HeroQuest: Against the Ogre Horde

HeroQuest: Against the Ogre Horde Rulebook

Table of Contents

Plastic figures: 1 Ogre Lord, 1 Ogre Chieftain, 1 Ogre Champion, 4 Ogre Warriors. Cardboard tile sheet.

Cardboard tile sheet includes:

1 new over-ground starting tile
2 new double-sided room tiles
4 Pit of Darkness tokens
4 Secret Door Tokens
15 Chaos Spell Tokens
4 Stone Doorways
6 Fall Rubble Tiles
1 Ogre Throne

All cardboard components should be carefully punched out from the new die-cut sheet. The new door pieces fit into the existing door bases in the same way as normal doors.

Next to most components is a matching Quest Map symbol. These symbols appear on each map to show you where to place components on the gameboard. These symbols are also the exact size needed for the blank "create your own" Quest Map provided in the Game System Quest Book. All you have to do is photocopy the symbols and cut them out.

Assembling the Ogres

There are four different types of Ogre miniatures. Be sure to match the correct arms and heads to each body.

Carefully remove all of the pieces from the plastic sprues. Take the front half of the Ogre and place the left and right arms into the shoulder sockets. Next, push the back of the Ogre into place, squeezing firmly. Finally, push the Ogre's head into its socket. Repeat the sequence for each Ogre.

Ogre Throne

Assemble the Ogre Throne in the same manner as the throne from the HeroQuest Main Game System.

Ogres

Ogres see the world as one long series of meals: enemies mean lunch or breakfast, depending on the time of day. More often than not, Ogre duels are vast eating competitions although violent brawls make a good substitute.

As enemies, Ogres are ruthless foes who show no mercy once their appetite has been whetted. Anyone brave enough to do battle with the Ogres must be sure of their own fighting prowess. Otherwise, they might not just end up dead… they'll end up as someone's dinner!

Ogres are not evil as such. Just permanently hungry and frighteningly violent. Often they just wander about alone. At other times, they group together in clans led by an Ogre Lord whoever is the meanest, nastiest and hungriest at that particular time.

It is possible for both the Empire and the forces of Chaos to hire Ogres as mercenaries, so long as they are guaranteed a good time a brawl and plenty to eat (usually as a result of the fighting). But their habits make them unpredictable and horribly dangerous.

Ogres in HeroQuest

All Ogres occupy one space on the HeroQuest gameboard. No other figure may pass through the same space as an Ogre figure, whether they are good or evil. Once an Ogre blocks a corridor, it stays blocked until he moves or is killed.

HeroQuest Ogres are more powerful than any monsters so far encountered by our Heroes. Compare the relative strengths of the different Ogres.

Ogre	Move	Attack	Defend	Body	Mind
Ogre Warrior	6 Spaces	5 Dice	5 Dice	3	1
Ogre Champion	6 Spaces	5 Dice	5 Dice	4	1
Ogre Chieftain	4 Spaces	6 Dice	6 Dice	4	2
Ogre Lord	4 Spaces	6 Dice	6 Dice	5	5

Mind Points and the Chaos Sorcerer Spells

Below are three new Chaos Spells that use Mind Points to affect their targets. Mind Points are a measure of a character's wisdom and a measure of a character's magical aptitude. They show how well they can use magic and more importantly, how well they can resist it. These new Chaos Spells have spell tokens which monsters will use when allocated them in the Quest notes.

Chaos Sorcerers may only cast one spell per turn. A spell can be cast at any character to which the Chaos Sorcerer has a clear line of sight. A Chaos Sorcerer who casts a spell may also move, but may not engage in hand to hand combat in that turn. If a Chaos Sorcerer cast a spell and is killed, that spell stops working at once.

For example: If the Chaos Sorcerer uses a spell on a Hero and is killed before that character's turn, the Chaos Sorcerer's spell stops working at once. The Hero is then free to move on his next turn.

If a Hero has the Talisman of Lore, he receives an extra Mind point. This Mind point counts toward that Hero's Mind Combat total, as long as that Hero has the Talisman.

Mind Lock

This spell allows a servant of Chaos to freeze a Hero's mind and prevent him from taking any action. The Chaos Sorcerer makes a Mind Attack against his target by rolling a number of Combat Dice equal to his Mind Points. His target defends with as many Combat Dice as he has Mind Points. The defender is frozen for one turn for each Skull scored by the attacker. If no Skulls are scored against the target, the spell has no effect. A Mind Locked Hero places one Mind Lock token on his Hero board for each turn he is affected, removing one on each of his turns. Having removed a token, a frozen character may attempt to break the Chaos Sorcerer's hold by rolling one Combat Die for each Mind Point. If he manages to roll 3 Skulls or more, he may remove all remaining Mind Lock tokens on his Hero board. A frozen Hero may not move, attack or perform any other action, but he may defend against other attacks using only 1 Defend Die.

Dominate

This spell allows a Chaos Sorcerer to take control of a Hero for 1 turn. The Chaos Sorcerer must attack his target by rolling a number of Combat Dice equal to his Mind Points while the defender does the same to defend himself. The Chaos Sorcerer places a Dominate counter on the character's board and may move that character immediately. He may move, cast spells and fight with the Hero as normal and may attack the other players with him. A Hero is only Dominated for the duration of the Chaos Sorcerer's turn. If the attack is unsuccessful, nothing happens.

Mind Blast

This spell allows a Chaos Sorcerer to inflict Mind Point damage to a Hero without having to be next to him or physically attacking him. A Chaos Sorcerer with this spell receives the number of Mind Blast tokens specified in the Quest. Each time he attacks, he must discard one of the tokens. He may only use as many Mind Blasts as he has tokens.

To attack with a Mind Blast, both characters roll a number of Combat Dice equal to their current Mind Point score and add up the number of Skulls they have. The one with the most Skulls, be it attacker or defender, then inflicts Mind point damage on his opponent equal to the number of Skulls he has in excess of his opponent's score. If both scores are equal, neither character inflicts any damage. If a Hero or monster loses all his Mind Points as a result of a Mind Blast, he is knocked unconscious and remains out of play for the rest of that Quest. Mind Points are recovered between Quests in the same way as Body Points.

New Tiles

Room Tiles

Carpet Room: A luxuriously carpeted room fit for a Chaos Sorcerer.

Sun-Eye Room: A source of Chaos power, ideal for an Apprentice of Chaos.

The Pit Room: Watch your step, or you could fall to oblivion.

The Battle Room: Beware your step, for many of the Ogres' foes have fallen here.

Surface Tile: For entering and exiting the Ogres' Fortress.

Pit of Chaos: Watch your step, or you, too, will succumb to the throes of Chaos.

Stone Doorways

Stone Doorways are large slabs of rock that must be pushed out of the way using brute force before you can pass. To open one of these doors, a Hero must roll a number of Combat Dice and score 2 Skulls. The number of dice he throws depends on what character type he is: the Dwarf and the Elf both roll 2 dice, the Barbarian rolls 3 dice. The Wizard cannot open a Stone Doorway. Once a Stone Doorway has been opened it remains open for the rest of the Quest.

Pits of Darkness

The Pit of Darkness Trap works in the same way as a normal pit trap with the following exceptions: if a Hero crossing a Pit of Darkness space rolls a Skull, he plunges 30 feet onto hard floor. Once he falls, a Hero will suffer damage depending on how much armor he is wearing. Heroes not wearing any armor must roll 1 Combat Die to see if they lose any Body Points; those wearing Chainmail or Borin's Armor must roll 2 Combat Dice; and those wearing plate mail must roll 3 Combat Dice. A Hero may climb out of a Pit of Darkness on his next turn if there is a free space on any one side of the Pit of Darkness. Pits of Darkness may not be disarmed (once discovered), but Heroes may jump over them like ordinary pit traps.

Swinging Blade Trap

The trap is tripped when a character lands on a space marked with a black blade symbol: a huge blade swings down from the roof attacking any character in any one of the three spaces marked with a white or black blade symbol. These characters will be attacked with two Combat Dice, which they may defend against normally. A Swinging Blade Trap can only be detected by a search in the room or corridor containing the black blade symbol.

Any character with a Tool Kit may attempt to disarm a Swinging Blade Trap. To do so they must roll any shield, using only one Combat Die. If they roll a Skull, they will set off the Swinging Blade Trap. The Dwarf may disarm a Swinging Blade Trap automatically once it has been discovered.

Example: In the diagram below, the Elf moves five spaces and lands on a white blade space. He does not set off the trap, but on his turn, the Barbarian moves four spaces and lands on the black blade space. The blade swings down attacking both the Elf and the Barbarian with two Combat Dice.

Playing Against the Ogre Horde

1. General Rules

The following Quests can either be played individually or as a continuous adventure, with one Quest following on from the next. If you choose to play them as a series of Quests, the following rules apply.

2. Playing the Quests as a Series

At the start of the first Quest, each Hero should receive five healing potions, each of which will heal the character up to his maximum Body Points once. Take a note of these potions on the character sheets and cross them off as you use them. Any number of potions may be used in any one Quest.

Heroes that use magic may replenish their spells between Quests, but they must keep the same spells they chose right at the start of the first Quest.

Heroes may not buy new equipment between these Quests but may keep anything they have found in those Quests.

Zargon should reshuffle the Treasure Deck between each Quest, returning any used Treasure Cards from the previous Quest to the pack.

If any of the Heroes are killed during a Quest, Mentor is able to magically transport a new starting Hero to join the party at the beginning of the following Quest.

3. Advice to Players

Before the Heroes begin these Quests, they should carefully choose the equipment and the magical items they will take with them. Remember, the crossbow and the staff are two invaluable weapons in any Quest. The crossbow allows a Hero to kill a monster without entering a room and running the risk of falling foul of any traps. The staff allows a Hero to join in an attack against a foe that might otherwise be blocked by other attacking Heroes. Players should stick together as one party and advance carefully, searching for traps and trying not to move through rooms that they have not checked.

4. Advice to Zargon

Zargon should try to lure the Heroes into his traps by making them chase monsters or charge to the attack. He should make the best use of the new traps and spells now available to him.

For example: Look at the second Quest in this book. In room 'A' there are two Orcs with crossbows positioned behind two concealed pit traps. If the Heroes charge the Orcs they risk falling into the pit traps, but if they don't, the Orcs will shoot them with their crossbows.

Quest Map Guide

The Quest map symbols are color-coded to help you guide the Heroes through these Quests. Here's what the various map symbol colors mean.

Gold: This color is used to highlight traps that the Heroes can detect by searching.
Light Green: This color is used to highlight traps and other hazards that the Heroes can neither see nor detect by searching.
Dark Green: This color is used to highlight monster symbols. See the Monster Chart in the back of this book for actual symbols.

In each Quest, notes prefaced with a capital letter correspond to a matching letter location on the Quest map.

The Quests

At the beginning of each Quest, read aloud the parchment message from Mentor. The Quest notes that follow the message are for Zargon's eyes only!

Quest 1: Search for the Ogre Fortress

"You, my Heroes, must find the gateway to the Ogre Fortress which is hidden within the coils of a vast cavern complex. But tread warily for the denizens of that Fortress will surely have placed guardians and traps to protect their domain."

Notes

The Gargoyle in this room has the following stats:

Monster	Movement	Attack	Defend	Body	Mind
Gargoyle	6	4	5	5	4

This Swinging Blade Trap will only be triggered by someone opening the chest or someone attempting and failing to disarm the trap. The chest contains 50 Gold Coins.
All the Orcs in this room are armed with staves and may attack diagonally or with their normal Combat Dice if they wish.
This Orc is a magical statue, which is able to cast a Fireball of 3 Combat Dice, every turn. It has 5 Combat Dice in defense and 2 Body Points. It is unable to move and is immune to all spells. Players may only pass this statue once it has been destroyed.

Wandering Monster in this Quest: 4 Goblins

Quest 2: The Outer Caves

"You have found the entrance to the Ogre Fortress. You must now strike at their raiding parties and destroy the subterranean headquarters where they plan their raids, by keeping the central chamber free of monsters for at least one turn."

Notes

This chest contains Emeralds worth 300 Gold Coins.
The Orcs in this room have crossbows. They will pick off adventures [sic] while the Ogre prevents them from crossing the Pit Traps.
These are the headquarters for the Ogres' raiding squads. To complete the Quest, the Heroes must clear this room of monsters and be the sole occupants for one turn. The two chests contain the loot from the Ogres' latest raid, a total of 600 Gold Coins and a Potion of Healing which will heal 1 Hero up to 6 Body Points (1d6).
The first Hero to land on or pass the space marked with an "X", will activate the occupants of this room and will open the secret door.

Wandering Monster in this Quest: 2 Chaos Warriors

Quest 3: Lair of the Ogre Horde

"In order to reach the heart of the fortress, you must make your way through the lair that houses the might of the Ogre Horde. Be wary not to alert these forces to your presence for even you might be hard pressed to defeat an entire army."

Notes

This chest contains 200 Gold Coins.
Whenever there are any Heroes in any of these corridors during Zargon's turn, he must roll 1d6. On a roll of 1 or 2 all the monsters in the central hall are activated and the doors opened. A roll of 3-6 has no effect. Zargon may roll every turn that there is somebody in the central hall.
This is the chamber of Tograk, the commander of the Ogre forces. He is an Ogre Chieftain.
This is the chamber of Nexrael, an apprentice Chaos Sorcerer.

Monster	Movement	Attack	Defend	Body	Mind
Nexrael	8	3	4	3	5

Nexrael can use the Mind Blast spell and has 4 tokens for it.
This is the Horde's plunder room. There are 400 Gold Coins in the first chest. The second chest conceals a spear trap and contains 500 Gold Coins.

Wandering Monster in this Quest: 3 Orcs

Quest 4: The Carrion Halls

"You are now entering the inner reaches of the fortress. Before you can reach any of your objectives, you must pass through the Ogres' eating halls where they pursue one of their favorite pastimes."

Notes

If a Hero opens the door on the right, they will activate the swinging blade trap marked on the board. It cannot be activated any other way.
This chest contains 200 Gold Coins and some old bones.
These two Goblins are both armed with shortbows. They may each make ranged attacks with 2 Attack Dice.
A search of this room will reveal a cache of 5 diamonds worth 100 Gold Coins each, hidden behind the fireplace.

Wandering Monster in this Quest: 2 Fimir

Quest 5: The Pit of Chaos

"Tread carefully Heroes, for I sense that you are now approaching a source of Chaos power. You must destroy this source by finding Festral's Ring of Power and hurling it into the Pit."

Notes

In the center of this chamber is the Pit of Chaos. Anyone who moves into the pit will instantly turn to Chaos and fall under the control of Zargon forever. This is the domain of Festral, the Chaos Sorcerer, whose stats are as follows:

Monster	Movement	Attack	Defend	Body	Mind
Festral	6	4	5	6	8

Festral knows all three of the Chaos Sorcerer spells and has three tokens for each.
The Chaos Warriors in the room are members of Festral's personal guard:

Monster	Movement	Attack	Defend	Body	Mind
Chaos Warriors	7	5	5	3	3

Hidden in the bookshelf is a hollow book containing Festral's Ring of Power and 10 diamonds worth 75 Gold Coins each.
The center of this room is a bottomless pit, over which one small bridge stretches. Any character or monster that falls into the Pit dies.

Wandering Monster in this Quest: 3 Chaos Warriors

Quest 6: Fortress of the Ogre Lord

"At last you have reached the heart of the Ogre Fortress where the lord of the Ogres presides over his clan. If you kill the Ogre Lord, you will break the unity of the Ogre Horde and save the Empire from their threat."

Notes

Both of these Orcs are armed with crossbows, which may make ranged attacks with 3 Combat Dice.
This is the chamber of Xenloth the Chaos Mage, who is Festral's assistant. Xenloth is able to use the Mind Lock spell and the Mind Blast spell. He has 5 tokens for each spell.

Monster	Movement	Attack	Defend	Body	Mind
Xenloth	6	2	4	3	4

Here lies the treasure of the Ogre Lord. Each chest contains 700 Gold Coins, but all the chests conceal traps. Anyone opening one of them is attacked by a spear trap. Roll 1 Combat Die. If a Skull is rolled, the Hero loses 1 Body Point of damage.
You have finally reached the Great Hall of the Ogre Lord. Here he sits with his general, an Ogre Chieftain and his finest warriors. If he is killed, the first Hero to search the room will find his jewel-encrusted crown, which is worth 450 Gold Coins.

Wandering Monster in this Quest: Ogre Warrior

Quest 7: Flight to the Surface

"A thousand praises my Heroes! You have destroyed the Ogre Lord and shattered the might of the Ogre Horde. But beware for we cannot rejoice yet! You are still deep within the Ogre Fortress and the alarm has now been raised. You must escape and if you can reach the surface you will be able to lead the Emperor's forces against the remnants of the Ogre Horde."

Notes

On each of his turns, Zargon may activate all the monsters in one or two rooms, whether the door to that room has been opened or not. He rolls 1d6. On a roll of 1-5 one room may be activated; on a roll of 6 he may activate two rooms. The contents of the room(s) are then laid out and the door is opened. Any monsters in that room may move on that turn.
On each turn after the Heroes have left this room, Zargon may place up to three Orcs on the stair tile, depending on how many he has available. The Orcs may move immediately.
The first Hero to open this door will trigger a falling rock trap which will fall on the space marked with an "X". This works in the same way as a normal Falling Block Trap.
The chest inside the room is empty.
Once a Hero passes through this door onto the overground tile, they are safe. No monsters may follow them there.

Wandering Monster in this Quest: Zargon may activate one room.

Monster Chart

The Map Symbol column of the printed chart shows each monster's map symbol as an image, which is not reproduced here.

Monster	Movement Squares	Attack Dice	Defend Dice	Body Points	Mind Points
Ogre Warrior	6	5	5	3	1
Ogre Champion	6	5	5	4	1
Ogre Chieftain	4	6	6	4	2
Ogre Lord	4	6	6	5	5