Ye Olde Inn

EQP Mage of the Mirror, like the Frozen Horror BQP, is a pretty tough slog as written (even with the adjustments made by AH for the remake of 2023, which do help), so where is what a solo hero would find in the first three adventures?

These quests are extremely difficult for a basic level hero, despite the intentions of the designers for it to be a way to "equip" a beginner hero. Why would not the three "equipped" heroes merely share some of their gear/gold with the new character? But setting that aside, some will skip these tasks entirely and go straight to the group quests, assuming that the solo hero (in storyline) had indeed proven themselves already. Of course another way is to play the solo quests as written with more than one hero! Two is still challenging, three is routine and four is a bit easy for most parties. If you do play these solos as group quests I would suggest simple multiplying the rewards (maybe with differentiated gear) to account for the extra heroes, with the "title" hero getting the original intended reward. Then again you could simply give out multiples like three sets of Elven Chainmail and a Wizard's Cloak for instance for MOTM.

*Something interesting in the draft notes, there is the suggestion that the designers were wanting to make it so every piece of furniture in a room could be searched individually (not just a single search to reveal all, as in the standard rules) and not just treasure chests either. This would certainly have slowed down gameplay, and really was only anticipated for solo quests where normally only a single search was possible. Would that apply anytime there was furniture or only when more than one piece existed in a room? Leaving that speculation aside...

Quest 1: Elixir of Life, Elven Bracers (only in remake edition). Elven Chainmail for completion. Up to 550 gold coins may be possibly found using the treasure deck*.

Quest 2: Potion of Healing (+4 BP), Helmet. 500 gold coins, another 150 for completion, (another 550 may be possibly found using the treasure deck*).

Quest 3: Potion of Healing (+4 BP), one Weapon of the Elf's choice from the Armory, 500 gold coins (Treasure Deck is not used in this quest, so no extra gold can be found).

The number of possible room searches for treasure are less in these quests than in the Frozen Horror solos, but it is still possible for a very lucky Elf to find all of the gold inthe treasure deck as well as what is found in the quest notes.

So 150 gold plus potentially up to 2,150 gold at maximum... the latter of which is enough to buy a Longsword (or Battle Axe; whichever one you didn't get from the Armory chest), Crossbow, Toolkit and have 750 left over for Potions!

Edit: Yes, forgot the "Treasure Horde!" (+300 gold coins) card in the OP that's to be added to the Treasure deck. You're not guaranteed to draw it, but still...

Don't forget the Treasure Horde! card. It increases the Treasure Card maximum value to 550 gold coins in the first two Quests.

I totally forgot the the extra gold card, thanks!

I think Avalon Hill lucked out with the last minute catch. Reducing the Ogre Body Points was a good move, but irrelevant for the solo quests as there are no Ogres. However the fact that they realized the Elven Bracers didn't appear in any of the quests gave them a great opportunity to fix Quest 2, On Sacred Ground.
Quest 2 houses not 1, but 2 Giant Wolves, which can totally decimate the Elf even with the Elven Chainmail. I still don't know for certain if the Elven Chainmail was a "glitch" intending to be the Elven Bracers in the original (I hate that they never made a card for it). But just the same, Elven Bracers and Chainmail gives the Elf a much better chance at completing Quest 2.

When they reprinted Frozen Horror, no effort whatsoever was made to fix it, as if they never listened to fans about this quest pack being broken. At least at a minimal they made some saves to Mage of the Mirror.
The Elf also has spells to help him while the Barbarian has to rely strictly on braun. Although a player might be eager to use the Elf Spells if you introduce them in this quest pack. The Elf is best off with Earth Spells for Quest 1 and Water Spells for Quest 2 & 3.

The main appeal of these packs is the sheer amount of NEW CONTENT. People drool over the new miniatures, the many tiles, the new rules sound shocking and interesting... but once you play it, the reality sets in that there wasn't enough testing. And the fact is that some potential fixes were on the cutting room floor. AH was in a different position, trying to relaunch HeroQuest with very little information, apparently. Even hardcore fans probably only remembered the game they grew up with, not how it was across the ocean.

wallydubbs wrote:I think Avalon Hill lucked out with the last minute catch. Reducing the Ogre Body Points was a good move, but irrelevant for the solo quests as there are no Ogres. However the fact that they realized the Elven Bracers didn't appear in any of the quests gave them a great opportunity to fix Quest 2, On Sacred Ground.
Quest 2 houses not 1, but 2 Giant Wolves, which can totally decimate the Elf even with the Elven Chainmail. I still don't know for certain if the Elven Chainmail was a "glitch" intending to be the Elven Bracers in the original (I hate that they never made a card for it). But just the same, Elven Bracers and Chainmail gives the Elf a much better chance at completing Quest 2.

A lot of things about these packs came into sharper focus upon seeing the pre-release drafts from the 90's...

The Elven chainmail was intended all along (it appears in Kathryn L. Connors' drafts) the only question was whether it was an "Elf only" artifact (It was originally intended to be, in the release version anyone but the Wizard could wear it and in AH's remake its strongly implied to be Elf only again). Not including the Elven Bracers was a mistake, just like not including the Armband of Ice in BQP. The thing is that both packs at the time suffered from the same "card limit" for the box. Hence stuff that might otherwise have gotten a card (like Sinestra... she's the big boss of her pack just like the Frozen Horror is of his and he got a card), didn't. But no such restriction existed in the remake versions... (well they too have a per box budget I presume but another slip of paper doesn't add up to much compared to a piece of sculpted plastic). So despite Phoenix's fix from the 2000's that many liked, it was just an inaccurate guess (I thought giving it as a reward for completing all three solos would have been cool). Instead, as we see, the logical place to put the Elven Bracers was in one of the formerly empty chests and sure enough that was their solution.

Mrs. Connors the quest writer had the opposite problem of Stephen Baker... her quests were WAY too hard. In the drafts you can see that there were indeed full BP Ogres in the early Quests. During the editing process these were replaced with Fimir. So many of the "Abominations" you encounter early on were originally Ogres! Also, when you encounter one Giant Wolf, a lot of times it was originally TWO. The double jumping (and blind square jumping) mechanic was left out at the last minute, otherwise the traps stacked up in front of doors would have made a lot more sense.

Does it help? Yes, but the fixes don't go far enough in terms of making these quests great fun for a basic level, inexperienced HeroQuest player controlling the Elf. Like the Frozen Horror, work is needed on Zargon's part to make it fun for most players.

Even the stuff from the drafts (like the half price potions that have 50% failure potential) wouldn't have fixed everything. But they still sold. People still like the plastic inside the box and the colorful tiles and the ideas to make their own stuff. It's a mixed blessing. I guess it's a good thing I didn't get to own and play these packs when I was a kid, or it might have soured my memories of the game for years to come.

When they reprinted Frozen Horror, no effort whatsoever was made to fix it, as if they never listened to fans about this quest pack being broken. At least at a minimal they made some saves to Mage of the Mirror.
The Elf also has spells to help him while the Barbarian has to rely strictly on braun. Although a player might be eager to use the Elf Spells if you introduce them in this quest pack. The Elf is best off with Earth Spells for Quest 1 and Water Spells for Quest 2 & 3.

Given the development cycle (18 months) AH is working with there just wasn't time to figure this out before it was already too late, hence the last minute digital fix. The higher ups probably just saw the absurd prices BQP was going for online and presumed this was the perfect place to start. The last thing they were hearing fans saying during the Haslab campaign was "don't change anything!" (or change as little as possible) so applied to the franchise as a whole, that's what we got.

Of course deeper research into the fan community from the past few decades would have showed them that yes, people did think that BQP & EQP felt "broken" in terms of difficulty, and that WOM felt incomplete, and that there were many unanswered questions when it came to ATOH how best to adapt it. Thankfully after FH they were able to give greater amounts of attention and research into adapting these packs while maintaining a decent level of nostalgic preservation as well.

The thing about EQP and BQP is that they really aren't a big deal IF the heroes who are playing are fully stacked, like these are the same heroes who have conquered the 14 quests and survived KK and ROTWL. They are swimming in gold to buy as many potions as they need. They will have long battles spanning many hours of grinding, but they'll survive just about anything, even as they grumble about a favorite item being occasionally lost.

But take Doug's preferred path and start with a group of brand new heroes, or worse, a solo hero new to the game and its a recipe for frustration. A couple of bad rolls or choosing the wrong door and start over. The way the books are worded the three quests SHOULD be training quests for newbies but instead, like Rogar's Hall, they are "a challenge for the greatest heroes." In storyline you are trying to "prove yourself worthy" so I guess it fits, but it misleads a lot of players.

Even "the Trial" feels a bit easy compared to some of these in their raw form. So they will probably fail, Zargon will tweak the quest to make it easier, and the game continues on.

Kurgan wrote:The thing about EQP and BQP is that they really aren't a big deal IF the heroes who are playing are fully stacked, like these are the same heroes who have conquered the 14 quests and survived KK and ROTWL. They are swimming in gold to buy as many potions as they need. They will have long battles spanning many hours of grinding, but they'll survive just about anything, even as they grumble about a favorite item being occasionally lost.

Actually, as an experiment I've tried this. I started off with a Barbarian, Druid, Elf & Warlock. The Warlock & Elf died in the Trial, but were replaced with a new Elf & Wizard. The Wizard died after a double attack from a Wandering Monster in Lair of the Orc Warlord, and was replaced with the Rogue. The Rogue died halfway through Keller's Keep and was replaced with a Dwarf.
It was this group: Barbarian, Druid, Elf & Dwarf that made it to Frozen Horror. They were indeed stacked with potions.
With only 4 heroes Frozen Horror was gruelling and all the monsters with multiple body points blocking hallways was exhausting. It Stopped Being FUN! At one point the Druid fell into the bottomless cavern (Luckily the Elf had a Flashback spell). By the time they finished Search for the Scepter they were completely out of healing potions.
There was no way they could complete the final Double Quest with no healing potions. What ended up happening was the Elf drew Air spells. The heroes ended up not going to look for Crystal Key at all, the Elf used the Genie spell to gain access to the Frozen Horror room. I couldn't let them fail at the miles of Frozen Hell they've been through. The Barbarian has Borin's Armor and the Dwarf wore Snowshoes of Speed to counteract Plate Mail.
They lived, but only because I let the Elf use the Genie door spell. (And the Druid had Lifeforce stashed in the Spell Ring).

My point is losing fun in HeroQuest is a big deal as well and being faced with odds you can't possibly win against. Those healing potions will be exhausted in Frozen Horror if you play it without alterations.
Mage of the Mirror, admittedly, isn't as bad as Frozen Horror. Still more difficult than the rest of the quest packs, but more forgiving. The Barbarian was infected with the werewolf bite several times but only twice turned into it. When up against Giant Wolves those Sleep spells are your best friend.

Avalon Hill introduced some crafty suggestions in "Into the Northlands." Despite the App not fully implementing these suggestions, we can make the EQP much more survivable.

The Companion App is inadequate to convey these fixes. For one, it doesn't allow allies in solo quests (though you can get around this by having the Elf use the artifact known as the Fangwarden Amulet)... more later.

1) Like the solo hero in "Into the Northlands" (and the Barbarian in the FH solos), the Elf would get an animal companion in all three adventures. This would most likely be the same 4 BP wolf (who can't open doors so if the Elf perishes, the animal will get stuck and unable to win the quest). Like mercenaries, the animal can't find treasure and can only have spells cast upon it or potions administered by the adjacent hero (and no monsters adjacent).

2) Rogue rules indicate AH intends double attacks against the same target to mean only one of those attacks can be defended against (the target gets to choose which one). So the power of Orc's Bane (if you have it, not many orcs in this adventure), Heroic Brew, and Elven Speed (Celerity) greatly increase. No Polar Warbears in this one! Also remember that AH interprets the crossbow to be able to hit the four close diagonal squares (so that increases the power of the Crossbowman mercenary too).

3) Group quests are designed for the classic four heroes. Yes, the Elf might choose Elf Spells (Hypnotic Blaze, Time Stop, and Flashback are a powerful combination) but more likely between him and the Wizard you'll have two healing spells (up to 8 BP!). Getting rid of the Wizard is a big mistake since that's a forfeiture of at least 4 BP of healing, since there's only one hero with 8 BP (though the Elf can have 8 if he finds the Elven Bracers in the remake of Quest 1). According to AH's reading, the Elf is the only one who can use several of the artifacts, treasures, and potions (not counting if you use the Alchemist Deck from ROTDM) so leaving the Elf out of the adventures is a big loss. Losing the Dwarf is a mistake because although the Scout can disarm traps like him, he only has 2 BP so a single failure on a swinging axe trap for example, wipes him out instantly. The default party has 25 overall BP (+8 healing) increase that to 27 when the Elf finds his artifact. Skipping the group quests loses the extra gear of course. Add another 24 BP for mercenaries from FH! Now a wildcard, I guess if you consider the four mercenaries from ROTDM "available to you" then it "only" adds 8 BP to the group, but these Mercs, unlike the FH ones, CAN use Equipment, Artifacts, and carry potions (meaning death saves!).

4) Yes, the final Double Quest is pretty incredible because you can't heal, restore spells, shop, or rehire mercs in between. But you will be hiring all 12 mercenaries from Frozen Horror, won't you? Because AH recommends it. FH was designed for you to hire max mercs (6 in the original, 12 in AH's remake, the only concession to difficulty beyond Into the Northlands!). The 5 BP Ogres are a merciful nerf, and it means Sinestar (who is far less powerful than the FH... who despite having a library of spells, doesn't have enough BP to survive more than a round or two unless the luck rolls heavily in Zargon's favor... no death saves for monsters after all) can't max out her healing.

5) The App isn't fully reliable here. The Ancient Staff reverses not only the effect/damage of the spell against the castor, but ALL monsters in the same room. The App doesn't let you use animal allies everywhere you should be able to. The Bone Wand is only supposed to give you control of all the skeletons you can see for one "turn" rather than "forever" (like the Hearthkin Horn's skeletons).

6) The Death Save rule as interpreted by Avalon Hill (both in their clarifications and in First Light) means if you die on Zargon's turn, you can still use an unused healing spell to survive death, not just on your own turn. But Jungles of Delthrak introduces some alternate ways to play death saves... you could allow a hero to survive another round until someone can cast a spell on his "incapacitated" body with the skull tile, or administer a potion adjacently (impossible if there's a monster adjacent to either of you) under the "heroic" option, or with the "story" option you'll only have a hero die if all of you die (TPK anyway).

7) It gets even better with Mercenaries... if you own FH that's 24 BP of mercs you can hire (yes it will cost you a lot), but you could also add the ROTDM mercs (if you don't have any reputation tokens left, that'll cost you even more gold to hire), and ATOH adds the Ogre Mercenary, yes, you can hire him too! But you only get animal allies if you have less than four heroes (But you could have 3 heroes, animal ally, ogre mercenary, 12 human mercs, 4 elven mercs...!). The App would never allow this of course. You could simulate the extra characters using the Fangwarden Amulet and/or the Hearthkin Horn. Get more gold by playing the Solo quests of course.

As the monsters of Mage of the Mirror and Frozen Horror are rather beefed up, you're going to need some heavy attack dice and defense dice. Thankfully the Elf gets Elven Chainmail. Hopefully the heroes haven't lost Borin's Armor. However, without spells or potions the heroes won't get more than 4 attack dice with a battle axe. This is why Plate Mail on the Dwarf I'd a good idea so long as he gets Snowshoes of Speed. The Wizard, unfortunately, is a weak link for Frozen Horror. Although I understand your plight regarding healing spells, the Wizard has very weak attack even with his Wizard's Staff. The Druid can hold healing spells too, and storing it in the Spell Ring makes it more valuable. The Druid isn't lacking on weapons the way the Wizard does and her abilities carry a shield with an additional attack dice from Shapeshift makes her more formidable in these quest packs. As long as these quests are, 9 spells isn't sufficient enough to carry the Wizard through 1 map in the Frozen Horror.

There's also no way to lose mind points in official MOTM, while searching for treasure is more dangerous for the Barbarian because of the two poisons in the treasure deck.

I'd sooner offer the Sky Orb to the heroes during Keller's Keep in preparation for Borokk in quest 9. Why not? I give the Witch Lord the Dread Spell Reanimation.