Jade wrote:When I was a child, I remember playing that monsters defend on white shields, as well.
This has come up quite a lot recently and i've just made a post in another thread. I thought we'd put it to bed a long time ago and i was wrong to say over on the GEEK that we had, some seem to still like it and want to use it. Quite like removing the roll to move mod!!! We usually convince people why roll to move is there and the mod is a bad idea. I'll repeat in saying, all the negative issues we've seen come up over the years, things abused in the original design, are only strengthened by making all monsters defend on white.
mitchiemasha wrote:And the reasons i oppose the idea are...
1. It breaks original theme. I'd be tempted to play similar but with the special dice, only for characters, bosses etc.
2. I like monsters to die quite a lot. HeroQuest is supposed to be a blood bath, Slash and Dash!
3. Splitting up should sometimes be an option, a risky option but still doable. All defend on white would make this impossible, death to all who try it and never be tried again. Quests with essential items and who goes where can result in some interesting player interactions, discussions, in game threats, arguments or cowardly actions. Especially quests with riddles, puzzles and tasks that need to be achieved, all removed by the mod of topic.
4. I prefer to find other ways to add spice to the game, like monster class special abilities, MAM, Waaagh, Tail Bash, Reach, Infected, Paralysis. 'The curse on this tomb is strong and the undead are easily reanimated' (undead must be finished off'). 'Ancient magic enchants the Chaos Warriors armour through it's orb, destroy the source of this magic to remove the effect' (a black shield rolled against them in attack negates a skull) same can be used on Skaven shields. The Evil Wizard Deck or Chaos Tokens, which counters time wasting, players cheating the original mechanics etc, featuring Traps, Characters, Fate, more Wandering Monsters and the dreaded Ambush. Hazard, rolling double 1's roll 1Cd6 skull lose 1BP, which combats players rerolling for high movement, time wasting, now each turn is a threat, its in and out. Nothing better than seeing that badly beaten Hero crying with each roll, attempting to exit the dungeon.
5. A total Hero wipe should be rare, to continue the story on mostly the group should survive, only picking up a new companion every now and then.
6. Weapons damage alone is enough to put Heroes in sticky situations later in the game. Also making treasure more important.
7. Simply making monsters defend on whites strengthens the reasons for players to abuse the original mechanics. All the issues we've seen brought up over the years made worse. The ideas above don't just add that extra spice, they work towards reducing and/or punishing Heroes who choose todo those things.
I see 'all monsters defend on white' almost as bad as removing the roll to move. It's one of the first things people tend to think of but it's very limited in imagination and sense of creativity. Just my opinion of course!!!
= white skull, one "hit"
= black skull, one "hit"
= shield, cancels out one "hit"
