We have noticed that the familiar 'Reanimate' is extremely powerful - especially with a few additional modifier cards.  Essentially, the players get a +1 player advantage with this familiar, plus it is often used as an unlimited guided smart bomb.  Is this the intent?

The specific questions we have had are:

• Can the familiar 'Reanimate' be brought onto the board repeatedly during the game, or is it a one use (and stays dead the rest of the encounter) familiar?
• If the familiar can be brought back, is the intent that it can be brought back the next turn after it dies?  (assuming the controlling player is able to meet the requirements)
• Are there any limitations regarding the dice rolling modifiers that can be used with this character?  (Presently, my friend's reanimate familiar rolls more dice then my master dragon when attacking.)

Thanks

schmidtw said:

• Yes, but it can only be activated once per round, unless using Fury of Undeath.
• Yes.
• Could you be more specific?  It only gets one attack per round, using blue & red dice, plus a yellow die if Vampiric Blood was bought.

Thanks for the answers!

Regarding the last question/issue - yes, he has the Vampiric Blood - so he gets the +1 yellow die.

It sounds like we've been playing the character correctly because the familiar has only been allowed to attack once per round.

I have a question about the Reanimate as well:

- Does the Reanimate activate on the same turn it has been summoned?

We've been playing assuming it does, making Fury of Undeath really strong, as the Reanimate then gets to move and attack twice each turn, even if it was destroyed on the previous turn (providing the Necromancer has the stamina to spend on it).

However, I've started to doubt the "activate on the same turn as you summon" -rule, firstly because it makes him more powerful than almost any other DPS character currently in my running game, and secondly because I started digging around for the rules.

These are, apparently, official rule fixes:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/descent-second-ed/support/Descent%20Second%20Edition%20FAQ.pdf

Among these fixes is the following:

Q: Can the Necromancer activate his Reanimate familiar at the start of his
turn, voluntarily destroy it, spend an action during his turn to create a new
Reanimate familiar, and then activate this new Reanimate at the end of his
turn?
A: No, a familiar can only be activated once per round. Even though the
Reanimate was removed and placed again, it is still the same familiar.

On the other hand "Fury of Undeath" reads as follows:

Exhaust this card to activate your Reanimate. Your Reanimate still activates this turn as normal.

If you indeed can only activate him once, the wording on the card is really misleading, and its only use would be to enable the Reanimate to activate on the same turn as it has been summoned.

So…. which is it? Only once or twice?

EDIT: I just read the cards again. It could, I guess, also be interpreted as follows:

"Reanimate: This familiar is treated as a figure but cannot recover any amount of hp. It may perform 1 attack action during it's activation. Each attack made by this familiar gains: Surge = +1 hp"

"Fury of Undeath: Exhaust this card to activate your Reanimate. Your Reanimate still activates this turn as normal."

Activates as normal = only 1 attack per activation (turn)?

Thanks

Oozi

FoU allows it to activate twice per turn -- move & attack; move & attack.

Before the FAQ ruling, people were trying to activate three times per turn (if it started on the board). 

1) Activate the existing Reanimate

2) FoU activate & dimiss

3) Summon & activate the new one.

Thanks for the answer.

I apologize if I'm being a bit slow here, but let me just be absolutely clear though, the Reanimate CAN activate on the same turn it has been brought onto the board?

Because that's the way we've played it, and I guarantee it will be house ruled the next time we start a fresh campaing. It's just so… unrewarding.

Thanks

Oozi

Oozi said:

Yes, the reanimate can activate in the same turn it is summoned.  It has to wait until after the Necromancer is finished, though, since familiars can only be activated either before or after the hero him/herself has taken his/her actions, and summoning the Reanimate is an action itself.

And if the Necromancer does Summon + Fury, he himself will do nothing that turn (except take fatigue) as both of those cost an action. Nice way to separate the weak from the herd .

So if we are still here I just want to clear some doubts about reanimate we have.

1. Can reanimate revive another hero?

2. Can reanimate open/close door?

3. Can reanimate perform quest actions like for example collecting items, checking search tokens, pray at altar etc?

4. Does overlord get card for killing reanimate?

1) No -- move (Familiar rules, page 17) & attack (Reanimate ability)

2) No.

3) No.

4) No, although some people insist otherwise.

"When activated, a familiar may perform a move action following the same rules as heroes. Familiars treat any special terrain (other than obstacles) as water during their movement. The familiar may perform additional types of actions during its activation, as noted on its Familiar card. These additional actions, unless otherwise noted, may be performed in addition to the move action and may interrupt the move action in a way similar to hero move actions. If no such other actions are noted, then all the familiar can do on its turn is move up to its Speed value."

"Some familiars, such as the Reanimate, are treated as figures (as indicated by its Familiar card). These familiars block line of sight and movement, but are considered friendly figures for hero movement. They may be targeted and affected by monster attacks, hero abilities, and Overlord cards that target a hero. Similar to monsters, if they are required to make an attribute test, they automatically fail. Unlike normal familiars, these types of familiars are susceptible to the effects of terrain during their movement and may be affected by conditions. When a familiar is defeated, remove it from the map."

"This familiar is treated as a figure but cannot recover any amount of Wounds. It may perform 1 attack action (Blue, Red) during its activation. Each attack made by this familiar gains: Surge: +1 Wound"

Oozi said:

Why would you house rule something that would make the Necromancer so weak as to make it unplayable?

Our group's Necromancer hasn't learned Fury of Undeath because he thought (and we agreed) it was too weak. First, you can't just always play with your Reanimate and leave the Necromancer himself doing nothing - you are not going to win quests like that. Second, our Necromancer has the Immolation Rune that deals more damage than the Reanimate. Why would you attack a second time with your Reanimate if you are dealing more damage yourself (at the cost of no fatigue instead of 1 on top of that)?

It might be worth it for a while after learning Vampiric Blood… But as soon as the Necromancer puts his hands on an Act II weapon, the Reanimate falls behind in terms of damage dealing again.