Balancing the Barbarian (HQ 2021)

[Vorimir]

Give him the Deathblow skill:
When you kill a monster with a melee attack all non used skulls can be used to attack any adyacent (or diagonal if weapon allows it) monster. If the second one is killed and you still have unused skulls you can continue till you don't have skulls or adyacent monsters.

[Parzival]

Give him the Deathblow skill:
When you kill a monster with a melee attack all non used skulls can be used to attack any adyacent (or diagonal if weapon allows it) monster. If the second one is killed and you still have unused skulls you can continue till you don't have skulls or adyacent monsters.

This is a clever idea and easy to execute. No additional rolls, just use what could happen anyway. I like it a lot!

[Vorimir]

Got the concept from Warhammer Quest I think.

[Thrasher79]

Give him the Deathblow skill:
When you kill a monster with a melee attack all non used skulls can be used to attack any adyacent (or diagonal if weapon allows it) monster. If the second one is killed and you still have unused skulls you can continue till you don't have skulls or adyacent monsters.

Hi,
The skill sounds good. But I think it’s too powerful. Something like that could be game-changing. It always makes me think of the final boss. You and your group have been working towards this for weeks to face him. Everyone is actually eagerly awaiting the big moment. The final battle. The boss can’t be attacked directly because he’s protected by a few orcs and goblins. The game master knows that in the first round there’s actually no chance of a hero getting through to the boss. As soon as it’s his turn, he can cast his spells and rearrange the monsters. Then the barbarian comes along. He goes to the goblin and, of course, rolls four skulls. Three remain. Bang, the orc next to him goes down too. One skull left. That’s enough for the next goblin. And just like that, the path is clear for the dwarf to reach the final boss. He charges straight at him and, thanks to a potion, gets to re-roll his first attack, which was unlucky. And of course, he rolls 4 skulls. The final boss defends 1. He has thus lost 3 body points. Weakened as he is, he survives this round with a bit of luck. In the second round, however, he’s finished off, as there’s no way to dodge either, since a hero is standing right in front of him and the others have blocked the paths.
We, too, used to try out various skills and spells for the heroes. One similar to the one you mentioned was among them. Unfortunately, though, it was simply too powerful in the long run.
Here’s a true story:
We played a game based on a book we’d written ourselves: *The Sword of the Dead King*. Seven adventures. Modular and of a high difficulty level. We’d been eagerly awaiting the final battle for seven weeks. The big moment. Everything was ready. The Dead King sat upon his throne and, using his magical book, was able to cast powerful spells of chaos. His bodyguards, consisting of wights and grave guards, flanked him. The heroes entered the room and the wizard cast the spell Discord (the basic idea for the spell came from WHQ). The wights and grave guards were forced, partly due to a lucky roll, to attack each other. The path to the book was clear. The barbarian went to the book and took two potions from the BQ: the Potion of Ice Power and the Potion of Battle Rage. The book was destroyed on the spot. With it, the Dead King’s strongest source of power was gone. That was Round 1! Two rounds later, the Dead King was history. It was all down the drain. The climax ruined by a spell. Even the players regretted it. The player controlling the barbarian even said that he himself had hoped not to roll so well. I swore to myself that something like that would never happen to me again. That was 10 years ago now.
Hero Quest is easy to modify. But the balance can tip quite quickly. We’ve been playing with the same group since 2001. In that time, we’ve really tried and tested a great deal. It’s clear that the heroes always want more, but you simply have to be careful.
Things can go off the rails pretty quickly.
I burned the spell straight away. Yes, I chucked it straight into the furnace. It was replaced by the Berserker spell. It’s still a powerful spell, but no longer a boss-killer.
And that’s why, with new skills or the like, I always think first: what’s the situation in the boss room? And that’s exactly why I think your suggestion is good, but too powerful for me. I’d be worried it would tear another boss room apart.

Regards, Thrasher

[Vorimir]

Monsters can still defend normaly, not sure if thats clear.
But I get your point. Sometimes, with sone rolls it can be quite good bit is something situational I think.

[Thrasher79]

Hi Voromir,
I am aware that you can defend monsters. But it is precisely in such situations that everything comes together in a strange way. Luck for the heroes and bad luck for the monsters. I have been somewhat burnt by the above-mentioned case with the Dead King. That is why I am reluctant to use abilities or weapons that allow me to attack multiple monsters. If this is limited to a spell, that is still OK. But if it is permanent, it is too much for me. It can be balanced for a long time. But at some point, it will get out of hand. Especially with the potions from the BQ, this can become a really devastating situation.
If you had told me about the ability 10 years ago, I would have immediately answered with YES. That is very interesting:-)
But as I said, I like your suggestion. Unfortunately, it is too strong for me:-)

Best regards, Thrasher79