Solo and 2 man team Heroes.

[Big Bene]

I'm with you in most of your points.
The only thing we differ seems to be what we think is the intention of the original post.

As for how I offer heroes to players and how we handle death...

As much as I understand, the original purpose of the master class heroes is not to be used to replace the former hero after his death (as normal), but to replace a still living hero in case there are not enough players to make a full party of four. The master heroes are stronger than the standard ones in order to compensate for the missing party members.
In this case, and only then, I would rather use the standard heroes, or whatever heroes the players are using in the running campaign, i. e. the still living hero of the player, and not some stand-in hero for one quest. If players then feel the need to somehow compensate for the missing heroes, they can do so by different means, including modifying the quest. It's still better than replacing still living heroes.

If a hero acrually dies and is to replaced by a new one, or at the start of a new campaign, there's nothing to say against the master class heroes, if only to have some variety.

[cynthialee]

I don't like the idea of making the dungeon easier. I do like the idea of stronger heroes in the case of limited numbers. But I will admit to siphoning off some of a dungeons minions on occasion. Now making the dungeon harder is always something I prefer to do, but I try and play it to the heroes on hand. If all we have is basic heroes, I will make the dungeon either easier with less monsters or I issue out some heal potions prior to the campaign. {Perhaps Mentor did not like what he saw in Loretome and decides to help his minions, or perhaps the Wizard discovered enough healer root and Elf berries along the way to the dungeon to concoct some heal potions, maybe they find a dead adventurer who was not lucky and he has a few in his gear...}
Making it harder is easy peasy, instead of extra monsters I rule that certain monsters {or all of them} in a certain dungeon is champion class bad guys. Which translates to 'Defends with White Shields' at my table. That tweak alone does wonders to make the dungeon more difficult.

As for the storyline....I would do what I do with my TT game:
I develop a parallel storyline that ties into the main storyline.

The Black Knight Solo campaign character to be played in place of 4 man quests. Not for use in quests designed as a 'Solo' quest nor in any dungeons designed for 2 man teams.
This soldiers identity is an enigma even to the Emperor. He often shows up when all seems lost and other heroes have failed. Perhaps he is a simple man with a heart of gold and an unbeatable resolve. Perhaps he is a mystic animation of the hopes and dreams of the Empire.
The Black Knight is a Warrior who has a limited knowledge of the magic.
Body: 7 Mind: 7 Attack: 4 dice melee {Long Sword +1} Defend: 6 dice (He wears a black suit of magic plate armor with a shield and may only equip defense items not considered actual armor pieces. i.e. Jewelry, Cloaks, undergarments*....His armor is very light and does not interfere with movement.}
Spells: 1 each from all 4 spell groups. Chose them randomly.
All his equipment at start of play is immune to the effects of a Rust Spell.
3 Times per Dungeon the Black Knight may ignore the effects of Hazard cards. He is too seasoned a veteran to fall victim to most traps and tricks.
He has a trap kit and with it he has the equivalent skills of a Dwarf.
Gold and silver have no draw for the Black Knight and he will not recover these metals from a dungeon. He will collect gem stones and magic items. His main concern is for the conclusion of his quest and the safety of the Empire. He will not equip thrown knives, or a common bow, but he is not averse to crossbows.
Note for RPG style HQ: This Knight always provides quarter when it is requested. He is chivalrous and honorable. He will never violate his oath or honor. He is a sworn minion of the Emperor and he loves his country, king and countrymen.


*For those warriors lucky enough to own a magic Gambeson.
Gambeson of Comfort and Cleanliness: This garment provides its wearer with the comfort only a magic suit of underwear could possibly provide. Due to this enchantment the warrior will always be in good spirits.
Gambeson of Protection: This garment is enchanted so that it provides +1 Dice to all defending rolls.
Gambeson of Health: Once per day this garment may be used to cast a healing spell. The Spell restores 4 body points or mind points, or it may counteract the effects of a poison.

[cornixt]

It might be better to encourage each player to level-up two different characters, maybe have everyone switch to a different party for a few quests. At least that way when one player can't make it there will be a replacement that is personal to one of the players, rather than a random tough guy that no one knows.

[MadMickyG]

How about a Grandmaster monk, than can use two of the monk abilities at a time.
Has the same body points, but would have a few extra mind points through countless years of meditation and study. And maybe a slightly better-than-average staff/spear. But with two monk abilities at once, might not be needed.
Not sure about custom quests, but my basic monk did okay soloing a one of the original quests, although he did have to heal a few times.

I like the Black Knight idea too.

I often find myself with only one child wanting to play. I can persuade the others pretty well, but more often than not its just two of us.

[Decipher]

Why not adjust the Quest instead of creating new characters and boosting stats? Make the wondering monsters Goblins, substitute the fimir with Orcs, Orcs with Goblins and maybe cut the number of monsters down. The whole Zargon getting more turns than normal is a valid argument though but if the Wizard can hang tough in Running the Gauntlet, why can't the other characters?

[Daedalus]

Often when we play our favorite board game we are faced with an insufficient number of players for a full four man team. So we are left with the option of having someone play multiple heroes or we need to introduce a few more powerful heroes for when number of players is below par.
So it occurs to me maybe I could print off a few solo and or 2 man team heroes.
Such heroes would have to be capable of holding their own in the most dire of circumstances, while not being so over powered that they never stand the chance at failure.

Now one easy fix I have used in the past was to simply let the heroes have some extra gear from the Empires armory and a couple heal potions each. Typically I would just pull a couple random artifacts from a preapproved selection.
But that is just one way to work around a problem.

As I was considering this I came to the idea of Master Class heroes, heroes only to be played when there were limited players. (1 or 2 Hero players.)

...

I am going to consider this topic more....
I welcome ideas and such.

For unlinked Quests, Master Class Heroes as substitues sounds like fun. For linked Quests, players may not want their Heroes to miss out on gold coins, potions, and artifacts. This could be mainly greed, but certain artifacts may need to stay in the hands of returning Heroes. Quests that award vital artifacts aren't well suited for Master Class variants.

Rather than make a Quest easier for fewer core Heroes, I think fewer Heroes should be allowed multiple attempts without resetting the Quest or restocking with replacement monsters. Say one free return to the stairway for 3 Heroes, two or three returns for just 2 Heroes. Even with full spells and Body Points restored, I'd think a group handicapped with less attack power would be challenged.

...Also, why do people spell it "Elvin"??? This isn't directed at you specifically, cyn, but I've seen that spelling all over the forum and it's starting to bother me. I've seen "Elven" as the standard spelling, and somewhat more rarely "Elfin", but never "Elvin".

Kinda like Alvin bothers me, too.