Race Against Time: use the Treasure deck for a timer?

[iKarith]

I like the OP suggestion in principle. Definitely the monsters should pour in from somewhere rather than just arbitrary placement. The way I'd do it is that you'd define an arbitrary trigger (d6 rounds, opening a door, something) which will spawn several monsters somewhere away from the heroes. Every turn thereafter, there should be a chance (50% seem good?) that another will spawn, chasing the heroes or, if they're not careful, getting between them and the exit. Maybe both.

I don't want to look at the map for the quest because I'm going to hopefully be playing it some weeks from now. Not because I'll remember it (not the way my vision works…) but because if I go and describe how I'd alter the map, I'll remember that. I'd rather play it cold.

[Zenithfleet]

After some further thought, and following the general design principle of EU HeroQuest (i.e. "make it as simple as you possibly can, and then make it simpler")...

I could get rid of the wandering monster idea entirely. Just have the evil wizard player discard a Treasure card from the top of the deck each turn. Doesn't matter what's on it. If the Treasure deck runs out, game over. (The stairway collapses or some such thing.)

This way there's no worrying about balance issues or unfair threats to the Wizard from wandering monsters. (Also, no worrying that a run of bad rolls makes the game end unfairly fast or take too long, as might happen with rolling a die for the cave-in.) There's just a simple timer--the Treasure deck.

25 cards in the EU base game should be more than enough time, but the Heroes won't necessarily know that. And if they search for treasure, they risk depleting the deck faster, simulating the effect of stopping to waste time looking for gold.

Well, it took a couple of years, but I finally got around to playtesting this in a quick solo runthrough. By 'solo' I mean I was controlling every character + the monsters. I used heroes without any equipment.

I used the following simple timer rule for 'Race Against Time':

(Quest Note addition - EU terminology)
The monsters are preparing to seal off the exit and entomb the heroes forever. At the start of your turn, take the top card from the Treasure pile and put it behind your screen without showing it to the character players. You cannot use this treasure card, but do not return it to the pile during the Quest. If you cannot take a treasure card because there are none left in the pile, the Quest immediately ends and all characters who have not yet reached the stairway tile are eliminated.


The heroes did manage to reach the stairs with plenty of time (cards in the Treasure deck) remaining, although of course I knew where it was since I had access to the map! They risked a couple of searches along the way, too. However, they didn't manage to get to the chest in the branching path--the enemies in the first room proved stubbornly invulnerable and the heroes gave up trying to get past them.

I didn't really play 'optimally' and didn't make too much use of the spells, as I was trying to imitate what an inexperienced player might do (i.e. hoard the spells for later in case they're needed and never actually end up using them)!

At the end, the Dwarf was lagging behind, and decided to go back to investigate that area, as there seemed to be plenty of Treasure cards left. He almost made it to the chest room but got bogged down fighting the monsters outside. Suddenly he realised there was barely time to get back, and legged it with monsters hot on his heels.

He was just one move away from the stairs when a horrible grinding noise from above heralded the slamming of the exit. Doomed by his own greed. Very Dwarfish.


It's only one test, but I'm pretty happy with the rule. It's very simple--simple enough to have been included in the original game, I reckon. With 25 cards in the EU deck it's forgiving enough for a base game quest, but still imparts a sense of urgency, especially if you don't know where you're supposed to go. The players can make their situation worse if they hang around searching for treasure (which will deplete the deck faster), or if they try to investigate the side rooms where the Fimir are waiting. Swift Wind and Pass Through Rock would both come in handy.

(If you're including the 6 extra treasure cards from Wizards of Morcar then of course there will be extra time, so you might want to leave them out for this quest.)

My original endlessly spawning monster idea might be better suited to a different quest. Hmm ...