in combat, his card is placed in the graveyard box, which means he is permanently dead and can never be reused during the campaign
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immediately receive it and can open the corresponding red rune-locked door. Additionally, the heroes receive 100 coins and 2 conquest tokens. Defeating the leader (or leaders) of the third (and final) level is worth 250 coins and 4 conquest tokens instead. Finally, completing the third level of the dungeon rewards the heroes with a treasure map piece token (see Treasure Maps below). The Reinforcement Marker In the Advanced Campaign, the overlord player is limited as to how often he may play spawn cards. At the start of every dungeon level, the overlord places the reinforcement marker in front of him faceup (the side with the eyes). When the overlord plays a spawn card, he must flip the reinforcement marker facedown. While this marker is facedown, the overlord player may not play spawn cards. The overlord player may spend 15 threat on his turn to flip the reinforcement marker faceup. Otherwise, the reinforcement marker stays facedown until the end of the dungeon level or a new area is revealed, whereupon it is turned faceup once again. Note: The reinforcement marker may be used in non-campaign play for groups that prefer more limited monster spawning. Areas in Dungeons Normally, an entire dungeon level is revealed as soon as the heroes enter it, even if there are closed doors blocking off parts of it. Usually, only special levels, such as Rumor levels and Overlords Keep levels, have multiple areas. If no areas are indicated on a given dungeon levels map, it has only one area. Chests in Dungeons When a hero opens a chest in a dungeon, the party rolls four black power dice and consults the chart below for each one to see what is discovered.
Glyphs of Transport in Dungeons In the Advanced Campaign, glyphs of transport work differently than in a standard game of Descent. When a hero activates a glyph of transport, the heroes receive 3 conquest tokens as normal. However, to move through an activated glyph, a hero must begin his turn on or adjacent to the glyphss space. Then, rather than being placed on the town marker (which is not used at all in the Advanced Campaign), the hero returns to the city containing the partys Home Port marker (see page 15). A hero returning in this way is placed in the building of his choice, and may immediately claim the benefits of restocking there. See Cities and Buildings on page 30 and Using Buildings on page 31 for more information. On the heros following turn, he may either return to any activated glyph of transport in the dungeon for one movement point (as normal), or restock in the partys Home Port again, in the same building or another one. The Portal Beyond the red rune-locked door on each level is a portal leading to the next level. Once a hero steps onto the portal map piece, he is removed from the board and becomes invulnerable to harm. Heroes remain in transit until all the heroes enter the portal or use a glyph to move to town, at which point all of the heroes who entered the portal are moved to the next level.
The Third Level The master of each dungeons third level is the dungeon leader. The dungeon leader has the same attributes as a normal leader, but when the dungeon leader (or leaders) is killed the heroes receive 250 coins and 4 conquest tokens (rather than 100 and 2, respectively). Additionally, when the heroes go through the portal on the third level, they return to the surface instead of moving to another dungeon level. When they do this, they must mark that dungeon location as explored on the campaign sheet, and then may either place the party marker in the city containing the partys Home Port marker, or leave it on the Torue Albes map space where the just-defeated dungeon is located. If the party returns to its Home Port, it may not then visit that city its turn is over. The party may not re-enter a dungeon location they have explored for the remainder of the campaign. Treasure Maps As an additional reward for completing a dungeon, when the heroes go through the portal on the third level of the dungeon, they receive a treasure map piece token. After collecting four of these tokens, the heroes may travel to a Treasure Site and dig up a buried treasure (see Treasure Sites on page 22). The party may not have more than four treasure map piece tokens at once any extras are lost. Fleeing a Dungeon If the heroes decide that things are too grim for them to continue on inside a dungeon, they can decide to leave a dungeon and not come back. To do this, they must simply all return to their Home
Chest Loot
Die Result Enhancement Surge Blank Copper Campaign 100 coins 50 coins and any 1 potion 1 Copper Treasure Silver Gold Campaign Campaign 200 coins 300 coins 100 coins and 150 coins and any 1 potion any 1 potion 1 Silver 1 Gold Treasure Treasure
Coins are added to the party treasury. The types of potions are selected by the hero players as a group; for example, a party that discovered two potions could choose one healing and one vitality potion. Treasures are drawn from the listed treasure deck as normal. The potions and items discovered in chests are divided among the heroes as the hero players wish. Heroes may immediately equip any items they discover in chests, as usual. If a chest is opened and no treasures are found, the heroes receive one extra conquest token.
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Port at the same time (via glyphs of transport see Using Buildings on page 31) and announce that theyre fleeing the dungeon. If they do this, the dungeon ends. The players must mark that dungeon location as explored on the campaign sheet (meaning that they may not re-enter it for the duration of the campaign), and the party marker is moved to the city containing the partys Home Port marker on the Torue Albes map. Note: Careful consideration of when to explore further and when to flee a dungeon is critical to the partys success. If a dungeon seems hopeless, dont just keep feeding conquest to the overlord, run away to fight another day! Running Out of Time If the heroes take too long while exploring a dungeon, they may run out of time and be forced to flee. If the overlord ever depletes his Overlord deck twice on the same level (receiving three conquest tokens each time), the heroes are immediately expelled from the dungeon as though they had fled the dungeon.
Islands
When the party ends their game-week at an island location they havent explored yet, they can enter and explore it. Islands are similar in all ways to dungeons, Island Map except for their first level, which is a special Icon island level found in the Quest Guide later in this rulebook (on pages 4697). Each island location on the Torue Albes map has a particular island level, and they are listed in alphabetical order. The second and third levels of an island are played exactly like the second and third levels of a dungeon, including any rewards received for killing leaders or completing the third level. Island Setup Using the island side of the ocean map, set up the level as described in the Quest Guide. The heroes begin anywhere on their ship that they wish, while the monsters begin anywhere on the island that the overlord desires. As on a dungeon level, the heroes take the first turn. Cavern Entrance Each island has a cavern entrance on it. The mouth of the cavern entrance token acts just like the portal on a dungeon level. However, the cavern entrance is closed to the heroes at first and they must open it to enter the remaining dungeon levels (normally done by killing the leader of the level). Ships at Anchor The partys ship is set up and placed near the island so that its rear end is positioned as shown on the island map and its front end is pointed towards the north side (the top) of the map. The ship is considered to have its anchor and all of its sails lowered (see page 25), but the heroes may wish to use the ships cannons before going ashore. Fleeing an Island To flee an island level, the heroes must board their ship and flee the board with it, just as in an encounter. Any hero without Swim or Soar left behind when the partys ship flees the map is instantly killed, regardless of armor or remaining wounds.
Reward
Rumors
Heroes visiting Taverns can learn about Rumors, which are special quests they can undertake to earn special rewards. When a hero visits or trains in a Tavern (see Using Buildings and The Tavern on page 31) Rumor Token and pays for a round of drinks, the overlord shuffles the Rumor deck and then draws the top Rumor card. The overlord reads aloud the italicized Rumor text and the reward, which together describe the Rumor the hero hears, a quest that can be undertaken by the hero party, and the bounty the heroes will win if they do so. Next, if there is currently no active Rumor in the campaign, the drawn card becomes the active Rumor. However, if there is already an active Rumor, the players must decide together whether to keep the old active Rumor and discard the new Rumor, or vice versa. There may never be more than one active Rumor at a time. Discarded Rumors in this way are returned to the bottom of the Rumor deck. If the new Rumor card becomes the active Rumor, the hero players must next decide which dungeon or island location on the Torue Albes map they must travel to in order to face the Rumors dangers and if they are successful claim the Rumors reward. The location they choose cannot be closer (along the shortest possible route) to the party marker than the distance in trail-lengths listed in the upper right corner of the Rumor card. Otherwise, the hero players may choose any unexplored dungeon or island location on the Torue Albes map (other than the Overlords Keep), which they should mark on the map with the Rumor token, and record on the campaign sheet. Rulebook
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Example: The party marker is in Garnott when the heroes draw a new Rumor card with a distance of two, which they decide to make their new active Rumor. They could choose to locate the Rumor at any unexplored dungeon or island location other than Azure Peaks, Burning Bay, Solace Mountain, and Torrents of Dreadpeace. Those four locations are only one trail-length from the partys current location, so they cannot be selected, but all other locations meet the minimum distance requirement. They decide to locate the new Rumor at Narrows of Gracor, and record that choice on the campaign sheet. Once a Rumors location has been determined, campaign play continues. The active Rumor remains faceup in a convenient location, and is stored with the heroes cards between sessions. To overcome the active Rumor and try to claim its reward, the party must first travel to the Rumors location. Then, they proceed to explore it in the same way they would a regular dungeon (see Dungeons on page 18 or Islands on page 21). The first and second levels are played as normal dungeon levels (i.e., Dungeon Level cards are drawn for a dungeon, while the first level of an island is found in the Quest Guide). The third level, however, is specific to the active Rumor. When beginning the third level, rather than drawing a Dungeon Level card, the overlord turns to the corresponding section of the Quest Guide (pages 4698 of this book) and sets up the level according to the map and instructions. The Rumor level is played according to the Quest Guide description and rules, which also specify the conditions the heroes must meet to receive the Rumor reward. The reward is granted immediately when the conditions are met. The Rumor card is also then removed from the campaign (being placed in the graveyard box), unless the card instructs the heroes to keep it. Whether removed from the game or kept by the heroes, however, that Rumor card is no longer considered to be the active Rumor. The Rumor level (and therefore the entire dungeon) ends in the same manner as a standard dungeon, when all the heroes either travel through its portal, or flee by simultaneously returning to their Home Port and declaring that they have fled. In both cases, that dungeon location is marked as explored on the campaign sheet, and the heroes may not explore it again. Example: A hero in Garnott visits the Tavern there and learns the The White Drake Rumor. The party has no active Rumor, so The White Drake becomes their active Rumor. Its distance is 2, so the heroes decide that its location will be the Narrows of Gracor. Later, the hero party goes to the Narrows of Gracor and explores it. The first levels is the Narrows of Gracor Island level, while the second level is explored like a normal dungeon level (the overlord draws Dungeon Level cards, and so forth), but the third level is unique to the The White Drake Rumor. When the heroes descend to that level, the overlord refers to the Quest Guide (in this case, page 71). Upon fulfilling the reward requirement (which also, in this case, corresponds to killing the White Drake) they receive the reward described on the The White Drake Rumor card (2,500 coins), mark the Narrows of Gracor island location as explored on the campaign sheet, and
may either leave the party marker at the Narrows of Gracor location or move it to their Home Port.
Treasure Sites
There are five Treasure Sites marked on the Torue Albes map. Normally, these locations are inaccessible to both the party and the overlords lieutenants. However, when the party is adjacent to a Treasure Site, they may take a Move action Treasure Site and spend four treasure map piece tokens to Map Icon enter the Treasure Site. Treasure Sites cannot be explored, so the heroes do not gain conquest the first time they enter each Treasure Site, nor do the heroes enter a dungeon or anything similar. Instead, the heroes randomly draw one of the five Buried Treasure cards and then end their turn. A Buried Treasure card may provide the party with a relic, a huge stash of coins, or some other special reward.
After digging up a Buried Treasure, the heroes must then accumulate four new treasure map piece tokens before they can enter a Treasure Site once more. However, the party may visit the same Treasure Site more than once, provided they have a completed treasure map these sites are thick with buried treasure, after all. Rumors cannot be located at Treasure Sites, nor can lieutenants fortify them.
The Secret Master Areas, Daggers Isle and Grays Vale, are the homes of two of the greatest legends of the last age, and heroes who seek them out can learn invaluable skills and abilities from them.
Secret Master Area If the hero party ends their game-week movement Map Icon in a Secret Master Area, nothing happens immediately. However, if the heroes choose a Recuperate/Train action while at a Secret Master Area, they have the option to improve their maximum wounds or maximum fatigue. See Secret Training on page 32 for detailed information. Heroes can also opt to learn skills or improve their traits at Secret Master Areas, in similar fashion to training at a citys Training Ground. See Hero Upgrades on page 32. Rumors cannot be located at Secret Master Areas, nor can lieutenants enter or fortify them.
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Once the overlord and the heroes pass a combined total of 600 conquest tokens, the Final Battle begins whether the heroes are ready for it or not. Remember that the heroes cant enter the Overlords Keep although they can move to that location on the Torue Albes map before the Final Battle begins.
2. Add the conquest tokens that the heroes have collected since entering the Overlords Keep to their previous total conquest tokens. Each heros maximum wounds are increased by +1 for every 4 conquest tokens the heroes have collected since the beginning of the campaign. Each hero is then restored to full health and fatigue, and their ship is restored to full wounds (if it is used for the battle). 3. Add the conquest tokens that the overlord has gained since the heroes entered the Overlords Keep to his previous total conquest tokens. The Avatars maximum wounds are increased by +2 for every conquest token the overlord has collected since the start of the campaign. Then a final, climactic duel to the death begins between the heroes and Avatar. The Overlords Keep section will determine who takes the first turn. The Avatar, like a lieutenant, can Battle (attack twice without moving) Run (move up to twice its speed but not attack), or Ready (place an order and also either move up to its speed or attack once) instead of using the normal Advance. Avatars may only place a Guard, Dodge, or Aim order. Any hero killed by the Avatar is dead and gone forever (i.e., does not re-appear at the Temple). The battle continues until either the Avatar kills all of the heroes, or the heroes kill the Avatar. Once the battle is resolved, the overlord reads aloud either the Victory is Mine! Plot card (if the Avatar won) or the Curses, Foiled Again! Plot card (if the heroes prevailed). The end of the Final Battle marks the end of the Advanced Campaign. But with four different Avatars and three different Plots, its possible to replay the campaign many times, each with a unique experience.
When the conditions that trigger the Final Battle are met (see 1. Time Passes on page 14), the players immediately stop carrying out the normal game week steps and instead do the following, in order: 1. The party marker is moved to the partys Home Port, and each hero may train once, in one of the buildings there. 2. The Overlord may purchase one Overlord Upgrade. 3. The party marker is moved to the location of the Overlords Keep. 4. The heroes and the overlords unspent conquest token and XP totals are reduced to zero. However, do not reset their total conquest totals, as they will be needed later. 5. The heroes explore the Overlords Keep. Exploring the Overlords Keep The Overlords Keep is explored like a normal dungeon or island (see Dungeons on page 18 and Islands on page 21), save that it has five levels rather than three. The first level is a normal dungeon level if the Keep is in a dungeon, or a normal island level with a cavern entrance leading to level two if the Keep is on an island. Levels two through four are normal dungeon levels, with each levels portal leading to the next level. Important Note: Heroes cannot run out of time in the Overlords Keep, unlike a normal dungeon or island. Track new conquest token totals for the heroes and overlord as they explore the Overlords Keep. Also, while the heroes are in the Overlords Keep, all buildings in their Home Port are closed (i.e., unavailable for restock actions). The exception is that heroes who are killed re-appear at the Temple as usual, from where they can return normally to the dungeon via a glyph of transport. The fifth level of the dungeon is special. Its nature, layout, and special rules depend on which Avatar the overlord chose at the beginning of the campaign. When it comes time to set up the fifth level, the overlord refers to the appropriate Overlords Keep section of the Quest Guide (on pages 4697 of this rulebook) rather than drawing a Dungeon Level card. As the heroes explore the fifth level of the Overlords Keep, the Avatar will appear at a specific instant, which is detailed in the levels description. When that happens, the players perform the following actions, in order: 1. The overlord removes all monsters other than the Avatar from the board, discards all of his Overlord cards, and puts the Overlord deck away. If playing with feat cards, the heroes discard all of their feat cards as well.
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In order to direct the ship, the heroes (or monsters) aboard it must man the ships stations. A hero must spend 3 movement points while standing on a ships station to man it. The effects of manning a ships station vary depending on which station is being manned, as explained below. After a station has been manned during a turn (whether anything was accomplished or not) place a fatigue token on it. That station cannot be manned again that round. At the start of the next round, remove the fatigue markers from all ships stations. Anchor The anchor is used to keep the ship from moving. When a figure mans the anchor, the effects depend on whether the anchor is currently raised or lowered. If the anchor is raised, it is automatically flipped to its raised side. If the anchor is lowered, the hero tries to catch the anchor on the sea bottom. Roll a black power die. On a surge, the anchor catches, and only then is the anchor is flipped to its lowered side. If any other result is rolled, the anchor does not catch and stays raised (but the anchor still gets a fatigue token placed on it). If the anchor space is currently in a shallow water space, its easier to lower the anchor, so the anchor catches on the roll of anything except a surge. When the anchor is lowered, the ship cannot move.
Galley A medium ship that strikes a balance between maneuverability and durability. A galley can hold up to six cannons. To build a galley, simply add the ships center piece without a mast to the sloop, as shown below.
Brigantine A large ship that serves as a floating fortress. A brigantine can hold up to eight cannons. To build a brigantine, simply add the ships center piece with a mast to the galley, as shown below.
Anchor Raised Captains Wheel Cannons Cannons are placed on the weapon mounts, facing outwards. The owner of the ship decides which cannons go on which weapon mounts each time a ship is built. Weapon mounts are each two spaces large and are represented by piles of crates and boxes, as shown below.
Anchor Lowered
The captains wheel is used to steer the ship to the left and right. When a figure mans the captains wheel, he rolls power dice equal to his Melee trait (and may spend fatigue to add to or upgrade the roll as normal). The hero may then move the ship either directly left or right up to a number of spaces equal to the rolled range, but only up to a maximum of twice the number of raised sails on the ship. See also Example: Manning the Captains Wheel on page 25. Note that monsters determine their Melee, Ranged, and Magic traits differently from heroes. See Monster Traits on page 27.
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Mast
The masts are used to raise or lower the ships sails. The number of raised sails a ship has determines how fast it moves. When a figure mans a mast, if the sail associated with that mast is currently lowered, then that is automatically flipped to its raised side. If the sail is currently raised, it is automatically flipped to its lowered side.
Sail Raised
Sail Lowered His rolled range is five. However, the ship only has two raised sails, so four spaces is the furthest that One-Fist can move it this round. He does so, as shown below.
Rope The ropes are used to swing across the water to board another ship. When a figure mans a rope, he rolls one red die and one yellow die. He then moves directly out from the ships side (as shown in Example: Swinging on a Rope below) a number of spaces equal to the rolled range. The swinging figure may pass through figures and ignores any effects from terrain passed through. However, the effects of any terrain the figure ends his swing in still takes effect. If a figure or movement-blocking obstacle is occupying the space that the figure ends his swing in, reduce the rolled range until the figure lands in an unoccupied space.
In the example to the right, Red Scorpion swings on a rope to attempt to board the ghost ship. Rolling one red and one yellow die, she gets a range of 3 total, so she moves straight out three spaces. Made it!
In this example, however, Red Scorpion only rolls 2 range total, so she moves straight out two spaces and then falls in the water, much to the delight of the daggertooth shark waiting for her.
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Damaging Ships
Ships cannot be damaged by normal weapons or monster attacks. Only cannon attacks and attacks that specifically state that they can damage a ship ever do any damage to ships. Aside from those attacks, a ship may take damage from sailing into an obstacle (see page 29) or from ramming or being rammed by another ship.
Sinking Ships
Cannon Inaccuracy Cannons, while devastating weapons, are designed to target large objects like ships. Smaller targets, such as heroes and monsters, are more difficult to hit with a cannon. To represent this, any time a cannon attack targets one or more figures, roll a red die in addition to the cannons normal dice. If the red die rolls a miss result, any figures (but not ships) targeted by the cannon attack are missed. Ignore any result on the red die other than a miss result. Exception: Hawkeye cannons do not suffer from inaccuracy and do not have to roll the red die when targeting figures. For example, a runeblast cannon is fired at a figure aboard an enemy ship four spaces away. The following outcomes are possible, based on what is rolled.
If a ship is reduced to 0 wounds, it sinks. If it is an NPC ship, the encounter immediately ends as though the heroes had killed every surviving monster. If the Revenge is sunk, the surviving heroes in the encounter all immediately die (giving the overlord conquest) and are sent to their Home Port. However, since the Revenge is a magical artifact, it reappears, fully healed, in the partys Home Port the next week along with the heroes.
A figure that is adjacent to a cannon may spend one of its attacks to fire the cannon. The figure targets a space within the cannons firing arc (as described below), then rolls an attack using the cannon as his weapon. Range and line of sight are calculated from the front half of the cannon. If the attack hits, it deals damage to any ship in the target space. If there is a figure in the space, there is a chance that it will suffer damage as well (see Cannon Inaccuracy on this page). If the attack misses, it misses entirely. Damage inflicted by cannons cannot be reduced by Armor or Shields. Ironskin has no effect on cannon damage either. Whether a cannon attack hits or not, place a fatigue token on the cannon like a ships station that has been manned. Remove fatigue tokens from cannons at the same time they are removed from ships stations. Note: Monsters firing a cannon use the cannons attack dice plus their trait dice as shown in Monster Traits on page 27. Firing Arcs A cannon cannot target spaces outside of its firing arc. This arc extends from the space in front of the cannon in a straight diagonal line to the left and the right, as shown in the diagram below. Line of sight for the cannon is traced from the front of the cannon.
Complete Miss If the cannon rolls a miss result on its normal attack dice or fails to roll enough range, the attack completely misses both the ship and any figures in the targeted spaces. Ship Hit If the cannon rolls a successful attack on its normal attack dice but rolls a miss result on the red die, the attack hits the ship, but misses all figures targeted by it. Ship and Figures Hit If the cannon rolls a successful attack on its normal attack dice and doesnt roll a miss result on the red die, the attack hits the ship as well as all figures targeted by it. Cannon Overheating When fired, most cannons quickly grow dangerously hot and must be allowed to cool off before being fired again. After firing a cannon, if its hot side is not faceup, flip it over. After being fired, this Dragonfire cannon is flipped over to its hot side. Exception: Coldsteel cannons do not overheat, and therefore have the same image on both sides. At the start of the round, any hot cannon that doesnt have a fatigue token on it (and therefore hasnt been fired that round) is flipped back over to its cool side.
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Overheated cannons can still be fired, but theres a chance they will explode. When a hot cannon is fired, if a miss result is rolled on its normal attack dice, the cannon explodes and is destroyed! In addition, roll one red and one green die. The exploding cannon deals the rolled damage to its own ship as well as to any adjacent figures on the ship (as shown below).
Each monster has a primary trait and two secondary traits. A monsters primary trait is the same as its attack type, while its other two traits are its secondary traits. For instance, a Beastmans primary trait is Melee (the same as its attack type), while its secondary traits are Ranged and Magic. Looking at the chart below, each monsters primary and secondary traits are listed by monster type level. For instance, a copper level Beastman has a Melee trait of 4 black power dice and Ranged and Magic traits of 2 black power dice each.
Monster Traits
Primary Trait Secondary Trait Copper Level 4 Black 2 Black Silver Level 2 Silver, 2 Black 4 Black Gold Level 4 Silver 2 Silver, 2 Black Diamond Level 2 Gold, 2 Silver 4 Silver
Dragonfire Cannons Dragonfire cannons fire special runestones that are enchanted to burst open and cover a wide area in magical fire. Dragonfire cannons are fired as normal, but if a successful attack is rolled on the cannons normal attack dice, the breath template is placed with its rear end in the targeted space and aimed away from the ship that fired it, as shown below. All spaces covered by the breath template are targeted by the attack.
Note: Not all monsters may man stations and fire cannons. Those that can are listed below by monster type. Humanoid: All Eldritch: Dark Priest, Shade, Skeleton, Sorcerer Beast: Naga
Other important features that can be found aboard ships are listed below. Ships Hold (NPC Ships Only)
Monsters that are reinforced during an encounter may enter the board onto one of these spaces. See Reinforce Ability in Encounters on page 16 for further details. Railing A ships railing provides partial protection to its crew, and is difficult to climb over. A figure that crosses the railing to climb aboard the ship must spend 1 extra movement point, unless it is soaring. In addition, when a non-cannon attack passes through a ships railing in order to target a figure, that figure is considered to have +1 armor against that attack. Figures that are targeted through the gaps in the railing do not get the armor bonus.
If a miss result or insufficient range is rolled on the cannons normal attack dice, the attack completely misses and the breath template isnt used. When targeting figures, dragonfire cannons suffer inaccuracy like other cannons. Rolling a miss result on the red die means that all figures targeted by the dragonfire cannons attack are missed as usual.
Monster Traits
When manning stations or firing cannons, sometimes the overlord will need to calculate a monsters Melee, Ranged, or Magic trait.
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The diagram below shows three attacks made against Red Scorpion. Attack A doesnt cross the railing, and therefore Red Scorpion does not get any extra armor. Attack B comes through a gap in the railing, so likewise doesnt grant her any extra armor. Attack C, however, crosses the railing to target her, so Red Scorpions armor is considered +1 against that attack.
For example, the Wild Vortex Location card has a red die and an arrow pointing left in its upper left corner. Therefore, at the end of each round, the red die is rolled to see how many spaces left the current causes ships and non-swimming figures in the water to drift. This round, the rolled range is 2. Therefore, the current causes a drift of two spaces to the left. As shown in the diagram below, only ships and non-swimming figures in the water are affected by current drift. Obstacles and figures that are swimming, flying, or soaring are not affected. Figures aboard ships are moved along with the ship they are aboard, as normal.
Figures that are aboard the ship and are adjacent to the railing may attack across the railing without penalty, as they are effectively firing from cover. Weapon Mounts Weapon mounts are spaces where cannons can be placed aboard a ship. Weapon mounts do not block line of sight. When a weapon mount is empty, it costs 1 extra movement to enter. When a weapon mount has a cannon in it, it blocks movement.
Ship movement is typically caused by three things wind, steering, and currents. Each of these is described below. Wind Movement At the end of each round, all ships move directly forward a number of spaces equal to the number of raised sails they have. Thus, if a ship has two raised sails, it moves forward two spaces at the end of each round. Steering Side-to-side movement for a ship occurs whenever a figure aboard the ship mans the captains wheel, as described on page 24. Ocean Currents Finally, at the end of every round during an encounter, movement is caused by ocean currents. Each Location card has a die and either an arrow or a question mark shown in its upper left corner. At the end of each round, the indicated die is rolled, and every ship and non-swimming figure that is in the water are moved in the indicated direction a number of spaces equal to the rolled range.
Collisions Any time a ship tries to move into a space containing a figure, obstacle, or another ship, a collision takes place. The results of a collision vary depending on what is being moved into. Colliding with Figures Figures that a ship collides with are simply pushed ahead of the ship (even if soaring, since otherwise situations could be created where multiple figures are in the same space). No damage occurs to either the figure or the ship. If a figure is pushed off the edge of the map, that figure is considered to have fled the encounter. Colliding with Ships Moving into another ship is called ramming, and it is occurs when the front of a ship moves into the side of another ship (see Ramming Examples on page 29). Side-to-side and front-to-rear collisions are not considered ramming and do not cause damage. The moving ship is simply blocked by the ship it is moving into. Front-to-front collisions are not possible the way the encounter maps are set up. When a ram occurs, the ramming ship stops moving immediately, and each ship suffers ramming damage. The ship doing the ramming rolls a number of black power dice equal to its raised sails. If the ship being rammed is a sloop, the
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ramming ship suffers two wounds for each blank rolled. If the ship being rammed is a galley, the ramming ship suffers two wounds for each surge rolled. Finally, if the ship being rammed is a brigantine, the ramming ship suffers two wounds for each power enhancement rolled. Damage for the ship being rammed is determined the same way, except that it rolls a number of black power dice equal to its raised sails plus the raised sails of the ramming ship, and suffers wounds based on what type of ship is doing the ramming. Once a ram has occurred, the ramming ship cannot ram again while the two ships remain adjacent to each other. It cannot move forward while the rammed ship blocks its path, so the two ships remain locked together until the rammed ship moves out of the way. Colliding with Obstacles When a ship collides with an obstacle, the outcome is usually grim, but it depending on what type of obstacle the ship has collided with, as listed below. Rocks, Sandbars, or Other Ground
Ramming Examples
Ramming occurs when the front of one ship moves into the side of another ship, as shown below.
In this example, the Revenge (a galley with two raised sails) is ramming the Ghost Ship (a brigantine with three raised sails). Two black power dice are rolled for the Revenge (one for each raised sail the Revenge has) and it suffers two wounds for each power enhancement rolled, since the ghost ship is a brigantine. Five black power dice are rolled for the ghost ship (one for each raised sailed the ghost ship has plus one for each raised sail the Revenge has) and it suffers two wounds for each surge rolled, since the Revenge is a galley. Note that no ram takes place when a ships side moves into another ships side, nor when a sides front moves into another ships rear, as shown in the two diagrams below.
The ship suffers one wound for each space the reef occupies, and then the reef is destroyed. Thus, a 3-space reef deals three wounds to the ship before being destroyed. Whirlpool
The ship suffers one wound each round it ends its movement touching the whirlpool. Shallows
A sloop ignores shallows. A galley suffers one wound each time it moves over the top of at least one shallows space. A brigantine suffers two wounds each time it moves over the top of at least one shallows space. Rulebook
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Anchored Ships
Ships with a lowered anchor do not move at all. They ignore wind and ocean current movement, and cannot be steered using their captains wheel. If an anchored ship is rammed, it is considered to have one raised sail.
Swimming
Unlike in dungeons, figures can move through water in encounters and on the first level of islands. There are two types of water outside shallow and deep. It costs two movement points to enter a water space, regardless of whether it is shallow or deep. In addition, it costs heroes one fatigue to enter a deep water space. This cost is increased by one fatigue for every two points of armor (natural or otherwise, rounded down) the hero has. If a hero cannot or doesnt want to pay some or all of the fatigue cost, the hero loses one wound (ignoring armor) per unspent fatigue instead. Monsters do not pay any fatigue or wound cost when entering deep water spaces. Finally a figure in a water space cannot jump. When a figure is moved by an ocean current, the movement is free it does not cost the figure any movement points, fatigue, or wounds. A figure with the Swim ability (see page 42) only pays one movement point to enter a water space, ignores any fatigue or wound costs for doing so, and ignores movement caused by ocean currents.
NPC Ships
Each NPC Ship is listed on the chart below. The chart states whether the ship is a sloop, galley, or brigantine, how many wounds the ship has (by campaign level), and what cannons (if any) the ship is armed with.
NPC Ships
Wounds at Wounds at Wounds at Name Copper Lvl Silver Lvl Gold Lvl Anaconda 15 30 60 Sloop w/ 2 Coldsteel, 2 Runeblast Cannons Barnacle 12 24 48 Sloop w/ 1 Coldsteel, 1 Dragonfire, 1 Hawkeye, and 1 Runeblast Cannon Black Galley 16 32 64 Galley w/ 3 Dragonfire, 3 Runeblast Cannons Danse Macabre 113* Brigantine w/ overlords choice (max. 4 of each cannon) Despair 14 28 56 Galley w/ 3 Dragonfire, 3 Runeblast Cannons Ghost Ship** 80 Brigantine w/ 4 Hawkeye, 4 Dragonfire Cannons Inferno 16 32 64 Brigantine w/ 4 Dragonfire, 4 Runeblast Cannons Misty Morn 18 36 72 Brigantine w/ 4 Hawkeye, 4 Coldsteel Cannons Obsidian Ship 15 30 60 Galley w/ 3 Runeblast, 3 Hawkeye Cannons Red Death 13 26 52 Sloop w/ 4 Hawkeye Cannons Relentless 15 30 60 Galley w/ 3 Hawkeye, 3 Runeblast Cannons Twilight 14 28 56 Sloop w/ 4 Coldsteel Cannons
* Captain Bones Old Salt ability has already been factored into the Danse Macabres wounds. ** The Ghost Ships stations and cannons crew themselves. They are considered to be the same level as the current campaign level (copper, silver, or gold) and they always use the primary trait stats for their level.
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Each city has a unique special ability, described on the Torue Albes map. Most of these affect how a particular building in that city functions.
Items can also be sold at the Market, for half their purchase price (round down). Sold items are re-shuffled into the decks they came from. At the end of a given week, any treasure items that were not purchased from the Market are re-shuffled into the decks they came from.
Using Buildings
When a heros figure is placed on a building area, that hero immediately gains some benefit. The specific benefit depends on which building it is and what circumstance visiting, training, or restocking brought him there. A hero visits a building when the party ends a game-week Move action on a city location on the Torue Albes map. The party cannot visit a city in the same week theyve explored a dungeon or island. A hero trains in a building when the party takes a gameweek Train action in a city. A hero restocks in a building when he uses an activated glyph of transport and would normally be placed on the town marker. Each buildings benefits are listed below by circumstance. In some cases, the order in which heroes go to the same building matters. For example, the number of items available for sale at a given Market diminishes as the heroes purchase them. If the players cant agree on the order in which heroes to go buildings, use a random method to decide.
The Shipyard
Heroes visit the Shipyard to add improvements and weapons to the Revenge. Visit or Restock Heroes may not visit the Shipyard in either of these circumstances. Train A hero who visits a Shipyard while his party is training in a city may purchase one Ship Upgrade or cannon. In addition, the Revenge may be repaired at a rate of 100 coins per 10 wounds (or fraction thereof). It is possible to repair any number of wounds in a single week, up to the Revenges maximum. The Revenge may be both upgraded and repaired during the same week. Each citys Shipyard offers all of the Ship Upgrades and cannons. Every citys shipyard may repair. Exception: Dallak does not have a shipyard, and the heroes may neither upgrade nor repair their ship there.
The Alchemist
The Temple
The Alchemist buys and sells potions. Visit, Train, or Restock A hero may buy potions for 50 coins each, or sell potions for 25 coins each. A citys Alchemist rating is a limit on the total number of potions that all heroes collectively may purchase there in a given game week. Remember that invulnerability potions (introduced in The Altar of Despair) are not used in the Advanced Campaign, and cannot be purchased at the Alchemist.
The Temple is a place where heroes can find quick and ready healing. Visit or Restock A hero visiting or restocking in a Temple may spend 25 coins to heal a number of wounds equal to the Temples rating. Train A hero visiting a Temple while his party is training in a city may spend 50 coins to heal himself to full wounds and fatigue.
The Market
The Tavern
Treasure and shop items are bought and sold at the Market. Visit, Train, or Restock When the first hero visits a given Market in a given game week, a number of cards equal to the citys Market rating are drawn from the treasure deck that corresponds to the current campaign level. Treasure Cache cards are discarded (and are not replaced, instead representing a market shortage that week). All heroes who visit that Market that week may purchase items from among the drawn cards. Once particular cards are purchased, they are not available to heroes who visit the Market later the same week. Copper items cost 250 coins to purchase, Silver items cost 500 coins, and Gold items cost 750 coins. Any shop item can also be purchased at the Market for its listed cost. These are not drawn as above, but are always available. A hero must be able to carry a given item in order to purchase it.
At Taverns, heroes can overhear promising Rumors and embark on corresponding quests. Visit or Train A hero visiting or restocking in a Tavern can buy a round of drinks for the regulars. This costs 50 coins if the campaign is at Copper level, 100 coins at Silver level, or 150 coins at Gold level. After the price has been paid, the overlord shuffles the Rumor deck and draws a Rumor card. See Rumors on page 18 for more information. Restock Heroes may not visit Taverns when his party is restocking.
Heroes visit the Training Ground to improve their fighting abilities and to learn new skills. Visit or Restock Heroes may not visit or restock at a Training Ground in either of these circumstances. Rulebook
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Train A hero who visits a Training Ground while his party is training in a city may purchase one skill upgrade, or up to two trait upgrades, by spending coins and XP as described under Hero Upgrades below. Each citys Training Ground can only help heroes learn particular traits and skills. The icons beneath the citys name banner on the Torue Albes map represent the traits that can be learned at its Training Ground. The skills that can be learned at a given citys Training Ground are listed in the Skill Availability by Location box.
Skill Upgrades
Heroes can learn new skills when they go to a Training Ground in the Train circumstance (see The Training Ground on page 31), or when the party takes a game week Train action on a Secret Master Area (see Secret Training below). A new skills cost in coins and XP depends on the number of skills the hero already has, according to the table below. Once the appropriate cost is paid, the hero player takes the appropriate skill card, as normal. Skills Previously Known 1 2 3 4 5 New Skills New Skills Coin Cost XP Cost 1,000 20 1,500 30 2,000 40 2,500 50 No further skills may be learned.
Hero Upgrades
Heroes can improve their capabilities in a variety of ways over the course of an Advanced Campaign. The sections that follow detail the ways they can be upgraded.
Trait Upgrades
Heroes can improve their traits when they go to a Training Ground while their party is training in a city (see The Training Ground on page 31), or when the party takes a game week Train action on a Secret Master Area (see Secret Training on this page). In these cases, a hero can add an extra black power die to one of his traits, upgrade one of his black power dice to a silver power die, or upgrade one of his silver power dice to a gold power die. As always, no hero may ever have more than five power dice in any trait. Whenever a player upgrades a trait, he takes the appropriate upgrade token and keeps it with his hero sheet. These tokens are placed in his hero box at the end of each game session to track of his current traits. It costs 500 coins and 15 XP to add a new black power die, 750 coins and 20 XP to upgrade a black power die to a silver power die, or 1,000 coins and 25 XP to upgrade a silver power die to a gold power die.
A hero cannot learn more than a total of five skills. Remember, also, that heroes can only learn skills that are available in their current location see the Skill Availability by Location box.
Secret Training
When the party takes a game week Train action at a Secret Master Area, a hero can either increase his maximum wounds by four, or his maximum fatigue by one. This may be done only once at each campaign level, and each hero may increase either his wounds or his fatigue but not both at each campaign level. At Copper level, a wound or fatigue upgrade costs 500 coins and 20 XP. At Silver Copper, Silver, level, this training costs 750 coins and 25 XP. and Gold Wound Finally, at Gold level, it costs 1,000 coins and and Fatigue 30 XP. Once the appropriate cost is paid, the Upgrade Tokens hero player takes the wound or fatigue upgrade token that corresponds to the current campaign level.
Overlord Upgrades
Silver Ranged, Melee, and Magic Upgrade Tokens Gold Ranged, Melee, and Magic Upgrade Tokens There are two restrictions on trait upgrades: First, in order to add or upgrade a power die, the relevant trait (Melee, Ranged, or Magic) must be taught at the heros current location. The Torue Albes map indicates which traits can be improved in which cities, while all traits can be trained at any Secret Master Area. Second, trait upgrades are limited based on the current campaign level. In a Copper campaign, a hero can upgrade a maximum of three of his black dice to silver dice, and may not upgrade silver dice to gold dice. In a Silver campaign, a hero can upgrade all of his black dice to silver dice, but only a maximum of three of his silver dice to gold dice. In a Gold campaign, a hero can upgrade as many of his black and silver dice as he wants. The overlord may buy one (and only one) of the upgrades described below each game week using his XP. This occurs in the Overlord Actions game week step, after lieutenant actions have been carried out. Note that spending XP only affects the overlords current XP total, not his conquest token total.
Avatar Upgrades
Avatar Upgrades are represented by Avatar Upgrade cards. There are 15 generic Avatar Upgrades that any Avatar can be upgraded with. (These say Any Avatar on them.) There are also five Avatar Upgrades specific to each Avatar, which can only be purchased when the overlord has chosen that Avatar for the current campaign. Avatar Upgrades can improve the Avatar itself, upgrade a specific type of monster, or bring into play a lieutenant for the overlord to command.
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The XP cost of each Avatar Upgrade card is listed on the card in the upper left corner. Once the cost is paid, the overlord takes the card and keeps it faceup on the table during play.
Treachery Upgrades
The overlord can use XP to increase his treachery. The cost to purchase one point of treachery of a given type, as well as the maximum number of points of each type the overlord can have, vary based on which Avatar the overlord has chosen. Both values are listed on the Avatar sheet. Treachery works best with the rules presented in The Well of Darkness, The Altar of Despair, and The Tomb of Ice. Players without either of those expansions, however, can use the rules found under Simplified Treachery, on page 34.
Monster Upgrades
Each monster has a Copper, Silver, Gold, and Diamond form. At the start of the campaign, all monsters begin in their Copper form. The overlord can upgrade all of the monsters in one category (humanoid, beast, or eldritch) by spending the XP shown on his Avatar sheet, according to the following rules. In a Copper level campaign, the overlord can only upgrade one monster category to Silver form. (He cannot have any Gold or Diamond-form categories.) In a Silver level campaign, the overlord can have any number of Silver-form monster categories, but only one Gold-form monster category. (He cannot have any Diamond-form categories.) In a Gold level campaign, the overlord can have any number of Silver-form and Gold-form monster categories, but only one Diamond-form monster category. The category of each monster is shown in the upper right corner of its reference cards. The categories include the following monsters: Humanoid: Beastman, Deep Elf, Ferrox, Giant, Kobold, Medusa, Ogre, and Troll Beast: Bane Spider, Blood Ape, Dragon, Hell Hound, Lava Beetle, Manticore, Naga, Razorwing, and Wendigo Eldritch: Chaos Beast, Dark Priest, Demon, Golem, Ice Wyrm, Shade, Skeleton, and Sorcerer
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Hero Death
Hero death in the Advanced Campaign is slightly different than in a normal game of Descent. When a hero dies in the Advanced Campaign, his figure is simply placed in the Temple building in the partys Home Port, and the overlord gains conquest tokens equal to the heros conquest value. Neither the hero nor the party loses any conquest tokens, and no coins are sacrificed. The hero can return from the Temple to the game board normally, via glyph of transport, either at the beginning of his next turn, or after spending one or more turns restocking in the partys Home Port.
each Plot are various things the overlord can do to further his evil plans, or interfere with the heroes. This might involve moving items around the Torue Albes map, razing cities, etc. The seventh card is the finale card. It is read at the end of the campaign, and provides some closure to the players, wrapping up the story of the campaign. The overlord selects his Plot at the start of the Advanced Campaign and puts all of the Plot cards corresponding to other Plots in the graveyard box. He cannot change Plots during the campaign he has to stick with the same Plot for the duration.
Quest Items
Simplified Treachery
The Well of Darkness and The Altar of Despair introduced the concept of treachery, and provided cards that allowed the overlord to customize his Overlord deck. Players who do not own either of these expansions should use the following rules for treachery. Note that treachery comes in three different types (events, traps, and monsters), but that all three types function exactly the same when using the simplified treachery rules. At the start of each dungeon, the overlord player may spend treachery to receive extra threat to spend in that dungeon. For every point of treachery spent, place four threat on the appropriate treachery section of the Avatar sheet (monster, trap, or event). This threat may only be spent on cards of the appropriate type (spawn, trap, or event). Power cards may not be paid for with this threat. For every point of treachery not spent on threat, the overlord draws one extra card at the start of the dungeon.
Some Plot cards create Quest Items on the Torue Albes map. A lieutenant on the same map location space as a Quest Item can pick it up, and carry it as he moves around the map. (Cities are an exception. A Quest Item on a city is considered to be in that citys City Vault, and a lieutenant may not pick it up unless the city is razed. See City Vaults, below.) Each lieutenant can only carry one Quest Item at a time. A lieutenant carrying a Quest Item must drop it (leaving it in his current location) in order to pick up another one. The party, collectively, can pick up and carry a Quest Item in exactly the same way, with one additional restriction: If the heroes want to pick up a Quest Item from a map location that contains an unexplored dungeon, they have to explore the entire dungeon and remain in that location afterwards, rather than returning to the partys Home Port in order to pick it up. Heroes and lieutenants can fight over Quest Items, as well. In an encounter involving a lieutenant, if the lieutenant is defeated or forced to flee the encounter, the party takes any Quest Item the lieutenant had. If the party already had a Quest Item, it must drop one of the two in the current location on the Torue Albes map, where it remains until someone picks it up. If the party is defeated in an encounter involving a lieutenant, or flees from one, they lose any Quest Item they may have had, and the lieutenant may take it. If the lieutenant already had a Quest Item, he must drop one of the two in the current location, where it remains until someone picks it up.
City Vaults
Plots
The overlords Plot is his ultimate evil scheme, which the heroes are trying to stop. He may be trying to wake an ancient, powerful monster, activate an ancient weapon, or seduce the Queen to his side. Each Plot consists of seven cards. One card in each Plot has a cost of 0 XP, and serves to introduce the campaign. It begins the campaign in play, right from the start. Five of the cards in
Each city in Torue Albes has a Vault that will hold one Quest Item. While in a city, the heroes may leave a Quest Item in that citys City Vault for safekeeping. This lets them store it, and protects it somewhat from the overlords forces. However, if a city is razed, any Quest Item in its Vault is free for the taking. Tokens representing Quest Items stored in City Vaults are simply placed on the appropriate citys map location space, and recorded on the campaign sheet.
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chart below, and then removes the bone heap. Searching a bone heap allows the overlord to play a trap (space) card if he wants to, and can afford to pay for it. Die Roll Enhancement Power Surge Blank Result Empty! Nothing inside. Treasure! Treat the bone heap as a chest. Surprise! A Master Skeleton is placed on the board adjacent to the bone heap and immediately activates.
Altar
No No
There are two types of altars: good and evil. Each is activated to perform various questspecific functions, but the method of activation is different. To activate a good altar, a hero must stand on the altar, spend two movement points, and sacrifice 250 coins. To activate an evil altar, the overlord must move a monster onto it, have the monster spend two movement points, and sacrifice the monster.
Boulder
Yes Yes
Anchor
No No
A figure on an anchor space may raise or lower the ships anchor by manning the station, as described on page 24. A ship with a lowered anchor cannot move.
Boulders are treated as walls for purposes of line of sight, attacks, and movement. At the start of the overlords turn, he rolls one red and one yellow die for each boulder in play, moving that boulder forward a number of spaces equal to the rolled range. Any figure rolled over by a boulder is instantly killed. Boulders destroy rubble tokens, but are destroyed by walls, closed doors, and other boulders. Boulders can roll over the tops of pits, leaving those in them unharmed. However, if a boulder moves completely into a pit, it falls in, killing anyone beneath it before being destroyed.
Barrel
No No
It costs two movement points to enter a barrel space. In addition, for two movement points, a hero in a barrel space may search it. To do so, he rolls a black power die, consults the chart below, and then removes the barrel. Searching a barrel allows the overlord to play a trap (chest) card if he wants to, and can afford to pay for it. Die Roll Enhancement Power Surge Blank Result Empty! Nothing inside. Coins! The party gains 200 coins. Treasure! Treat the barrel as a chest.
Boulder Ramp
No No
If a boulder moves into a boulder ramp space, it turns in the direction indicated by the ramp.
Cage
Yes No
A figure cannot enter or leave a cage, although it may attack through the cage. Normally, the quest that a cage appears in describes how it can be opened.
No No
Captains Wheel
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight?
It costs two movement points to enter a bed or table space. Figures in these spaces are elevated. An elevated figure attacking a non-elevated figure (i.e., attacking down) gains +1 range and +1 damage. A non-elevated figure attacking an elevated figure (i.e., attacking up) loses 1 range and 1 damage. Remember that melee attacks ignore rolled range.
No No
A figure on an captains wheel space may move the ship left or right by manning the station, as described on page 34. A ship with a lowered anchor cannot be steered.
Cavern Entrance
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight?
Bone Heap
No No
No No
It costs two movement points to enter a bone heap space. In addition, for two movement points, a hero in a bone heap space may search it. To do so, he rolls a black power die, consults the
A hero that moves into the mouth of the cavern entrance is removed from the board as though he had entered the portal to the next dungeon level, as described on page 21. Note that some action (such as killing the islands leader) must often be taken first in order to unlock the cavern entrance. Rulebook
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Corrupted Space
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight?
No No
Fountain
No No
Each time a hero in a corrupted space spends one fatigue, the overlord gains one threat. Each time a hero in a corrupted space suffers one wound, the overlord gains two threat.
It costs two movement points to enter a fountain space. A figure that ends its movement in a fountain can heal two wounds.
Crushing Wall
Frozen Sarcophagus
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight? No No Frozen Sarcophagi have additional effects that vary by quest.
Yes Yes
Crushing walls are treated as walls for purposes of line of sight, attacks, and movement. At the start of the overlords turn, he moves each crushing wall one space in the direction indicated by the quest. Any figure caught between a crushing wall and a closed door, a wall, or another crushing wall is instantly killed. Crushing walls destroy rubble tokens, but are destroyed by walls or closed doors. Crushing walls can move over the tops of pits, leaving those in them unharmed. A figure moving from one pit space to another may move through a crushing wall as if it were not there.
Giant Mushrooms
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight?
No No
A figure in a giant mushroom space is considered to have the Shadowcloak ability. Large monsters only need to occupy one giant mushroom space to benefit from this ability. However, any attacks that injure a figure in a giant mushroom space gain the Poison ability.
Hold
Dart Field
No No
No No
When a figure enters a dart field space, roll a black power die. On a surge, nothing happens. On any other result, the figure suffers 1 wound (ignoring armor) and must take one daze token. A dart field cannot be jumped.
Ice
No No
Fog
No Yes
Any figure (hero or monster) entering an ice space as part of its movement must roll a power die. If the result of the power die is a surge, that figures turn ends immediately. All other die results have no effect. The power die roll must be made even when entering an ice space from another ice space. When a figure enters an ice space occupied by a friendly figure and a surge result is rolled, the moving figure is placed on the last space it occupied before entering the ice space, and its turn ends. Large figures are affected by ice, but only if they make a move that results in the entire figure occupying ice spaces. Familiars are not affected by ice. Figures with the Fly ability are not affected by ice. Figures that are moved onto an ice space using the Telekinesis skill are not affected by ice. Heroes and monsters may jump across ice using the same rules for jumping across pits (i.e., by spending three movement points for each ice space crossed.)
Figures adjacent to a fog space have line of sight to that space. A figure in a fog space has line of sight to all adjacent spaces, but not to any other spaces.
Forecastle
No No
Figures in a forecastle space are elevated. An elevated figure attacking a nonelevated figure (i.e., attacking down) gains +1 range and +1 damage. A non-elevated figure attacking an elevated figure (i.e., attacking up) suffers 1 range and 1 damage. Remember that melee attacks ignore rolled range.
Lava
No No
If a figure enters a lava space, it suffers 2 wounds (ignoring armor) and must take two burn tokens.
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Mast
No Yes
Rubble
Yes Yes
It costs two movement points to enter a mast space. A figure on a mast space may raise or lower the mast by manning the station, as described on page 25.
A ship that collides with a rubble space will sink as described on page 26.
Monster Egg
Sandbar
Yes No
No No
Monster eggs can be attacked as if they were normal monsters, using the wound and armor values described in the quest.
Mud
A sandbar is considered to be a normal ground space for figures moving into it, but ships colliding with a sandbar will sink as described on page 26.
No No
Sarcophagus
No No
Pipe Organ
No No
It costs two movement points to enter a pipe organ space. Pipe organ spaces are elevated. See Bed and Table.
It costs two movement points to enter a sarcophagus space. These spaces are elevated (i.e., they act like a table or bed). In addition, for two movement points, a hero in a sarcophagus space may search it, in which case his player rolls a power die, consults the chart below, and then removes the sarcophagus. Searching a sarcophagus allows the overlord to play a trap (chest) card if he wants to (paying threat for it as normal). Die Roll Enhancement Power Surge Blank Result Empty! Nothing inside. Treasure! Treat the sarcophagus as a chest. Surprise! A Master Sorcerer is placed on the board adjacent to the sarcophagus and immediately activates.
Pit
No No
When a figure moves into a pit, it suffers one wound (ignoring armor). While in a pit, a figure only has line of sight to the spaces in the pit, and to those spaces adjacent to the pit. It costs two movement points to move out of a pit.
Railing
Scrub
No No
No No
It costs one extra movement point to move across a railing. Figures that are attacked across a railing are considered to have one extra armor.
When making a ranged attack into or through a scrub space, every scrub space that line of sight is traced through adds two range to the total distance instead of one. Melee attacks are not affected by scrub.
Reef
Scything Blade
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight?
No No
No No
A reef space is considered to be a normal ground space for figures moving into it, but ships colliding with a reef will destroy it as described on page 29.
When a figure enters a scything blade space, roll a black power die. On a surge, nothing happens. On any other result, the figure suffers 2 wounds (ignoring armor) and must take one bleed token. A scything blade cannot be jumped.
Rope
No No
A figure on a rope space may use the rope to swing to other ships by manning the station, as described on page 25. Rulebook
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Staircases
No No
Yes No
For one movement point, a figure in a staircase space can move to the matching staircase space as though it were adjacent. Attacks may be made across matching staircase spaces as though the two ends were adjacent. A figure on a staircase has a line of sight to the other side of the staircase and all spaces adjacent to it. A figure adjacent to a staircase has line of sight to the other side of the staircase.
Water (Shallow)
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight?
Yes No
Statue
It costs two movement points to enter a shallow water space. Figures in shallow water cannot jump.
Yes Yes
Water (Deep)
Statues face the direction their hand is pointing. A figure may rotate a statue clockwise or counterclockwise by ninety degrees by spending three movement points while adjacent to the statue. Often, the direction a statue is facing has some significance in the quest it appears in. This will be described in specific quests.
Yes No
Summoning Circle
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight?
It costs two movement points to enter a deep water space. In addition, heroes entering a deep water space must spend one fatigue, plus one additional fatigue for every point of armor (including both natural and worn armor, rounded down) they have. For every point of fatigue a hero cannot or will not pay, he loses one wound (ignoring armor). Figures in deep water cannot jump.
No No
A summoning circle has no special rules, although certain quests may assign special rules to them.
Throne
No No
It costs two movement points to enter a throne space. Throne spaces are elevated. See Bed and Table.
Tree
No Yes
Whirlpool
Block Movement? Block Line of Sight? No No
It costs two movement points to enter a tree space. A figure in a tree space is considered to have the Shadowcloak ability. Large monsters only need to occupy one tree space to benefit from this ability.
Villager
Yes Yes
At the end of every round, a yellow die is rolled. Every non-swimming figure in the water within four spaces of a whirlpool is moved directly towards the center of the whirlpool a number of spaces equal to the rolled range. Any figure that enters the center space of a whirlpool is instantly killed, regardless of armor or remaining wounds.
Villagers represent people in heroes must protect and/or rescue. Villagers have one armor and six wounds, and are immune to traps, but can be attacked by monsters. They cannot attack, perform movement actions other than moving through glyphs, or carry items. Villagers move up to four spaces a turn, moving after all of the heroes have moved, and are controlled by the hero players.
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numerous small wounds. After applying any wounds from that attack, place a bleed token next to that figure. Figures may accumulate multiple bleed tokens.
Bolt
Aura
Each time an enemy figure moves into a space adjacent to a figure with the Aura ability, it immediately suffers a number of wounds (ignoring armor) equal to the figures Aura ranks. If a figure with an Aura moves adjacent to an enemy figure, however, the enemy will not suffer damage. When making an attack with the Bash ability, a figure may roll up to five black power dice with the attack. If any of the power dice roll a blank, it is treated as though the figure had rolled a miss result. Otherwise, the attack proceeds as normal and has the following ability: : +5 damage and Pierce 2. The figure is never forced to roll any power dice when making a Bash attack, regardless of other effects. If a figure with the Berserk ability is wounded (i.e., currently has one or more wound tokens on it), it either receives one extra black power die or upgrades one of its power dice by one level for each rank in Berserk it has. It still cannot roll more than five power dice in a single attack.
Attacks with the Bolt ability use the Bolt template to determine which spaces they affect. The template is placed against one side of the attacking figure, and all figures underneath the template (friendly and enemy) are affected by the attack. A Bolt attack only misses on a miss result, and ignores rolled range. Bolt attacks cannot pass through walls or closed doors. If it does not miss, a Bolt attack deals its full damage to each figure affected by it (friendly and enemy). If a Bolt attack is dodged by more than one figure, only one re-roll may be made (the first dodging player to the attacking players left decides which dice, if any, are to be re-rolled). Note that this ability is optional, both for heroes and monsters who have it.
Bash
Breath
Berserk
Attacks with the Breath ability use the Breath template to determine which spaces they affect. The template is placed against one side of the attacking figure, and all figures underneath the template (friendly and enemy) are affected by the attack. A Breath attack only misses on a miss result, and ignores rolled range. Breath attacks cannot pass through walls or closed doors. If it does not miss, the Breath attack deals its full damage to each figure affected by it (friendly and enemy). If a Breath attack is dodged by more than one figure, only one re-roll may be made (the first dodging player to the attacking players left decides which dice, if any, are to be re-rolled). Note that this ability is optional, both for heroes and monsters who have it. If an attack by a monster or weapon with the Burn ability inflicts at least 1 damage on the target (before applying armor), the target catches fire. After applying any wounds that result from the attack, place a burn token next to the affected figure. Figures are not prevented from accumulating multiple burn tokens. A figure with Command adds +1 damage and +1 range to all attacks made by friendly figures within three spaces of it (including itself, and ignoring line of sight) for each rank in Command it has. If there are multiple figures with Command within three spaces of a figure, the effects are cumulative.
Burn
Black Curse
All enemy figures within three spaces of a figure with the Black Curse ability suffer 1 range and 1 damage to all attacks they make (melee attacks still ignore range). In addition, any enemy figure that deals the killing blow to a figure with Black Curse receives one curse token, as long as the figure with Black Curse actually dies (i.e., isnt saved by Undying or a similar ability).
Command
Blast
Attacks with the Blast ability affect every space within X spaces of the target space, where X is equal to the Blast abilitys rank (i.e. Blast 2 would affect every space within two spaces of the target space). However, a space is only affected by the attack if it has line of sight to the target space (ignoring figures for this purpose). Blast attacks cannot pass through walls, closed doors, or blocking obstacles. The Blast attack deals its full damage to each figure affected by it (friendly and enemy). If a Blast attack is dodged by more than one figure, only one re-roll may be made (the first dodging player to the attacking players left decides which dice, if any, are to be re-rolled). Note that this ability is optional, both for heroes and monsters who have it.
Constrict
Instead of attacking, a figure with Constrict may elect to squeeze one enemy figure that it has Grappled. The constricting figure simply spends all of its remaining movement points for the turn and rolls a black power die for each movement point spent. For each blank or power enhancement rolled, the enemy figure loses 1 wound (ignoring armor). Surges rolled have no effect. A monster with the Dark Prayer ability generates one threat for the overlord for every surge it spends when attacking, instead of for every two surges. In addition, the figure gains +1 range and +1 damage for each surge rolled when attacking.
Dark Prayer
Bleed
After inflicting at least one damage (before applying armor) on a figure with a Bleed attack, the target begins bleeding from
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When a figure with the Daze ability inflicts at least 1 damage (before applying armor), the target is temporarily weakened. After applying any wounds from that attack, place a daze token next to that figure. Figures are not prevented from accumulating multiple daze tokens. When an attack affects a space containing a figure with the Fear ability, the attacker must spend one power surge for every rank of Fear that figure possesses. If the attacker cannot spend enough surges to overcome the Fear ability, the attack automatically misses. Surges spent to overcome this ability cannot be used for other purposes.
Daze
Fear
movement for each space the target occupies beyond the first. The figures must be moved to spaces that do not contain other figures or obstacles that block movement. The figure does not actually move through the intervening spaces. As such, Knockback movement is not blocked by intervening figures or obstacles (though a figure cannot be moved through a closed door or wall).
Leap
Flying
Figures with the Flying ability may move through enemy figures and obstacles as if they werent there. However, flying figures cannot end their movement in a space containing another figure, or an obstacle that blocks movement. A flying figure may end its turn in a space containing an obstacle that inflicts damage without suffering damage or effects from that obstacle. All monsters with the Flying ability automatically have the Soar ability as well. Heroes cannot have Soar.
A figure with the Leap ability can make a leap attack. To do so, the figure moves in a straight (i.e., not diagonal) line up to twice its remaining movement, ignoring obstacles and enemy figures. This portion of the figures movement cannot pass through walls or closed doors, and must end on an empty space. The figure may then make one attack roll against all enemy figures in the spaces it just moved through. A leap attack ignores rolled range, and only misses on a miss result. If the attack does not miss, it deals full damage to each figure affected by it. If a leap attack is dodged by more than one figure, only one re-roll may be made (the first dodging player to the attacking players left decides which dice, if any, are to be re-rolled). A figure is limited to one leap attack per turn, and the figure cannot move any further after making the attack. Once begun, a leap attack cannot be interrupted (such as by a Guard order) until it is completed. For every wound token lost due to a Leech attack, the target also loses one fatigue (or suffers 1 additional wound, ignoring armor, if the target is out of fatigue), and the attacker immediately heals one wound.
Frost
Leech
If an attack by a weapon with the Frost ability inflicts at least 1 damage on a hero (before applying armor), he is temporarily covered in a thin sheet of ice, weakening his items. After applying wounds from that attack, place a frost token next to the affected hero. Heroes are not prevented from accumulating multiple frost tokens. Monsters are unaffected by Frost.
Morph
Ghost
Figures with the Ghost ability cannot be attacked by adjacent figures using a melee attack. A figure with the Reach ability can attack a figure that has the Ghost ability using a melee attack, as long as both figures are not adjacent and the Ghost figure is within range of the Reach figure. This ability does not affect avatars.
Grapple
A monster with the Morph ability can choose which dice it attacks with. For each morph die (indicated by a die icon with a question mark) the monster has on its reference card, its player may choose a red, white, blue, yellow, or green die to roll, limited only by the dice that came with the game. The attack must include at least one red, white, or blue die, but can include more than one of those dice if so desired. The overlord also chooses what kind of attack the creature makes (melee, ranged, or magic), save that the attack must include a red die to be a melee attack, a blue die to be a ranged attack, or a white die to be a magic attack. A monster with the Morph ability considers all three of its traits (Melee, Ranged, and Magic) to be its primary trait when manning stations or firing cannons.
Enemies adjacent to a figure with the Grapple ability cannot spend movement points until that figure is dead or moves away. They may still attack as normal.
Ironskin
Necromancy
A figure with Ironskin is immune to the effects of Aura, Bleed, Burn, Pierce, Poison, and Sorcery. In addition, all damage dealt to figures with Ironskin by attacks that affect more than one space (such as Blast, Burn, and Breath) is reduced to zero. This ability does not affect attacks made by an avatar.
Knockback
If an attack by a monster or weapon with Knockback inflicts at least one damage (before applying armor), the attacker may immediately move each affected target figure up to three spaces away from its current location. This is reduced by one space of
When a hero with the Necromancy ability deals the killing blow to a small (no bigger than one space), normal, unnamed monster (and it stays dead, in the event of Undying or other such effects) he may choose to animate the monster. The monster stays on the board and is returned to full health, but falls under the control of the hero. A hero cannot control more than one monster at a time, but may choose to let a monster under his control die in order to animate a new one. An animated monster moves just after the controlling heros turn ends. The monster activates just like it does for the overlord player, save that it is under the direction of the controlling hero.
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However, after the monster completes its activation, the controlling hero must roll one power die. If he rolls anything other than a power enhancement, the animated monster falls apart and is killed. An attack with the Pierce ability ignores one point of armor for each rank of Pierce it has. Thus, an attack with Pierce 3 ignores three points of armor. Shields are not affected by the Pierce ability.
Pierce
After making an attack roll, a figure with Sorcery may add +1 to either its range or damage for each rank of Sorcery it has. A figure with multiple ranks of Sorcery may split this bonus between range and damage. Heroes cannot have Soar.
Sorcery
Stealth
When a figure with the Stealth ability is attacked, the attacking figure must roll the transparent stealth die in addition to the dice that figure rolls normally. If the result of any die used in the attack roll is an X, the attack is a miss. When a single attack roll would affect multiple figures (for example, an attack using Blast, Breath, or Sweep), and any of those figures have Stealth, a single stealth die is included in the attack roll, but the stealth dies result is used only for the figures that currently have Stealth. Multiple sources of the Stealth ability do not stack. A maximum of only one stealth die is rolled for any given attack. After inflicting at least 1 damage (before applying armor) to a figure with a Stun attack, place a stun token next to the figure. Figures are not prevented from accumulating multiple stun tokens. Named monsters are immune to stun, and master monsters suffer reduced penalties when stunned.
Poison
Wound tokens lost due to a Poison attack are replaced by poison tokens. A monster with the Quick Shot ability can attack up to two times each time it is activated. If a lieutenant or avatar with Quick Shot takes the Battle action, it gets twice as many attacks as it would normally get.
Quick Shot
Reach
The Reach ability allows a figure to make melee attacks targeting spaces one space further away from it than normal for each rank of Reach it has. As with other melee attacks, rolled range does not affect the attack it only misses on a miss result. The attacker is required to have a line of sight to the target space.
Stun
Regeneration
A figure with Regeneration is healed of 1 wound at the start of its activation for every rank of Regeneration it has. Thus, a figure with Regeneration 5 heals five wounds at the start of its activation each turn.
Swallow
Reinforce
A monster with the Swallow ability that makes a successful attack (i.e., an attack that causes at least 1 damage before applying the effects of armor) against a hero within three spaces of it can choose to swallow that hero. If the monster chooses to use its Swallow ability after a successful attack, the hero suffers the attack damage as normal, and that heros figure is then removed from the dungeon and placed on the stomach tile. While a hero is placed on the stomach tile, the following conditions affect him: At the start of each of that heros turns, that player rolls a number of black power dice equal to the number of wounds the hero has remaining (i.e., the number of additional wounds it would take to kill him). Blank die results have no effect. Each die result that is not a blank causes the hero to suffer one wound (ignoring armor). The hero cannot use any ability or skill that requires advancing, running, battling, or readying (except for placing a hero order). The hero can only make one attack per turn, and can only attack the swallowing monster. Any such attack the hero makes ignores the monsters armor, however. The hero can only use one hands worth of weapons. Alternatively, the hero may make an unarmed attack as per page 19 of the Descent core rulebook. The hero cannot use surges or fatigue.
Reinforce allows leaders and lieutenants to bring new monsters onto the game board during encounters. See The Reinforce Ability in Encounters on page 14 and Encounters Involving Lieutenants on page 16 for full details. A figure with the Shadowcloak ability is only affected by attacks made by adjacent figures. The figure does not suffer any wounds or effects from attacks originating farther than one space away.
Shadowcloak
Soar
This ability is only used during outdoor encounters. Any figure with Soar is considered to be flying above the ground, and the range both to and from it is increased by four spaces. A soaring monster cannot normally be the target of a melee attack. However, monsters with Soar can choose to swoop down before attacking. If they do so, the extra range is negated until after the attack goes off, at which point the monster flies back up. Heroes may use interrupt attacks (even melee attacks, if in range) to attack a monster while it is swooping. Note that all monsters with the Flying ability also automatically have the Soar ability.
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A swallowed hero remains in the stomach until either he or the swallowing monster is killed. If the monster is killed before the swallowed hero dies, the swallowed hero is removed from the stomach tile and placed on any space, of that hero players choice, that was occupied by the swallowing monster when it died. If a hero on the stomach tile is killed before the swallowing monster dies, the heros figure is placed on the town tile, and all the normal rules for hero deaths apply. A monster may only have one hero placed on its stomach tile at a time. Once a hero has been swallowed, a second hero cannot be swallowed until the previously swallowed hero is killed. When attacking, a figure with the Swarm ability may roll one extra black power die or upgrade one of its power dice by one level for every other friendly figure adjacent to its target (up to the normal maximum of five total power dice).
Figures with the Tread Ice ability are immune to the effects of ice. The overlords cost to play trap cards is reduced by one threat for each rank of Trickster a figure has, while it remains in play. If more than one figure in play has Trickster, the effects are cumulative.
Undying
Swarm
When an Undying figure is killed, roll one power die. If a power surge is rolled, the figure is instantly restored to full health, and any lingering effects are removed. An Undying figure must stay dead in order for any effects that take place when it is killed to actually occur. A figure with the Unstoppable ability is immune to Daze, Grapple, Knockback, Stun, and Web.
Unstoppable Web
Sweep
Sweep attacks affect all enemy figures within melee range of the attacker. A figure with the Sweep ability deals its full damage to each figure affected by it, as long as it doesnt miss. If such an attack is dodged by more than one figure, only one re-roll may be made (the first dodging player to the left of the attacking players left decides which dice, if any, are to be re-rolled).
After inflicting at least one damage (before applying armor) to a figure with a Web attack, place a web token next to that figure. Figures are not prevented from accumulating multiple web tokens.
Swim
A figure with the Swim ability is immune to the effects of water when aboveground. The waters below ground remain too dangerous to enter.
Tentacle
A figure with the Tentacle ability (referred to as the controlling figure) places a number of tentacle markers adjacent to itself equal to its rank in Tentacle when placed on a map. Each tentacle has attributes according to the chart below and moves and attacks independently of the controlling figure. Tentacles activate after the controlling figure each round.
Bleed
Tentacle Attributes
Campaign Level Copper Silver Gold Speed 3 4 5 Armor 4 5 6 Wounds 10 25 50
A figure that is bleeding is marked with a bleed token. At the start of that figures next turn, its owner must roll the white die once for each bleed token on the figure, suffering wounds equal to the damage indicated by the die results. These wounds are not reduced by armor. After suffering this damage, all bleed tokens are discarded from the figure.
Burn
A figure that has caught fire is marked with a burn token. At the start of each of that figures turns, its owner must roll a black power die for each burn token on the figure. For each power surge rolled, one burn token is discarded. The figure then suffers one wound (ignoring armor) for each remaining burn token.
Tentacles cannot move farther than three spaces away from the controlling figure, but may enter and even end their movement in the same space as an enemy figure. No more than one tentacle may be in a single space. An enemy figure in the same space as a tentacle is Grappled (as the ability). A tentacle that begins its activation already having Grappled an enemy figure may either Constrict (as the ability) or move the enemy figure (and itself) one space (usually to pull the enemy closer to the controlling figures mouth.)
Curse
A hero with a curse token has his conquest value is increased by +1 for each curse token on him. Unless specified otherwise, curse tokens are only discarded from a hero when he is killed.
Daze
Daze tokens indicate that a figure has been temporarily weakened or distracted by an injury. At the start of each of that figures turns, its owner must roll a power die for each daze token on the figure. For each power surge rolled, one daze token is discarded. Otherwise, the tokens remain.
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Each time a figure attacks while it has one or more daze tokens on it, it loses one die (either yellow, black, or green) from its attack for each daze token on it. The dice lost are chosen by the figures owner. If there are more daze tokens on the figure than the number of yellow, green, and black dice used in its attacks, it loses all such dice.
advancing, running, battling, or readying (except for placing a hero order). A figure may have several stun tokens on it at once. Since only one stun token is removed each turn, such figures remain stunned for multiple rounds.
Web
Enslaved
The Plot card Brother Against Brother is the only way to enslave a hero. Once a hero has been enslaved, the effect is permanent. From then on, at the start of the heros turn, the hero player must roll a black power die. On anything but a power surge, he may take his turn as normal. On a power surge, the Avatars mental powers take over the hero and he is controlled by the overlord player this turn. This effect is similar to the Dark Charm card, except that the overlord cannot force the hero to attack himself.
A hero who is caught in a web is marked with a web token. At the start of each of that heros turns, its owner must roll one black power die for each web token on it, plus one additional black power die for each die of Melee trait the hero has (the number of bonus power dice rolled when the hero makes a melee attack). For each power surge rolled, remove one web token. If any web tokens remain on the figure after rolling, the figure cannot spend any movement points that turn. Monsters caught in a web remove tokens the same way, except that they roll one black power die for each web token, plus one extra black power die for each space they occupy beyond the first.
Frost
Frost tokens indicate that a hero has been temporarily covered in a thin sheet of ice, which weakens his items. At the start of each of his turns, the hero must roll one black power die for each frost token on him. For each power surge rolled, one frost token is discarded. Otherwise, the tokens remain. Each time a hero attacks with a weapon when he has one or more frost tokens on him, he must afterwards roll one black power die each frost token on him. If any power die rolls a blank, the weapon used to make the attack shatters and is discarded. This procedure also applies to the heros shield each time it is exhausted to absorb damage, as well as to the heros armor each time an attack deals 5 or more damage to him (before armor).
Poison
When a hero suffers one or more wounds from a Poison attack, the player first removes the appropriate number of wound tokens from his hero sheet, then places an equal number of poison tokens on his sheet. If the hero later receives healing, these poison tokens are removed first, one token per wound that would otherwise be healed. Once all of the poison tokens are removed, the heros wounds can be treated normally.
Sleep
A sleeping figure cannot spend movement points or attack. In addition, when attacked, a sleeping figures armor is ignored (treated as 0). A figure that suffers at least 1 wound discards all sleeping tokens. At the start of that figures turn, its owner may roll a number of black power dice equal to the number of sleep tokens on the figure. For each surge result rolled, he may remove one sleep token. Stun tokens indicate that a figure is confused and disoriented. On that figures next turn (or the next time the overlord activates the figure, in the case of monsters), one stun token is discarded. If the figure is a normal, unnamed monster, its action immediately ends it can do nothing else until the overlords next turn. If it is a master monster, it may either attack or move up to its speed this turn. If it is a named monster, it is unaffected by the stun token. Finally, if it is a hero, the hero does not receive a full action that turn. Instead, the hero may only either move a number of spaces up to his speed, or make one attack, or place one order. A stunned hero cannot use any ability that requires
Lightfinger
Lightfinger is an animal companion granted by a Subterfuge skill card. Lightfinger is not a familiar and does not follow the rules for familiars. The player with the Lightfinger skill card receives the Lightfinger token at the start of the game. Lightfinger cannot move on his own, but heroes can carry him. Lightfinger does not count towards the number of items a hero can equip or carry in his pack. A hero can give Lightfinger to an adjacent hero by spending two movement points. When a trap (chest, door, or space) card is played within three spaces of the hero carrying Lightfinger, the overlord must pay three extra threat to play the trap.
Stun
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These familiars are granted by a Wizardry skill card, and follow the rules governing familiars. Mata and Katas speed is 6. Mata and Kata are both represented by markers that may move independently of each other. The familiars can each be given or pick up and carry one item (including potions). They can give a carried item to an adjacent hero (or each other, whether they are adjacent or not) by spending one movement point. If Mata and Kata begin their turn in the same space, they may move together. While moving together, they may pick up and carry one chest, treasure pile, or runekey. If they wish, they may still carry one normal item instead. Mata and Kata cannot enter the same space as another figure while carrying a chest, treasure pile, or runekey. Mata and Kata may separate at the beginning of any of their turns, but if they do, any chest, treasure pile, or runekey they are carrying must immediately be dropped and left where it is.
Area Divisions
Many of the maps in this books Quest Guide do not have multiple areas. Some, however, do. Rather than indicating the divisions between areas with different intensities of grey (as previous Quest Guides have done), divisions between areas in this book are indicated by doors with triangular rather than rectangular endcaps. There is otherwise no difference between doors that divide areas and those that do not. Both indicate doors that are placed on the game board and used in play in exactly the same way. The new, triangle-ended doors simply indicate where areas begin and end.
To save space, direction markers have been omitted from some of the maps in this books Quest Guide. When a given map has no direction marker, the top of the page is the north-ward direction.
Map Notes
The remainder of this rulebook consists of a Quest Guide that describes, fully or along with cards, the dungeon and other levels of The Sea of Blood. The maps that make up the Quest Guide follow the same general format found in the Descent core game and its existing expansions, with a few exceptions detailed here.
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Map Legend
Potion of Vitality
Potion of Healing
Potion of Power
Potion of Invulnerability
Potion of Invisibility
Encounter Markers
Scything Blades
Unactivated Glyph
Activated Glyph
Yellow Runekey
Blue Runekey
Red Runekey
Secret Event
Encounter Marker
Dart Field Copper Chest Silver Chest Gold Chest Gold Pile Evil Altar Good Altar
Unlocked Doors
Doors symbols with triangular endcaps mark the divisions between dungeon areas, but are otherwise identical to standard door symbols (i.e., those with rectangular endcaps).
Crushing Wall
Boulder
Gray Stairs
Red Stairs
Blue Stairs
Green Stairs
Fog
Mud
Boulder Ramp
Cage
Rubble
Pit
Lava
Water
Direction Marker
Ice
Monster Egg
Statue
Barrel
Scrub
Tree
Reef
Shallow Water
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Credits
Expansion Design: Kevin Wilson Dungeon Level Design: Sally Karkula Editing: Sam Stewart Graphic Design: Andrew Navaro, Brian Schomburg, and WiL Springer Art Direction: Zo Robinson Cover Art: Jesper Ejsing New Location Art: Felicia Cano Island Map Art: Henning Ludvigsen Additional illustrations by Alex Aparin, Dimitri Bielak, Yohann Boissonnet, Jason Caffooe, Anna Christenson, Raymond Gaustadnes, Johannes Holm, John Moriarty, A.M. Sartor, Frank Walls, and Chris Maldior Playtesters: Matthew B. Cary, Dan Clark, J.R. Godwin, James Hata, Sally Karkula, Rob Kouba, Eric M. Lang, John Skogerboe, and Team XYZZY Production Manager: Gabe Laulunen Producer: Sally Karkula Executive Developer: Christian T. Petersen Publisher: Christian T. Petersen Special Thanks to Steven Yackel for his expertise, Troy Karkula for his inspiration, and everyone at FFG for their enthusiasm for this project.
2009 Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced without specific permission of the publisher. The Sea of Blood, The Road to Legend, Descent: Journeys in the Dark, The Altar of Despair, and The Well of Darkness are trademarks of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. Fantasy Flight Games is located at 1975 West County Road B2, Suite 1, Roseville, Minnesota, 55113, USA, and can be reached by telephone at 651-639-1905. Retain this information for your records.
Index
Final Battle, 12, 14, 23 game week, 1415 glyphs of transport, 6, 10, 20 hero upgrades, 22, 32 humanoid monster category, 8, 27, 33 islands (quest type), 4, 9, 2122 lieutenants, 4, 6, 8, 10, 1415, 1819, 22, 34 Market, 30, 31 monster categories, 8, 12, 33 monster upgraades, 14, 33 Move action, 1415, 16 NPC ships, 30 Overlord actions, 14, 32 Overlords Keep, 9, 10, 12, 14, 23 Overlords Plot, see plot Overlord upgrades, 4, 23, 32 party, 6 part actions, 10 party treasury, 6 Plot, 4, 8, 10, 12, 23, 34 portal map piece, 20 power dice, 3, 32, 33 props, 4, 3537 quests, 9, 1518, 4697 Quest Items, 18, 34 razed cities, 8, 14, 34 Recuperate/Train action, 15, 22, 31, 32 reinforce ability, 14, 16, 17, 37, 41 reinforcement marker, 20 restock circumstance, 20, 22, 30, 31 Rumor (quest type), 5, 9, 2122 rune-locked doors, 44 sailing, 2829 secret master areas, 22 setup, 1012 ships (assembly), 24 ships (manning), 2427 ships, 2430, 31 Shipyard, 31 sieges, 8, 14 storing the game, 5 swimming, 30 Tavern, 5, 9, 21, 31 Temple, 30, 31, 34 Tomb of Ice, The, 6, 10, 12, 19, 34 Torue Albes map, 5, 12 trails, 8, 14 train circumstance, 30 Training Ground, 3132 treachery, 33, 34 treasure maps, 4, 5, 20, 22 Treasure Sites 4, 5, 6, 9, 22 Vault, see City Vault visit circumstance, 30 Well of Darkness, The, 6, 12, 19, 33, 34
600 total conquest tokens Heroes have one last week to shop and/or train in their Home Port before they are moved directly to the Overlords Keep The overlord may purchase one final upgrade before the heroes move to the Overlords Keep.
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