Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition) – Visions of Dawn
Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition) – Visions of Dawn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Using This Expansion
Add the new Monster cards, Hero sheets, and monster and hero figures to their respective supplies. Then, if using components from the Conversion Kit, remove the heroes and monsters with the same name as those in this expansion and return them to the game box.
When playing a campaign that utilizes Rumor cards, add the included Rumor and Advanced Quest cards to their respective supplies.
The included Overlord card can be acquired only as a reward for winning the "Trucebreaker" quest.
Visions of Dawn Expansion Icon
All the cards and sheets found in this expansion are marked with the Visions of Dawn expansion icon (a skull) to distinguish these components from those found in the base game and other expansions.
Trucebreaker (Act I Rumor, Encounter 1)
Flavour narrative omitted. For several days you've pursued an ogre, the only surviving member of a raiding party that attacked a nearby village. The beast carries with it the skull of Ig'thalea, pried from her grave during the assault. Tasked to retrieve the remains, you have travelled into the surrounding mountains.
Monsters: Flesh moulders. Ogres. Trolls. 1 open group.
Setup
Place the flesh moulders on the Plateau. Place the ogres and the trolls on the Summit. Place the open group on the Caravan.
Collect 1 white and 3 blue objective tokens. The overlord places them facedown on the Pyre as indicated. No hero player should know the color of any objective token. These are remains.
Place search tokens based on the number of heroes.
The quest map is built from the tiles named in the insert's diagram: the Summit (1A), the Plateau (5A), the Pyre (8A), the Caravan (9A), the Entrance, and the Exit. The diagram marks the Pyre search token spaces, and it shows the Ig'thalea's Skull token beside the map. The diagram also shows numbered green markers (2, 3 and 4) on the edges of the Summit, Plateau and Caravan tiles. The printed text of the insert does not explain these markers, so they are transcribed here as shown and not interpreted.
Special Rules
In a 3- or 4-hero game, the master ogre and master troll are Speakers. In a 2-hero game, the minion ogre and minion troll are Speakers instead.
At the end of each overlord turn, if both Speakers are on the Summit and adjacent to each other, place 1 fatigue token in the overlord's play area.
Dead to Rites
As an action, while adjacent to remains, a hero may carry the objective token facedown on that hero's Hero sheet without revealing its color. Each hero may carry only 1 remains at a time.
If a hero carrying remains enters a water space, reveal the objective token on his Hero sheet. Each time a blue objective token is revealed, the overlord places a flesh moulder adjacent to that hero, respecting group limits, and discards that token. The first time a flesh moulder is placed in this way, read the following aloud:
The force of the water clears the dirt from the remains. The skull's empty sockets stare back at you. For a moment, you are transfixed, until fleshy tendrils slither out and wrap around your wrist. You fling it away, watching as the flesh weaves around the bone, knitting itself together with an unholy speed until a warped and grotesque man stands before you.
If a hero reveals the white objective token, that hero is now carrying Ig'thalea's skull. If the hero carrying Ig'thalea's skull is defeated, that hero places the objective token in the closest empty space. As an action, while adjacent to Ig'thalea's skull, a hero may pick it up.
A hero carrying Ig'thalea's skull may move off the map through the Exit.
Reinforcements
At the start of each overlord turn, the overlord places either 1 troll on the Entrance or 1 ogre on the Exit, respecting group limits.
Victory
If the hero carrying Ig'thalea's skull moves off the map through the Exit, read the following aloud:
A great clash echoes across the peak. Risking a look back, you see the ogre's sword has been caught on the troll's hammer. As the behemoths behind you struggle to free their weapons, you find a crack in the mountain and, slipping inside, disappear into the darkness.
In the following weeks you dream of the dawn, and of a brutal army of ogres and trolls that spreads across every land the sun touches. The skull of Ig'thalea hangs in the sky, stark and silent.
The heroes win!
If there are 4 fatigue tokens in the overlord's play area, read the following aloud:
The speakers fall silent, then, in a burst of motion and a loud cracking noise, they butt their heads together. Roaring as one, they turn towards you, working in tandem to drive you back. Though you fight valiantly, their combined might forces you to fall back, retreating down the mountain without your prize.
In the following weeks you dream of the dawn, and of a brutal army of ogres and trolls that spreads across every land the sun touches. The skull of Ig'thalea hangs in the sky, stark and silent.
The overlord wins!
Rewards
If the overlord wins, he receives the "Hard Knocks" Overlord card and draws 1 Rumor card.
Regardless of the winner, place the "Visions of Dawn" Advanced Quest card into play.
Visions of Dawn (Act II Rumor, Encounter 1)
Flavour narrative omitted. You explore the eerily familiar area, until you discover a cabin that does not match the mental map of your dream. Sigils are burnt into its wood. At each corner, figures in dark robes chant old words for splitting and multiplying. Through the windows you see glassy eyed trolls and ogres, their flesh bubbling and roiling. As the voices rise, the flesh breaks away from their forms and swirls into a large mass.
Monsters: Manticores. Ogres. Trolls. 1 open group.
Setup
Place the manticores on the Fire Pit. Place the open group on the Garden. Do not place the ogres or trolls during setup.
The overlord collects a number of red and blue objective tokens equal to the number of heroes, but cannot collect more than 2 of either color. The overlord places these tokens on the Cabin. These are vessels.
Place 4 villager tokens as indicated. These are chanting priests.
Place search tokens based on the number of heroes.
The quest map is built from the tiles named in the insert's diagram: the Garden (26A), the Cabin (7A), the Fire Pit (8A), the Entrance and the tiles labelled 23A, 24A, 25A and 28A shown around them. The diagram shows the chanting priest tokens, the red and blue vessel spaces on the Cabin, the locked doors (shown as red bars on the Cabin), and numbered green markers (2, 3 and 4). The printed text does not explain the numbered markers, so they are transcribed here as shown and not interpreted.
Special Rules
Locked doors cannot be opened or closed as normal.
At the start of each overlord turn, the overlord places 1 fatigue token in his play area.
Flesh of My Flesh
Each red objective token is an ogre vessel. Each blue objective token is a troll vessel. Vessels are treated as minion monsters of their associated monster group with the following exceptions: vessels occupy 1 space, cannot move or be moved, cannot be reinforced, and do not count toward group limits.
Dark Litany
Chanting priests block movement and line of sight. Heroes may attack chanting priests as if they were monsters.
Chanting Priest
- Health: 6 + 1 per hero
- Defense: shown on the printed counter as grey defense die icons (the insert does not render the value as text)
When there are no chanting priests on the map, remove all locked doors.
Reinforcements
At the end of each overlord turn, if there are exactly 1, 3, or 5 fatigue tokens in the overlord's play area, the overlord may place either trolls or ogres up to group limits in any empty space on the map.
Victory
If there are no vessels on the map, read the following aloud:
As the last vessel falls beneath your blows, twin roars echo through the cabin. The troll's Speaker blocks one exit; the ogre's Speaker blocks the other. You ready your weapon, but the world shifts strangely, and all is cast to shadows. An apparition of the skull of Ig'thalea blazes into light before you, morphing into a ghostly, muscled woman.
"Come, let them blame each other," she waves you forward, and you pass out of the cabin unhindered. "You will leave here with my blessing, and with my thanks."
The heroes win!
If the overlord has 8 fatigue tokens in his play area, read the following aloud:
The flesh rolls off the vessels at a faster pace, twisting and binding furiously into new creatures. These abominations spawn quicker than you can put them down, pushing you farther and farther away from the cabin. For each troll or ogre you kill, two more take its place. Soon the cabin is lost behind the newly birthed hordes, and though you fight bravely, you must flee for your lives.
The overlord wins!
Rewards
If the heroes win, they receive the hero reward listed on the back of the "Visions of Dawn" Advanced Quest card.
If the overlord wins, he receives the overlord reward listed on the back of the "Visions of Dawn" Advanced Quest card.
Monster Descriptions and Hero Descriptions
The insert's monster and hero descriptions are flavour text for the new monsters (ogres, trolls and manticores) and heroes (Master Thorn, Nara the Fang, Ispher and Sir Valadir). They describe the figures and cards included in the expansion, which are not reproduced in this rulebook, and are omitted here.