« Week @ Heroscapers, December 9 | Main | D&D Heroscape Preview 2 »

D&D Heroscape Preview 1

Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:12 PM by truth
Updated December 17th, 2009 at 03:59 PM by truth

Welcome back, to the world of Valhalla!

Today we’re going to start discussing exactly what you can expect from the latest Heroscape Master Set: “Master Set 3: Battle for the Underdark”. This is the first part of a three part overview of the Master Set as we build up towards the release date of January 4th. Our focus for week 1 of our previews is on what you’ll find when you open the box.

In the world of Valhalla, a battle rages. Warriors from all worlds and all times are summoned to fight in a war that could determine the fate of us all. The Valkyrie Generals Jandar, Ullar, Einar, Vydar, and Aquilla have allied against the evil Valkyrie Utgar as they seek to find and control the fifteen mystic wellsprings that hold the power to open up portals to other worlds.

In their quest for the hidden wellsprings, the allied Valkyrie have discovered the remains of an ancient civilization buried deep underground. A party of skilled adventurers has been summoned from the world of Toril to explore these underground ruins. As they delve into their twisting depths, they find that they are not alone…

When you open the box, you’ll find a variety of pieces, most are pretty standard for a Heroscape Master set, but there are a few surprises.

10 Painted Figures:

This is the Starter set for the D&D Heroscape world. In it, you’ll find 4 Heroes built to form a well rounded adventuring party, as well as a nefarious group of baddies for them to try to defeat. We’ll discuss their powers and abilities further in week 3.

Tandros Kreel: Unique Hero

Tandros is a Human Fighter, summoned to Valhalla by Einar. Armed with his Bow, and his Broadsword, he is built to take hits for the party and protect them.

Ana Karithon: Unique Hero

Ana is our Human Cleric. She is summoned to Valhalla by Einar as well. Ana is also a protector of the party, but unlike Tandros, she’s not built to take hits. She helps to both shield and heal injured party members.

Erevan Sunshadow: Unique Hero

Erevan is an Eladrin Wizard summoned to Valhalla by Jandar. As you can see from his sculpt, Erevan has a strong fire based special attack that he can use to take down many foes.

Darrak Ambershard: Unique Hero

Darrak is a Dwarf Rogue who loves to hide in the dark and strike with his sneak attack. He is summoned to Valhalla by Aquilla.

Deepwyrm Drow: Common Squad

The Deepwyrm Drow is a common squad of 3 Drow ready to take orders in defense of Pelloth and Othkurik the Black Dragon. Armed with their poison weapons, they are often poised to strike out of the darkness and inflict countless wounds on our heroes. The Deepwyrm Drow are summoned to Valhalla by Utgar

Pelloth: Unique Hero

Pelloth is a very devout Drow summoned to Valhalla by Utgar. His devotion to Lolth is so strong that it imbues him with the power to cause massive damage to an opponent by destroying one of his fellow Drow!

Feral Troll: Uncommon Hero

The Feral Troll is a strong foe for our heroes. Summoned to Valhalla by Utgar, there are rumors that there are more Feral Trolls lurking about the Underdark…

Othkurik: Unique Hero

What would this Master Set be without a Dragon?! Othkurik is summoned to Valhalla by Utgar. While this Dragon is young, don’t let it’s stature fool you, he packs quite a punch by lurking and waiting in the shadows to pounce on our heroes!

Over 50 Different Terrain Pieces

This Master Set comes with a wide assortment of terrain tiles, and like previous Master Sets, it introduces new types!

Dungeon Tiles

Molded much like the Swamp Tiles in Master Set 2, Dungeon tiles don’t have the brown base color; they are molded in 2 different grayish green hues that give a unique look to any battlefield that contains them. They don’t have any unique rules for movement or during gameplay (like snow, or lava), but certain powers can be bolstered if a figure is standing on a Dungeon space.

Shadow Tiles

These pieces look like black water tiles. There are 8 of them in the Master Set. The bases of the Rock Outcrops can also double as Shadow tiles if the Rock Outcrops are not on the board, so there is a total of 14 spaces worth of Shadow Tiles in the Master Set. Shadow Tiles are unique in the fact that they don’t limit movement like water spaces, but they are a magical location that will allow a figure standing on it to bolster its defense!

When a small, medium, or large figure is defending and is on at least one shadow space, that figure rolls 1 additional defense die.

Rock Outcrops

There are 4 Rock Outcrops included in each Master Set, 1 3-hex Rock Outcrop, and 3 1-hex Rock Outcrops. There aren’t any unique rules for them, but they add a new element to all dungeon boards and can create impassable areas that block Line of Sight. Remember that all Rock Outcrop bases double as Shadow tiles if not being used with the Rock Outcrops.

4 Treasure Glyphs

This Master Set introduces a new type of Glyph: The Treasure Glyphs. These mobile Glyphs can be picked up and moved around the battlefield as the Heroes that hold them become bolstered by their power, or hindered by the traps that may contain them! We’ll go into more detail on Treasure Glyph rules, and which Treasure Glyphs are in the Master Set next week.

The Rulebook contains all the Basic and Master Rules as well as the Glossary of Terms for Heroscape. It also contains our focus for the second week of previews; the Battlefield Guide. It contains 4 examples of Battlefields that can be built with the tiles included in the Master Set as well as Scenarios to go with each Battlefield. We’ll be back next week with more detail on those connected scenarios (and the treasure they contain) as we delve through the Ancient Sanctum, the first Heroscape Dungeon Adventure!

Posted in Heroscape News

Comments 152

Total Comments 152

Comments

	Too cool! I wonder if the Einar guys mesh with the Capuans? Can't beat another Dwarf Hero either.
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:15 PM by J4Jandar

	Uncommon hero = maximum of 2/3/4/5?
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:18 PM by Mr Migraine

	No comments yet? Must be first (or close to it by the time I finish typing). Any new product is a good day, so I am counting down the days.
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:19 PM by badgermaniac

	Excellent! Thanks for the preview! Newb.
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:24 PM by LilNewbie

	Yay some pre-release info.
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:25 PM by b57123m

	Now there will be high demand for the new (un)commons, and very low demand for the uniques (obviously). Oh well, I'm in.
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:26 PM by 'Scaper94

	Excellent! The D&DHS Info Thread will be updated shortly, as soon as I figure out how to integrate all of this. Thanks for this truth. Hopefully this means we will get card previews...
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:29 PM by Warlord Alpha

	...Uncommon Hero? Hmmm. Sounds pretty interesting. It'd better be awesome. ...Like the rest of the figures and terrain here. I'll need at least 4 of these sets; the dungeon/shadow tiles sound fun, and the Drow Elves will probably be awesome when you have a ton of squads of them. Then, all those custom makers will repaint all the extra heroes :P
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:30 PM by Vilsara

	Neato-Bandito!
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:31 PM by drewcula

	Anyone else find it strange how, with all these fantasy monsters, not one is for Ullar... Good choice on WotC part, though, IMHO. ^_^
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:33 PM by Sup3rS0n1c

	Cool stuff. Too bad that I have to buy three sets because I always want three squads of common at minimum and I'll need three squads of drow.
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:35 PM by Hero Hot Hatch

	It wouldn't surprise me if identical Drow are released separately as well in the next small boosters. Mark my words.
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:38 PM by Mr Migraine

	Gives you more terrain to build bigger and deadlier dungeons. Newb.
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:39 PM by LilNewbie

	If you don't want it, though, I'll be glad to take it off your hands...
	Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:40 PM by Sup3rS0n1c

People said to wait til we got more news on D&D. I did, and I'm sorry to say, but I'm disappointed. There was really no need to add an "Uncommon Hero" to the game. That's just too weird. The only thing I really like about the set are the shadow tiles' effects, which I won't be getting because dungeon and shadow terrain in the earth-like (as far as terrain) land of Valhalla is just too weird. The treasure glyphs are cool (I would love them for a scenario-based game) but again, there's no need to add anything new to the game now.

Change isn't always necessary.

Just my opinion.

Posted December 9th, 2009 at 06:42 PM by rednax rednax is offline