How to Play Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)

Objective of the Game

Welcome, brave adventurers, to the dark and perilous world of Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)! In this epic dungeon crawler, you and your fellow heroes will embark on thrilling quests, battling monstrous foes and overcoming treacherous challenges. Your ultimate goal? To defeat the Overlord and emerge victorious, becoming legends in the annals of Terrinoth!

The game is a campaign-driven adventure, meaning your heroes will grow stronger as you progress through various quests. Keep track of your performance by logging played quests and the power of the Mod Decks you've used. As you grow stronger, so does the challenge, ensuring every campaign is a dynamic and engaging experience!

Preparation (Setup)

Alright, gather 'round, heroes, let's get this adventure started! Setting up Descent is crucial for a smooth journey. Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Assemble the Monster Mod Decks: Descent uses small decks of cards called Mod Decks to empower monsters. A Monster Mod Deck consists of a Minion Mod Deck and a Master Mod Deck.
   • The Minion Mod Deck is applied to only Minion Monsters of a monster group.
   • The Master Mod Deck is applied to only Master Monsters of that monster group.

   Each time a new monster group comes into play, players draw a Minion Mod Card and a Master Mod Card from the top of each respective deck.

2. Place Mod Cards with Monster Cards: These drawn Mod Cards are placed above and below the Monster Card for that specific monster group. For example, a Goblin Archer Monster Card would have its Minion Mod Card and Master Mod Card placed around it, as shown in the rulebook.

3. Understand Mod Card Information: The information on these Mod Cards modifies the monster's abilities. More in-depth rules for interpreting this information are written further in the rulebook.
4. Choosing Mod Decks: For each quest, players pick a set of Monster Mod Decks with an equal amount of stars. The other decks are not used.
5. Shuffle and Place Decks: Each Mod Deck is shuffled and placed next to each other, face down, close to where the Monster Cards will be placed.
6. Unique Mod Cards: When a Unique Monster (like a Lieutenant) is featured in a quest and added to the monster tracker, do not draw and apply a regular Mod Card to it. Instead, apply the Unique Mod Card specific to that monster.
   • There are Unique Mod Cards for both Unique Master Monsters (most common) and Unique Minion Monsters.
   • The app usually provides the Unique Monster with additional health, displayed in the lower left of its portrait. This additional health from the app and the Unique Mod Card are added together.
7. Lieutenant Mod Cards: When a Lieutenant Monster is featured in a quest, the Lieutenant Unique Mod Card is applied to that monster. This card matches the Lieutenant Card and has slightly different characteristics.
8. Agent Cards: If you've purchased any Lieutenant Packs and added them to your collection, an Agent can appear as a random Major Peril. An Agent Card is drawn and put into play. However, Lieutenant Mod Cards should not be applied to an Agent Card.
9. Player Area: Refer to the "Road to Legend Rulebook" for details on setting up the player area.

The Game Turn

The game turn in Descent flows dynamically, with heroes and monsters taking turns to act. Here's how monster empowerment works:

Drawing Mod Cards

• Each time a new Monster Group is spawned, a Minion Mod Card and a Master Mod Card are automatically added to the monster tracker in the app.
• When that Monster Group's card is drawn and placed on the board, players draw a Minion Mod Card and a Master Mod Card from the top of each deck.

Minion Mod Cards

• When a Minion Mod Card is drawn, it is rotated depending on the minion count of that monster group's "group limits" on the Monster Card.
• This balances the added characteristics between smaller and larger monster groups.
• Players look at the back side of the Monster Card to see the amount of minion monsters limited by the monster group limit in a Hero game, which determines which side of the card is applied.
• Note: Monster groups with a minion count greater than 3 (e.g., Goblins) are not affected by Minion Mod Cards.
• When the correct half of the Minion Mod Card is chosen, it is placed so the Monster Card is overlapping the inactive half of the Minion Mod Card, like the image in the rulebook.
• The characteristics on the Minion Mod Card and the top part of the Monster Card are then added together to determine the power of every Minion Monster in that monster group, even potential reinforcements.
• Example: Each minion Goblin Archer has Speed, Health, and a gray defense die.

Discarding Mod Cards

• An active Minion Mod Card is discarded when each monster of a monster group is defeated and the players select "Defeat Group" on the app's monster tracker.
• As soon as the first Master Monster of a monster group is defeated, each active Master Mod Card is discarded.
• In groups that contain more than one Master Monster, the remaining Master Monsters lose their added bonuses (e.g., Fire Imps, Reanimates, and Kobolds).
• When the last card is drawn from a Mod Deck's draw pile, players shuffle each discarded Mod Card back into new draw piles.

Reinforcements

• The app often instructs players to reinforce monster groups already on the map by respawning one or more recently defeated monsters.
• In this case, the new Minion Monsters are affected by a potentially active Minion Mod Card.
• If a Master Monster is reinforced, it will not cause a new Master Mod Card to be drawn since it has been discarded when the first Master Monster was defeated. This can lead to a reinforced Master Monster being weaker than a minion if a strong Minion Mod Card is in use.
• If the Reinforcements mechanic causes a defeated group that was just removed from the app's monster tracker to reappear on the monster tracker, do not draw and apply new Mod Cards to that group of reinforcements. In this case, it is treated as the same group that has been defeated earlier.
• However, if a group of the same monsters reappears later in a quest as a completely new group and obviously not due to Reinforcements mechanics, draw and apply new Mod Cards to that group as usual.

Master Mod Cards

• Unlike Minion Mod Cards with different halves depending on group limits, all information on a Master Mod Card is applied to the Master Monsters of a monster group, no matter the group size, even in cases where a monster group has multiple Master Monsters (e.g., Fire Imps and Reanimates).
• Master Mod Cards consist of characteristics that are added only to the Master Monsters of a monster group.
• In addition, Master Mod Cards have a section for additional abilities and effects.

Master Mod Card Abilities

• Master Mod Cards have different abilities and effects that may change the way a hero would deal with a specific Master Monster.
• Abilities described on the Mod Card work the same as the original abilities shown on the front of the Monster Card. Mod Cards usually only provide a fully described ability, but may provide multiple abilities.
• If any official cards or rules come in direct conflict with the abilities shown on a Master Mod Card, the official cards and effects take precedence over the abilities on that Mod Card.
• When resolving these abilities, players frequently have multiple options. When this happens, it is up to the players to decide how to resolve it within the confines of the provided instructions. How the decision-making is approached is largely up to the playgroup and should match the decision-making when it comes to the app's instructions.
• Regardless of how players approach them, these decisions should be made as quickly as possible without excessive deliberation.
• Example: A Master Ettin has Speed, Health, a defense pool of black and gray dice, and an attack pool of blue, red, and green dice. In addition, when the Master Ettin is defeated, each hero is moved 1 space, then the Master Ettin performs a multi-target attack before it is removed from the map.

Lieutenant Mod Cards

• When a Lieutenant Monster is featured in a quest, the Lieutenant Unique Mod Card is applied to that monster. This card matches the Lieutenant Card and has slightly different characteristics.
• When a Unique Lieutenant Monster is defeated and the players select the "Defeat Unique" button on the Unique Lieutenant Mod Card is discarded.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when the heroes either achieve their quest objective or are defeated by the Overlord. There's no traditional "scoring" in Descent, as it's a cooperative experience. Your victory is shared, and your defeat is a lesson learned for the next journey!

Tips for Winning

To help you on your perilous quests, here are a couple of tips:

1. Understand Your Monster Mods: Pay close attention to the Minion and Master Mod Cards applied to each monster group. These cards significantly alter monster stats and abilities. Knowing what you're up against is half the battle! For instance, a Master Ettin with a multi-target attack upon defeat requires careful positioning.
2. Prioritize Targets Wisely: Decide as a group whether to focus fire on Minion Monsters to discard Minion Mod Cards or tackle Master Monsters first to remove their powerful bonuses. Remember, once the first Master Monster of a group is defeated, all remaining Master Monsters in that group lose their added bonuses from the Master Mod Card. This can be a game-changer!