Managing Hero Power Creep : Gold & Equipment

[GimmeYerGold]

Anything that has potential to discourage treasure hunting is a bad idea. I have already had issues with players refusing to loot dungeons for fear of pulling a string of hazards. Removing the potions that are unused would raise the chances of a string of hazards.

Seeing it from another point of view, this would encourage heroes to not hoard their potions

EDIT: haha just like any "new idea" I think I have, it's good to recheck the rules! I love coming across things I didn't notice before. In the 1st edition UK rules, they basically already implement what I'm proposing here:



This implies you keep the card until you use, even if that's later in on in the next Quest. However, adding the card back to the deck upon use is a nice balance for any cards that might be missing from a player holding onto them. Also, if good cards CAN go back into the deck after use, it makes shuffling the deck not always a bad thing!

(I do see here that returning gold to the treasure deck was the norm once, so just like any good house rules, I'm picking and choosing rules I like à la carte

[whitebeard]

If I recall correctly, KK's interpretation of the rules involves actually taking any treasure cards away at the end of the quest if they are unused. This is a good protection against multiple heroic brews, etc. being applied in the first turn against your boss.

[j_dean80]

If I recall correctly, KK's interpretation of the rules involves actually taking any treasure cards away at the end of the quest if they are unused. This is a good protection against multiple heroic brews, etc. being applied in the first turn against your boss.

Not in the NA version of KK. It does not mention treasure cards. I do not know if the EU version does.

[cynthialee]

Players at my table record all equipment on their Hero Character sheets at the end of the game.
If they have a pocket full of potions, I am cool with that. I already scale the dungeons to their current power level. (the easy exploit here they have never figured out....just go with a basic set of characters with zero upgrades.)

[Anderas]

This is an idea that can slow power creep via the treasure deck. Standard NA rules are that gold and potions cards are not returned to the treasure deck during the current Quest.

What if unused potion cards are never returned to the treasure deck?

If a potion card is unused during the current Quest, the hero retains the treasure card with their character sheet for the next Quest. (This is handy for reference, as well). The next Quest's treasure deck will lack any unused potions cards that are held by the Heroes, thereby the level of danger in the deck increases, and is relative to the amount of potions the heroes have on hand. If the potion is used during a Quest, the card is returned to the deck in the usual way--only after that current quest is complete, and it will be included in the deck for the next quest as usual.

I actually play it that way. My Hero sheets are folded and can hold the cards until the next game. Nothing is noted. Well. Until my daughter discovered them and emptied them all.

Throwing weapons are not used and not liked a lot. What if a trap denies the passage over an abyss, but on the other side there is a lever that can lower the bridge?

You just have to throw a weapon and hit the lever. Two skulls are enough. Ah you have no two skull throwing weapons? Try with the Longsword or the Battle axe. Maybe it works!

Of course the lever breaks and the weapon disappears in the Abyss.

[cynthialee]

with the cost of swords and axes I'd have to provide a chance the weapon doesn't fall into the abyss.

[Anderas]

It's a thing for over-equipped heroes for sure, Cynthia.

Until now i never had that problem. My 4 colored questbook made the difficulty adjustable, leading to a hero's death here and there;
Plus my new equipment progression has items inbetween that the Heroes actually use, so they spend more gold in total before they arrive at the fully equipped status.

Ah yes and i have the explosive that is one use only, but so attractive it was used some few times. And i allow to buy Mercenaries from the beginning. Nice gold sink, really!

[knightkrawler]

I have potions and tonics.
Potions are used like you're accustomed to from vanilla HQ. You carry them from quest to quest until you use them.
Tonics, however, don't hold up and are lost after the quest if unused.

A way to make the heroes buy more potions is to make them much much cheaper than KK and RotWL suggest.
These are ridiculously expensive. Let the heroes bulk up when they have the money. It will be interesting tactically how they will use them in the later quest packs where, by god!, they will need them.

[cynthialee]

The way I use mercs is a great way to sink gold.
I use them as the occasional wandering monster. A hero may attempt to hire the mercenary. To do so the hero must end their move next to the merc and take a bribing action. The cost of the merc is 2x the listed cost to hire on the card. {The listed price on the card is if you hire mercs before the dungeon.} Then the EWP rolls a dice. If it comes up anything other than a Black Shield the merc joins the hero. If a Black Shield is rolled the Mercenary declines the offer and gets a free attack on the hero, out of turn sequence. This attack may be defended as per usual.

[GimmeYerGold]

The way I use mercs is a great way to sink gold.
I use them as the occasional wandering monster. A hero may attempt to hire the mercenary. To do so the hero must end their move next to the merc and take a bribing action. The cost of the merc is 2x the listed cost to hire on the card. {The listed price on the card is if you hire mercs before the dungeon.} Then the EWP rolls a dice. If it comes up anything other than a Black Shield the merc joins the hero. If a Black Shield is rolled the Mercenary declines the offer and gets a free attack on the hero, out of turn sequence. This attack may be defended as per usual.

Whoa! I like that a lot.