The Role of the Empire in Hero Quest

[Big Bene]

I dont't think of the Heroes as typical Mercenaries. They have been trained by Mentor certainly on behalf of the empire / the emperor. They are some kind of special task force. The empire has already invested time and money into them. Why they don't give them better equipment from the start, expecially when they are sent to missions the outcome of the war depens on, remains still somewhat odd to me. That doesn't mean there is no explantation. Some good ideas were already put up. Keep it going

One of the biggest problems...Emperors are not elected. This never would have happened. Even
though it is fantasy, if it uses a real-world governmental system, it has to stay true to that or
the reader is not going to believe it. And I don't. Perhaps, by "elected", the writer means that
everyone just decided to follow Magnus as their Emperor. If that is the case, that needs to be
rewritten.

The Empire of the Warhammer world is obviousely cast after the German Holy Roman Empire (the location in the map, the design of the models, the names). In the real world empire, emperors were in fact elected by the elector princes, which are also mentioned several times in Warhammer. Of course, in history, andprobably in Warhammer, de facto dynasties did hold the throne for some time and the heir of the last emperor was elected as the new one.

[knightkrawler]

I think it's about stealth, like sending four hobbits with long daggers to Mount Whatsitsname.

[whitebeard]

I think it's about stealth, like sending four hobbits with long daggers to Mount Whatsitsname.

Mount Doom

[Big Bene]

Uhm... I think he knew that.

[Goblin-King]

What's a hobbit?

[whitebeard]

Uhm... I think he knew that.

When I recalled the name, I though it was so cheesy I did a double take.

These two locations look like Tolkien just gave up and let his kids name them!

Lake Town
Mount Doom

Such contrast with all of the other names.

[knightkrawler]

Funnily, that's exactly the reason why I didn't just type it.

[torilen]

Big Bene - thanks for setting me straight. I'll have to look more into that...maybe something I can use
for my own world building.

Though - thinking about it - elector princes would make sense. I guess it was just poorly written in that
wikia - it simply says electors, which could mean almost anything...from elector princes to full-on
democracy or republic.

One more opinion note - I try real hard not to say much about it...I know a lot of you all out there
are into the idea that Mentor is actually Morcar, as well. I just have to put my two cents in right here...
that really irritates the devil out of me.

There...it's said. I'll leave it at that. No need to go further and risk hurting feelings.

[GimmeYerGold]

As far as questioning why the empire or Mentor didn't make things easier for the Heroes, it makes me think of the theory proposed about Lord of the Rings, and why Gandalf chose not to fly the rings directly to Mt. Doom with the help of eagles: http://www.tickld.com/x/this-guy-just-c ... mind-blown

We don't have a lot of clues here in the lore of Heroquest, but presumably, a well outfitted group of heroes that appears out of nowhere would attract a lot of attention, both good and bad, and although their gear may be shiny and sharp, their skills may not match, and would be quickly tracked down and dispatched by the forces of Chaos. So I agree with the theories of the heroes operating as a sort of guerilla task force. Ever heard the expression, '"The nail that sticks out shall be hammered down"?

[Count Mohawk]

One more opinion note - I try real hard not to say much about it...I know a lot of you all out there
are into the idea that Mentor is actually Morcar, as well. I just have to put my two cents in right here...
that really irritates the devil out of me.

There...it's said. I'll leave it at that. No need to go further and risk hurting feelings.

I think it's a funny conspiracy theory, but at the end of the day it's demonstrably false. I only linked those threads in the first post because I like reading the theories people come up with.

I remembered something about the Emperor himself today. According to the Kellar's Keep storyline, the Emperor was among the men holed up in the keep after the disaster that was the battle of Black Fire Pass. This, to me, suggests that the Emperor is in fact a capable warrior in his own right, especially since his Guardian Knights had to cover his retreat into Karak Varn, which would only have been necessary if he was at or near the front lines. In the same passage, Mentor is shown to be actively scheming against M/Z, although the form his strivings take is left ambiguous.

And now for another thought. A lot of the knowledge we have about Mentor and the Empire comes from the pre- and post-Quest Pack text in the expansion sets. For those of you who play mostly custom Quests, does removing those adventures from the playlist also remove their storylines from your world's canon? (I.E. if you don't play the base 14 Quests, does the Witch Lourde remain asleep, or...?)