THE CRYPT OF PERPETUAL DARKNESS discussion

[wallydubbs]

I've seen they're rereleasing Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, but who is this Joe Manganiello? I get that he created this quest pack, but why is he popular enough to be on the poster? They're practically using him as a selling point... This quest pack has an illogical beginning, it's not something I'm super excited about. I'd be more eager for another Stephen Baker release instead of this guy.

In regards to "What's in the box?" Due to the name Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, I'm thinking a Jet black miniatures, no new hero (Since Joe Manganiello didn't create one), but there will be a Dragon, it may or may not be the Venim figure (Depending if they still have the Mold) or the Dragon from First Light.
Probably black dice with white outline and the tiles. I'm doubting we'll see a Monitor miniature. Probably another Dread Warrior, Mummy, Orc & Abomination, etc. I doubt we'll see anything new.

[Kurgan]

Mr. Manganiello was unknown to me too (I even forgot he played the bully Flash in the first Spider-Man movie... "I wouldn't want to fight me either!"), but he's played some hearthrob tv and movie characters, a lot of supporting roles and bit parts. He played a heavy in one of the Mission Impossible movies, but mainly the reason he's here is because he was connected with the "Critical Role" series and the D&D scene. He lent that "star power" to the HeroQuest haslab campaign and the rest is history...

Joe may not have created a new hero, but neither did Stephen Baker in his Mythic book, and his set got the Warlock.

[wallydubbs]

Mr. Manganiello was unknown to me too (I even forgot he played the bully Flash in the first Spider-Man movie... "I wouldn't want to fight me either!"), but he's played some hearthrob tv and movie characters, a lot of supporting roles and bit parts. He played a heavy in one of the Mission Impossible movies, but mainly the reason he's here is because he was connected with the "Critical Role" series and the D&D scene. He lent that "star power" to the HeroQuest haslab campaign and the rest is history...

Joe may not have created a new hero, but neither did Stephen Baker in his Mythic book, and his set got the Warlock.

Oh, is that who he is? Still... Not impressed.
The vibes I'm getting by having his picture on the poster screams self-importance. Baker didn't put his face on Prophecy of Telor or First Light. I think because the guy's an actor it got to his head, which is why he's so hard to pin down for negotiations for Hasbro.
Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I've heard about Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, Hasbro has a different deal going with Manganiello as opposed to Baker and Teos Abidea and the guy is more possessive of this quest pack. There's nothing wrong in a man taking pride in his work, but in all the new Quest packs Hasbro has put out, this one falls a little short.

Just the same I'm still going to buy it for collectors purposes, but this quest pack doesn't really stand out other than it's last in the quest order.

[emlit]

Kurgan gave a cursory bio of Joe Manganiello but didn't emphasis his star power in US D&D circles. He's one of the main celebrity faces behind the resurgence of D&D in recent years, moving (or attempting to move) table-top role-playing gaming away from the geeky, nerd-ridden stereotype from its beginnings. I'm not a D&D gamer but know people who are, and he's held in relatively high esteem. He streams celebrity D&D games (or at least used to), helping to instill a much-needed "cool" factor into the hobby. If any of that's important to anyone. In short, he's a decently well-known celebrity gaming advocate.

I personally think it was a wise move by Hasbro/Avalon Hill to engage him in the crowdfunding of HeroQuest back in 2021 and to continue to involve him as often as makes sense moving forward. As much as us diehard HeroQuest fans love and support the game, for the IP to be a sustainable money-maker, Hasbro/AH needs a much wider audience. Adding Manganiello helps with that goal.

[Vorimir]

wallydubbs, I thin the worst expansion lore wise and for design is TSQT. It has some good ideas mixed with boring quests and a lot of horrible ideas. TCOPD is just like a random D&D aventure. Oh, a dying noc just gave you a map to an old treasure inside a big dungeon with a (tiny) dragon at the end. But at least the quests are a bit more fun. I agree both are the worst questbooks till now.

[Kurgan]

To be fair, they brought in two guys who were more at home with D&D alongside the dude who basically "invented" the game!*




* (not diminishing any of the many talented souls who worked on HQ over the years, but the 14 quests and first two expansions we know and love are pretty much all his work... I say "pretty much" because we are playing the NA editions that Mike Gray's team adapted for the US version, but still, the basic form is there).


And Joe's face isn't going to be on the cover, but his name is. Stephen and Teos had their names on their quest books as well. Maybe it was a condition of their contract, but whatever. I like to know who wrote it, while most of the expansions they don't tell you, so unless you did behind the scenes work or read interviews, you'll have no idea, it's just some "Avalon Hill" or "Hasbro" thing.

[SirRick]

I never really looked through this quest book. Is Mentor even mentioned at all? I remember reading the introductory story and quest 1 parchment text, but I don’t remember Mentor. Maybe Joe will narrate the quests on the app if Mentor is MIA.

[Kurgan]

Yes Mentor is mentioned and listed as the narrator in this booklet just like the others. However the idea of Mr. Manganiello (an actor, after all) recording some narration for the App would be kind of a neat bonus feature.

CoPD being added within the next year (?) would be a great milestone in finally bringing the entire Mythic set to that program (though I won't be satisfied until Rogar's Hall is playable within it as well!).

[SirRick]

I don’t want to bring up politics, but with all the talk of these tariffs, I wonder if this will impact future releases. Since everything HeroQuest comes from China, I’m getting concerned. I was hearing the Nintendo Switch 2 release date might be delayed due to what is going on, so if this is changing plans for a Japanese company, what will it be like for Hasbro? I know it’s not a Chinese company, but I think they even print D&D books over there now too. Could we see HeroQuest/D&D/Star Wars/etc. stuff double in price? My hope is Hasbro’s prices are so inflated that they can eat the cost and still make money and weather the storm until stuff gets figured out.

Its might be safe to assume Hasbro already has is copies of CoPD just waiting around to be released, but what about Wizards of Morcar, the First Light dice set, and any unknown future stuff? All I can do is hold on and wait and see.

[LucaRocks]

Hopefully the tariff standoff doesn't last too long. Plus as you said, Hasbro can eat some of the cost for stuff already in the pipeline while the gov works whatever out.

China gets a lot of money manufacturing goods for the US, and the US gets cheaper goods because of China. So hopefully both sides try to work it out sooner than later.

But again, I think Hasbro can eat the extra costs of COPD, the dice set and WOM. If the tariff thing isn't worked out but the end of the year, then I would be a bit more worried