Descent: The Road to Legend — Preview #2

Talon Man

Last time we detailed the various ways in which heroes generate and explore random dungeons and encounters. This week, we'll be examining the overlord's most powerful agents, the lieutenants.

You've already heard a few things about lieutenants, but here's everything you're going to need to know before you face them:

  • They can move across the Terrinoth map at a speed of one trail per week, which is the same speed as a hero party.
  • Lieutenants can always use water and secret trail paths.
  • They can lay siege to cities, ultimately razing them to the ground if not stopped by the heroes. This is the primary method by which overlords gain conquest.
  • In addition to razing cities, lieutenants can discover and carry various quest items necessary to complete the overlord's plot. If the heroes have stored such an item in a city, the lieutenant can raze that city to recover the item. If the lieutenant is carrying a quest item and is slain by or forced to flee from the heroes, he drops it.
  • Reinforcement Token Lieutenants have minions! Each lieutenant has a selection of creatures that accompany it and act as a bodyguard should the heroes have the audacity to attack (or should they be foolish enough to be caught in the open by a lieutenant). Lieutenants can also spend threat to reinforce minions from their list mid-encounter.
  • Each lieutenant has a granted power, which is a power card that it gets in play for free at the start of each encounter it's involved in. A lieutenant may also fortify a nearby dungeon with its power when the heroes go exploring.
  • Lieutenants can Battle, Run, and Advance just like heroes. (Overlord avatars share this ability, as it happens.) They cannot Ready.
  • They are not just modified versions of monsters. Each lieutenant is represented on the overland map and the quest game board by a unique token. Some lieutenants are so large that their quest game board token is too big to fit on the overland map; these lieutenants have two tokens.
    Thaadd the Destroyer
    Thaadd the Destroyer
  • Ordinarily, the overlord doesn't draw or hold any cards during an overland encounter. However, when a lieutenant is present he may spend treachery to place cards in his hand. He still doesn't draw from his deck, but he can use his hand as one-shot effects over the course of the encounter. (Rage, Dodge, and Aim are all very solid cards for a lieutenant).
  • Lieutenants usually have different stats at copper, silver, and gold campaign level. Some very powerful lieutenants are only available at a certain campaign level or higher.
  • The overlord may spend conquest on recruiting lieutenants. Some are available to all avatars, and each avatar has one or more lieutenants that are unique to it.
  • Sir Alric Farrow, one of the lieutenants, begins the game in play for free for all overlords. Other lieutenants range in cost from 10 to 20 conquest.
  • If the heroes manage to kill a lieutenant, they receive 250 coins and 4 conquest tokens. Furthermore, a slain lieutenant is placed in the graveyard and will never return for the rest of the campaign.
  • This is the weakest lieutenant:

    Sir Alric Farrow, front and back of card

Be careful when you walk the Road to Legend. You do not walk it alone…

Join us next time when we talk about home, sweet home.

Read the other articles in this series:
Preview #1: The Quest for Adventure »
Preview #3: Home Sweet Home »
Preview #4: Lord it Over the Heroes »
Preview #5: Mordrog Lord-Smasher, Champion of Terrinoth »
Preview #6: Packing for the Road to Legend »
Preview #7: From the Bat–Cave »