Last Sunday was the first time I ever hosted a five player HeroQuest session and it was a lot of fun. My friend JT and his son joined me and my two kids (ages 13 and 21) and ran though
The Trial. Many monsters were vanquished and snacks of dubious nutritional value were consumed. Here are some highlights:
For this quest, my daughter chose to use the female elf miniature
from the Elf Quest Pack which added a splash of color to our drab dungeon.
The quest went along smoothly and unlike our typical HQ sessions, the Wizard
was not under utilized. He even ventured off on his a own a few times, but met with an unexpected foe
Simon the Dwarf
and Sonic the Barbarian
(our youngest players) also ventured off on their own in search of treasure. When the Simon entered this room, my daughter said "Uh oh, there's the alter. You've disturbed their Sunday service!"
The Barbarian assumed his usual "meat shield" role throughout much of the quest until he was reduced to one body point by a wandering orc
. He sought assistance from the spellcasters, but by the time he reached them they had entered the center room and had used their healing spells to save their own skins.
JT, who played the Wizard "Tim the Enchanter" thought long and hard about which spells to use, and his careful consideration saved the day on more than one occasion. His fire spells (and yes, we did make him say "Fire of Wrath") were instrumental in taking down two Chaos Warriors
and his Genie spell proved to be the bane of Verag the Gargoyle
After the Gargoyle was defeated, Astrid the Elf took on the other monsters in the center room and told Tim to seek safer quarters until help arrived. Tim the Enchanter wrestled with the decision and it nearly cost him his life (it was actually quite dramatic with my daughter calling out "I've got this, save yourself!" and JT looking at the elf miniature surrounded by orcs
and replying "I can't leave you like this").
In the end, Verag was destroyed, the heroes survived, and only and four rooms in the dungeon were left unexplored. Everyone enjoyed themselves and JT and his son are now HeroQuest fans who have committed to rescuing Sir Ragnar later this month.