About Descent: Skirmish in the Dark

What is this, why is it here, and what can you do with it?

Descent: Skirmish in the Dark is a fan variant of Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition (D2e). This variant is based on the skirmish variant of Star Wars: Imperial Assault (IA), a game with mechanics spun directly out of D2e. This relationship helps explain the rationale behind this website’s creation.

Since the release of IA in 2014, fans of D2e have desired a skirmish variant. However, after 5 years and no hint of a publisher variant in the pipeline, the creator of this site decided to create this variant at the request of a friend.

A deep dive into this variant will reveal that it is, more or less, IA in Terrinoth. Web apps have been created to replace some of the mechanics driven by print content in IA. Among the more helpful tools you will find are:

  • A force building tool, allowing you to rapidly build a 40 point skirmish force to field against opponents. Forces may be printed or saved as a PDF for personal archiving.
  • A skirmish mission generator to randomly choose a mission for you and your opponent, complete with setup guidance, rules and maps.
  • A card search tool allowing you to search for (almost) any card in D2e - a critical tool for rapidly looking up skirmish specific rulings on otherwise confusing card conversions.
  • A complete guidebook to the skirmish variant, including important concepts like “WAI” and small mechanic augments like stumble.

These are the big offerings, but beyond this you will find a rich assortment of content that maintains the foundational mechanics of D2e while still providing a relatively seamless skirmish experience. An overarching goal of this website is to allow you to build your creations as quickly as possible and get to the tabletop. May this bring you and your friends hours and hours of enjoyment.