Descent RPG v1.

0 2015
Introduction Rules
These rules are for a conversion of Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition from a board game to a
role playing game. A role playing game generally features one person as a Game Master in charge of
storytelling and controlling the game and its NPCs. Other players take on the roles of hero characters
who describe to the Game Master what their character wants to do. The Game Master will then
describe any results of the characters actions and move the story along, activating Enemies and other
NPCs before giving the Players their turns again.
In order to play, you will need a copy of the base game of Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition.
Expansions provide more characters, classes, monsters, and other materials, but are not needed. You
will also want to have paper and pens for each player.
This role-playing game follows the standard rules for combat set forth in the Descent: Journeys in the
Dark 2nd Edition for game-play, but is enhanced with the following changes to bring a greater story and
role-playing experience to the game.
The First Section will be directed towards general players, those who will take on the role of a hero or
adventurer. This will guide players through simply building a character, and the different actions which
they can choose from on their turn. Some of the ideas and techniques for character building come
directly from the D&D basic rule set which are free online.
The Second Section will be directed towards those playing the overlord or game master. This will focus
on simple guidance for building a story and adventure for the players to take part in. Ideas and
resources will be provided so as to help in quickly creating dynamic stories with enemies and characters
that keep the players interested.

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Players Guide
Build a Character
To build a character you will have to: choose a general archetype, choose a specific class, choose a
character sheet or build your own, choose an alignment, and build a background story. These will allow
for you to have a detailed character with clear personality to go forward in the game. While playing the
game it is highly encouraged to think about what your character would do in game situations, not
necessarily what the right or smart action is, or what you would do.
Choose an Archetype:
Your first choice must be the type of character archetype you want to play. These include the warrior,
the healer, the mage, or the scout archetypes. These will have specific classes for you to choose, but due
to great selection it is easiest to start with a choice between one of these 4 archetypes.
Warrior: This can be anything from your stalwart knight to a berserker or beast master. Generally
warriors have great strength and prefer to fight using melee weapons.
Healer: This can be anything from a devoted disciple to a spirit-speaker or bard. Generally healers have
great wisdom and will focus on using skills to heal their team while wielding some kind of melee
weapon.
Mage: This can be anything from a scholarly rune-master to a dark necromancer or conjurer. Generally
mages have great intelligence and prefer to use skills to enhance the use of magic ranged weapons.
Scout: This can be anything from the mischievous thief to a wildlander or treasure hunter. Generally
scouts have great awareness and prefer to use stealth and ranged weapons.

Choose a Class
Once you have chosen the archetype your character will belong to you can begin looking at options for
classes. Classes are specific vocations and include your starting equipment, skill and future skills. It is
recommended that you glance through the cards that go along with the options available to see what
weapons or skills your character has to choose from.
Warrior: Knight, Berserker, Champion, Beast-master, Skirmisher, or Marshal
Healer: Disciple, Spirit-speaker, Apothecary, Prophet, or Bard
Mage: Rune-master, Necromancer, Geomancer, Hexer, or Conjurer
Scout: Thief, Wildlander, Treasure Hunter, Stalker, Shadow Walker, Bounty Hunter
Choose a Character Sheet

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Once you have your class chosen, you can pick a specific character to use. There are many character
sheets available, all divided up into archetypes for convenience. Each character has a special ability
which always applies and a heroic feat which can only be used once per encounter. Additionally here
you will find important statistics like health, speed, stamina, and the various attributes. These attributes
are important as you will have to roll tests against them in order to determine success in different
abilities and story points in the game. Most of the provided character sheets have miniatures that match
the artwork that can be used to represent your character on maps throughout the game. However, if
you see a different figure that you want to use instead, feel free to do so.
You could also choose to create your own character sheet from scratch. While this isnt very difficult, it
can take some time due to the many options available. For this reason, creating your own character
sheet will be covered in a different document.
Choose an Alignment
Now you have everything you need to play through the game. However, to get the most out of your
experience playing your new character, you will need to give it a little more depth; something to guide
your actions and give reason to your choices. The first step in bring your new character to life is choosing
their alignment. Alignment represents your characters general personality as a good, neutral, evil,
lawful, or chaotic character. This will help guide your decisions and attitudes throughout the game.
Lawful Good: These characters can be counted on to do the right thing according to what society has
established and expects.
Neutral Good: These characters tend to do the best they can and what they think is right.
Chaotic Good: These characters act according to their own moral compass with little regard for what
others may think.
Lawful Neutral: These characters follow traditions and laws and personal codes, with little thought of
right and wrong.
True Neutral: These characters outright avoid taking sides on moral questions and prefer to simply do
what seems best at the time.
Chaotic Neutral: These characters value personal freedom above all else, tending to do whatever they
choose with no particular thoughts on the consequences.
Lawful Evil: These characters will look for ways to further their own means without thoughts for others,
while staying within the laws or codes of order or tradition.
Neutral Evil: These characters tend to pursue personal goals and will do anything they feel they can get
away with without mercy or remorse.

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Chaotic Evil: These characters tend to act viciously and sporadically based on greed, bloodlust, or other
basic instincts.
Building a Background Story
Now it is time for the finishing touches and details that will bring your character to life. Currently your
character has begun adventuring, but what have they been up to for the past 20+ years? Surely your
character has pursued other occupations and as a result has developed specific character traits and
personality. Go through the following backgrounds and decide on which one fits your character best
(although it will be easy to pair some backgrounds with certain classes, there is no restriction or limit on
what your characters background was compared to what they have chosen for their future), then look
through that backgrounds Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws picking one of each and 2 of the
personality traits to give your character more depth. Personality traits may include fears, weaknesses,
results of past accomplishments, etc. Ideals are what drive your character, guide your moral code and
what sacrifices you may be willing to make, it is a good idea to remember you chosen alignment as you
pick an ideal. Bonds are the ties your character may have to people, places, or things which may drive
your character or be potential leverage to be exploited. Flaws are important because no one likes a
perfect character, these will be fears, weaknesses, or other vices that can overpower your characters
other traits, goals, or ideals. Once you have your characters personality and background down, put in a
line or two connecting that background to the class you have chosen. Simply summarize why your
character has left his old life behind to pursue adventure.
Acolyte: You have spent much of your life devoted to service towards a deity or group of deities. This
may have been through a structured temple or a less formal cult. You often have acted in duties
accompanying service to that deity and organization whether they are ceremonial rites, ministering to
other followers, or preaching generally. You can pick a deity, group, or other power to align yourself
with specifically.
Personality Traits: Idolize a hero of the faith, incredible Peace Keeper, Omens and signs are everywhere,
Optimism, Quote (or misquote) the sacred text, Tolerance (intolerance) and Respect (condemn), lived a
Pampered life and hate living it rough, Socially sheltered and awkward.
Ideal: Tradition must be upheld, must help others through Charity, Change the world, rise to Power,
Faith in my deity as a guide, Aspire to prove myself to my deity through action.
Bond: I must recover the Relic, Revenge on an order that cast me out, the Priests took me in and raised
me, I do everything for the people, I must protect my temple, and I must protect the sacred text.
Flaw: I Judge too harshly, I Trust blindly in my orders leadership, my Piety can lead to blind trust in
those who claim to share my belief, Inflexible in my thinking, Suspicious of strangers, Obsessive once Ive
picked a goal.

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Criminal: You have had much experience with criminals and have a history of breaking the law. You tend
not to value obeying the law very highly as a result. Your past may have involved anything from theft,
blackmailing, smuggling, or being a hired killer.
Personality Traits: Plan for when things go wrong, I am always Calm, the first thing I notice is Valuables
or where they could be hidden, I prefer to make Friends then enemies, slow to Trust, I ignore Risks and
odds, I tend to do the Opposite Im told, I blow up at the slightest insult.
Ideal: Honor among my profession, Freedom from chains, steals from the rich to Give to the poor, Greed
and wealth, Im only loyal to my Friends, Redemption.
Bond: I need to pay an old Debt, I am just supporting my Family, I need to Recover something once
mine, become the Greatest thief, looking for Redemption for a terrible crime, no one I Love will die from
my mistakes again.
Flaw: when I see something valuable that is all I Think about, Money over friends, I forget the Plan or
ignore it, I have a Tell when Im lying, I Run when things get bad, and Im okay with an Innocent taking
my place.
Folk Hero: From humble beginnings comes a great hero. Your home town already recognises you as their
champion. Beginning in a simple profession, you rose to greatness after anything from standing up to a
tyrant, merchant, or monster to becoming a natural leader of a militia or army or taking leadership in
the town.
Personality Traits: Judge people by their actions not words, always ready to Help someone in trouble,
when I set my Mind to something nothing can change my mind, strong sense of Fair play and always
want fair negotiations, Confidence and encourage others, Action over thinking, misuse large words while
attempting to Sound smarter, get Bored easily.
Ideal: Respect, Fairness, Freedom, Might, Sincerity, Destiny
Bond: Lost family I hope to find one day, worked loved and will protect the land, a noble once bullied me
so now I take revenge on all bullies, my tools represent my past and I carry them to never forget, protect
those who cant protect themselves, I wish my childhood sweetheart had come adventuring with me.
Flaw: The tyrant ruling my land will stop at nothing to see me killed, I am convinced of my destiny and
am blind to my failures, people at home know my shameful secret so I cant go back, I have vices of the
city like hard drink, secretly I believe life would be better if I was ruling the land, I have trouble trusting
my allies.
Sage: You have spent years in study of lore of the world. As such you have become a master in your
specialty which may be anything from astrology or research to alchemy or apprenticed magic.
Personality Traits: I use large words to express my class, Ive read every book in the greatest library, Im
used to helping those less intelligent and I am patient in explaining, love of mystery, willing to hear

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every side of an argument before judging, I speak slow when talking to idiots (everyone), socially
awkward, Im paranoid everyone is trying to steal my secrets.
Ideal: Knowledge, Beauty, Logic, There are no limits, Power, Self-Improvement.
Bond: Duty to my students, I have texts with terrible secrets if in the wrong hands, I want to preserve a
particular source of knowledge, my lifes work is recorded in a set of tomes, I have been searching my
whole life for the answer to a particular question, I sold my soul for knowledge and hope to do great
deeds to earn it back.
Flaw: Easily distracted by the promise of new information, Fear is overruled by need for study, unlocking
an ancient mystery is worth the cost of a civilization, overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated
ones, I speak without thinking and tend to insult people because of it, cant keep a secret to save a life.
Soldier: War has always been a part of your life. You have been trained in your youth to survive and use
weapons and armor. You may have been a part of a militia, standing army, or mercenary company. You
may also have some rank or specialty like officer, scout, cavalry, healer, or various supports (cook or
smith).
Personality Traits: Always polite, haunted by war, lost friends and slow to make new ones, full of
inspiring and cautionary tales relevant to many situations, incredibly brave, I enjoy being strong and
showing it, crude sense of humor, face problems head on.
Ideal: Greater good, responsibility, independence, might, ideals arent worth killing over, patriot.
Bond: I would die for my old comrades, never leave a friend behind, my honor is my life, Ill never forget
those who gave me a crushing defeat in the past, Id die for those who fight beside me, I fight for those
who cannot fight themselves.
Flaw: a monstrous enemy from a past battle still scares me, I have little respect for someone who isnt a
proven warrior, I once made a mistake in battle which cost many lives and want that to be a secret, my
hate of the enemy makes me blind and unreasonable, I obey the law even if it causes misery, I cannot
admit Im wrong.

Playing the Game

The game follows the basic system of the Game Master explaining a situation, the Players taking turns
activating their Characters with the Game Master describing the results of their actions and activating
any NPCs. Here we will go over the new actions that Heros can take in addition to Descents standard
actions of attack, move, rest, use a skill, open/close door, revive, stand up, search. Other actions may be
suggested but are ultimately up to the Game Masters discretion as to whether they allow the suggested
action or what the cost may be.

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If all of the heroes are knocked out at the same time, then the heroes can no longer stand up or be
revived and it is up to the Game Masters discretion as whether or not to work this into the story or
simply declare that the heroes have all died.
Additionally it should be noted that when you choose to have your character take an action, make a
statement, or otherwise exhibit their various personalities the Game Master may grant a bonus point of
Inspiration. You may only have one point of Inspiration at a time and you may spend it after rolling a die
for any reason to reroll that die and keep the better result.
Combat
While in combat there are some new actions which may be performed:
Fling open or slam a door: at the cost of one fatigue you may test strength to open or close a door
without using an action.
Bash or Pick locked door: you may spend an action to test strength or awareness to open a locked door.
Investigate: you may spend an action to test Intelligence or Wisdom to try to win additional information
or clues from the Game Master.
Hide: you may spend an action if not in an enemys line of sight to test awareness and try to become
hidden.
Climb: You may spend an action to test awareness to try and move over an elevation line.
Outside of Combat
All combat actions may be performed while out of combat as well as the following, but keep in mind
that if you spend too long healing or not moving forward with the story the Game Master may bring in
additional challenges:
First Aid: as an action you or an adjacent hero may roll a red power die and recover damage equal to the
amount rolled.
Interact: as an action you may interact with an NPC or object described by the Game Master
Stealth
When a character becomes hidden, that characters figure is removed from the map and replaced with a
token. Hidden characters are generally ignored by enemy figures and are removed from hiding if they
take any action other than move. If a character is hidden at the beginning of their turn, then they may
test awareness for every enemy who would have line of sight to them to remain hidden for this next
turn.

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If a character comes out of hiding by performing an attack action, your target must test awareness or
else lose 1 of their defense die (Game Masters choice).
Conversations
When interacting with an NPC or enemy before or after a fight, a character may try to win over the
NPCs cooperation one of the following ways:
Intimidate: test Strength
Charm: test Intelligence
Persuade: test Wisdom
Deceive: test Awareness

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Game Masters Guide
Playing the Game
The Game Master or Overlord has some increased responsibilities and changes have been made to how
the Game Masters turn works. The Game Master is now responsible for telling the story and describing
to the Players what is going on around them. The Game Master is also responsible of telling the results
of the Players actions in a compelling way. Lastly, the Game Master is in charge of NPCs and Enemies.
When the Game Master takes the Overlord Turn they only draw overlord cards when in combat, and
they should be played with simple story or reason behind them. Once the Game Master has finished
activating NPCs or Enemies then he again describes any changes or developments that may have
occurred and passes play to the Players.
When playing, it is recommended that you give the players a chance to anticipate or respond to events
to give more depth to the story. This can generally be done with an attribute test, giving the heros a
chance to hear something coming, or detect and avoid a trap. Generally it is a good idea to use strength
in response to physical events like a falling object, awareness to anticipate traps and disarm them, and
intelligence or wisdom to notice clues or potential strategies.
If all of the heroes are knocked out at the same time, then the heroes can no longer stand up or be
revived and it is up to the your discretion as whether or not to work this into the story or simply declare
that the heroes have all died. Remember also that your role is no longer a competitive one, but one of a
host. Thus you should try to scale your game to make it fun for the players while giving challenging
encounters at the same time.
Additionally, it is encouraged that you reward players for playing to the back stories and alignment of
their heroes by rewarding them with a point of inspiration. This shouldnt be terribly common but easy
enough if you can tell they are making an effort or adding to the story through great use of their
character.
It is also important that when playing, you remember to place search tokens. Due to the nature of the
scout archetype, having search tokens in the midst of battle is important as some scout classes give up
aggressive skills to facilitate searching or need to search to trigger other abilities. This means placing
search tokens during a battle and then removing them afterwards. Part of the game will be explaining
why these items were available and why they are no longer available. Generally this can be explained as
enemies dropping items when entering combat and then those items destruction as the battle wears on.
This will motivate the taking of search actions while in combat, and thus give reason to particular scout
class skills.
Building an Adventure
Building the adventure to be played is obviously important if you want the game to be fun for you and
the Players. However, we dont want you to have to plan meticulously every little detail, especially when
some aspects of those plans may never come up. This should be an open and creative adventure,

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depending largely on the Players actions, but it still needs direction and some planning. If you dont
have many ideas to begin, look to the Quest Book from the Descent board game for ideas or inspiration.
It may even be easiest to begin by using a story right from the book, but not allowing the characters to
see what is going on beforehand.
Picking the Scene
First you must decide on what kind of adventure you want to host, is it a dungeon crawl, a mystery, a
city-wide conspiracy? Once you have chosen try to get an idea for what kind of setting this will take
place in. Then move on to the basic surroundings that the Players may encounter, this may be a town,
camp, ruins, city, etc. The next step is the kind of atmosphere that is in this area. Is it a gloomy town or is
the sun shining on a beautiful castle? This should also encompass the general mood you want to be felt
from the NPCs; do you want things to be going well, or for terror to be widespread?
Picking the Villain
Every good story and adventure needs to have a menacing villain at the end, someone who has been
pulling the strings and is beginning to see their plans thwarted by this group of heroes. Or maybe
everything is going according to plan, and the villain has the heroes right where he wants them.
Regardless a villain must be picked, and there is a wide range of options, regardless of the setting you
have chosen. Pick a tyrant, warlord, vampire, politician, sorcerer, dragon, religious fanatic, or some
other monster.
After picking the main villain you need to define their motives, what their plan is, and how they got into
this position. Are they greedy, power hungry or just plain evil? Are they looking to topple a society or
organization, rise to immense power, or conquer and enslave? And how did they come to be a threat,
have they grown up here, invaded, been summoned, or unleashed?
Once you have an idea of who they are and what they are up to, you should come up with how they are
proceeding. This should include a couple stages to their plan, where they are in the course of their plan
and who they have as lieutenants. It is important to have stages to their plans and defining how far
along things have progressed as this will give you some background to feed the Players and better
identify what challenge they will immediately have to deal with. Then you should focus on who, how
many, and what drives the lieutenants. Are they confused puppets, close and loyal allies, mindless
drones, or a mix? You should have a loose idea of what drives them, and then what tasks and minions
they will specifically have charge over.
Involving the Heroes
Now you should have plenty of background to use in planning the actual adventure that the Players are
going to set off on. The first part of this is figuring out how they are tied into the plot and how they will
hear about and be motivated to get involved? Are they key to the Villains plot, related or have ties to
the victims, or simply passing through? This may be a lot easier if you already know what characters the
Players have built but that may not always be an option. If nothing else, you need to figure out how the

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players get involved, do they hear a rumor, get a job offer, or simply have someone come and beg for
help? Pick something and if you can have some kind of specific motivation to drive the characters, that
will really get the Players involved (family has been taken, home destroyed, personal challenge, etc).
Moving Forward
Now that you have brought the Heroes into the scene, it is time to plan out their goal for the encounter.
Decide how many steps there are going to be in achieving that goal and plan out how they get from one
to the next. This should include a variety of challenges from easy and brutal battles, working with NPCs
and looking for clues, to solving riddles or puzzles. It may great to have a twist or complication along the
way, perhaps the main villain turns out to be misunderstood or simply a lieutenant. Maybe there are
moral conflicts that go along with the assignment that the Heroes were unaware of, or a valuable NPC
has been in on the plot the whole time.
It is important to have some structure for the heroes so that they dont wander in circles or lose purpose
and interest. On the other hand, you want to make sure they have choices and that you can help get
them on the right track if they choose poorly or simply cant seem to figure out what to do next. It is
particularly recommended that you plan out all of the types of enemies that the heroes may encounter
before hand, choose whether or not to show the Players the cards for these enemies, and whether or
not you are going to give certain monster or enemies handicaps, along with any specific puzzles, clues,
conversations and especially how the final battle or conflict will go down.
Lastly you should make sure you know how the heroes will be rewarded. Does the boss drop any
particular items, or do the heroes recover a relic before the villain can? Is there gold around, or is the
reward simply having done the right thing? If you are planning a campaign, or series of adventures, then
give out experience points for next time, and allow the players to return to a city or town to cash in
valuables and buy new equipment.
Resources
There are many materials and resources that can be used to help move along your adventure. These
include monster cards, overlord cards, travel cards, relic items, objective tokens, maps, map tiles, etc.
Depending on your situation, decide if you want to plan out the whole map, or have certain tiles hidden
until the heroes happen upon them.
Decide if you want to use tokens as easy to identify objectives, which when flipped over may reveal a
trap, clue, or piece of treasure. Perhaps set an amount of clues which need to be gathered before
moving on, and have some tokens as dead ends while others are obvious clues or those which may only
be put together if an attribute test is passed.
You may want to have the heroes have to travel to the main location after hearing about the adventure
by using travel cards. These are a great resource.

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When building main villains it may be wise to use stats from lieutenant or monster cards just under a
different name and figure. Or you can build your own monsters off of current cards by adding abilities or
health to them. You can even create your own as they all have quite simple stats; all that is needed is
Health, Speed, Defense, and Attack Details.
You will probably need statistics for NPCs and basic Enemies which arent provided by the Base game of
Descent. You can either make a card for them to use, or just write down the stats for a particular
adventure. As a general suggestion, speed of 3 or 4, with health of 6-8, gray defense die, and a blue and
yellow attack pool with a surge for an extra damage works well for standard townsfolk or guards. If you
are designing a NPC who is more like a hero then look at some hero cards for ideas, maybe giving them
an extra ability from a Monster or Lieutenant Card.
Here are lists of some of the useful information or resources available from the Base set and all
Expansions of Descent when preparing an adventure or creating a map or NPC:
Travel Categories:
Wilderness: Path, Mountain, Forest, Clearing, Water
City: Path, Dark Hazard, Building, Tower, Sewer
Tokens:
Red, Green, Blue, White
Search, Unique Search
Secret Rooms:
Room of Keys
Overgrown Chasm
Place of Peace
Troll Pit
Tainted Spring
Cursed Tomb
Brigand's Quarters
The Dark Council
The Armory
Hidden Stash
The Dragon Shrine
The Lorekeepers Vault
Changlings:
The Civilian
The Magistrate
The Guardsman
The Executioner
The Mage
The Scholar
The Siren

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The Scoundrel
The Hero

Standard Wilderness/Dungeon Tiles

Huge:
Field/Great Hall
Windy Staircases
Waterfall/Throne Room
Obelisk/Hallways
Fallen Log Swamp/Flooded Cavern
Swamp/Sinking Dungeon
Statue Swamp/River Pit

Large:
Walled Area/Pit and bridge
Burned Building/Treasure Cavern
Stream/Dragon Cave
Cabin/Library
Paths/Wide Hall
Corner Ruins

Long:
Rocky/Toxic
Swampy
Standard

Medium:
Bridge/Stairs
Twisty Path/Twisty Stairs
Puddles/Sewers
Canyon/Spider's Tunnel
Gardens/Sewers
Pond Corner/Lava Corner
Burning Field /Forge
Cabin/Icy Cave
Stream/Chapel
Riverside/Armory
Field/Cave

Small:
Field/Runes and Treasure
Wagon/Cave
Campfire/Altar
Field/Torture Chamber
Farm Field/Crypt
Training Grounds/Sewers
Graveyard/Study

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Savage Garden/Dungeon
Swamp/Damp Dungeon

Secret:
Cave/Dungeon
Damp Cave/Pool of Keys

Town/Abyss
Large:
Town Square/Gallows/Altar
Tavern/Hazard River
Medium:
Library/Corner Ledge
Jail/Stairs
Study/Hazard Pool
Barracks/ Warped Hall
Circle Portal/Altar Portal
Long:

Sewer Pipe/Pit Ledges

Small:
Office/Pit
Market St/Mystic Wall
Inn Room/Shack/Dead End
Manor/Wilderness Tiles
Large:
Porch/Flooded Basement
Hallway/Campsite
Medium:
Dining Room/Stable
Hallway/Entry Gate
Master Bedroom/Tomb
Secret:
Attic/Spiked Pit
Flip Maps (d&d and pathinder/game mastery)
Desert Ruins
Red Light District
Watch Station
City Gate
Vaults of the Underdark

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Forgotten Keeps
Haunted Temples

Attack Effects and Monster Abilities

Conditions:
Stunned: Lose one Action
Immobilized: Cannot move for one Turn
Poison: At the start of your turn test Str to remove, suffer 1 damage if you fail
Disease: At the start of your turn test Will to Remove, suffer 1 fatigue if you fail
Burning: At the end of your turn you and every adj ally suffers 1 damage, remove with an action
Cursed: At the start of your turn test Int to remove, You cannot use Skills while cursed
Weakened: You have -1 to defense and damage until you rest
Bleeding: Suffer 1 fatigue after every action, remove with an action
Doomed: Every time you take any damage take 1 more, remove with a surge
Attack Effects:
Pierce X, Blast
Fire breath: trace your attack through 4 spaces
Black Venom: You are Poisoned and Doomed
Mend X: recover X health
Wither: target suffers 1 fatigue
Swarm: +1 damage for every other monster adj to target
Knockback: place the target within 3 of their original space
Feast: This attack gains damage equal to this monsters remaining health
Charge: if this monster was not adj to the target at the start of the turn, this attack gains 3 damage
Scheme: discard an overlord card to draw a new one
Subdue: if the attack does at least 1 damage, assign any 1 condition to the target
Blood Call: recover health equal to damage done
Monster Skills:
Death Cry: 1 hero within 3 tests will, fail causes doom or 1 damage
Cocoon: all adj hero's test Awareness, fail causes immobilize
Burrow: Remove figure and place in empty or occupied space 3 away, all figures in target space are
moved 1 and suffer 1 fatigue
Leap Attack: Move ignoring enemy figures, then make an attack targeting all figures you moved through
Pillage: Attack, if you knock out a hero then steal a search card
Summon: choose a minion within 3 spaces, place it adj to you
Heal: Choose ally within 3 and roll 1 red die, heal target the amount rolled
Dark Prayer: Each hero within 3 tests will, they suffer 1 fatigue if they fail
Whisper: each adj hero tests will, move each hero who fails 1 space
Bewitch: move all adj cursed heroes 2 spaces
Throw: 1 hero adj tests str, if they fail: place them in any empty space within 3 of their original space
and they take 1 damage
Sweep: Perform an attack targeting all enemies in range
Bash: 1 adj hero tests awareness, fail causes 3 damage

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Skirmish: Move 3 spaces and perform an attack
Flock: all minions of this group within 5 may move 2 spaces.
Rend: 1 adj hero tests str, if he fails he is bleeding
Merge: choose 1 adj monster of the same group, this monster dies and gives remaining health to that
adj monster.
Pincer Attack: Attack 2 adj heroes, each one who takes at least 1 damage is also immobilized
Fire: attack all adj figures
Earth: all adj heroes test awa or are immobilized
Water: all heroes test will or suffer 2 fatigue
Air: until the start your next turn, you cannot be affected by non-adj attacks and enemys may move
though you.
Grab: 1 adj enemy tests str or is immobilized
Leech: 1 adj enemy tests str. If they fail roll a yellow die and they suffer fatigue equal to hearts rolled
and you heal damage equal to fatigue suffered.
Howl: Each enemy within 3 tests will or suffers 1 fatigue
Bloodrush: suffer 1 damage and gain 5 movement points
Cause Fear: 1 adj enemy tests will. If they fail move them 2 spaces directly away and they are
immobilized
Influence: choose an adj figure, that figure gets one free action.
Sacrifice: deal up to 5 damage to an adj ally, to recover an equal amount of health
Seduce: choose one enemy within 3 spaces, test your own will to move them one space and stun them
Ignite: suffer 1 damage to attack all adj figures (cannot be done if it would kill you)
Overpower: perform a move action, each time you move adj to an enemy test your str to trade spaces
with that enemy and cause them to suffer 1 fatigue
Dominion: test your will to move 1 enemy in LoS 2 spaces and cause them to test will or be immobilized
Ancient Curse: all enemies within 3 must test will or be cursed
Split Earth: trace a path of 4 beginning adj to you, each figure in the path suffers 1 damage and is moved
1 space.
Rampage: perform a move action and then an attack targeting all figures within 2 of any space you
moved through. You are then stunned and weakened.
Thrash: perform an attack targeting all adj figures
Cursed Blast: attack all cursed enemies in LoS, if range is insufficient for any target, the whole attack fails
Shadow Bolt: perform a ranged attack w/ blue, red, yellow
Promotion: test will to replace an adj minion with a master of the same group (may not exceed group
limits)
Cry Havoc: Move and then attack targeting all enemies you moved through
Wail: all enemies within 3 test will or suffer 2 fatigue
Pilfer: if adj to a search token, you may look at the top search card and place it at the top or bottom of
the deck
Miasma: each enemy within 3 must test will or suffer 1 damage and 1 fatigue
Monster Abilities:
Fly, ravage, reach,
Iron skin: immune to pierce and all conditions
Plagued: Adj figures cannot remove poison or disease
Prey on the weak: +1 damage to hero's with 2 or less strength
Morph: Use attack die from any figure in your LoS

Descent RPG v1.0 2015

Sorcery X: interchange Range and Damage
Reaper: If a hero gets knocked out within 5 of you, perform a free move and attack
Stealthy: You require 3 extra range to be hit (3 for melee, 3+range for ranged)
Freezing: when a hero enters a space adj to you, they suffer 1 fatigue
Pestilence: All adj hero's at the beginning of your turn test will, fail causes disease
Protect: if an enemy in LoS targets a figure adj to you, suffer 1 damage to take the attack instead
Undying: When defeated, replace with a minion version
Hideous Laughter: every enemy within 3 spaces has a -1 to all attributes.
Scamper: you may move through enemy spaces
Cowardly: you may not spend surges unless you are within 3 of a master/lieutenant
Command: each minion within 3 may reroll 1 die on each attack
Web: each hero adj must suffer 1 fatigue to move out of their space
Ravenous: when attacking a bleeding hero, gain one surge
Flail: when attacking you may have two targets
Unmoveable: ignore any effect that would force movement
Shambling: you may only take 1 move action per turn
Night Stalker: if attacked by a non-adj enemy, add one brown die to defense
Flame Fiend: ignore lava and burning damage and if you end in lava heal 1 health
Combustible: when you are defeated each adj enemy suffers 1 damage
Aura X: each time an enemy enters a space adj to you, they suffer X damage
Swallow: If a hero is defeated by you, their token gets placed on your base and the cannot be revived by
other heroes unless this monster is defeated (the hero may still stand up on their own)
Horrifying: each adj enemy has -1 to will
Shadow: Attacks from adj enemies must spend an extra surge or the attack misses
Not Me!: when attacked before dice are rolled, test awa to make an adj ally the target
Chaotic Energy: When attacking, before dice are rolled, you may suffer up to 3 damage to add that
damage to the attack. You cannot do this if doing so would kill you.
Aftershock: after being attacked the attacker tests will or suffers 1 fatigue
Lingering Curse: when you are defeated, each adj enemy must test will or be cursed
Corrupted: when attacking a cursed enemy, add one yellow die to the attack for each cursed enemy
being targeted (via blast, etc)
Energy Drain X: if an enemy takes damage from your attack you may force them to take some of the
damage as fatigue instead, up to X
Hoarder: when an enemy searches, you may test awa to move 2 spaces.
Split: when defeated, replace with 2 minions of the same group, ignoring group limits
Resilient: at the beginning of your turn, remove 1 condition
Regeneration X: at the beginning of your turn recover X health
Master Plan: When you play an overlord card, choose an enemy within 3 to take 1 damage
Soul Siphon: Each time you take damage from something other than an attack you may cause an adj ally
to take that damage instead.
Precise: Adj figures don't block your LoS
Opportunist: your attacks gain 1 surge for each adj immobilized enemy and 2 surges for each adj
stunned enemy
Strong Spirit: you cannot be cursed or diseased