Laughing, Ariad surges power through her hands and the scrying stone crumbles to pieces in the heroes’ grasp.“Do not despair in your failure,” she says, smiling. “You face a power far beyond your comprehension and meager capabilities. I’d suggest you give up, but of course you wouldn’t listen. It’s just as well; I prefer a challenge, however minor it may be...”

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of four new Lieutenant Packs for Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition : Ariad , Queen Ariad , Serena , and Raythen . These upcoming Lieutenant Packs feature both old enemies and old friends from the Labyrinth of Ruin expansion!

In addition to allowing you to replace your Labyrinth of Ruin lieutenant tokens with dramatically detailed figures, these Lieutenant Packs allow the overlord to summon any of these lieutenants into any quest outside of the Labyrinth of Ruin campaign as an agent. Each Lieutenant Pack also introduces a Plot deck of specialized cards, which can be triggered during encounters by spending threat tokens.

Emerging from the ruined city of Sudanya, both Ariad and her spider form, Queen Ariad, stand ready as devoted agents of the overlord, alongside Serena and Raythen. However, Serena and Raythen were not always devoted to the overlord, and their Lieutenant Packs invite you to decide their fate by including a sculpted plastic figure for both the good and evil versions of these conflicted characters. With the Hero sheets included in their Lieutenant Packs , you can use either Raythen or Serena as fully playable heroes, or you can use their Plot cards to spread the evil of the overlord.

Ariad

Heroes across Terrinoth will have new reason to fear the overlord when he unleashes this deadly agent against unsuspecting foes. As one of the overlord’s most cunning agents, Ariad keeps the heroes off balance with her Dark Illusions Plot deck.

The overlord can disguise his dark schemes with the mirages and phantoms contained in this Plot deck, using them to fool the heroes and keep them off guard en route to their ultimate demise. Meanwhile, your monsters with the Cursed trait will reap the benefits of Ariad’s influence, and with Phantasm , you can lead the heroes on a merry chase.

Queen Ariad

Ariad is equally deadly in the shape of the enormous spider, Queen Ariad, and when you play the campaign from Labyrinth of Ruin , this sculpted lieutenant figure will dramatically illustrate her transformation into Queen Ariad.

Alternatively, you can summon Queen Ariad to other quests as an agent, and her Tangled Web Plot deck ensures that you can continue to deceive the heroes before luring them to a sudden and inescapable demise. Queen Ariad’s Plot deck features several cards to ensnare the heroes, especially when combined with the overlord’s Trap cards. Your Wilderness monsters will get boosts from Tangled Web as well, especially from the Hidden Predator card, which grants your monsters a powerful bonus whenever they attack from out of sight of the heroes. The heroes will never be sure where the next attack will come from as your monsters quickly dart in and out of sight.

Raythen

The Raythen Lieutenant Pack reflects the dwarf rogue’s duality by offering you everything you need to play Raythen as a hero, or as the overlord’s lieutenant. In any game outside of the Labyrinth of Ruin campaign, you can use the included Hero sheet to play as Raythen in a quest. With Raythen in your company, you’ll get a second chance to reroll attribute tests and possibly snatch up search tokens faster than ever before.

On the other hand, when you play as the overlord, Raythen’s Skulduggery Plot deck can help you get the better of the heroes and allow you to use Raythen’s specialized skills for evil. You’ll be able to steal search tokens with your monsters and keep the best treasures out of the heroes’ hands with cards like Foiled Again . By cheating the heroes of their rewards, you’ll stand a better chance of slowing their progress over time, keeping them right where you want them.

Serena

Like Raythen, the priestess Serena sometimes aids the heroes, but she has also been known to work against them. Her Lieutenant Pack includes two plastic figures, for the hero and lieutenant versions of Serena. By using Serena’s Hero sheet, you can wield her formidable magic for good, possibly healing the wounds of nearby heroes while rejuvenating their fatigue. Although Serena can be fragile in direct combat, her hero ability allows adjacent heroes to protect her against attacks, meaning that she can continue working for the greater good.

Serena may be a potent hero, but she can also take the field as an agent of the overlord, helping to defeat the heroes with her Silent Protector Plot deck. Each of your Civilized monsters will receive enhanced powers from Serena’s Plot cards as she works to keep them fully healed. Simultaneously, Serena can incapacitate the heroes and slow them down with cards like Traveler’s Rest .

A New Challenge Awaits

The upcoming release of these four new Lieutenant Packs means that Terrinoth’s heroes must soon face deadly new threats, but old friends may join the fight and help to even the scales. Ariad’s schemes as both human and spider may cause the heroes to stumble, but only time can tell whether her illusions and secretive machinations will spell victory for the overlord. Serena and Raythen hang in the balance between noble hero and agent of the overlord. Only you can decide their fate. Look for these four Descent Lieutenant Packs at your local retailer in the first quarter of 2014!

Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition is a story-driven board game for 2-5 players that takes a party of adventurers deep into the dungeons of Terrinoth for adventure, treasure, and glory. Players will embark on a campaign of linked quests as they develop characters based on four fantasy archetypes.