THE SKAVEN NECROMANCER: Praise and Prelude

Our tale begins ingloriously, during an infamous quest entitled, “The Gate of Bellthor,” the midpoint in “The Return of the Witch Lord” expansion pack. Of all the sixty-six quests in the original HeroQuest canon, “The Gate of Bellthor” is unique in that it guarantees absolutely the Heroes’ defeat. Even if the Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf, and Wizard are successful in felling the most imposing of Zargon’s Gargoyles, its death triggers an explosion of poisonous gas, rendering the room’s inhabitants unconscious. This event sets the stage for what is probably the most iconic and memorable moment from “The Return of the Witch Lord,” that moment depicted in glorious color on the cover of the Quest Booklet itself: the Barbarian and Elf in chains amid the Witch Lord’s amassed forces of Chaos (see the featured image above).

With the exception of the Dwarf, our Heroes met exactly this fate when we tackled “The Gate of Bellthor” over a year ago; I can remember their baffled, glowering stares as I described the unavoidable explosion at Quest’s end, as I imparted to them their cruel, collective fate: “I would say that you’ve all been captured by the Witch Lord—only you wouldn’t hear me.” As for that aforementioned Dwarf, he met his fate at the claws of a band of marauding Skaven, interlopers in Bellthor’s dungeon against whom Mentor had warned the Heroes. I had, by this time, been toying with the idea of replacing one of the Heroes with a Skaven character, perhaps even adding a fifth Hero, a Skaven, to the party. For this reason, I had begun adding small clans of Skaven enemies to the quests, foes loyal neither to Zargon nor the Empire, and eager to engage in battle with all comers.

So. By the time we began “The Halls of the Dead” the following week, I’d not only decided to bring back a Dwarf, but to add a fifth Skaven character, over which the Heroes themselves could exert some role-playing force.

As “The Halls of the Dead” exists in its original form, the Dwarf and Wizard start together in a prison cell, the door of which Mentor has just magically opened (in keeping with the theme of unique quests, I believe this marks the only time Mentor ever actively intervenes with the miniatures on the game board). In my altered version, only the Wizard escapes from the small cell. The new Dwarf—like the temporarily enslaved Barbarian and Elf—does not even begin on the board, making the Skaven the only other active Hero at quest’s start.

This Skaven is the Hero that would soon become the Necromancer, Shale.

My altered Quest plays out along dueling plotlines: in one thread, Trakix the Wizard searches for his comrades; in the second, this unnamed Skaven searches, almost unwittingly, for his brother.

Here is the prologue for this second thread:

“You’ve awakened in the middle of the night to find your older brother’s nest empty, his thrall—the skeleton of a beloved ancestor—mindlessly circling a sewer grate in the bottom-most tunnel of your family’s burrow. When you remove the grate, your ancestor’s skeleton suddenly vanishes below, impelling you to follow through a labyrinth of tunnels the likes of which you never would have guessed existed beneath your childhood home. Through darkness you travel, through darkness. Your brother is a crafty mage—and power-hungry. But you are determined to find him, to retrieve, at least, the velveteen cloak willed to him by the same dead ancestor you now pursue. More darkness, hours of it. When this skeleton, helplessly drawn to your brother’s aura, finally makes its way toward a glimmer of daylight, you follow warily, finding yourself face-to-face with a crude rope ladder. “I must retrieve the cloak,” you think once more. You scale the ladder; cautiously you open the trap door.”

Luckily, the Quest played out more or less how I planned: the Wizard finds a dead Skaven in the cell next to him and takes his cloak and daggers to use or sell another day; the new Skaven finds the new Dwarf being tortured, frees him, and joins him. When the Wizard, Skaven, and Dwarf meet up before tackling the dungeon’s central room, the plotlines converge. The new Skaven, recognizing his brother’s ancestral garb in the Wizard’s inventory, finds himself hopelessly drawn to the corpse of his brother and must make a party-altering decision. Here is the flavor text:

“The cloak calls to you. When you don it, you are compelled to the dead body of your brother. When you locate him, you—for the first time—see the tattoos on his wrists glowing. It is as if the cloak brings you—and irresistibly—face to face with the inked runes. Somewhere inside you a voice—your own?—pleas with you to leave the body, leave the cloak; another voice begs you to read the words of the tattoo, speaks to you of power.”

And there’s the decision: speak the words or don’t. That’s all the Heroes have to go on, but basically the choice is between playing a beefy Skaven warrior or a crafty Skaven sorcerer. When this new Skaven’s owner opted to speak the tattoo aloud, he chose the path of the Necromancer:

“As soon as you read the words of the tattoo, all is darkness. The once-cold corpse on the floor of the cell stirs, rises, removes the cloak from its now dead younger brother. You are now the Skaven Necromancer. You may not wear armor or wield weapons beyond slings, staves, and daggers. Your body and mind points reverse. Yours and yours alone are the Spells of Darkness. You begin each quest with your ancestor thrall, an undead Skaven who possesses a Sling, Shortsword, and a Fire of Wrath spell. If he is killed you may summon another thrall to your side from fallen Skeletons or Zombies provided you are at full health. This ancestor thrall is brought back to un-life between quests. You may sacrifice a thrall at the cost of a turn to reclaim the spell, “Arrows of the Night.” You must search for treasure whenever you are able.”

Had the Skaven’s owner resisted the lure of the tattoo, I’d have read this: “You resist the words of the tattoo and throw the cloak from your back. You feel the spirit of the enthralled ancestor enter your very being. You gain a body point.” Only he didn’t. And Shale was born, or reborn as the case may be.

Over the next thirty-six Quests—yes thirty-six, second only to Trakix—Shale evolved into a tremendous Hero, versatile both offensively and defensively. The above spiel gives you a pretty good idea of his starting point. But let’s take a look at the heights he’d attained on the evening of his demise.

After a while, the Heroes began rubbing off of on Shale, and he lost his lust for treasure. His first perk, then, allowed him to search for treasure as normal. Before this, the Heroes were always having to worry about Shale inhabiting a room without monsters, springing a Wandering Monster or Hazard trap at just the wrong time. Next, Shale was able to learn the Chaos Sorcerer Spells—Mind Lock, Dominate, and Mind Blast—as a reward for completing the “Against the Ogre Horde” expansion pack; followed by the Spells of Detection—Clairvoyance, Future Sight, and Treasure Horde—for “The Wizards of Morcar” expansion. As his successes continued to stockpile, Shale gained the Voldemort-like ability of reanimating in the body of his current thrall but at a quest-long reduction of one body point; he could, therefore, potentially reanimate three times in such a fashion. Soon he was not only wielding the Spirit Blade and the Bone Wand, but raising fallen Orcs as well as Skeletons and Zombies to join him in battle—one at a time, of course. His final perk was not for him but for this starting Thrall, who received a one-point bump across the board in addition to a full complement of Fire Spells.

His Possessions: Spirit Blade, Bone Wand,

His Spells: Cloak of Shadows, Chains of Darkness, Arrows of the Night (Darkness) / Future Sight, Clairvoyance, Treasure Horde (Detection) / Mind Lock, Dominate, Mind Blast (Chaos Sorcerer Tokens)

His Perks: Arcane Sight, Necromancer

In Review: Honestly, Shale was my favorite Hero. When I dealt him his deathblow, I was actually stunned that he hadn’t stashed a thrall somewhere to reanimate. At the end of that quest pack—“The Mage of the Mirror”—I worked in a wrinkle whereby the Heroes would be able to raise from the dead one of their comrades killed whilst in the realm of the Elves:

“Days after the final battle, after the last of the celebrations, as you each pack your things for the long journey home, Terrelia calls you all aside. She regrets to inform you that her Champion the Hexblade will not be leaving the Realm at such a trying time. She does, however, offer something of a consolation. The Realm of the Elves, it seems, does not abide by the same metaphysical rules by which the realms of men and Skaven, Ogre and Dwarf abide. Perhaps you all sensed it when the Magic Mirror saved more than one native Elf from certain death. There is an opportunity, she explains, to probe the depths of the Realm of Reflection for a glimmer, a remnant of one of your fallen comrades, and from that remnant, a chance to make that Hero whole again. It is powerful but dangerous magic, Terrelia concedes, and she laments that she cannot return to you all of your friends-in-arms. Trace his name in this magic mirror, she says, and he will meet you in the morning for your journey home. You have my undying gratitude, she says. Safe travels, she says. And now the horrible, wonderful decision is yours. Choose wisely, my friends. And until we meet again, Maker guide ye.”

I hoped against hope they would choose Shale. Alas, they chose Norwyn, a run-of-the-mill Elf.

And yet, perhaps they thought that because of Shale’s unique talents he might find a way back to the land of the living on his own.

They’ll just have to wait and see.

EXPANDING HEROQUEST: Random Events

How to stay alive in Zargon’s dungeon—good Heroes figure it out pretty quickly; even bad Heroes figure it out in time: stick together, let the Barbarian open doors at the start of the Heroes’ turn, search for traps whenever it makes sense, think twice before searching for treasure. These and other such directives—don’t drink a Potion of Healing when a Spell will do, for instance—pave the way to the land of plenty, where triumphant torchlight glints upon Borin’s Armor, Elven Bracers, and a Gem worth 50 gold coins. It is, needless to say, Zargon’s job to recognize when the Heroes attain this level of strategic comfort, and Zargon’s job to wreck such comfort absolutely.

Enter the Random Event.

There came a time—let’s say halfway through “Against the Ogre Horde”—when, after clearing a room of Monsters and Traps, the Heroes in our Questing Party would begin to reconfigure their positions with outright impunity, not only to search for treasure in such a way that a Wandering Monster would have to spawn in the most convenient spot, but to prepare for subsequent rooms and hallways in the most strategically efficient manner possible, depending on the situation. This, quite frankly, got annoying. I mean, imagine an actual dungeon—a DUNGEON. It should not be a location conducive to confidence much less comfort. The Heroes should not spend actual minutes rearranging their figures like so much IKEA patio furniture on a balmy April’s afternoon. Again, it’s a freaking DUNGEON!

So after a little research on an Evil Wizard Player’s best friend—www.yeoldeinn.com—I stumbled across Jacob Busby’s “Supplemental Rules,” among which was a system for inducing Random Events.

Basically, at the start of Zargon’s turn, the Evil Wizard Character rolls a standard HeroQuest die. If he rolls a Black Shield on this initial throw, he rolls again. A second Black Shield cancels out the first, but a roll of a Skull or White Shield signals a Random Event. The White Shield allows the Heroes to roll for what Busby calls “Fortune’s Protection,” a favorable random occurrence. The more likely Skull, however, lets Zargon roll for a “Chaos Omen,” a sometimes-deadly-always-frustrating incident intended to keep the Heroes on their collective toes. You can view Busby’s list of Random Events on pages five through eleven of the above link. Of course, I have tinkered—and continue to tinker—with the original list to suit our uniquely evolving Questing Party, and some numbered events have already become the stuff of legend. More on that in a bit.

To determine the specific Random Event, Zargon or the players throw a pair of six-sided dice, combining the rolled numbers to create a single double-digit sum somewhere between eleven and sixty-six. My favorite events are those that target specific Heroes, either positively or negatively depending on the initial roll. Chaos Omen #32, for instance, “Stress Fracture,” greatly reduces the effectiveness of the Barbarian’s longbow for the remainder of the Quest, taking Kronüs’s powerful six-dice ranged attack down to a pedestrian four. On the positive side of the ledger, Barnabas, the Skaven Maze Runner, just this week benefitted from rolling Fortune’s Protection #22, “Hated Enemy,” whereby he earned an extra turn each time he defeated an enemy Skaven (I’ll have a video of this Quest up soon!).

As for the abovementioned legendary numbers, the one that not only comes to mind first but to this day strikes actual fear in the hearts of our Questing Party is Chaos Omen #41. I somehow rolled this event—possibly the most imposing omen of them all—so often and to such damning effect that I was actually persuaded to alter it for the most recent fourth revision. This original omen, entitled “Goblin Pyro,” revealed a hidden stairwell upon which four Goblin Pyros stood ready for attack.

When they showed up in the Quests themselves, these Goblin Flamethrowers always spelled trouble for the Heroes, due in large part to their ability to attack every Hero in the same room or corridor with their version of “Fire of Wrath.” But throw four of these suckers on the board at the same time with a guaranteed opportunity to attack? There are times when this Chaos Omen literally resulted in twenty-four—yes, freaking twenty-four—Fires of Wrath before the Goblin Pyros defended themselves a single time. As you might imagine, many a Ring of Return was lost in the name of avoiding these green sons-of-bitches.

As for the newest version of Chaos Omen #41, it has been refashioned into the equally frustrating if not quite as catastrophic “Rampant Fear.” Now, when Zargon randomly triggers this omen, each Hero must roll as if he has been targeted by “Fear,” one of the game’s original Chaos Spells. The wrench, however, is that the last Hero to break the spell cannot break the spell, rendering him essentially worthless in attack for the remainder of the Quest. We triggered this one last week, as well (look for it in the forthcoming video).

Make no mistake, the Random Event has ushered in a new age of HeroQuest for our Thursday Night marathons. No longer can Heroes take for granted an empty room, spend a handful of turns reconfiguring their miniatures, or retrace their steps in a celebratory treasure-grab. Now there are repercussions for lazy Heroes and greedy Heroes, for indecisive Heroes.

And while Zargon is as cruel as ever, sometimes fate is crueler.

QUEST TWO: “Once More unto the Breach”

As I mentioned in the previous post, one of the drawbacks of leveling the Heroes for such a prolonged period of time is that they become too powerful to be challenged by anything less than a Quest of epic proportions, a Quest not unlike “The Threshold.” Because of this, our group agreed to begin expanding the traditional Quest-unit to three or four Quests, meaning the Heroes would only replenish Spells, Body Points, and Special Items during or after a third or fourth, maybe even a fifth, Quest. This returns the time of play to somewhere in the two-to-three hour window, allowing us to get some other gaming in on our marathon Thursday Nights (most often the new Star Wars: Imperial Assault).

The honus for the next two Quests, then, will not necessarily be on bringing the Heroes to the brink of ruin, but on whittling their resources in the most novel, entertaining ways possible.

Therefore, one of the new game mechanics I wanted to introduce into “The Labyrinths of Muroidea”—-and in keeping with our group’s fascination with line of sight—-is darkness, for which I called upon Ron Shirtz’s Cave Tiles found at yeoldeinn.com.

Basically, any Hero on a Cave Tile can see only the square directly in front of him, meaning he must make concerted movements through the squares while in Caves, and face in only one direction. The only basic exemption belongs to the Skaven Maze Runner, who can see the eight spaces surrounding him, what we’ve begun calling his “personal halo.” This also necessitated the creation of two new items for the Heroes to spend money on (w/ another nod to Mr. Shirtz): the Torch and the Lantern. Basically, the Torch will light a small area without necessarily sacrificing any defense, but the Heroes will go through them like a Thief through throwing daggers. The Lantern, on the other hand, will light for the Heroes an entire cavernous room—-with respect to line of sight, of course—-but at the cost of not only a shield or two-handed weapon, but a defense die, as well.

I also wanted to begin telling the Skaven Maze Runner’s notorious backstory in this Quest, or at least clearly allude to its nature once or twice.

As you can see from the image above (click as always for a much larger and clearer version), the Cave Tiles make an exciting addition even to the Quest Notes. Let’s see, then, how the Heroes dealt with them in Quest Two, “Once More unto the Breach.”

But first, Mentor: http://www.audiomack.com/embed4-large/evilwizardcharacter/quest-two-the-labyrinths-of-muroidea

After navigating the initial hallway—- suffering a handful of body points to a foursome of marauding Plague Rats on the way—-the Heroes sent Kronüs through the first door encountered only to find…darkness. Of course, I placed the room tile for them, but I also explained to Kronüs that he could fathom nothing but the inky void immediately in front of him. To my surprise, the Heroes took this to be the truth and immediately searched for a room they could successfully navigate.

Luckily for them, this tactic was immediately rewarded, as the very next room they tried housed a Skaven merchant.  I had not let them make any purchases before the start of the Quest, so they knew something was up. What they did not know, however, was that their purchasing options would be limited to the wares of in-quest merchants like Abnes here, the broadsword wielding Skaven clothed in his salesman’s smock of emerald green, accompanied by a Swordsman Man-at-Arms. Abnes’s wares were as follows: Helmet, Shield, and two Magical Throwing Daggers; one Potion each of Restoration, Recall, and Rejuvenation; one Swordsman; countless vials of Essence of Fungus and Anti-Venom (25g each); nine Torches and four Lanterns.

As for the uncarded Essence of Fungus and Anti-Venom, these represent the only cheap cures for the “Infected” and “Poisoned” ailments. The Heroes eyes lit up as I placed the Torch and Lantern cards for the first time in front of them, and they were quick to purchase five of each, in addition to Abnes’s Swordsman and potions of Recall and Rejuvenation. There was also a very alluring treasure haul to be had with some risk, but the Heroes never thought to search for treasure in the friendly room.

Abnes’s other role was to initiate the slow reveal of the Skaven Maze Runner’s past life. As the notes suggest, Abnes expresses some bewilderment that the infamous Skaven Maze Runner has joined with a band of Heroes intent on saving Muroidea from the clutches of unspeakable evil. And yet, he expresses his approval of their task and suggests that they might meet again in the future.

With that, the Heroes saddled the Wizard with the Lantern and returned to the first cave to find three doors. Knowing that I had scaled the Quests back in certain regards, they even opted to split up, opening multiple doors at once. You’ll see from the Quest Notes that this room came equipped with a unique trap. When each Hero entered the Cave, I secretly gave him a number based on the order of his entrance. Then, on Zargon’s turn, I rolled a d6 to determine which if any of the Heroes would be the victim of a Flying Fox swooping from the darkness above. It was great to see the Heroes try and make sense of why the Foxes were attacking certain of their party and not others. “This spot is a 6,” the Barbarian attempted at one point. “Yeah,” echoed the Wizard, “and this must be a 3.” Heh. They never figured it out. Maybe they’ll read this and find out at last?

After all moving into position, the Barbarian Ranger was the first to open his door, revealing a pair of Skaven and an unavoidable (for the Ranger) pit trap. Thankfully, when the Skaven Maze Runner tried his door to the south, he found it locked and was therefore able to assist the Barbarian and Elf in their mess. The result was the recovery of the key for the southern room, to which the party soon progressed, dispatching quickly the assorted Monsters therein; 2,000 gold coins their reward. From there the Heroes navigated the long cave to the north, at one point stumbling along a disgruntled Skaven and his two pet Plague Rats leafing through a popular Muroidean tome. When the three rodents lay dead, Barnabas himself was the one to search for treasure, unwittingly revealing the title of the book to his new comrades: The Craven Maze Runner of Rodentia. “Craven?” they all gasped. “Is Barnabas a coward?”

“I guess you’ll have to read the book between Quests,” I told them.

With that they tackled the only way forward, into and through a massive cave. Here the Swordsman was burdened with Lantern, the Wizard dropping it earlier to defend against a band of Plague Rats. This, of course, meant not only swift death for the Swordsman, but that two of the three Heroes had to stoke their own Torches to navigate to the cavern’s northern exit. By this time I had damaged them so much that–fearing the unknown length of time they’d need to survive until their next rest–the Heroes left both the western and eastern doors unopened, leaving behind 800 coins, but also a certain beating at the claws and teeth of two ravenous Plague Rats.

Into the final Cave Tile, then, with its drastic switchbacks they persevered, finding in its depths, a fearsome Minotaur. This tile was a lot of fun in particular, as by the time the Heroes arrived, they had gotten quite adept at using a single character’s Torch or Lantern to light the way for others. This tile, however, totally wrecked their collective line of sight, and I was able to retreat into the darkness with my Flying Foxes and Giants Recluses to keep inflicting damage while taking none myself. I even persuaded a frustrated Wizard to hurl a Fireball at one of the “Flying Foxes,” stripping him of a valuable resource for the battles to come. Even so, the Heroes eventually won the day, relying on a hulked Barnabas to hold the line while the remainder of the Questing Party headed for the exit stairway and further into the heart of Muroidea.

The Ogre, by the way, walked through so many Spider Web Traps throughout the duration of the Quest, that he didn’t even bother to kill the last one before leaving! How’s that for questing etiquette? Still, you earned that Stairway, Heroes. But at what cost? Potions remain, sure. But those remaining Healing Spells might not make it two more quests. What nightmares may come? Stay tuned.

 

QUEST ONE: “The Threshold”

“The Threshold,” like the “The Trial,” is a difficult first quest intended to introduce the Heroes to the new monsters and traps littering the Skaven homeworld. Whereas many of the Quests in “The Labyrinths of Muroidea” will function as parts of a whole–meaning Heroes won’t replenish spells and health after each individual dungeon–“The Threshold” is a self-contained epic.

For this reason, the Quest is very difficult, an absolute marathon of a dungeon-crawl intended to bring the Heroes to the very brink of defeat (but not, of course, to defeat itself). For reasons of time and drama, only the first and last quests will be of this magnitude. I mean, if a single Quest is to bring five Heroes like the ones in our Questing Party to their collective knees, it needs to be at least this challenging. But I can’t put everything on the line each time. Anyway, the anxiety the players experience every time they use a Healing Spell, not knowing exactly how many weeks they’ll have to adventure before reclaiming it, is almost better than watching them toil on the brink of utter ruin.  Ruin will come, of course, but not weekly.

For this first quest, storytelling takes a backseat to gameplay. Later the Heroes will learn about the notorious past of the Skaven Maze Runner, reason and/or battle with legendary dungeon bosses Icarus and Daedalus, decide whether or not the Minotaur Rex can be saved from Chaos. But for now, hack and slash, search and survive. Still, feel free to give Mentor’s preamble a listen as he sets the stage for the Heroes’ entrance into a newly transformed Muroidea: http://www.audiomack.com/embed4-large/evilwizardcharacter/quest-one-the-labyrinths-of-muroidea

As you can see from the image above (click it to better explore the Map and Notes), there are about sixty Monsters for the Heroes to wade through, nearly as many as in “Hidden Realms,” the final quest from “The Mage of the Mirror.” Granted, many of the baddies in this first dungeon are bugs and rodents, but still, the sheer numbers are substantial.

And so the Quest begins…

After entering the dungeon and hanging a right, the Heroes decided to open the stone door and let the Elf lead the charge into a room filled with Widows and Giant Recluses. During this initial go-round, I waited until the Heroes first encountered a new Monster before supplying its stat card for their inspection. They had to learn of their enemies’ new abilities in much the same fashion. Note that the Giant Recluse behind the Double-Wall tile is not yet exposed. I’ve been playing more with line of sight in an attempt to get the Heroes to stumble into traps that initial searches might not identify. And indeed, the first Hero to turn that corner–the Barbarian–was wrapped up by a Shooting Web Trap.

After successfully navigating that northwest block of rooms, culminating in a rather perfunctory battle with a pair of Doomguard, the Heroes backtracked. But while heading for the only other revealed door on the board, they were instead enticed by a lone Doomguard standing watch outside the center room. Patient as usual, the Heroes searched for and avoided the Swinging Blade Trap, felled the Doomguard, and prompted the Barbarian to open the door, back out of the way, and loose a mighty arrow into the fray. Here Norwyn and Barnabas got their first looks at the brand new Dwarf Tinkers and Beastmen. I was at least able to “Rust” a couple of Helmets and take a Body Point or two with a “Commanded” Ogre before losing control of the battle and surrendering the key within the Alchemist’s Bench. This time, the Heroes maintained their forward movement, exiting the room through the eastern door and immediately putting their newly won key to use.

The southeast block of rooms provided only little resistance until Room F.

As with most HeroQuest dungeon-crawls, our Barbarian takes his turn first. Kronüs, however, is unable to detect Magical Traps. Thus, when Kronüs’s search for traps revealed nothing untoward, Norwyn unleashed a Firestorm trap on the both of them with his subsequent search for treasure. By the time the Wizard had detected the two remaining traps and the Elf had disarmed them, I’d claimed a total of twelve body points. Not only that, but they quickly found the Portcullis inoperable. They would, as a result, have to double back to that unopened door in the northern passage.

When they got there, they were treated to a gruesome sight: eight ravenous Plague Rats feeding on the innards of a fallen Ogre. Note the exposed rib cage and brains painted onto that traditional HQ sculpt! The Heroes were unimpressed at first, quickly stomping a pair of rats before I was able to take my turn. But what a turn I had when it got to me! Because the Skaven Maze Runner and Ogre King had each occupied the room at opposite sides, I was able to attack both of them with a total of three plague rats, meaning two attacks with six orange dice each. By that time the Skaven Maze Runner had amassed quite a pack of his own–four rats total adding to his attacks and Body Points. Not only was Barnabas ratless by the time he exited the room, but down to two Body Points, as well. As for Brick, he would now be lurking toward the back of the Questing Party with no hopes of healing. After another pair of hard-fought battles against enemy Skaven and their Plague Rats, the Heroes arrived at Room D, the Skaven throne room, where more hack and slash ensued, the Wizard doing his best to reserve his combat magic for more imposing foes. When the dust settled, another of the Heroes’ healing spells had been cast, as well as “Courage” and “Death Bolt.” But they had taken the room, nonetheless, and were rewarded in their search for secret passages when the throne swung to the right,revealing a trap door.

When Barnabas volunteered to scout the passageway, he found himself on the other side of the previously impassable portcullis, with a Rat Hole to his right. The others alerted, the Questing Party proceeded to Room G, and the Quest’s final battle.

Now, maybe Room G doesn’t look so deadly, but consider what this combination of Monsters means. First off, because the room contains both a Dwarf Tinker and members of the Doomguard, every Monster is able to re-roll one die per both attack and defense. This made for some ridiculous attacks on the behalf of my Minotaur. Add to this the Tinker’s five easy-damage Chaos Spells, including two “Lightning Bolts” and a “Firestorm,” and you see more clearly the Heroes’ predicament. For this reason, Trakix saw fit to finally enter a battle, wasting a fruitless “Genie” on the Minotaur before settling for “Summon Orcs,” with which he called a minimum four to his side. He used each in fruitless attack of the looming Minotaur, as I rolled Zargon’s shield after Zargon’s shield on my trusty blue dice (I know I could just roll white dice and defend with Heroes’ shields, but where’s the fun in that?). I quickly made Trakix regret using his learned Choas Spell so hastily when, after attacking and then moving out of harm’s way with my pair of Doomguard and the Minotaur, the Dwarf Tinker unleashed a Chaos Spell of his own: the dreaded “Firestorm.” Needless to say, the Orcs were immediately reduced to ashes, and even the mighty
Trakix took a point of damage after subtly manipulating a four to a five on his evasion roll (see “The Ring of Subtle Manipulation” in THE HEROES). From hereon, Trakix was reduced to the role of Healer as my own baddies battled it out with the likes of the Barbarian, Elf, and Skaven.

In the end, only the Minotaur and his six blue defense dice remained. He put up a valiant fight, of course, matching blows with the Elf and Skaven for four rounds, before finally succumbing with a guttural, snorting moan. I know for a fact Trakix won’t soon forget the broken arm suffered as a result of the Minotaur’s “Knockback” perk. Alas, as these things so often end up, the Heroes tasted victory, moving on to Quest Two with only a Healing Potion and a Helmet or two to pay for it.

In retrospect, I think the Quest was a good match for the Heroes. Had I rolled better in a couple of places, had the Heroes rolled more poorly, I could have easily claimed a life or two. But, since this is just the first dungeon, I’m glad they all made it out safely. There were, of course, some relevant aspects of the Quest that I didn’t snap a pic of and therefore didn’t comment on, but I’ll make sure to hit it all next time.

Until then, I leave you with the Stairway. You earned it, Heroes.

PROLOGUE: “The Labyrinths of Muroidea”

What’s a HeroQuest Expansion Pack without its Prologue? This, after all, is where Mentor sets the stage for the Emperor’s impending defeat at Karak Varn, where he reveals the Witch Lord’s stunning return, and where the Heroes first learn of new foes like the Frozen Horror.

Originally, I simply read these things straight from the booklet for our Thursday Night Quests. After awhile, I began elaborating on certain aspects of the original texts to suit changes I’d made in quest. By the time we got to “The Frozen Horror,” I was not only re-writing these blurbs for our revamped Quests, but recording them (along with various other sound effects) to be played remotely during the Quests themselves.

What follows, then, is Mentor’s Prologue for “The Labyrinths of Muroidea,” as read by <wink wink> Mentor himself (full text below):

http://www.audiomack.com/embed4-large/evilwizardcharacter/prologue-the-labyrinths-of-muroidea

“There exists in the heart of Muroidea, the land of the Skaven, a terrifying power, but not necessarily a force for evil. Tales of a legendary Minotaur—a beast with nearly unparalleled strengths of both body and mind—have made their way to Zargon’s ears. And my former apprentice is troubled, troubled by the thought of such a beast one day becoming an enemy of Chaos. After all, the distant Muroidea, removed as it is from the influence of the Empire, has long suffered under the yoke of Zargon’s oppression. And perhaps the right band of Heroes might channel the fury of the mighty Minotaur directly toward Zargon.

Zargon has, therefore, employed the services of the legendary Daedalus, the Master Architect and Sorcerer of lore, to conceive and construct a city of labyrinthine dungeons around the beast, reshaping the landscape of the underground realm of Muroidea with the aid of an army of Dwarven Tinkers. His plan is to, in this way, forever imprison the Minotaur at the center of an elaborate, impenetrable city of mazes. Imprison him, that is, if he cannot first sway him to the side of Chaos. Either way, Heroes, you must traverse these labyrinths, find this Minotaur Rex, and ensure that Zargon is unable to unleash on the Empire such incomprehensible might.

Not only will new denizens of Chaos await you in this far off place but the nasty native beasties that inhabit the dark and dank of Muroidea, as well. It is indeed a foreign place, unknown to the Empire in many respects. But not, I dare say, unknown to you, Barnabas. I believe this to be an oversight on the part of my former apprentice, one that we must exploit. And yet, if my agents are to be trusted, you are no hero in these parts, Skaven Maze Runner.

Perhaps now is the time to make amends. Go now, plumb the depths of Muroidea, and Barnabas, the depths of your soul.”

Quest one should be up Thursday. Until then.

Yours,

EWC