The Tyrant's Tomb - a solo quest pack

[Pancho]

Lestodante, every time Wallydubs turns into a new monster, I seem to turn into the same one very quickly! I’ll have another go at putting my Avatar up. I did have one but I had some problems getting it to appear.

Wallydubs, thanks for posting another test.
What I take from it is that a) I should probably add a quest note with the Wand of Galimatias to make it 100% clear that only the Wizard can use it, and b) if the Elf is rescued as an ally, maybe he should come with all his equipment. To have two Heroes that both only roll one combat die is just too weak. It was painful reading the sections of the quest where the Heroes kept fluffing their attacks, over and over and over. I don’t mind it so much with the solo Wizard, because realistically he would have the Fire spells with him, but it might get a bit silly with a really weak Elf also in tow. What do you think?

[wallydubbs]

Yeah, I had thoughts during the test that it might make things easier.
The Barbarian that helps the Wizard in the original "Running the Gauntlet" packed quite a punch, where the Elf here can't really do much.
I could understand why he wouldn't have his equipment, but negating his spells makes him even more useless.

I think it would go more thematically with this quest if you gave him back his spells. Wao would just complicate things, so I think instead of giving him his equipment, let him have his spells. After all, this quest is about the best utilization of spells.

[Pancho]

I think that could work really well, cheers. The Nature spells could be useful in this quest, maybe the Illusion ones too.

[wallydubbs]

I was actually thinking more of Time spells. In those instances where they're fighting a monster with high defense dice, Slow can make all the difference in the world. Plus casting Time Stop on the Wizard gives him a chance to cast spells and attack in the same turn.

[lestodante]

I also think it is a good idea to give the Elf some spells for this quest. The Kabiri took away his equipment but casting spells is a skill, not an items.
So, maybe he used some of them already but still have a couple. They can be the same used in the first quest or maybe the player can select a new set.

[Pancho]

I also think it is a good idea to give the Elf some spells for this quest. The Kabiri took away his equipment but casting spells is a skill, not an items.
So, maybe he used some of them already but still have a couple. They can be the same used in the first quest or maybe the player can select a new set.

I agree that casting spells is a skill, not an item. Of course there was the precedent set in Legacy of the orc warlord, where the Elf and Wizard need to find their equipment before they can cast spells, and I went with that idea originally, but we don’t need to be bound by it if we can make a better quest by going against that precedent.
I’m happy for the Elf to have one spell deck. I don’t think it has to be the same one that he had in the first quest.

[lestodante]

So, ladies and gentlemen...
Here is the Faeries spell sketched by Luis!!! It will be completed very soon.
Do you think the text is correct? And do you like the title or not?

[Pancho]

I like it a lot. It’s a bit different from the norm, and it fits the theme of the novels really well. There are a number of moments in the novels where faerie like creatures are encountered.

[wallydubbs]

So this didn't go too well. I allowed the Dwarf to search for Treasure at the Inn... you never know... he found 25 gold. However when they made it to the Market I didn't allow searches. But the Dwarf ended up buying a lantern, warm furs, a wooden stake and since he had the extra 25, a rope.

Fast forward to the cell he rolled and thus failed to dig his way out. When the two guards came the immediately rolled , which the first guard failed to defend against.
The other guard attacked for , which the blocked. He rolled on his next attack but the guard blocked it. The guard then rolled , but got 1 and only took 1 damage. The failed his next attack, but blocked on his defense. He then landed a hit and took out the 2nd guard, heading into the next room.

The old man from the neighboring cell called out and since the had nothing else to lose, why not let him out? He did and the old man told him where to find his stuff.
Before venturing to that room he searched for traps and treasure, but a Wandering monster was drawn from the deck. Thd guard attacked, but the blocked. rolled a , but the guard managed a . Guard flopped on his attack, as did the . The guard rolled and failed to defend, dropping to 4BP. The managed a on his next attack and took out the guard.

Into Room J he conducted a proper search, no traps, a secret door and all his equipment. Out through the secret door he successfully attacked the guard with .
Continuing down the hall he searched for traps and doors, doing the same in the middle corridor. He went down that hall, into the 4x5 room and quelled the guard on his first attack. 3 searches and found the secret door and a gem in an old boot.
He opted to back track out the door he entered from and check the other hall and headed to the cook's room, stopping just out the door so he could have first attack. He entered the room despite rolling , which was still enough to get to the cook and attack, dealing 1 damaged. The cook fought back with a back with , though the blocked 1 he dropped to 3BP. The cook blocked the 's next attack and rolled again, but failed to roll a and was down to 1BP. The managed to finish the cook on his next attack, conducting a proper search and finding the Potion of Strength.

Back out the door to the the other room and through the secret door, having just enough movement to reach the guard up the hall around the corner. The attacked but flopped. The guard then rolled , and the tried to defend with ... dropped to 0BP and was dead.

So I'll try to get through it again later. I don't think it was too difficult. After all there was a Potion of Healing in Room K, which wasn't too far away.

However one adjustment I'd like to suggest: once freeing the old man in his cell, he should forewarn the Dwarf about which room has all the guards in it...

[Pancho]

Interesting read Wallydubs.
Your Dwarf did quite well but it’s a shame he didn’t quite get to the potion of healing. I say that because even if he gets that far, it’s still a challenge for him to get past the final guards at the gate and I wanted to see if he could do it.

The note for room G states that the old man warns the Dwarf not to go in any room in the cell block other than the equipment room. I didn’t think we need to go further and be so specific as to say where all the guards are? What do you think.

One reason why the Heroes are dying could be that they are going into rooms where they were warned not to go in! I.e. the AVOID door in the last Quest, and the Cook’s room in this one. The dwarf found the potion of strength but he lost 3BP to get it, so not the best return. This is not a criticism at all, I find this info really valuable from a play-test point of view. Like Lestodante said before, it’s really interesting to see how HQ is approached differently by different players. It sounds like you and your girlfriend, and Lestodante himself, like to search every room. I’m different in that I’ll pass up the chance to enter some rooms if I think they are dead ends (especially in solo), and it sounds like the players who tested Lestodante’s pack have the same strategy.
Please don’t change your strategy though. Both strategies have their pros and cons, and it’s really useful for me getting this other perspective.