Wizards talks at last about the latest Dungeons & Dragons boardgame by GF9.

via dragonmag.com

Designer Peter Lee says “It’s good to be bad in the latest D&D board game, a deck building adventure in which you vie for control of the Underdark”

Game Basics

Tyrants of the Underdark pits 2 to 4 players against each other to take over territory in the tumultuous Underdark, mashing up deck-building mechanics with board control.

You take control of one of the houses of the drow under the Sword Coast. It draws from many story seasons including Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse and Rage of Demons.

It is a territory control game with a deck-building elements. You start with basic drow minions which provide the game’s two resources – influence (which is used to gain cards) and power (which is used to manipulate the board).

Minion Cards:

Are broken down into 5 classes with the following specialities:

Conquest – deploying troops and fighting other neutral troops

Malice – assassinating other player’s troops

Guile – spies which increase influence

Ambition – recruit new minions

Obedience – the default minions you receive at the start of play

Decks:

Players create 80 card decks, out of 40 card half-decks chosen from:

Drow, Dragons, Elemental Evil, Demons categories each with a divergent playstyle.

Victory Conditions:

The game is scored via victory points for things including:

controlling sites

assassinating enemies

recruiting minions

promoting minions

Tyrants of the Underdark $69.99

Designed by Peter Lee and Rodney Thompson, creators of Lords of Waterdeep, and produced by Gale Force Nine, Tyrants of the Underdark is a competitive board game in which you play as a drow house recruiting monsters, cultists and demons to aid you in controlling locations such as Menzoberranzan and Blingdenstone. Using power and influence as resources, Tyrants of the Underdark features multiple strategies you can use in crafting your deck of minions. Be the spymaster infiltrating your enemy’s strongholds or the deadly war-leader concentrating on assassinating enemy troops. No matter how you decide to play, whoever controls most of the Underdark at the end of the game wins, unless there’s some hidden strategy in play.

Release Date: Spring 2016