Monster patrol in the dungeon ?

[Maurice76]

I wouldn't consider each individual member of a patrol with regards to position and movement. Rather, I would take the patrol marker to be the general whereabouts of the patrol. Once it encounters the Heroes and the patrol is revealed, simply place the patrol members near the tiles of the markers. Possibly some members of the patrol could still be around the corner, out of sight - but being part of the patrol, they can move and engage the Heroes on the EW turn, revealing themselves at that point.

[Jafazo]

Here's one possible way to do it.

Place your special Patrolling Monsters on the map anywhere you like. Anytime a patrolling monster is placed onto the board by Zargon he immediately rolls a combat die. If a skull is rolled the patrol monster spots the Hero. Tell the Hero, “A patrolling monster has spotted you!”, move it adjacent to that Hero and makes a free immediate attack. That Hero's turn is over. If a skull is not rolled tell the Hero, “You see a patrolling monster but it hasn't spotted you yet.”. Treat the monster normally.

[mitchiemasha]

Spotted not spotted would be an important part to add to how this could work. It could use MIND to determine how effective they are at spotting you. I have something similar in the SNEAKING hero trait.

[tallyho]

Good ideas
But im still hanging on the Direction dice idea, It will keep the players on edge and the Game Master ever so frustrated .
Also i will use the outer hallways corners as a "straight line" no need to use the direction dice.
And if the Direction dice doesn't deliver, that's where the the Patrol stops, until next GM turn.
Also i like the idea that the Game Master, for once, has no control. That will add a element of frustration to the GM. Arrrgh

[Maurice76]

You could simplify it to some degree: simply make a copy of the dungeon map and write down the numbers 2 to 12 at random in various tiles of the map, at about 4 tiles apart each time. Roll 2D6 at the start to determine where the patrol begins (and since 2D6 gravitates towards 7, it's best to put 7, as well as 6 and 8 diametrically opposed from the Heroes' entry location - but that's up to the EW). Then, during each of the EW's turns, roll 1 combat die to see where the patrol is heading:
= move to the next numbered tile, in the direction of the Heroes
= move to the next numbered tile, away from the Heroes
= the patrol remains standing where it is

Saves you the hassle of the magnetic board, all you need to do is keep track of which numbered tile the patrol is at; you could simply write down the number. You can have the patrol move through rooms that way, too, so you can even use this mechanic in maps that are low on (connected) corridors. Your patrol route also doesn't have to form a closed loop, as a line that's traversed up and down works just as well.

Furthermore, you might also want to consider what the patrol does when it hears combat sounds from a room or corridor next to the location they're in.

[Azure]

I will definitely use this idea in my games from now on. This is pure genius.