Barbaric World of HeroQuest

[Malcadon]

When I first played HeroQuest in the '90s, I had no context to the world of Warhammer; as far as I know, it was an original product of a generic fantasy. The notes did make note of a standing Emperor, but the opening text, made it seemed like a world is in a chaotic state.

Growing up in the '80s, my youth was shaped by Conan-inspired fantasies, post-apocalypses fiction and Frank Frazetta paintings. In my head, I wanted to play in a world like that: Basically, there was a great Empire were magic was so common, they were playthings to the common man, but it fell so long ago, it became a half-forgotten myth! The world is overtaken by chaos and savagery. The once mighty Dwarves, who lived part and separate from the outside world, were forced out of their mountain kingdoms, as to the Elves forced out of their forest kingdom, to find themselves adrift in a world of ephemeral scum. The world is overrun by barbarians: humans, goblins, orcs, est. Powerful and charismatic warriors and wizards rise to become warlords of city-states. People actively worship dark gods who have the taste for human blood. Crafty wizards work in secrets covens, hording magical knowledge to themselves, and engaging in petty pissing contests with other. Like is cheap, cruel and short, where only might makes right. And in this harsh enviroment, four heroic bad-asses are born in it; crawled from out it; and to eventually stand above it, to one day build their own mighty bad-ass empire!

In this version of HeroQuest, the "Heroes" are not entirely heroic, but are anti-heroes: they goals are largely self-motivated (true for the official Heroes, but more so), and when they find helpless captives, its less about "we are here to save you" and more "we are here to enslave you." The Heroes are not helped by the good wizard Mentor: They are hired by resident evil wizard Zargon to do his dirty work. (Once the Heroes get too powerful, he would just turn on them, only to get his ass kicked in the attempt.) As quality metalworking is a rare art, good quality steel equipment is expensive — the weapons used by most monsters are crude Copper Age implements. Oh, and potions are not magical, despite their innate ability to make the ugliest of women look unbelievably sexy.

So, what do you guys think?

For further reading, see this, this, this and this. (last two maybe Not Safe For Work)

[alyndavies]

Ah so thats what He-Man did before he took steroids!

I think people do want to play the anti-hero in Heroquest, there has always been lots of interest in Vampires and Necromances as heroes.

[Goblin-King]

I clicked the last two first. Kudos for Heavy Metal segment!

I like the idea of your world.
I also always liked the world of He-Man which is sort of a fantasy setting, but with futuristic technology.
It's sort of the opposite of Shadowrun where it's a modern/futuristic world, but with fantasy elements.

Too few settings mix the two.

[Malcadon]

I clicked the last two first. Kudos for Heavy Metal segment!

I like the idea of your world.
I also always liked the world of He-Man which is sort of a fantasy setting, but with futuristic technology.
It's sort of the opposite of Shadowrun where it's a modern/futuristic world, but with fantasy elements.

Too few settings mix the two.

Thanks!

Although, adding technology to HeroQuest was never really my intention — I was going to keep it largely Conan-esque — that does sound like an awesome idea, and it would allow me to make better use of those Mutant Chronicles figures and cards.

I never liked Shadowrun compared to Cyberpunk 2020. The fantasy elements in Shadowrun always felt too lighthearted, as in, "Cyberpunk 2020 meets 2e AD&D." I would have preferred more fantasy horror (as in World of Darkness), or better yet, weird horror (like Call of Cthulhu). Although, people tend to avoid the latter, as the horror elements tend to completely overtake the characters and create hopeless situations, while completely overlooking the fact that weird horror was a normal occurrence in the world of Conan (the creators of Conan and Cthulhu were pals in real life). Plus, the Humanity Loss in Cyberpunk 2020 never made sense alone, but would make better sense when tied to magic-use (Essence), in the case of Shadowrun, or as ones own level of Sanity (SAN) in Call of Cthulhu.

Ah so thats what He-Man did before he took steroids!

Actually, before Filmation made him "fabulous" and "a little peculiar", the mini-comics that came with the action figures made him another bland, shallow generic Conan-clone who is comparatively better, and did so with the art of Alfredo Alcala — aka "The Best Damn Artist in the Marvel Conan Line!" There was no kingdom; no Prince Adam; no candy-ass Cringer; no goofy little elf-folks: It as all post-apocalypses fantasy on a war-ravaged world where magic, nukes and natural selection made a crucible of unnatural horrors, with some planet/dimension hopping sprinkled throughout (with strong possibilities for Galaxy Warriors crossovers ).

Save for all the tech, it is pretty much like how I picture my HeroQuest setting. Then again... Its coming into shape!

(If you like the classic mini-comics, this guy continues with this own great fan comics — see Gallery Folders on the side.)

[Anderas]

I looked just at the two last videos and must confess, they are cool! Sad that the generation of today has lost that a bit.

I think your Background Story is much more consistent with all the "go to dungeon kill kill kill kill" theme of Hero Quest.

I still try to develop a mechanic that allows to sneak around enemies, in order to have something else than killing the primary target of the game.

[Malcadon]

I still try to develop a mechanic that allows to sneak around enemies, in order to have something else than killing the primary target of the game.

A while back, I made a rule for invisibility and Thieves' skills related to stealth:

Invisibility
When a Hero first "sees" an invisible monster, do not place anything on the board to note that there is a monster here. Only when it moves, do you (the EWP) place an Invisibility token (like the one used in Dragon Strike) it its stead, so the players cannot identify the monster. If a monster that was already visible becomes invisible, by spell or by ability, replace it with an Invisibility token, as above. As the monster cannot be "seen," they cannot be targeted for range attacks or spells, but it can still prevent Heroes from searching. Heroes can attack invisible monsters, but they can roll White Shields to defend. If a Hero uses a range weapon to attack a visible monster beyond an invisible monster (that is, the invisible monster is stand in-between the Hero and his target), the EWP rolls a CD. If a White Shield is rolled, the invisible monster is attacked, but with an extra CD to defense. Anything else would mean that the Hero attacks the original target in the normal way. If an invisible monster attacks or cast a spell, it will become visible.

If a Hero is invisible, they can only move or preform free actions (open doors, drink potions, etc.). If they do anything else with a monster in sight, they will become visible. Monsters will ignore invisible Heroes. If an invisible Hero opens a door into a room with monsters in it with no other hero is sight, the monsters will remain inactive until they see a visible Hero. Monsters with range weapons can accidentally hit invisible Heroes and monsters in the same way as noted above. The Vail of Mist spell and Dust of Disappearance turns Heroes invisible. Some powerful monsters might even see invisible Heroes, but this is an unusual ability. Wearing heavy body armor, like Chain Mail or Plate Mail, or dragging something heavy, like a chest, would not allow one to remain invisible to to all the noise.

Thieves' Skills

Hide in Shadows
The Hero can, as an action, become invisible. As long as you do nothing else then move or preform free actions (open doors, drink potions, etc.), monsters will ignore you. If you do any other action, you will become visible, and you will not be able to become invisible again until there are no monsters in sight.

Backstabbing
If you are invisible, you may attack an adjacent monster in a way where it would not be able to make a defense roll. Once you make the attack, regardless of outcome, you are no longer invisible.

Pickpockets
If you are invisible in a room occupied by monsters, you may search it for treasure. The Evil Wizard Player rolls a Combat Die from behind the screen, in secrete. If anything but a White Shield is rolled, the Hero remains invisible. If a White Shield is rolled, the Hero is no long invisible, and the player may not know until the monsters start attacking when it is their turn to act.

Although, if you want to allow for any Hero to move stealthily, you can apply the above rules to all Heroes, as is, or with some revision. For example, a Hero can choose to become become invisible like with Hide in Shadows, but the Hero move with one less Movement Die. To help build tension, the EWP rolls a Combat Die from behind the screen (in secrete) as soon as a sneaking Hero moves. If anything but a White Shield is rolled (or Black Shield, for stealthy types), the Hero remains invisible, otherwise, the monsters spots the Hero and reacts on their turn. A Black Cloak allows for a second die, requiring the EWP to take the best result. (Note: this rule would put more demands on the EWP with all the rolls, and players might not want blind rolls if the EWP is known for cheating.)

So, what do you think?

[Anderas]

I was thinking along roughly the same lines, but let's discuss that in another topic in order not to derail this one from your cool background. I open one for that.

[Goblin-King]

As a matter of fact they are actually planning to re-print collection of all the mini comics!

[knightkrawler]

As a matter of fact they are actually planning to re-print collection of all the mini comics!

That is awesome, I'm eagerly awaiting that.
Recently I bought The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a tome of 400 pages and even more awesomeness.
I was giggling like a schoolgirl reading it.

[Malcadon]

Oh yeah, something I forget to bring up is that monsters are more than just green-skin freaks and walking corpse: Humans are just as active in the armies of Chaos. As I like to make use of other figures, the figurines form Crossbows and Catapults are a right fit for the human monsters that would appear in the game:

Guard

Movement	Attack Dice	Defense Dice	Body Points	Mind Points
6	2	4	1	2

Raider

Movement	Attack Dice	Defense Dice	Body Points	Mind Points
8	2	3	2	2

As a matter of fact they are actually planning to re-print collection of all the mini comics!

That would be sweet!

By the way, I recently found out that the "He-Man" that appears in the original mini-comics has been made into an action figure with his own backstory that ties in the rest of the MotU universe. He is officially called Oo-Larr. (Unfortunately, that green skin snake goddess is now called "Snake Goddess" as an official name — I hope they fix that.) They did the same for the original He-Man concept art, who is now called Vikor. I like that! Something as simple as an individual name gives him a whole identity of his own, and separates him form the mainstream He-Man.