PATH OF THE WANDERING MONK discussion

[Kurgan]

Some of us imagined martial arts in HeroQuest as a justification for why an unarmed hero was as strong as one armed with a dagger, back in the 90s. You weren't just throwing a right hook maybe you had some really expert unarmed techniques you were using to disable the enemy.

The whole religion talk will probably lead to people arguing over how religion doesn't belong in HeroQuest at all. I took it more that OFFICIALLY it's not explicitly explained in there (except when it is... gods, afterlife, demons, spirits/ghosts, supernatural things going on not just "elemental magic" that they are not going to expunge from things already released in the remake line), not that somehow people can't allow those things if they want them. The old lore of HeroQuest, whether you took that from the Japanese HeroQuest, Marvel Winter Special, HQ Sticker Album, Dave Morris HQ novels, Legacy of Sorasil amiga game or simply the background of Warhammer Fantasy Battle/RPG circa 1989-1992 included plenty of supernatural and religious elements. The basic European game had Holy Water which the North American version lacked (and the Remake restored as a nod to the EU legacy that started it all along with several other items) while ROTWL in the NA edition added "sacred water" as a one-off item.

Whether this Monk is going to be a religious guy in your game or not, is completely up to Zargon. I can respect Encarmine's "wet cement" kind of head canon view, and at the same time see it as part of the wide strategy of deliberately leaving gaps in the narrative and some things kept ambiguous in the box and on the page, so that when you, the player step in, you can season it to taste. The people who only want to play what's official as written I guess will just have a more generic, perhaps blander experience, but if that's what they prefer, more power to them.

I'm more feeling empowered by this. So go world-build, write that quest (or campaign) that wraps up ROTWL and ROTDM... have at it! They want you to do it!

Sorry for the semi-rant, hope that didn't go to far with the rules on these topics.

[LucaRocks]

Oh, Kurgan! You always go too far with you rants on topics! That's why we like you HAHA!

[Kurgan]

I go a week without The RantCast Podcast and look what happens!

[LucaRocks]

Never change my friend, never!

[Kurgan]

For the playtest we're doing on Saturdays here is what I'm using (please note, I've altered the "flavor" of the character but retained the basic mechanics, and yes, there are small little folding cards for the camera).

The actual product is what you see in those GenCon videos and photos on Haslab. I'm proxying him with "Friar Stone" from Reaper. Again, this is custom... for playtesting...

[Bareheaded Warrior]

Some of us imagined martial arts in HeroQuest as a justification for why an unarmed hero was as strong as one armed with a dagger, back in the 90s. You weren't just throwing a right hook maybe you had some really expert unarmed techniques you were using to disable the enemy.

Anyone armed with a weapon is more effective in combat that one who isn't, which is why weapons exist.

Martial arts training enhances your combat ability (that is basically what the phrase means) whether you are armed with a weapon or not.

Back in the 90s we always imagined that having no weapon card in HQ just meant that you were using some form of improvised weapon that was about as effective as a Dagger, candle stick, table leg, thigh bone, broken bottle or similar

[Kurgan]

That is a fun scene to imagine... the Wizard smashes a bottle to use as a weapon, the Barbarian has the jawbone of a donkey, the Dwarf swings a sack of gold and the Elf takes off one of his boots...

[Kurgan]

It's been awhile but in case there was any doubt, the sites add additional info not featured on the cards (whether the physical examples at GenCon or those shown in the digital mockups)... regarding "metal" armor.

We know the adjustment was made to helmets to explicitly call them "metal" in the 2022 edition of the Game System (white Avalon Hill logo, slim box). But bracers are not metal, so that changes some theories about what he can use.

[wallydubbs]

Ok, so I'm actually trying to learn the Monk character without actually having the monk cards in front of me, and in so doing I have a lot of questions, forgive me if I get the names wrong:

Air Techniques: Eye of the Tornado or Soaring Dragon, so it's either get a free pit jump or an unarmed attack against all adjacent (including Diagonal) enemies.
So that's potentially attacking (with 1 attack dice) up to 8 enemies (though that's very unlikely) or you just get a successful pit jump?
I'll get to the questions later. But correct me if I'm wrong on any of these.

Earth Techniques: Speak to Stone and Rock Strength, which is combining Traps and Secret Door searches as 1 action; or add 2 attack dice to an unarmed attack. Simple enough.

Water Techniques: Twisting Current and Torrential Split, which is negate all hits when attacked; or split your movement between actions. That sounds easy enough.

Only after you do 1 of these from each element can you unlock Fire Techniques: fire an energy beam from your chest that pretty much as the same effect as a lighting bolt, hitting all enemies (and heroes) in its path; or inflict 1 BP of damage on a monster now and he'll take 2 more damage at the end of his turn. Did I get that right?

Most of these I understand, but some questions require clarification:
Soaring Dragon, you get a successful pit jump, but what about other traps? Can you use this to jump a spear or falling block trap? What about spaces that are only suspected traps? Heroes are allowed to try jumping a space if they think it's trapped, so couldn't the Monk just use Soaring Dragon on a suspicion? Or does it need to be a verified pit trap, in this instance it's situational. There's no action in attempting to jump a pit, so if it's only suspected pit trap, could the monk just jump a regular space and get Soaring Dragon out of the way to access fire?

What about combining elemental techniques? Suppose Wizard casts Veil of Mist on the Monk and he uses Torrential Split to run into a group of orcs, hit Eye of the Tornado and run out?
Or again use Torrential Split, run into a room, Speak to Stone (checking for traps and secret doors, and then keeps moving?
Or how about combing Rock Strength and Eye of Tornado, hitting all monsters around him with 3? Is this doable or is it 1 elemental technique per turn? I guess that would simplify things...
Or what if the Elf casts Time Stop on the Monk, I suppose he could use two techniques then...

He also regains these techniques too, right? I think the rule is he regains all the techniques if he goes a turn without using them, right? I guess I'm just trying to understand what you can and cannot do with this character?

[Kurgan]

Ok, so I'm actually trying to learn the Monk character without actually having the monk cards in front of me, and in so doing I have a lot of questions, forgive me if I get the names wrong:

Air Techniques: Eye of the Tornado or Soaring Dragon, so it's either get a free pit jump or an unarmed attack against all adjacent (including Diagonal) enemies.
So that's potentially attacking (with 1 attack dice) up to 8 enemies (though that's very unlikely) or you just get a successful pit jump?
I'll get to the questions later. But correct me if I'm wrong on any of these.

It's unarmed attack, so 2 combat dice. In practice, our Monk uses it even when he doesn't have to (only attacking one adjacent enemy) in order to use it up and move towards getting fire enabled. Yes, each of these abilities it's EITHER OR. Use one ability and it gets tilted to the side ("exhausted").

Only after you do 1 of these from each element can you unlock Fire Techniques: fire an energy beam from your chest that pretty much as the same effect as a lighting bolt, hitting all enemies (and heroes) in its path; or inflict 1 BP of damage on a monster now and he'll take 2 more damage at the end of his turn. Did I get that right?

The Fire Beam doesn't harm allies, so it's "safer" than Lightning which harms everyone in the path.

Most of these I understand, but some questions require clarification:
Soaring Dragon, you get a successful pit jump, but what about other traps? Can you use this to jump a spear or falling block trap? What about spaces that are only suspected traps? Heroes are allowed to try jumping a space if they think it's trapped, so couldn't the Monk just use Soaring Dragon on a suspicion? Or does it need to be a verified pit trap, in this instance it's situational. There's no action in attempting to jump a pit, so if it's only suspected pit trap, could the monk just jump a regular space and get Soaring Dragon out of the way to access fire?

It says Pit, so that's what it means. Zargon could decide to make it other types of traps or any square at all if he wishes, obviously that affects the utility. Base it means a sprung pit or detected Pit (and keep in mind there are many types of "pits" out there, so it would apply to these as well).

What about combining elemental techniques? Suppose Wizard casts Veil of Mist on the Monk and he uses Torrential Split to run into a group of orcs, hit Eye of the Tornado and run out?

Techniques or styles are not called Spells, so whether bonuses that multiply spells would affect them is up to Zargon (by default, I would say "no"). Monk can only use one technique/style per turn. So he can't stack them but you could stack these powers with other potions or spells yes. Why not?

Or what if the Elf casts Time Stop on the Monk, I suppose he could use two techniques then...

Yes he could because it's like two full turns.

He also regains these techniques too, right? I think the rule is he regains all the techniques if he goes a turn without using them, right? I guess I'm just trying to understand what you can and cannot do with this character?

When there are no more monsters visible to the Monk at the start of his next turn, his abilities all reset. That means if he had Fire and didn't use it yet at that point, he loses it. It doesn't require an action, it happens automatically.

It has to do with being able to "see" monsters (visible to the Monk defined as "line of sight") not whether he used the techniques or not.