Ye Olde Inn

Has anyone made a homebrew where the Barbarian can break a Yeti hug? Sorry if this is a repeat of someone else's idea but I searched and couldn't find anything.

Since he is from the Northlands, I figured the Barbarian had the most experience with them so he knows how to break their hugs. Or at least how to try to do so.

Basically, if he gets hugged, he takes no damage initially. On his ext turn, he can roll a combat dice. If he gets a skull, he stays hugged and takes the damage. If he gets a black shield, he stays hugged but takes no damage. White shield, he breaks hug, no damage but forfeits his action for that turn. He can still move though.

Please let me know if your tried similar or any other comments. Thanks!

Roll three white dice when grabbed (and on each subsequent turn). One white shield rolled negates damage for that round, two white shields escapes... three white shields does a "wrestling move" to reverse the hold and cause 1 BP damage to the Yeti (and you are free to move as normal after that, but it takes up your action).

And not just for the Barbarian, but any hero... though you could go with what the draft notes for FH said and just roll two white dice (maybe the Barbarian rolls three because he's so big!).

Again for context, back in 1992, the original idea was that the yeti hug did 1 BP damage (both targets can defend from outside attacks) and the victim rolls 2 combat dice initially and each turn. Partway through they upped it to 2 Bp and erased (or forgot) about the hug breaks. Avalon Hill's solution is way more lenient (roll 2 red dice and any 5 or 6 lets you escape?), but considering how hard the quest pack (especially the solo adventures) are, you'll be grateful for the help!

I was limiting it to one dice but three might work instead. Not sure we are advanced enough to incorporate wrestling moves in our games lol. But we'll see... Thanks for the tip!

Might as well share what we've done with our group to balance things out.

We added a custom item, Torch into our game. It can be held either in the stead of a shield (losing the cover) or with a shield as a weapon, but it only has 1 Attack Die. The torch costs 25 gold and lasts for 1 game only, however the players have the option to hold onto an unlit torch and save it for later. Lighting a torch counts as equipping a new weapon (for our group, this is an 'action' and it cannot be performed when adjacent to a Monster).

However, when carrying a lit torch, a Hero cannot be grabbed by a Yeti. In addition, any Mummy rolls 1 less Defend Die against a Hero with a torch. This is what we've done so far, but a torch could easily have other utilities as well as drawbacks (too visible in the dark?) etc.

I used a dagger rule, where whenever a hero is trapped in a hug he defaults to a Dagger, unless he doesn't have it. While in the Yeti hug he stabs his way out with a roll. Something in pain generally releases it's grasp on the thing that's hurting it, so I allow the hero this way out.

Kurgan wrote:Roll three white dice when grabbed (and on each subsequent turn). One white shield rolled negates damage for that round, two white shields escapes... three white shields does a "wrestling move" to reverse the hold and cause 1 BP damage to the Yeti

I like this solution but according to the hero's standard Attack dice. So, the barbarian will roll 3 dice, elf and dwarf 2 combat dice while the wizard may only resist by rolling 1 combat dice but must wait for someone else to help him.
Damage inflict will be 1 BP per turn.

Kurgan wrote:...three white shields does a "wrestling move" to reverse the hold and cause 1 BP damage to the Yeti (and you are free to move as normal after that, but it takes up your action).

Oh no, please... I don't think this would be a good option, I can imagine something hylarius similar to this (I wasn't able to make AI generating a real German Suplex)

Opposing a Yeti hug could be considered a strength roll. Already existent expansion rules can work for this:

• Against the Ogre Horde features the Stone Doorway. Heroes roll a number of Combat Dice equal to their starting Attack Dice. The Stone Doorway is opened hug is broken by rolling two Skulls.
• Kellar's Keep (Quest 6) features a door locked for many years. Heroes roll two red dice. Rolling LESS than a Hero's starting Body Points opens the door breaks the hug.

Daedalus wrote:Opposing a Yeti hug could be considered a strength roll. Already existent expansion rules can work for this:

• Against the Ogre Horde features the Stone Doorway. Heroes roll a number of Combat Dice equal to their starting Attack Dice. The Stone Doorway is opened hug is broken by rolling two Skulls.
• Kellar's Keep (Quest 6) features a door locked for many years. Heroes roll two red dice. Rolling LESS than a Hero's starting Body Points opens the door breaks the hug.

The AtOH method is the approach I’m planning to take when my group gets to FH, with one twist. Rather than needing to roll a static number of skulls, the yeti responds with his own strength roll (3AD) and you break the hold if you roll more skulls than him. This gives decent odds of escape for the barbarian (about 1/3), but even someone like the wizard has a slim chance if the yeti gets a bad roll.

Nice and intuitive--I like it. It is sure to work well for a better-balanced Quest Pack, in my opinion.

Mind Blast from Against the Ogre Horde also has some mechanics that could be adapted to an opposed strength roll, though now I'm diverging to the point where it might work better for another homebrewed monster, say a Giant Tentacle. Both the monster and the Hero roll their starting Attack Dice. The one with the most Skulls deals damage to his opponent equal to the number he has in excess, while a tie deals no damage. In this case, the best defense is a good offense. For the Wizard's sake, only the attack action should be prevented.

manaknight14 solution is also very interesting but how to manage the option of not getting any damage without breaking the hold?