#4 D&D Monsters in HeroQuest

Posted by MortiS-the-Lost MortiS-the-Lost
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It's time for Ask Mortis again, the random and irregular feature were I answer questions people send in. Lets get strait into a question that was actually posted on the forum this time ...

The Skald wrote
Hiya Mortis, not really a question directed at one of your previous posts, but seeing the different monsters you've introduced to your campaign, have you done stats / conversions for Carrion Crawlers?
If you have could I beg a copy please? and if not, how about the Beholder (which you've done as a Chaos Spawn) so I can try getting my head around how you've successfully ported D&D critters into "Mortis(AHQ)Quest" please?
Well I supposed the appropriate place to post this question would have been as a reply to either of my Carrion Crawler posts (This One or  This One ) or possibly even the post I did about my Beer-Widget Beholder

But I'm kidding, in fact I believe this question does deserve a thread all to itself, not least because it's really asking 3 questions, one of which scrapes the top of a huge ice-berg of a subject.

First of all I'll make some clarifications so you can better understand what I'm rambling on about later as I delve into theses subjects. First of all 'MortiS Quest' is a campaign, not a rule set - MortiS Quest when it first started was played using the HeroQuest rules with a lot of additions made, as of 2010 MortiS Quest has been played with a set of rules called EnDungeoned (admittedly it didn't have a name at the time) which I wrote specifically for the MortiS Quest games we play (EnDungeoned is what people are referring to when they talk about the “MortiS Quest rules”). EnDungeoned shares a few basic mechanics with HeroQuest and thus the 2 games are mildly compatible, but HeroQuest lacks the advanced rules and stats of a true and more complex RPG.
EnDungeoned is not compatible with AHQ or WHQ although I understand there may be some confusion on the matter caused by an early post where I said I was thinking of running an AHQ based campaign but then went ahead and did MortiS Quest instead.

In the early days of MortiS Quest we stuck stringently to the Warhammer background in the hopes of giving the games some sense of over all consistency - so when I wanted to include D&D monsters I had come up with a good excuse … and that 'good excuse' was normally “Chaos Did It” or as became the catch phrase among my group due to a game of Space Crusade we played “Chaos Warp Portal!”  



So nearly every D&D creature that didn't appear in Warhammer already was shoe-horned in as some kind of Chaos Spawn or other. Thus we had Seer Spawns, Beholders in all but name.
Eventually however I figured “Fuck it, this is my campaign - I can do whatever I want!” and just imported my favourite creatures from D&D (and many other games besides) into our own distorted version of the Warhammer World.

Sorry were was I? Carrion-Crawler stats for HeroQuest …

The EnDungeoned rules for the Carrion-Crawler are a little more complex as you might expect but here they are simplified (and tweaked) for use in HeroQuest (even then it's more complicated than our average HQ monster) and with the D&D Board Game miniature in mind.

Carrion Crawler


Move: 6
Attack: 
The crawler can attack twice in a turn with it's Tentacles, rolling 2 Combat Dice each time
Or it can use it's teeth and mandibles to Bite, rolling 3 Combat Dice
Defend: 4
Body: 5
Mind: 2

Special Rules

* The Carrion Crawler's Tentacles can be used to attack diagonally.

* Any Skulls rolled by the Carrion Crawler when attacking a Hero using it's Tentacles that are not cancelled out by Shields cause Paralysis - the Hero must miss 1 turn for each Skull, but does not loose any Body Points



As for the Beholder …. I don't recommend it for regular HeroQuest because of how powerful it is, but here goes. The following rules are adapted directly from the D&D rules with a few tweaks made for HQ (The Beholders or Eye Beasts that feature in the EnDungeoned rules are quite different to the classic D&D Beholder)

Beholder


^ Image copyright Michael Washburn (www.washburnart.com) used totally without permission

Move: 4
Attack: 6
Defend: 5
Body: 11
Mind: 8

Special Rules

* Instead of attacking normally the Beholder may use it Eye-Rays to attack - these work in a similar way to the cross-bow and roll 3 Combat Dice each. The Beholder may use up to 2 Eye-Ray attacks per a turn.
Any Skulls rolled by the Beholder when attacking a Hero using an Eye-Ray attack that are not cancelled out by Shields cause an Eye-Ray effect. The Evil Wizard players must choose which of the following effects the Eye-Rays have Before rolling the attack

1: Charm Ray: a Hero struck by the Charm Ray does not loose Body Points but instead the Evil Wizard player controls the Hero in their next turn

2: Sleep Ray: a Hero struck by the Sleep Ray does not loose Body Points but instead is subject to the effects of the Sleep Spell

3: Telekinetic Ray: a Hero struck by the Telekinetic Ray does not loose Body Points but instead is pushed backward 1 Square for each Skull scored by the attack.

4: Freeze Ray: a Hero struck by the Freeze Ray does not loose Body Points but instead is frozen 1 turn for each Skull scored by the attack.

5: Disintegration Ray: a Hero struck by the Disintegration Ray does not loose Body Points but instead must loose 1 Equipment Card or Potion they are carrying.

6: Fear Ray: a Hero struck by the Fear Ray does not loose Body Points but instead cannot Attack in their next turn.

7: Slow Ray: a Hero struck by the Slow Ray does not loose Body Points but instead may only Roll 1 Dice for movement in their next turn

8: Death Ray:  a Hero struck by the Death Ray looses Body Points as normal

9: Anti-Magic Ray: a Hero struck by the Anti-Magic ray does not loose Body Points but instead cannot use Spells or Potions in their next turn.

Note: for a little added fun, if you have 10-sided dice (D10) you can roll randomly for the Eye-Ray the beholder uses with the result of 0 meaning the Evil Wizard may choose.

Pretty Nasty huh?
   
In case you are wondering - Yes, I do have a working system that converts D&D monster stats to HeroQuest - but I've never published it. This is quite a can of worms here and the conversion system deserves a long rambling post all of it own. It's taken me the better part of 2 years and I have held back sharing it with everyone because I want to make sure I get credit for all the work I put in.


I'm looking at YOU members of 'Ye Olde Inn' who lurk on The Lost and the Damned forum, reading, always reading but never posting and then using my ideas and rules in your own work without acknowledging me or the forum! And also I don't want to see the whole thing “re-blogged” some other place that ends up getting all the views and comments this forum would have had otherwise.


Yes I can convert D&D monsters to basic HeroQuest rules and when I publish my conversion system  I want credit for it (I might even publish it as a PDF on RPG Drive-Thru or another similar site with a better spelt name)

Until next time … I need to think of a 'good bye' catch phrase

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The Skald The Skald
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Re: #4 D&D Monsters in HeroQuest

First off, many, MANY thanks for posting the info - much appreciated, especially at this moment in time when I'm racing to get my campaign up and running  
Apologies for not spotting the previous posts. My bad, (I am working my way through the archives, and getting used to how the forum's laid out at the same time), I did have a hunt round first though but obviously missed 'em,... honest  I'll go read up asap.
Now though, I can use this in my games :~

Parker Boardgame Carrion Crawler

Thanks also for the clarification on "EnDungeoned", which is (now) obviously the result of 'Mortis Quest', which in turn was the result of creating the game mechanics and systems for your campaign, taking a 'dungeon crawl' into the realms of an immersive RPG.
The confusion over AHQ and WHQ (on my part anyhow) was just down to the few mechanics you've taken from there and modified for EnDungeoned.

I share your pain for the early days of MortiS Quest when you stuck to the Warhammer background - I'm attempting to do the same so that I can hopefully tie in some (3rd edition) battles to  give the campaign some depth. Including the D&D monsters as “Chaos Spawn” works brilliantly!
Not that I have a dice fetish, but the thought of rattling polyhedra on the table again almost tempted me to use the old D&D rules for my campaign to save me the grief of conversion - a quick look through the DMG and PH showed me that nostalgia isn't what it used to be though

"Your own distorted version of the Warhammer World" ~ you mean you're not adhering to the One True Vision (as specified in the current, latest glossy version of the get-it-before-it's-out-of-date packaged game) as laid down by the powers who must be obeyed at Gamers Sweatshop???
Nah, neither am I  
I LIKE the home-grown background, especially in comparison to most of the American vision of a pseudo historical Europe found in other games, and the old WHFB rules are my favourite wargames rules, so it all works for me! ('cept my distorted version is pre-gunpowder!!)

MortiS-the-Lost wrote
In case you are wondering - Yes, I do have a working system that converts D&D monster stats to HeroQuest - but I've never published it. This is quite a can of worms here and the conversion system deserves a long rambling post all of it own. It's taken me the better part of 2 years and I have held back sharing it with everyone because I want to make sure I get credit for all the work I put in.
Quite right too, and I'm sorry to hear that once again shitty forum behaviour has managed to thread its cancerous tentacles across yet another part of the interweb. At least you can take heart in the knowledge that it's not exclusive to this pastime - trust me, there's lowlife lurkers behaving in exactly the same way on every community site I know of
Shame it screws it for everybody else, but yep, I reckon you're doing the right thing  
When men meet foes in fight, better is stout heart than sharp sword.
MortiS-the-Lost MortiS-the-Lost
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Re: #4 D&D Monsters in HeroQuest

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The Skald wrote
Apologies for not spotting the previous posts. My bad, (I am working my way through the archives, and getting used to how the forum's laid out at the same time), I did have a hunt round first though but obviously missed 'em
Seriously don't worry about it - I myself some time have difficulty tracking down where old posts have ended up, that's why I like to link to related posts in the text

The Skald wrote
I share your pain for the early days of MortiS Quest when you stuck to the Warhammer background - I'm attempting to do the same so that I can hopefully tie in some (3rd edition) battles to  give the campaign some depth.
I'm what they call an Oldhammer fan myself, the Warhammer background material I use tends to be from 3rd edition and WFRP 1st it had more in common with D&D back then. Of course 3rd edition was also the era of the awesome Realm of Chaos books, one of which we (me and Bobbie) named this very forum after. I also have a copy of WFB 2nd edition which shares even more in common with D&D, I particularly like the Bestiary sections/books of early Warhammer and all monsters that were lost in later editions.    

The Skald wrote
Including the D&D monsters as “Chaos Spawn” works brilliantly!
It's a trick I first used for WFRP games to make use of as many miniatures as I could. I tend to buy miniatures I like the look of and worry about what games I'll use them in afterwards. The mutations listed in the Realm of Chaos books make it quite easy to add all kinds of extra creatures to WFRP and WFB by taking a base creature's stats and 'mutating' it into the monster you want to represent.
For example if I wanted to add a Beholder like creature to WFRP I'd start with some kind chaos creature and give it: One Eye, Huge Head, Walking Head, Limb Loss (both/all arms), Limb Loss (both/all legs), Crown of Flesh (Eye Stalks), Levitation, Magic Resistance, Telekinesis, Irrational Hatred, Hypnotic Gaze,  Evil Eye and then Invent Your Own to allow it to shoot rays from it's eyes with the equivalent effect of Las-cannons or Melta-guns. A process something like this lead to the Seer Spawn.  
This is of course a rather extreme example, but the point is once you've get used to playing around with the mutation rules you can create almost anything. It's also worth noting that once you've built a creature using the RoC mutation rules in WFB 3rd it can then easily be tweaked to work in Warhammer Rules based games like Mordheim, Necromunda and the like.    

HeroQuest though, shares a lot more in common rules-structure-wise with D&D than it does with Warhammer, which is why I have been able to create a conversion system between the 2.  

The Skald wrote
Not that I have a dice fetish, but the thought of rattling polyhedra on the table again almost tempted me to use the old D&D rules
At the risk of tormenting you, I'll tell you that EnDungeoned makes good use of D4s, D6s, D8s, D10s and D12s for Strength, Perception, Dexterity and Knowledge tests.

The Skald wrote
"Your own distorted version of the Warhammer World" ~ you mean you're not adhering to the One True Vision (as specified in the current, latest glossy version of the get-it-before-it's-out-of-date packaged game) as laid down by the powers who must be obeyed at Gamers Sweatshop???
Nah, neither am I  
I LIKE the home-grown background, especially in comparison to most of the American vision of a pseudo historical Europe found in other games, and the old WHFB rules are my favourite wargames rules, so it all works for me! ('cept my distorted version is pre-gunpowder!!)
ah, your certainly in the right place here at The Lost and The Damned Forum then

Finally I'd like to extend an invitation to you regarding monster rules for HeroQuest that is this: Most monsters that I have painted and posted pictures of in the Fantasy Miniatures section I will have EnDungeoned rules for, in most cases it's fairly easy for me to break down EnDungeoned stats into ones that will work for HeroQuest, so if you'd like HQ rules for any of the monsters I have painted I can post them up for you (just reply/comment to the post with the monster in it) - but please don't ask for more than 1 a week in case I'm busy
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~The ravings of a single mad Goblin is bad enough, but such a power-hungry, malice-filled creature as Mortis can never hope to be understood~