HeroQuest: But First, Another Drink…

The Rise of the Dread Moon expansion pack introduces a new Alchemy Deck of cards to the game, allowing heroes to purchase a greater variety of potions between quests, as well as crafting them during quests.

Of all the new cards included, however, one stands out as rather… strange. It’s called “Ogre Grog” and it instructs a hero to roll one combat die and lose 1 Mind Point if they roll a skull. There is no positive effect and it costs just 20 gold. The only use for this card I can fathom is that if an event or card (such as “Potion of Unforseeable Fate”) asks a hero to draw a random Alchemy card and immediately drink it, “Ogre Grog” provides a possible negative to such a random draw. The fact that this is a very rare event, and that the card has a gold value, still makes it an odd addition to the game, in my opinion.

However, I do like the idea of heroes slugging back potent (potentially dangerous) grog; taverns are a staple of fantasy roleplaying and heroic types like Dwarves and Barbarians are known for their love of a good party. The risk of a hero getting drunk (i.e. losing Mind Points) as a result is great, but I wanted there to be some positive reason for heroes to purchase and imbibe this “potion” at all. Thus, I have created the following homebrew replacement for the Ogre Grog card, as well as several other cards in the same spirit.

Add these cards to your Alchemy Deck (or your Equipment Deck, if you don’t own Rise of the Dread Moon) so that not only can they be randomly drawn when needed, but so that heroes can purchase them for cheap alternative to some potions while risking the chance that they will have no effect… or a negative one!

In order to vary things, I also made it so that certain heroes have a better “tolerance” against certain beverages; that is, the Elf is immune to the negative effects of Elven Wine, the Dwarf cannot suffer negative effects from Dwarven Ale, etc. In doing this, I felt that the Barbarian was the best suited to resist Orc Beer, while the Druid – possibly living around Ogres (since they are now included at retail in the Against the Ogre Horde expansion pack) – might best resist Ogre Grog. If you disagree, I have made alternate versions of these two cards so that the Dwarf – renowned in fantasy stories for being a hard drinker – is immune to all these beverages with the exception of Elven Wine and Goblin Brew (it really is that foul). Use either version of the cards you prefer.