Played the first 3 quests...

[Leander]

I have just played the first three quests of Lurchbrick's HQ version...the 1st quest is really stupid with rooms crowded with many monsters and there's only one small corridor. The second quest is interesting but the goal is to find the staircase. What is the purpose of the Spirit Riders? You don't even have to meet their cold bones as the staircase has nothing to do with them. I don't understand this quest. LOL
Moreover, you lose Borin's Armor and Orc's Bane, all explained with a short but fatal remark: "you will see those weapons crumble into powder"...
The third quest was fun though.

[Ethica]

Hehehe, guess they need some work then. Are you really going to give up borins aarmour abnd orc bane?

[el_flesh]

Aren't those quests the same as in the game??

[drathe]

Yeah, they're the same as in the original game system. I've always been confused with the layout of the Spirit Riders quest and the location of the "Quest Objective" staircase. Although my groups have always searched every nook and cranny before leaving a dungeon.

[Leander]

Maybe the quest authors didn't care as they made the game for children who just liked the miniatures and fighting.

[el_flesh]

erm....that's kind of why I got into HQ ~25 yrs after it came out...I used to play FASA Star Trek all the time...

[Daedalus]

The way to the Spiral Staircase is only found once a Search for Secret Doors action is taken. It's entirely possible a Hero would continue exploring through the door at the end of the hall that leads to the Spirit Riders rather than discover the hidden way out of the Quest. And then there are those who explore everything like drathe's groups have.

It's even possible for Zargon to 'encourage' a wiser Hero to abandon the corridor before a search was possible. Due to the random nature of the Revolving Room, a Hero might first need to face the 3 Zombies in the corridor alone, and that could sufficiently weaken him. Meanwhile, if there was an open path for a couple of Chaos Warriors or Mummies from the other rooms to reach him, Zargon could try to force him to retreat through the door that leads to the Spirit Riders. Monsters don't trigger traps, so Zargon is within his rights to judge that his monsters could ignore the random effect of the Revolving Room (Zargon ain't no boyscout).

To answer the OP's question, I think the purpose of the Spirit Riders is to provide fluff in an otherwise thematically-empty find-the-door Quest. That's enough to attract certain groups to the alluded tombs like moths to a flame. They're seeking out the journey more than the destination.

Wow, a mist that can cause Borin's Armor or Orc's Bane to crumble like some kind of Super-Rust spell. It appears the designers of RotWL were retroactively seeking a way to keep the Heroes from maxing out too early. What will they think of next?

[Leander]

It's not that unusual that the heroes find the staircase before exploring the rest of the dungeon. Many heroes search every new area for secret doors before going somewhere else. Moreover, the large middle room the staircase is hidden in is often used as the room to go for in HeroQuest (boss monster, treasure etc.).

I think I'll slighlty change this quest by adding one locked door...and the last Spirit Rider that dies holds the key in his bone fingers.