==========================================================================
                         The Alchemist's Bench
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        New Quests, Characters, Rules and Other Support Material
                     for Milton Bradley's HeroQuest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          http://www.heroscribe.org/thealchemistsbench/
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Issue 2                                                   February 3, 1999
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                           IN THIS ISSUE
                           -------------

WELCOME -- A word of greeting plus some administrative details

NEWS -- Two quests and a Rivenguild contest

IN THE STORES -- Elmer's Cut and Build Castles, Lionheart, War Planets

QUEST DESIGN -- A new column premieres with great advice for choosing
                plots for quests.

MINIATURES -- Getting set up and started.

NEW HERO -- The Ogre Mercenary.

GAMEMASTER HINTS -- Ways to beef up the game's existing monsters, first
                    in a series of two.  This article suggests nasty new
                    characteristics that can be added to the deadly
                    creatures of the dungeons.

==========================================================================

                               WELCOME!
                               --------

The Alchemist's Bench is a completely free e-mail based newsletter that
exists to provide information, ideas and interesting new gaming material for
Milton Bradley's terrific yet out-of-print HeroQuest boardgame.


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The Alchemist's Bench is always looking for material.  We're interested in
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     http://www.heroscribe.org/thealchemistsbench/


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                                   NEWS
                                   ----

NEW QUEST from KARNOV

Karnov has put the first quest from a new Quest Pack on his website.


NEW QUEST PACK from DEWAYNE

Dewayne has a new quest on his webpage.  The 'Quest For The Lichemaster' is
an 11-quest Quest Pack that comes with 8 board overlays, plus descriptions
of many new monsters.

The quest centers around the Heroes attempts to recover 4 ancient artifacts,
lost during the first battle against the Lichemaster.  After recovering the
artifacts, the Heroes must enter the Lichemaster's lair, where they confront
him in a final climactic battle.

Dewayne's page is at
          http://www.yeoldeinn.com/agins-archive/

Follow the link to his "New Quests" page and look for the files with
"lichmst" in their titles.  He's cut the quest into 9 separate files that
are 200k - 350k each.


CONTEST

Rivenguild and Scriptorium are offering a contest.  The prizes include CDs
of fonts that can be used to make ancient-looking fantasy maps and other
documents.


==========================================================================

                               IN THE STORES
                               -------------

PREVIEW of ELMER's CUT AND BUILD CASTLE
by Karnov

Panakids has just released a software package called "Elmer's Cut and Build
3D Castle and House" (about $19.95, Intel version only).   Although it's
directed at kids ages 8 through 12, it can be used by anyone to take
Heroquest to a new level.  You use the software to lay out a castle in 3D,
then you can use your printer to print out the components for assembly.

The program builds its objects out of basic solids.  You can resize and
retexture them to your liking.

Right out of the box, the software provides a variety of default
configurations ready to be printed.  These include a large castle gate
(takes 23 pages to print off), a keep, a mill, a windmill, a variety of
medieval houses, a cart with a cover, a battering ram, a siege tower, a
catapult (hmmm... anyone want to write siege/war rules?), a full castle
configuration, a small rowboat, merchant carts and a few trifolded persons.

Although the program can resize objects, I tried printing a cart at default
size.  Once assembled, it fit nicely in a 2 x 3 area on the Heroquest game
board and the Dragonstrike outdoor board.  It seems to work well with the
scale of the boards and figurines.


LIONHEART PRICES FALL

We've had reports from several regions in the United States indicating that
Parker Brothers' "Lionheart" boardgame has become a clearance item in some
retail chains.  We plan to run a more detailed review of the game and its
components in a future issue.  For now, here's a quick summary.

Lionheart includes 92 figures at 30 mm scale:  kings, mounted knights,
horses, infantry, heavy infantry, archers, peasants, and mercenaries.  The
figures are not as well-sculpted as the regular HeroQuest figures.

Lionheart comes with bases designed to hold groups of figures, like the
bases that came with Battlemasters.  On the Lionheart figures, the bars used
to mount the figures into their bases are a little too thick to use them
with individual figure bases from Games Workshop (although they may fit into
other manufacturer's bases), so you may want to buy some bases just for
these figures. Use a knife to enlarge the slots in the bases.  This will
allow you to use the figures with HeroQuest, plus still use them with the
regular Lionheart game.


WAR PLANETS PRICES FALL

Toys R Us and Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby appear to be clearancing out their War
Planets merchandise.  The manufacturer of the toys has announced plans to
switch the line to a series of large-size action figures, so the current
line of softball-size hollow planets containing dozens of miniature figures
is apparently on the way out.  Of course, your local prices may vary and
other retail chains may have no plans to discount War Planets in the near
future.

Many of the War Planets mini figures have science fiction styling (i.e.,
guns), and they are not sculpted too well.  On the plus side, they come
already painted, they're jointed, some vehicles are included in the sets and
the planets themselves look interesting.  They're probably worth glancing at
when you rush out to buy Lionheart.  Maybe your players will be happy to see
their heroes menaced by giant alien snails with cannons mounted on their
backs.


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                               QUEST DESIGN
                               ------------


Coming Up With Plots
by Dewayne Agin

After tossing around several ideas for this column, I finally decided on an
approach.  For the first few articles, I would like to go through the steps
that I take in writing a new quest.  I would like to go through the design
process from the beginning, with each column devoted to a step in the
process.

Along with the column, I would like to design a quest, going through the
design process as I write about it.  I would encourage you to do the same.
This column may not appear in every issue of the Alchemist's Bench because I
would like to give you enough time to complete the current step.  Hopefully
by the time we are done there will have been several who have gone through
the process and written a quest.  Maybe we could publish them in the
newsletter.

I realize that you may not use the same process and steps to write quests
that I do.  That is fine, there is nothing special or official about the way
that I write quests; in fact I don't always follow all the steps that we
will be discussing in the coming issues.  These articles are going to give
you a process for designing quests, nothing more.  Follow it or not, the
choice is yours.  But I do hope you enjoy the articles.

This first article is about the very beginning of quest designing - coming
up with a plot for the quest.  For some, one of the hardest things about
designing you own quest can be coming up with a plot.  Not knowing what you
want the Heroes to accomplish in the quest can kill off the desire to create
one quicker than just about anything.

Luckily, there are several places that the quest author can go to for
inspiration, including several that are online.  One of the best places to
go to for plot inspiration is
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/alex/Handbooks/WWWPlots/index.html , the
Net Book Of Plots.  This is a huge online resource for the quest author.
Quest and RPG module authors are asked to come up with plots to be shared
with others.  Sometimes the plots are simple one line answers to questions
like 'on the way to ...'.  Other plots are long and detailed, covering
several pages.  Each plot is tagged several different ways: length, genre,
type, setting, and specific monsters.

There are other game webpages that you can go to get inspiration.  There are
Advanced HeroQuest, Warhammer Quest, and other games that have elements that
can be used in your next quest.  There are even some HeroQuest pages that
give out quest ideas.  My link page at
http://www.yeoldeinn.com/agins-archive/links.html has links to all
these and more.

What other places exist for you to get ideas from?  Well, instead of looking
on the web for game modules, how about your own game closet?  Maybe there is
something there you can use.

Where else can you look?  How about your bookshelf.  Next time you read a
book, think about the plot.  Don't get bogged down thinking of all the minor
details and subplots.  Just concentrate on the main plot.  It should be
short, maybe only a line or two, but at most a paragraph.  Maybe you could
use something similar for your next quest.  Next time you watch a movie or a
TV show, do the same thing.  Maybe something from one of these will give you
inspiration.

All of these should serve one purpose, to give you ideas for you quest.
When you come up with your idea, condense it to a sentence or two.  This is
the basic plot for your quest.

I said I would be designing a quest as we went along, so I went to the Net
Book Of Plots and did a little bit of poking.  I read over several plots,
and finally chose one - Map of the Magician's Lair.  I took the basic plot
idea from it.  My condensed plot idea is this:  The Heroes come across a map
to an abandoned underground lair, once the home of a powerful Sorcerer.

Now that I have the basic plot, I have a few weeks until the next article to
think about ways to fill in the plot.  Is the Sorcerer alive or dead?  What
special monsters might be there?  What special treasures might be there?
This is what we will cover in the next issue - Filling In the Plot.


==========================================================================

                                Miniatures
                                ----------

PAINTING YOUR MINIATURES: Part 1 - Preparation
by Nathan Stout

This series of articles will cover painting the miniatures and the
furniture provided in the Hero Quest board game.  First we will take a
look at what types of paint and equipment to use.

There are a couple of ways to go as far as paint is concerned.  You
can go with water-based or oil-based paint.  Water-based paint gives a
more realistic (organic) look but the paint tends to wear off easily.
Oil-based paint takes longer to wear off, but it lacks that realistic
look.  Oil-based paint is almost always cheaper than water-based paint.
There are several types (brands) of either water or oil based paint.  The
paints can go for as little as .75 a pot or as high as 3.00 a pot.  The
decision as to which type of paint is up to you and your pocketbook.  But
remember, you get what you pay for.

Next you will need to determine what type of equipment to use.  I
suggest an exacto knife for removing unwanted flash and some nice paint
brushes.  When I use the term nice, just refer to the last sentence in my
last paragraph, you get what you pay for.  This is ever-so true when it
comes to paint brushes.  If at all possible, get the finest tipped brush
you can.  They will be expensive, but you will thank yourself later.

Of course when you spend 5.00 on a brush, you will be sure to clean it
properly after every use, right? Here is a hint for users of water-based
paint: rinse out the brush with water, then use some soap and rinse it
out, then use a little bit more soap and roll the tip of the brush so
that it returns to it's original shape, but don't rinse it out.  Let the
soap help keep the brush in shape.  Before you use it again, rinse the
soap out.

Before you start painting, you will need to check your miniature to
see if there is any flash still on it.  Flash are the bits left from the
plastic frame that you took the minis out of.  Use the exacto knife to
remove excess flash.  If you really want a nice look, use some fine
sand paper to smooth the area out.  Once you have fully inspected the
miniature, you are ready to apply the first coat.

Check back next time in part 2 for more painting information,
including using primers and undercoating your miniatures.


==========================================================================

                                New Hero
                                --------

THE OGRE MERCENARY

Adapted from the Warhammer Quest Profession 'The Ogre Mercenary' by T.
Jordan "Greywolf" Peacock


Ogres are huge, brutish creatures, standing twice as tall as a man, with
features that exaggerate and expound upon the most grotesque that any of
mankind's number might have.  In the wars between the Empire and Chaos, most
Ogres act as mercenaries, following gold and ale rather than principle.
Those that happen to side with the Empire may be able to deal with Humans,
Elves, and Dwarfs, but they are still always regarded with suspicion and
even contempt, for even while their loyalties may be strong for their
current employer, might they become foes some time in the future if the
enemy offers better pay?

The Ogre mercenary has taken leave of the battlefields to explore the
dungeons in search of gold and glory.  He provides sheer brute strength,
always a useful commodity in any party of Heroes.


Stats:

Movement     - 2 Red Dice
Attack Dice  - 2
Defense Dice - 3
Body Points  - 10
Mind Points  - 2


Equipment:

Weapon - Club
Armor  - None


Special Rules:

Ogres are strong.  They get an extra attack die above what is listed in the
armory for any weapon they use.

Ogres have such low intelligence that they cannot use spell scrolls.  The
will ignore any that they find on a quest, leaving them for other Heroes.
They can use potions, though.

Ogres are significantly larger than men, let alone Dwarfs, and therefore
can't wear the same articles of armor.  Unless specified by the Game Master,
any armor found on a quest will be too small for the Ogre.  If using the
Large/Small shields from the Armory, Small Shields are too small, and Large
Shields should be treated as Small ones for the Ogre.  If you are just
playing with regular shields, then all shields found on the quest are too
small (again, unless the Game Master specifies otherwise).  If the Game
Master does allow the Heroes to find something large enough for the Ogre,
then it will be too large for the other Heroes.

The Ogre may be a strong and terrible warrior, but these very qualities may
also induce fear into any merchant he has to deal with.  When an Ogre
attempts to buy articles from either the Potion Shop or the Armory, roll one
red die.  On a roll of 1-2 the Merchant sees the Ogre coming and quickly
closes up shop.  The other Heroes will not buy items for the Ogre.

If the Armory is open, the Ogre must pay twice the normal sale value to
purchase armor, since it must be made especially large to fit him.

If you are allowing the Heroes to resell items, the Armory will buy back the
Ogre's armor at half the price paid to other Heroes; i.e. he does not get
half price, but only one quarter.  There are very few Ogre customers, so the
Merchant will not pay as much even though the Ogre equipment is bigger with
more material.

Ogres may use all weapons available to the other Heroes except for daggers
and staffs.  Daggers are too small and get lost in the Ogre's hand, and
staffs are too flimsy for his great strength.  Because he is so strong, the
Ogre may wield any two-handed weapon with one hand.  If you are using the
rule that a crossbow may only fire once every other turn, ignore this rule
for the Ogre.  He is so strong that he may cock it and fire in the same
turn.

If a pit is encountered that occupies a single space, the Ogre is too large
to fall in.  Rather, he is only tripped by the trap, losing his next turn
while he gets back up.  he does not take any damage from the fall.  The
Ogre, due to his size, can pull other Heroes from any pit that requires
ropes to get out of.


Special Skills:

The Ogre's low intelligence does not allow him to learn any special skills
like the other Heroes.


==========================================================================

                              Game Master Hints
                              -----------------

Beefing Up Monsters - Part 1
Special Monster Characteristics

by Dewayne Agin

Are your Heroes getting too strong?  Do you fill the room with monsters, and
the Heroes still have no trouble dealing with them?  Players can quickly
lose interest if the game is not challenging.  One solution to this problem
is to buy more figures to give the Heroes larger and more challenging
monsters.  A less costly alternative is to beef up your existing monsters.
This article is the first of a two-part series giving ideas to help you make
the game more challenging for experienced Heroes without buying any more
figures.

Special Characteristics are abilities you give a monster that it does not
normally have.  Without changing its statistics, you can make a monster that
is normally easy to destroy, such as a Goblin or a Skeleton, quite a bit
harder.  You can decide if you want to let the Heroes know about the
monster's new characteristics when they enter the room, or if you want to
surprise them.


New Weapons and/or Armor:
Giving a monster a new type of weapon or armor can make it harder to defeat.
The most common example of this is to give a monster a bow.  You can give
the monster any of type of weapon, though.  For instance maybe a special
Orc, such as an Orc Chieftain, has a Battle Axe, giving it 4 attack dice.
Perhaps the Zombie is wearing a suit of chain mail, giving it an extra
defense die.


Magical Artifact:
Instead of having an artifact hidden somewhere in the room, a monster in the
room could be using it and the Heroes must kill the monster to get the
artifact.  Having that magical sword wielded against the Heroes would be a
real eye-opener.


Spells:
Give a monster the ability to cast spells.  An easy way to do this is to
allow the monster to have spell scrolls and/or potions.  This gives a
monster that normally doesn't cast spells the ability to do so.  Having the
monster carry a potion of healing means that the fight will last longer.  As
a bonus, you could let the Heroes find the spell if the monster is killed
before it is able to use it.


Two Attacks:
Give a monster the ability to make two (or more) attacks every turn.  The
Gargoyle figure is perfect for this; the figure is carrying a whip (attack
1) and a sword (attack 2).  You can do this with any figure, though.  Maybe
the Heroes meet a skilled Orc Warrior, carrying two swords...


Fearsome Monster:
This is an irrational fear caused by monsters so horrible that they install
terror into their enemies.  Undead creatures are good candidates for being
Fearsome.  Anytime a Hero starts his turn in the same room as one of these
monsters, he must make a 'Fear' roll at the start of his turn.  The Hero
rolls 1 red die, and on a roll of 5-6 he has become afraid and must move as
far as possible from the monster, even if it means leaving the room.  The
Hero may not make any attack that turn, even against another monster, but
can defend.  If a Hero enters a room with a Fearsome Monster during his
movement turn, he must make a Fear roll immediately.  The fear only lasts
one turn, but the Hero must make a fear roll every turn he is in the same
room as a Fearsome Monster.


Hypnosis:
Only an intelligent monster can have the ability to Hypnotize its enemies.
A monster with this ability can Hypnotize one Hero each turn.  The monster
gazes at the Hero with his glowing, bloody red eyes.  The Hero must roll a
1-3 on a red die.  If he fails, he is hypnotized and cannot attack and
defends only feebly with 2 fewer defense dice than normal, but with no fewer
that 1 defense die.  The effects of hypnosis last only one turn.  This would
be a good ability to give a Chaos Sorcerer.


Regeneration:
A monster can have the ability to heal itself.  The monster regains one lost
Body Point at the beginning of its turn.  Some alternate rules to this one
is to allow the monster to regain more Body Points per turn, or regain Body
Points every second or third turn.  Perhaps wounds made from magical weapons
do not heal.  Regeneration could be used on any of the basic HQ monsters,
but you might want to come up with a reason.  Maybe the monster has a spell
cast on it.  Maybe it is wearing a special amulet.  If it is killed, do the
Heroes get the amulet?


Berserk:
A Berserk monster has gone into a frenzied rage, fighting with above normal
strength but at disregard to its own safety.  A monster with this ability
can attack twice, but loses half its defense dice (but it will always have
at least one).  Some alternate rules to this ability are to only allow the
monster to go berserk after it is wounded, to round the halved defense dice
up, or to round the halved defense dice down.


Diseased:
A Diseased monster is one that is carrying a plague which it can transmit to
the Heroes.  A Hero who is hit by a Diseased monster will lose the normal
body points from the attack.  This Hero must then roll one red die.  On a
roll of 1 or 2, the Hero is diseased.  On the Hero's next turn he will lose
a Body Point from the plague, plus another Body Point every second turn
thereafter.

When I play a game with a monster with this ability, I always allow the
Heroes to purchase a new type of potion from the shop, a Cure potion.  The
only way to cure the disease is to drink a Potion of Cure.  A Healing Potion
or Spell will restore the Hero's Body Points, but he will still have the
disease and still lose Body Points from it.

If a Hero dies from the disease, he will instantly turn into a disease
ridden Zombie.  Replace the Hero's figure with a Zombie.  The Zombie will
immediately attack the other Heroes, possibly transmitting the disease to
them.

If you want to be kind to the players, do not allow a Hero to contract a
second disease if he already has one.  On the other hand, if you want to
make the game a little more challenging, try one or all of these:

1.  A Hero can contract more than one disease.  The Hero will lose a Body
Point every second turn for every disease he has.  If you feel creative,
name the different plagues and describe their effects (You have the Dripping
Black Plague and lose a Body Point to rotting flesh, or you have the Red
Boils of Death, etc).  Depending on which turn a Hero contracts the new
disease, it may fall into synch with the other disease or diseases the Hero
has.  He may lose two or more Body Points every second turn, or maybe he
will lose one Body Point this turn, and one next.

2.  A Hero with a disease can be contagious.  Roll a red dice every turn
that another Hero is in the same room with the diseased one.  On a roll of 1
that Hero has contracted the disease also.

3.  Any Monster that the diseased Hero successfully attacks catches the
disease.  While at first this may seem like a good thing for the Heroes
because the monster will lose a Body Point every second turn, the monster
also now has the disease.  Any undiseased Hero the monster now attacks can
catch it.  If you feel really mean, tell the Heroes that the disease has no
effect on the monster.  It is a carrier, but the disease causes no ill
effects on the monster.

4.  Instead of allowing a Potion of Cure to cure all diseases that a Hero
has, only allow it to cure one.

5.  Instead of the Diseased Hero losing a Body Point every second turn, a
virulent strain of plague could cause him to lose a Body Point every turn.
If you wish to be nice, maybe the disease is less potent and the infected
Hero only loses a Body Point every third or fourth turn.

Zombies are good candidates as disease carriers, but other monster could be
used as well.  Maybe a Chaos Sorcerer has infected a horde of Goblins and
commanded them to attack the city...


Flight:
A monster with this special ability can fly over obstructions in a corridor
or room, including furniture and Heroes.  The Gargoyle has wings, so is a
good candidate for this ability.  Sorcerers may have a levitate spell that
they use on themselves, or other monsters in the room.  You might want to
allow the flying monster to attack the Heroes in flight.  He swoops down,
attacks the Heroes, then continues his movement - flying to a safe location.


Invulnerable:
A monster with this ability cannot be harmed by certain weapons.  For
instance maybe it can only be harmed by magical weapons, or is invulnerable
to missile fire because of special armor, or is not affected by a certain
class of spells, or is immune to all magic, both spells and artifacts.


Drain:
This ability allows a monster to drain statistics from a Hero, and use them
to supplement his own.  Undead are good candidates for this attack (think of
a vampire sucking a Hero's blood to strengthen itself).  A Mummy could drain
a Body Point from a Hero when it touches it, giving more life to itself.  Or
for each successful hit it draws strength from the Hero, causing him to roll
fewer attack dice.  The Mummy gains those attack dice, making it more
powerful.  The effects are permanent.  As with the Disease ability, I sell a
potion, Restore, that allows the Heroes to regain lost statistics.  One
alternative is to allow the potion to only restore one lost statistic,
instead of all.  If a Hero is drained of two Body Points, he would need to
drink two potions to restore both.


Blood Frenzy:
Monsters with this characteristic will go crazy when a Hero is wounded.  The
smell of the blood drives them to stop any attack that they are making and
attempt to destroy the wounded Hero.  This ability can be used with the
Berserk ability.  The smell of blood could be the trigger that causes the
monster to go Berserk.


Poison/Venom:
Special monsters can have venom, or maybe poison blades.  The potion shop
sells a Venom antidote which works on either.

Different poisons can work in different ways.  Some may cause a Hero to lose
strength, thereby losing attack dice.  Others may slow him down, lose Body
Points, etc.

One effective way to use poison or venom is to have the Hero affected Hero
lose another Body Point after a certain number of turns.  For instance he
could lose one every turn, every second turn, or so on.

Poisoned weapons are only effective for the first Hero that they hit.  If
the weapon hits another Hero, all the poison has been used on the first
Hero.  Another way to use poison is to have character specific poisons.  For
instance maybe a monster has an Elf Poison on his sword.  He will try to get
to the Elf to poison him.  If he does so, maybe the Elf loses two Body
Points per turn.  On the other hand if the monster is forced to defend
himself and uses his poisoned weapon to hit another Hero, that Hero takes
the poison.  Since it is character specific, it does no damage to that Hero.


These are the special characteristics that I have used in quests.  If you
are using any others, I would be interested in hearing from you.


==========================================================================
End of Issue 2                                          See you next time!
==========================================================================