[Quest Pack] [12 Quests] - Heralds of Chaos

[The Admiral]

I'm getting exited! Round three of this begins a week today. I've got 4 days at my brothers next week and here is our intended HQ Itinery. Not sure we'll finish the last bit, but definitely up to the end of Quest 9.

1) Rescue the Princess - Balash (Wizard) is on a solo quest to rescue Princess Gwendoline.
2) Guardians of Blackthor - Balash and Gwendoline attempt to recover her father's lost treasure.
3) Heralds of Chaos Quests 7-9 - Saracen (Barbarian) and Lidda (Halfling Rogue), having parted company with Eldred (Elf) and Braska the Bright (Wizard) following Quests 4-6, are joined by Balash and Gwendoline.
4) A Friend in Need - Meanwhile, a young Bretonnian Knight, Gilbert Chancier, on his way to a diplomatic mission in Altdorf, rescues an Elven emmissary who has been kidnapped on his way to the same talks.
5) journey to the bottom of the Crypt - Having arrived in Altdorf, Gilbert and the Elf volunteer to solve the Emperors ancestor problem below his palace.
6) The Emperors new clothes - Gilbert and Elf, having now come to the attention of Mentor following their recent exploits, are asked by him to help Balash and Gwendoline recover some more of the Emperors lost property. He really should be more careful!

All the above playtested except for no.6, which I hope to get done this week.

Saracen and Lidda having completed Quest 9, now proceed with the final part of HoC, where they will team up with Dieter von Lubreck (Imperial Noble) and Altus the Alchemist (with a cameo appearance from Groundskeeper Willie), but that is a story for the summer hols!

[The Admiral]

As expected we only got the first three sessions above completed, but the main thing is we completed HoC 7-9.

The closest finish of them all so far, and our first Hero casualty. The four Heroes made it to the last room with a Sergeant and a Crossbowman remaining from the original 12 henchmen (Swordsman, Halberdier, 2 Dwarf Thunderers, 2 Dwarf Axemen and 4 Halfling Archers). A potionless Lidda was killed almost immediately by two Death Knights. With the Death Knights dispatched, the two main fighters, Saracen and Princess Gwendoline managed to corner Bane. My brother assumed he would just use an escape spell as he had previously, but with Bane turned into a Liche, he summoned four Skeletons which had to be placed further into the room where they attacked Sarg and Balash (the crossbowman had succumbed to an earlier Firestorm spell). Balash used his last healing potion and was down to two body points. The brave Sarg, down to 1BP, gave Balash his 2BP healing potion and was then picked off by a Death Bolt. The three surviving heroes then legged it away through the window to end the quest in the following condition:
Saracen 4BP's and 1 x 6BP healing potion.
Gwendoline 5BP's and no healing potion.
Balash 2BP's and no healing potion.

[The Admiral]

I have just been looking at the final three quests in preparation for our summer session. The final central room is not in the file of tiles. Do you know where I could download it please?

[Count Mohawk]

The Chaos Temple tile was made by DerfelLink over on the Italian HeroQuest forum. Regrettably, it is not a high quality image:

I have added this one to the ZIP file on the first post as well.

By the way, if you need more 1x2 coffins to print, drathe has a sheet of 24 available on the main site. Check Tiles -> drathe's, and they'll be there.

[The Admiral]

Brilliant, thanks for that.

I'm okay for coffins. I use the ones from D&D Castle Ravenloft to supplement my RotWL coffins.

[The Admiral]

The use of Holy water is fairly specific on the card. It was however written for the standard game when the only undead were the figures in the box. As it states "any undead" on the card, was it your intention for Holy Water to be able to kill Death Knights?

My inclination for Holy Water is to allow it to inflict 2BP's on an undead creature. This would kill the basic monsters, while inflicting damage on, or finishing off, more powerful undead monsters?

[Count Mohawk]

Ah, I forgot to list Holy Water's effect. I don't think there's a standard for US Holy Water, although the EU version did have one such card in the Treasure deck, which could destroy any one Skeleton, Zombie or Mummy. Death Knights are stronger than those monsters, but they are normal Undead figures, so played literally Holy Water should destroy them too.

At my table, however, I play Holy Water as dealing 2BP of damage to any Undead figure within throwing distance, which is reasonably standard among other rule systems. This retains all of the item's original functionality, but is not quite strong enough to instantly destroy a Death Knight, although it will be grievously wounded.

I did not include any printable Holy Water cards at the back of the Heralds of Chaos PDF file, and I don't plan to, mostly because everyone plays Holy Water differently. Therefore, feel free to interpret its effects in whatever way you prefer most. I did add my preferred game text for Holy Water to the Artifact list there, however. I have also made Lich!Bane in Quest 12 slightly less threatening by reducing his speed from 9 to 7 and explicitly describing how he reacts to Holy Water (specifically, it now stuns him for two turns, just like an attack from the Spirit Blade would). The updated PDF file is available for download from the first post.

[The Admiral]

Ah, I forgot to list Holy Water's effect. I don't think there's a standard for US Holy Water, although the EU version did have one such card in the Treasure deck, which could destroy any one Skeleton, Zombie or Mummy. Death Knights are stronger than those monsters, but they are normal Undead figures, so played literally Holy Water should destroy them too.

At my table, however, I play Holy Water as dealing 2BP of damage to any Undead figure within throwing distance, which is reasonably standard among other rule systems. This retains all of the item's original functionality, but is not quite strong enough to instantly destroy a Death Knight, although it will be grievously wounded.

I did not include any printable Holy Water cards at the back of the Heralds of Chaos PDF file, and I don't plan to, mostly because everyone plays Holy Water differently. Therefore, feel free to interpret its effects in whatever way you prefer most. I did add my preferred game text for Holy Water to the Artifact list there, however. I have also made Lich!Bane in Quest 12 slightly less threatening by reducing his speed from 9 to 7 and explicitly describing how he reacts to Holy Water (specifically, it now stuns him for two turns, just like an attack from the Spirit Blade would). The updated PDF file is available for download from the first post.

Yes, I'll go with your 2BP interpretation as that was my thinking as well. Yes I was thinking Bane as a Lich seemed a bit nippy. It fits in with the whole undead being slower concept. I like Holy water stunning him for two turns. As a specifically anti-undead weapon that is useless against any other creatures, except for quenching their thirst, this seems very appropriate. Thanks for the updated doc.

You could also add the Enchanted Dagger to the Artifact list.

[The Admiral]

I'm currently playing through the final three quests of this with my own group of Heroes, before I play this with my brother in the summer. I'm just moving onto quest 11, where the living rise again as the undead once killed. This is a brilliant idea and will create some real atmosphere and problems for the Heroes, especially initially when they are caught by surprise.

To increase the atmosphere of the dead rising, maybe the risen monster could be an actual undead figure? I was thinking a Mummy for a Chaos Warrior, a Zombie for a Fimir, and a Death Knight for a Chaos Fury.

[Count Mohawk]

To increase the atmosphere of the dead rising, maybe the risen monster could be an actual undead figure? I was thinking a Mummy for a Chaos Warrior, a Zombie for a Fimir, and a Death Knight for a Chaos Fury.

That would work. Your suggestion is arguably better than my listed text, as it doesn't require anyone to remember which figures are Undead vs which ones are still alive. Aside from the three main types of living monster listed above, there's also the one random Chaos Priest with Firestorm in the corner of room B; whether he comes back as a Skeleton or not at all is of no concern to me. Also, the hallway Chaos Warriors with Crossbows don't get to keep those weapons when they reanimate.

Although I didn't say so in the notes, I would advise against outright telling the Heroes about the gimmick of the Halls of Shambling before they deduce it for themselves. The first room after the starting Spiral Stairway has two Fimirs in it specifically to acquaint the Heroes with the Quest's reanimation effect. Incidentally, does anyone in your party have the Spirit Blade?