Board Games rpgs

• 
  Formatting
  

• 
  » General Rules
  
• 
  » Combat
  
• 
  » Healing
  
• 
  » Hero Skills
  

• 
  -- Berserker
  
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  -- Champion
  
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  -- Disciple
  
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  -- Knight
  
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  -- Necromancer
  
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  -- Runemaster
  
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  -- Spiritspeaker
  
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  -- Wildlander
  
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  » Hero Abilities and Feats
  
  • 
    -- Andira Runehand
    
  • 
    -- Arvel Worldwalker
    
  • 
    -- Astarra
    
  • 
    -- Aurim
    
  • 
    -- Elder Mok
    
  • 
    -- Grey Ker
    
  • 
    -- Ispher
    
  • 
    -- Jain Fairwood
    
  • 
    -- Laughin
    
  • 
    -- Leoric
    
  • 
    -- Lord Hawthorne
    
  • 
    -- Mad Carthos
    
  • 
    -- One Fist
    
  • 
    -- Sahla
    
  • 
    -- Silhouette
    
  • 
    -- Tomble
    
  • 
    -- Valyndra
    
  • 
    -- Vyrah the Falconer
    
  • 
    -- Widow Tarha
    
  • 
    -- Zyla
    
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  » Allies
  
  • 
    -- Raythen (Labyrinth of Ruin)
    
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  » Traits
  
  • 
    -- Aura
    
  • 
    -- Fly
    
  • 
    -- Shadow
    
  • 
    -- Split
    
  • 
    -- Stealthy
    
  • 
    -- Swallow
    
  • 
    -- Sweep
    
  • 
    -- Web
    
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  » Line of Sight and Adjacent Spaces
  
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  » Conditions
  
  • 
    -- Burning
    
  • 
    -- Immobilize
    
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  » Items
  
  • 
    -- Fortuna's Dice
    
  • 
    -- Lucky Charm
    
  • 
    -- Mana Weave
    
  • 
    -- Ring of Power
    
  • 
    -- Shield of the Dark God
    
• 
  » Knocked Out Heroes
  
• 
  » Movement
  
  • 
    -- Large monster movement
    
• 
  » Familiars
  
• 
  » Monsters
  
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  » Overlord Cards
  
  • 
    -- Dark Charm
    
  • 
    -- Flurry (Labyrinth of Ruin)
    
  • 
    -- Reflective Ward (Labyrinth of Ruin)
    
• 
  » Quest Guide
  
  • 
    • Campaign: The Shadow Rune
    

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  -- The Cardinal's Plight
  
• 
  -- Castle Daerion
  
• 
  -- The Dawnblade
  
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  -- The Desecrated Tomb
  
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  -- The Frozen Spire
  
• 
  -- The Masquerade Ball
  
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  -- The Monster's Hoard
  
• 
  -- The Ritual of Shadows
  
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  -- The Shadow Vault
  
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  -- The Twin Idols
  
• 
  -- The Wyrm Turns
  
• 
  • Expansion/Mini-campaign: Lair of the Wyrm
  
  • 
    -- At the Forge
    
  • 
    -- What's Yours is Mine
    
• 
  • Expansion/Campaign: Labyrinth of Ruin
  
  • 
    -- Honor Among Thieves
    
  • 
    -- Tipping the Scales
    
• 
  
  
• 
  » Uncategorized
  

This wiki page is a compilation of answers by Adam Sadler and Justin Kemppainen to questions regarding Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition). This page is not for discussion - all items should simply link to the appropriate source(s) where the rules were established. New answers provided by Adam and Justin should continue to be posted in the "FFG Sez" thread or the Labyrinth of Ruin "FFG Sez" thread for reference.

When adding to this page, please use the existing page style. If you think another formatting style would be better, please make a post to the Meta Thread!

Each Q&A should be placed in the category that best describes the question. Often multiple categories can apply to a single question - if you're uncertain where it belongs you can place it in the Uncategorized section for someone else to categorize, or you can just use your best judgement and post an inquiry to the Meta Thread for another opinion. Please ask/discuss before adding additional categories!

Frequently Asked Questions

» General Rules

Q: Many quests have townsfolk or NPCs that are treated as a "hero figure." Others, such as in the Cardinal's Plight quest, have NPC's that are treated as a "hero." What is the difference?

A: There is no difference between the term "hero" and "hero figure" in the quest rules. (1) (2)

A: No. Unless otherwise specified, anything treated as a hero (and therefore not actually a hero) can only be affected by monster attacks, hero abilities, and Overlord cards that target a hero. (1)

A: Unfortunately, there is no way for the heroes to forfeit an encounter. (1)

A: Yes, if they have no Stamina, all fatigue suffered is converted to damage. (1)

A: It depends upon the specific wording in the quest. Some state that the figure cannot perform more than 1 move action, which leaves it (depending upon what it actually is) able to perform other actions. Others have figures only performing a single move action period (with no other abilities). (1)

A: No, unless a quest specifies otherwise, the overlord only draws a card when defeating a hero. (1)

A: Yes, if the heroes have to skip a turn, then they skip the entirety of that turn; meaning no refreshing or any other start, during, or end of turn effects. (1)

A: Yes. Exhausted cards would remain exhausted until refreshed at the start of the heroes' turn. (1)

A: Yes, refreshing would occur before activating familiars. (1)

A: They are shuffled back at the end of each Campaign phase, except for cards which text instructs you to remove it from the game, like the "Lone Knight Challenge" card. (1)

A: If an attack misses, then no surge abilities can be spent. This means that an X, insufficient range, or lacking a surge to spend for "Shadow" causes an attack to miss. If by some means you convert a miss into a hit, then you are free to spend surges as normal. (1)

A: Yes, can spend the surges if you do not deal damage on the attack. Not dealing damage is not considered a miss. (1)

A: Yes, a hero can recover fatigue with a surge and use that fatigue within the same attack if he has an applicable skill. (1)

A: Yes. If a surge is spent on blast and on a condition effect, then each figure affected by the attack would be affected by the condition as well (if the attack deals at least 1 damage after defense). (1)

A: Blast isn't an ability characterized by initial damage + splash damage; it means the single attack affects multiple figures. If two figures are attacked with Widow Tarha's feat and happen to be adjacent (and Blast is triggered), there wouldn't be any additional affect. Excepting some very unique circumstances, being affected by an attack is either a yes or no situation, not a stacking one. (1) (2)

A: No, unless otherwise specified a hero token cannot be targeted with healing unless that hero token represents a knocked out hero. (1)

A: Yes, if they are treated as a hero. (1)

Q: Does "Weapon Mastery" give surges before or after the dice are rolled? A: "Weapon Mastery" may be used after the dice are rolled. (1) (2) Q: Can Berserker use "Counter Attack" with a Melee weapon with Reach, against monster that attacked him with it's Reach attack, not from adjacent space? A: "Counter Attack" specifically refers to an adjacent monster. In this case no, the Berserker cannot use "Counter Attack" against a monster that attacked him with Reach. (1) (2) Q: Are additional 2 life points recovered by "Brute" skill associated with Stand Up action and Revive Hero action? Or maybe with "Brute," Berserker always recovers 2 more life, no matter what effect causes him to be revived? A: A hero recovering Health by means of something like a Disciple's healing is not considered as a stand-up or revive action, so the ability on the Berserker's "Brute" would not apply in that case. (1)

Q: Do the damage tokens acquired on "Valorous Strike" stay in between encounters? The rules state that valor is retained but says nothing of these damage tokens. A: Yes, damage tokens from "Valorous Strike" remain on the card between encounters, but are discarded at the end of a quest. (1) Q: What happens to Valor tokens between encounters? Or if the hero is KO'd? Do they stay or go? A: Valor tokens remain on a hero's Hero sheet between encounters but not between quests. They also remain if the hero is knocked out. (1) Q: If a Champion is knocked out, can other heroes still use valour tokens for "Valour of Heroes" (+1 damage) or "Glory of Battle" (+1 shield)? A: This is a little tricky, but yes. Since the hero is receiving a physical "thing" that doesn't rely on the Champion being on the map to trigger, another hero would be able to use valor when the Champion is knocked out. (1)

Q: Does "Divine Fury" and "Holy Power" stack? Do both heroes get the yellow Dice? A: Yes, "Divine Fury" would stack with "Holy Power." (1)

Q: If a knight with "Shield Slam" attacks a shadow dragon and gets only one surge, can he spend the surge to stun the dragon or if he does that the attack miss? A: You are correct, the Knight could not spend the surge because the attack would be considered a miss. (1) Q: Can one use "Advance" when there's no enemy within 2 spaces of Knight just to get additional movement? A: Yes, the Knight may use "Advance" even when there's no enemy within the movement range. (1) Q: When monster uses skills like "Flail," "Leap," which target number of heroes, one of which is Knight, can Knight use "Defend"? What will the effect be? The figure cannot be attacked by the same attack twice, so does it cancel out one of targets? A: Yes, the Knight may use "Defend" against attacks that target multiple heroes. This is a fine distinction of nomenclature between "targeting" and "targeted by". Technically, the (let's say Merriod) Merriod is targeting 2 different heroes, one of which is the Knight. The Knight uses "Defend" to declare himself the target of the other attack as well, so both attacks affect him, and he rolls his defense dice once for each attack. (1) Q: If I use "Defense Training" instead of exhausting shield, can I still exhaust the same shield during the same attack? A: Yes; there is nothing preventing the Knight from exhausting "Defense Training" and then exhausting the shield during the same attack. (1)

Q: Regarding the skill "Vampiric Blood," does the Necromancer recover 1 fatigue for each monster killed? A: The Necromancer recovers 1 fatigue for each monster defeated. If he defeats 2 monsters in one attack, he would recover 2 fatigue. (1) (2) Q: If a Necromancer is surrounded and has no empty space adjacent to him, can he still summon his Reanimate? Does it spawn in the closest empty available space or is he completely barred from using the ability? A: It would be placed in the closest empty space. (1)

Q: Can the Runemaster skill "Ghost Armor" be used only once per attack or multiple times per attack? A: "Ghost Armor" can be used as many times as the Runemaster wishes, as long as he can suffer the fatigue in order to trigger it. (1) Q: Does "Break the Rune" target the runemaster? A: At the moment, by the wording it would. However, it would seem to make the card a little unappealing, so we'll perhaps take a close look at whether or not that should remain. (1) Q: Can Runemaster hero use Runic Knowledge surge ability if he has no fatigue to suffer and suffer 1 damage instead? A: Yes he can. (1)

Q: Can an ability that is triggered by an attack "before dice are rolled" (e.g. "Stoneskin") be used if a surge or other effect allows additional figures to be "affected"? Some argue that only the original target is attacked & others are merely "affected". Some argue that it has to be declared before the attack dice are rolled. Some say it should be allowed for any figure potentially taking damage, before rolling defense dice. A: The figure must be the target of an attack before dice are rolled to receive the "Stoneskin" ability. It cannot be used as a "just in case" for Blast or Firebreath. (1) Q: "Stoneskin" - When you add a gray dice exhausting this skill, how long does the added dice last ?? ( Only for the attack that allowed the use of stoneskin or until the skill is refreshed ? ) A: "Stoneskin" is used once during a single attack and cannot be used again until the card refreshes. (1) Q: When you use a class skill that results in multiple monsters to suffer damage or heroes to recover damage and/or fatigue at the same time ( like tempest, vigor, share pain, and so on ) and you then exhaust "Ancestor Spirits," what is the result ? Are all the monsters poisoned or only one ? Same for Heroes, are all recovering additionnal damage and fatigue or only one ? A: With "Ancestor Spirits," any ability that damages multiple monsters will Poison each damaged monster, and any ability that allows damage or fatigue recovery for multiple heroes will recover 1 damage and 1 fatigue for each affected hero. (1)

Q: Can Wildlander's skills "Running Shot" and "First Strike" be combined? Can he move at all and when exactly (during Overlord's turn)? A: Yes, a Wildlander can use "Running Shot" and "First Strike" together. When used with "First Strike," the Wildlander must spend the movement points during the overlord's turn. (1) (2) Q: Can Wildlander use a "Nimble" skill when monster is 'expanding' to adjacent space (in order to attack Wildlander) and didn't actually used movement point to enter that space? A: No, the Wildlander cannot use "Nimble" in that situation because the monster only technically enters the one space chosen before it expands. (1)(2) Q: Is "Nimble" an interrupt? When the Wildlander wishes to trigger "Nimble" when a large monster moves adjacent to him, must the Overlord first expand the large monster (like against the "Knight's Guard")? A: "Nimble" is considered an interrupt, and a large monster would need to expand before the Wildlander would complete its movement. As with other interrupts, it's not eligible to perform against large monsters unless the large monster has the space to expand in the first place. (1) Q: Does Black Arrow deal 3 damage before or after surges are spent? A: Black Arrow is resolved after surges are spent.(1)

A: The damage in this case is suffered as the result of having suffered fatigue up to the hero's Stamina, so Andira Runehand's ability would not trigger. (1)

A: Unless the reroll skill/ability/etc specifically states that you can keep either the new result or the original, you have to keep the new results. (1)