I did not take very good pictures of my copy before I started on the road. Therefore, please take this publicity still from the creators for your viewing pleasure.
This is one of the "smaller" expansions for Heroquest. Therefore, much of what I said about Spirit Queen's Torment will apply to this box as well. Keep in mind that ALL expansions are designed to be stand-alone with the Core set. Therefore, these smaller boxes tend to use the miniatures and cards from the core set.... only more of them. The main draw is the new Hero, the alternate sculpts for enemies, and the new Quests!
So with that grab your companions, heft your long sword, and don your bracers for it is time to delve into this Quest Pack.
Things I Like
The big draw for this box is the new Hero and the alternate enemy sculpts. These had been Kickstarter exclusives but were released with this box to retail. I think all of this content was part of the Kickstarter, so I am glad they allowed non-backers access to it. I for one do not use Kickstarter and always wait for retail to see if something has legs to support. Therefore, I would have been a bit sore if these NEVER came out.
These enemy minis are the same as Spirit Queen's Torment with one big exception. Instead of the cool alternate, female Dread Wizard you get an alternate Gargoyle or two. One is the Warlock's demon-form and the other is a foe.
This boxed set also comes with some Orange, transparent dice. I think with all the expansions I have now I can easily get a set of dice for all the players at the table. No more passing dice between players for me!
This Quest ties closely into the Core Quests. Melor and his "lore" is a big component and the Talisman of Lore plays a large part in this Quest. Players will need to have recovered it and still have it for this Quest to make sense. I do not want to go into details in fear of spoiling it.
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| Warlock and Demon-Form |
Things I Did Not Like
There are a few new potions in the Alchemy Shop for this one. Of note is the Potion of Magic, which allows you to recover up to 3 spells you have cast. Wow, that is pretty helpful! They also have a few variant healing potions, even to restore Mind Points. There are also a couple of scrolls you can find, which are one use magic items. However, not much new equipment, spells or potions in this one. This is only a "small" expansion afterall.
It also changes up what happens to Heroes when they reach 0 Body. They do not die, but fall Unconscious. Monsters can not loot their stuff, and it gives players a chance to recover the fallen with a healing potion. This alters game play and the lose/win condition considerably and makes the game much easier. If you want hard mode, stick with the OG death mechanics.
This Quest plays with the idea of corruption from Dread Magic as the Players begin to gain access to Dread Magic from the Talisman of Lore. However, as they gain these powers there is a cost. I really like this concept a lot. So, why is it in this section? Well, because I want to see them do MORE with this mechanically. After all, all Magic is corrupting even the "good" magic. I would love to see them expand on this idea of expanding Magic options at a cost in future supplements. This one is too small for such efforts. Perhaps mechanics around creating scrolls or learning more spells that have a cost related to Mind Points? Not sure, but I am sure the clever folks at Avalon Hill can figure something out.
Again, you face a Villain a couple of times BUT it would be really nice to have a unique villain miniature. I know, I know, this is a small supplement. The enemy models we do get are cool, and they are cast in orange, clear plastic. It has to do with a gimmick in the quest about a spirit bouncing between bodies, but honestly I think most of us are going to paint them up like normal foes to give them more versatility. The Dread Warriors with swords especially can make good "mini-boss" style miniatures. That is my plan anyway.
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Like Spirit Queen's Torment the box art for this is smashing. They have added some really cool foil effects and it shimmers as you turn it in the light. It adds depth to the artwork as well. It is a shame because I don't need all these cool boxes with cool art sitting around! However, it is hard to toss it away because it looks the business!
The Warlock is interesting as she is a Halfling, allowing them canonically into the setting. She also comes standard with a ranged attack of 2 dice, which gives her a utility to Hero groups right away. In addition, she has three spells, the most notable is the Demon-Form spell which is like the Druid's Shape-shifter spell. I am not sure how useful this spell will be at higher difficulty Quests, but it is pretty cool and evocative. Honestly, I think I would have made the character an Elf child rather than a Halfling, allowing her to fit in really well thematically with this Quest, Mage in the Mirror, Spirit Queen's Torment, and Rise of the Dread Moon. Halflings might give them someplace to go later, but they still do not have a Dwarf-centric expansion so.....
Quest 3, the Great Stairwell is probably the stand-out quest for me as it cleverly uses the board to represent moving up through a tower. I did something similar but on a different scale in my homebrew Shadow Across Harbortown Quest (Available to Patrons). This is an interesting way to add a new "dimension" and a clever use of the board.
I also enjoyed revisiting Melor's Maze to make this feel like a living and breathing world to get this adventure started. A callback to the Core Quests if you will.
Final Thoughts
I think I like this one better than Spirit Queen's Torment and would recommend this one before purchasing that one. The Quests seems to fit together better and the story is much cooler. I also think the Warlock is a better Hero than the Bard, but the Bard has its uses. It builds off the events of the Core Quests, so would work anytime after finishing the Maze of Melar. For one of the smaller expansions, this one does what it needs to do and gives you more quests to play and Zargon ideas of what else they can do with the core game system.
Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!
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