==========================================================================
                         THE ALCHEMIST'S BENCH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
        NEW QUESTS, CHARACTERS, RULES AND OTHER SUPPORT MATERIAL
                     FOR MILTON BRADLEY'S HEROQUEST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          http://www.heroscribe.org/thealchemistsbench/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ISSUE 8                                                  NOVEMBER 30, 1999
==========================================================================

                             IN THIS ISSUE
                             -------------
 
WELCOME

NEWS -- Nathan Stout's HeroQuest page moves, Dragon Compendium Released,
Mystic Knights set price reduced

FEATURE -- Warhammer Quest Review

QUEST AND ATTACHMENTS - Carag Eight Peaks and Fire Elemental Monster Card

NEW MONSTERS --  The Fire Elemental

FAN FICTION --  Verag

NEW RULES --  Unarmed Combat

NEW MONSTERS --  HeroQuest Hall of Foes 1

QUEST DESIGN -- Doing Something Different


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

                                 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.

Also, feel free to visit our website for back issues of this newsletter and
assorted other goodies.  Like this newsletter, it's free!  The URL is
                  http://alchemist.htmlplanet.com


A WORD FOR SUBSCRIBERS WHO RECEIVE OUR ATTACHMENTS

Many internet providers impose restrictions on the size of attachments that
their users can receive.  If an attachment is ever too large to come through
your server, or if it ever gets 'garbled' in the transmission, simply follow
the links provided in the newsletter to download the files that were in the
attachment.  (These links are found throughout the newsletter, as part of
the articles that describe the downloads.  Several are in the "ATTACHMENT"
section, below.)

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

                           QUEST AND ATTACHMENT
                           --------------------

This Issue has two attachment files.  The first is a ZIP archive containing
BMP and text files for the Quest Carag Eight Peaks.  The second is a monster
card in BMP format.  If you do not receive our attachments, you can
obtain the files by going to:

Carag8Peaks:
http://www.yeoldeinn.com/downloads/fanquests/dewayne/Carag8Peaks.zip

Please note that this quest requires several new tiles.  Please go to
http://www.yeoldeinn.com/fantiles.php , then to the New Board Overlays
section.  From the Dungeon Tiles page you will need to download the
Fountain, the Chasm, and the Large Room tiles.  From the Cave Tiles page you
will need to download the Cave Room #5, the Cave Room #3, and the Cave
Passage tiles.  Finally, from the Dungeon Accessories page you will need to
download the Large Door tile.

Fire Elemental Monster Card:
http://www.heroscribe.org/thealchemistsbench/monsters/fireelem.zip




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

                                   NEWS
                                   ----
NATHAN STOUT'S PAGE MOVES

Nathan Stout's HeroQuest page has moved.


DRAGON COMPENDIUM RELEASED

The compendium of all back issues of Dragon Magazine on CD-ROM, reported in
our previous issue, is now available.  It can be purchased at several
locations online, and should be available in your local TSR outlet.  The
CD-ROM contains 20 years of Dragon Magazine, TSR's in-house publication.
The CD-ROM has a sort and retrieve utility for Win 95/98 users, but the
actual pages are in PDF format so that they are readable by Mac users, too.

Why should you care about a D&D product?  The CD-ROM is a treasure chest of
ideas for the
quest author.  It contains D&D/AD&D scenarios, quests, new spells, magical
artifacts, etc., all of which can be used and adapted for HQ.  The
suggested retail price is $45 (US dollars).  The availability in other
countries is unknown.


PRICE OF MYSTIC KNIGHT PLAYSET REDUCED

Kay-Bee Toy Stores, a common sight in many US shopping malls, has Bandai's
"Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog: Castle of Kells" playset on sale at clearance
prices.  It has been reduced from $12 to $5.

The set contains several fully painted figures in HeroQuest scale.  The
sculpting on the figures is not as good as the HQ figures, but they are
painted with nice pearlescent and metallic paints.  Additionally, the
figures feature limited articulation (i.e., they are jointed for limited
poseability).

One of the included items is the heads and necks of a three-headed dragon
that could be particularly useful for HeroQuest.  If the gamemaster builds a
little wall with a cave opening in it (this is like a Hollywood set design
at 1/70th scale), the dragon heads can be made to poke out and menace the
Heroes.

There's also a red dragon in the set.  Unfortunately, he is designed with
the same amount of plastic used for HQ's Gargoyle, yielding a figure that
looks oddly cramped.

Finally, there are two human and two humanoid monster figures.  If you are
familiar with the "Mystic Knights" television show, you'll recognize the
Knights Deidre (female) and Rohan (male).  Deidre is unarmed -- she
apparently lost her magic crossbow.  At least Rohan has his trusty sword.
Both are wearing armor, although as in the show, the Deidre figure's
"cheesecake" armor (designed to reveal flesh as opposed to protect it) looks
rather impractical. The humanoid monsters are basically Deirdre and Rohan's
evil counterparts, suitably equipped with menacing dark armor.  The monsters
are painted much less elaborately than the heroes.

The entire set comes in a castle playset, which folds up to contain the
figures.


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

                                 FEATURE
                                 -------


Warhammer Quest
by John Burnham and Dewayne Agin
special thanks to Leandro Braga

Introduction

Warhammer Quest, released in 1995 and now out of print, was Games Workshop's
most recent attempt at a dungeon-crawl boardgame.  In the HeroQuest
tradition, it contains lots of plastic figures and allows players to take on
the roles of a Barbarian, Elf, Wizard and Dwarf (with official supplements
containing other hero types available separately).  Like Advanced HeroQuest,
it replaces a standard gameboard with a collection of individual room and
hall tiles that can be arranged to make many different floorplans.  Like all
GW fantasy games, it is set in the version of the Warhammer World that was
current at the time of its
publication.

The Components at a Glance

Warhammer Quest's excellent "board" actually consists of twenty tiles (nine
rooms and about eleven corridors), which can be fit together to create many
different dungeon arrangements.  The well-illustrated, sturdy WQ board
system is worth considering as a permanent substitute for HeroQuest's board.

Warhammer Quest also arguably has the best plastic miniatures ever released
with a fantasy boardgame.  The miniatures were designed by the same studio
that created HeroQuest's and therefore match the size and scale of
HeroQuest's figures.  They're ideal for expanding the variety of figures in
a HeroQuest campaign.

WQ Components

The Board

All the board tiles are well made, of a very heavy cardboard.  The artwork
is beautifully done in a realistic style.  The spaces are larger than the
spaces on the HeroQuest board, so figures from both games fit without their
bases crowding each other.

Warhammer Quest's plastic dungeon doors (all of which are two spaces wide)
have horizontal slots built into the side edges of their bases.  As tiles
are added to the dungeon layout, they're slid into these slots to hold them
securely.  In other words, the doors' bases are what hold the board together
- the room tiles are perfect rectangles, without any jigsaw puzzle
projections.  The slots are sized so that they keep a light but secure grip
on the tiles, but they don't rub hard enough to wear the images off of the
tiles.

WQ contains many board tiles that will be of interest to the HeroQuest
player.  As you read the following descriptions, you may find it convenient
to view the thumbnail likenesses at
     http://www.frii.com/~evil/wq/archive/thumbnails/

First, the box contains 11 passage (hallway) tiles.  All passages in WQ are
two squares wide, and come in different shapes and colors.  There are 3
brown/orange passages that are six squares long, three gray passages that
are six squares long, one gray stair tile that is six squares long, one
green corner tile, four squares long in each direction, and three green 'T'
passages that are six squares long in one direction and four squares in the
other.  While this GW's standard parts list for these components (and it is
what we have found in our copies of the game), it is rumored that the exact
numbers of some of the passage tiles varies from box to box.

There are also quite a few room tiles.  There are four 4x4 rooms, one blue,
one brown, one dark blue, and one green.  All have various rocks, trash,
bones, etc. to decorate them.

There are also five 4x8 rooms called "Objective Rooms."  One of the unique
things about these rooms is that they are drawn with various obstacles -
stairs, swinging bridges, etc.  In random quests, one of the Objective Rooms
is used as the goal of the quest.

The Objective Rooms include:

The Fire Chasm - A crack in the floor reveals a burning inferno.  The Heroes
must cross over a swinging bridge.

The Fighting Pit - A lower level, the pit itself, can be entered by climbing
down a dangling rope.  The only exit from the pit is through a trap door.

The Fountain of Light - A tile with a fountain in the middle.

The Tomb Chamber - A tomb, very much reminiscent of the Tomb found in HQ,
rests on a raised dais.  Stairs ascend from the main level to the tomb.

The Idol Chamber - Steps on either side of a platform lead up to the idol.

(In reading the descriptions above, please note that the room tiles are
nothing more than flat cardboard, even though some of them represent
multi-level rooms.  Some fantasy boardgames include 3-D scenery that allows
figures to stand at different levels.  Warhammer Quest leaves the
differences in altitude up to the player's imagination.)

Warhammer Quest includes several kinds of overlay tiles that can be used to
customize the room tiles further.  The larger overlays are 2 spaces deep and
2 spaces wide.  These are usually placed in response to events within the
game.  For example, if a passage caves in, a tile depicting a pile of rubble
is placed in the affected area.  One of the Wizard's spells creates the 'Pit
Of Despair'.  When this spell is cast, a 2 x 2 tile depicting a bottomless
pit is placed on the board.  A portcullis tile is placed upright in the
plastic doorway if the door is closed.

As in HQ, there are 1 x 1 tiles to mark pits and trap doors.  There are also
"scenery markers," 1 x 1 overlays that depict treasure chests, barrels,
weapons rack, skeletons, etc.

Warhammer Quest does not come with any plastic or cardboard furniture of the
kind included with HeroQuest.  Objects that might have been represented as
3-D props are instead depicted on the room tiles.  In our opinion, a
miniature standing over a picture of a throne doesn't look nearly as good as
a miniature standing next to a three-dimensional throne prop.  Of course, it
is easy enough to borrow furniture from HeroQuest, and additional props can
be purchased from various miniatures manufacturers.


The Figures

Warhammer Quest comes with 91 figures, as follows:

     6 Orc Warriors

     6 Orc Archers

     12 Giant Rats

     12 Giant Spiders

     12 Giant Bats

     6 Night Goblin Archers

     6 Goblin Spearmen

     12 Snotlings

     3 Minotaurs

     12 Skaven

     4 Heroes: Barbarian, Dwarf, Wizard, Elf

All minis (plus the giant two-spaces-wide doors) are molded in one shade of
gray plastic.  When separating plastic figures from their sprues (the
plastic "trees" they're molded on), it's wise to use a clipping tool or
knife instead of just twisting and pulling.  This is true of the original
HeroQuest figures, but it's even more important when detaching Warhammer
Quest figures.

Most of the figures rely on slotted bases to stand up.  (The Minotaurs,
Giant Animals and Snotlings are the exceptions. These have built-in bases of
their own, like the ones on the minis that came with HeroQuest.)  Since the
"Slottabases" (as GW insists on calling them) are twice as thick as a
built-in HQ figure base, there is a slight effect on the overall height of
the new minis.

The WQ figure selection does mesh well with the original HQ figures - the
new monsters fit neatly into gaps in the original HQ line-up.  WQ's Orc
Warriors have shields, so they don't duplicate the "well armed but not
defended" Orcs that come with HQ.  WQ also adds Orcs and Goblins with ranged
weapons, further rounding out your "greenskin" collection.  Finally,
Snotlings look like really tiny Goblins. Each carries a board with a spike
through it but looks like he'd have a Defense Dice rating of zero.

As was true in HQ, creatures of a given type tend to be posed identically in
WQ.  The Skaven (Chaotic Ratmen) suffer from this problem, but they do come
with an assortment of different shield designs. (The shields are molded
separately and have to be glued on.  This is the one instance in WQ when
gluing is necessary.)

The Giant Spiders are the stars of the "giant creatures" set. All three
"giant" animals -- spiders, rats and bats -- are roughly the size that a
large dog would be in HQ scale.  The Giant Bats are actually "Giant Bats on
a Stick," sculpted in a flying pose atop a post.  Presumably we're expected
to paint the stick black or a neutral color and try to ignore it.  This
enabled the use of the flying pose, but it looks a little cheesy anyway.

The Minotaurs are rather impressive. They're a little taller than the HQ
Gargoyle, armed with axes or clubs.  Although each WQ set comes with three
Minotaurs, the mix of axe-wielding vs. club-wielding Minotaurs appears to be
randomized.  You may open your set and find three with axes, three with
clubs, or something in between.

All of the WQ figures are somewhat more detailed than the HQ figures, but
the difference is most obvious on the hero figures.  The WQ Barbarian is a
work of art, in a good sword-swinging pose. The Wizard is good, too.  He has
a full beard and carries one of those typical GW battlemage staves.  It
should be noted that in WQ the Wizard may use swords, so the mini has a
sword in his hand.  The Dwarf is decent, certainly more animated than his HQ
counterpart.

The WQ Elf, though, is a disappointment.  He is wearing a hood (this hides
his ears; it's hard to be sure he really is an Elf) and has some kind of
heart motif all over him. He looks like a candygram for Valentine's Day. The
HQ Elf is much better.

Finally, the dungeon doors deserve a detailed description of their own.
Each door is 2 15/16 inches  (7.5 cm) high and 2 15/16 inches (7.5 cm) wide
at its highest and widest (the wings on the top - more on this below).  The
base is 2 3/4 by 1 3/8 inches (6.8 x 3.2 cm), and the actual opening is 1
5/8 inches wide by 2 1/4 inches high (4 x 5.2 cm).

The doors are molded in gray plastic the same color as the minis.  Each door
has
columns on each side of the doorway, with stone bricks beside them to
simulate walls.  The lintel is an arch, with a skull in the middle and wings
on the ends.

Cosmetic detail differ on each side of the door.  One side has a
skull on the top of each column, a skull on each side of the arch, and the
wings are bat-wings.  The other side has a glaring human head on the top of
each column with two skulls below the head.  This side's archway has
griffons above
each column, with the wings on each side of the archway the griffon's wings.


[Expansions]

At the beginning of Warhammer Quest's life, it was strongly supported by
Games Workshop.  Two expansion packs were released; Lair of the Orc Lord and
Catacombs of Terror.  Lair of the Orc Lord was a "greenskin" quest, and
Catacombs of Terror an Undead quest.  Both contained more board tiles, plus
metal figures instead of plastic.

The other expansion that was released was three decks of extra treasure
cards.  These expanded on the treasure cards that came with the basic set.
Later editions of Warhammer Quest included these decks with the basic game.


The Character Packs' Components

Besides the two expansions, GW released nine rather expensive character
packs, each of which contained a figure, rulebook and other props specific
to one new Hero.  The character packs in the series were: Elf Ranger, Dwarf
Trollslayer, Wardancer, Chaos Warrior, Pit Fighter, Witch Hunter, Warrior
Priest, Bretonnian Knight, and Imperial Noble.  The going price was $12 -
$15, but the cost of these packs has risen in some locations due to
scarcity.

From a HeroQuest viewpoint, the best thing about these sets is the miniature
figure.  These figures are well-designed and sculpted, they're pewter, and
they're ideal for HeroQuest.  The fact that they were intended specifically
for use as Heroes in a dungeon game shows in their designs.

The rest of the Character Packs' components are not so useful.  These
consist of a cardboard hero card, a pog-like round cardboard disk with the
hero's portrait on it, and a cardboard token depicting the hero's special
artifact. All of these are sturdy and illustrated in full color, but their
use for HeroQuest is questionable.

The final item in each Character Pack is a rulebook containing supplemental
rules that are specific to the Hero.  The special rules, or even just the
Hero's basic concept, can be adapted into HeroQuest, but a little bit of
work is involved.  The supplemental heroes do all have interesting unique
backgrounds that can expand the world of your HQ campaign and provide the
basis for new quest ideas.

In the past year, Games Workshop has quietly released six of Warhammer
Quest's Hero miniatures in individual blister packs at a price of $6.50(US)
each.  They are listed as "Warhammer Heroes" under Games Workshop Online's
"New Releases" section. If you just want more figures for HeroQuest, these
are a much better buy than the Character Packs.  If you think you might want
to play Warhammer Quest under its own rules, the additional components will
be useful and it's probably worth tracking down the complete Character
Packs.

[WQ as a Game in its own right]

Despite initial similarities to Advanced HeroQuest (the character line-up,
the random dungeons, the tile-based board), the WQ rules contain numerous
refinements on those of the previous game.  One major improvement is a
clever card-based system that guarantees that random dungeons lead
somewhere.  (Advanced HeroQuest's random dungeons are generated by die
rolls.)  Every WQ board section is represented by a corresponding card in
the "Dungeon" deck.  A random game consists of deciding which rooms will be
in your dungeon layout, picking out their corresponding Dungeon cards, and
shuffling the deck.  Exploration consists of turning the Dungeon cards over
one at a time and adding the appropriate room to the floor plan.

When the Dungeon deck is shuffled before the game, the card for the
"Objective Room" (the one containing the goal of the quest) is manually
placed near the bottom of the deck.  This way, the players can be assured
that their target is near the far end of the dungeon.  If the Heroes come to
a "T-junction" (i.e., a fork in the road), the remaining cards in the deck
are divided into two piles, each of which is assigned to one of the forks.
Now the players know that the quest objective still lies somewhere ahead,
and their choice of paths matters (there really is a right path and a wrong
one), even though the dungeon is still being created "randomly."

The main WQ game and its expansions each contain several kinds of objective
room and hazard tiles (with matching dungeon cards).  By varying the
contents of the Dungeon deck, different kinds of dungeons can be simulated.

The card-based board-randomizing rules are complemented by card- and
dice-based event rules.  A great variety of possible events are determined
through the use of dice, the results from which are looked up on tables.
This scheme offers vast numbers of random weapons and artifacts for the
Heroes to find.  Additionally, Event cards are drawn at specific times, and
detail something happening, good or bad, in the dungeon.  Each monster has a
certain amount of gold, but at times a special treasure card is drawn.

WQ does rise beyond a randomized boardgame by providing support for
pre-designed dungeons that are presented by a gamemaster. These,
unsurprisingly, are provided in the form of annotated quest maps.  The main
Warhammer Quest set contains a three level quest.  (In HeroQuest terms,
that's three quests.)  The "Lair of the Orc Lord" expansion set has a 3
level quest and "Catacombs of Terror" offers a 5 level quest.

Random or scripted, Warhammer Quest is very much a dungeon crawl.  Initially
you learn play with a short introductory booklet, which pretty much covers
the same topics as HQ's rulebook.  The dice mechanic is different from HQ's
-- it boils down to "roll one normal six-sided die and add the result to
your character's attribute."

Once you are used to the introductory rules, you can expand into the ones
found in the 192 pages of the Roleplay Book.   This adds much more flavor to
the game, allowing the players to 'roleplay' their characters... within the
context of a series of dungeon crawls, and the pauses between them.  The
advanced Roleplay system is a streamlined (and d6-based) subset of the
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay System.

While there are no Chaos Warrior minis included with Warhammer Quest, the
Roleplay Book includes detailed rules support for every miniature GW was
making around 1995, Chaos Warriors included.  There is also a specific
"Chaos Magic" spell list for Chaos Sorcerers.  There are similar spell lists
for Chaos Beastman Shamans and Dark Elves, and rather different ones for
Chaos Dwarves, Goblins/Orcs and Skaven.

There is some attention given to life outside of dungeons. The system that
tells you what the Heroes go through between quests takes the form of
numerous tables of random events.  If the heroes want to travel to a distant
city in order to buy more exotic goods and weaponry, the players must roll
on a table of "hazards".   While in a settlement, they must role on a
"settlement events" table.  And so on.

The documentation encourages the GM to provide roleplaying opportunities
within the scenarios. The scenes in which the party is given its missions or
learns valuable clues in town are supposed to be acted out.  The game system
does provide for a fully detailed character, one that includes all of the
non-combat stats that were introduced in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

Magic

Impressively sturdy spell cards, similar in design to the "Battle Magic"
spell cards that came with Warhammer Fantasy Battle at the time WQ was
published, are provided for the Wizard.  Disappointingly, similar cards were
not provided for other spellcasters, in the main WQ set or in either of its
supplements.  (The rules for these other magic systems are provided; it's
just the cards that are missing.)

There are three types of spell cards - attack, defense, and healing.  At the
start of the game the cards are seperated into their types, and each stack
is shuffled.  The Wizard picks the top card of each stack as his spells for
that game.  The Wizard then rolls 1d6, and takes that many power tokens. The
more power tokens the wizard has the greater his chance of a spell being
successful.  The Wizard may cast each spell as many times as he wants,
assuming he has enough power - the spell card is not lost after it is cast.

At the start of each turn the Wizard rolls 1d6.  This is the power that the
wizard has for that turn.  Each spell costs a certain amount of "power".
Spells can be cast multiple number of times in a turn if the Wizard has
enough power.  Each spell token that the Wizard got at the start of the game
may be used once to add 1 to his power number.


The Disks

Above, we mentioned that each Hero (in the main WQ set and in the Hero
packs) comes with a round, pog-like portrait disk.  These are used
occasionally within the game for randomization.  When a monster threatens
two or more Heroes, the Heroes' disks can be tossed in a dice cup or turned
face-down and "shell gamed" to see who the monster attacks.

Character Packs

WQ's Character Packs give useful insight into the good and bad results that
can come from giving each Hero a detailed rules system of his or her own.  A
very simple version of this concept can be seen in HeroQuest's inclusion of
weapons, spell sets, special skills and quests that can only be used by
specific Heroes.

Warhammer Quest goes much further.  Each Character Pack includes a booklet
full of information about the Hero, ranging in length from 8 to 24 pages.
Most of the Heroes come with unique artifacts (represented by cardboard
tokens) and attack styles, and some have their own spell schools or skills.
Each Hero also has a complete personal history, explaining his personality
and motivations for questing.  (Unfortunately, all of the "he" and "his"
references are accurate in this case -- no female Heroes were ever released
for Warhammer Quest.)

Predictably, giving each Hero some unique rules serves to increase the
overall complexity and balance of the game substantially, as the new Hero's
rules must interact with the rules and stats of the monsters and other
Heroes.  Fans of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons may recognize a resemblance to
the "Complete Fighter's Handbook" series that TSR published some years ago.

The advantage provided by providing specialized rules and a unique
background for each Hero is that it gives the players a richer gaming
experience.  Each player can focus on the unique strategic aspects of his or
her character's attack style.  It also gave the player the chance to come up
with a reason why his figure was risking his life - greed, revenge, seeking
death, etc.

The extra detail also enriches the game as a whole.  Adding the character
packs allowed the players to get away from the 'standard 4' heroes that are
included with every game of this type - Warrior/Barbarian, Elf, Wizard,
Dwarf.

Future Support

There were quite a few articles in White Dwarf and the Citadel Journal
magazines about WQ.  For a complete list of both you can go to The Dungeon
of Mugee ( http://www.fortunecity.com/underworld/roadrash/317/dungeon/ ).
These included extra rules, combat/treasure cards, game boards, quests,
spell cards, and characters (in a "figgur-n-rulz" deal; the magazine
provided the basic rules, but the metal figure and role-playing rules could
be obtained through mail order).

One White Dwarf article introduced Dark Secrets cards.  These give the WQ
Heroes a 'dark' reason for being in the dungeon.  Instead of the standard
Heroic reason, the character can have some hidden goal that may affect the
rest of the group.

Even though GW has ceased production of WQ, it is still supporting it.  The
last three issues of Citadel Journal have had WQ articles (although one was
a comic).  This year also saw the release of Deathblow, a Warhammer Quest
compendium.  Games Workshop promises to release Deathblow 2 soon.

Fan support for Warhammer Quest is also strong, and there are quite a few
Warhammer Quest pages on the Internet.  These provide many extra rules,
characters, quests, boards, etc.

   Warhammer Quest Archive
   http://www.frii.com/~evil/wq/

   Dungeon of Muggee
   http://www.fortunecity.com/underworld/roadrash/317/dungeon/

There is also a very active Warhammer Quest newsgroup.  Instructions for
joining it can be found on any of the sites mentioned above.

[Bottom Line]

If you enjoy lots of minis, then this is the game for you.  In this one
case, the board tiles and minis, plus the assorted other goodies, are worth
Games Workshop's asking price.  If you are using the game to complement
HeroQuest, then you get a nice assortment of minis.  There is a good
assortment of board tiles, which while most are larger than the HQ rooms,
still fit nicely into the game.

If you are planning on buying Warhammer Quest to play as a game in its own
right, then be assured that it is a solid one.  There are rules for easier,
more HQ-like dungeon crawls, plus the more advanced Role Playing rules.

The game is out of print, but still available.  List price was $70, but it
can be found at some locations for much cheaper.  It should be noted that if
you are buying the game for just the minis, you may want to investigate the
plastic sets from GW for about $10 or $15 each.  Except for the four hero
characters and the doors, all of the minis in WQ are recycled from those
very sets (not all of which are currently in production, though).


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

                                NEW MONSTERS
                                ----- ------

Fire Elementals

by Dewayne Agin

This is the second of a series of short articles converting the DragonStrike
figures (see Alchemist's Bench, issue 5) for use in HeroQuest.

Summoned to this plane by Sorcerers and Warlocks, Fire Elementals burn with
an intense heat, destroying everything in their path.  They consume all
within the inferno that is their being - rock, wood, metal, flesh; leaving
only charred and scorched ruins.

Fire Elementals' bodies consist entirely of flame, held together by their
magic.  They are immune to normal weapons - an attack made against a Fire
Elemental using one will only result in the weapons destruction.  Fire
spells are useless against a Fire Elemental as well.  Casting one against
such a being will INCREASE its Body Points by the amount of damage that the
spell normally causes, even above its starting Body Point amount.  Other
spells will damage it, though.

Besides the Fire Elemental that came with DragonStrike, there are several
that can be found on the web.

RalPartha (http://www.blackmoor.ca/ralparthamain.htm):

Elemental Daemons of Fire & Water (2) 7.25


Reaper Miniatures (http://www.reapermini.com):

Fire Elemental  $5.50
Fire Elemental  $2.75


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

                                FAN FICTION
                                -----------

This month marks the beginning of a new section, Fan Fiction.  We hope you
enjoy it!


Introduction to Verag

"Alright class, open your text books, Hero Quest's Quest Book, to page four
and five.  Here you will see the floor plan for Fellmarg's Catacombs.
Silently be reading Mentor's parchment on page five to yourselves.  Next we
will be reading a story written by Dave Dooley about the gargoyle mentioned
in the text, entitled "Trial", by the name of Verag.  Class, do you know who
Dave Dooley is?"

One very excited young boy, Eddie, raises his hand franticly "Me! Me! I
know!"

The teacher calls on the girl next to him, "Suzy?"

"He's an author."

"Yes, but can you add something to that, George?"

"He wrote a story about Verag." The teacher was a little annoyed.  By this
time Eddie is about to pop.

"Alright, Eddie, who do you think Mr. Dooley is?"

Eddie puts his hand down and sits dumbfounded.  Actually he didn't know who
Dooley was.  "He..."  It was plain that he didn't know.

"Go to the principal's office!"

-----

Verag

by Dave Dooley


As the rain falls upon him, Verag can feel it wash away his mental demons.
Night storms always soothe his mind.  For hours he sits in the gale, eyes
facing the violent sky.  Quickly, his attention snaps to a new point.  Was
there no rest for him?

Verag sits watching the four intruders from his perch, the roof of Barak
Tor's highest tower.  He had flown to the spire not to watch for trespassers
but to clear his mind.  A lot is on it now that the war has begun.  Once
again he would be called to strike in the name of Morcar.

This sorry excuse for a raiding party is pathetic.  Do they plan on just
walking right in?

Lightning cracks its whip deep inside a thunderhead.  Rain pours down
relentlessly.  Verag looks at a stone spout fashioned in the shape of a
deformed head, mouth gaping open letting the rain pour out and away from the
castle.  How much more was he?  As a gargoyle he had been fashioned from
stone to do his masters bidding.  The spout was the same way; only their
jobs were different.

Once again Verag turns his attention to his attackers.  The stupid fools
were now scaling the wall to the first window.  Verag supposed they had some
way to get past the bars that it contained.  No matter.  They would not
reach it.

For a moment he watches them pull their small bodies up their rope.  He
wonders what motivates them so.  They can't possibly think that they can
kill all the inhabitants of his castle.  And it would be beyond belief if
these characters thought they could use stealth to accomplish their goal.
Verag wonders whether he is procrastinating or if his thoughts are so
important that he lets them scale nearly all the way to the window.  Either
way, he need not worry.

The massive gargoyle stands.  He pauses for a moment.  Something had crossed
his mind but like a slippery worm had left before he had time to grasp its
nature.  Verag shakes it from his head.  It was time to feel the warmth of
blood on his claws once again.  Like switchblades his enormous wings spread.

Verag dives from the tower's top.  He drops gaining great speed.  Then, just
before reaching terminal velocity, he swoops up and over.  Now he is
flanking his prey, coming from behind and below.  He rockets upward.  Up and
past the "heroes" he climbs, much to their dismay.  He perches in the window
and draws his sword.

The sound of his voice calls from deep within the cavern of his mountainous
chest, "Do you still wish to climb into this window, foolish humans?  No?
Then I shall help you down."  With that he cuts their rope.

How helpless they look to Verag.  With no wings to fly they simply drop.
The terror in their eyes as they plummet is a mystery to the gargoyle.  The
screams they loose as they realize the swiftness of death's coming cause
Verag to wonder at the endless curiosities of human behavior.  One thing was
for certain; these humans would not live to see past the one hundred thirty
foot drop that not so long ago they were glad to be climbing.  Foolish
humans.  He watches as they hit.

His next annoyance will be to have the goblins clean up the mess on the
entryway's stone floor.  Perhaps he would let the wolves have it.  Yes, he
decided, I will see the wolves feast well tonight.

Already he could hear their howls above the tempest.



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


                                 NEW RULES
                                 ---------

Unarmed Combat
by Dewayne Agin with help from John Burnham

In the Return of the Witch Lord quest pack, quest #6, 'Halls of the Dead',
the Witch Lord has captured the Heroes.  The Wizard and Dwarf wake in a
small cell, separated from the Barbarian and Elf.  Their weapons are outside
the cell.  What happens if they search for treasure and get a Wandering
Monster before they pick up their weapons?  Later they find the Barbarian
and Elf in the Hall of the Witch Lord.  They too are weaponless.  Their
weapons are in a chest, and cannot be retrieved until all the monsters in
the room are destroyed.  In both instances the Heroes are without weapons.

The basic game came with one spell, Rust, that the Game Master can use to
destroy a Hero's weapon.  What happens if the weapon is destroyed?  How does
the Hero attack?  Can he continue making attacks during that quest?

The only answers to these questions are found in the basic game quest
booklet, quest #6 'Legacy of the Orc Warlord' (at least in the US version;
don't know if this is the same in the UK version).  The Heroes begin the
quest in a cell, and all of the items from their inventory are stored in
another room.  Under the notes section it is stated 'A Hero with no weapons
or armor rolls one die to attack and two dice to defend'.  The two defense
dice make sense to me.  Each Hero has a base defense roll of two dice at the
start of the game, and no Hero starts with any armor.  The one attack die
bothered me, though, for two reasons.

The first is that one unarmed attack die is the same as the one attack die
for a dagger, which is what the Wizard starts with.  A dagger can be thrown
at any enemy within line-of-sight, doing one attack die of damage.  It is
then lost.  By giving the Heroes a basic one attack die when unarmed, the
following scenario is possible.  The Wizard (or any other Hero using a
dagger) attacks an adjacent monster with his dagger, doing one attack die of
damage.  After dispatching his foe, he spies another monster several squares
away from him.  He throws his dagger, doing an attack die of damage.  The
Wizard may now continue attacking with one attack die, even though his
dagger is gone.  This doesn't seem correct to me.  Why bother with daggers
if the Hero gets the same amount of attack dice unarmed?

The second reason is that the logic behind all Heroes doing one attack die
of damage seemed wrong.  Would an unarmed Barbarian, using the strength of
his muscles alone, cause the same damage as an unarmed Wizard?  Barbarians
are supposed to be big and strong.  Could they not dispatch a foe easier
with their bare hands than a Wizard?

John and I have been talking about this for a while now, and have come up
with the rules below:

For basic unarmed combat, the Heroes roll this number of Attack Dice:

Barbarian:     4
Dwarf:         3
Elf:           2
Wizard:        1

To hit with an unarmed attack dice roll, the Hero must roll a BLACK SHIELD,
instead of a skull.  I have playtested these rules for a few games now, and
they seem to work fairly well.  It is much harder to hit a monster when
unarmed, but not impossible.  The Barbarian is rewarded for being stronger
with 4 un-armed attack dice, and the Wizard only has one.

A second issue that might come up is whether or not the Elf and Wizard can
cast spells when unarmed.  In the quest 'Legacy of the Orc Warlord'
mentioned above, the spellcasters cannot cast spells until the Heroes' items
are recovered.  In the quest 'Halls of the Dead' from Return of the Witch
Lord, it states that the Wizard's spells are outside the cell door where he
starts the game.  Nothing is mentioned of the Elf's spells in this quest,
though.  These two quests would seem to  imply that a spellcaster's spells
are contained in something in their inventory, such as a spellbook, that
must be in the Hero's possession before a spell can be cast.  No mention of
this is found in the rulebook.  It would seem that when a spellcaster's
entire inventory is taken from him, this includes his spells.  In a case
such as this he cannot cast spells.  If he just looses his weapon, though,
he still retains his spellcasting ability.


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

                                NEW MONSTERS
                                ------------

HeroQuest Hall of Foes 1

Copyright 1995 by Carl Forhan


Buzzsaw, Orc Chieftain

Movement Squares:   8           Body Points:   3
Attack Dice:       3/3          Mind Points:   1
Defend Dice:        3

Buzzsaw won't go down in history as the wisest Orc to ever be Chieftan
to the Thunderfoot Clan, but he's certainly the most agile.  In fact,
his uncanny speed allows him to attack twice per turn.  If both attacks
are centered on one foe, Zargon rolls six Attack Dice.  If the attacks
are split against two adjacent foes, Zargon rolls three Attack Dice
against each.  Buzzsaw is, in fact, a coward, and as such he always
seeks out the Hero with the least Defend Dice and directs at least one
attack towards that Hero if possible.  He is also very likely to have
several bodyguards around, typically 3-4 Orcs but possibly a Fimir or
Chaos Warrior or two (Zargon's choice).  If the battle doesn't seem to
be going his way, Buzzsaw makes a beeline for the nearest escape route.
If one is not available, Buzzsaw will surrender to the Heroes if he is
ever reduced to one Body Point.  (Note:  decide what alternatives are
available to the Heroes once Buzzsaw surrenders, such as showing mercy,
taking him prisoner, etc.)

--------------------

Vermin, Goblin Warlock

Movement Squares:  10           Body Points:   3
Attack Dice:        2           Mind Points:   3
Defend Dice:        2

Very few Goblins learn to read and write, let alone master the
intricacies of Magic.  Vermin is one of those select few with a keen
intellect and the drive to pursue such a goal.  After many years of
study in the Kellar mountains, he has reached his goal.

He has an intense hatred of Orcs, and would even aid the Heroes
temporarily if he sees them fighting any Orcs.  Thus, Zargon may wish to
set up a special encounter in a Quest along these lines.  For example,
perhaps the Heroes stumble across a room full of a few Goblins and many
Orcs -- only to discover that they're fighting each other!  What will
the Heroes do?  Are the Goblins genuinely in need?  Or is it a trap to
catch the Heroes off guard?

Vermin knows the following spells:
Lightning Bolt
Rust
Sleep

--------------------

Golem, Iron

Movement Squares:   4           Body Points:   8
Attack Dice:        5           Mind Points:   1
Defend Dice:        4*

* - Any weapon used against an Iron Golem remains lodged in the Golem
    until it is destroyed.

Golems are created by cunning wizards who have spent many years
researching the arcane art of animating a statue or similar object with
a limited awareness.  They primarily serve as guardians for their
masters and their belongings, and can only follow the simplest of
commands.

Iron Golems are one such creation.  Being made of solid iron, they are
slow but deadly, possessing a healthy metallic endurance as well as
stone-crushing fists.  Most Iron Golems are fashioned in the image of an
Ogre, although some have been encountered that appeared to be suits of
living armor (Zargon:  use the Ogre or Chaos Warrior figures to
represent an Iron Golem).  They are reported to have one other
terrifying defense mechanism:  any metal weapon which succeeds in
inflicting damage on the Golem is stuck and cannot be removed until the
Golem is destroyed.  Only the Wizard's Staff appears to be immune to
this unusual ability.  (Zargon:  you could rule that any non-magical
weapon is destroyed upon inflicting damage, and that only magical ones
may be recovered after eliminating the Golem).

Iron Golems are very stupid, and their combat tactics should demonstrate
it.  They almost always attack the closest Hero, and rarely leave the
area they were guarding, even if the Heroes flee.

--------------------

Golem, Shadow

Movement Squares:   8           Body Points:   5
Attack Dice:        4           Mind Points:   3
Defend Dice:        4*

* - Shadow Golems are immune to all normal weapons

Shadow Golems are the creation of the long-forgotten Chaos Warlock
Skaros, fashioned like Gargoyles with one distinct difference:  they are
immune to all natural weapons.  Only enchanted weapons or spells may
cause them harm (note to Zargon:  do not reveal this until the first
attack is made against a Shadow Golem with a non-magical weapon).  As
their name implies, Shadow Golems have been created to stand watch over
valuables throughout the centuries, whether they be treasure hoards or
key passages to fortresses.  Skaros often sold his minions to the
highest bidder, tailoring each one to a specific set of orders which it
must follow diligently.  It is rare enough to encounter one Shadow Golem,
and to find a pair together can only imply great danger for the Heroes.

Shadow Golems are only semi-corporeal, and thus are able to pass through
any obstacle (Heroes, walls, etc.) freely in their movement.  In fact,
there are many tales of Shadow Golems vanishing during combat only to
reappear seconds or minutes later with a vicious attack next to an
unsuspecting Hero.  Do not underestimate their cunning!

--------------------

Tythallamon, Rogue Wizard

Movement Squares:   8           Body Points:   6
Attack Dice:        2*          Mind Points:   6
Defend Dice:        3*

* - depending on possessions

Tythallamon has been secluded for many years studying the more exotic
forms of Magic and unlocking the secrets of creating his own Artifacts.
He is irritable, but not necessarily dangerous upon first encounter.
However, due to his private nature he has a complete lack of tolerance
for anyone who disturbs or raids his personal possessions.  He will take
a vow of revenge against the first Hero who attacks Tythallamon's guards
or takes one of Tythallamon's possessions.  This vow can only be
satisfied if the Hero gives up one-half of the Hero's possessions
(Zargon's choice), the Hero is defeated in battle, or the Heroes do
something extraordinary to aid him in a future Quest.

Tythallamon is intended to be a long-running adversary of one Hero or
group of Heroes.  He is not meant to be a one-time enemy who is defeated
in the course of one Quest.  Tythallamon will use any spell necessary,
including Escape or a Summons spell, to cover his retreat, so that he
may foil the Heroes again in future Quests.  He will be a thorn in
their side until the situation is somehow resolved.  Note to Zargon:
keep Tythallamon somewhat mysterious in his abilities and equipment.
Let him be a highly intelligent adversary for the Heroes.

Suggested spell list:
Cloud of Chaos
Dispel (from the Quest Pack for the Elf, substitute if necessary)
Escape
Firestorm
Skate (from the Barbarian Quest Pack, substitute if necessary)
Tempest

Suggested possessions:
Wizard's Cloak
Wizard's Staff
Potion of Healing


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

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


Doing Something Different
Part 1

by Dewayne Agin


[Introduction]

I have mentioned before the comment made to me by a player after a game of
HeroQuest.  We had been playing through the Milton Bradley quests, and he
commented that the game was fun, but all the quests seemed to be the same.
Before going any further let me comment that this is not necessarily a bad
thing.  I enjoy playing a quest molded after the ones that Milton Bradley
wrote, both as a player and as a GameMaster.  But there may be times when
either you as a quest author or as a player want a quest that differs from
the norm.  That is what I hope to discuss in this and coming articles.

This series of articles may run for quite some time, but not necessarily in
every issue.  I hope to discuss ways of changing up the standard quest.
Some of the changes are small, some are quite large, but all will hold with
the basic HeroQuest rules.   Each article will have one or more short ideas
to make quests different, and there may even be a quest with the articles,
showing the implementation of the changes.  If you have any ideas and/or
comments, please write to me at the email address above.


[Large Board Overlays]

The quest packs that came with HeroQuest came with many board overlays.
Most of these overlays were the same size as one of the rooms found on the
board.  To my knowledge only 'Against the Ogre Horde' came with a board
larger than one of these rooms.

There are many large boards that can be found.  My webpage has several
excellent ones by Ron Shirtz.  There are also others to be found in the
other HeroQuest, Advanced HeroQuest, and Warhammer Quest webpages that are
out there.  Some games, such as Warhammer Quest, Advanced HeroQuest, and
Dungeon Quest, have some large board overlays.

Why would you want to use a large board overlay?  I have used them to force
the Heroes to change their tactics when fighting (the Heroes have to be
careful or they will find themselves surrounded).  If you are having trouble
fitting everything you want (monsters, furniture, traps, etc.) into one of
the standard rooms then you may want to consider a larger board.  Perhaps a
larger room just fits the plot of your quest better.  For whatever reason, a
larger room can change up a quest and make it different.


[No Mentor]

One of the basics of all the quest packs that Milton Bradley wrote is that
the Heroes are under the guidance of Mentor.  He sends them on their way,
fighting for the Emperor against his former apprentice Zargon/Morcar
(depending on which version of HQ you own).  How about using something else
for your quest introduction.  What if the Heroes are wandering adventurers?
What if they are fleeing from something or someone - monsters, thieves, the
law, etc?  What if they are just caught in a battle?  What if they are
seeking vengeance against the destruction of their village/town/city?  You
get the idea.  By simply changing the introduction, you could change the
whole feel of the quest.


[No quest descriptions]

There was a definite 'theme' in each of the Milton Bradley quest pack
expansions.  Each quest in the packs had a short description to let the
Heroes know what was expected of them.  What if this description wasn't
there? Maybe the Heroes get a description at the beginning of the quest
pack, and are then left uninformed as to their goal in each of the
individual quests that make up the pack.  This would serve the purpose of
confusion, and maybe heighten the sense of discovery and exploration that
the players feel while exploring the board.  Leave out the description at
the beginning of each quest and the Heroes have to discover for themselves
what they have to accomplish in that quest.


The quest that accompanies this article, Carag Eight Peaks, contains all
three of these elements in it.  There is no Mentor character - the Heroes
are wandering adventurers.  There are no quest descriptions - there is only
a long description at the beginning.  And finally the quest makes extensive
use of large board overlays.



==========================================================================
END OF ISSUE 8                                          SEE YOU NEXT TIME!
==========================================================================