Dragon Strike Hero Conversions

[Kurgan]

As others have done, I've examined this (inferior) Hero Quest competitor and without actually play testing it, converted the stats for use in Hero Quest, using the tables provided by this gentleman.

Might be helpful, to get some ideas. Obviously I think some tweaking is required as some of the stats would make them wildly overpowered in the Hero Quest world. Then again, the "new" monsters from Dragon Strike would be pretty powerful as well.


Every Hero seems to carry a mirror and food as well (more roleplaying I guess). All the Heroes have the ability to do "Feats" of strength, dexterity (climbing) and have to roll to see if they locate or disarm hidden traps, or secret passages. Apparently only the dwarf can search for treasure (if I read that correctly). "Treasures" are like our treasure cards but also include artifacts. The Hero miniatures are all purple. Hero cards show portrait photos of actors in costume on the back and monochrome fully body sketches on the front with their stats.

The Heroes have fixed movement in this game, usually the equivalent of 8 squares using the conversion table.

Apparently up to 5 Heroes can play together at one time.

I couldn't tell if there was any way to acquire new gear other than finding it as treasure. There's no armory, and the cards are fairly limited, but everyone starts out fully equipped.

Thief (male or female)

It says he has tools for "picking locks," carries a bullwhip, grappling hook and rope.
He gets 5 "sneak attack" cards. These allow him to attack with a dagger (close range) with the equivalent of 5 combat dice (but only do 1 damage, I presume it just means it's an almost guaranteed hit except against a super strong opponent).

Attack: 3 (Dagger)
Defend: 7 !
Body: 6
Mind: 2-3

Dwarf

Attack: 4 (Battle Axe)
Defend: 8 !!! (chain mail)
Body: 7
Mind: 6

He has "sacks" and a "backpack" I guess to hold the Treasure he finds. He also has a hammer and chisel.

Elf

Attack: 3 (spear), 5 (bow, at range)
Defend: 7 (leather armor)
Body: 5
Mind: 4-5

Warrior (c'mon, it's the Barbarian)

Attack: 5 (sword)
Defend: 8 !!! (chain mail)
Body: 8
Mind: 2-3

Wizard

Attack: 3 (Staff)
Defend: 6 (robes)
Body: 4
Mind: 6+

He gets 9 Hero spells (if I recall correctly), three from each of the groups (level 1, 2 and 3, 19 spells in total I think).

Hero Spells:

1st level:

Sleep (3 enemies you can see are asleep, they can't defend themselves, but only for one turn. they wake up if anyone moves or attacks within six squares from their location). Feat of Dexterity to avoid waking the sleeper or wearing stealthy boots.

Charm (take control of one bugbear, orc, giant or even the evil wizard!!!) target gets one chance to resist by rolling red dice for each of their mind points. lasts 4 turns. if you control the evil wizard, you get to use his spells against the monsters!

Cure light wounds (heals 4 body points to yourself or any Hero you can see)

Shocking Grasp: (5 combat dice attack against adjacent enemy)

Shield (boosts you or another Hero to 9 defend dice, you can combine this with other spells or items to go even higher!)

magic missile (enemy in sight loses 1 body point, only the targeted enemy though, others in the path are unaffected)

2nd level:

Levitate (works on a Hero, object or non-flying monster). This lifts the target out of the way so others can pass through. The target is stuck in the air (unless they resist by rolling a red die for each of their mind points), meaning they can only be struck by spells, ranged weapons, or other flying enemies. Presumably the same is true for them. They can only attack those in the air or on the ground with ranged weaponry or spells. lasts 4 turns.

Detect invisibility (see all invisible monsters as well as secret doors in your line of sight for 4 turns)

Knock (force open any adjacent locked or magically sealed door).

Web (square you can see becomes sticky and spreads to all adjacent squares around it, except where blocked by walls or closed doors). anyone caught in the web can resist once per turn (red die for each of their mind points) and then move again if successful. the web can be "burned away" at the cost of 1 body point.

Darkness (plunges the entire room in darkness that halves movement speed and prevents attacks and use of spells by any that pass through. if outdoors it only affects one square plus all adjacent squares). lasts 4 turns.

Invisibility (yourself or any Hero you can see). you can't be attacked and can move freely and open doors. if you perform any action you become visible. A Thief's sneak attack automatically succeeds but makes him visible again.

3rd level spells:

Haste (you or another Hero can move and attack twice each turn for the next 4 turns!)

Dimension Door (teleport yourself or another Hero to any square you can see). Again, I assume it means that the spell-castor can see, not the target.

Fly (on yourself or another Hero. you fly, movement doubles). Only spells, ranged weapons, and other flying enemies can strike you while flying. You can land at any time or end your turn in mid-air. Flying lets you pass by enemies and open doors as normal. Lasts 4 turns.

Lightning Bolt (fires in straight line until it hits a wall or closed door. all targets within the line take 2 body points of damage). (so identical to the NA Game System Chaos Spell of the same name)

Dispel Magic (causes all magic in the room to cease. if outdoors, one square you can see plus all adjacent squares). spell effects cease. all magic artifacts or treasures stop working until they leave the affected area.

It doesn't specify if it's just a one time magic EMP or if it lasts forever (so run out of the room with your magic sword, then back in to attack again?).

Fireball (like a weaker form of firestorm. One square you can see becomes inflamed and all adjacent squares too. Every figure within the affected area takes 2 body points of damage, then rolls 1 red die for each of their mind points, to reduce the damage by 1 point.

[Daedalus]

By your usd of exclamation.marks with the Defend Dice, it's clear that this part of the conversion failed. Perhaps there is a better approach to convert to Hero Quest Defend Dice. To begin with, these are the Dragon Strike numbers alongside the BillyBong (if I recall correctly) conversions from Lost and the Damned:

DQ Thief: AC 5 (leather armor) | BB conversion: AC 7
DQ Dwarf: AC 6 (chainmail armor) | BB conversion: AC 8
DQ Elf: AC 5 (leather armor) | BB conversion: AC 7
DQ Warrior: AC 6 (chainmail armor) | BB conversion: AC 8
DQ Wizard: AC 4 (robes) BB conversion: AC 6

It appears this conversion method simply adds in the starting Defend Dice of HQ Heroes to the Dragon Strike ACs. We know better here, so I wish to begin with a deconstruction. First, it needs to be acknowledged that leather armor doesn't exist in Hero Quest Armory. Rather, it can be expected to be included in a Hero's starting Defend Dice along with a kind of Dexterity bonus. However, the Thief and bow-wielding Elf can be assumed to have exceptional Dexterity bonuses as part of their Hero starting stats. That Dexterity bonus would translate as a bonus Defend Die. As starting HQ Heroes, the Thief and Elf should then get 3 Defend Dice, but may not equip Chain Mail or Plate Mail armor as a balance. As helmets aren't included in Dragon Strike, they also aren't considered for these starting stats. Perhaps the Morcar/Zargon player could allow one to later be worn per the standard HQ Elf Hero, but then Wonderous Plate Mail should also become available at some point as an artifact for the Dwarf or Warrior.

The Dwarf and Warrior have the same Defend Dice and are both equipped with chainmail armor. They needn't get a Dexterity bonus DD as they depend on their armor. However, these Heroes should be considered to already be wearing helmets as they may be combined with chain mail armor in Hero Quest. (Basically, a metal helmet is already part of a chain mail set in Dragon Strike, but it counts separately in Hero Quest.) So starting as HQ Heroes wearing chain mail along with a helmet, the Dwarf and Warrior should get 4 Defend Dice.

The Wizard gets no Defend Dice from armor or Dexterity. (Sorry, guy!) As a starting HQ Hero, he starts with just 2 Defend Dice. It's best that he can later purchase EU Cloak of Protection or find the Wizard's Cloak artifact.

So comparing the Dragon Strike numbers alongside the HQ-based deconstructions from above:

DQ Thief: AC 5 (leather armor) | HQ conversion: 3 DD
DQ Dwarf: AC 6 (chainmail armor) | HQ conversion: 4 DD
DQ Elf: AC 5 (leather armor) | HQ conversion: 3 DD
DQ Warrior: AC 6 (chainmail armor) | HQ conversion: 4 DD
DQ Wizard: AC 4 (robes) HQ conversion: 2 DD

The takeaway is that the Dragon Strike ACs are all 2 higher than Hero Quest Defend Dice stats. Considering the odds of success for the dice used for combat in that game (d8, d10, and d12) vs. the AC target numbers, a difference of 2 across the board works out between games.