by manutd03
I just played our new house variants for heroes. I'd welcome thoughts from people who've played this game more than I have.
Before anyone complains, I'm not saying the current hero system is broken. It's fine, and I'd never want to do away with heroes entirely. But for those of us who play only one-two times a year, having heroes quest during the summer adds another layer of complexity and time to that summer season card (if you play with AP-prone players, like I do, Questing season = Time suck).
HERO RULES – HOUSE VARIANT
Summer has gotten bogged down by heroes, so heroes no longer go on quests. Instead, heroes exist to find dragon runes, support troops during battle (using the Revised Edition "Hero Support" rule), and sometimes duel each other.
Gameplay changes:
No quest cards
No training of attributes
Half of reward deck* and five of the heroes (2 good, 1 neutral, 2 evil) have been removed.
New mechanism in place for heroes to receive rewards
Summer secondary ability
Heroes may heal or move as normal
Heroes may duel as normal
Reward: If a hero begins the summer at a stronghold in an enemy’s home realm, that hero receives a reward card. A hero could stay there and gain a reward every year, in which case an opponent’s hero will have an incentive to seek him out and kill him. Also, a hero who's hanging out in an opponent's home realm is unlikely to be helping with battles the way he should. (Of course, a Timmorran Shard requires one to high-tail it back to one's own stronghold, anyway.) I haven't decided what to do in a 2p game if the only enemy's home realm is destroyed.
If you're curious, here's the 20-card Reward Deck we now use:
- Timmorran Shard (x6)
- Amulet of Shielding
- Arcane Ring
- Blade of Light
- Flute of Possession
- Ice Storm
- Pacifying Rune
- Rune of Summoning
- Rune of Teleportation
- Runeplate
- Soulbiter
- Staff of Light
- Tactical Map
- Throwing Knives
- Wings of Regrowth
As I said, I have played this only once, so I would welcome any thoughts, especially from others who like heroes to be simpler or more streamlined. We had a ton of fun playing with the heroes this way tonight!