by Bareheaded Warrior » August 25th, 2022, 7:38 am
I get the need to make Tougher Final Battles as due to either a lucky roll or Heroes holding back a few key items for the final battle; Tempest, Courage, Genie, or a potent potion combo the Big Boss tends to die too quick, leading to something of an anti-climax, so here are some alternative ideas…
Draw Out Key Spells Early
Force or at least encourage the use of these key spells prior to the final battle – for example, a door that needs the Genie to open it early in the Quest, Fireburst Traps or similar that need Tempest to disable them or equip a caster Boss with a Dispel Spell or Scroll
Double Trouble
Instead of having a Quest with one Big Boss have two, a Big Boss and a Sidekick, that compliment each other and that the Heroes face together in the final room
• Orc Chieftain (Warlord) + Shaman
• Lich* + Doomguard Champion
• Dread Sorcerer + Dread Champion* or Gargoyle
*I have genericised some of the special monster types in the base game and expansions for use in my own Quests (so Witch Lord is a Lich, the Doomguard Champion, Skulmar I think, from ROTWL is an Undead version of a Dread Champion and so on)
Pair of Bodyguards
Particularly for spell caster Bosses a pair of monsters whose only function is to act as bodyguards / blockers to delay Heroes reaching the Boss by literally standing either side of the Boss
• Orc/Goblin Shaman with a pair of ‘pet’ Trolls (Fimir/Abomination)
• Necromancer with a pair of Mummies
• Lich with a pair of Doomguard
• Dread Sorcerer with a pair of Dread Warriors
Also consider furniture placement to enhance this effect, a Boss caster behind an altar, channelling attacking Heroes through narrow gaps easily blocked by a Bodyguard.
Upgraded Protection
Make the ‘standard’ monsters in the final room, into an elite version of the standard, with upgraded profiles reflecting the Boss surrounding itself with the pick of the elite / veteran troops, “all the Orcs in this room are Henchmen with the following profile…”
• Orcs -> Orc Henchmen
• Skeletons -> Soul Skeletons
Again contrast here, if you have a hard hitting Orc Chieftain(Warlord) then a couple of monsters armed with ranged weapons that can hang back and chip at the Heroes, and force the Wizard into hiding, whilst the Heroes are tackling the fighters can make a difference.
One-Two
A two-strike approach for the Boss (or the sidekick if you combine with Double Trouble) to allow them to appear earlier in the Quest and get in a few strikes before escaping to the final room.
This tactic is used in a few official quests but generally with spellcasters which, as they have a limited number of spells, often weakens them more than the Heroes, so this may work better with the Big Boss or Sidekick that is the warrior rather than spell caster being equipped with an Escape scroll or a secret door through which it makes its escape (any BP lost can be replaced for the final battle – maybe it has a healing potion secreted somewhere on its escape route), although sometimes even their presence early on can trigger a premature cast from a Wizard, even if they escape without even fighting.
False Front
Several different techniques covered here but they all aim to give the Heroes the impression that they are facing the final battle, can assess what is in front of them, and blow their saved stuff accordingly to take down the Boss, however all is not what it seems…as a new threat emerges…
• Reinforcements - At a suitably inconvenient moment (for the Heroes) a side door in the Quest room is opened by Zargon and reinforcements emerge, swamping the Heroes and buying an extra turn of two for the Boss caster
• Fall Back - The Boss escapes (escape spell, escape spell scroll, secret door or similar) at the point of his otherwise imminent defeat into a back-up room with a fresh set of defenders (and if you use a corridor to separate the two rooms then the loss of sight between the two will cause some spell and potion effects to fizzle out)
• Healing Boss -The Boss is equipped with a Healing Potion and/or the ability to Regenerate BPs (my Lich has a particularly nasty ability to drain MPs from his victim and use them to restore lost BPs)
• Delaying Trap - A trap in the final room, a large 2x2 pit trap or secret trapdoors that can be activated by Zargon plunging any Heroes stood in those squares into another room, perhaps with a couple of Trolls (Fimirs/Abominations) or a Mummy or “Pets” – Giant Rats and so on that they must defeat before they can climb back out and re-join the main battle.
• Bigger Boss - The Boss that we all know and love (or at least hate) turns out to have a worst Boss pulling the strings – killing the Boss and clearing the room (so spell effects and potions cease) gives Heroes the opportunity to search for treasure or loot a chest or grab the artefact, which triggers a trap revealing the real boss (or resurrecting the defeated boss or animates a Gargoyle 'statue') like the Shattered Amulet (AHQ Quest)
= white skull, one "hit"
= black skull, one "hit"
= shield, cancels out one "hit"
Editions: 1989 Original First Edition [FE] and Second Edition [SE], 1990 Remake [US], 2021 Remake [21]
HeroQuest Gold new edition based on Original 1989 HeroQuest, holes patched, dents hammered out, buffed to a shiny finish with ~50 common issues fixed for a smoother experience.
HQ Common Notification System to identify squares on the board