RISE OF THE DREAD MOON discussion

[Kurgan]

Perfect. Thanks to Sledgehammer who pointed out Hasbro's page is updated too: https://hasbropulse.com/collections/heroquest/products/avalon-hill-heroquest-rise-of-the-dread-moon-quest-pack

$44.99, July 17th (not 15th)

Product Description
Estimated ship date subject to change, items may ship earlier or later than anticipated without notice
Payment will be collected once item is ready to ship

The dramatic story of treachery and unrest in the elven kingdom continues in this HeroQuest Rise of the Dread Moon expansion! As a brave knight, you’re challenged to finally free Elethorn from the clutches of Zargorn. Embark on dangerous quests, as you seek the aid of the Cadre of the Raven's Veil to help stop Zargorn's forces of Dread from destroying the kingdom. Navigate through a dark labyrinth of waterways, an underground city, and more perilous locations. But be wary—for Zargon's forces grow ever stronger with the rise of the Dread Moon! Immerse yourself in the adventure with 10 daring quests, stunning artwork, 29 detailed miniatures, and full-color tiles. (Requires HeroQuest Game System to play. Sold separately.) This fantasy game for adults and teens has limitless replayability, and you can also create your own quests and stories. Gather friends together for an exciting night of tabletop gameplay in a battle of good and evil. The game is for 2-5 players, ages 14+.

Includes Quest book featuring 10 quests, 29 finely detailed miniatures, 2 mirror stands, 58 game cards, cardboard title sheet, and game guide.

EXPAND YOUR HEROQUEST GAME SYSTEM: This Rise of the Dread Moon Quest Pack concludes the exciting story begun in The Mage of the Mirror expansion! (Requires HeroQuest Game System to play. Sold separately.)
THE EPIC ADVENTURE CONTINUES: Finally free Elethorn from Zargon's vile clutches! The cards and Quest Book in this fantasy-filled HeroQuest expansion feature artwork that immerses you in the perilous adventure
ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION OF MINIATURES: This tabletop game expansion comes with 29 detailed miniatures, including furniture, Elven Warriors, Dread Cultists, Specters, a Dread Wraith, and more
INCLUDES 10 THRILLING QUESTS: The Rise of Dread Moon expansion features 10 quests, as well as full-color tiles and 58 game cards, set in an elven world of monsters, traps, treasure, and Dread Moon spells
ENDLESS REPLAYABILITY: Delve deeper into the HeroQuest world with this expansion pack that adds to the game’s replayability. Players can also create their own stories and design their own quests
GREAT GIFT FOR ROLEPLAYING GAME FANS: This HeroQuest expansion pack is an excellent gift for fans of cooperative games and adventure games. For 2-5 players, ages 14+

Ages 14 and up
For 2 to 5 players.
F6646

Boom! I expect more sites will be updated soon...

Realm of reflection must be the mirror world that the princess is trapped in no?

I can't believe there will be 33 minis NOT including the Knight! If we count 8 Cadre members, 3 specters and Sir Rags that still leaves a bunch.

Edit: Hasbro sites lists different number of minis. But they do mention cultists and a Dread Wraith??? That's sound wicked! I hope it's Charlie Sheen driving a bad ass car lol!

I think you're right. Here's the description:

"The Hero Quest Rise of the Dread Moon Quest Pack is an expansion of the original Hero Quest game that features all-new, never played before quests, new Elven furniture elements, game cards with new Spells and Treasures, a Guardian Knight playable character, premium miniatures, and tile sheets that introduce the Realm of Reflection to the game."

Box Contents
Quest book (10 all new never-played before Quests)
39 Game Cards with new Spells and Treasures
2 double-sided tile sheets that introduces The Realm Of Reflection
33 Premium Miniatures
The Guardian Knight playable character
Translucent Miniatures
New Elven Furniture bringing a new aesthetic to the dungeon

I was about to reference the Mirror Universe of Star Trek and speculate that it takes place in an alternate reality in which good and bad are reversed, but it's probably not something that deep... not even a hint of a "what if" story that can be ignored if people don't like how it turns out or something. Sheer uninformed speculation...

[LucaRocks]

I think you may have something there. I wish they would give everyone an evil twin with a goatee or a scar but I think it will more like the phantom zone. A pocket realm where evil hides out, sometimes evil reflections of places in the HQ main world. Should be fun!

[Kurgan]

So key notes:

10 quests (no surprise there)
29 detailed miniatures, including furniture, Elven Warriors, Dread Cultists, Specters, a Dread Wraith, and more

Dread Cultists... meaning like that guy in the foreground in the robe holding no weapon? Elven Warriors could refer to the guys with pikes and/or the big guys in armor on the cover too. Dread Wraith.. maybe that's the Sinestra ghost thing we see there? (Might be "Big" perhaps)

Furniture... okay, more of that. Maybe some open doorways this time? (since Frozen Horror reprinted the error of asking for way too many doors in several quests).
The Mage of the Mirror didn't have equivalents for ALL the game system furniture... so maybe some tables, torture rack, that sort of thing? I fully expected there to be the entrance/exit doors, but that's not a given necessarily. Still, if it's similar to the conventions set by other expansions they would be expected and they can't assume you will have any of the other expansions already or enough closed doors to represent these on the board (quest design is key, but five closed doors isn't very many).

So much more than the 8 already displayed... wonder what they are? (besides a pair of doors)


58 game cards... Spells and Treasure ... still not sure the breakdown in terms of the new potions or other things, besides the confirmed cards (Knight hero card, 3 knight skill cards, specter monster card, channel dread card).

Speculation then... Eleven Warriors will have 2 (?) monster cards at least (maybe 3 if there are more types of warriors... assuming the Cadre themselves aren't the only warriors). We'd expect the four cadre "types" to each have a card (4 more..). Their abilities (if any) would probably be printed on the card rather than being a separate skill card (similar to mercenaries). How many potion cards might there be? If we assume it's probably going to encompass the previously released expansion pack Alchemist Shops (not just Frozen Horror and KK/ROTWL) that comes to another 12 cards at least (maybe more?). So that's 25 of the cards. How many Dread Spells would there be? We could probably safely imagine there are more than 2, maybe 6 or 7 to be similar to the other expansions with spells? How many new treasures? 4-8 seems like a good guess again based on past packs. Probably a monster card for the "wraith" and "Cultists" ..

So what are the last 16ish? I'm not expecting new hero spells, but who knows... perhaps 10 new artifacts? That still leaves another half dozen cards. Perhaps brand new potions and/or treasures?

Wonder what the tiles will be? What will this portion of the elven kingdom or realm of reflection look like? Maybe some mirror type teleporters?

So they were really careful to keep us from seeing this info yet...! Maybe we'll have to have some fan unboxings to remedy that?

[Kurgan]

Hard to keep up! Special thanks to breathenewt who just linked a TON of images from Zavi just now in HeroQuestFansDiscord...

https://www.zavvi.com/toys-games/hasbro-avalon-hill-heroquest-rise-of-the-dread-moon-quest-pack/14855924.html

Looks like some repeats from Mage of the Mirror in here...

[Kurgan]

The photo doesn't show all the plastic minis to scale but...

Figures (we don't yet know how many of each but can guess, the images only show one of each design):
Elven Archer #1* (pale blue)
Elven Archer #2*
Elven Warrior #1* (pale blue)
Elven Warrior #2*
Big Elf Wearing Armor (pale blue, the box shows a lot of these)
Specter (transparent we know there are at least 3 of these)
Dread Cultist (gray)
Dread Wraith (only one of these, it's also transparent like the specter, and appears to have a double wide base, reminds me of an air elemntal)
Knight hero (red new design from Hero Collection, can see it's a slightly different pose and helmet on top of head)
Cadre #1 (seen before, these are a dark red/purple color)
Cadre #2
Cadre #3
Cadre #4 (we don't know how many of each of these)

So at least 20 figures... if we assume two each of the cultist and big warrior...

Furniture:
Sorcerer's Table
Table (maybe there is more than one of these)
Cupboard*
Entrance Door*
Exit Door *
Tomb
Elf Statue #1 (scenery, or a figure standing on a pedestal for maybe height advantage?)
Elf Statue #2 (female version, the previous one is of male elf)

Bringing the total probably up to at least 29 (if we guess there are two tables, I could see there being multiples of the "statues" too though)

* appears same as Mage of the Mirror

So no Elven spearmen (one of the Cadre members has a pike of some sort and wears a different uniform)

Next up, cards & tiles!

[Kurgan]

Cards & tiles...

So we see an outdoor area...

Mercenary cards... 4 of them. The character on the front looks much like the dual axe wielding Cadre member, I guess this is a heavy hint that the Cadre of the Raven's Veil will be hire-able like the men-at-arms of the Frozen Horror.

7 crescent moon shaped tokens, perhaps they are some kind of blade attack, or maybe they are like the Sky Orb, perhaps they absorb magic or represent instances of a spell that a bad guy (or npc) can use? I could imagine the "cultists" having some kind of ability like this, though it would be interesting to use this mechanic from ATOH with the NA style pack template that uses cards for spells instead.

6 tokens that appear to be caltrops (spikey things)... maybe a kind of trap card, or an obstacle to travel?

5 coins (?) of some kind. They're round and a goldish color, but might be something else, maybe a magical token?

1 tile depicting some kind of hour glass (another magical object, maybe to do with time spells a la Mage of the Mirror?)

4 tokens that appear to be of bones...

5 tokens that are a bit hard to make out... might these be the "dropped gear" I was speculating about for heroes that have been "possessed" or turned into monsters in some way? This is sheer speculation until a better picture or description surfaces.

2 Wooden tokens depicting keys (or could be locked trap doors?)

[Virg]

Minor detail: F6646 will be what to look for when searching https://instructions.hasbro.com/en-us in the future for a pdf copy of the quest book.

[LucaRocks]

Ash has done two vids already about the back of the box and the text of some of the cards (sorry can't post links RN).

[Kurgan]

Good ol' Ash! Two vids!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njlXYvxJyO0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3cwrb3KRyE


He's got the back of the box image in there too... ahead of me by about 7 hours...

[Virg]

I'm going to double down on my past speculation that the now named Dread Wraith creates and spawns Specter's. It's literally straight of the DnD ability for Wraith's is to create Specter's.