Apprentice

Story
A man, not frail but fit, stands before a foreboding cave carved from rock and stone. Bone and boulders are strewn all around the entrance, burnt flesh and the howl of an unnatural wind belie the beautiful day, bright sun hanging in blue sky. His dark countenance would make the very rocks flee if they weren’t anchored by ancient promises. “Usurpers!” His voice crackles with power, splitting the crisp, clean air, echoing through the cave and into the ears of Iathi who hear the Apprentice’s crystal-clear commands. He continues, “I hold thee in disdain for you have encroached on that which is mine. I call you forth to face judgment, your fate chosen by the cosmos before time immemorial. I call thee craven. Now crawl to me!” And so the elementals come. Not willing are they driven from the depths, somehow sure of a secret knowledge that this will be the last time they pass that way. So stand they, towering over their tormentor. Unable to extricate themselves from his control, they wait. They are ancient beings beyond the imagination of most, yet the one before them is more than a man, something greater, a strange mystery they needed to see. The wait is not long. The roar of thunder from an open sky, rolling with fury, signals the beginning. The chorus of doom is suddenly split by the soul-splintering screech of Elementals, their anima returning. Not too late, this earliest of evil finds their fight. They will not fade or falter, but fight fiercely, hoping for Fate’s fortune. Foolishness. The Apprentice raises one hand and the craven are cast into chaos. All at once, lightning arches from his fingers, crashing into the nearest creature, directed to his neighbor, then another. Only mist remains, Iathi sundered, scattered like dust amid the wind. For the Apprentice is an avatar of an older power, a conduit of creation channeling the power of a thousand suns. Power immeasurable. White light radiates from his eyes; he need only reach out to break the world...so he does. Geysers of earth erupt beneath those remaining, flinging the fell-creatures from his sight, soaring off the mountain to dreadful destiny. The rest, those elementals that remain, are lost in rivers of molten rock, flowing through a rift in the earth, turning flesh and bone to liquid. Finally, the Apprentice’s power abates. Stoic, he stands, the power in his eyes still smoldering. Surveying the devastation, satisfied, he vanishes.

Playing the Apprentice
The economy of the Apprentice is easily manipulated, but can quickly get out of hand. The Apprentice often has a wealth of Actions that directly shape Darkness encounters. However, the Apprentice can easily take himself out of the action by not minding his Threat, or worse, drawing too much attention to himself and dying. A master of area-of-effect damage, spells like Chain Lightning, Arcane Nova, and Molten Flare are extremely valuable. On the other hand, the Apprentice has so many damaging options he doesn’t have to worry about what card he is keeping for later. Understanding how the Apprentice’s Ongoing spells work is vital to smart play. There are a few very important Ongoing effects that all players should know about. Breath of Heroes is vital to the party when dealing with Captain or Boss Monsters with a Fear effect. The capacity for all Heroes to pass Courage checks is priceless. Arcane Shield is the Apprentice’s main form of defense. Most of the larger Vitality armor will go to front-line defenders, being able to nullify the first blood of damage is often the difference between life and death. Used in conjunction with Meditate, the Apprentice can easily stay alive in the most dire circumstance without being a burden on the Acolyte’s healing.

Focus

The Apprentice uses Focus items to power his spells. Focus provide extra Hit Dice and often a bonus power. Focus items have the Focus icon in the lower-left portion of the item picture.

Ongoing Cards

Ongoing abilities are placed into the Apprentice’s Action Spaces and stay in place over multiple Hero Cycles. Ongoing abilities enhance the Apprentice with protection and attack buffs. They power his abilities and limit his capacity to mitigate Threat at the same time. Ongoing spells stay in play until removed by the Apprentice or consumed by other spells. The Apprentice’s ability to deal multiple-target damage is rivaled by none. Many of the Apprentice’s most damaging AoE spells are extended to other targets by consuming Ongoing effects. When an Ongoing spell is consumed to power another ability, the Ongoing card does not benefit the Apprentice afterward but does provide the Apprentice with bonuses for that attack. Ongoing cards in Action Spaces are not removed until the Hero Deck Phase and do not count as “open spaces” when calculating Threat reduction. Conversely, players can remove any Ongoing effect during the Hero Deck Phase to reduce Threat.

Arcana Cards

Any card labeled Arcane does non-elemental, magic damage. The importance of the label is in the Apprentice’s specialty gear and his own buffs, particularly Reservoir Of The Ancients, which provide large bonuses to Arcane attacks

Elemental cards

There are no cards with the “Elemental” moniker. Elemental refers to those spells labeled as one of the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These become more important as the Apprentice moves from Novice to Journeyman.