Hero Collection II: Rogue Heir of Elethorn (Oct-Dec '22)

[gootchute]

Why are people assuming the rules for monsters with multiple attacks from The Frozen Horror are used by the Rogue? I've never once seen anyone assert that a hero drinking a Heroic Brew should be treated the same?

For the record I think the Frozen Horror rule. I will treat multiple attacks just as we always have for heroes, they are defended against as normal per attack whether it is one or two targets.

[Nlinindoll]

It’s not an assumption. The lore paper that comes with the Rogue insert spells it out: https://imgur.com/a/ueG2cV1

And as it pertains to Multiple Attacks with Heroic brew, Zargon has confirmed it on Twitter: https://twitter.com/seekhashem/status/1 ... xoC7uxJd6w

[Kurgan]

I'm playing my Frozen Horror campaign using the Draft notes rules (from 1992) which means multi-attacks against the same target are stacked as a single "large attack" that the victim defends against in its entirety (so no "unblockable" attacks). The result is that the attacks are either the same as they would have been, or a bit weaker, which doesn't help the Rogue much I suppose (and the Rogue was a new invention of the Avalon Hill team as opposed to something from the old days). But we'll see how it goes.

Clearly they intend now (as the "final version" of the Frozen Horror did in '92) that the victim could only roll defense against one attack and the other would have been unblockable. They built this into the Rogue as well.

The old draft notes also indicated they intended to make the "multi-attack" rule uniform between monsters and heroes. Officially at that time only the Polar Warbear had multi-attack ability, while the heroes had many opportunities to attack monsters this way via potions and artifacts (even retro-actively going back to the Game System if one chose). Other characters were planned for the unreleased packs that had multi-attacks like this as well, so you'd have had heroes AND monsters doing it. In the new Avalon Hill remakes the heroes get the benefit, as only Polar Warbears can pull off the trick. It certainly benefits the heroes to have unblockable attacks, and monsters with them are of course going to be stronger.

But I don't always agree with their interpretation of the rules (for instance, their "rulings" on the Crossbow that it hits the four orthogonal adjacent squares, or that Courage should only last for one attack, or their "oops" on the Hand Axe for the Wizard which I take advantage of rather than correct). I also have no problem giving metal helmets to hero characters that "cannot wear metal armor." Of course their response to anything like this is "play it how you want to" which is correct.

[gootchute]

Oh the lore card, I didn't bother reading that as I didn't think it has rules! Well that makes the rogue a bit better than I had thought, so I'll not let them start with a bandolier.

So this is truly how multi attacks are supposed to work for both heroes and monsters. Well, at least it opens up cool custom monsters like a goblin sneaky git with 2 daggers, or orc berserkers with 2 short swords.

[Kurgan]

Now the question some will ask is, does that "lore sheet with Rule Clarifications on the back" count if you don't own this pack? They're not asking you to use most of the new rules from Frozen Horror/Mage of the Mirror in the Game System/KK/ROTWL (though a few of them were introduced retroactively via "New Beginnings" which they suggested as a new quest before the main adventure... though the HQ Board Game Companion App separates them out into its own section).

It reminds me of the "official quest order lists" which most players can't actually follow, because they aren't able to purchase those "out of print" (exclusive) components...
Of course from AH's perspective it was just a nice opportunity to throw in another update, though I'm surprised they didn't gather it into a digital release, which is "free" for anyone with internet access, and much easier to keep for printing for the table than some tweet or discord comment...

[wallydubbs]

So I finished off the initial Game System of Hero Quest with the Barbarian, Druid, Elf and Rogue. Barbra and Galadreil were fine once accumulating all their weapons and Armor. The Rogue (Elron) could only go so far since the only armor he's allowed to wear is the Bracers and he and the Drew would fight over who had the right to wear them. Once acquiring Orc's Bane, being a short sword it didn't disqualify him from using his Ambidextrous skill. I personally found this to be a great weapon for the Rogue, getting 3 attack dice when combined with Opportunistic Striker. As much as Orc's would be a preferred target, I've seen him take down Mummies and Abominations with it.

I really thought the Rogue would stick despite his weak defense. The Witch Lord DID kill him in Return to Barrok Tor, but Druid brought him back with the Elixir of Life. However it was in Keller's Keep or Kaba Karn that he met his permanent end.it was in the Spiral Passage, the treasure deck was unkind: 4 wandering monsters and 3 Hazards. The only good treasure found was a potion of Strength and 25 gold. Reaching the final door with 8 orcs and a Dread Warrior, Barbra was stuck in the room fighting them, Galadreil had no way of getting in so Elron used his Combat Mobility and aided in the fight with Orc's Bane, but the Dread Warrior dropped him from 3BP to 0 and he had already used his healing potion earlier. Drew, in the meantime was disarming all the traps in the hallway with her toolkit. It was a good run for the Rogue. But now in the middle of Keller's Keep the other heroes will find a new companion. I found it fitting that this being an ancient Dwarven Stronghold, the new hero would be a Dwarf they encounter before starting the Dwarven Forge. I'm curious to see how this will go.

[Kurgan]

The Rogue(s) is/are shown on the Rise of the Dread Moon box art. I wonder if this means that there is an alternate sculpt of these characters included, or if they are just incorporated into the story somehow ("sold separately"?) ...

Since the Rogue, unlike the Guardian Knight, was not a limited time exclusive originally, I wonder if this means there will be multiple heroes included (even if they are "bad guys" as the art seems to indicate). Or maybe they just "turn evil" temporarily for this expansion? Head on over to the Dread Moon discussion...

[deathorus]

who has hero quest rogue cards back?

[wallydubbs]

The Rogue(s) is/are shown on the Rise of the Dread Moon box art. I wonder if this means that there is an alternate sculpt of these characters included, or if they are just incorporated into the story somehow ("sold separately"?) ...

Since the Rogue, unlike the Guardian Knight, was not a limited time exclusive originally, I wonder if this means there will be multiple heroes included (even if they are "bad guys" as the art seems to indicate). Or maybe they just "turn evil" temporarily for this expansion? Head on over to the Dread Moon discussion...

I'm not entirely convinced that that's the Rogue. It's fun to theorize and likely that this takes place in the Elven Kingdom, although that would somewhat explain the "traitor" comment, but it seems likely to register to either Ragnar or whomever the bearded figure villain is. I'm going to wait to see how this plays out, but including the Rogue as a villain in this kinda disqualifies using the already accessable figurine in this quest, which I don't think would be the case.

[QorDaq]

...including the Rogue as a villain in this kinda disqualifies using the already accessable figurine in this quest, which I don't think would be the case.

My "Hope" is that we could see an enemy variant Rogue-like minion as a new Elven unit akin to the Archer and Warrior. I'm also really hoping that there is a minion Elven Spellcaster as well.

That said, I agree that the Rogue (on par with the retail character pack), as a monster of the week villain, is less likely.