Thoughts on the New Orc Bard Hero?

[Jelsabob]

using historical realism, you'd probably agree none of the armor should really slow down any hero and even the Wizard should have no issues wearing it.

In RPGs they usually claim that wizards have to do complicated movements that associate the entire body. Basically a wizard has to dance, gyrate their hips, & do weird hand gestures they couldn’t if their movements were restricted by armor (which really does restrict flexible movement quite a bit, wouldn’t it?) & gauntlets. But really its just a way to balance a wizard among non-spell casting classes

[Jelsabob]

by the way, seeing how people wonder at what the canon is in regards to greenskins, & many hope an orc bard (of all things) is an anomaly)—I looked through the Hasbro Avalon blog & saw https://hasbropulse.com/blogs/avalon-hill/heroquest-concerning-the-guardian-knight a picture which shows that in their new version of Hero Quest, orcs are even among the Guardian Knights! Not sure if anyone has spotted & pointed this out. It is frustrating that instead of coming up with new interesting creatures they have to rewrite the nature of a species for political purposes.

[Chwat]

Orc Bard will never be in my game, simple !

[j_dean80]

Orc Bard will never be in my game, simple !

The card says Bard, not Orc Bard. I just ignore the pic.

[Kurgan]

using historical realism, you'd probably agree none of the armor should really slow down any hero and even the Wizard should have no issues wearing it.

In RPGs they usually claim that wizards have to do complicated movements that associate the entire body. Basically a wizard has to dance, gyrate their hips, & do weird hand gestures they couldn’t if their movements were restricted by armor (which really does restrict flexible movement quite a bit, wouldn’t it?) & gauntlets. But really its just a way to balance a wizard among non-spell casting classes

I've seen some guys in full plate do some wacky stuff... a lot depends on how well fitted the armor is and how physically adept the person inside is. I like to think any restrictions would be based on unfamiliarity with it. Are we supposed to imagine that they come across a poorly made, ill-fitting (but very heavy) set of armor in the game? Who knows, but it's a game mechanic, not anything historically accurate. They're imitating FICTION in which armor slows you down or makes you clumsy and awkward. In a similar way they're imitating fiction in which Wizards are guys who don't wear armor or use big weapons (even though there are examples in popular fiction of medieval style warriors in armor who use magic and sorcerers who wield big weapons like swords too). It's a game mechanic to create difference of style and a semblance of balance and difficulty selection... the big strong guy is hard to kill and he fights well but he is weak against (and using) magic... meanwhile the wimpy guy sucks for fighting but boy can he sling a spell or three!

So I can rationalize the Orcs as being in the "half-orc" lore cast of WHFB 3rd Ed/WHFRPG 1st Ed and/or signs that the war against Chaos is causing more of the evil side's troops to go AWOL. I also have a little head canon subplot about the Orc cleric (another misfit) who has made it his mission to reform as many of his brethren as possible.

The hero mechanics are fine, so is the notion of a "rogue monster allied with the good guys," but the bard design is still pretty goofy to me. We finally had him in one of our games, and it was a bit tongue in cheek, but fine.