Ye Olde Inn

by **Kurgan** » May 22nd, 2019, 7:25 pm

I came up with what I consider a pretty basic "upgrade" system for the Heroes, based on the number of successfully completed quests.

I will be using the special Spielwarensaloon German colored dice (black dice with four skulls and one less white shield; green dice with one extra white shield and one less skull; blue dice with one extra black shield and one less white shield) as well as Sjeng's "Potions" custom deck from the Inn (link).

The idea here is that I like the notion of making a long time Hero seem special and raise the stakes about losing him/her. Losing a champion will still suck but not be a total game ruiner since I will give them a break and not restart their progress if they are revived with a saving spell/potion or even the Elixir or Talisman of Life (from the Japanese Questpack).

Here is the breakdown:

Elf / Wizard (in my system I have translated these into "Apothecary" and "Alchemist") after completing 1 Quest, each get 1 or 2 random Potion cards drawn from the Potion Card Deck (using Sjeng's custom cards). This is true for every new quest so they can be stockpiled, the only exception being if the Quest already includes a bonus potion (ie: Against the Ogre Horde you get the five max Body Point potions at the start). This upgrade continues in addition to anything else below...

"Champion" = Based on the original version of the Game's Champion reward, you get 500 Gold.
3-5 Quests completed. I put the "range" in there to be at Zargon's discretion. If they were easier quests, require more, harder quests, go with the lower number.

Upgrades:
Barbarian: Substitute 2 Black Dice when attacking with any Sword
Dwarf: Substitute 1 Black Die when attacking with any Ax or Hammer
Elf: 1 Random Spell Scroll draw per quest
Wizard: Wizard's Staff attacks with Black Dice, Wizard's Cloak substitutes 1 Green Die when defending

(and for my new custom Heroes, inspired by Legacy of Sorasil for use in the Japanese campaign, see link in my sig for details):

Paladin: Substitute Black Dice when attacking Undead creatures, starts with 2 Holy Water (instead of 1), Holy Flame ability uses 3 Dice (instead of 2)
Cleric: 2 uses of "Heal Allies" ability per quest (instead of 1)
Ranger: ranged attacks use Black Dice, +2 squares to movement roll (instead of +1), disarm traps with Green Die (roll a white shield to disarm, equivalent to a Tool Kit, instead of a white die)
Mystic: draw 6 Spell cards (instead of only 5) from the Elementalist Spell Deck

"Knight" = These are the Imperial Knights of the Realm, more like what you'd expect to earn having vanquished the WitchLord at the end of the Game System or (depending upon where you started) conquering one of the harder quest packs (Barbarian, Elf).
10-14 Quests completed

I haven't decided about any Gold reward at this point, since the Heroes are going to be so powerful and have probably bought about everything they could want (except more mercs!).
I toyed with the idea of giving them a "salary" from the Emperor, since they are officially his Knights now, not just heroes for hire, perhaps 200 Gold per quest or something (inspired by Monopoly). Its a long way off at this point so I'll have to give it some more thought.

Upgrades:

Barbarian: Substitute 3 Black Dice with any Sword or Ax when attacking, draw 1 Random Combat potion (cards taken from Potion Deck)
Dwarf: Auto disarm traps (just announce your intention on the square and its disarmed, no need to roll!), Substitute 2 Black Dice any Ax or Hammer when attacking
Elf: 2 random Spell Scroll draws per quest (instead of 1)
Wizard: Summon Elemental ability (cost: 3 unused Spell/Spell Scroll cards of one element type)

Paladin: +2 squares of extra movement (instead of +1) when wearing Plate Mail/Borin's Armor, 4 Holy Water (instead of 2), Holy Flame uses 4 White Dice (instead of 3)
Cleric: "Heal Allies" abilities now recover up to 16 Body Points (instead of 8) each, "Recovery" ability now rolls with Green Dice
Ranger: +3 squares to movement roll (instead of 2), Ranged Weapons can now attack twice in the same turn (choose the weapon you want to attack twice)
Mystic: Summon Elemental ability (same as the Wizard's, but since she doesn't have Earth spells, she won't be able to Summon an Earth Elemental unless she has enough Spell Scrolls)

I figure at these levels, the higher Quest Packs will be somewhat fair...

I have yet to actually play test these upgrades, but the implications are vast. A Paladin can save up his Holy Waters and these burn through the legions of the Witch Lord. I've introduced other ranged weapons like the Long Bow (4 attack dice at range) that would have the ability to attack twice, using black dice. The Mystic is powerful enough, but the Elementals will wreck havoc. Thankfully, if Zargon puts the Quests in the right order, there will be no "run over the Wizards of Morcar like they're made of paper" incidents.

But it doesn't stop there... I have also conceived of a fiendish plan to upgrade the MONSTERS as well, but hoping not to make it too unfair, while still adding a bit of challenge.

So once the party of Heroes have all upgraded to Champion level, it gets interesting. Now every time I bring out a Monster (will NOT apply this to "Wandering Monsters"), there is a chance for them to be "Elite."

I will roll 1 White Die, and if its a Black Shield, that monster is designated an "Elite." This means the Monster's regular attacks now roll Black Dice, and his defending rolls Blue Dice.
So we can have "Elite" monsters next to normal monsters in any encounter. So far I have decided this will ONLY apply to "regular" Game system type monsters (so no "Elite" War Bears or Giant Wolves, etc).

I may also decide to have the "Boss" Monsters automatically only roll Blue Dice when defending, so they can survive a bit longer...

I may also choose to apply the special defense to only apply to Weapon attacks, and not to "magical" attack defense rolls.

I haven't decided if I want to multiply the dice even more by using a Purple Die when a black Die is called for if the die to be used is ALREADY black (as can be the case with certain special weapons or other proposed tactics I'll speak about in other threads).

When the Heroes in the party have all reached "Knight" level... then, to see if a Monster is "Elite" I will roll a Blue Die, doubling the chances of getting a Black Shield.

Edit: Finally a simple demonstration image (see attached)!

The way I am using the Spell Scrolls, is that the ones available are from a deck of 14 (all those from Kellar's Keep & Return of the Witch Lord, plus a custom "Blast" one that is pretty powerful). When they play the EQP, I will introduce the Treasure Without Doom card, and BQP the various scrolls from that one to the deck and they will remain for whatever quests they play.

The Heroes all are Champion now... the Wizard was the last one to rank up (I just have to have him quest for the Wizard's Cloak and Wizard's Staff!). |_P

That means it's time for some Elite Monsters... :twisted:

by **Kurgan** » June 18th, 2019, 11:48 pm

For the enemy boss mage that will drop the Wizard's Staff, he will attack with 2 black dice... and for the one who drops the Wizard's Cloak will substitute 1 Blue die when defending.

The Champion Wizard who gets it will be able to attack with 2 black dice and substitute 1 green defend die.

by **Kurgan** » June 19th, 2019, 12:02 am

Proposed Upgrade for the Wizard's Spells (Champion Level):

(AIR)
Genie:

(draw 5 random dice from a cup... choices include all colors)
purple (4x)
green (4x)
blue (4x)
black (4x)
yellow (4x)
orange (4x)
white (6x)

Swift Wind:
+2 squares to overall movement roll

(EARTH)
Rock Skin:
the extra die is green

Pass Through Rock:
+1 square to movement roll

(FIRE)
Courage:
the 2 extra dice are black

Fire of Wrath:
to reduce damage, victim must roll a 6

Ball of Flame:
to reduce damage, victim must roll a 6

(WATER)
Veil of Mist:
+1 square to movement roll

by **Kurgan** » July 6th, 2019, 3:19 pm

"Hero Card" style cards for the Upgrade system:

by **Kurgan** » July 28th, 2019, 6:02 pm

Halfway through a quest. If they survive then the paladin, mystic, and ranger will finally be champs. The cleric is a lot weaker than I thought and requires extra caution. She died two quests in a row so will take her longer to upgrade.

by **Kurgan** » January 18th, 2020, 11:15 pm

I'm toying with the idea of having the "Heal Allies" ability grant the Cleric herself 1 restored Body Point... since she gets one if she uses it to save herself from death... however it would ONLY be granted after all the other points have been granted to any allies in sight. I want to prevent the power from being used as a quick self-heal, instead of the intended "heal your teammates" ability. But at least it would help you a little bit as well...

The Ranger is a popular choice with new players, but man is he WEAK! I made him weak on purpose but people don't realize how much caution it takes to play as him. He's like a Wizard with no spells (well only one that is rarely useful). Still, I made up for it by making him really, really powerful if he upgrades. So if you grind through enough quests, he could be throwing four black dice for two ranged attacks per turn AND have Dwarf-level trap disarming ability AND move two extra squares with his movement.

One of my player friends mentioned how its nice that his attacks upgraded, but too bad the defense doesn't as well... The "Shield Wall" battle scroll will help these guys out a lot.