The Monsters, Traps, and Ailments

Now let’s take a peak at the assorted forces of Chaos: the Monsters, Traps, and Ailments at Zargon’s disposal.

—–THE MONSTERS—–

All Heroes love slaughtering Fimir, Mummies, and Gargoyles, but after eighteen months of the same old monsters (and the occasional new one–I’m looking at you, Polar Warbear), I wanted to fill these never-before-trodden dungeons with a host of brand new baddies. By now, you realize the caliber of Heroes I am up against, so it will come as no surprise to you that these Monsters dole out damage in dastardly, underhanded ways. I mean, Kronüs has ten body points, Brick twelve; I can’t just throw attack dice at them. The plan, then, is to whittle them down with poison and disease, entrap them in binding webs, and then bash them to death. The symbols on the cards will correspond with the map layouts when the time comes. Without further delay…

SKAVEN: The Skaven are not only bringers of plague (explained below), but powerful in numbers, gaining a defense die from every other adjacent Skaven (the “Legionnaire” perk). Orange dice also help balance some incredibly punishing attack rolls with some fruitless ones. They are made even more imposing by the presence of Plague Rats. Below are a couple of the miniatures I am using; these are from Warhammer Quest and are easily procured online. My guess is that hardcore HeroQuesters might already have access to a slew of these:

PLAGUE RAT: Plague Rats by themselves are easily exterminated, but get a few of them in a room together and watch out. They, like their more fully evolved Skaven brethren, both bring disease and band together by way of the “Swarming” perk. Two of them, for instance, can inhabit a single square, and as many as eight of them (!!!) could potentially attack the same Hero at once, combining their dice into a single, outrageously deadly attack. These rats can also join forces with Skaven, adding an attack die and body point each at the expense of their own actions. The “Slippery” perk allows them to move through spaces inhabited by both Heroes and furniture; they can even come to rest on the furniture itself! These miniatures also derive from Warhammer Quest.

FLYING FOX: It’s a bat, I get it, but my inner Morcar wanted to go with the obscurely British moniker instead. The Flying Fox is not only poisonous, but so swift in its attacks that a targeted Hero can choose to defend only one of its two. Because it is “Airborne,” it does not move in the traditional sense, and can instead fly to and inhabit any empty space in the same room or corridor. The “Small” perk means that it need only roll a single black shield in defense to avoid any and all damage. Again, Warhammer Quest.

WIDOW: The Widow is probably the most harmless of Muroidea’s Monsters–the Goblin-equivalent of the bunch. Still, it is poisonous, and moves not only through Heroes and furniture, but because it is “Small” and “Slippery,” can inhabit both walls and Heroes themselves. Props once again to Warhammer Quest.

GIANT RECLUSE: Like the Flying Fox, only one of the poisonous Giant Recluse’s two attacks can be blocked. Unlike the Flying Fox, however, its second attack is a special Web-Attack, entrapping those Heroes who are unable to successfully defend it. This second attack is ranged, as well. These are Dungeons & Dragons sculpts, I believe, in cheap abundance on places like eBay.

BEASTMAN: The Beastmen are the first Monsters I attribute to Zargon’s presence in Muroidea, brought in by the Evil Wizard to help guard the newly built labyrinths. Like the Skaven, they are sturdy defenders in numbers. I purchased these on eBay, pre-painted and flocked. They derive from the Battlemasters boardgame, another favorite among HeroQuesters (thanks to knightkrawler @ the Ye Olde Inn forum for the info!).

MINOTAUR: The Minotaur will frequently be seen at the hearts of these labyrinthine dungeons, flocked by other denizens of Chaos and wielding a big club. While the expansion’s other Monsters will have to claim body points through sneaky means, this sonuvabitch will not. Not only are his six attack dice formidable, but any landed blows will trigger the “Knockback” effect. Here is the official “Knockback” explanation: “When a target completely blocks two or more skulls, it is knocked backwards one space for each skull after one. If a piece of furniture or a wall impedes this progress, the Hero should lose a body point. Otherwise, the target should roll a d6 for each skull landed: 1-5) No extra damage. 6-10) Concussed; lose a mind point. 11-14) Concussed + Broken arm; lose use of shields and two-handed weapons 15) Concussed, Broken arm + Broken leg; subtract one die from all rolls.” His “Grab” perk is similarly deadly: “Monster can grab an enemy on a roll of Zargon’s shield with one of its normal attack dice; if successful, the target is reduced the to its original defense dice. Monster can maintain its grasp at the cost of two of its own defense dice. As such, the grabbed enemy loses its turn.” What’s more, this ability does not cost an action, meaning the Minotaur could potentially attack a Hero on the same turn he has grabbed him, reducing, say, the Barbarian to two paltry white defense dice. He is slow and takes up two spaces, sure, but those are the only knocks against this guy. The Minotaur I am using come from Warhammer Quest, where they usually signal “game over.”

DOOMGUARD: These are simply leveled Chaos Warriors. These exist under the same name throughout the HeroQuest canon, often flanking named level-bosses like the Witch Lord. Other denizens of Chaos in the same room or corridor as these legendary members of the Doomguard will be able to re-roll one die per attack. Original HeroQuest miniatures for these guys, as intimidating as when I first saw them in “The Trial” almost twenty-five years ago.

DWARF TINKER: Employed by Zargon and Daedalus (the expansion’s main boss) to assist in the construction of the labyrinths, the Tinkers will wield a host of Chaos Spells, and most frequently those targeting the mind: Command, Cloud of Chaos, and Fear. Other denizens of Chaos in the same room or corridor as the clever Tinkers will be able to re-roll one die per defense. Another eBay score, originally Warhammer sculpts (knightkrawler!). Each sculpt will come to represent a specific kind of Spellcaster if the Heroes pay close attention.

(I’ll cover unique Monsters, by the way, as we come to them in the play-through)

—–THE TRAPS—–

Many of the game’s original traps will be well represented in Muroidea, Pit Traps, Swinging Blade Traps, and Firestorm Traps, in particular. But a new land calls for new traps, of which there are three.

Shooting Web Trap: The Hero to trip the trap becomes webbed. This trap can be detected and disarmed as normal.

Spider Web Trap: The Hero to trip the trap is attacked by a Widow without chance of defense. The trap can be searched for but not disarmed. If a Hero wishes to move into a square occupied by a disclosed Spider Web trap, he must roll a die. On a 4-6, the web is empty. On a 1-3, that number of Widows attacks. These attacks can be defended as usual. A Spider Web Trap can co-exist with a Monster in a single space.

Bottomless Shaft: The Hero to trip the trap falls to the bottom of a deep and cavernous pit, suffering at least one body point of damage and one more for every piece of metal armor he is wearing. The Hero must spend five turns to exit the trap. He can only be targeted by flying creatures, ranged attacks, or magic during this time. Once sprung, a Hero can walk around the lip of the pit in one of two ways: one, at the cost of one movement action per square; or two, by rolling one movement die and traversing that many squares; however, on a roll of 4 or higher, the Hero falls down that many rungs into the pit, losing a body point on a roll of 5 and losing a body point plus armor damage on a 6. This trap cannot be jumped.

—–THE AILMENTS—–

Plagued: After an infected monster’s successful attack, the targeted Hero rolls a die; he is infected on a roll greater than or equal to his current number of body points. A Hero infected by the plague suffers a two-point deduction to his movement, attack and defend dice, and to his body and mind points. A Hero can be plagued only once per quest. Skaven are immune to this effect, which can be cured by Essence of Fungus and Healing Spells. Healing Spells used in such a fashion do not also restore body points.

Poisoned: After a poisonous monster’s successful attack, the targeted Hero rolls a die; he is poisoned on a roll less than or equal to the number of damage just inflicted by that poisonous creature. If poisoned, he shall lose one body point at start of next turn. He must then roll again to see if the poison has left his system. A Hero can be poisoned by more than one monster but will always roll a single die for his subsequent poison checks. Elves are immune to this effect, which can be cured by Anti-Venom and Healing Spells. Healing Spells used in such a fashion do not also restore body points.

Webbed: A webbed Hero cannot move or attack and defends with only two dice. A webbed Hero must spend a turn to remove a webbed token; an adjacent Hero can also spend his action in freeing a webbed ally. Ogres are immune to single webbing. Heroes can be webbed multiple times.

I hope it all makes for new and challenging adventures for the Questing Party. It will certainly be fun to exchange all the old standbys for these new miniatures.

Mentor’s prologue next time. Until then…