HeroQuest: The "Pac-Man Quest" Set-Up

 One of the improvised HeroQuest games I played with my 7yo son was particularly interesting so I thought why not share it on the blog? You can see it in the picture. I shared this very pic on facebook and one user said it looked like Pac-Man, which is quite accurate, so here's my "Pac-Man Quest" set-up.

 

The board: I used the hedge maze from the Immersive Battle Maps book.

The set-up: The hero started at one side of the board. I placed three chests at three different locations in the maze, the gargoyle ("just a statue") in the central dais, and a dozen undead scattered around the maze.

The objective: Finding the desired object (can't remember what the story was, sorry) inside one of the three chests.

Special Rules: All the monsters are already on the board, and they all move during Zargon's turn. They can go towards the hero, or set up ambushes or try to defend the chests. I had no idea which was the right chest: when the hero opened one, I rolled a die to see if it was the right one (5 or 6 on a red die for the first chest opened; 4, 5 or 6 for the second; and automatic for the last). The chests that don't contain the mcguffin contain a random treasure card. If/when all the chests are opened, the gargoyle statue animates, and it can fly over the maze walls to assault the hero.

Setting your own "PacMan" quest

This type of quest set-up can be duplicated with other boards or even with standard HeroQuest components. All you need is a maze-like environment with long, meandering passages.

With the regular HeroQuest board you can achieve the same effect by putting all the open doors on the board from the beginning, carefully placing them (and the wall blocker markers) to create a maze.

What Monsters? How Many?

The best monsters for this se-up are slow. Zombies and mummies create a good crescendo of threat, and allow players to evaluate the fights they'll have to face when they choose a path, including maneuvering to outflank large groups. As a rule of thumb, 10 monsters +3 per player should make a decent challenge.

What Story?

The chest inside the maze can hold anything really: the map or key to the next quest, or the enchanted item needed to defeat the Big Bad Evil Guy or to foil their plans.

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Into HeroQuest? Check out my other HeroQuest Posts!

Expanding HeroQuest: Why Did It Have to Be Snakemen!?

 Because Snakemen are the epitome of Sword & Sorcery! Without them, your fantasy is just some poor-man's Tolkien!

These are the models I chose!

So I've been scouring the internet to find some good-looking, not-too-expensive models for my HeroQuest game. I had been tempted by this Epic Encounters: Chambers of The Serpent Folk box. It is fairly cheap for the amount of minis included, and they are definitely high quality sculpts. I had even written stats for the minis. And the box also includes a large grid map.

This is the definitive box for a big snakemen campaign, but too many for me!

BUT THEN I found these lovely sculpts on Etsy. It is a matter of personal taste, of course. These guys are closer to my idea of HeroQuest, where I like to mix the '90s style with the contemporary style. They sure would rock next to the original edition minis (which I only "have" here, in my heart...).

I chose these over the Epic Encounters box mostly because I figured I don't need that many minis. If the base HeroQuest can make do with six goblins, two zombies, etc, I definitely don't need 20 snakemen. So I started looking for alternatives in a similar budget.

This is where I decided 10 snakemen with 3 different sculpts (4 warriors, 4 bowmen and 2 sword-and-board "leaders") were enough, and then I started exploring the rest of the Etsy creator's catalogue, since I had to pay for shipping anyway.

And that's when the game became: spend the same budget as the Epic Encounters box, and get the most out of it.

I decided I didn't want more monsters. I firmly believe a big part of the charm of HeroQuest is the immersive experience it gives, empowered by the simplicity of the rules and the glorious amount of (almost useless, from a gameplay point of view, unless you use my Searching the Furniture rules) furniture pieces.

So I went and chose the campfire pot, so now my orcs and goblins can cook snacks while squatting the dungeon!; these savage totems for my chaos dread temple dungeons (nothing says "don't enter this door" like a pair of grim totems next to it!); and these tomb and gravestones that along the core game's tomb (and the alternate sculpt from Mage of the Mirror) will allow me to more decently fill a crypt-themed dungeon. Oh and also a bunch of barrels, just because they were cheap, and they definitely can go along with the original table and cupboard.

"Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!"
(God I'm bad at taking pics)

This was my first time placing an order on Etsy, and I gotta say it was all good. The box arrived in due time, everything was carefully wrapped and arrived in perfect conditions, and the sculpts are exactly as shown in the vendor's pictures, including the brown plastic used for the barrels, totems and campfire pot. Yes, this was a big plus for me, I'm not going to paint anything!

Plus, the unexpected nice part was I also received several freebies: the creator gifted me with 3 chests and 3 crates from the barrel set, and two extra snakemen!

After I got my order, I contacted Pieter, the creator (there's a direct message button on Etsy) and I found he is the nicest guy. I really should have asked him if he could have printed the snakemen in birght green plastic instead of grey!

...so, here's the HeroQuest stats for these serpent persons, ready to chop and pierce the heroes!

Snakeman Warrior: Move 5, 3 AD, 3 DD, 2 BP, 3 MP, Hypnotic Gaze

Snakeman Archer: Move 5, 3 AD, 3 DD, 2 BP, 3 MP, Ranged Attack, Hypnotic Gaze

Snakeman Chief: Move 5, 4 AD, 5 DD, 4 BP, 4 MP, Leader

Hypnotic Gaze: Adjacent heroes roll 1 less AD and 1 less DD when fighting this monster (minimum 1 combat die).

Leader: All other snakemen in the room gain +1 AD.

(The chief has to do without the hypnotic gaze because he's got a human head)

And since I got a campfire pot, I may as well create a table for searching it, since I've done tables for searching basic game furniture:

Campfire Pot

A bubbling "soup" with a bizarre smell. You can decide to have a taste! If you do, roll 1d6 to determine what happens:

1 As you stir the pot, a wandering monster is attracted by the smell and attacks you immediately. The hero's turn is over.

2 The hero hallucinates and loses 1 Mind Point.

3 The hero loses 1 Body Point to belly pain.

4 You've tasted better, but this is quite good.

5 A hearty soup! The hero recovers 1 lost Body Point and 1 lost Mind Point.

6 How did this end in the pot...? Roll again:

    1 A pebble that almost broke one of your teeth.

    2 A useless button.

    3 A dagger!?

    4 A ring worth 10 coins. 

    5 You chew a rubbery shroom that tastes like blueberry, and recover all lost Body Points.

    6 A pearl earring worth 50 coins.

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Into HeroQuest? Check out my other HeroQuest Posts!

Expanding HeroQuest: Searching the Furniture

Since our very first HeroQuest games, my 7yo son always moved his hero next to any furniture piece in the room before declaring he was searching for treasure. Because it makes a lot of sense, after all!

So I had to explain that the rules say you mustn't move, and that you can search a room even if there is no furniture. But oh, boy, is this really cool?

So here's my rules for actually searching those interesting furniture pieces, each with different results. Wanna taste the potions on the alchemist's bench? See who's hiding inside the cupboard? Do you dare disturb the tomb? Are you sure you want to be scrutinized by the evil man in the portrait above the fireplace? What grim findings await you in the torture rack?

Here's the answers. After all, I love writing random tables. 

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Into HeroQuest? Check out my other HeroQuest Posts!