Playing the pack without visiting the armory...

[Kurgan]

I presume the main reason some GMs are wanting to nix the Alchemist Shop/Armory visits is out of a sense of increased "realism" rather than increasing the difficulty.

In that case to me, the GM should compensate by giving away bonus potions and providing more treasures to find within each quest. So put some extra bottles in those chests and other furnitures. Is there an "empty" chest or a Weapons rack with no markings? Let it contain something good, let the Armory be a case where they can pick a piece of equipment (or draw a random card if you have the deck). Maybe when you kill a big monster he drops something useful, or a group of monsters was protecting some extra treasure, etc.

Gold kind of becomes superfluous if it can't be spent for 10 quests... and be prepared that they could have a lot to spend (on mercs or potions probably) if they triumph. If they're only buying every 10 quests or so... but the quests will be a lot harder if they don't have a way to get the stuff they need between quests under the NA rules.

[wallydubbs]

I think cutting out trips to the armory and alchemist shop is better for both reasons, realism and increased difficulty, although the former is the primary. At the end of Keller's Keep the heroes are awarded with 500 gold each in preparation for Return of the Witch Lord, however rather then providing the heroes with extra potions along the way, I actually sell them for a much cheaper price so the heroes could stock up on provisions and what they think they'll need rather then make decisions along the way.
I feel the potions in the quest book are way too overpriced anyway.
I also add an extra bonus of gold hidden under the Witch Lord's throne at the end of the original game system so the heroes can also use this in preparation for Keller's Keep.
Also while playing Keller's Keep I add randomized potions and weaoons to any Alchemist Bench and Weapons Rack the heroes find. They roll the dice and it gets decided that way.

[SirRick]

You could have one hero make a "supply run", and for one quest the hero is gone.

However, the player whose hero is getting supplies can play as the Orc Bard, who always conveniently appears when the group is missing one of their comrades.

I imagine the Barbarian doing a facepalm while saying "Not THIS guy again...".

[wallydubbs]

With these new and unimproved characters, I'm thinking about doing a trial run just for shits and giggles: using the Mentor figurine as the Wizard, joined by the Bard, Warlock and Druid, and having the 4 of them run through the Game System and see how well or poorly they fair.
On the bright side they'd have multiple healing spells, but at the same time I think they'd all be somewhat limited when it comes to armor. The Wizard and Warlock can't wear normal armor, and I think there's even a few restrictions on the Bard... I don't know the D&D guys didn't really put much thought into adapting these D&D characters into the Hero Quest Game. But I'm willing to just play around with it for comparative purposes.
This is not me saying I like the new characters, but just to playtest their inadequacies.

[Jalapenotrellis]

Off topic, but since this is an active thread and it seems no one posts in the later expansion forum, does anyone have a concise list of anything different with the newly re released heroquest from the originals that does not require me to read a 200 page off the rails forum thread?

[Kurgan]

Off topic, but since this is an active thread and it seems no one posts in the later expansion forum, does anyone have a concise list of anything different with the newly re released heroquest from the originals that does not require me to read a 200 page off the rails forum thread?

The Unboxing thread lists it all on the first page (with links if you want more details). https://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=5572&hilit=unboxing

[Kurgan]

With these new and unimproved characters, I'm thinking about doing a trial run just for shits and giggles: using the Mentor figurine as the Wizard, joined by the Bard, Warlock and Druid, and having the 4 of them run through the Game System and see how well or poorly they fair.
On the bright side they'd have multiple healing spells, but at the same time I think they'd all be somewhat limited when it comes to armor. The Wizard and Warlock can't wear normal armor, and I think there's even a few restrictions on the Bard... I don't know the D&D guys didn't really put much thought into adapting these D&D characters into the Hero Quest Game. But I'm willing to just play around with it for comparative purposes.
This is not me saying I like the new characters, but just to playtest their inadequacies.

Amalgamash is doing something like this on his youtube channel. Go for it! "Mentor" of course is identical to the Wizard as you mentioned. Not having someone to disarm traps easily will be a starting disadvantage.

[Zenithfleet]

On topic ... I used to prefer the idea of not being able to buy anything between quests in KK and RotWL, but I've since changed my mind.

Buying new stuff between quests is one of the 'fun bits' of Heroquest, but both quest packs take a long time to play all the way through. There's not much to do with gold as it is by this point. Prohibiting players from spending it at all during the quest packs essentially removes a chunk of the fun. (In the EU version there is no alchemist's shop, so no extra potions.) In RotWL there's the added problem that lots of gold is stolen halfway through the quest pack, making it pointless if you didn't use it earlier.

I like the idea of a goblin selling wares between quests, or maybe a lone dwarf prospector (you meet a few of those down the dungeons in Warhammer Quest). The Resident Evil 4 videogame had a lone merchant who would turn up every now and then between 'missions' to sell you weapons and gear. In Return of the Witch Lord, likewise, there could be a zombie shop.

So next time, I'll recommend buying equipment as normal between quests in KK and RotWL.

However, to make it a bit more interesting/challenging, I'll add just one house rule: All the prices between quests are DOUBLED.

You can buy any equipment, etc., as normal, but you'll pay through the nose for it. After all, who else are you going to buy it from in the middle of this abandoned and monster-infested city? Worse than airport shopping ... !

If you're playing the North American edition, you don't need to double the price of the alchemist's potions. They're way overpriced already. In fact, they're so expensive because the wandering merchant is price-gouging you. "Take it or leave it, guv," sneers the Goblin.

I reckon this strikes a balance between increased realism (everything is hard to get and expensive) and enjoyment (you can still use that gold you found). But who knows ...

[Bareheaded Warrior]

All the prices between quests are DOUBLED.

And if you are playing the HQ2021 edition that now has the commonly implemented but poorly thought through 'selling back to the armoury at 50%' rule as part of its official ruleset then all armoury prices would have to be doubled anyway so you would have to quadruple them in this instance!

[wallydubbs]

With these new and unimproved characters, I'm thinking about doing a trial run just for shits and giggles: using the Mentor figurine as the Wizard, joined by the Bard, Warlock and Druid, and having the 4 of them run through the Game System and see how well or poorly they fair.
On the bright side they'd have multiple healing spells, but at the same time I think they'd all be somewhat limited when it comes to armor. The Wizard and Warlock can't wear normal armor, and I think there's even a few restrictions on the Bard... I don't know the D&D guys didn't really put much thought into adapting these D&D characters into the Hero Quest Game. But I'm willing to just play around with it for comparative purposes.
This is not me saying I like the new characters, but just to playtest their inadequacies.

Amalgamash is doing something like this on his youtube channel. Go for it! "Mentor" of course is identical to the Wizard as you mentioned. Not having someone to disarm traps easily will be a starting disadvantage.

Oh I ran them through the The Trial, which resulted in a TPK. The new characters can find their place if mingled in with 2 or 3 of the original characters. The Barbarian's presence is a MUST.
After the failure of the Trial, I ran it again but this time took all the character cards (3 Barbarians, 3 Elves, 3 Wizards, 2 Dwarves, 2 Rogues, the Bard, Druid and Warlock) shuffled them and ran it with the 4 heroes drawn, which turned out to be the Female Barbarian, Druid, MotM Elf, and Warlock. Playing through the Trial again only the Barbarian and Druid made it out alive.

Going into the Rescue of Sir Ragnar I redrew from the cards and added the Female Elf and female Wizard to the team. They were successful.
However the Female Wizard died in Lair of the Orc Warlord and replaced by the Male Rogue.

I surmise that the involvement of a Barbarian is key to the success of any group.