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Advanced Heroquest: Dark Wizards
Carrying on from the previous posts (Fiction, New Hazards, and Undead Monsters), here are some more outtakes from my manuscript for Advanced Heroquest Undead Supplement, parts of which became Terror in the Dark. This time, as promised, it’s Dark Wizards.
Terror in the Dark includes rules and spells for Light Wizards, and my original plan was to add Dark Wizards as well, to support spellcasting enemies such as Liches and some Vampires. Carl gave Liches two new spells, which weren’t included in my manuscript: here are some more.
The Dark Wizards
The Wizards of the Dark College are regarded with fear and distrust by all decent folk. Although not all evil Wizards belong to the Dark College, it is certainly true that all Dark Wizards are evil. They are searchers in forbidden places, desecrators of tombs, and they violate the most sacred laws of life and death. The Advanced Heroquest rulebook features a few Dark Wizards in its section of reference tables; the following pages give full drtails of the Dark College and its magic, since most of the spellcasters listed in Undead are Dark Wizards. Dark Wizard spells cannot be learned by Heroes.
The colour of the Dark Wizards is black, although some may also use dark greys and browns. Their symbol is an eight-spoked wheel, or an eight-pointed star, or a spider in its web; the eight spokes, or points, or strands of the web symbolise the main tenet of the Dark College – that someone who has the power can move in any direction he pleases, and do anything he pleases. Another symbol favoured by the Dark Wizards is a black triangle, point-down. According to magical theory, above all colours is light and beneath all colours is darkness – the triangle symbolises the ‘Cone of Darkness’ upon which stand all colours of magic.
Among some evil races, such as Skaven, Dark Wizards hold a respected position. Among Humans and other good races, they are feared and outcast. Dark Wizards are usually contemptuous of all others, and keep themselves to themselves, although they may have servants and followers of their own. They are unlikely to have many friends, however. Necromancers, Liches, Vampires and many other kinds of evil Wizards belong to the Dark College.
Like Wizards of other Colleges, Dark Wizards each have a spell book, and may only use those spells which they have learned and inscribed in their spell books. The following page gives the Dark Wizard’s spell book in full.
Random Spells
Evil spellcasters in the Advanced Heroquest rulebook are given specific spells, but it can be a lot more interesting if spells are chosen randomly, so that the Heroes – and their players – never know what an encountered evil spellcaster might throw at them!
The spellcasting creatures listed of this book each have a number of spells – for example, a Liche can cast 5 Dark Wizard spells. When a spellcasting creature is encountered, use the following table to find out what spells he – or it – can cast. Roll once for each spell the creature can cast.
Don’t worry if you roll a particular spell more than once – that just means that the creature can cast it more than once.
You can allot random spells to the spellcasting creatures listed in the Advanced Heroquest rulebook, if you like – simply ignore the spells given on their reference sheets and roll on the table above, as follows:
Dark Wizard’s Spell Book
Note: There’s a note in my manuscript which specifically says that none of the spells listed should be marked as starting spells. I don’t remember why, exactly, but it was probably to support random generation of spells.
CHOKE
Component: Vial of Swamp Gas
The victim suddenly clutches his throat and has great trouble breathing. Dark wisps of smoke begin to seep from his mouth and nostrils as his lungs fill with noxious fumes.
Select a single target within the caster’s line of sight. The target may only stagger one square per turn for the next 3 turns (the model’s player makes this move). Unless the caster has been killed in the meantime, the victim dies from asphyxiation at the end of the third turn.
FIREBALL
Component: Pinch of Warpstone
A ball of black fire with blue and yellow flames licking at the edges hurtles from the caster’s hand towards the chosen target. Place a fireball template anywhere within 12 squares of the caster along his line of sight. Any models (friend or foe) which fall wholly or partly under the fireball template are automatically hit. Roll 5 damage dice to see what effect each hit has.
FLAMING SKULL OF TERROR
Component: Silver Daemon Statue
As he finishes the incantation, the caster seems to grow horns and fangs, his fingers lengthen into great talons, huge scale fall over his eyes and he utters a bestial roar. He is treated as a Fearsome monster until play next returns to exploration turns.
CREATE UNDEAD SERVANTS
Component: Enchanted Bone
As the caster finishes his incantation, the ground begins to heave slightly, then buckles upwards as four Skeletons pull themselves out of the earth, ready to obey his commands. Place a fireball template anywhere withing 12 squares of the caster, along his line of sight. The template may not be placed wholly or partly in the death zone of any living creature. The Skeletons appear in the area covered by the template, one to a square.
SPECTRAL HAND
Component: Dried hand of hanged criminal
The caster gestures with the hand, and a spectral blow strikes one living creature within 12 squares of the caster along his line of sight. The blow automatically connects, and the caster rolls 2 damage dice. Armour does not add to the target’s Toughness unless it is magical. The Spectral Hand is capable of wounding Invulnerable creatures as if they weren’t Invulnerable.
BECOME ETHEREAL
Component: Vial of grave dust
As the caster chants the incantation for this spell, his body becomes less solid, until it is possible to see right through it. When the incantation is complete, the caster is ethereal – just like an Ethereal monster (see previous post). He can walk through walls, locked doors and other obstructions. It can also fly over hazards like pits and chasms. Because he isn’t solid, he can’t attack other creatures with non-magical hand-to-hand or ranged weapons, and normal weapons simply pass right through him, causing no damage at all. Magical weapons and spells cause damage as normal. The spell lasts until the beginning of the nest exploration turn.
STEAL LIFE
Component: Coffin splinter
The caster points at a single living creature within 12 squares along his line of sight, and tendrils of black mist begin to rise from the ground around this chosen victim. They wrap around the victim’s legs, draining the life-energy from him. The victim loses as many Wounds as are shown by the roll of one dice; do not roll conventional damage dice for this spell. The spell automatically dies down at the end of the next turn.
VORTEX OF CHAOS
Component: Pinch of Warpstone dust
The caster flings the Warpstone dust into the air, and it gathers into a terrifying whirlwind of primal Chaos, one square wide, and moves directly away from him for 12 squares before dissipating. As it moves, it destroys everything it touches, sucking it into the heart of Chaos where it is lost forever.
The Vortex makes a hole in any wall it encounters, just like the Bright Wizards’ spell The Bright Key. When it encounters a hazard or other feature, it destroys it. When the Vortex passes through the death zone of a Hero or monster, roll a dice and compare it to the model’s Speed; if the dice roll is equal to or less than the model’s Speed, it has avoided the vortex, otherwise it is sucked into Chaos and destroyed. Heroes may expend a Fate Point to avoid this.
BEAM OF CHAOS
Component: Polished Warpstone lens
By uttering the incantation, the caster causes light to be focussed through the Warpstone lens, picking up some of the essence of Chaos in the process. The result is a beam of roiling green light projecting 12 squares long along the caster’s line of sight. The beam has no effect on stone walls and other obstructions, but every living thing in the line of the beam must expend a Fate Point or lose Wounds equal to the score rolled on two dice; do not roll conventional damage dice for this spell.
WALL OF DARKNESS
Component: Scrap of a Ghost’s winding-sheet
As he finishes the incantation, the caster holds the scrap of cloth in the air, and it appears to expand and darken, making a wall of darkness up to 12 squares wide, 2 squares deep and as high as the passage or room. The wall of darkness block line of sight, and ranged weapons cannot be thrown or fired through it; neither can spells. Living creatures – including Heroes – must make a successful test against Bravery to enter the darkness. The spell lasts until the beginning of the nest exploration turn.
ZONE AGAINST LIFE
Component: Small bag of grave earth
The caster draws a circle on the floor with the earth as he chants the incantation. Living creatures – including Heroes – cannot cross the line until the beginning of the next exploration turn, although ranged weapons may be thrown or fired into the circle. Undead creatures inside the circle add 3 to their Toughness; this bonus is lost if they move out of the circle, or when the spell ends.
SUMMON UNDEAD CHAMPION
Component: Dragon tooth
Completing the incantation, the caster throws the Dragon tooth onto the ground – on any square in his death zone which is not already occupied – and an Undead Champion appears on the spot, ready to follow the caster’s orders. Once summoned, an Undead Champion remains until destroyed. If the caster of the summoning spell is killed, the Undead Champion attacks the nearest living creature, and continues to do so until no more living creatures are in sight. Then it becomes dormant until a living creature enters its line of sight again.
So there you have it. Just one note on the spell components – I was clearly just making things up. As far as I know, none of these items actually exists in Heroquest or Advanced Heroquest, so if you enforce spell components strictly in your game, I’m afraid you’re on your own.
All Posts in this Series
The Quest Machine, Part 1: Royal Tombs and Monument
The Quest Machine, Part 2: Monastery Catacombs and Sanctuary of Morr
The Quest Machine, Part 3: Cemetery and Place of Legend
The Quest Machine, Part 4: Underground Battlefield and Dwarfhold Tomb Complex
The Quest Machine, Part 5: Necromancer’s Lair and Evil City
The Quest Machine, Part 6: Overrun Necropolis and Vampire’s Stronghold
Advanced Heroquest: Undead Monsters
Carrying on from two previous posts (Fiction and New Hazards), here are some more outtakes from my manuscript for Advanced Heroquest Undead Supplement, parts of which became Terror in the Dark. This time, it’s the undead monsters.
Only four undead creatures made their way into Terror in the Dark: the Wight, Liche, Ghoul, and Vampire. You’ll find them here, too – with many others – because in a few cases, Carl Sargent made some changes while developing my manuscript. You can decide which versions you prefer.
Next week, I’ll post the section on Dark Wizards and their spells that is mentioned in the notes for some of the more powerful creatures. Until then, enjoy these horrors – and let me know what you think of them!
Before we get started, though, a note on the look of this post. WordPress isn’t the easiest when it comes to formatting tables, so I did the best I could – largely by creating the tables in Word and then pasting them in from screenshots. It’s not ideal, I know, and someone with greater skill could probably have made it look a lot better, but I’m hoping you’ll agree with me that it’s the information that really matters.
Anyway, enjoy!
UNDEAD
The undead were once human, but something terrible happened to them when they died. Instead of finding rest, they are cursed to walk the earth, often in the service of evil Wizards. Next to the vile forces of Chaos, the undead are the most frightening monsters in the world.
Ghoul
Like most undead, Ghouls were once human, but something went wrong when they were buried. Now, they haunt graveyards and other charnel places, feeding on the corpses of the dead – and if the living disturb them, they are not averse to live prey as well. A single Ghoul is not a very dangerous opponent, but a pack of them can be terrible indeed. Their filthy claws are poisonous, and their teeth are sharp and jagged.
Ghoul Chieftain
Ghost
A Ghost is the disembodied spirit of a dead person, which cannot find rest for some reason. The spirits of murder victims, and those who have not had a proper burial for any reason, often become Ghosts. A Ghost may follow and evil Wizard, doing his bidding in exchange for the promise of rest later on. Needless to say, these promises are seldom kept. Ghosts cannot attack physically, but their touch can rob even the greatest Hero of his courage, and send him screaming away.
Liche
A Liche is an evil Wizard who has managed to cheat death. Although his body is dead and continues to decay around him, the Liche’s mind is preserved by his foul sorcery, and he lives on – if this can be called living – to do greater and greater evil. Liches generally shun the world of the living, and surround themselves with undead servants created by their evil magic.
Mummy
Created by the mysterious enchantments of far-off Araby, a Mummy is a dead body wrapped in bandages and preserved for thousands of years. The chemical treatments that went into its making have hardened the Mummy’s skin and made it almost as tough as leather armour, while magic has been used to endow the Mummy with enough life to protect its tomb from tomb-robbers. Some evil Wizards make a practice of taking Mummies from their tombs and using them as magically-controlled servants and bodyguards.
Necromancer
A Necromancer is not undead, but has many dealings with them. He is an evil Wizard who specialises in the undead, and in time – if he discovers the right enchantments – he may become a Liche. Necromancers seldom have any living friends or servants, but this doesn’t bother them – the undead are more loyal and obedient.
Skeleton
The Skeleton is one of the weakest of the undead, and is simply a human skeleton animated by evil magic. Skeletons form the rank-and-file of most undead armies, and are the most common servants of Necromancers and other evil Wizards.
Skeleton Warrior
Skeleton Archer
Spectre
Like the Ghost, the Spectre is the disembodied spirit of a dead person. A Spectre is trapped between worlds because of a curse, or as a result of breaking an oath in its lifetime. Many Spectres have existed for so long that they no longer remember their lives, and some develop an obsessive hatred for the living. Although they cannot attack physically, a Spectre’s touch sends a deathly chill through its victim, which can kill as surely as a blade.
Undead Champion
The mortal remains of a Hero – or of a notorious evildoer – may be used by an evil Wizard to make a Skeleton warrior of better-than-average strength and skill. Undead Champions are sometimes placed in charge of undead troops by their masters.
Undead Warlord
When a very great Hero dies – or a very great villain, for that matter – his remains may still carry some of the greatness he possessed in life, and a Necromancer or other evil Wizard may be able to create an Undead Warlord. These powerful warriors are the greatest of all Skeletons, and a deadly foe indeed – some are so powerful that they can become undead leaders in their own right, commanding armies of Skeletons and other undead creatures.
Vampire
Vampires exist as the result of a curse or a tainted bloodline. Although dead, they look very much like living humans, until they open their mouths – then it is possible to see the fangs which they use to take blood from the living. An ancient and powerful Vampire Lord is a terrible foe, using magic in addition to his vampiric powers and followers. A lesser Vampire is more easily defeated, but still a deadly opponent.
Vampire Lord
Lesser Vampire
Wight
A Wight is another trapped spirit, like the Ghost and Spectre. It is held in the world of the living by an obsessive greed, jealously guarding the treasure with which it was buried. Misers who try to take their wealth with them will often become Wights, and they may also be found in ancient burial-mounds, which legends say may often hold great riches. Wights are more material than Ghosts, Wraiths and Spectres, and normally use weapons to defend their treasure.
Wraith
Wraiths are among the most feared of the ethereal undead. Some are trapped in the world of the living by a life of great evil, and others by curses and evil magic. All Wraiths hate the living, and will attack them on sight. Like the Ghost and Spectre, a Wraith cannot attack physically, but its touch saps the life-energy from a victim, leaving him weak and sometimes draining life completely away.
Zombie
A Zombie is very similar to a Skeleton, except that the flesh is still on the bones. Zombies are slower and a little less reliable than Skeletons, but some evil Wizards use them as guards and for other menial tasks.
Monster Abilities
As you’ll have seen from the monster reference sheets, all undead creatures are fearsome monsters. Some of them have other special rules, which you’ll find explained in the Advanced Heroquest rulebook. There are also some brand new special rules, which you won’t have seen before. These are explained below.
Ethereal
The Ghost, Spectre, Wight and Wraith are all ethereal, and some other monsters can become ethereal.
An ethereal creature isn’t solid, and can walk through walls, locked doors and other obstructions. It can also fly over hazards like pits and chasms. And because it isn’t solid, normal weapons simply pass right through it, causing no damage at all. Magical weapons and spells cause damage as normal.
Ethereal creatures can attack material beings (ie, anyone who isn’t ethereal!) in hand-to-hand combat as normal, but their attacks are always special – they can’t do normal damage because their blows pass right through a material target! These special attacks are explained elsewhere in this section.
A creature with the ability to become ethereal must spend a whole turn without moving or attacking anyone in order to do so. At the start of the next turn, it is ethereal. While it is ethereal, it cannot attack anyone in hand-to-hand combat – its blows pass right through them – but it may cast any spells it has in the usual way. Once the creature has become ethereal, it can become material again any time it wants, just by staying in the same spot for a full turn. At the start of the next turn, it is fully material.
Attack Causes Fear
The Ghost cannot attack physically, since its blows would simply pass through a solid target. However, it has developed a special attack of its own, which in some ways is worse than any sword. Instead of drawing blood, its cold, misty claws suck out a man’s courage.
When a Ghost attacks, make hit and wound rolls as normal, but compare the damage dice to the target’s Bravery instead of his Toughness. The target loses one Bravery point for each dice that scores equal to or higher than his current Bravery. Lost Bravery points are recovered in time for the next adventure.
Attack Causes Chill
The Spectre is one of the most terrible of the ethereal undead, even though in its misty, non-material state it cannot land a blow on a living victim. But its hands can reach through a man’s armour and clothing, and stop his beating heart with their deathly coldness.
When a Spectre attacks, make hit and wound rolls normally, but do not take the target’s armour into account unless it is magical armour. For each dice that scores equal to or higher than the target’s Toughness, the target loses 1 WS, 1 BS and 1 Sp – but no Wounds. If any of these scores reaches zero, the Hero dies. Lost points are recovered in time for the next adventure.
Attack Causes Weakness
Just as the Ghost drains a man’s courage and the Spectre steals his vitality, so the Wraith’s attack can rob even the mightiest Hero of his strength. Its spectral hands reach inside its victim’s body, and blight his muscles with the slackness of death.
When a Wraith attacks, make hit and wound rolls normally, but do not take the target’s armour into account unless it is magical armour. For each dice that scores equal to or higher than the target’s Toughness, the target loses 1 S, but no Wounds. If a Hero’s Strength score reaches zero, he dies. Lost points are recovered in time for the next adventure.
All Posts in this Series
The Quest Machine, Part 1: Royal Tombs and Monument
The Quest Machine, Part 2: Monastery Catacombs and Sanctuary of Morr
The Quest Machine, Part 3: Cemetery and Place of Legend
The Quest Machine, Part 4: Underground Battlefield and Dwarfhold Tomb Complex
The Quest Machine, Part 5: Necromancer’s Lair and Evil City
The Quest Machine, Part 6: Overrun Necropolis and Vampire’s Stronghold
Graeme Davis 