THE CRYPT OF PERPETUAL DARKNESS discussion

[Daedalus]

Ah, so the guy in the other thread only got the quest pack booklet drafts?

That's right. I believe lucapaschi said so in the OP of his topic.

[Daedalus]

Yeah... and what do you think about the Minotaur Skeleton stats from quest #4?

Note C says it is a giant horned minotaur skeleton equiped with a battle axe... but its stats say it only has 3 attack dice, 3 defence dice and 2 body points... in my opinion it should had at least 4 attack dice due to the battle axe and at least 3 body points or more since it is suposed to be a giant creature... In the other hand 3 defence dice would be ok since it is an undead with no special armour.

About Movement the stats say 6 squares, I think would be ok too since although it is a skeleton, I imagine regular minotaurs as fast creatures in contrast to their size.

It appears Joe only wanted a +1 buffed Skeleton but dressed it up as a giant horned minotaur for dramatic effect; it's basically a Fimir. You're right--the stats aren't representational of a giant monster with a battle axe. While he broke no rule, I agree with your assessment. Joe probably shouldn't have written "giant", but I suppose large doesn't convey the same dramatic weight. I don't recall--was the Gargoyle used to represent it?

It could be but to me when you're dealing with a magical creature, all bets are off. It's a minotaur (strong) but it's undead (slow) but it's a skeleton (fast) but it's a giant (slow). It has a battle axe (strong) but the thing wielding it is weaker than a regular minotaur (unknown).*


*Unless the Lost Quest Packs have any data (as close to "official" as we may get!).

Even without referring to the WQP, I think the Kueker art and the 4-up sculpt suggest that the Minotaur should have more Attack Dice. Your assessment that a Minotaur is stronger than a minotaur skeleton is spot on, so the Battle Axe in one hand should confer the full 4 AD if it is as large as a Gargoyle. The Dagger/Shortsword adds another 1 to 2 AD from the multiple attack. I'd think a Fimir-sized Minotaur would have 4 AD (3/1), a Gargoyle-sized Minotaur would have 5 AD (4/1), and a large-monster Minotaur would have 6 AD (4/2.) with diagonal attacks.

[dungeonsandataraxia]

So has anyone played the final battle with Venim? I realize there are other things in the location that make it more difficult or does Venim really need more HP. It just seems odd that the freakin dragon has 5. But I guess the art/mini depict him as a small dragon as opposed to what most of us think of...

[Daedalus]

Good point about the dragon figure being smaller. Joe is a D&D guy, so he knows that black dragons are the smallest and magically weakest of the standard evil types of dragons. Younger dragons are also smaller and weaker than their legendary counterparts in D&D. Lower Body Points and Mind Points along with the size of the sculpt seem to imply a young black dragon.

In HQ, size matters. Is the dragon main body larger than a Giant Wolf? Does it have at least the mass of an Ogre? If yes, adding some Body Points makes sense. If not, 5 BPs sounds right. A pic of Venim alongside a Hero would be nice. Better yet, next to an Ogre. Funny that this topic doesn’t yet have a single image of the featured Boss . . .

[iKarith]

Images? Well you did set the knob for what 2021 content was permissible a bit on the high side Daedalus. Posting pics was gonna be something people were reluctant to do.

If people post the


[Hasbro's image on their servers]

we weren't sure if that'd get an


[NOT Hasbro's image or servers. Yet.*]

…and without some notion of where to draw that line, that was probably the best/safest call.

It's probably safe to revisit that now. Avalon Hill appears to be making the call about what is or isn't allowed, and they seem to be appreciative of non-commercial mods and fan creations. I think pics of 2021 stuff within reason should be okay. I don't think they'd appreciate me posting any 600 DPI scans of the tiles out of my brand new Frozen Horror box, but if someone created blank card background artwork for Zargon's Tower, I think we could host them or even build that card maker tool I want to build.

I wouldn't make the mistake some folks out there are making trying to presume what they can and will reprint/remake. "They're doing American quest packs, so they won't do European…" Who says? There's some mercs in the BQP and a couple ogres in the EQP. And the DQP/WQP were originally intended to have the rest of the wizards from WoM and ogres from AtOH … but who says those unfinished packs will be the basis of a future DQP/WQP?

Just like I wouldn't assume we won't see another Guardian Knight expansion or the Mythic quest books sooner or later. That's money on the table and they've gotta know that. Won't be quite the same as what came before because there were some exclusives in that, but they told us we haven't seen the last of the Guardian Knights and the quest books are there and ready (with a few editing fixes before they re-print them…)

Where was I? Oh yes.

MOAR PICS PLS!

* Till all are one.

tilallare1.gif

(It's a gag done by Dan Larson of Toy Galaxy on YouTube.)

[wallydubbs]

After playing through the Game System, Keller's Keep, and Prophecy of Telor, I'm sorta eager to jump into Return of the Witch Lord, however I've never actually looked through Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, so I read through that quest pack to see if it's something I'd like to jump into next. I've already looked through Spirit Queen's Torment and wasn't overly impressed with it.
So upon reading through Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, the whole storyline just seems to nag at me with logical questions:
1.) Zargon's army is overrunning the heroes hometown, why do they stop at a tavern during an invasion and not take up arms to fight them off? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. They're more curious about a map then saving their hometown.

2.) The Quest notes tell that everyone has practically heard stories about such a place, yet the gnome's map seems to be the first tangible piece of evidence for it. It's written in an Elvish language that even the Elven Hero can't read, so they have to find another Elf that can. Understandable they don't want the map falling into the wrong hands, so why not destroy it? The secret would remain a secret.

3.) Kedrick Gilbane and the Dragon Venim have been living in the Crypt for centuries and have yet to pose a threat to the Realm, so why even go after them?

4.) When the heroes are already down there they had to go through a swamp of the Goblin Queen. When they get to the crypt there's already plenty of Greenskins down there, so how is it Zargon's army hasn't heard anything about this? Understandable that the Orc's down there may not be of the same tribe working with Zargon, but word would most certainly get around? I can understand undead not talking but it seems highly unlikely that monsters down there are keeping it a secret.

4.) I agreed with the author of Spirit Queen's Torment that Greenskins and Undead don't mix, but clearly Joe Manganiello didn't follow the guidelines, as the two sides do occasionally mix in the quest pack. Frozen Horror made the same mistake.

5.) Grasping Vine Traps are introduced in this quest pack yet their function is identical to that of Spear Traps.

6.) Mentor makes no appearance in this quest pack, which is unusual. The whole thing seems like D&D contrived story with no real connection to Hero Quest asides from an occasional mention of Zargon. But it doesn't really seem to fit the storyline. These were just my thoughts on reading through it.

[Maalicia_Ironhoof]

SQT and COPD are the worst of anything I've ever attempted to read through let alone play, so much lack of logic, I made a comment elsewhere on SQT; if Mentor is so wise and all seeing with Loretome why does he need a diviner? also I friggin HATE the concept of "good" orcs/greenskins (not to mention female ones - this isn't a sexist remark, in classic representations of Orcs (including Tolkien) Orcs are not conventionally born but are a corruption of nature in defiance of it).

I had actually been working on a re-write of SQT making the good orc "Udren" that is in quest 5 actually a halfling cook wearing the skin of a butchered orc as a disguise.

[Vorimir]

Agree, they seem disconnected from HQ, like some random Dungeons and dragons adventures in HQ. If I play them Ill re-elaboraye them hardly. As I said, they are more D&D than HQ.

[LucaRocks]

I actually wouldn't mind an Official DnD Crossover expansion with HQ. Our heroes fall through a portal and end up in DnD meeting various DND monsters. Could get more DnD fans into HQ.

[Ragnar IronFist]

As usual, I'm late to the party and just discovered this KS-only expansion exists. Is there, or will there be any way to procure CoPD now or in the near future? (Without it costing six-thousand dollars)