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HeroQuest Remix, a D&D Adventure System Game
Many, many years ago a ten year-old boy wound his way through the labyrinth of Toys’R’Us. Clutched in his hand were the wadded up bills from a recent and very lucrative yard sale: thirty whole dollars! The money felt hot in his hands, burning with an intense desire to be spent on something, anything. After about 5 laps through the store something caught the boy’s attention, something huge. There on the shelf was a box, a board game box, but this was not monopoly, or clue, no this was different. The artwork alone on the front of this board game was blowing the boy’s mind.
It depicted Conan, decked out in his fur underpants, fighting alongside some magic wielding friends against horrific monsters. The Title read “HeroQuest.” Nervously the boy hefted the massive box from the shelf and flipped it over. What he saw on the back of that box changed his life forever. Tiny plastic army men, made to look like the very heroes and monsters depicted on the box were included inside, along with a dungeon, doors, furniture, and all manner of cards and strange dice. The boy’s heart began to sink, there was no way he could afford such an incredible game, but as he raised his eyes to the shelving he clearly read “$24.95” and a great excited breath was released.
The rest, as they say, is history. 14 quests, 2 expansion packs, and a boatload of custom adventures later the boy grew up to become a dungeon master of fairly adequate renown. He spent the next 2 decades playing games and building games of all types. When he had a boy of his own, he dusted off his old copy of HeroQuest and shared the excitement and adventure with the next generation, and it was good.
On a whim I picked up a copy of Legend of Drizzt, and was very quickly blown away by the fast game play, and the complete lack of a dungeon master. It didn’t take long for my son, now a teenager, and me to start converting the first 14 quests of HeroQuest over to the D&D adventure system. It wasn’t something we thought about doing, it was something that had to be done.
Background
I only recently found and joined this community and inspired heavily by Solomani's Firestorm Peak campaign, (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/solomani)I started my own campaign of a revised and slightly remixed HeroQuest. I’m looking forward to sharing the process and the campaign here in this thread.
First off, many of the monsters I will be using are snatched right from these forums, a big thank you again to Solomani http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/solomani and to chromaticdragon http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/chromaticdragon as well as anyone else I forget to credit. I plan to create several monsters myself as well, and in order to scale difficulty with level gain I will create enhanced versions of the lower level monsters to keep pace with the party. I don’t want to speed of play to diminish with level ups as a result of too many monsters on the board at once, preferring smaller groups of more powerful/interesting foes. It is also a design goal to create unique game play effects for a few of the 14 quests.
The Heroes:
Originally HeroQuest only had 4 heroes: Barbarian, Elf, Dwarf, and Wizard. But we formed a group of five heroes and selected characters from all three board games and from the forums. My son loves Aegis, Warforged Paladin, created by Brian Grell. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/813142/dungeons-dragons-c... In fact we all love this character because of his insta-tank skill.
Our final party roster looks like this, with some RP conversion notes for HeroQuest (AKA warhammer setting):
Dragonborn Wizard (Heksan), an intelligent Saurus, working for the Empire.
http://warhammeronline.wikia.com/wiki/Saurus
Warforged Paladin (Aegis), the spirit of a dead knight trapped in the body of a dwarven war golem.
Dwarven Fighter (Vistra), female dwarves are discouraged from being warriors or adventurers, she left the dwarven kingdom to serve the Empire.
[url] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_(Warhammer)[/url]
Human Archer (Catti Brie), reformed thief, turned Imperial Scout, selected for special reconnaissance training
Drow Ranger (Drizzt), an exiled Druchii Ranger, his high ideals and moral code forced him from his homeland, through persistent heroic deeds he hopes to earn the trust and acceptance of the Empire.
[url] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Elves_(Warhammer)[/url]
Made Some “Blank” character sheets for everyone, that way we can just level them up as we go.
House Rules:
1. Players choose 1 character and use it the entire course of the campaign. Only in death can they pick another character.
2. New characters start at level 1 with no treasure items.
3. When a monster is defeated the character draws 1 “blessing” card from a deck containing the blessings and fortunes, and rolls once for treasure. Only done once per character per turn regardless of how many monsters were defeated.
4. Characters start with 2 Healing Surges per adventure. If they use 2 surges and are still defeated they retreat back to town and permanently lose 1 healing surge for the remainder of the campaign. Loss of the last surge means they have failed in their mission to defeat the forces of chaos.
5. Permanent death occurs when both surges are used and no healing is applied to a downed character.
6. Three items are drawn from the deck in between quests these items can be purchased with party gold in between adventures.
7. Two event cards are drawn in-between adventures to represent inter-adventure activities and events. [url] http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/64402/ninjadorgs-dd-advent... [/url]
8. Small creatures, oozes, and serpentine shaped creatures are not affected by cramped passageways and tiles.
9. When disengaging from a monster or villain if the character ends their move not adjacent to the monster, the monster gets a free attack. Engaged means the character is adjacent to any monster on the board.
10. If more than one character is engaging a monster both characters get a +1 flanking bonus to hit. This bonus applies to monsters as well.
11. Using standard level up benefits: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0swR_EZ3AV8/TsEqdNIqWKI/AAAAAAAAA5...
12. Monsters should be played as intelligently and logically as possible. For example fire elementals are not affected by fire attacks but take +1 damage from water attacks. Water elementals ignore environmental effects due to size (like the narrow passageway) etc.
13. Line of Sight is enforced.
14. Each player rolls for their own character whenever a trap, hazard or other event is drawn that affects them. This represents the idea of reflex save and such (which is abstracted in AC).
15. Area of Effect attacks vs. monsters are rolled individually – so one attack role per monster.
16. Trap related abilities work on locked doors and chests.
17. Heroes and monsters always miss on a natural 1.
18. monsters can crit on a natural 20 gaining a damage bonus equal to half their level rounded up.
One of the players is leaving for boot camp in less than a month, so the desire is definitely there to finish all 14 quests before then, but it's doubtful whether or not the schedules of 5 doods can be that forgiving...
Instead of treasure tokens we use Treasure Rolls. This is the table we use:
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Quest One: The Trial – HQ Remix
Quest 1: The Trial
The Heroes have been training for the last few years under the retired general Sir Ragnar. When word began to spread that the Orcs of the Black Mountain had sworn allegiance to the forces of chaos and begun raising an army to destroy the lands of the Empire, you few were selected to be the Empire’s secret weapon in the war efforts. In the solitude of his private study, you share a rare moment of respite from your arduous training schedule. The room is simple and Spartan, but the chairs are comfortable and a warm fire burns in the hearth. Sir Ragnar seems restless, his old eyes, hard grey steel, stare intently into the fire. You wait patiently as he gathers his words sensing that whatever he is about to say is of great importance. He runs his hand down the length of the massive scar that lines his face, strokes his well-trimmed beard, and replaces his hand on the arm of his chair.
In a gravelly voice, but one not in any way weakened by age he begins to speak, “The Empress believes that you are finally ready, that, or the war efforts have become desperate enough to send you out into the field.” He clears his throat, “Let’s hope that you are. The demon Verag has managed to lead a small contingent of Greenskins past our border patrols and has been staging midnight raids against the borderland communities. Several have already been destroyed. The Empire’s rangers have tracked the demon back to its makeshift lair, an old catacomb known as Felmar’s Tomb, though they dare not go inside. This is a task for more cunning and powerful heroes,” He pauses, looking at each of you in turn, “You, in other words. Make your way into the Tomb of Felmar, find the demon Verag and end his vile existence. This is no easy task; in fact, this may well be the end for you. This will serve as your final Trial, when this task is complete, your training will be at its end.”
Upon Placing Verag he addresses the party:
In a deep voice, a voice that sounds like a boiling roar coming from the depth of some dark abandoned well Verag calmly begins speaking to the party, his words, delivered with a soothing intent, cannot mask the hunger and contempt laying just beneath the surface. “Ah yes… Ragnar’s pets. When I first heard of you, I will admit, I was unimpressed…” He pauses here, cocking his head thoughtfully. Smiling, his mouth rows and rows of dagger sharp fangs and tusks he continues, “But look at you now… off on your own, to bravely vanquish the big bad monster. But I see this story playing out a little differently… I see a few underfed ducklings wandering right onto my plate.”
Upon Verag’s Defeat:
Verag begins to burn away from the inside, his mortal form tearing away to ash. As he burns and crumbles before you he whispers in a haunting echo, “No matter, time is a wheel, and it is always turning, the black will overcome the white again as it did in the days of old. Even now the darkness rattles the weakening bars of hell… We will meet again Heroes, have no doubts….”
Quest 1 Set Up:
Victory: the defeat of Verag the demon.
Set aside: Mummy card, Healing Potion, Ertu villain card, spider Glyph Tile, Broken Door tile, Throne Room tile.
Shuffle the spider glyph into the first 6 tiles of the tile deck, add 2 more tiles, then shuffle broken door into the next 4 tiles of the tile deck.
Villain: We used Ertu the balor as the villain for this adventure, though I scaled his health down to 8. (Which ended up being a mistake, he got owned in less than 3 rounds.)
When the Spider Glyph is drawn, place a monster as normal, but also place the mummy card. Defeating this Mummy will reward that hero with the Healing Potion item card, in addition to the standard treasure roll.
When the Broken door is revealed, place the Throne Room tile, cap all unexplored edges with chamber tiles, draw three monsters and place them in the Throne Room and Broken Door tile. Place Verag on the throne. Defeating Verag awards a random treasure item.
Monster Deck:
This monster deck contains a sampling on both orc and goblin based foes and minor undead. Most of the monsters are 2xp or less in power with some 3xp monsters tossed in for good measure, but the variety of monsters and abundance of ranged attackers should provide some challenge.
Quest 1 Gameplay:
The party spanked this adventure pretty hard. Outstanding rolls for the players, bad rolls for monsters, and a strong party roster definitely helped things out. Plenty of 20’s for the heroes resulted in 3 out of 5 characters leveling up by the end of the adventure. The party did break a sweat when the mummy appeared due to its ability to permanently remove hp, but poor rolls and strong offense won the day. The boss, despite having 3 allies and the Magma Walls environment card (hero ending turn next to wall takes 1 damage) working in his favor still failed to deliver any real threat. The party was too beefed up from the lucky leveling, and rolls too good for him to be a threat. Despite the lack of challenge, it was still a great first session.
If I could do it again I would have beefed Verak’s hp up to the normal 12, and added some xp 4 monsters to the deck.
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Tristan Hall
England
Manchester
Google 'NinjaDorg Fantasy Quest'
Google 'NinjaDorg Fantasy Quest'
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Good stuff! I'd like to see monster cards for the HeroQuest monsters too. Get some more use out of them after all these years...
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Monster Cards
NinjaDorg, big fan, I almost picked your bard for my character, but I went with archer instead. Here a some of the cards I made myself.
Bone Golem
Beefy and slow heavy hitter that spawns more monsters as it nears death.
Chaos Warrior
The lowest ranking Chaos Knight, meant to be like a mid boss, i remember whenever these got revealed everyone got a little more focused on the game.
Chaos Zealot
Best friends forever with the chaos warrior, a completely insane support unit
Cold One
Insane Raptor Mounts used by Dark Elves
Death Knight
Reskinned boss monster from BGG forums. Elites of the Witch King's Army
Dark Elven Witch
Causes chaos on the battlefield for both the heroes and the monsters
Fimir
I made these guys pretty diesel because they scared the crap out of me as a kid
Gargoyle
I based this one off the ravenloft one, but added the stone form ability to beef it up a bit.
Goblin Grenadier
MtG need I say more
Goblin Sneak
An annoying lurker, similar to the gargoyle
Hellhound
if wolves are no longer doing it for you
Hellfire Imp
A nasty regenerating artillery unit.
Hexblade
A mini boss monster that thrives on unluck
Orc Blood Shaman
A nice support monster for orc centric dungeons
Orc Blood Shield
Meant to beef up and protect fellow monsters
Orc Huntress
Awesome in a beast centric dungeon. inspired by WoW
Skeletal Reaper
I mix these in with the skeletal archers from descent
Winged Demon
A better use for the heroquest gargoyle mini
Zombie
Made this before reading the ravenloft version, decided to use this one
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Tristan Hall
England
Manchester
Google 'NinjaDorg Fantasy Quest'
Google 'NinjaDorg Fantasy Quest'
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Haha, cool! The Fimir are terrifying. Although those Goblin Grenadiers could clear a dungeon of heroes in one blast...
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Michael Mifsud
Hong-Kong
Caribbean Coast, Tung Chung
Lantau Island, N.T.
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Though I am not that familiar with HeroQuest (I am a D&D snob :) I heartily endorse your campaiging!
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Tommy Garza
United States
Kentucky
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YESSSSS!!!!
I had been waiting for someone to do this, I would have loved to but have way too many things on my plate. But this is awesome! So keeping an eye on this and keep up the good work moonstone!
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James Hartman
United States
Indiana
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Thank you, thank you, thanks you!
I have been waiting for someone to do a re-theme of the D&D boardgames for Heroquest. I have loved Heroqest since it was released. I look forward to seeing more of your adaption.
I really like the Firmir custom, using a troll body and Kroot beast head is brilliant, I shall steal this idea for myself...
Please accept some geek gold and dress up your profile.
-Jim
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Quest 2: The Rescue of Sir Ragnar
Quest 2: The Rescue of Sir Ragnar
Still nursing the wounds you suffered in Felrag’s Tomb you arrive back at the country estate of Sir Ragnar to discover it a burnt out ruin. The charred remains of both servants and guards lay strewn about the grounds and wreckage; many of them in pieces. The sickening charred smell of flesh hangs heavy in the night air. On guard you begin to survey the destruction. It is the telltale work of orcs; you find the tracks of dire wolves and the discarded barbed arrows of the Black Mountain tribes.
As you begin to abandon hope of survivors, or answers, you hear a feeble cough from beneath the ruins of the stable. There, his body ruined and trapped beneath a fallen timber, is Thomas the Stable boy. His eyes, now blind from the heat and smoke search aimlessly about, but he hears your approach and cries out, “Death! Death to the minions of Chaos! Long live the Empire!” His courage, so close to death, moves even the hardened hearts of you brave heroes. His wounds are beyond any healing, but in his final moments he recounts what happened.
While you were away battling the demon Verag, the orc warlord Ulag and his son, Grak the Warlock attacked the Manor with a full force of Orcs, Greenskins, and Chaos Knights. The sheer number of their forces, as well as the element of surprise led to a swift and gruesome defeat. Before succumbing to his wounds and the smoke Thomas witness Sir Ragnar being carried away bound in chains of dark iron, towards the nearby foothills of the Black Mountains…
If Sir Ragnar lives:
As you ride north and west towards the nearest settlement Sir Ragnar, who until now has spoken no words, begins to speak, “It was not me they were after my students, but you. It was on no mere whim that I sought the five of you out and trained you for battle against the rising tide of chaos. It was fate. Destiny you could call it. Soon, an ancient evil will once again arise, and seek to take back the world which was once its plaything." As he speaks these words the night seems to grow darker, and the winds grow colder. A grim smile begins to light his darkened face, “Let us end this, we regroup and head out for the Black Scabbard. We have to return Ulag’s hospitality.”
*Sir Ragnar will accompany the heroes on their next mission
If Sir Ragnar dies:
As Sir Ragnar lies dying in your arms, he chokes out these final words through lungs full of blood, “You… are the only ones who can stop the coming darkness… Avenge my death, Destroy Ulag and his foul half demon son, and discover the truth of your destinies…”
*Players receive the item Sir Ragnar’s Memory
Quest 2 setup:
Victory: find Sir Ragnar, escape the dungeon
Boss: The Warden
Set aside a chaos warrior, the key item, dark chasm tile, large stone tile, alarm event card and tile.
Remove: secret tunnel from boon deck, walls of magma from encounters deck
Shuffle dark chasm with three random tiles, place it 4 tiles deep. This will trigger the large stone tile, which is where Sir Ragnar is chained up.
In this quest each tile should only have 1 edge that can be explored, the player who revealed the room chooses which edge and then seals the remainder, if any, with chamber tiles. This will create a gauntlet of sorts for the heroes to traverse. If a drawn tile would create a dead end, swap it for the tile on the bottom of the tile stack.
Upon revealing the dark Chasm tile, place the large stone tile down. Put Sir Ragnar (prisoner) down on the stone and give the corresponding card to the active player. Place the chaos warrior down in the large stone room. This chaos warrior activates during the villain phase of each player’s turn. Draw monsters once and arrange as needed in the large stone room. Upon defeating the chaos warrior award that player the key. Sir Ragnar does not activate until a hero with the key ends their turn adjacent to him.
Jail Break: As soon as Sir Ragnar activates place the alarm trap in his tile. Count the number of mushroom patches on the board, starting with the player to the left of the active player, draw monsters and place them on a tile, continue in a clockwise order until each revealed tile in the dungeon has had monsters added to them.
The players must now escape to the stairwell, hopefully with Sir Ragnar in tow!
Monster Deck: This deck is Greenskins only
Night Goblins x3
Night Goblin Archers x3
Goblin Night Shaman x1
Goblin Shanker x1
Goblin Captain x1
Goblin Cutter x3
Orc Smasher x3
Orc Archer x3
Black Orc x5
Orc Savage Berserker x2
Wolves x4
Fimir x2
Troll x2
Additional Cards:
Sir Ragnar (thanks fable 3)
Sir Ragnar's Ally card
Sir Ragnar's Memory
I also edited my first post to include our treasure rolls table, which we use instead of treasure tokens.
EDITED: Shorted tile stack by four. during playtesting we were hammered by encounters that extended the dungeon to a hallway 13 tiles in length. Also mentioned removing "walls of magma" from the encounter deck as it spells instant death with this layout.
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Jim- Thanks for the gold! now i can have an avatar pic
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Quest 2 thoughts
First of all, the gauntlet layout changed our entire experience. Usually we explore in a direction, run into something nasty: lava vents, narrow passages, and so on and just turn around. With this dungeon it is a straight shot from start to finish. And that made things pretty tense. Originally I made this dungeon 9-12 in length, not thinking about the return trip to the stairs. Add in 2 extra tiles from encounters and you have the longest mile in dungeon format.
The Fimir is a tough cookie and as luck would have it we drew the only 2 in the deck within 3 turns. We followed that up with the surrounded encounter card, which wasted a lot of time and resources, but was eventually replaced with snipers... for the entire run back to the stairs. Despite some tough monsters and some terrible environment cards, we survived (and so did Sir Ragnar), but barely. no healing surges or healing pots left at the end. Had the dungeon been shorter it would have been just about perfect.
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Quest 3: Lair of the Orc Warlord
Quest 3: Lair of The Orc Warlord
Flavor text:
You have journeyed into the realm of the Black Mountain Orcs seeking revenge on the Orc Warlord Ulag. He maintains a modest underground fortress roughly translated from orcish to mean “The Black Scabbard.” Here Ulag and his most trusted advisors and captains send forth war orders to the lesser tribes of Orcs and Greenskins. The death of Ulag and the destruction of the black scabbard will put a tremendous dent in the war efforts of the enemy forces.
The Red Dwarves, long standing allies of the Empire, and even longer standing enemies of the Orcs, have provided you with several barrels of “Boom Powder” the dangerous and destructive alchemical compound they have recently developed. Go forth; destroy the Warlord Ulag, his captains and his dark stronghold forever.
Upon Revealing Ulag:
Ulag turns his bestial face towards the party his eyes have a cunning and unsettling intelligence about them. He raises his sword in a respectful salute and addresses you.
If Ragnar is present:
“Ragnar, old friend, it seems my hospitality was not to your liking? And here, you complete the difficult task of tracking your little pups down for me, and deliver them right to my chambers.” Ragnar grits his teeth, but his demeanor remains cordial, “The only thing we deliver this day is destruction Ulag, to you and to your dark cause.” Ulag laughs, long and low, “Fools, Even if I die here today, my blackened soul will rise again when the darkness washes over the world of light. Come; face an undying foe, serving an interminable Master.”
If Ragnar is dead:
Ulag laughs long and hard, in fact he laughs so hard tears begin to well up in the corners of his eyes, and laces of drool begin dribbling from the corners of his mouth. “These….. runts…. Are the heroes we have been charged with destroying? These are the whelps that have so frightened the Dark Council? Ah, the young pups are lost without their feeble master… Worry not, I shall reunite you.”
Upon defeat Ulag says:
“Can this really be the end? No… I sense this is only the beginning… of my eternal servitude in hell… My son will carry on my legacy, and Chaos will wash over all that you hold dear. Farewell Heroes.”
If Ragnar died, award players Ragnar’s Memory
If Ragnar lived award them Ragnar’s Memory and Ragnar’rok and read the following:
“Revenge, is a short lived victory, but I fear the years have caught up to me. You must shoulder on without me, my place is at the Empress’s side. Take my sword, may it serve you well in your cause.”
Quest 3 setup:
Set Aside: Broken door, Throne Room, Crystal Shard, both dwarven statues, a Chaos Warrior, an Orc Blood Shield, and Orc Blood Shaman.
Shuffle dwarven statues and crystal shard with 5 random tiles and place on top of the dungeon tile deck. Shuffle broken door with 3 random tiles and place these 8 tiles deep.
If Sir Ragnar survived quest 2, one player may use him as an ally for this adventure. Give them his ally card and the Ragnar'rok ability card.
Give the players 4 boom powder charges.
Boom powder: Placing a boom powder charge takes a move action. On the first turn does nothing. On your second turn flip it over. On your third turn it explodes. Do the following. Deal 3 points of damage to all heroes and monsters on the tile. Move all heroes and monsters one tile in the direction of the arrow. Discard the tile. Cap the unexplored edge that is left with a chamber tile. Any monsters destroyed by a boom powder charge do not provide XP or treasure. Boom powder can be targeted by attacks and hit by area attacks. They explode immediately when reduced to 0 hp. They have an AC of 12 and 2 hp.
*One boom powder will destroy “both” parts of the throne room tile
Trigger: Broken Door. Place the throne room tile adjacent to the broken door. Place Ulag on the Throne, then have the next three heroes place in order the orc blood shield, orc blood shaman, and Chaos warrior into the throne room. Upon defeat Ulag provides a random item card and his black scabbard item.
Victory: defeat Ulag and his 3 captains; Use boom powder to destroy the following tiles: dwarven statues, crystal shard, throne room. These represent the 4 main structural cornerstones of the fortress.
Monster Deck: This is the Orcs’ Major Stronghold, and as such the deck is stacked with some beef
Night Goblins x3
Night Goblin Archers x3
Goblin Grenadier x2
Goblin Shanker x1
Goblin Captain x1
Orc Smasher x3
Orc Archer x3
Black Orc x5
Orc Blood Shields x2
Orc Savage Berserker x2
Wolves x4
Fimir x2
Ogre Pulverizer x1
Troll x2
Ulag Villain Card:
Orc Blood Shield:
Orc Blood Shaman:
Black Scabbard:
Boom Powder:
Sir Ragnar:
Ragnar'Rok:
Sir Ragnar's Memory:
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quest 3 thoughts
So I really wanted to achieve two things with this adventure:
Make sure Ulag was a badass. When I was 10 years old and I read about this “Boss” monster, this ORC WARLORD, I had high hopes, well he was a chump. So this time around I made him pretty intense, and gave him some strong friends to boot.
Secondly, I wanted to blow him up. I see these heroes as like the medieval fantasy version of navy seal black ops agents. How does a team of 5 dudes end a war? They blow up the enemy general and his base of operations, that’s how!
My group actually played this scenario three times.
The first go around, I had made the boom powder charges too big and too lethal. They would destroy adjacent tiles as well and didn’t deal damage, they simply killed everything. Well, like a poorly played game of bomber man our powder was set off by a lava trap which chained all powders together which wiped out everything. I mean everything (dungeon, monsters, heroes…) SO…… we laughed it off and decided the boom powder would only deal 3 damage and heroes and monsters would just wind up “nearby.”
This allowed us to actually make it to Ulag on the second attempt. On this one Ulag was a little too “intense” my 10 year old self had gone nuts and given him 18 ac and 12 hp and super rage mode and and and… Really, the hardest part of the whole second attempt was keeping Ragnar alive, because I apparently scripted him to be kamikaze. Because of the huge blast radius of the boom powder and the closeness of the support targets we were able to triple bomb ulag and friend’s and “won” while all taking a knee waiting for healing.
SO…. We tinkered with things until you got the adventure above, which, we play tested with only 3 heroes (paladin, fighter, archer all level 2, did not use ragnar ally) and found it to be both exciting and passable. I hope whomever is playing along finds these enjoyable, or at least tries their one “Bombing Run” themed adventure.
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Ahhhh, the memories.
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Quest 4: Prince Magnus's Gold
Quest 4: Prince Magnus’ Gold
To celebrate your victory in the Black Mountains the empress and her son, Prince Magnus, have thrown a feast in your honor. However, the festivities soon take a turn towards business, this time of a more financial nature. Prince Magnus quietly addresses the party in a side chamber, away from the bustle of the crowded dining hall. “First and foremost,” he begins, somewhat embarrassed, “I apologize for bringing this to your attention, but I have exhausted all other methods. We may well have seen the end of this long standing war, but war you see is fueled by gold, and right now, gold is somewhat in short supply. The damages to villages, crops, cattle, and trade routes have been significant, and if we have any hope of rebuilding this great empire, we will need funds, and lots of them.”
“My network of scouts and spies has discovered an underground chamber near Shale Lake, high in the Black Mountains. There the orcs store a vast treasury of ill-gotten gold, gold pillaged and plundered from the fair settlements of this Empire! Securing that gold would both fortify our war efforts while simultaneously crippling our enemies’ hope of recovery, but the orcs have the treasure guarded by a menagerie of deadly beasts! And a powerful chaos warrior called Gulthor the Golden.” He eyes the party shrewdly before continuing, “No one doubts your loyalty to the War efforts or the Empire, and I would gladly offer 4000 of the coins retrieved to be taken as payment, to be divided equally amongst your number…” With that gentle encouragement you find yourselves back on the road at dawn, heading into enemy territory once again.
Quest 4 setup:
In this dungeon none of the players roll for treasure upon defeating monsters. Gulthor took it all 
Set Aside: 3 treasure chests, alarm trap, broken door, large stone
Shuffle broken door with 2 other tiles and place them 5 tiles deep in the tile stack.
Trigger: when broken door is revealed, place the large stone tile adjacent. Cap all unexplored edges on the map with chamber tiles. Place the alarm tile down on the large stone, this alarm has a 15+ to disarm instead of 10+, it activates during each villain phase. Place the three treasure chests along the back wall of the chamber. Place Gulthor and the chimera in the room.
Villains: Gulthor the Golden and Chimera. Upon defeat the Chimera drops 1 treasure card and Gulthor allows the player to roll 21 times for treasure.
Victory: return to the staircase with as many treasure chests as possible. If at least 1 treasure chest is retrieved the party receives 4000 gold. For each treasure chest retrieved you may now draw 1 additional treasure available for purchase after each adventure. This reflects the improved economy of the empire.
Treasure Chests: the chests are huge incurring a -4 ac penalty and causing a slow status when carried. The chests may be passed to adjacent heroes as a free action. A hero ending their hero phase on the stairwell has retrieved a treasure chest.
Monster Deck: this deck is stuffed with beasts
Night Goblin Archers x3
Goblin Shanker x2
Orc Huntress x3
Orc Blood Shields x2
Worgs x4
Dire Badger x2
Basilisk x2
Hunting Drakes x3
Trihorn Behemoth x1
Carrion Crawler x1
Rust Monster x1
Cave Bear x3
Snakes x3
Owlbear x1
Wyvern x1
Cold Ones x3
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Thoughts: Thus far this has been the most balanced adventure for our group. Situations arose that played well to everyone’s strengths and allowed each character to really shine. It also helps that we finally have some decent gear working for us. I really feel that the quality of your item cards has the biggest impact on the party’s success. We had a happy side quest this time around thanks to a fate card, where we also had to rescue Cassie the hot villager. The prospect of getting an item had our warforge paladin obsessed with her survival. He tanked any attacks aimed at her, and used xp to cancel any AoE encounter cards that might wipe her out. Miraculously she did survive.
Between Gulthor, the alarm trap, and the orc huntresses, we used all but 3 monsters from the monster deck. At one point there were over a dozen monsters on the board. Female dwarf taunted and tanked Gulthor to end his monster summoning shenanigans, my archer focused on getting the alarm trap disarmed (thieves tools). The wizard spammed AoE and Drizzt handled the Chimera. At one point (I think it was when the triceratops showed up) I thought we were stuck in Jumanji.
Final score: No healing surges left, all treasure chests retrieved, both bosses dead, Cassie survived. All characters now level 3.
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HQ Remix Artifact Cards
So in HeroQuest they had magic items called Artifacts. I think across 14 quests there 10 total. Anyways these are the conversions. Sometimes they will appear out of sequence from the original, almost always they will be much stronger.
Talisman of Lore:
In HQ, this item gave one character a +1 mind point. Mind points made it easier to resists spells. This was.... kind of cool? for the barbarian. In HQ remix i wanted it to play a larger role plot wise and provide some fun options gameplay wise.
Orc's Bane:
This was originally a shortsword that allowed you to attack better against orcs. However you got it so late in the game it really didn't help much. I replaced it with the Ragnar'rok ability for roleplay reasons and so the players could enjoy it's benefits from earlier on... assuming Sir Ragnar survived...
Borin's Armor
This was a game breakingly good item in HQ, especially since you got it very early on. Pretty much you put this armor on and you were invincible.
Still awesome, but not till quest 11.
Spell Ring
Dropped by the Witch King at the very end of heroquest... hope you bought an expansion pack wizard, otherwise have fun reading the card. went ahead and dropped this in quest 9 with an almost exact translation of the original card.
Elixer of Life:
Easily missed in a trapped chest behind a secret door. I made this item an early attained, and renewable resource so i had an excuse to ramp up the difficulty of bosses and monsters
Ring of Return
A nice single use item back in the day. I wanted it to be multi-use since it can definitely pull your party's fat out of the fryer, thus, it burns a healing surge.
Spirit Blade
Wand of Magic
Bracers of Blinding strike for ranged attackers, with some heavier restrictions. still worth every hp sacrificed.
Wizard's Cloak
A multi-use item that either hits hard or doesn't get hit. better than a +1 defense? i think so.
Wizard's Staff
An awesome passive ability that enhances a ranged attacker, way better than the original 2 attack dice wizard staff.
Black Scabbard:
Just an extra item i made because a cool guy like Ulag needed a special drop item. works great against other bosses.
Angel Wing
Aluria's custom item, because she is awesome. thinking about revamping it to be a custom daily attack power.
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Quest 5: Melar’s Maze
Quest 5: Melar’s Maze
It has been several months since your victory against Ulag and the Orcs of the Black Mountains. A tentative peace has settled over the land, and thanks to your efforts at Shale Lake the empire’s economy is slowly recovering from the hardships of war. Everywhere you look you can see signs of prosperity and renewal. But your heroic hearts grow restless and the haunting death cries of your many adversaries, promising a rising tide or darkness and chaos, hang like dark ominous clouds on the horizon of your thoughts. It is a mild summer morning when a royal messenger arrives.
Sir Ragnar sends word that no new reports have come in from scouts nor scryers of Chaos activity. This is no exaggeration, not a single orc, nor imp, has been spotted in months. This complete lack of activity is suspicious, but despite all our best efforts, no new intel can be gained on our enemies’ actions. We believe the forces of chaos to be magically shielding themselves from our spies and divinations. Ranger, rogue, scout; none return with any news. The priests receive no visions from their prayers. And the Imperial high wizard Wardoz and his associates are also unable to provide any information.
But there is a way. Long ago a great sage and diviner named Melar was said to have created an amulet of incredible potency. It is called the Talisman of Lore and with it one can see anything: past, present, and future. Find it and we shall use its powers to discover what the forces of Chaos have been up to. Far south of the Imperial city lay the ruins of a once great city, beneath these ruins lies a labyrinth built by Melar himself shortly before his death. It is said that he sealed within this deadly vault his greatest creation; The Talisman of Lore. But, be careful, Melar’s Maze is a twisting death trap and has become home to a tribe of savage and territorial beastmen, not to mention the undying souls of the damned who haunt the ruins.
Gameplay:
Heroes begin play on the secret stairwell tile
Rotating Tiles: In this adventure all traps are +5 harder to disarm. At the end of your hero phase roll a d20: On a 20, lift your tile and realign it as you choose. On a 1 lift and rotate your tile 180°. Any other odd number, lift and rotate the tile 90° counter-clockwise. Any other even number, lift and rotate 90° clockwise.
Monsters that end a turn without attacking a hero must roll a d20 for tile movement treating a 20 as a 1.
Forced movement: Monsters causing forced movement will always try to push the heroes back towards the stairwell. If no path for forced movement is available the hero remains on the tile and takes 1 point of damage instead.
Goal: Retrieve the Talisman of Lore
Dungeon Tile deck: build this deck using narrow passages, corridors, intersections and hard turns. Try to avoid big open areas and full tiles. Shuffle the laboratory tile in with 4 other tiles and place these 9 tiles deep.
Encounter deck: stuff this one full of trap cards.
Trigger: Laboratory. When this tile is revealed place a treasure chest marker on the desk. Place the Minotaur Lords on the tile. Draw encounter cards until a trap is revealed, place it on the tile. Draw encounter cards again until a trap is revealed, place this trap on the secret stairwell tile. These traps activate during each player’s villain phase.
Chest: the chest contains the talisman of lore. The chest is unmovable and has three locks on it. Each lock is a difficulty 15+ to open. When all three locks are open the heroes may claim the talisman of lore.
Villains: Minotaur Lord x2
Monster Deck: Minotaurs, Undead, Elementals, and Golems
Skeletal Archers x3
Skeletons x3
Wraith x2
Warforged Minion x2
Iron Golem x1
Gargoyle x3
Rust Monster x2
Bone Golem x2
Minotaur x3
Savage Minotaur x3
Minotaur Shaman x2
Hunting Party x2
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Quest 5 Recap:
Originally I designed the goal to be: “Acquire the talisman of lore” but in a moment of complete ineptitude I decided to stick to the heroquest script and have it lying out on a table…
SO… we each got to go 3 times before this adventure was over. 15 turns, how the heck? Well the rotating tiles for this dungeon were designed to really throw any organized play style for a loop. I thought the forced movement, the shifting walls, it would all add up to a separated party with no hope of ever reaching the treasure. Let’s just say, luck was on our side and all of the moons and planets (AKA path to the talisman) were aligned. Fem Dwarf literally picked up the talisman and walked out of the dungeon with it.
To prevent this sort of walk up and grab the talisman insta-win that really stole the thunder from our board game night I added locks to the treasure chest containing the Talisman of Lore and a second minotaur lord, who, everyone agreed was a big giant weenie and needed help.
Everyone agreed that the shifting tiles not only added a nice theme to the dungeon but really changed up the feel of the game and the way we had to play it. I’d like to take this opportunity to say I personally rolled 2 critical hits during my 3 very brief turns. We also killed the minotaur lord just for fun, because we ganked the talisman so quick.
Fem dwarf hit level 4 also. We are going to be multi-classing before we know it.
next up.... Quest 6: :Legacy of the Orc Warlord
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Hi from Germany,
first of all, many thanks for the extra cards (another horde of monsters to enter my vault of terror and violence).
I also work on integrating all other dungeon crawl systems into a special one based on CR-WoA-LoD.
But I pursue a slightly different approach: I am not converting the adventures of different systems into the world of CR-WoA-LoD.
I keep the material etc. as such but transform them for use in all different adventures. For example, I keep the game board of HEROQUEST and have all original adventures take place there but the Dungeon Master is gone and all treasures, monsters, traps etc. now also show up in those dungeons. The same is true the other way, i.e. monsters, spells, treasures from HEROQUEST could now be encountered in a genuine CR adventure.
Regardless of the dungeon crawl realm played, all adventures will be different. If I play Price Magnus' Gold, the outlay of each HEROQUEST dungeon will be different.
The more systems I have incorporated, the more adventures have been adapted, the greater the variety for each single adventure.
So far, I have incorporated 10 DESCENT adventures (forming another realm, but also based on the CR-WoA-LoD game system). Each such adventure now offers a different story to develop and this will becomoe even more "unpredictable" as more and more DESCENT adventures will be added.
Here is an example. The adventure is from the DESCENT realm (note the tiles used). Some adventurers (I have developed a specific type which I call "companions") are also taken from the original DESCENT game system but they now are fully integrated with their parameters into the world of CR-WoA-LoD. Please, note the furniture which comes from the world of HEROQUEST, of course. The treasure counter is genuine WoA stuff, the monster card is one example of the vast source provided by BGG. The Room/Corridor Content card is my own contribution as well as the two ladies in black.
Cheers
U.L.H.
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U.L.H. aka BORG: "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
Uwe, your stuff is mind-boggling and amazing, as usual. 
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Hello to Singapore,
may I ask the Dragon if it would make sense to present some impressions about how DESCENT monsters et al work in an adventure of CR, WoA or LoD?
The use of Exploration markers (a kind of damocles sword always hovering over the team), a new type of treasure chests and the skill markers together with skills might be of some interest ...
Or is the community of CR-WoA-LoD to locked up in their world of three original boxes?
Cheers
U.L.H.
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Quest 6
Quest 6: Legacy of the Orc Warlord
As you stumble forth from Melar’s Maze, a bright dawn begins to break the horizon. Before your eyes have a chance to adjust to the surface light, a massive explosion goes off in your midst. Burning hellfire sears your flesh and withers your very souls. You are each flung far, colliding hard with rocky outcroppings and nearby debris. No sooner have you hit the ground than chains of glowing green iron snake about you like serpents binding you in place of slowly siphoning away your strength. You hear a beautiful female voice lilting on the morning breeze, “Careful now… Master Grak wants them alive… He plans to keep them alive for a very, very long time….”
Time passes, you are unsure just how much. All you know for sure is pain, and darkness. You are aware of your companions, you are aware of breathing, and starving, and dying. You are aware of a beautiful feminine voice, of an angry and vengeful heat. Mostly you are aware of pain. Your torturers ask nothing of you or from you. They just hurt you, again and again.
Eventually however, the party rogue manages to fashion a lock pick from an old rat bone found in your cell, and with the aid of the caster’s magic you pick the mystic lock of your prison and are freed. You find yourselves deep in the bowls of some dungeon and now, you must escape to the surface.
Upon revealing Grak and Aluria:
A beautiful and familiar voice lilts through the air, the source, a radiant winged woman standing in the stairwell bathed in light from the surface, “Children,” she scolds, “Father won’t be happy to find you out of bed.” A sadistic barking laughter comes from the other passage, there you see the spitting image of Ulag the Warlord, though this creature seems to swell with an unholy magic his eyes two burning pits of green fire. “I see you recognize me… you…. Murderers…. You… killers of kings. Death with never be enough for the crime you have committed against my bloodline. Pain, only pain, forever.”
If Grak is defeated:
“No! It can’t end like this… defeated by my own pride and hunger for vengeance. A thousand times I could have ended your lives, but now... you have ended mine. My soul has been sold long ago… I go now willingly into the embrace of Chaos knowing that the others will finish our great task.”
If the party flees without defeating Grak:
“You run from me now, but destiny has our fates intertwined, we will meet again my pets, and the pain will continue forever more…”
*Grak (and Aluria should she survive) will reappear as a second mandatory boss in the Bastion of Chaos adventure
Gameplay:
Rage: all characters gain the ability to, once per turn, take 1 hp of damage to add 1 damage to a successful attack roll. This represents the months of pent up rage from being imprisoned. This is only for this quest.
Objective: each hero must end his or her turn on the stair case on the surface exit tile.
Set aside: WoA vault tile, fountain tile, magical glyph tile, chapel room tile, surface exit tile, a treasure chest, wizard’s cloak item card, Grak villain card, Succubus villain card
Tile stack: Use the CR tiles. Mix the Magical Glyph Tile with 3 others and place them 8 tiles deep. Place the fountain CR tile 3 tiles deep.
Place the heroes on the WoA Vault tile to begin the quest.
Prisoners: The heroes begin this adventure with no items and only 1 at will power and their utility powers. Additionally they have a -4 AC penalty that can only be removed by finding their equipment.
Trigger One: Upon revealing the fountain tile, draw for monsters twice. Now place the treasure chest in the room. The chest can be opened on a 10 or higher, just like disarming a trap. Inside are the heroes’ possessions. Any hero ending their turn adjacent to the chest receives all of their items and ability cards as well as removing the -4 ac penalty from their characters.
Trigger Two: Upon revealing the Magical Glyph place the LoD surface exit, the laboratory tile, and the chapel room tiles adjacent to it. Draw 2 monster cards and place them on the Magical glyph. Now place Grak on the throne, have the player to your right draw 1 monster and place it adjacent to Grak. Place Aluria on the staircase of the Surface exit tile and have the player to your right draw and place a monster adjacent to her as well.
Villains: Grak the Orc Warlock, Aluria the Succubus
Monster Deck: Orcs and Devils
*in this dungeon black orcs spawn 2 orcs instead of one.
Grell x3
Gibbering Mouthers x3
Black Orcs* x3
Orc Blood Shield x3
Drow Wizard x1
Hell Hounds x3
Winged Demon x2
Hellfire Imps x5
Chaos Warrior x1
Fimir x1
Hunting Party x2
Treasures:
For defeating Grak, the Wizard's Cloak:
For defeating Aluria, the Angel Wing:
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Q6: thoughts
This adventure was pretty exciting, though our luck continued to hold and our first few pulls for monsters and encounters were rather tame. My character the archer suffered the most from the equipment loss, because I couldn’t in good conscious take my at-will bow attack. We had a classic D&D moment when the Drow Ranger decided to rush off on his own to open a randomly spawned treasure chest instead of sticking with the party, when all was said and done he had spawned 3 legion devils, a fimir, and an imp as well as a trap tile. It was all in good fun.
The rage mechanic was definitely the saving grace. Even the beefiest monsters couldn’t stand up to the 5 heroes all willing to drain their hp for quick reliable death blows. Things got extremely tense at the end of the dungeon when the 2 bosses and friends spawned, but, through luck and clever use of healing abilities/potions and the Rage mechanic, we were able to defeat both bosses. Literally all five hero limped out of the dungeon with 1 hp each, no healing items left, no surges, no powers, and I believe 3 of us were poisoned and/or burned.
I loved Aluria from the moment I redesigned her to the bittersweet moment she was cut down. An excellent boss monster and when paired with Grak, the two made for a challenging and almost deadly boss fight. I had to give her a villain specific item, thus the possibly OP Angel Wing.
I am behind on posts, as we are playing quest 8 tonight, I will try to catch up on posts this weekend. Quest 7 was voted the best so far, I can’t wait to share it with you guys.
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Brooks, great stuff! What level were the heroes? Aluria seems really powerful with a multi-attack 2 damage every round that cannot heal. If playing without the Rage option, I would think her attack should only cause 1 damage. Also, I think the last sentence in Angel Wing should be reversed? eg substitute "Hero" with "Monster".
Aside to Uwe, your session reports are always welcome. Btw, I do play with each game still in it's own box, albeit stuffed with custom monsters and variant encounter decks. 
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Posted Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:29 pm
