Defending against the Orc's Bane

[Bareheaded Warrior]

I think your two attacks against two targets or double attack dice against one target, is fine, it was just the boss-killing effects of stacking that were my concern.

Orcs aren't that strong... (and I'm going to consider the Orc Shaman in WOM also to be an Orc for purposes of Orc's Bane).

There is a discrepancy between those to statements, if you consider Orc "personality monsters" (bosses) as Orcs, which I do, then you would need to include Orc Warlord, Captain, Shaman, Master Shaman (WoM), some of those are amongst the stronger monsters in the game.

I feel like Orc's Bane is one of those artifacts that is loved early on, then neglected and forgotten (and it can be lost, as we know!). So why not let it shine while it can?

A better way, in my opinion, of keeping Orcs' Bane relevant without making it OP, is to allow the Wizard to use it, by removing the Wizard restriction on the Short sword. I don't consider this option over-powered as under Classic rules, the Wizard can access the Staff anyway giving him 2AD with diagonals, and under Remake rules the Wizard can access the Wizard's Staff giving him 2AD with diagonals, so allowing him access to the Short sword, with or without diagonals depending on your version, cannot be considered overpowered. The Wizard is unlikely to ever use Orcs' Bane as a boss-killer, but it may help him survive any Orcs that slip through the net.

[Kurgan]

Orcs aren't that strong... (and I'm going to consider the Orc Shaman in WOM also to be an Orc for purposes of Orc's Bane).

There is a discrepancy between those to statements, if you consider Orc "personality monsters" (bosses) as Orcs, which I do, then you would need to include Orc Warlord, Captain, Shaman, Master Shaman (WoM), some of those are amongst the stronger monsters in the game.

All Orcs are equal, but some Orcs are more equal than others.

I always liked Orc's Bane, and so when KK came around... I was devastated. I was shocked to learn that the Wizard could use all that stuff in the EU edition. But I don't have a problem with it now. Still, I haven't house-ruled that in the games I've been playing. I'll save that for when we re-play the original 15, using the EU rules... (later this year?)

[wallydubbs]

I'm not understanding why Keller's Keep made you so devastated... Orc's Bane is a very useful weapon in regards to this Quest Pack (though I still think the majority of heroes would favor 3 AD).
Sure, I've allowed Orc's Bane to work on the Orc Shaman from WoM and Ograk. The Rogue even used it in the arena to beat the Bard.

[Bareheaded Warrior]

I agree, I think you may have meant RotWL rather than KK.

For clarity: The Wizard can't use a short sword in the original game, and by extension can't use Orcs' Bane (as that is a short sword), that is a house rule of my own.

[Kurgan]

Yeah I may have meant that. Most of the dirty tricks/sucker punches were in KK, but there was at least one major one in ROTWL... it's been a long time!

[wallydubbs]

Yeah I may have meant that. Most of the dirty tricks/sucker punches were in KK, but there was at least one major one in ROTWL... it's been a long time!

It's Return of the Witch Lord, Quest 2 Cold Halls where there's a sarcophagus that causes the Orc's Bane & Borin's Armor to disintegrate. The great loss in in Borin's Armor, the heroes need that for Frozen Horror.

[Kurgan]

You saved me having to look it up, thanks! Stolen artifacts are supposed to be re-supplied by Zargon in the next quest, but destroyed artifacts? Not required to be restored. We have expansions now that let you find them again though... (SQT, JoD, FL)

[wallydubbs]

You saved me having to look it up, thanks! Stolen artifacts are supposed to be re-supplied by Zargon, but destroyed artifacts? Not required to be restored. We have expansions now that let you find them again though...

I understand the value of Orc's Bane, especially for the Rogue. However the loss of Borin's Armor is devastating. It'll make Return of the Witch Lord harder, no doubt. But it's not a necessity to beat that quest pack.
Frozen Horror, however, is a broken quest pack. I may not need to do it since Borin's Armor is found in Spirit Queen's Torment and First Light too. But I add it as an item found in the solo quests for the Barbarian.

[Parzival]

You saved me having to look it up, thanks! Stolen artifacts are supposed to be re-supplied by Zargon in the next quest, but destroyed artifacts? Not required to be restored. We have expansions now that let you find them again though... (SQT, JoD, FL)

In one expansion, a Hero found the Rabbit Boots artifact. But another hero already had it. So I began to ponder— maybe there can be more than one of an artifact? Or at least certain artifacts? I can see more than one pair of Rabbit Boots in the world of HeroQuest… but not so much Orc’s Bane or the Spirit Blade or the Talisman of Lore.

Of course, in Real World mythology pretty much any magical items is unique. There may be other examples of enchanted similar items, but not with the same powers. So yes, more than one magic sword (Excalibur, Durandal, Gram, etc..), but no identical swords in terms of what they can do (not that it’s actually clear what many mythical swords were supposed to be able to do over any other sword…)

For theme, I like the idea that each artifact is indeed unique (aside from the Spell Scrolls). It gives a sense of myth and history to the world and the items. So even the Rabbit Boots would be a famed and unique item.

In which case, once an Artifact is gone, it’s gone. Zargon might have to make an adjustment (for example, a reliable way to kill the Witch Lord without the [i]Spirit Blade[/]), or create a quest to have a new Artifact created (which could be fun). But otherwise, say goodbye to the fancy pants blade.

[Bareheaded Warrior]

Stolen artifacts are supposed to be re-supplied by Zargon in the next quest

Still no

Lost Artifacts
It is sometimes required that the Heroes have a specific artifact in their possession before they continue on to the next Quest. Zargon, if a Hero dies while in possession of an artifact, and your monsters steal the artifact, you must include the artifact as a special treasure early in the next Quest.

This instruction clearly refers to specific artifacts that the heroes must have in their possession before they can continue with the next Quest. In the original quests (this may well not be the case in all remake quests) the only artifact that meets this criteria is the Spirit Blade in the “Quest for the Spirit Blade”, and if a hero dies while in possession of the Spirit Blade in this quest, and the monsters steal the artifact, then the success conditions for this quest, returning with the Spirit Blade, have not been met so the quest would be a failure and would have to be replayed.