The Scourge

Preview the New Overlord Class in The Chains That Rust

#Descent

In the Mistlands, the dead rest uneasy. Some say the swirling mists that cover this entire land are truly the spirits of the dead, wandering through the living world in search of warmth. Others say the mists are the exhalations of undead warriors, trapped beneath the ground until they can escape. Even if the mists are only mundane, the heroes will fight countless enemies as they try to escape the Mistlands, and some will rise from death to charge into battle again and again.

In The Chains That Rust, the newest expansion for Descent: Journeys in the Dark, both the heroes and the overlord players find new tricks and tactics. As the heroes experiment with crossing the boundaries between archetypes, the overlord gains access to terrifying undead monsters and a deadly new Overlord class. In today’s preview, we’ll start our exploration of the overlord player’s new powers by exploring the new servant and Overlord cards introduced in this expansion!

The Binding of Spirits

When you play as the overlord player, the heroes are already trapped within your domain at the beginning of The Chains That Rust. With the monstrous lieutenants first introduced in the Mists of Bilehall expansion and an assortment of new monsters, you’ll be able to plague the heroes at every turn—and you’ll also be able to take advantage of an entirely new overlord servant: the Scourge.

The Scourge only enters play when you purchase the first card in the new Soulbinder class: Ties That Bind. Rather than being shuffled into a deck with your other Overlord cards, Ties that Bind remains in play in front of you in every quest you play. Whenever one of your other monsters is destroyed, you can exhaust Ties that Bind to capture the spirit of the fallen monster as the Scourge, a vengeful, ethereal creature bent on slaying those who destroyed its mortal form. 

As your servant, you can use the Scourge to devastating effect against a party of heroes. It offers powerful melee attacks, and whenever an adjacent hero suffers fatigue, you can force another hero to suffer fatigue as well—steadily whittling away your opponents’ options and forcing the heroes to play by your rules. Of course, the Scourge can be dispatched relatively easily if a few heroes concentrate their attacks on it, but because you can resurrect the Scourge whenever another monster dies, the heroes may decide that their best plan is to ignore the Scourge and simply allow you to plague their footsteps throughout the quest.

Perhaps the most important weakness of the Scourge is its speed. Because it can only move a single space on each activation, it’s entirely possible that the heroes may simply outpace the Scourge, leaving it behind and out of range. Fortunately, several Overlord cards in the Soulbinder class help address this weakness, starting with Restless Spirit. This Overlord card simply increases the Scourge’s speed by two, allowing you to move much more quickly and potentially keep pace with the heroes throughout the quest. Alternatively, you may follow a hero of your choice with Haunted Steps. While this card is in play, you can move the Scourge a single space whenever an adjacent hero moves away, allowing you to dog the steps of your chosen target until you finally overwhelm him. 

You’ll find another way for the Scourge to catch up with the heroes by playing Dark Silhouette. You can play this card when a hero attacks a monster within three spaces of your servant. Instead of the attack resolving as normal, the monster and the servant switch places, keeping your monsters safe from harm and placing your servant right next to a hapless hero. Of course, there’s always the risk that the Scourge will be defeated by the attack, but in that case, you can play Possessive to immediately deal damage to the attacking hero. What’s more, if the hero is still standing, you can now perform an attack with that hero as if he were one of your monsters, helping you turn the heroes against each other and tear them apart from within.

Once you’ve advanced far enough within the Soulbinder class, you don’t even need to be adjacent to a hero to catch them in your spectral grasp. Unblinking allows you to force each hero in your servant’s line of sight to suffer fatigue or damage. If they choose to do neither, you draw more Overlord cards, giving you even more options for undermining the heroes’ efforts. Finally, you may ensnare the heroes in a deadly Danse Macabre. With this card, you can trace a path of spaces away from your servant. Each hero caught in that path suffers fatigue up to his stamina—and then, you can move your servant and each of those heroes up to three spaces! By fatiguing the heroes and moving them away from their goal, you can easily lead them into a trap of your own devising and defeat them, granting you the ultimate victory!


In the diagram above, the overlord player plays Danse Macabre and ensnares two heroes, forcing them to suffer fatigue up to their stamina. Next, the overlord player will be able to move both heroes and the Scourge, luring the heroes into greater danger.

Your Soul Is in Danger

Danger is everywhere in the Mistlands. It creeps up from the ground with rising mists, bringing corruption and the foul stench of death. It falls from the sky without warning, stooping to squash a hero like an insignificant insect. As the overlord player, this is your domain, and in The Chains That Rust, you gain the tools you need to crush the heroes. 

Join us in our next preview for a closer look at the new monsters in this expansion, and pre-order your copy of The Chains That Rust at your local retailer today!

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