4 Alternative Heroes
Posted: April 2nd, 2014, 12:21 amI'm in that awkward phase of life where I'm out of college but not yet ready to live on my own, so the only guy I have around to play Hero Quest with is my brother. Not too long after we had finished Slev's HQR (yes, in its entirety 
), I asked him if he'd be interested in starting over with a new set of Heroes... and the following four are the results of that session of brainstorming. In no particular order, they are:
The Musketeer
Body 7
Mind 3
Move 2d6
Starting Equipment: Dagger, Crossbow Pistol*, Leather Tabard*
*The Crossbow Pistol is a weaker variation on the Crossbow; Heroes roll 2 dice when attacking with it instead of 3.
*In my system, Heroes only have 1 base Defend; the Leather Tabard is a simple +1 Defense armor to bring starting Defend dice back up to 2. Chain and Plate add +2 and +3 instead, respectively.
Special Ability: When using a Gun (crossbows, pistols and rifles), you may choose to reroll your entire attack roll before your attack target rolls for its Defense.
Fantasy gun control has officially been repealed! Hero Quest is sufficiently modular to allow for the inclusion of rudimentary firearms and explosives, the exact statistics of which I will have to detail on a future day. The Musketeer, of course, is a Hero designed to give players more incentive to use these newfangled devices by increasing their utility. The 'free reroll' effect may seem powerful, but it sums to only a very slight increase in average damage, as taking rerolls with a nonzero number of Skulls showing may occasionally backfire by landing fewer of them on the second try.
The Amazon
Body 6
Mind 4
Move 2d6 (+2)
Starting Equipment: Shortsword, Leather Tabard
Magic: One Spell Group
Special Ability: When rolling red dice for movement, add 1 to the result for each die rolled.
An alternative take on the Elf (and in fact a 'strictly better' variation). Nothing special.
The Woodsman
Body 6
Mind 3
Move 2d6
Starting Equipment: Hand Axe, Leather Tabard, (implied Tool Kit)
Special Abilities: You have the natural ability to Disarm traps by rolling anything but a White Shield on one combat die. Also, whenever you trigger a Trap, you can avoid all damage from that trap by rolling a Skull on one Combat Die.
An alternative take on the Dwarf. The Woodsman has an inferior chance to actually disarm a trap, but his ability to dodge traps makes up the difference - and then some if he stumbles upon a trap in the ordinary proceedings of the game. The ability is probably not worth the Woodsman's BP/MP total of only 9, though...
The Alchemist
Body 5
Mind 5
Move 2d6
Starting Equipment: Dagger, Leather Tabard
Magic: One Spell Group
Special Abilities: You can attempt to create Potions from ingredients found in dungeon rooms. Roll one Combat Die for each of your Mind Points. For each two Black Shields you roll, you create one Potion, the type of which is determined by a further roll on the Alchemy Table. You may only use this ability once per room, and only if no Monsters are within sight.
Restrictions: You can only use Weapons and Armor that a Wizard would be able to use.
And bringing up the rear we have the Alchemist. He may not look like much (a Wizard with one Spell Group, you ask?), but his Alchemy ability actually broke the game in its original incarnation (I think it might have been either one Walrus or two White Shields, but I don't remember). The Alchemist doesn't need to create much more than two Potions per Quest for the Heroes to collectively have enough snake oil to buy out the entire Armory by the middle of the base system. As for what kind of Potions he makes... well, have a gander at the table below. Most of these are shamelessly lifted off Slev's stuff:
Oil of Alchemy converts any one item, weapon or object into a hunk of solid gold, sold for 100 Gold Pieces.
Naturally, some of these are quite powerful. If you want an Alchemist in your party, you should strongly consider toning the potency of the Potions on the list down somewhat. Also, if you end up playing an Alchemist, be aware that selling excess Potions, if your Evil Wizard allows it, can be a quick and easy way to grind gold for equipment, Men-at-Arms or other means of increasing your stats.
Feel free to comment if you find these interesting.
-Mohawk-
), I asked him if he'd be interested in starting over with a new set of Heroes... and the following four are the results of that session of brainstorming. In no particular order, they are:The Musketeer
Body 7
Mind 3
Move 2d6
Starting Equipment: Dagger, Crossbow Pistol*, Leather Tabard*
*The Crossbow Pistol is a weaker variation on the Crossbow; Heroes roll 2 dice when attacking with it instead of 3.
*In my system, Heroes only have 1 base Defend; the Leather Tabard is a simple +1 Defense armor to bring starting Defend dice back up to 2. Chain and Plate add +2 and +3 instead, respectively.
Special Ability: When using a Gun (crossbows, pistols and rifles), you may choose to reroll your entire attack roll before your attack target rolls for its Defense.
Fantasy gun control has officially been repealed! Hero Quest is sufficiently modular to allow for the inclusion of rudimentary firearms and explosives, the exact statistics of which I will have to detail on a future day. The Musketeer, of course, is a Hero designed to give players more incentive to use these newfangled devices by increasing their utility. The 'free reroll' effect may seem powerful, but it sums to only a very slight increase in average damage, as taking rerolls with a nonzero number of Skulls showing may occasionally backfire by landing fewer of them on the second try.
The Amazon
Body 6
Mind 4
Move 2d6 (+2)
Starting Equipment: Shortsword, Leather Tabard
Magic: One Spell Group
Special Ability: When rolling red dice for movement, add 1 to the result for each die rolled.
An alternative take on the Elf (and in fact a 'strictly better' variation). Nothing special.
The Woodsman
Body 6
Mind 3
Move 2d6
Starting Equipment: Hand Axe, Leather Tabard, (implied Tool Kit)
Special Abilities: You have the natural ability to Disarm traps by rolling anything but a White Shield on one combat die. Also, whenever you trigger a Trap, you can avoid all damage from that trap by rolling a Skull on one Combat Die.
An alternative take on the Dwarf. The Woodsman has an inferior chance to actually disarm a trap, but his ability to dodge traps makes up the difference - and then some if he stumbles upon a trap in the ordinary proceedings of the game. The ability is probably not worth the Woodsman's BP/MP total of only 9, though...
The Alchemist
Body 5
Mind 5
Move 2d6
Starting Equipment: Dagger, Leather Tabard
Magic: One Spell Group
Special Abilities: You can attempt to create Potions from ingredients found in dungeon rooms. Roll one Combat Die for each of your Mind Points. For each two Black Shields you roll, you create one Potion, the type of which is determined by a further roll on the Alchemy Table. You may only use this ability once per room, and only if no Monsters are within sight.
Restrictions: You can only use Weapons and Armor that a Wizard would be able to use.
And bringing up the rear we have the Alchemist. He may not look like much (a Wizard with one Spell Group, you ask?), but his Alchemy ability actually broke the game in its original incarnation (I think it might have been either one Walrus or two White Shields, but I don't remember). The Alchemist doesn't need to create much more than two Potions per Quest for the Heroes to collectively have enough snake oil to buy out the entire Armory by the middle of the base system. As for what kind of Potions he makes... well, have a gander at the table below. Most of these are shamelessly lifted off Slev's stuff:
- Code: Select all
Skull Shield Walrus
1 Unguent of Magic Def Restoration Draught (+1BP / +1MP) Potion of Regeneration (+d6 BP)
2 Potion of Speed Restoration Draught Potion of Healing
3 Potion of Resilience (D+2) Rejuvenation Salve (+2BP) Tonic of Renewal (Fully restores BP and MP)
4 Magic Resist Tonic Rejuvenation Salve Potion of Revival (Miniature Elixir of Life)
5 Oil of Alchemy* Potion of Healing (+4 BP) Choose any 1 Potion
6 Potion of Strength (A+2) Revitilisation Potion (+6 BP) Choose any 2 Potions
Oil of Alchemy converts any one item, weapon or object into a hunk of solid gold, sold for 100 Gold Pieces.
Naturally, some of these are quite powerful. If you want an Alchemist in your party, you should strongly consider toning the potency of the Potions on the list down somewhat. Also, if you end up playing an Alchemist, be aware that selling excess Potions, if your Evil Wizard allows it, can be a quick and easy way to grind gold for equipment, Men-at-Arms or other means of increasing your stats.
Feel free to comment if you find these interesting.
-Mohawk-