FEAR THE DARK

Nostalgic Dungeon Crawl

THE CHAOS MENACE

issue 3 : monsters and chaos

INTRODUCTION
You should have played the first three Quests from issue number 1, then the
next four from issue number 2. This third issue is the last of our first new
HeroQuest saga. The heroes should have played the previous quests and be
strong enough by now; probably each of them has already an artifact or a very
good weapon, and perhaps some decent armour.
Then you can read the following text aloud to the players.

The Chaos emissaries are surely working to assemble an undead army, and the
Free Cities Council fears that their land will be Chaos’ first target, unprotected
as it is if compared to the mighty Empire. And from there, as they’ve always
done, the Chaos forces will then move against the Empire, the Land of the Law,
killing countless in their perpetual war between Chaos and Order.
You already gathered precious information for the Council and proved to be
able to face the terrible menace of the undead, so now they’re asking you to
crawl even deeper down in the dark dungeons where the Chaos sorcerers are at
work. Break their spells, to stop them from raising an army of undead!
The situation is only made worse by the appearance of the Mad King in form of
ghost. Centuries ago the Mad King, while still human, did not fear to use the
darkest of magic, to inflict unbearable pain to his subjects, to conjure with the
forces of Chaos. He was seeking eternal life, and the Chaos Lords must have
given him some satisfaction, if he’s now sided with them. If he will manage to
raise his own ancient army as undead, and obtain a fraction of his lost power,
he would become a terrible enemy for the Free Cities..

FEAR the Dark is a fanzine dedicated to HeroQuest - the popular fantasy

board game of the 90s which introduced so many of us to dungeon crawling
and miniatures.
This is going to be a complete reboot of the game’s background and story. It
will remain faithful to the original material but it aims to bring a different
feeling to it, so that there will be no overlapping with the stories of Mentor,
Morcar and Zargon. Moreover, the ‘zine will contain new quests which can be
played by any group of players. Old players will find new maps and new
missions, and new players will be allowed to start from zero.
Everything presented in this fanzine is written to be played starting with
issue number one, then issue number two, and ends with issue number three
(this issue). Next issues will be a new reboot. In future issues you will also
find more new rules of the modular system I promised, which should keep the
traditional rules and progressively add little, indipendent pieces to them. You
will be able to use all those rules, or just some of them.
MATERIALS
This is the last issue for the first set of quests connected together, and from
issue number four (which by the way might be out later than March, sorry) I
will start with something new again.
Using new miniatures
Also in the next issues, I plan to introduce the monsters little by little (as you
noticed, in these first three issues I started with green monsters, then added
the undead, then the chaos warriors and just a few chaos spells).
I find that slowly introducing new miniatures on the board, every few quests,
keeps the game entertaining and interesting, and makes my players
(especially new players) a little bit scared of new, unknown monsters, which is
good. Changing a few rules for new monsters is also a nice way to keep
challenging and scaring even experienced players.
Keep scores secret
I let the players have the statistics of the various monsters visible to them,
but only for default monsters, and only after they defeated a few of them, and
figured out exactly the monsters’ scores. For new, original monsters, I would
make cards for the GM, but I suggest not showing them to the players (until
these monsters will become familiar as well).
Cards
Cards with the various new rules (Fear of the Undead, and Monster’s
Initiative and Reaction) are included. New rules can be referenced in the
Summary of the Rules section, but I find that cards with special rules can
come handy during the game. I let the players see those cards and keep them
next to the board, together with the monsters, after they’ve figured out how
they work, or they triggered the rule a few times already.
CREDITS
HeroQuest is once again a Hasbro trademark. This fanzine claims no
ownership of the aforementioned trademark, and is instead a personal project
made available to the public as a tribute to the old game.
Maps are made using the HeroQuest-Excel-Quest-Creator tool.
The cover image is picture of some painted monsters, and on the backcover is
a picture of the new rules, as printable cards.
 Summary of the Original Rules
This is a summary of the original rules; new original rules are presented in
dark red color.

TURN
Default order: Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf, Wizard, Game Master (GM).
Movement and Action
In a turn, you may move and then act, or act and then move. You cannot make
an action in the middle of a movement. Actions are:
† Attack † Search for treasure † Search for traps
† Cast a spell † Search for secret doors † Disarm a trap
Looking
Looking is not one of the basic actions. It happens automatically as heros
move. Everything in their line of sight must be placed on the board.
Doors
If a hero stops next to a closed door, they can ask the GM to open it, and place
on the board the content of the room. Opening doors does not count as an
action; it’s a part of the normal movement. Open doors cannot be closed.
Double doors open both sides together, making passage easier.
Movement rules
A hero can move less of the 2d6 roll, and pass other heroes if allowed by the
other player. It is not allowed to move diagonally, through walls, through
blocked squares (walls), over adversaries, or backwards in the same turn. It is
not allowed to end a move sharing a square (exception: this is allowed on
stairs and in pits).
† ATTACK
You may attack an adjacent enemy, not diagonally. Some weapons allow to
attack from a distance or diagonally, or change the number of dice to roll. An
attack scores one hit for every Skull rolled. One attack per Turn is allowed.
Defend
The defendant rolls its Defend dice, and blocks one hit for every white shield
if it’s a hero defending, or for every black shield if it’s a monster defending.
Roll the Defend dice every time someone attacks you.
Body Points
Every hit not blocked, is subtracted from the Body points. When they reach
zero, the hero or monster is dead (a hero may drink a potion already in their
possession or use a healing spell if they have not already made an action).
† CAST A SPELL
A spell requires a visible target. After casting the spell, discard the spell
card and the same spell cannot be used until the next quest. The line of sight
is blocked by walls, closed doors, and other miniatures (heroes or monsters).
† SEARCH FOR TREASURE
Treasures are only in rooms, not in corridors. Every hero may search
independently on their turn, and only once by each hero for each room. You
may search for treasure only when the room is empty of enemies.
Treasure deck
If there is no special treasure declared by the Quest Book, shuffle the
Treasure deck and draw a random Treasure card. Valuable treasure cards
remain in possession of the hero, while other cards are returned to the deck.
Wandering monster
Place it next to the searcher, and attack immediately. From the next turn, the
monster moves and attacks normally. If there is no space, place it anywhere
in the room, without making an attack.
† SEARCH FOR SECRET DOORS
Secret doors may be in rooms or corridors. Every hero may search
independently on their turn, in the room or corridor they’re in. You may
search for secret doors only when the room or corridor is empty of enemies.
No need to search more than once: all secret doors in the room or corridor are
revealed as soon as the first hero searches for them. Secret doors are closed
until a hero opens them, and work as normal doors.
† SEARCH FOR TRAPS
Traps may be in rooms, corridors, or chests/furniture. You may search for
traps only when the room or corridor is empty of enemies. If there are traps,
the GM will tell you what they are and where they are.
Trigger a trap
If a hero moves on a trap square, without checking, the trap is triggered. If a
hero searches for treasures, without checking, the chest/furniture trap is
triggered. Monsters do not trigger hidden traps.
† DISARM A TRAP
To disarm a trap you must possess the appropriate tool kit; the Dwarf on
the other hand may do this even without tools. A hero must announce the
attempt and move to the trap square, then roll 1 Combat die. If you roll a
Skull, you trigger the trap and suffer its consequences; any other roll means
you disarmed the trap and it’s gone forever. The Dwarf fails and triggers the
trap only when rolling a black shield.
TRAPS RULES
Here is the list of the default traps, how they can
be avoided or disarmed, and what happens if they are triggered by the heroes.
Pit traps
This is declared as a weak floor by the GM, and may be jumped or
disarmed. If triggered, suffer 1 Body point damage and fall into the pit,
ending your turn; place a pit trap tile on the board, which cannot be
removed. The pit may only be jumped at this point. In the pit, a hero may
search for treasure or secret doors as if in a room. Attack and Defend rolls are
done with one die less (but not less than one, and this applies also to
monsters). A hero or monster may move out of the pit in the next turn.
Falling Block trap
This is declared as a dangerous looking ceiling by the GM, and may be
jumped or disarmed. If triggered, roll 3 attack dice and inflict 1 Body point
of damage on each Skull; the falling block tile is placed on the board and
becomes a permanent block which cannot be removed. The hero must decide
in which direction to make a last step (ahead or back), before the turn ends.
Spear trap
This is declared as suspicious by the GM, and may be jumped or disarmed.
If triggered, roll 1 attack die and inflict 1 Body point of damage on a Skull.
This ends the hero turn. When triggered once, a spear trap is gone and
nothing is placed on the board.
Chest/Furniture trap
This is declared as looking suspicious by the GM, and may be disarmed. It is
also avoided by not searching for treasures. If disarmed, it is possible to look
for treasures without triggering traps. If triggered, follow its instructions.
Jump a trap or a pit
You may jump traps which have not been triggered, or may jump an open pit.
You cannot jump over a fallen block: this is like a blocking wall. To jump, you
must have enough movement left to end in the square after the trap; if you do,
roll 1 Combat die. If you roll a Skull, you trigger the trap (or fall into the pit)
and suffer its consequences; any other roll means you avoided the trap or pit.
MONSTERS RULES
Fear of the Undead
When placing an undead (skeleton, zombie, mummy) on the board, or a group
of them, the GM rolls a combat die. If the GM rolls a skull, the undead(s) may
move and attack now, before any other hero’s action. Then the game resumes
normally.
Use the rule the first time for each type of undead (skeleton, zombie,
mummy), per quest (skeletons cause fear the first time they appear, then no
more until next quest; zombies cause fear the first time, etc.).
Large Monster’s Initiative
When an hero ends the move next to a large or terrible monster, the GM
rolls 2 combat dice. On each skull, the monster inflicts 1 Body point damage to
the hero, before the hero can attack. The hero rolls the Defend dice normally
and negates 1 Body point damage for each white shield rolled.

Notes about the above Monsters Rules:

Fear of the Undead works as a sort of terror paralysis; it triggers half of the
times a new type of undead appears in each quest. If it triggers, it gives the
undead just placed on the board an “extra turn” which usually resolves in
moving and attacking before the heroes can do anything.
Large Monster’s Initiative works as a defensive mechanism: when an hero
goes adjacent to a large monster, to attack it, the monster has a chance to
inflict some damage first; even if the hero(es) may defeat the large monster in
the first turn, they still may suffer wounds.

Your Rules
Use this space to make notes about your own rules, so that you have a written
record for you and the players.
 QUEST 8
The Dark God of the Orcs
The Mad King is known to be at work with his sorcery in the catacombs below the ruins of the ancient
temple of the Dark Gods of the Orcs. With the help of Chaos emissaries he’s trying to revive the dead
God and its long forgotten cult. You must find the Orcs Bane sword in the catacombs (the Empire lost
it again!), and use it to destroy the dark throne of this lost God, before the Mad King will bring it
back to life, and countless dead orcs with it.

GM – The Orcs Bane sword is the only thing that can destroy the throne. If the heroes kept it from Quest number 3
(in issue 1), then they can directly go looking for the throne, without the need to search for the magic sword. You may
describe all undead in this quest as orcs skeletons, orcs zombies, etc.

If there are heroes in the room, the orcs will call This chest is protected by a poison needle which
for help from the fimir and skeletons. In the GM’s turn causes 3 Body points damage, and contains the Orcs
open the double door and move these monsters as well. Bane sword.
This room’s treasure is a Chain Mail (3 defense). There is a Chaos Sorcerer (X) with Thunderbolt
and Firestorm spells, and stats as a Chaos Warrior.
The chest contains 90 gold coins.
This room’s treasure are 2 potions of healing for 2
There is a Chaos Sorcerer (X) with the warriors. Body points each.
The sorcerer has Thunderbold and Ball of Flame
The Mad King (X) interrupts the heroes’ turn: he
spells, and the same stats as a Chaos Warrior.
will cast Summon Undead and open the double door to
The chest, with 130 gold coins, is protected by a the Chaos Warriors (and to the room with the throne,
poison needle which causes 2 Body points damage. to be destroyed), then disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Wandering monster: Orc - remember Fear of the Undead and Double Doors rules
 QUEST 9
The Undead Sorcerer
The Undead Sorcerer has lived for centuries in a dark dungeon under the abandoned ancient city of
Tor. He was left undisturbed and confined within the walls of such dungeon. Lately, though, Chaos
forces has been spotted entering the dungeon and then leaving, leading small forces of undead
warriors. Before the Undead Sorcerer can lend more strength to the growing Chaos army, you must
enter the dungeon and find him, and kill him once and for all.

Goblins have poisoned blades; they inflict 2 Body If the heroes wait at the door without entering,
points damage on a black shield when attacking. the first mummy will attack, while the Chaos warrior
will open the double doors to bring the other undead in
The door is protected by a poison needle trap,
the room, and call an alarm.
causing 2 Body points damage if opened without
disarming the trap first. The Undead Sorcerer (X) knows Thunderbolt,
Terror, and Summon Undead. Use these stats:
Treasure is a Wand of Recall and 50 gold coins.
9 4 4 3 6
The chest contains 150 gold coins and Holy Water.
This Gargoyle is just a statue and will not
animate; it does not need to be killed. If the Undead Sorcerer is killed, a Potion of Healing
and a Potion of Strength are found as treasures,
If the heroes do not search for traps, the pit will together with 100 gold coins.
open under the feet of the hero when opening the door.

Wandering monster: Skeleton - remember Fear of the Undead and Double Doors rules
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 QUEST 10
The Power of the Gargoyle
A Chaos sorcerer has imprisoned a powerful Gargoyle, using its blood to work potent spells to raise
the undead. The monster is locked by three magical sigils: you must find and destroy them, then kill
the Chaos sorcerer and the Gargoyle. Be careful, as the Mad King has been spotted nearby.

(again: an hero must roll 2 skulls in a single attack).

The goblin will open the double door to reinforcements.
The Mad King is here (X) Use these stats:
The zombie will not move until the heroes have
6 3 3 3 6
triggered the traps. The door is protected by a poison
needle that causes 2 Body points damage.
In his first turn, the Mad King attacks then uses a
The door to room E is already open, but without spell to open all the doors and secret doors in this
entering the room the heroes cannot see its content. quadrant, calling monsters for help. In the second turn
There is a secret door behind the throne. it uses Firestorm instead of attacking, then
The Chaos warrior will move to room D only if there disappears. If “killed” before, it will simply disappear.
is combat there. On the Sorceror's table is the 1st sigil to On the weapons rack is the Spirit Blade.
be destroyed: to do it an hero must roll at least 2 skulls in
a single attack. If the heroes destroy the sigil, the Chaos The Gargoyle (use the Large Monster’s Initiative rule)
warrior dies; until they don’t, the Chaos warrior comes is on the torture rack; it’s engulfed in magical energy and
back to life in the GM’s turn after it was killed. can’t be harmed until all 3 sigils are destroyed; afterwards
it behaves as a regular Gargoyle and attacks on sight. The
The Chaos warriors come back to life as the one in Chaos sorcerer (X) has stats as a Chaos warrior, plus the
room E, until the heroes destroy the 2nd sigil, on the tomb Command and Tempest chaos spells.
Wandering monster: Zombie - remember Fear of the Undead, Large Monster’s Initiative and Double Doors rules
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 QUEST 11
The Lair of the Mad King
You managed to disrupt the plans of the Chaos sorcerers, but the threat posed by the Mad King still
concerns the Council. This powerful enemy might still bring back the undead from their graves and
threaten the Free Cities. A prize of 400 gold coins has been offered for killing the Mad King. .

The doors to rooms B and C are already open. The The chest contains 200 gold coins and a Wand of
chest contains 100 gold coins. Resurrection which will return to life an hero who died
recently. The wand works only once.
The mummies will attack in room A. There is a
secret treasure in the tomb: a precious gem worth 50 The Mad King is here (X) Use these stats:
coins and one random equipment card. 6 4 4 3 6
The secret door is behind the fireplace; if found
without checking for traps, it triggers a Ball of Flame. The Mad King can cast Cloud of Chaos, Rust and
Firestorm in his turn, instead of attacking. Unless
The treasure is a Potion of Healing. If both the pit there is a good reason, the Mad King will remain in
traps are triggered, the heroes will have to find the corner and use spells. If reduced to 1 Body point,
another way around, by searching for secret doors. and still near the double door, he will open the doors
The Gargoyle is made of stone and is not moving, to get help from the room nearby. If the Mad King is
nor it can be harmed in this state. The treasure here is killed, all the undead on the board die suddenly, and
Holy Water. The door is protected by a poison needle this will pose an end to threats to the Free Cities. At
trap that causes 2 Body points harm if not disarmed. least for now. The gargoyle in room E comes to life,
though, and the heroes still have to exit the dungeon.
Wandering monster: Chaos Warrior - remember Fear of the Undead, Large Monster’s Initiative and Double Doors rules
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FEAR the Dark is a fanzine dedicated to HeroQuest - the popular fantasy
board game of the 90s. It’s a complete reboot of the game; faithful to the
original rules but with a new feeling to it. The ‘zine will contain new quests,
suitable to new players and to veteran players as well.

The fanzine is hosted at www.daimongames.com/heroquest

Comments, suggestions, collaborations: [email protected]

Issue number 3 – January 2021:

† A short introduction
† A usable summary of the traditional rules, with changes
† Three new quests to fight against the emissaries of Chaos
† A final fourth quest against the Mad King
† Simple new rules for fear of the undead, double doors, and Initiative