To win Tomb Raiders Gone Rogue the scenario rules say we must defeat the villain Velriana Hypaxes. In Wrath, scenario rules of this kind would specify "corner and defeat". I assume this was specified since there was some confusion in past APs as to whether scenario rules that stated "defeat villain x to win the scenario" required us to corner the villain as per the game's standard rules. Tomb Raiders doesn't specify "corner and defeat". So I'm caught between assuming the scenario is cutting us a break by not requiring this one villain to be cornered in the normal manner, or the "defeat" instruction here implies "corner and defeat" since that's the normal method.
Rules-wise, there is no implication that you have to corner the villain. If it just says defeat, then all you have to do is defeat them, it doesn't matter if they escape or not.
Whether that is intended or not, that I can not say. I will point out two things that make me think the cornering is NOT intened:
1. You don't get to put the villain in until you defeat a particular henchman. That means you have to track that particular henchman down. That could take a lot of exploring and therefore a lot of turns. Granted, it could also happen on the first turn, but the potential is there that the henchman you need is the 80th card you encounter in a 6 character group.
2. You kind of don't want to get the villain too early, since the henchmen give you a great reward if you can defeat them without overkill. If I found where the Scorched Hand was through scouting, I think I'd leave it and go try to loot and plunder, especially with how traders work. So, some of the challenge here is figuring out how greedy you are willing to get.
That is my thought anyway.
Thanks Hawkmoon. I was also leaning towards defeat without cornering, since there is a lot going on here already with henchmen that make closing locations difficult (although profitable) and, as you say, a villain that makes a late entrance. I'll stick with that unless I learn otherwise.
