ArcanistSupreme
2011-09-08, 09:08 AM
So last night I had the rather hilarious experience of playing a copy of HeroQuest (http://www.amazon.com/Milton-Bradley-HeroQuest-Game-System/dp/B000MVTUBM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315487889&sr=8-1) that one of my friends found lying around his house. He said it had been his brother's, and, being a twenty-year-old game, it was missing several pieces and the treasure booklet. But we all said what the heck and sat down to play anyway.
It turns out that it's basically a way simplified version of D&D. To sum up, one person is the GM and runs the monsters and sets up the map based on the instruction booklet. The players can choose from one of four classes: Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf, and Wizard (Surprise, surprise, the wizard has the most impact on fights). The mechanics are clunky, character choice is way limited, and it looks like it has pretty low replayability.
To improve basically everything, I figured I could just convert it to 3.5/PF. If I put together maybe ten different characters, made several different modular rooms that could be put together in dozens of different ways (think Betrayal at House on the Hill (http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Coast-266330000WOC-Betrayal-House/dp/B003HC9734/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1315488999&sr=1-1) if you've ever played/heard of that [which I'm also cribbing ideas from]), design dozens of different encounters, and pick out a bunch of different items to distribute as treasure, I'd have a game that my friends (who are all familiar with 3.5) could pick up whenever, pick a GM, pick characters, and go.
But before I start, there are a few things that I need to figure out.
What is the ideal level to design the characters so that the characters have options but it isn't rocket tag?
What characters should I design that are balanced against one another, interesting/fun (more options than "I full attack again"), and all about tier 3?
How many encounters should I plan for to keep things between two and four hours long?
Can this work?
It turns out that it's basically a way simplified version of D&D. To sum up, one person is the GM and runs the monsters and sets up the map based on the instruction booklet. The players can choose from one of four classes: Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf, and Wizard (Surprise, surprise, the wizard has the most impact on fights). The mechanics are clunky, character choice is way limited, and it looks like it has pretty low replayability.
To improve basically everything, I figured I could just convert it to 3.5/PF. If I put together maybe ten different characters, made several different modular rooms that could be put together in dozens of different ways (think Betrayal at House on the Hill (http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Coast-266330000WOC-Betrayal-House/dp/B003HC9734/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1315488999&sr=1-1) if you've ever played/heard of that [which I'm also cribbing ideas from]), design dozens of different encounters, and pick out a bunch of different items to distribute as treasure, I'd have a game that my friends (who are all familiar with 3.5) could pick up whenever, pick a GM, pick characters, and go.
But before I start, there are a few things that I need to figure out.
What is the ideal level to design the characters so that the characters have options but it isn't rocket tag?
What characters should I design that are balanced against one another, interesting/fun (more options than "I full attack again"), and all about tier 3?
How many encounters should I plan for to keep things between two and four hours long?
Can this work?