The Om-Line: A HeroQuest shopping revolution!

[Zenithfleet]

Introducing the OM-LINE (TM)! The last word in Old World retail service.

Are you a busy Hero with no time to visit your local town market, emporium or bazaar?

Are you delving deep into Karak Varn or fighting your way through an Ogre Lair?

Or have you been tasked with a single heroic venture, with no time or opportunity afterward to spend any gold you might discover?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Om-Line is for you!

The amazing properties of this magical string (properly known as ‘Omnipresent Line’) allows the lucky owner to buy or sell items at any time during a Quest. If you stumble across incalculable riches, there's no more need to wait until you emerge from the dungeon to spend it.

Simply tie a length of Om-Line around a bag of gold and speak aloud the item you wish to purchase. The gold will be magically transported to the appropriate shop. There, the Om-Line will be retied around the item you desire and instantly returned to you--no matter how deep in the Dead City you might be.

Experience the marvel of Om-Line shopping today!

(Caution: For use on inanimate objects only. Attempting to send any living thing via Om-Line will void warranty and may result in critical existence failure.)

EU-Equipment-New-OmLine-WEB.jpg

...For those of you wondering what possessed me to come up with this... it was inspired by a thread about playing a one-off Quest, with no character continuation. Treasure rewards would usually be worthless in that case since you can't spend it until afterwards. But no more! Just give each player an Om-Line and let them spend anything they find as soon as they find it.

As noted, you could also use it in the expansion packs... although I'd probably use some other method (like a 'town portal scroll' or a Goblin Shop) instead.

I take no responsibility for mental injuries suffered by anyone who tries to take this item seriously.

[Patroclus]

Nice card! Also, the idea about town portal is very good because of course it is great for the players to feel that they can travel through a “magical gate”.

We play that after each quest we can buy things, like going back to town, so we don’t have that kind of problem. But if you are in the final levels of your campaign, probably you could say that it is impossible to go back, so a type of traveling shop could be useful.

Traveling merchants as NPCs, could do the job, but if you are in an environment like the gates of hell, or an underwater campaign for example, the town portal is the ideal.

[Sjeng]

that's awesome man! good job haha

[Blackthorn]

Traveling merchants as NPCs, could do the job, but if you are in an environment like the gates of hell, or an underwater campaign for example, the town portal is the ideal.

I think Walmart has stores in both those locations.

I must confess, when I read the title of this thread I was hoping someone had found a new auction site with a ton of HeroQuest stuff on it. Oh well, back to the thrift stores.

[Maike05]

Ahah really cool!

[Goblin-King]

...may result in critical existence failure.

I just love this phrase!!!

Actually I think this item is a little overpowered. Being able to just buy stuff any time and every where is kinda crazy!
Ooooh! I'm almost dying! Better buy a healing potion!

I'd say you gotta be very careful when to give this item! It has the potential to be game-breaking. Part of the fun in my opinion is to collect the gold and hope to survive to spend it.

[Blackthorn]

I think the heroes should have to wait for shipping like the rest of us.

[torilen]

I like the idea somewhat. I think it would be great for those cases where someone creates a quest
in which several "boards" are used before allowing the heroes to go back to town to spend money.

I would probably make only certain things available - ammo for range weapons (if you use that method),
healing and other potions...things like that. I certainly wouldn't allow the purchase of specialty magical
items/weapons/armor - that should be saved for town.

However, I have tossed around the idea of a town portal scroll or portal gate, as well.

And I love the idea of a "Goblin Shop".

[Zenithfleet]

Yeah, it's probably too overpowered for a campaign. As I said though, it's more for those one-off games when you're not keeping characters from Quest to Quest. Say, The Trial or a bounty-level like Bastion of Chaos. Or a special 'arena of death' homebrew Quest.

Just start with the basic dice/equipment and give every player an Om-Line. Then try to finish the Quest, spending any gold rewards immediately along the way. First one to complete the Quest wins! The End!

Surely I'm not the only person who plays that way now and then?

I just added the other possible uses in the promotional blurb because hey, that's what promotional blurbs do.

However, I have tossed around the idea of a town portal scroll or portal gate, as well.

And I love the idea of a "Goblin Shop".

I made a Mystic Portal Scroll as part of my EU adaptations of the NA artifacts. I'm sure there are others around too.

As for the Goblin Shop, here's what I posted in this thread:

Regarding shopping during KK and RotWL: How about a 'goblin shop' or 'zombie shop'? Some RPG video games include monsters running shops deep in dungeons, to compensate for the fact that the players can't easily get back to town. In Kellar's Keep, you could say that an enterprising Goblin keeps popping up after each Quest, when all the fighting has died down, and offers to sell the Heroes stuff as long as they don't kill him.

Of course, some of it probably turns out to be shoddy quality... roll a die after your purchase and on a black shield it turns out to be useless?

In RotWL, you could have a Zombie shopkeeper still lurching about in the ruins of his ancient store, mindlessly going through the buy-and-sell routine he followed every day of his life. Put some coins in his hand and he'll go fetch a weapon for you. Just try to ignore the occasional mutterings of 'braaains...'

You could even set up the shop on the board after each Quest. Maybe use the centre room, with a table in the middle and a cupboard. Goblin or Zombie on one side, Heroes on the other. They could choose to attack the monster shopkeeper and steal all his wares... but then he'd never appear again for the rest of the Quest Pack.

Bonus points if you have the shop lit by a blue torch and ask the players "What're ya buyin'?" and "Not enuff cash!... stranger."

...may result in critical existence failure.

I just love this phrase!!!

It's not mine unfortunately... I borrowed it from the Font of All Knowledge (aka tvtropes.com)