Bow of fortune and Resolution crossbow

Hi everyone,

Thank you once more for still reading this blog.

I am still working on the tiles for my expansion Glistening Forge but today I have taken some time to remake two very special cards from the oficial expansions: the Bow of Fortune and the Resolution Crossbow.

These two weapons were firstly introduced in the Eternal Winter expansion and appeared again in the Forbidden Forest expansion. These cards are totally necessary as basic equipement for level 3 for the Heroes Mialee and Jozan.

In the base game, the default weapon for level 3 for Mialee was the Longbow of the Elven Lords, which only makes Miale to recover 1 Spell Point when a star appears in the Special Die. Regarding Jozan, his basic weapon for level 3 was the Sacred Crossbow of Pelor, which makes Jozan to recover 1 Spell Point when a star appears in the Special Die too.

This was discovered to be not enough for fighting the expansion's Monsters so in this expansions both Heroes received a new weapon almost exact to the one they already had but which make them recover 2 Spell Points instead on 1 when a star appears in the Special Die.

This upgrade was very necessary for Mialee, as her Armour Class depends on her Spell Points, but also for Jozan, who needs more Spell Points in level 3 to heal his comrades.

In my expansion Glistening Forge I wanted to include these two weapons too and now I have already managed to finish remaking them.

I hope you like them:

Thanks again for reading this blog. Stay tunned for more content in the following weeks :)

Charge!

Hi everyone again,

As one of this blog's readers have asked me about it, I will explain how it works the Charge special attack that appeared the first time in the Forbidden forest expansion pack and that the heroes will be able to use in the Glistening forge expansion pack too.

Let me quote first the Forbidden forest's rulebook:

"

CHARGE

All Heroes and Razor Boars may make a charge attack. This special attack is a combination of both movement and attack.

To charge, declare the action by shouting "Charge!" and indicating your target. The path to the target must be clear (nothing on the spaces) and in a straight line. A figure may charge from one room into another through an open door.

Roll the Charge die and move the charging figure the number of spaces shown on the die towards their target. Place a yellow attack die on the starting space of the charging figure. Roll the Charge die again. Move the charging figure forward, and place another yellow attack die on the space the charging figure was on.

Continue rolling the Charge die and placing an attack die on the charge path in the following order: yellow, yellow, red, orange, orange, blue.


Keep rolling the Charge die until your movement takes you onto the target space or you have placed all six attck dice onto the charge path but have not reached the target figure, or you roll a blank on the Charge die.

If a Heor or Monster rolls a blank on the Charge die, his charge action has failed, his move action is over and he must reduce his Hit Points by 1.

A SUCCESSFUL CHARGE

If the charger reaches the target's space or all six attack dice have been placed on the charge path, the charge is a success. Do the following in a successful charge:

1. Move the charger onto the target's space and move the target figure onto any adjacent space, even diagonally. If the charger or target steps into a trap space at any point during the charge, the trap is set off.
2. Roll all the attack dice that are on the charge path, plus the Special die and Skull die (the 'turn undead' die).

Add up the swords and substract the target's Armour Class to determine the damage. Fighters get their normal +1 attack bonus.

The number of Skulls rolled is the number of Hit Points the charger loses (not affected by Armour Class).

If you roll a star on the Special die, the target loses his next turn."



Moreover, I am going to quote the Charge Action reminder card:

"

CHARGE

All Heores and some Monsters may charge instead of their normal movement action.

The rules for charging can be found on page 6 of the rulebook.

The order of combat dice rolled is...

[yellow][yellow][red][orange][orange][blue]

If a Hero or Monster rolls a blank on the Charge die, the charge has failed, his move action is over and he must reduce his Hit Points by 1.

If the charge is successful, roll the following die:

[Special] Star = target loses his next turn.
[Skulls] For each skull rolled reduce the charger's Hit Points by 1 (Armour Class has no effect)."



From these two texts I extract some conclusions:

1. The charge action counts as a movement action so it is posible to charge agains a target and, if you have manage to reach it, use an attack action agains it as long as you have put its figure in an adjacent no diagonal space or you have a druid staff as a weapon.
2. Although the charge action is a movement action, Lidda can NOT use her Sneak ability in order to pass through monsters in her charge path to her target because the charge rules say clearly: "The path to the target must be clear (nothing on the spaces) and in a straight line". On the other hand, it says nothing about not using Sneak in her first move action in order to pass through some monster close to her which could be in her straight charge path and then, use her second action as a charge attack. Of course, She would not be able to make a second attack after reaching her target as she would have used her two actions per turn.
3. Druids can make charge attacks diagonally when outside and pass through trees and bushes while charging.
4. Some artifacts can have an influence on the charge attack like, for example:

• Bracers of speed: "Hero may move an additional 2 squares when taking a movement action." (Although the hero's movement doesn't count when making a charge attack - as the Charge die shows how much spaces a hero moves - the hero could move 2 spaces previous to make the charge attack if he thinks he is too much far away from his target ad doesn't want to risk rolling a blanck in the attack dice.)
• Ring of Ehlonna: "When outside, the Hero mat re-roll any single die once per turn." (In case you roll a blanck in the attack or Charge dice)
• Belt of the champion (Glistening forge): "While charging, the wearer may reroll one die (even the special or 'turn undead' dice)."  (In case you roll a blanck in the attack or Charge dice)

What do you think? Do you consider other cards have influence in the Charge attack?

Downloads: All board game dice

Hi everyone,

Today I have uploaded a pdf in which you will find the 12 dice from the basic board game and its expansion packs. You can find it too in the Dowloads section of this blog.

In order to save some ink, the black dice (the special one, the 'search for traps' one, the 'disable trap' one and the 'turn undead' one) have been changed to white with black symbols. Try to print them in adhesive paper and then glue them to normal dice.

The situation and orientation of each die's face has been based in my own board game copy (UK version). If someone could make me the favour of checking them against his/her own copy, please, write down in this article's comments section if your dice have the same face's situation and orientation or a different one.

Thanks.

Doubts about ranged attacks

Hi everybody:

I have noticed in my blog's stats that there have been some people reaching my blog with the following query in Google: "dudas reglas dragones mazmorras parker atacar distancia" ("dungeons dragons parker (hasbro) ranged attacks rules doubts" in English).

For those who have some doubts, I have to remind you I will try to answer all your questions in the comments section of the F.A.Q.

Lets start with the basics:

1. In the Players Guide from the basic board game (page 9) it is said:
   
   "There are two types of attack available:
• Melée attacks are close combat attacks that can only be used when standing next to an opponent (not diagonally).
  
• Ranged attacks can be used only over greater distances or diagonally. Unless otherwise stated, ranged weapons fire single shots in a straight line. The centre of the opponent’s square must be in clear sight of the centre of the Hero firing the weapon’s square."
  
  
2. In the next paragraph the concept of line of sight is explained:
   
   "Pillars, trees and walls block ranged weapons. A Hero does not block another Hero’s shot and a Monster does not block another Monster’s shot."
   
3. In some weapons from the "Forbidden forest" expansion pack (the staffs) you can find the following quote:
   "May melee attack into any adjacent space, even diagonally".
   

Now I will try to give you a good combat example in which the previously explained rules are used:

Morkhan and Lidda are fighting against a bugbear, a ogre and a gnoll while a goblin waits for them in an adjoining room. Lets suppose that there is a column between Lidda and the gnoll.

Morkhan uses his "Barbarian Battelaxe" (melée attack) and Lidda uses her "Relentless Bolass" (ranged attack).

List of possible and impossible attacks:

• Morkhan can melée attack the ogre without making a movement action before but to melée attack the gnoll he would have to move in order to be "next to" it. He can not melée attack the bugbear in this turn because his movement of 5 doesn't allow him to reach it and attack it. He can not attack the goblin because it is in a different room.
  
  Why can Morkhan melée attack the ogre and not the gnoll? Because the spaces considered to be adjacent are the ones directly up, down, right and left of the space he is taking up and therefore, only the monsters in those spaces will be "next to" him. If the barbarian used as a weapon a staff like the ones used by the druids Elwick or Orwick from the "Forbidden forest" expansion pack, he could melée attack into any adjacent space, even diagonally and hit the gnoll.
  
  
• Lidda can attack nobody (it doesn't matter if using a melée or ranged attack) without making a movement action first.
  Why? Because the column blocks her line of sight in order to attack the gnoll or the ogre using her ranged weapon. Lidda can not attack the bugbear because her bolass are a ranged weapon and the bugbear is "next to" her. The rogue can not attack the goblin because it is in a different room. She can move two or three spaces right to use her ranged weapon against the gnoll and/or the ogre for example.
  
  
• The bugbear can attack Lidda because she is "next to" it. It can not attack the barbarian without making a movement action first because he is to far.
  
  Why? Because although the bugbear's movemnet is 4 and Morkhan's is 5, the bugbear can reach the barbarian as it is said in the Players Guide (page 6): "Monsters can move through other Monsters, but not through Heroes.". So the bugbear would pass through the gnoll.
  
  
• The gnoll can attack Morkhan using its ranged attack but not using its melée attack and it can not attack Lidda without making a movement action first.
  
  Why? Because Morkhan is not "next to" it. He is in a space diagonally adjacent. It can not attack Lidda because the column blocks its line of sight but if it moves 2 spaces up or left, it has free line of sight to make a ranged attack (even through its bugbear fellow) or if it moves 2 spaces up and then 1 space more left, it can melée attack the rogue.
  
  
• The ogre can melée attack Morkhan and, if it makes a movement action first, it can attack Lidda using its ranged attack.
  
  Why? Because it is in an adjacent space to the barbarian's so that it is "next to" him. Its movement is 3 so it could not reach Lidda in this turn to malée attack her later but it can move 1 space up to have free line of sight and attack her using its ranged attack.
  
  
• The goblin can attack nobody as it is in a different room. If between its current space and the following down space there were an open door and it was a goblin archer, it would have direct free line of sight to attack the barbarian from the distance.
  
  Could it attack Morkhan even if they were in different rooms? Yes. As long as there were direct free line of sight, it could attack the barbarian being even in a different map tile.

I hope this little tutorial has remove all you doubts about melée and ranged attacks. If somebody has a question about attacks (like breath attacks or cold auras from the "Eternal winter" expansion pack, or charge attacks from the "Forbidden forest" expansion pack for example), I will try to answer them as best as I can.

Card reference guide

Here you have a description of all cards from the basic board game, its two expansions and the new expansion pack I am doing.
LAST UPDATE 17/03/2019
Open Document Format version: Card reference guide.odf
Excel version: Card reference guide.xml

Forbidden Forest monsters

Owlbears:

A vicious predator that will attack anything without provocation.

Razor boars:

This ill-tempered swine will charge anyone that disturbs them.

Shambling mounds:

A silent stalker with entangling tentacles, easily mistaken for a pile of rotting vegetation.

Yuan-ti halfblood:

Part snake, part man - Yuan-ti Halfbloods are the epitome of wickedness.

Yuan-ti abomination:

The terrifying leader of the Yuan-ti temple, this serpent is as inteligent as it is evil.

Heroes from the Forbidden Forest

Elwick the druid:

Elwick is a Druid, a priest of nature and some of his abilities are similar to the Cleric's. Although he is unable to turn undead, he is more mobile outdoors.

Heal - Elwick has the ability to heal other Heroes, by swapping his Spell Points to give them Hit Points back.

Spell casting - Any spells that do not have a cost for Druids should be treated as a Cleric's + 1 Spell Point.

Orwick the druid:

Orwick is a Druid, a priest of nature and some of his abilities are similar to the Cleric's. Although he is unable to turn undead, he is more mobile outdoors.

Heal - Orwick has the ability to heal other Heroes, by swapping his Spell Points to give them Hit Points back.

Spell casting - Any spells that do not have a cost for Druids should be treated as a Cleric's + 1 Spell Point.

Forbidden Forest component list

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/

The Forbidden Forest expansion pack has the following components:

• 2 cardboard tiles with different forest terrain combinations printed in both sides.
• 1 hero figurine (Orwick).
• 1 evil hero figurine (Elwick).
• 2 dead hero tokens.
• 2 hero boards.
• 10 monster figurines (2 owlbears, 3 razor boars, 2 shambling mounds and 3 yuan-ti).
• 4 bush board markers.
• 2 passageway tokens.
• 36 object cards.
• 11 monster cards.
• 3 reminder cards (one for each hero and one more for charge ability).
• 1 charge dice.
• 1 adventure book.