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The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Discuss general topics relating to HeroQuest that don't fit well in the categories below.

Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby wallydubbs » Tuesday April 16th, 2024 7:55pm

j_dean80 wrote:He seems like such a great guy. Willing to dig through old notes just to appease our questions about a game he made years ago.


I'm taking it lightly and not even sure he'll reply, but I did send him the questions. He DID seem to appreciate the fact that I knew we couldn't pose questions about Frozen Horror and other expansions. So maybe he will try to look up the answers or he's just being nice and I'll get a reply that he couldn't find his notes. But he does seem like a nice guy and he's aware of our community and grateful for our fanbase. Here's to hoping. I'll let you guys know if he writes back.


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Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby lucapaschi » Wednesday April 17th, 2024 2:23am

One question that was not answered, but seems interesting to know about is if any other expansion was planned after WoM or ATOH. In the american drafts it is implied there might be more to come if the NA packs are successful, so it’s interesting to know if there were ever talks about something more that wasn’t (fully) developed in the end for EU/ROW.
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Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby wallydubbs » Wednesday April 17th, 2024 8:24am

lucapaschi wrote:One question that was not answered, but seems interesting to know about is if any other expansion was planned after WoM or ATOH. In the american drafts it is implied there might be more to come if the NA packs are successful, so it’s interesting to know if there were ever talks about something more that wasn’t (fully) developed in the end for EU/ROW.


I did ask something similar , as he had previously implied that there were other quests and storylines, if not a whole quest pack that he submitted to Hasbro. I asked if he knew if Hasbro would use them for future expansions or were just going to sit on them.
He doesn't work for Hasbro, in fact they may not even be the company to publish Where Heroes Dare, so I doubt he'd know what their plans are.


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Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby wallydubbs » Monday April 22nd, 2024 12:14pm

So apparently the email he gave me didn't work, but I found his business email from the playtest. He wrote back to that clarifying the actual spelling of his Email. But he did receive the questions I put forth and said he'll reply when he has the time.


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Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby cornixt » Monday April 22nd, 2024 4:21pm

I'm amazed he can answer any questions on these at all, I barely remember stuff from games I wrote 10 years ago, let alone 35. Having an authorative opinion on it is very useful, even if we choose to disregard it for mechanical/balance reasons.


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Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby wallydubbs » Monday April 22nd, 2024 6:41pm

cornixt wrote:I'm amazed he can answer any questions on these at all, I barely remember stuff from games I wrote 10 years ago, let alone 35. Having an authorative opinion on it is very useful, even if we choose to disregard it for mechanical/balance reasons.


Indeed, there is much he doesn't remember from back then. But he understands how much the game means to this community. He said he'll look for old notes. I'll post my questions and answers when I hear back from him.


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Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby HispaZargon » Thursday February 6th, 2025 4:12pm

Just to inform you that I have updated the interview in the first post of this thread by adding another question and its answer that we had the opportunity to ask Stephen Baker much later, so we decided to also insert it in the interview for consistency since it was asked in the same context:

    ReV: Regarding the Lore in the classic HeroQuest. We see some references to Warhammer locations such as Karak Varn, the World’s Edge Mountains, and Athelorn in the maps used in the adventure books. We can also read names related to Warhammer, such as The Empire or Prince Magnus. So, is the original HeroQuest located in the Old World of Warhammer? Was there any intention from GW to use some of the Warhammer Lore/Maps Locations, or was it just a coincidence that you and your team used these names?

    SB: Games Workshop was keen to bring the game into their world, and where possible, character names and places were adjusted to match those in the Old World. When HeroQuest was first designed, it had a blend of locations and personalities from Games Workshop, along with some heroes and place names that I had in my own fantasy world that I had been using for role-playing over many years. There was not a lot of effort to create a thorough timeline or lore. Over the years, some questions have been raised as more has been added.


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Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby Kurgan » Wednesday February 12th, 2025 12:11pm

The expansions that were being planned had to do with the Dwarf & Wizard but as SB had left Hasbro in 1992, he wasn't further involved. The latest though is that he wrote more quests at the time of First Light than have been released. Whether those are cutting room floor material or we might see those in the future is unknown at this time.

Two years ago at GenCon Craig Van Ness (of HeroScape fame) was saying how it's typical for a designer who has been around long enough to have lots of unused concepts, drafts, and ideas on the shelf. He doesn't take it personally that for whatever reason (mostly based on financial considerations: budget, perceived commercial viability) they don't get used, but he keeps them around in case there is an opportunity to dust them off and implement them again in some form or fashion.

For all we know Baker's cutting room floor or discarded HeroQuest ideas will find their way into that new game he's working on (Where Heroes Dare). I'd love to see that!
Edit: the WHD page gives a 404 error... wonder what's up?


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Re: The Stephen Baker Interview Jan/2024

Postby wallydubbs » Friday February 14th, 2025 2:16am

Kurgan wrote:The expansions that were being planned had to do with the Dwarf & Wizard but as SB had left Hasbro in 1992, he wasn't further involved. The latest though is that he wrote more quests at the time of First Light than have been released. Whether those are cutting room floor material or we might see those in the future is unknown at this time.

Two years ago at GenCon Craig Van Ness (of HeroScape fame) was saying how it's typical for a designer who has been around long enough to have lots of unused concepts, drafts, and ideas on the shelf. He doesn't take it personally that for whatever reason (mostly based on financial considerations: budget, perceived commercial viability) they don't get used, but he keeps them around in case there is an opportunity to dust them off and implement them again in some form or fashion.

For all we know Baker's cutting room floor or discarded HeroQuest ideas will find their way into that new game he's working on (Where Heroes Dare). I'd love to see that!
Edit: the WHD page gives a 404 error... wonder what's up?


When Baker worked with Hasbro/Milton Bradley he had nothing to do with North American expansions. He put together the first and second European editions, Keller's Keep, Return of the Witch Lord and started fade from the projects when it came to Against the Ogre Horde & Wizard's of Morcar.
Baker had no part in the planned Wizard and Dwarf quest packs, nor did he touch on Frozen Horror or Mage of the Mirror. Baker was only originally involved in the European quests.

That is until recently with Prophecy of Telor and First Light. But there might be others.


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