Thoughts on the New Orc Bard Hero?

[Goblin-King]

Why does he start with the rapier? It is really bothering me that he starts with the rapier. Why does it bother me so much that he starts with a rapier?

Because it's stupid how these new heroes already start with special equipment.
These neo-designers doesn't seem to understand character progress/leveling.
You reach the end so fast in HQ. Let people feel the joy of improving their heroes bit by bit.

I'm also getting a bit annoyed that all the new heroes use the same gimmick of regaining spells. It doesn't feel unique, but has just become the default.
I feel like it suits the druid the best as she is basically pure shapeshifter, and regaining full life is a relatively hard condition to reach.
But when they all have the ability to regain spells, it just makes the classic heroes seem weak.

[wallydubbs]

Sheesh, the Wording of Inspiring Tale is going to cause another Courage debate.

My opinions on this Orc Bard: he's gotta be gay. It's the only reason I can think of why he'd rebel from being an orc and devote his life to music. Every other Orc in this game has sided with Chaos (Dread?). Yet this one, I can only imagine, was abused by other orcs for his non-conforming ways and eventually sided with the Empire.

Why does he start with the rapier? It is really bothering me that he starts with the rapier. Why does it bother me so much that he starts with a rapier?

But yeah,the rapier is daunting as well. When you have hack 'n slash vs. Stick 'em with the pointy end, a normal sword is going to cut right through the thin blade of the Rapier. Rapiers are only good at blocking other rapiers, strike it with a Broadsword and that thing's gonna snap. He appears to looked more like a pirate (certainly with that anchor tattoo) then a bard.
Plus look at the size of his arms! And he's fighting with a rapier.

Lol, holy crap, Mentor must be so old he finally has dementia for recruiting a Bard and Warlock to join the team. The Druid might be his niece, so she gets a pass.
But for God sakes:

*At the HeroQuest quality control desk*
[reads the above character description]
"not on my watch." as he crumples up the Orc Bard and aims for the trash can.

So much this!

[wallydubbs]

He's the Jar Jar Binks of Hero Quest!

[Kurgan]

Rapiers are bendy (compared to stiffer longswords)... we're talking about a historical weapon here, not a modern fencing foil!

The base we're used to is the Wizard only getting the dagger, the Barbarian getting the Broadsword and the other two heroes having Shortswords. I think the benefit of starting with something like a piece of armor or a better weapon is fine. Yes, they are going to be more limited in the long run... they can't chose different spells (unless you create them) and they have some limitations (only the Wizard had limitations in the original, being unable to use most weapons and wear most armor). You're trying to make the characters different and this is really no better or worse than many of the mods we've created on this forum, honestly (this is not talking about the aesthetic design at all of course).


Wait, what... a gay pirate? ?? Maybe the Village People have goofed up your imagination, but sailors (who LOVE to sing and dance) have in history been regarded as some of the most manly, macho (often to their own detriment) of men. They sing and dance and drink and fight because their lives are so hard and dangerous, it's how they keep from breaking down or keeling over and dying from exhaustion.
That's not saying gay guys can't be tough, obviously they can. Fantasy may be full of stereotypes, but we're talking about actual pirates and characters like that, not modern people cosplaying as them when their day job is filing papers in an air conditioned office and serving coffee to bored rich people.

That doesn't mean I don't think the Bard is silly. OF COURSE HE IS! I'd rather see a Cleric, myself. This comes across as the custom character your friend made, and if that was it, I'd be like "great job, that's really fun/funny." When it's official... hmmm... dunno.

The Rapier of course, has nothing wrong with it. I used to think "this doesn't really fit with Hero Quest" (it's been a fan mod weapon for many years) but then I realized that the same universe that has Hero Quest also has "Battle Masters" which has cannons. It's a mixture of fantasy genres and quasi-historical stuff. Even Lord of the Rings had gunpowder. Longswords (what we call "broadswords") and Rapiers existed in the same era, in Europe (16th century).

He needs a dagger to pair with that sword though... (see comparison pics)

[Cael Darkhollow]

Why does he start with the rapier? It is really bothering me that he starts with the rapier. Why does it bother me so much that he starts with a rapier?

Because it's stupid how these new heroes already start with special equipment.
These neo-designers doesn't seem to understand character progress/leveling.
You reach the end so fast in HQ. Let people feel the joy of improving their heroes bit by bit.

I'm also getting a bit annoyed that all the new heroes use the same gimmick of regaining spells. It doesn't feel unique, but has just become the default.
I feel like it suits the druid the best as she is basically pure shapeshifter, and regaining full life is a relatively hard condition to reach.
But when they all have the ability to regain spells, it just makes the classic heroes seem weak.

Excellent points, I do hope someone from Hasbro is reading.

To put the issue of whether the Orc Bard "fits" HeroQuest to rest for good:

"Orcs are related to goblins, but are larger and much more powerful. They form the rank and file of Morcar's armies and delight in cruelty and slaughter. Savage and vicious warriors, orcs should never be underestimated."

Page 35 of the HeroQuest QUESTBOOK, 1989 (EUR and AUS original version)

Now I ask you does an orc bard good guy in pirate clothes "fit" any part of the HeroQuest canon description of orcs?
I do hope some lurker in the gallery that is actually pro-Orc Bard attempts to refute this fact with a comment, it will be amusing to see the attempt.

[lestodante]

The bonus characters are probably intended for people joining the party occasionally. So they will not play the game constantly and don't need to progress that much. And they just add some small variants.
This could be a reason why they start with a special weapon.
Strange that Dwarf is starting with a shortsword (2 attack dice) instead of a hand axe (2 attack dice too).
Also weird the miniature is beating a very huge two-hands dragon axe! Is that a short sword maybe?

[whitebeard]

My thoughts on the bard hero is that there can only be one bard, "The Bard." An epic dungeon hooligan defeating monsters by calling out their pretentious over-sculpting, throwing closed doors in front of Mormons, and winning poker tournaments with Heroic brew! He's also the Dwarf,

[Orc26]

My thoughts on the bard hero is that there can only be one bard, "The Bard." An epic dungeon hooligan defeating monsters by calling out their pretentious over-sculpting, throwing closed doors in front of Mormons, and winning poker tournaments with Heroic brew! He's also the Dwarf,

The beards match. That confirms it, the dwarf is the bard. I didn't know the dwarf had face problems...

Side note I have no problems with the rapier existing, just with a hero starting with it.

[Kurgan]

The bonus characters are probably intended for people joining the party occasionally. So they will not play the game constantly and don't need to progress that much. And they just add some small variants.
This could be a reason why they start with a special weapon.
Strange that Dwarf is starting with a shortsword (2 attack dice) instead of a hand axe (2 attack dice too).
Also weird the miniature is beating a very huge two-hands dragon axe! Is that a short sword maybe?

Good insight.

The miniatures aren't necessarily accurate even in Classic Hero Quest. After all in HQ you can't insert a new weapon into the hands of the mini (as you can in at least one board game, the name escapes me... Dark world?).

The Dwarf (who appears to be wearing a helmet and some type of armor already) doesn't start with a hand axe (the hand axe didn't even EXIST in the NA version of the game I grew up with)... the Wizard doesn't start with a Staff and appears to be wearing a cloak (Cloak of Protection wasn't available in the NA version, only the Wizard's Cloak which includes a hood). The Barbarian looks like he's holding a longsword in two hands on his miniature.

Zargon can always override this stuff, and make the characters start with whatever they want. I have played games before where we issued random equipment and/or gold to new Heroes to get them up to speed (especially when doing the quests "out of order"). So there's nothing saying you can't make every hero (except for the Wizard) start with the Rapier, if you want.

[Orc26]

We tried some rules for wizard can equip more stuff at one time. I kind of liked it, but for some reason it never stuck.