Thoughts on the New Orc Bard Hero?

[Jelsabob]

using historical realism, you'd probably agree none of the armor should really slow down any hero and even the Wizard should have no issues wearing it.

In RPGs they usually claim that wizards have to do complicated movements that associate the entire body. Basically a wizard has to dance, gyrate their hips, & do weird hand gestures they couldn’t if their movements were restricted by armor (which really does restrict flexible movement quite a bit, wouldn’t it?) & gauntlets. But really its just a way to balance a wizard among non-spell casting classes

[Jelsabob]

by the way, seeing how people wonder at what the canon is in regards to greenskins, & many hope an orc bard (of all things) is an anomaly)—I looked through the Hasbro Avalon blog & saw https://hasbropulse.com/blogs/avalon-hill/heroquest-concerning-the-guardian-knight a picture which shows that in their new version of Hero Quest, orcs are even among the Guardian Knights! Not sure if anyone has spotted & pointed this out. It is frustrating that instead of coming up with new interesting creatures they have to rewrite the nature of a species for political purposes.

[Chwat]

Orc Bard will never be in my game, simple !

[j_dean80]

Orc Bard will never be in my game, simple !

The card says Bard, not Orc Bard. I just ignore the pic.

[Kurgan]

using historical realism, you'd probably agree none of the armor should really slow down any hero and even the Wizard should have no issues wearing it.

In RPGs they usually claim that wizards have to do complicated movements that associate the entire body. Basically a wizard has to dance, gyrate their hips, & do weird hand gestures they couldn’t if their movements were restricted by armor (which really does restrict flexible movement quite a bit, wouldn’t it?) & gauntlets. But really its just a way to balance a wizard among non-spell casting classes

I've seen some guys in full plate do some wacky stuff... a lot depends on how well fitted the armor is and how physically adept the person inside is. I like to think any restrictions would be based on unfamiliarity with it. Are we supposed to imagine that they come across a poorly made, ill-fitting (but very heavy) set of armor in the game? Who knows, but it's a game mechanic, not anything historically accurate. They're imitating FICTION in which armor slows you down or makes you clumsy and awkward. In a similar way they're imitating fiction in which Wizards are guys who don't wear armor or use big weapons (even though there are examples in popular fiction of medieval style warriors in armor who use magic and sorcerers who wield big weapons like swords too). It's a game mechanic to create difference of style and a semblance of balance and difficulty selection... the big strong guy is hard to kill and he fights well but he is weak against (and using) magic... meanwhile the wimpy guy sucks for fighting but boy can he sling a spell or three!

So I can rationalize the Orcs as being in the "half-orc" lore caste of WHFB 3rd Ed/WHFRPG 1st Ed and/or signs that the war against Chaos is causing more of the evil side's troops to go AWOL. I also have a little head canon subplot about the Orc cleric (another misfit) who has made it his mission to reform as many of his brethren as possible.

The hero mechanics are fine, so is the notion of a "rogue monster allied with the good guys," but the bard design is still pretty goofy to me. We finally had him in one of our games, and it was a bit tongue in cheek, but fine.

[The Admiral]

To regain Inspiring Tale the Bard needs to see another hero roll 2 white shields. Is that two white shields exactly or just at least 2, so rolling 3 plus would be okay?

[wallydubbs]

To regain Inspiring Tale the Bard needs to see another hero roll 2 white shields. Is that two white shields exactly or just at least 2, so rolling 3 plus would be okay?

Yes, at least 2 , 3 or more is fine.

The thing about Inspiring Tale is that as other heroes grow in strength, so too does the Bard. If the Bard upgrades his weapons and armor, it's sometimes questionable if he should even cast it. Do you want to forego your turn to give +1 to the Barbarian's Battle Axe or use 3 attack dice with a Crossbow?

[manaknight14]

The thing about Inspiring Tale is that as other heroes grow in strength, so too does the Bard. If the Bard upgrades his weapons and armor, it's sometimes questionable if he should even cast it. Do you want to forego your turn to give +1 to the Barbarian's Battle Axe or use 3 attack dice with a Crossbow?

Inspiring Tale has a key difference from other attack buff spells like Courage, though: it doesn’t wear off if you can’t see a monster. That means the Bard can “preload” the spell in a non-combat situation. For example, if the party encounters a closed door, the Bard can cast Inspiring Tale on someone, and then the party waits for the next turn to start before opening the door. Now you can use the buffed attack from Inspiring Tale and the Bard still has his combat action available. Yes there’s a risk you waste the spell on an easy fight, but as the heroes improve the odds of someone rolling two shields in defense gets higher, so the chances of getting Inspiring Tale back increase as well.

[The Admiral]

The thing about Inspiring Tale is that as other heroes grow in strength, so too does the Bard. If the Bard upgrades his weapons and armor, it's sometimes questionable if he should even cast it. Do you want to forego your turn to give +1 to the Barbarian's Battle Axe or use 3 attack dice with a Crossbow?

Inspiring Tale has a key difference from other attack buff spells like Courage, though: it doesn’t wear off if you can’t see a monster. That means the Bard can “preload” the spell in a non-combat situation. For example, if the party encounters a closed door, the Bard can cast Inspiring Tale on someone, and then the party waits for the next turn to start before opening the door. Now you can use the buffed attack from Inspiring Tale and the Bard still has his combat action available. Yes there’s a risk you waste the spell on an easy fight, but as the heroes improve the odds of someone rolling two shields in defense gets higher, so the chances of getting Inspiring Tale back increase as well.

yes, cast it in he quiet moments between combat. And it does benefit a stronger party more as they will be rolling more defence dice and thus have a greater chance of the 2

[Kurgan]

I find both ideas appealing... that the Orcs in generally threw in with the powers of Chaos and are prone to following Evil Wizards. But the idea that they are a "mutant race" (perhaps derived from goblins) bred specifically as shock troops or canon fodder is also interesting. But can some of them turn traitor? Certainly I think it was considered back in the day and we'd have seen it eventually in an official expansion prior to Avalon Hill's involvement had the brand not been put into mothballs all those years ago. But a Bard? Still a comedy addition...