Last week we promised to show you the other side of the new gameboard for HeroQuest 25th Anniversary and here you are: the outer ruins of the Coast of the Dead Cities. As we already mentioned earlier, if side A of the Alfa model board is intended to remain true to the spirit of the classic dungeon, side B seeks to hold new challenges and adventures, with wider open spaces and a chaotic distribution that puzzles our heroes.
To design this scenario we have drawn inspiration from places like the ruins of Bayón in the old city of Angkor Thom, Ellora in the cliffs of the Charanandri mountains, the lost city of Mahabalipuram or the appearance that Heracleion might have had just before being swallowed by the Mediterranean sea. There is still plenty of work ahead of us before considering this illustration done (much more than with the one on the other side), but take this image at least as a preview of its general composition.
We want to add more fallen dry leaves, mould and roots to give the sense of being looking at the remnants of a lost civilization, forgotten ruins that Nature has claimed back after their previous inhabitants decided to leave the area tired of struggling against the slow but steady sea’s never-ending advance. We know nothing about their gods or rites, all was lost to time. Only that the Drrakks arrived later and made this lands their own. Who knows what kind of creatures followed after them.
In game terms this scenario offers us a million new possibilities thanks to the use of double corridors and winding alleys that will have a direct impact on the heroes’ strategies as well as their foes’. Furthermore, we are considering the possibility of flooding some areas to make it even harder for them, but we can’t promise anything yet 😉