Attacking

Each turn, a hero or monster may make one or more attacks against other figures on the board. The following rules apply to hero and monster attacks.

Attack Sequence

Whether the attacker is a hero or a monster, all attacks follow these steps:

Step 1: Declare Attack:

The attacking player declares which space his figure is attacking. If the attacking figure is a hero, the player must also state which equipped weapon the hero is using. Heroes can only attack with an equipped weapon (or their fists). Note that the attacking player designates a space to attack and not necessarily another figure.

Step 2: Confirm Line of Sight:

In order to attack a space, the attacker must have line of sight to it. In other words, the attacking figure must be able to trace an uninterrupted straight line from the center of its space to the center of the space it is targeting. If attacking with a large monster, the overlord player need only trace line of sight from the center of one of the spaces it occupies to the center of the space it is targeting. Line of sight is blocked by walls, closed doors, other figures, and blocking obstacles. Thus you cannot, for instance, shoot directly through one monster to hit another monster behind it.

Step 3: Count Range and Roll Attack:

Next, the attacking player counts the number of spaces from the space occupied by the attacking figure to the targeted space. This is the range of the attack. After determining the range of the attack, the attacking player rolls the dice corresponding to the attacking weapon or monster.

Important Even if a hero has more than one weapon equipped when he attacks, he must still choose only one weapon with which to attack. Thus, a hero who has two swords equipped may roll the dice for one of those weapons. The only exception to this rule is for weapons with the “Off-hand” ability

Step 4: Determine Attack Success:

First, the attacking player checks to see if he rolled a miss result. If he did, the attack automatically fails. If no miss results are showing, the attacker adds up all the range number results on the rolled dice. The attack hits if the total range of the rolled dice is equal to or greater than the attack’s range. If the total rolled range is lower than the required range needed to hit the target, the attack fails and no damage is done unless the player can increase the range to the minimum required range in step 5.

Step 5: Spend Power Surges, Power Enhancements, and Fatigue:

If the attacker has not rolled a miss result, it is possible for the attacker to modify the rolled range and damage through one or more of the methods described below.

Using Power Enhancements (Heroes or Overlord): The black power dice have power enhancements on several of their sides. For every power enhancement a player rolls during an attack, he may increase either the range or the damage of the attack by 1.

Using Power Surges (Heroes): Many of the dice have power surges on them. A hero player may use his rolled power surges to trigger a variety of special effects, depending on the weapon used. A weapon’s item card always lists the effects that a hero may trigger with power surges when attacking with that weapon. A hero may trigger a specific effect more than once for a single attack, as long as he rolled enough power surges to do so. Note that there are some effects that will provide no additional benefit if they are triggered more than once. Any power surges that a hero does not immediately use to trigger effects are lost--they cannot be “saved” for a later attack.

Using Power Surges (Overlord): For every two surges the overlord player rolls during an attack, he gains one threat token. Any unused surges are lost.

Using Fatigue (Heroes Only): After the dice have been rolled for an attack, hero players may also spend one or more fatigue tokens to add additional power dice to the roll. However, an attacker may never roll more than five total power dice for a single attack.

Step 6: Inflict Wounds:

If, after step 5 is resolved, the attack hits, the attacking player counts the total number of damage (“blood drop” icons) showing on the rolled dice and adds any bonus damage from power surges, power enhancements, or weapon abilities. This is the total damage dealt to the figure in the target space. In order for this damage to have any effect, it must first penetrate the figure’s armor.

A hero’s armor rating is equal to the base armor listed on his hero sheet plus any armor added by his equipped items. A monster’s armor rating can be found on its reference card. To determine actual damage dealt, simply subtract the target’s armor rating from the total damage dealt to it.

For each wound a hero suffers, the player must remove one wound token from his hero sheet and return it to the pile of unused tokens in the common play area, making change if necessary. When a hero removes the last wound token from his hero sheet, he has been killed.

For each wound a monster suffers, the overlord player places a wound token from the pile of unused tokens next to the monster figure on the board. A monster figure is killed when the number of wound tokens it has received equal or exceeds its wound rating, as indicated on the monster’s reference card. When a monster is killed, the overlord player simply removes its figure from the board, and the monster becomes available for spawning or placement once more.

Types of Attacks

There are three types of attacks in the game.

Melee Attacks:

Melee attacks can only be declared against adjacent spaces. However, a melee attack only misses if a miss result is rolled. Range results are ignored during melee attacks. When a hero makes a melee attack, he adds a number of power dice to his roll equal to his melee trait.

Ranged Attacks:

Ranged attacks can be declared against any space to which the attacker has a line of sight. The attack misses if either a miss result is rolled or the rolled range is less than the range to the target. When a hero makes a ranged attack, he adds a number of power dice to his roll equal to his ranged trait.

Magic Attacks:

Magic attacks can be declared against any space to which the attacker has a line of sight. The attack misses if either a miss result is rolled or the rolled range is less than the range to the target. When a hero makes a magic attack, he adds a number of power dice to his roll equal to his magic trait.

Special Abilities

The attacks of many weapons and monsters have special abilities or effects. Players should familiarize themselves with these abilities by studying the appropriate item cards and monster reference cards.

Unarmed Attack

If a hero attacks without a weapon, he attacks with his fists. This is a melee attack that grants one red die and has no special abilities.