Hasbro 2021 Remake: Public Unboxings ARE HERE!

[Kurgan]

Revealed via Cosmic Tavern's youtube unboxing video posted today...

The 8 classic Monsters appear the same in terms of stats on their cards.

New Artifacts! (a few lines are hard to see)

Artifacts (and all new cards generally) have a beige/tan/khaki background and a brown border (EU cards had borders, NA ones didn't, in classic) but also have a brown border on the cardback as well.

*Potential Spoilers*

Rod of Telekinesis

A trapped monster misses its next turn
The spell can be resisted immediately by the monster
rolling 1 red die for each of their mind points. If a 6
is rolled it resists the spell.

Fortune's Longsword

Weapon - this long blade enables you to attack diagonally and
gives you 3 attack dice. Once per quest the hero may use its
power to re-roll 1 attack die. May not be used by the wizard.

[fortune was the name of the Wizard in one of the Dave Morris novels though the Wizard can't use this weapon]

Phantom Blade

Weapon - This ornate dagger gives you 1 attack die. Once per
quest, when you attack with the dagger your target may not
defend himself as the weapon passes through their armor.


Ring of Fortitude

This magical ring raises the hero's body points by 1.

[above maximum?]


no noticeable changes to the classic artifacts other than the artwork:
Orc's Bane
Elixir of Life
Ring of Return
Spell Ring
Spirit Blade
Talisman of Lore
Wizard's Cloak (still says "only the wizard")
Wizard's Staff (still says "only the wizard")


Tool Kit (I think this just got mixed in by mistake, it's not an artifact but a piece of equipment, everything is the same as classic)


Changed:

Borin's Armor (now clarifies it MAY be combined with a helmet and/or shield)

Wand of Magic: Says "allows a hero" rather than "the Elf or the Wizard" since we have other magic using heroes now (3 new heroes, plus you may consider any hero who has a spell scroll from KK/ROTWL to be a spell user perhaps).

Those cards that mention the Wizard only mention the wizard, none of the new heroes.

[sort of a variation on the magical throwing dagger, it isn't lost when you do an unblockable attack, presumably to an adjacent enemy]


Equipment Deck:

Battle Axe (2 copies)

Bracers (350 gold coins) hardened leather bracers, may be combined with
shield and/or helmet, doesn't give any character limitations, so it's not a Wizard only item like the EU original (which was 200 gold coins).

Crossbow (2 copies) - no clarification on hitting the close diagonal squares, same text as the NA classic crossbow.

Dagger (as expected, the NA exclusive weapons were added to the Equipment deck - originally an EU concept)

Hand Axe (originally an EU exclusive, the price is raised from 150 to 200 gold coins) can be thrown at any monster "in your line of sight"

Helmet (3 copies)

Holy Water: You may use holy water instead of attacking.
It kills any undead creature (skeleton, zombie, or mummy).
The card is then discarded after use. 400 gold coins

[very odd, this should be a treasure card, and free, not 400 gold! but nevertheless, the artwork we've seen before, it's the Dwarf holding the tiny bottle]

Longsword (added to the deck from the NA, since it wasn't originally in the EU equipment deck) (2 copies)

Plate Mail Reiterates how heavy it is, says you can only roll 1 red die for movement while wearing it, like the classic card so no further clarifications.

Potion of Speed (another EU treasure card that was formerly free that let's you roll twice as many red dice for movement, now costs 200 gold coins. buying potions is nothing new, but too bad there was no "alchemist shop" deck or something)

Shield (same as NA classic) (3 copies)

Shortsword (same as NA edition)

Staff

Total: 20 (toolkit surely was part of it, just shuffled into the artifacts deck)

[Kurgan]

Spells:

Ball of Flame (no differences noted from NA classic for this or the others unless mentioned below)
Heal Body
Rock Skin
Pass Through Rock
Fire of Wrath
Water of Healing
Sleep
Veil of Mist
Genie
Swift Wind
Tempest
Courage (refers to having a monster in their "line of sight")

Chaos spells now referred to as "Dread Spells" of course. So Cloud of Chaos becomes "Cloud of Dread."

Ball of Flame (no differences noted)
Cloud of Dread (other than title, no change)
Lightning bolt
Command
Tempest
Sleep
Fear
Summon Undead
Summmon Orcs
Escape
Firestorm
Rust

Treasure cards: (same as classic unless otherwise noted)

Gem 35 coins (x2)
Gold 25 coins (x2)
Gold 15 coins (x2)
Jewels 50 coins (x2)
Hazard (spiked pit, from EU deck, x2 this time)
Hazard (arrow, x2)
Heroic Brew
Potion of Defense (same as classic NA)
Potion of Healing (x3 - despite the preview, this is the same as the NA version, meaning heals equivalent to the roll of 1 red die NOT 4 automatically like the EU)
Potion of Strength
Wandering Monster (x6)

[so it looks like the shallow hole "pit" from the NA is removed in favor of the "spiked pit" from the EU edition, I guess to avoid confusion with the "pit trap"? So the deck is the same size as the NA original. If you ask me, Potion of Speed and Holy Water belong in here... but I guess the card back gives it away unless you hide the deck behind your screen when they draw]


The board is of course quad-fold (as confirmed by earlier photos). The "split" cuts through the HeroQuest logo, which is now on the right edge of the board instead of the bottom. And the fold creases the double corridors.

Not bad for a first unboxing!

[Kurgan]

What's on the BACK of the GM Screen? (New Question to add!)

Whew... we still have Skull tiles with the black background and a nice big skull (I was worried it was a pile of bones as shown in an earlier screenshot).

There's that golden talisman type object tile again, perhaps something from Rogar's Hall or maybe an extra quest? But it's part of the Game System box, so not sure. Maybe the "Star of the West"?

The quest book is not only in full color (the quest maps look the same as we've seen in Rogar's Hall with the newly detailed symbols following otherwise the NA color scheme), the pages are also glossy.

I was interested in the "monsters" section at the end:

Abomination
Little is known of these monsters.
The hulking amphibious humanoids are used
by Zargon and are quite dangerous even when encountered
individually.

Chaos Warriors are now of course "Dread Warriors"

It now reads "These humans have become monsters," instead of "men" (since there are now female versions as well).
"minions of darkness" (instead of "slaves to darkness" which surely not for fear of using harsh words, is a reference to Warhammer "slaves to darkness" meaning the chaos warriors). As noted with the miniature, they carry shields now and wield either maces or swords instead of axes.

[Here may be a controversial change...]

Orcs:

Orcs

"Those who are allied with the evil sorcerer are fierce and deadly"

(no longer "and delight in cruelty and slaughter. Savage and vicious").

[Presumably this is to say that the Orc Bard isn't like that, and perhaps other Orcs are not "allied with the evil sorcerer" and so there are good or neutral Orcs now]

Goblins

Goblins are "small and quick" instead of "small and cruel"
the line about "Orcs have enslaved many Goblin tribes, and
the two are often found together" is completely gone now.

[not to get too speculative here, but I wonder why they felt the need to remove this part, is it wrong for the villains to practice slavery, or maybe it makes these cannon fodder monsters more sympathetic and the heroes less heroic for slaughtering them if they're forced to fight? I suppose a developer could answer]

Dread Sorcerer (replaces the "Chaos Warlock" of classic)
Still has the same description saying it represents good and bad characters. I guess because the "Sir Ragnar" figure was a limited (pledge only) exclusive. So regular people will use this figure to represent him, or "Mentor" or the "Witch Lord" (also limited pledge only exclusives) or various other special named characters in those quests that call for them as one would expect.

The Epilogue (spoilers) refers to the "Dark Mountains" (original was "Black Mountains"). "Blackfire Pass" Is now called "Darkfire Pass" (I'm sensing a pattern here!).

"The Empire" is now referred to as "The Realm." This is a big change, but presumably to remove further connections to Warhammer Fantasy (owned by GamesWorkShop).

"The Emperor" has been changed to "The King." We still hear the mention of the Borderlands however.

"Elf and men alike" has been changed to "warriors" being filled with fear (I guess to be more inclusive but less poetic?)

We still hear about the Doomguard, but they are now "Dread Knights" (instead of Chaos Knights).

"Karnak Varn" becomes "Kaba Karn" in this new remake of the final text.

[elvyler]

I think I read someone question in the BIG thread about the cards needing to be cut out of the expansion quest books. I'm pretty sure I saw those same cards when he was flipping through them. So maybe the cards in the back of the books are just for reference.

[Kurgan]

Yes, I believe you're right, there are separate, full size versions of the KK/ROTWL artifact cards included so you don't need to cut anything out this time.

Another change, the Epilogue line about the "Legion of the Damned" is replaced with the more tame "a legion of the undead."

In a few places instead using male pronouns, it says "the evil sorcerer." I guess this was done to further distinguish Zargon from the Witch Lord in the context of the last text (even though technically, they are both evil sorcerers!).

The last page with its blank map has the same distribution of symbols (different from the actual number of minis in the game system box) as the NA version, meaning it only shows two icons for Fimirs and six for Orcs, etc.

Permission is still clearly granted to "photocopy for personal use."

The Instructions Booklet is renamed "Rulebook" and has a nice full color cover as expected (with full color, glossy pages inside). It is still a portrait style booklet.

The booklet is layed out much the same as before (but with different artwork). Verag is still the bad guy of Quest 1, The Trial. Other names appear to be the same as in the NA edition (minus any changes of Chaos to Dread).

Similar to the Japanese version, they will refer to "the Armory" but there is no armory board/tile/sheet... instead you just look at the Equipment Cards deck for items and prices to buy.

Targeting LOS is the same as the NA rules, even the diagrams showing the blocked and unblocked lines of sight looks the same. As before, no searching for Treasure in corridors.

You MAY drink more than one potion at a time (page 16).

Yes, you can still search a pit for treasure "or secret doors" like a room unto itself (page 17).

Using a healing spell to save yourself from dying is still the same as in the NA edition. ("How a Hero Escapes Death" page 21).

The Rulebook includes a lined last page for your own notes. Honestly, even though the glossy paper looks nice, that type of surface is harder to write on in pencil and erase cleanly, so that's kind of not that great, oh well.

[HispaZargon]

Hi, good evening everybody! I don't know if it has already been mentioned but I think the video confirms that KK and RTWL alchemist shop's potions now have their own cards AND they belong to the standard equipment deck. Then, it has not been created any new cards deck for the alchemist shop articles.

[Kurgan]

Believe it or not I'm only halfway through the video, but good catch HispaZargon about the artifact cards for the expansions!

It looks like everything that is a "tile" has the "linen finish" not just the cards, but also the GM Screen (what I call the "Zargon Screen" but I guess would now be the "Mentor Screen") and the punch out tiles too.

The bottom of the GS box has a white cardboard space filler box... that appears to be nothing except to fill space (throw it away or keep it). Too bad, that could have been perfect for the "armory board" although it is wedged in there pretty good.

The main two Expansion boxes are the same dark color around the edges, rather than being color coded red/purple like in classic. We all know the Mythic tier expansion box with the dragon on the back is a larger size.

Boxes are all secured by circular clear "sticker tape" on the edges.

In the Mythic Tier box a tile sheet:

six greenish (dragon?) tiles
six greenish (monster shield?) tiles
twelve "acid trap" (I believe that was Joe's reference) tiles
6x9 square "Ye Olde Inn" (not its official name) tile

Oddly, Joe's tiles appear to have a different finish than the GS tiles, not with the criss/cross "linen" pattern on them in the light.

Inside flap of the "Spirit Queens Torment" (by Teos Abadia) quest book reveals the Alchemist Shop (same as KK & ROTWL), it shows pictures of the cards (that HispaZargon mentioned are actually in there). It looks like this is the quest book where they explicitly introduce the Orc Bard. Also it's pretty clear the evil santa looking dude is meant to be Mentor (not Zargon) in this edition (if it wasn't already painfully obvious... and I'll keep my comments to myself on that for now!).

It's hard to read but apparently the "Bard Hero" can either be used in this quest book or else he is an NPC type character (but if another Hero has died by a certain point, they can take control of him in place of the dead hero). Interesting way to do it, but it looks like you're stuck with him one way or another (it says "can" as opposed to "must" I believe). Mention is made of "finding allies" so there seem to be some kind of mercs you can find in the quest (could they be renegade orcs? don't know yet...)

SPOILERS: Apparently an Elf lady ("sage and diviner for Mentor") gives you your mission this time, and she has an Orc scout working for her. She also mentions "the gods" so there's a little dose of religion in part of the game to flavor the world.

The action takes place near someplace called "Wyvern Keep" and the tomb of another figure...

At least some of the new quests (much like Rogar's Hall) have Wandering Monsters that are multiples (more than one monster at a time), similar to the later classic quest packs, so the difficulty increases!

[Odanan]

Which kind soul will scan and share the cards (specially the new or changed ones)?
Maybe the Quests too (so we can adapt them for private use in our old editions?)

[Kurgan]

We'll tread carefully on such things here for fear of attracting unwanted attention from the big guys.

Best to just share for now the new text content (not scans), that can then be easily adapted and converted to other formats as you suggest.

[cynthialee]

Which kind soul will scan and share the cards (specially the new or changed ones)?
Maybe the Quests too (so we can adapt them for private use in our old editions?)

The admin/mod team has made it clear that we don't want to step on the corporations toes and such things as scans of the new stuff is verbotten