Ye Olde Inn

So I don't work for them and have no sway with Hasbro or AvalonHill (I'm no industry insider, just a fan) and we're all still waiting to see if the new game (still set for a fall release this year) is a disaster, a rousing success or just meh..

But as I've felt inspired by the conversation with covertnerd podcast's host Lee, I say let's vote and brainstorm.


Let's say the Remake comes out and they're raring to go not only with the heavily rumored/teased Barbarian Quest Pack (Frozen Horror) remake, what else would you like to see them create and release to the public?

I know my immediate answer is "everything." Re-release all the quest packs that we've previously had officially, even the Marvel and Dave Morris stuff.

But after that? Would you like to see them attempt to "finish" the cancelled Dwarf and Wizard quest packs? I'd be very curious to see those, especially if they used the old notes and Stephen Baker or whomever were involved. Obviously some of it would probably be new invention since it probably was never really finished enough to play back in the mid to late 90's.

What should they work on next, or should they leave well enough alone and let the fans just crank out the content (and simply encourage that through contests, top lists, featured quests, etc. maybe a prettied up official Heroscribe-esque quest creator program sponsored by ads, etc)?

Let your imagination run wild... what would you want if it were up to you (not just what you think will probably happen).

Then we can start that letter writing campaign and those of you with twitter and instagram can bombard them with your requests.

Chances are they will do the Elf Quest Pack next.

I am betting the first will be Frozen Horror and it will drop soon. They teased it, so it is likely ready to go.

The next will be the Elf Pack, then they will do something new. Likely a Wizard Pack and a Dwarf Pack. Makes sense. The Bard and the Druid already seem to have their quest packs with the Mythic Tier rewards. Will they see regular release? Maybe but there will be alterations to minis and box design to prevent upsetting Mythic Tier backers.

Ogres and Wizards of Morcar are too heavily flawed and need work. This leads me to suspect they may never be done.

They may revisit those eventually but I wager it just won't happen.

I hear what you're saying, but if they have the... uh... whatevers, to take on the Frozen Horror (having more than its share of flaws), surely those can't be too difficult to tackle, even considering how much shorter they are and light on content in comparison (BQP has the most new stuff if I recall correctly). So hopefully you're wrong... ]


Hey look at that I'm now a Yeti! (can't help thinking of that goofy wrestling incident involving another "yeti").

I think that that lack of content combined with game issues will combine to make it so they remain undone.

Now maybe if they combine the two into a larger set of quests that may work.

That could work... the failure of Festral (and the battle with the Ogres*) kind of leads into Morcar's reveling of the new Wizards, a 12 quest campaign of destruction for which the Heroes will be sorely tested.

If the new fans survive the Frozen Horror, maybe they'll be ready for more punishment? Plus the miniature collectors will be craving more mercenaries...

* I imagined this taking place in Battle Masters, although you could say the same for Kellar's Keep's book ends.

Wizard of Morcar stuff (the 4 wizards, the cards and the tiles) could have been part of the unreleased Wizard Quest Pack.
Similar thing happened with the Ogre miniatures who were featured in the EQP and the Men-at-Arms in the BQP.
Many of the cards featured in the WoM can be found in the NA releases (with small revisions, but hey are the same) or viceversa:
Ice Wall (BQP) = Wall of Ice (WOM)
Mind Freeze (BQP) = Mind Blast (ATOH)
Mind Blast (EQP) = Mind Lock (ATOH)
Command = Dominate (ATOH) / Madness (WOM)
Fear = Fear (WOM)
Summon Undead / Reanimation (EQP) = Raise the Dead (WOM)
Summon Orcs = Summon Orcs / Summon Goblins (WOM)
Lighting Bolt = Lighting Bolt (WOM)
Rust = Rust (WOM)
Escape = Escape (WOM)
Treasure without Doom (EQP) = Treasure Horde (WOM)
Flashback (EQP) = Future Sight (WOM)
Dispell (EQP) = Dispell (WOM)
Disappear (EQP) = Invisibility (WOM)
Potion of Magic Resistance (BQP) = Potion of Magic Resistance (WOM)
Poison (BQP) = Poison (WOM)
So I guess there is still enough stuff left from the WOM that can be converted and included in the Wizard Quest Pack, plus more new stuff, of course.

Thanks for the mention Kurgan and for being on the podcast. I am very excited for the re-release and can't wait to see how it goes.
My thoughts are that we will will most likely see the Elf Quest expansion. I believe I heard in the past MB and Gamesworkshop had and agreement for WoM and AtOH. As much as I would love to see these released I think it may be unlikely.
Hasbro has a lot of places they can go for expansions and other content they can release. I would like to see a re-release of all the expansions, but if they don't I am okay with it as long as we get alternative content, for example:

Furniture pack-Doors, tables, chairs, and boulders etc.
Tiles pack or Board pack-various types of tiles like we get in the expansions or new boards
Card pack-Spells, treasures, equipment and other cards
Monster pack-New monster minis
Hero pack-New hero minis
Character pack-New "extra" character minis like bards and villagers
Boss pack-New boss minis
Dice pack-with extra attack dice and new dice like trap dice
All of the above could include one or two new quests
Have fans submit their own quests for a contest and the winner(s) will have their quest(s) included in a future expansion
An official Hasbro mapmaker application
New expansions we haven't seen in the past
Could do what they have done with other games and have other IP's like Star Wars Hero Quest

Thanks and welcome back leo!

I agree with you that the Elf Quest pack is certainly a logical next step, and it has similar issues to the Barbarian Quest pack (sought after, but not many played it to see the glitches and extreme difficulty, the apparently lack of playtesting). If they can solve those for BQP then they can do the same there. We both want them all to release everything from the past, even if that may not be what they actually do (but what's easier, to create something new that is a success or remake something already created?). Then again, if they just recycle the ideas of the past and give it a new name...

On the other hand, if they refuse to release the EU packs (or maybe are legally prevented somehow), maybe we'll get a re-release of Warhammer Quest covering that material? Granted, it seems like WHQ isn't meant for the masses... it disappears so quickly most players never get a chance to get a crack at it. It's far too limited and exclusive to fulfill the hole left by Hero Quest.

I love your ideas as I commented in the podcast. I guess if they do release that new stuff, the "stamp of approval" they could provide are stats and values for each of those things. Otherwise what's the difference between buying those and just buying Reaper or Citadel mins and using them. Then again, tiles and Cards already have this built in, so that would be a cool thing.

So a Monsters pack would be the minis and the cards, maybe a sheet of suggestions on how to use them, it wouldn't have to include a custom quest, just something to spark people's imaginations. Wide release, not a limited, flash in the pan thing for collectors who will never take it out of the package.

Having a themed version of HeroQuest like they did with Risk or Monopoly could be profitable but I'm not sure I want that! Then again, who knows, a lot of people have had some cool ideas with that. I guess we need a balance between official stuff and letting people create their own stuff without restrictions. It's kind of like how there is a theme pack for every franchise in LEGO even though you don't really need that (you can create it yourself). But there's more $ there, so of course they do it...

To me reviving Wizards of Morcar is about the nostalgia. Why release the Barbarian Quest Pack instead of just releasing a cool "new" pack that has all the same features? It's because people back in the day knew about it and wanted it, so they'll want it now. HeroQuest fans exist outside North America, hence the other packs ought to get some love, even if it takes some tweaking, and good points about their being close analogs in other packs.

Kurgan wrote:I hear what you're saying, but if they have the... uh... whatevers, to take on the Frozen Horror (having more than its share of flaws), surely those can't be too difficult to tackle, even considering how much shorter they are and light on content in comparison (BQP has the most new stuff if I recall correctly). So hopefully you're wrong... ]


Hey look at that I'm now a Yeti! (can't help thinking of that goofy wrestling incident involving another "yeti").

I hope they’re emboldened by the positivity the game is receiving now that it’s actually shipping out, and that they thoroughly research and play test re-releases, making tweaks as needed, but ONLY as required.

What I’m personally most excited for is the Elf Quest Pack. Most of the tiles in Frozen Horror make sense as tiles, though I hope we get a plastic furniture piece for the Seat of Power and a life-size replica Crystal Key in translucent plastic, as well as 3 (or a nice round 4) single-tile treasure piles (instead of the treasure printed on tile for the Ice Gremlins’ stash), each with a unique sculpt and that look “right” both individually and as a big pile when adjacent, made in special “gold” plastic. These would have real functional utility for also marking the space where a Hero’s equipment has been dropped.

*Obviously the classic light blue plastic for Sinestra (Elven Archmage), Elven Archers, and Wolves. Black for Ogre Warriors. I deliberated a lot, but I actually think I’d prefer “Hero Red” for Millandriell and the Prospector, in line with 2.0’s gender/NPC variants of Elf, Mentor, and Ragnar.

“Mage of the Mirror” for the Elf offers even more great opportunities for awesome minis that were originally just tiles!:

• Millandriell, whom I would sculpt to conceivably be playable as an “Elf Mage”. Maybe even include an Elf Mage Hero Card, like Mentor’s Wizard card.

• Prospector. Potentially useful as an NPC or maybe even a variant Dwarf.

• 4 Weapon Packs. Like the treasure piles mentioned above, but weapons instead of treasures, produced in “silver” plastic. For marking a Hero’s dropped possessions, I see the Treasure Piles and Weapon Packs as basically interchangeable. They’d also be great as set dressing, like rats and skulls.

• Instead of cardboard Wolf Tokens to slide under Heroes turned to werewolves, round plastic or silicone bases in light blue plastic that the Heroes’ bases snugly fit into, with tiny wolves’ heads molded around the sides. EDIT: I didn’t know when I posted (or I’d somehow heard it and forgot?), but Altar Quest apparently has “Base Rings”. I don’t know what they’re made of or how they function in that game, but I’m happy to think this concept is feasible.

• Molded Portcullis with individual bars! I’m confident we’ll get these, since we got great Wooden and Iron Doors.

• Brass Key. Life-size replica in metallic plastic, maybe the same “gold” as the Treasure Piles from Frozen Horror.

• “Life-size” (but actually slightly mini) replica Moonsilver Flask. Bonus points if it has that oil stuff inside that was popular with 80s toys. You know? You shake it and it mixes, but then separates again? Vacuum sealed/molded.

• “Life-size” (but actually mini) replica Sky Orb. Base is a solid piece of molded “gold” plastic, with five translucent Orbs to set upon the golden base; each of seamless plastic, crystal clear — clear with no golden “points of light” suspended in the plastic, aquamarine with 4 “floating” points of light, cobalt with 3, indigo/purple with 2, and inky black with one golden point of light, like a fleck of glitter floating inside. As I wrote this, I realized it might be even cooler if all of the Orbs were crystal clear, but the colored Orbs are filled with marbling ribbons; a little for aquamarine, more for cobalt, half full for indigo/purple, and swirling full of black for the last one. This sounds expensive with the marbling effect. Maybe even too expensive with the floating “points of light”. But surely we could get the Base and solid translucent Orbs in five colors? Actually, the simple way with five colors makes it potentially less specific and more adaptable. If it’s small enough, maybe 3x3?, it could even be imagined as a large magical Furniture piece in an original Quest. Original marbles could even be used on the Base.

• Mirrors, with “frosted glass” effect translucent plastic, backed by super shiny material, on brown plastic frames. “Frosted glass” is smoky white, feathery impressions of Millandriell and the Elven Bow of Vindication. Maybe include an extra blank mirror using just the reflective backing and clear plastic, just as a fun adaptable piece.

• Stand-alone Mirror for Sinestra’s Inner Sanctum. “Gold” plastic with reflective mirror effect described above.

• Sinestra’s 2 Wolf Statues in gray plastic.

• Sinestra’s 2 Braziers in black plastic.

• Sinestra’s 2 Tapestries and Sanctum Rug made of real fabric, with very thin wire frames for the Tapestries to sit on the wall border outline of the room, taking no tiles.

Making the Wolf Statues, Braziers, and to lesser extent, the Mirror, into Furniture rather than printed on card will actually change the mechanics of the Inner Sanctum, but I think that could be fun!

• Maybe also go ahead and make 4 Bone Piles (Sinestra has 2 in her Inner Sanctum) in “Undead White”, to be used as markers where Heroes perish. With the Treasure Piles, Weapon Packs, and Bone Piles – 4 of each – it would be easy and aesthetically pleasing to mark where things go askew for the Heroes. I think these could actually be quite useful, as well as again making great set dressing.

“Mage of the Mirror” (and “Wizards of Morcar” once I knew it existed) was always my favorite of the expansions. It just seemed the most uniquely “HeroQuest” to me, really leaning in to magical items and props, with new mechanics integrated with story. I’d really love to see them go all out with beautifying this one in the new art style, and really bringing it to life in 3D.