Ye Olde Inn

I've seen a few of these in other places, but here are some skills to spice up those monsters!

Goblin: Can move through squares occupied by Heroes.

Orc: Defends with 2 extra combat dice when adjacent to any door.

Fimir/Abomination: If the Fimir/Abomination does not move, they may attack any Hero they can see.

Skeleton: Can attack diagonally.

Zombie: Attacks with one extra combat die while adjacent to another undead monster (skeleton, zombie, or mummy)

Mummy: Can move through walls, but cannot end their move in a shaded area on the Quest Map.

Chaos/Dread Warrior: If the Chaos/Dread Warrior inflicts any damage, they may move the victim one square.

Gargoyle: Once per Quest, the Gargoyle may cast the Chaos/Dread spell Ball of Flame on any Hero they can see.

I had a few goals in mind with these abilities:
1) Add more variety to combat without slowing things down
2) Fit the "theme" of each monster, without adding new monsters
3) Discourage Heroes from using the ol' door-blocking strat!

Zargon may use all these abilities from the start for more experienced Heroes, or introduce them one by one as Heroes progress.

It can be fun to read special flavor text as the monsters make use of each skill, ie: "These goblins are clad in dark cloaks and wear soft boots. They move with exceptional cunning, and can pass through spaces occupied by Heroes!"

What do you think, and how do you like to beef up your own monsters?

I think the Skeleton attacking in diagonal may fit good. And the Zombie skill too.
But why the Orcs should defend better if they are near a door?

lestodante wrote:I think the Skeleton attacking in diagonal may fit good. And the Zombie skill too.
But why the Orcs should defend better if they are near a door?

Thanks! As far as Orcs and doors, you can call it home turf advantage, territorial aggression, trained as guards/bouncers, whatever Zargon likes

I use or have used the following ...

Goblin - poisonous attacks i.e. blade venom and also Goblins can be armed with either spears (2AD diagonal) or bows (2AD ranged).

Orcs - can be equipped with a shield +1DD

Trolls - in our household (Abominations in other versions) - when the players were young Trolls used to have a "Death Vomit" attack, when slain Zargon got to roll a combat dice, on a black shield, the dying Troll would empty the contents of its stomach over the Hero that dealt the killing blow causing one body point (the little kids loved it - they have a warped sense of humour!) But currently Troll just get an extra Attack Dice as they are clearly armed with a Battle Axe.

Skeletons - I once wrote a mini-series of quests as a homage to Golden Axe and had the skeletons use an ambush / pop up attack - you might remember this if you are old enough i.e. they weren't placed on the board when visible but popped up like a wandering monster on Zargon's turn once one or more Heroes have entered the room and I liked it so much! Currently I just have Skeletons that are armed with spears to give them a diagonal attack.

Zombies - Zombie Curse. If you are wounded by a Zombie and a Black Shield is rolled in the attack then you have the Zombie Curse. If you die during the quest you are immediately resurrected as a zombie under Zargon's control

Mummy - Regeneration - they have the ability to regenerate i.e. at the start of Zargon's turn if any Mummies are on the board, remove any body point counters as they are restored to full health

Gargoyle - can use Ball of Flame spell once per Quest after all that whip isn't just for show

Edited: as I forgot the Zombie!

For unnamed monsters mostly:

Fimir: Sometimes has a chaos spell.

Gargoyle: can turn back into stone to save itself when down to 1 BP, can miss turns as a piece of furniture then return for a final assault later.

And use the Lone Monster (Parley) Deck...

I've had some, too.
I don't add them without cost, though.

My first take in them was to sacrifice an evil wizard card to activate the ability, and then the monster keeps the ability until it dies.

Goblin: Move Action Move
Orc: Can be replaced by an Orc Archer
Fimir: Gets a random spell from a swampy choice (I think it was rust, fireball, famine, fear)

Skeleton: Can be replaced by a skeleton archer or skeleton spearman
Zombie: Nothing
Mummy: Gets a random spell from a Necromancer choice

Chaos Warrior: Can defend on white shields
Gargoyle: Can turn back to stone instead of attacking. Sacrifice of an air spell to remove this ability.

I don't remember why I don't currently use the stuff, though.


I like yours, too. Your Goblin and Mummy are really agressive, being dangerous for the heroes who try to hide.

Also I like your Chaos Warrior because hero-moving stuff is always fun

The other obvious "improvement" to Monsters is their BP.

Although originally one who preferred EU/UK rules (to be fair it was all that we had until discovering this forum) I quickly adopted the US monster body points and then the US rules pretty much wholesale), but am now considering going one step further and having Monster BP as below;

Goblin/Skeleton = 1BP
Orc/Zombie = 2BP
Troll (Fimir/Abomination)/Mummy/Chaos(/Dark/Dread) Warrior = 3BP
Gargoyle = 4BP

Some 'bosses' would get an extra BP also

It often doesn't make a huge difference especially for the Orc/Zombie level as the heroes over-kill as it is, but having the chance of the Monster still standing following the initial Barbarian/Dwarf attack, gives Zargon a fighting chance of getting a response in, and also provides the tactical option for your Elf and even Wizard to follow up and pick off the weaken monsters, maybe using the diagonals.

Any thoughts?

Fimirs give off pheromones once per quest, making it so that they can't be attacked by humans in the room/corridor with them (Barbarian, Wizard) until they can roll 1 red die for each of their mind points immediately and/or on their turn (6 breaks the "spell").

and can be equipped with spears (allows diagonal attack they can choose to use instead of their normal attack), maybe that can also be thrown. They can also be equipped with bows (2 dice) or crossbows (3 dice) for ranged attacks, and stand behind traps to lure the Heroes in...

You could also arm monsters with torches (can light you on fire if it hits). Maybe monsters are armed with a "net" that they can throw the heroes, causing them to lose a turn, or entangle them (have to roll to cut their way out) making them more vulnerable to future attacks.

Also, use the Chaos Combat Cards (Ron Shirtz, etc. on Phoenix's page).

I'm considering replacing my Zombie curse effect given previously, (even though I like it) because the odds of it taking effect are vanishingly small, with the following ability, any thoughts?

Zombie stench – must roll a combat die if you step adjacent to a zombie or it steps next to you, roll a combat die, if skull then lose your lunch and 1BP otherwise no effect, other than a wave of nausea. Once you have rolled for this once you don’t need to roll again whilst monsters are present, this only ‘resets’ between encounters.

OR

Zombie stench – you roll one less die in attack if you are adjacent to a zombie due to the foul stench that its decaying corpse emits.

This may encourage Heroes to attack Zombies using ranged, thrown or at least diagonal reach weapons i.e. keep their distance, which is thematically great and distinguishes the zombies!

Another contender for the Zombies

Reanimator

(nod to HPL for that one)

When a monster with this special ability is killed remove the figure and place a skull token on the square that it was killed on. On Zargon's turn roll a combat die for each token in turn, on a roll of a black shield the token is replaced by the figure restored to full BP, on any other roll the token is removed and not replaced.

Possible optional rule: once a room is searched, any remaining skull tokens are removed automatically as it is assumed that the Heroes have done what is necessary to ensure those corpses don't rise again!