ONLINE QUEST 1 Forsaken Tunnels Of Xor-Xel

[Kurgan]

Here is one instance where I think the way the App handles this quest makes a lot more sense than the somewhat vague way it is explained in the notes as released.

You can open a webp file in an image editing program and save it as a png or jpeg to make it easier to post or view.

[Stoner81]

I decided to rule that the darkness is only in effect in corridors otherwise I think it will slow everything down to a crawl to say the least.



Stoner81.

[Special T]

Thanks Eudoxio; on page 1 Kurgan mentioned it was a PDF...

all good - for those that are interested I've re-made it inline with the 2021 quest books:
https://mega.nz/file/Y5w22YBC#lUh5bL4ap ... rX89dayp3Q

This was done with a combination of Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Pagemaker, using the "revised" version as a basis and correcting the text formatting (and a couple of grammatical errors) to be consistent with the new quest books.

Does anyone still happen to have this, the link no longer works.

[TheLastChaosWarrior]

Nah, have the darkness in the rooms as well.
It's awesome, you can then have active monsters that the heros can't see so you can attack them from the darkness, they will just appear when they enter sight from the darkness.
It's a nice change from the usual doorway fights

[Zenithfleet]

How would the EU players here adapt Forsaken Tunnels to a classic UK/EU map and rules? Suppose this Quest had been released in 1992 for the European version. What would be different?

I gave it a go, but am still tinkering with it.

The first order of business was to reduce the number of single blocked squares, because the UK base game only came with eight and you had to use them for falling block traps as well--which is probably why falling blocks are rare in the UK base game quests. I managed to get the total down to 14 by taking out a few single blocks and removing one of the falling block traps. I chose the one in the last room because, under EU rules, it would either do nothing much (falling on an empty square) or completely stuff you if you don't let fallen blocks be removed (if it falls behind you and blocks the door).

With 14 total single blocks, you can play this Quest with an old UK/EU set as long as you have either Kellar's Keep or Return of the Witch Lord, both of which come with enough extra block tiles.

The other change needed is deciding where the falling blocks actually fall, since you have to specify an arrow square for them (or else use a special rule). This means the traps won't have the same effect as they do in the NA rules and need a bit of fiddling with.

I completely missed the point of the X for the Thing Below and almost left it out. Glad I checked this thread!

I still don't understand what that line of spear traps in the treasure chest room is for, though. Who's going to move down there and get speared? Seems pointless. What am I missing?

Like others I'm uncertain exactly how the darkness is meant to work. I'm pretty sure it's still dark in rooms, otherwise things like the double blocked square with the Zombie behind it don't serve much purpose. I'm less sure about activating monsters that aren't yet on the board, which sounds like too much tracking and bookkeeping for the classic UK/EU rules. I think simply not revealing them until you're close enough would be effective on its own, since you have to at least move into a room to do that.

One final change I would make is to rewrite Mentor's text to be more generic. Instead of taking place directly before Kellar's Keep, make it talk about "reaching your next goal through the tunnels" so that it can fit in anywhere. Halfway through KK! Halfway through RotWL! Whenever a sudden dark tunnel quest is called for, Xor-Xel shall provide!

Most importantly, is it pronounced Zor-Zel or Shor-Shel?

[wallydubbs]

The darkness is probably just to hinder ranged attacks, though it seems somewhat contrary to room reveals especially in the big rooms, since I guess you can't reveal some of the monsters right away.
The Falling Block Traps would go off before the heroes get to a space, there would be no spells and all monsters would probably have 1 Body Point.

[Zenithfleet]

I've posted a preview of an EU style version of Tunnels of Xor-Xel in the Quests subforum.

I haven't had a chance to playtest it, so if anyone familiar with the classic UK/European game notices any problems, I'd welcome feedback.

I decided to deal with the darkness as follows:

- the darkness affects rooms, so not everything in a room will be revealed when the door is opened (you need to be within three squares)

- if there's an unrevealed monster in a room, the evil wizard player can put it on the board at the start of any of their turns. It can then act normally.

This way you don't have to track the position of moving monsters that aren't on the board until they get within visible range. You just plonk them down and immediately move them to attack. Or they can stay in hiding, off the board, until a hero gets close enough to see them.

I think this should work but I haven't tried it out yet...