Descent: Legends of the Dark

Overview

Descent: Legends of the Dark is a cooperative dungeon-crawling game for 1-4 players set in the fantasy world of Terrinoth. Unlike previous Descent editions, there is no Overlord player; instead, a companion app controls enemies, manages the map, tracks inventory, and drives the campaign narrative. Players control heroes across an expansive campaign of linked quests, improving abilities and equipment over time. Each quest features a hero phase (movement, combat, exploration) and a darkness phase (enemy activation, quest events) resolved in rounds until objectives are met or the heroes fail.

Components

40 Plastic Figures (34 enemies, 6 heroes) and 1 Riser
18 Map Tiles (with unique codes)
46 Terrain Pieces (tables, barricades, archways, cauldrons, lecterns, wells)
6 Hero Cards (double-sided)
40 Weapon Cards
18 Armor Cards
12 Trinket Cards
42 Consumable Cards
42 Skill Cards
10 Injury Cards (Minor/Major sides)
4 Reference Cards
4 Health Dials
9 Custom Dice (various colors)
56 Fatigue Tokens
80 Condition Tokens (16 each of 5 types)
12 Explore/Sight Tokens
16 Plastic ID Markers (4 each of 4 colors)
6 Underlays
8 Card Sleeves
1 Component Assembly Insert, 1 Lore Guide

Setup

Launch the App: Select “New Game,” create a save slot, choose difficulty, and select starting heroes.
Gather Hero Components: Each player takes a reference card, health dial, hero figure, hero card, and two starting weapon cards. Combine weapons into a card sleeve (standard sides out, upgrade sides hidden) to form a single attack card.
Set Health Dial: Set to maximum health shown on hero card.
Create Supply: Separate tokens by type. Place map tiles, terrain, enemy figures, consumable cards, and injury cards in the supply.
Create Starting Map: Follow the app’s instructions to place tiles, tokens, terrain, and figures.

Starting Heroes:

Brynn (Human Avenger): melee specialist, defender
Galaden (Elf Huntsman): ranged/melee hybrid, focused damage
Syrus (Human Prodigy): magic user with phoenix
Vaerix (Dragon-Hybrid Outcast): healer with draconic attacks
Chance (Hyrrinx Rogue): unlocked later, stealth-based
Kehli (Dwarf Artificer): unlocked later, invention-based

Single Player: Control 2 heroes; all other rules unchanged.

Turn Structure

Each round has two phases:

Hero Phase

Heroes choose their turn order (may change each round). Each hero takes a turn with up to 3 actions: 1 maneuver + 2 additional actions (of any type, may repeat).

Darkness Phase (app-controlled)

Time Passes: Heroes suffer effects of “infected” and “terrified” conditions. Each hero may discard 1 fatigue.
Enemy Activation: The app activates each enemy, causing movement and attacks.
Quest: The app may display new events, spawn enemies, or update objectives.
Tactics: Some enemies announce plans for the next round.

After the darkness phase, a new round begins.

Actions

Heroes have 5 action types (1 maneuver guaranteed + 2 others):

Action	Effect
Maneuver	Gain movement points equal to Speed. Spend 1 point per space moved (including diagonal). Can perform actions between movement points. Unspent points are lost at end of turn.
Fight	Attack an enemy within range and line of sight of your faceup weapon. Roll dice, spend successes to deal damage.
Explore	Interact with adjacent 3D terrain or explore tokens. Produces varied effects (tests, items, map expansion).
Ready	Flip one card in your play area (hero card, attack card, or skill card). Removes all tokens from that card.
Unique ()	Perform an ability on a card prefaced with the action icon. Costs the number of actions shown.

Movement Rules

Adjacency: Spaces sharing a border or corner are adjacent.
Blocked spaces: Cannot move into spaces with enemies or 3D terrain.
Hero spaces: Can move through another hero’s space only if you immediately move out.
Impeded: A hero adjacent to an enemy loses all movement points. If impeded, gaining movement only provides 1 point.
Sight Tokens: When moving into/adjacent to a sight token, must activate it immediately (select in app). Does not cost an action.

Combat (Fight Action)

Select and drag from hero portrait to enemy in the app.
Confirm your faceup weapon.
Roll the die shown on your hero card.
Resolve die results:
- Success (): Spend to deal damage (damage per success = weapon’s damage value).
- Advantage (): Place fatigue to convert to success (1:1).
- Surge (): Trigger surge abilities on cards.
Input successes into the app; confirm.
App calculates damage (including weakness bonuses and random defense reduction).

Enemy Combat (during Darkness Phase)

Enemy attacks its target for its displayed damage value.
Target hero rolls defense die (shown on hero card).
Success () reduces damage by 1 each. Advantage () converts to success via fatigue. Surge () triggers defense abilities.
Remaining damage is suffered (reduce health dial).

Damage Types & Weaknesses

Each weapon has damage types (e.g., Crush, Slash). Enemies have hidden weaknesses; the first time a weapon of that type hits, the weakness is revealed. Each success deals 1 extra damage per matching weakness.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Win: Complete the final objective displayed at the top of the app screen.
Lose: If the final objective cannot be completed, or if any hero with a major injury is wounded again.
Quest outcomes affect the campaign: Whether heroes win or lose may alter future quests and the overall story.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Flipping Cards: Flipping a hero card, attack card, or skill card removes all tokens (fatigue, conditions) from that card. This is a key tactical mechanic for managing fatigue and conditions.
Weapon Upgrades: Each weapon has a standard and upgraded side. Upgraded sides unlock as the campaign progresses.
Fatigue: Placed on cards to convert advantage to success. Each card has a fatigue limit. Fatigue abilities (cost: X fatigue) are placed on the card with the ability. Some effects cause heroes to suffer fatigue (placed on any card respecting limits; excess goes to a card or is suffered as damage per app instructions).
Hero Wounds & Injuries: When health reaches 0, the hero is wounded: reset to max health and press “Wound Hero” in app. Receive a minor injury (first time) or major injury (flip minor to major). A hero with a major injury who is wounded again typically causes the quest to fail.
Conditions (Hero): Infection (suffer damage per infected card when time passes), Terror (suffer fatigue per terrified card when time passes), Scar (suffer 2 damage when a scarred card flips). Prepare (discard from card to flip it) and Focus (discard to reroll 1 die) are beneficial.
Enemy Statuses: Afflicted (suffers 4 damage before activating), Dazed (+10% secondary weapon effect), Doomed (only this status removed at round end), Enfeebled (-20% attack damage), Exposed (+20% hero attack damage), Slowed (speed reduced to 1).
Enemy Targeting: Enemies target the hero shown in the app. If that hero is unreachable, the closest hero with the least health becomes the target.
Heroic Adventure Rule: Players should move enemies in the way that best accomplishes their instructions, but are not required to optimize enemy play against themselves.
Line of Sight Tool: Available in the app’s options menu to visually confirm which spaces are visible from any selected space.
Campaign Persistence: The app saves progress, allowing the campaign to span multiple sessions.

Player Reference

Hero Turn: 1 Maneuver + 2 additional actions (Maneuver, Fight, Explore, Ready, Unique)

Die Results: Success () = damage/defense, Advantage () = convert to Success via fatigue, Surge () = trigger abilities

Movement: Speed = movement points. Impeded (adjacent to enemy) = lose all points; gain only 1 on subsequent maneuver.

Damage: Weapon damage value x successes + weakness bonuses - random defense reduction

Wounds: Health to 0 → reset to max → Minor Injury (1st), Major Injury (2nd). Major Injury + wound again = quest failure.

Round Flow: Hero Phase (all heroes take turns in chosen order) → Darkness Phase (time passes, enemies activate, quest events)