What's the harm in adding a 5th hero?

[cynthialee]

I have never had the benefit of a 5th player but there are a number of the more difficult quests where even an extra meat shield won't be much help without serious tactics on the players side. Especially if they have not geared up, or have poorly geared.

A second Wizard may seem OP....but have you ever played a game where the wizard has had every combat spell fail and the Elf rolls nothing on the Genie? Sucks hard. Just happened to me last game. (The Lost Wizard is a hard one with limited gear.) While it got pulled off my Dwarf almost bit the dust twice and used up every heal potion discovered to date. Going into the Fire Mage with no heals other than the 2 heal spells the wizard will have. A 5th player would be very welcome in such instances.

Be glad when they get this App filled out with all the quests for all the books. I like it how it is giving me a first hand view of certain quest difficulty. I may have been a little brutal with how many Champion level monsters I place in the game. (Champion Monster at my table means they defend on White Shields.) But when 2 party members have cross bows, and they are good at placement and tactics it feels apt.

[Kurgan]

(Thanks Anderas!) To cynthialee, Two Wizards might seem OP at first but Stephen Baker's questbook (Prophecy of Telor) allows a Potion of Magic that restores three full spells. Additionally while instructions aren't given, the new Mythic Heroes seem to be meant to be stand ins for one of the classic four each possessing 3 spells.
In the official rules for Spirit Queen's Torment (Abadia's questbook) the Bard is able to replace one dead hero one time in the campaign.

So you could use that as a gauge to see that the number of spells in the group need not be limited to 12. Finding spell scrolls, restoring lost spells, the fact that the Mythic Heroes each have a way to regain one of their used spells, etc. seem to indicate it could work. Now you could say Two Wizards won't work because there aren't enough spells to distribute between them. But it is also true that there are three new spell groups in the Wizards of Morcar AND there is a set of Elf Spells in the EQP so you could divide those up. That's a lot of magic though and you may want to tweak the quest...
Even so, some quests are so hard that this might just make it more fair rather than "too easy."

Then again more cards for a player may mean more time deliberating on a turn, which makes the game longer (even longer than adding a 5th hero who is "pure combat").

[cynthialee]

if you need spells for a second wizard just dig out the various scrolls that are exact word for word of the spells, just call them spells not scrolls and it is golden

[wallydubbs]

I just finished off this quest pack starting with a 5 hero team: Barbarian, Knight, Wizard, Explorer and Rogue.

Although the heavy hitting monsters were a bit too strong for the Rogue, he managed to survive. But the quest pack wasn't without casualties: in the Deadly Depths Vilor cast Sleep on the Knight, so he was unable to drink a potion or activate Stalwart to save his life, but luckily the Wizard and Explorer both had an Elixir of Life.
Tragedy struck in Search for the Scepter as the Explorer and Crossbowmen both doubled rolled , falling into the bottomless pit. This was terrible luck as the the Explorer's Trapsmith skill had proven to be extremely valuable to the group (the group charged him to lead the way into every new room) and since he wasn't a skilled fighter he had an Elixir of Life and some healing spells scrolls, which were lost when he tumbled off the cliff.
The 4 remaining heroes carried on, struggling to hold onto their body points (Luckily the Wizard had a Potion of Magic, reclaiming Heal Body, Water of Healing and Sleep), except for the Knight, who had lots of healing potions.
In a previous quest the Barbarian's Battle Axe was stolen by an Ice Gremlin. Using an Elven Cloak of Passage the Rogue found the Ice Gremlin's hoard room and claimed the Battle Axe as her own. Letting go of Ambidextrous she settled for 5 attack dice with Opportunistic Striker and was doing quite well with it until the Frozen Horror cast Rust on it.

I'll be starting Mage of the Mirror soon with the Elf, Monk, Wizard, Wolf and Knight.

[Daedalus]

It's always good to read about an Inn member that has found a way to successfully alter and finish the BQP. Well done, wallydubbs!

After difficulty, my main issue with the out-of-the-box experience is the length of time it takes to play a double Quest--seems like a huge grind. Do you recall how long it took?

[wallydubbs]

It's always good to read about an Inn member that has found a way to successfully alter and finish the BQP. Well done, wallydubbs!

After difficulty, my main issue with the out-of-the-box experience is the length of time it takes to play a double Quest--seems like a huge grind. Do you recall how long did it took?

I didn't actually count the hours, but it was done over a matter of days and I did change the board a little bit. The Monster Fog room takes forever and a day. It appears twice in Frozen Horror and I remember how long it took the first time, so when it came up.in Heart of Ice, I noticed it wasn't even an important room and heroes didn't even have to go through it to complete the quest, so I just skipped that one.

You're kinda inspiring me to go onto heroscribe, make a map post the alterations I've made for these quests.

[Daedalus]

I don't believe anybody has done that yet. Sounds like a decent option for anybody who'd like a more playable option.

[MonsterMotor]

I don't believe anybody has done that yet. Sounds like a decent option for anybody who'd like a more playable option.

Actually, it has been done at least two times. Look here, and maybe that thread should be moved into this forum section for better visibility:

https://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=6794

Another rework can be found in the quest pool on hquestbuilder.com. That one is very different from my one, and I don't know anything about the authour. Note that both works were done independently of each other.

[Daedalus]

OK, thanks for the heads up. Your topic can now be found in this room.

[MonsterMotor]

Thank you! I appreciate it.