HeroQuest: More Boss Cards (Semi-Official)

My last post on the subject (see HERE) included all (hopefully!) the named monsters, “bosses” and “mini-bosses” collected from all the official HQ quests published so far.

However, there are some that were not so easy to do; either they had no official artwork to use for them, or they didn’t have a name (just stats). I have set out to make “boss” cards for them anyway, and the results are below.

Note that I will do more of these as needed in the future, including those from Crypt of Perpetual Darkness since it seems increasingly unlikely that crowdfunding/Mythic expansion pack will ever see retail release and thus inclusion in the official app.

Use the Boss Monster and Dread Spell card backs from THIS POST.

New Monster Abilities

NEUTRAL
This monster will not attack unless they are attacked by a hero first. When any monster of this type is attacked, all monsters of the same type activate and become hostile too. Other monster types will not attack Neutral monsters.

Minibosses

Undead Dwarf Kings (Kellar’s Keep)

For some reason, the official app sadly doesn’t include an official image of the moment when the heroes discover the reanimated remains of the entombed dwarf kings. Thus, I had to create a suitable image myself for this card.

There are two card versions here: one that describes their unique rules in detail and one that uses a keyword, so you can use that keyword on other custom cards and in your own homebrew quests too.

Abomination Spellcaster (Kellar’s Keep)

An Abomination in Quest 4 of this expansion (The Dwarven Forge) is said to know the Dread Spell Rust. I decided to make a card for it, giving it the name “Mystic” rather than Wizard, Mage, Shaman (used by Orcs) or Seer (used by Scaven). I think the term fits for the Abomination race, and I can imagine this being a smarter and higher social caste member of Abomination society. We know almost nothing about Abominations, who replaced the Fimir of the original HeroQuest. Fimir had their own culture and were used in the game as “minibosses” leading orcs and goblins. Abominations don’t really fit that conceptually, looking more beastial and like sewer-dwelling “creatures” than a sapient race with their own culture and society. In the absence of any official lore for them, I imagined them as a society of small tribes living near rivers and oceans in primitive villages. Their Mystics would be their soothsayers, tribal “elders” and respected leaders.

I made two cards: the first is the official stats as presented (identical to a regular Abomination except able to cast Rust three times), the second is my re-imagining of the concept that changes their stats slightly (lower Attack, higher Defend and extra Mind Points, as befits a spellcaster) and gives them four different spells rather than three identical ones. I picked these spells as “water-themed” ones I felt fitted my idea of Abomination tribal culture.

I actually like the “homebrew” version so much I will probably make a proper full colour Monster Card (with custom icon) for them later!

Undead Warriors (Spirit Queen’s Torment)

Although this undead variation on Dread Warriors (same stats, just 1 Defend die less) has no art accompanying it, it seems pretty clear to me that the alternate sculpt skeletons included with both the Mythic crowdfunder set and retail SQT set are intended to be used for this monster type.

Thus, I found an official image of that “skeleton in armor” alternate miniature that was done during the crowdfunding period, and used it as a visual representation when making this boss (or rather, “miniboss”, since several of these variants show up during the quest) monster card.

I took the liberty of changing their Mind Points to 0, even though only the Defend die reduction is mentioned as a change; it seems obvious that these monsters would have 0 Mind, being shambling reanimated remains of formerly living soldiers.

Did I mention how much I love this miniature and wish it got a proper retail release in “undead white” rather than translucent?

Also, if anyone has a color version of the concept art I used for this card (see above) or even can color it to match the style of the official Monster Card art, I would be very grateful.

High Mage Skeletons (Prophecy of Telor)

In one quest from Prophecy of Telor, the heroes are attacked by the cursed skeletons of former High Mages. Stat-wise, these are just normal skeletons with 2 Body Points, but I liked the idea enough to make two cards for them.

The first is their official stats; just the extra Body Point.

The second alternate card version also gives them two spells: Ball of Flame and Lightning Bolt. This provides them with a ranged attack and gives them a greater difference from regular skeletons. Feel free to replace the PoT monsters with this more powerful version for a tougher challenge, or use them in your own homebrew quests.

Abomination Skeletons (Prophecy of Telor)

Quest 5 (Melar’s Chamber) of this expansion mentions that three Skeletons in one room are former Abominations, and as such have 3 Body Points each rather than the usual 1.

I made a card for that, since I like the idea that the undead (skeletons, zombies and mummies) of difference races would be slightly different (such as the Elf Skeletons below).

Elf Skeletons (Rise of the Dread Moon)

Quest 6 (Tunnels of a Secret Cadre) in Rise of the Dread Moon sees the heroes enter a crypt to find an optional Artifact, only to be set upon bu four skeletons described as former elves, each able to cast the spell Fire of Wrath!

However, Fire of Wrath HAS no official matching Dread Spell version card! Maybe this was a mistake and the writer meant it to be Ball of Flame, but I kept it and made a Dread Spell card anyway that you can find HERE. I’ve reposted it again for convenience.

Bosses

Unnamed Dread Sorcerers (Prophecy of Telor)

The expansion pack Prophecy of Telor disappointingly has the heroes encounter two Dread Sorcerers who – contrary to typical HQ fashion – are not given any names whatsoever. So, feeling personally offended by this, I gave the pair the names from the original HQ European/Australian release that were subsequently changed for the US and HQ21 release; Karlen was the original name for Wardoz, and Petrokk was the original name for Borokk! I generated images for them both too.

Since “Karlen” is encountered in the office of a cartographer in a huge archive, I imagined that this sorcerer was in fact the cartographer himself, gone mad having embraced the power of Dread (which also links with his namesake Wardoz’s role as former royal wizard, as a fun reference).

Petrokk is found reading from a spellbook, summoning monsters. His similar name (and its origin) made me imagine he was perhaps Borokk’s younger brother or even son (hence the younger appearance), a villain who had a similar passion for study?

Erongil (Marvel Winter Special)

The boss of the quest “Revenge of the Weatherman” included in the Marvel comics tie-in HeroQuest Winter Special is said to be an evil necromancer named Erongil Corpsemaster. He never had any official art so I imagined him based purely on his description. Note that his portrait sees him accompanied by the Death Reaper monsters that are also unique to this quest.

I also took his innate special ability to summon a single random undead every turn, and turned it into a Dread Spell card, enabling you to give it to other homebrew spellcasters in your own quests too.

More new cards inspired by the Marvel Winter Special (such as the Death Reaper monsters) can be found HERE.

Tokens

Tokens in the official style for use in your favourite tabletop simulator software.