Overview

Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition) is a dungeon-crawling adventure game for 2-5 players. One player takes the role of the Overlord who controls monsters and evil schemes, while the remaining players control heroes venturing into dangerous locations. Players select quests from the Quest Guide, and heroes work as a team to complete objectives while the Overlord tries to thwart them. The game can be played as standalone quests or as a linked campaign with persistent character progression.

Components

• 8 Hero Figures, 8 Hero Sheets
• 31 Monster Figures (Zombies, Goblin Archers, Cave Spiders, Flesh Moulders, Barghests, Ettins, Elementals, Merriods, Shadow Dragons — tan regular and red master versions)
• 9 Custom Dice: 1 Blue Attack, 2 Red Power, 2 Yellow Power, 1 Brown Defense, 2 Gray Defense, 1 Black Defense
• 152 Small Cards: 84 Class, 20 Act I Shop Items, 14 Act II Shop Items, 16 Condition, 12 Search, 6 Relic
• 84 Bridge Cards: 40 Overlord, 18 Monster, 12 Lieutenant, 10 Travel Event, 4 Activation
• 205 Tokens: 48 Map Tiles, 45 Damage, 35 Fatigue, 7 Doors, 16 Hero, 9 Search, 6 Lieutenant, 10 Objective, 8 Villager, 20 Condition, 1 Reanimate Familiar
• 1 Quest Guide, 1 Pad of Campaign Sheets, 7 Plastic Stands

Setup

1. Select a quest from the Quest Guide.
2. Build the map using specified map tiles.
3. Place monsters, search tokens, doors, and objective tokens as directed.
4. Heroes choose their hero and class, take starting equipment and class cards.
5. Overlord takes starting Overlord cards.
6. Place hero figures at the entrance.

Turn Structure

Each game round consists of:

1. Hero Phase

Each hero takes a turn (in any order heroes choose). On each hero’s turn:

• Perform 2 actions (may repeat except Rest).
• Exhaust/use class abilities and items.
• Overlord may play Overlord cards in response.

2. Overlord Phase

The Overlord:

• Draws 1 Overlord card.
• Activates each monster group once (each monster in the group can move and attack).
• May play Overlord cards.

Actions

Hero Actions (choose 2 per turn)

Action	Effect
Move	Move up to Speed value in spaces. Can be interrupted by other actions
Attack	Choose a weapon, target a monster in range/LOS. Roll attack dice, target rolls defense dice. Deal damage = hearts minus shields
Search	Adjacent to a Search token: flip token, draw a Search card (item)
Rest	Recover all Fatigue at end of turn. Cannot be performed twice
Stand Up	If knocked out: stand up, recover damage to half health. Counts as both actions
Revive	Adjacent to a knocked-out hero: that hero recovers damage and stands
Special	Quest-specific actions or class ability actions

Overlord Actions

• Play Overlord Cards: Spend cards for traps, buffs, or events.
• Activate Monsters: Each monster gets 1 move action (up to Speed) and 1 attack action per activation.

Combat

1. Attacker declares weapon, target, and dice.
2. Roll attack dice: count hearts (damage) and surges (special abilities). Blue die also shows range.
3. Defender rolls defense dice: count shields.
4. Damage = hearts - shields (minimum 0).
5. Surges may be spent on weapon/ability surge effects.
6. If attack roll shows X on blue die, the attack misses entirely.
7. For ranged attacks, total range rolled must equal or exceed distance to target.

Conditions

Combat can apply conditions: Poisoned, Diseased, Immobilized, Stunned, Bleeding, Cursed, Terrified, Weakened. Each has specific ongoing effects and methods to remove.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Victory conditions are quest-specific. Each quest in the Quest Guide specifies:

• Hero objective: Tasks the heroes must complete to win (e.g., defeat a boss, rescue villagers, reach an exit).
• Overlord objective: What the Overlord must accomplish to win (e.g., kill heroes a certain number of times, complete a ritual, escape with an artifact).

In campaigns, quest results affect the overall story and determine which quests become available next.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Line of Sight (LOS): Draw a line from corner of attacker’s space to any corner of target’s space. If unobstructed by walls, blocked terrain, or doors, LOS exists.
• Large Monsters: Occupy multiple spaces. Can move through but not end on heroes. Are affected by terrain in any space they occupy.
• Familiars: Some classes summon familiars (e.g., Reanimate). Familiars activate during the hero’s turn.
• Fatigue: Heroes can suffer fatigue to gain extra movement points (1 fatigue = 1 space). Also spent to trigger abilities. Max fatigue = Stamina value; excess becomes damage.
• Knocked Out: When a hero’s damage equals or exceeds Health, they are knocked out (not dead). They lie on their space until revived or they stand up. If all heroes are knocked out simultaneously, the Overlord wins.
• Master vs. Minion Monsters: Red (master) figures have better stats and additional abilities compared to tan (minion) figures.
• Campaign Rules: Between quests, heroes spend gold at the shop. Overlord gains XP to buy new Overlord cards. Heroes gain XP for class cards. After Act I quests, the Interlude quest determines the transition to Act II with stronger monsters and items.

Player Reference

Hero Turn: 2 actions from: Move, Attack, Search, Rest, Stand Up, Revive, Special

Attack Dice: Blue (range + damage + surge), Red/Yellow (damage + surge) Defense Dice: Brown/Gray/Black (shields)

Key Stats:

• Health: damage to be knocked out
• Stamina: max fatigue
• Speed: spaces moved per Move action
• Defense: which defense die to roll
• Might/Knowledge/Willpower/Awareness: attribute tests

Round Flow: Hero Phase (all heroes take turns) → Overlord Phase (draw card, activate monsters)