Are Mantic gonna drop a Dungeon Crawler on us?
January 24, 2011 by warzan
There is growing speculation that Mantic games are about to pick up the baton of Dungeon Masters extraordinaire.
Ronnie teasing us with Dungeon Tiles?
Now i have to disclose at this stage I am a huge fan of Dungeon Crawlers and own many including a number of copies of Warhammer Quest, so this is exciting news to me indeed.
But does it make sense? Well with my independent head on I would have to say yes, for many reasons but one in particular ... time!
We all love big battles with our buddies, but for many of us (if not most) finding the time and space to organise our favourite blood sport is just not easy.
So we have all our beautiful models sitting on shelves or in Romeos foam while we pine for the time we can caress them again (and of course slaughter our opponents! waaaaaagggh!)
Dungeons are Epic F*****G WIN!
In steps the Dungeon Board Game, we grab a few of our coolest miniatures and with one (or more) buddies (and Girlfriends, Wives, Sons and Daughters - all are welcome) we set of for an evening of simple exploration and randomness ... while hoping that dragon we painted a while ago actually arrives as a wandering monster!
Yes folks we get to play with our minis without a massive amount of planning or a huge amount of space, even better than that we get to have loads of glorious fun telling stories, talking crap and ganging up on loved ones.
So what are they gonna build? If Anything!
In short we just don't know if this is what they are working on, there is obviously trade offs either way for Mantic:
1) Do we keep pushing out armies...
2) …or do we give folks other ways to play with and connect to our armies
Knowing how community and hobby focused they are, I personally suspect they may be opting for number 2!
Rest assured we are on the case here to try and dig a little deeper into the vaults of Mantic Tower to bring you the goodies.
In the mean time let’s do what we do best and SPECULATE!!!!!
So what would you put into a Mantic powered Dungeon Crawler, what would make it that must have game for you, do you want to see more magic, auto generated dungeons, perhaps even solo play?
Feel free to speculate in the comments below!
BoW Warren
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Thank you Warren for another “you heard it first on BoW” article !
I don’t know if they’re going to do such a game (there are several on the market, now), but I want one…
There’s always room for one more Dungeon Crawler 😉 lol
im new to all this. could you give me any names of others?
In the grand old days, there was Hero Quest, and Advanced Hero Quest… Warhammer Quest (I’ve never played it, but I heard a lot about it), all very Fantasy and distributed by Games Workshop… There was Dungeon Quest, not very good IMHO… Talisman is on its 4th edition but not from GW anymore, it’s sort of a “Monopoly meets D&D” game… Of course, there’s SPace Hulk, a recent (and scarce…) special edition was churned out by GW, I still have the original one… Good game, Temrinators exploring alien vessels and fighting genestealers, very “Aliens”… Now there’s Dungeon Twister, Descent… There’s… Read more »
If they do a Mantic Quest I will love them forever (in a manly non-pervy sort of way of course!)
Actually, having found the PAX 2010 Live Celebrity DnD (Aquisitions Incorporated Rule) I’ve already ordered the Red Box Starter set (just over a tenner from Amazon) with the intention of using it to play dungeon crawl games with a little more depth than WQ – give the Youtube vids a look if you’re after the same sort of thing ….
I’ll have to give this a look!
If you enjoy the videos hit the WOTC site here :-
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/podcasts.aspx
for more Aquisitions Inc. podcasts (sound only) 🙂
If you do it right I will pick this up without question! Things I’d like: Well laminated board/segments, a multitude of classes and/or races, lots of items to find in either a good treasury book or a card deck (or both) and some decent scenery/objective pieces. It really brought home the atmosphere in Heroquest to me when you open a door and the room is filled with bookshelves and other its of furniture so seeing some good obstacles and room furnishings would be great. And most important of all: make its quick and easy! If I wanted a complicated game… Read more »
I’d like a basic framework to introduce my own monsters and characters. I tend to buy individual pieces just for my dungeon games, meeting a skaven doom wheel down there is very very cool lol
Yea a creature creation system would be ideal, or if they want to keep that to themselves for expansion purposes a beastiary that expands beyond what the box contains would add longevity and even more replay value. I forgot to mention the main thing I want: a good levelling/tier system for heros. Theres nothing more rewarding than seeing your hero grow in experience and go on to tackle even greater challenges, especially if you’ve modelled and painted the little guy yourself. Stepping up from getting a kicking from one too many goblins to knocking a black dragon about with your… Read more »
Any ideas on how to approach levelling?
A point-based system for acquiring skills/powers… Diablo-like, but it works. Each character would have a skill/power tree on his card (there would be cards, maybe like hero Quest or Talisman, or something like that). Basic characteristics could also be augmented…
It would be possible to design your own characters/classes by imitation of existing ones, and/or they could do official extensions with new characters/classes.
Another thought : What if monsters had tiers or levels of a sort, maybe less complex than those of the characters ?
Certainly different levels of monsters would be way cool 🙂
I’d be hesitant to add in single monster ‘EXP Points’ or even encounter level points gain. I’d say they should do this: Have set dungeons in tiers, and you gain a block of EXP points upon completion of a dungeon. So 10 EXP points for finishing a tier 1 dungeon, 20 for a tier 2 and so on. This would avoid mid-gaming note taking and kill stealing in multi-combat and all those unecessary distractions. It also solves how multiple classes might horde kill based experience of healers just spamming spells to grind exp. Your characters would start off needing only… Read more »
pre-written levels are good… Or at least partially pre-written. Otherwise it’s too complex and too easy to tip the scales for min-maxers.
For monster “levels” : I thought the monster cards could have pre-written stats for the “level 1 orc”, the “level 2 orc”, etc. so that you use the same card for several monsters of that type, or you can touch up the monsters when you make your own scenarios.
The Descent board game line, has a leveling system based off a group exp pool. Once a set number of point is reached, the monsters and loot gained by the heroes is scaled up.
Having a skill tree would be a lot of fun as well. Descent has a similar system, only the skills are given randomly in form of cards dealt from a skill tree deck.
Though what could be simpler then the Talisman leveling system? Gobbo S2, kill it, sweet! 2exp. Red Dragon S7, kill it, 7exp, auto level up, even sweeter!.
Oh yes, scenery is a must ! I’d also like it to be extremely modular… I dont’ like games where all the rooms are only of such and such dimensions… I loved Space Hulk (which was basically dungeon crawling in space, more or less), but I would have thought those big ships would have rooms of different sizes and shapes !
Still, there’s worse… Games where the map has to be the same every game, like the first HeroQuest.
Great games, though.
This is why I loved Warhammer Quest
Simple to pick up and easy to make stuff up and proxy all different kinds of models.
I only do my role playing with miniatures, @beerogre is more the purist in the team here.
D&D 4th Edition spoiled it for me, despite those naysayers who slated it, I love it. Now I’m always looking for minis with my RPG!
The only exception is Call of Cthulhu RPG… no minis allowed… that’s a game for props!
There’s nothing like having a character go bonkers, while you shove a tinfoil covered ankh at the other players, raving about tentacled monsters… good times! 😀
BoW Andy
Totally with you there Andy, some of our best CoC games have been full dressing up nights…
Although we enjoy some AD&D, CoC is our fav.
We also play a combination of CoC and Twilight, in an upto date version of delta green…
Back on topic, would love mantic to make dungeon tiles, one of our group is looking at making a necron tomb board at the mo… Kill team style…
Gosh, it takes me back…
Oh, wait, it doesn’t : I have a CoC game planned for friday !
since 1981 i have never used minis for any rpg i have run. I do recall using some for a traveller game at a con i went to…..real rpg players do it with their head
😉
traveller mini’s – now those I remember… Used them for traveller AND the first real wargame I played. Striker… Anyone remember that?
I have said this before on other forums about this subject, But will say it again. If Mantic do a Dungeon game, I hope it will have a theme, rather than just a random collection of differant races. It would be so easy to do a little sprue of say 4 adventurers and 2 Dungeon bosses. The main adventure could be into an undead crypt with lots of Zombies, Ghouls and Skeletons with say a Revenant King protecting the entrance to the inner crypt of a Vampire. The first expansion could be an Orc Dungeon that includes a bunch of… Read more »
Theme is very important, really helps to set the scene, which really is everything.
Hero quest had enough bits in the box to theme your adventures, however I wasn’t a fan of descent from FF it all felt a bit weak in that area.
Also… exclusive minis perhaps ?
And their wargame stats included as a way to bridge the gap between dungeon crawlers and wargamers and make this, perhaps, the “gateway drug” for their wargame as well as a great game in its own right ?
It would be cool if you could field your herosin the large scale battles as part of larger campaigns 😀
YES – brilliant idea, a well developed system could be used in fantasy and sci-fi scenarios covering a small adventuring group, a “squad” based skirmish and a mass battle – think WHQ => Mordheim => WHFB
I WANT THIS NOW.
hah! the guys at mantic are amazing! they are Always doing somthing NEW! 😀
Dungeon Crawl Sounds Great! Sign me up
I would love it if they do.
Get the theme right and the feel of it with some great mini’s and artwork and I’m sold.. OK, maybe a big ask for all of that lot, but, that’s how HeroQuest and Warhammer Quest used to be, that’s where they should be aiming it if they are, and I do hope they are 🙂
I hope so. I believe a good board game can open so many doors for a hobby company.
Perhaps GW have forgotten this? :s
You never know, if this takes off GW might find another long forgotten warehouse full of Space Hulk…
I think they have and it’s a big mistake.
GW do make you despair sometimes
Sounds promising.
Have Hero Quest which was great fun to play
Getifa makes a good point imho and that seems to be the way Mantic go about their business, which I admire.
I like the flexibility of such an approach.
looks Good all i can say & if it is a dungeon crawl I’m there 😀
Actually, since there’s lots of ideas here… Why doesn’t BoW design a game they like, made by fans and for fans ?
A dungeon crawl where you could field any mini from any range (but would have its own minis, obviously), a nice theme, with monsters and classes templates, modular scenery, levels… The works.
It’s a lot of work, but a lot less difficult than designing a whole wargame. The BoW artists are good enough to produce an amazing website, could they room design ? I also bet that nice man Alessio Cavatore could help.
Odd, I was just thinking along the same lines. Although I’m not sure I’d trust Darrel with a rulebook he could just put cheese into instead of trying to find it
HAVE YOU BEEN SPYING ON ME! 😀
There are a number of side projects in the works, which includes games. One of which is exactly the one you outlined here… written by me! 😉
The mechanics are finished, we just need to flesh it out and fluff it up, in order to playtest it… but I shall say no more…
However, before that, we have a little skirmish game we want to do, just to test the water. So stay tuned for that pardners! 😉
BoW Andy
ZOMG! AWESOME!
AUGH Can I apply for the Beta test please 🙂
Ooh ! Ooh ! Me ! Me ! Me ! I want to playtest ! I’ll come to Belfast all the way from France !
mmm…. walk on ferry trip may have to be planned
YES! I do love a well thought out online text based roleplay. It just ends up being a lot of work for the dungeon masters running it. Good luck!
interesting 😀 I like i like
Things I’d want: Furniture/scenery is a must. After Hero Quest there’s no going back. Modular floor pieces, why wouldn’t you? This might be ambitious, but a multilevel room. Not just putting a stairs tile down, and there ya go. More like a ruin, or terrain piece, that you could jump or shoot from. Then you could also take that same piece and use it in the wargame. A narrative campaign! Not just one level after another, more like those old “choose your own adventure books”. Rescue the damsel in distress loyally, or hold her for ransom yourself! Open an ancient… Read more »
Love the idea of a themed system, for an example of a themed Quest adventure try The Ice Tomb by Lau “The Nightwalker” Sondergaard :- http://wquest.free.fr/quest/que_004.htm
Advanced Heroquest is still my favourite dungeon crawler of all time. Would be interesting to see what Mantic can bring to the party.
I wanted that Mantic did something like “Humand / Dwarf / Undead (etc) adventurers / warband box” so I can use perfectly it in Mordheim. I think I will get what I wanted! Hell yeach! I hope this is true 🙂
LOVE the concept.
Hopefully they continue to fill the gaps that GW refuses to fill.
Hopefully they do a Space Hulk and Necromunda type game in the future as well!
I suspect that Ronnie and the Mantic team are’nt just looking to fill in the gaps in GWs range 🙂
I agree kane. I also suspect the chaps at Mantic have a little more imagination than simply filling GW’s gaps. Whatever they come up with should be fun and I for one will be supporting them in every endevour. I’m looking forward to the Dungeon Crawl and any Sci fi stuff they come up with.
As a new person to the hobby overall, i have become a big fan of mantic. Their miniatures are affordable, great detail, and there is great support on this site. Thanks alot
Looks like we’ll find out tomorrow (Monday 31st Jan) morning.
Wayland games have just tweeted that Mantics new game will be listed on their sight in the morning..
Answer – yes they are!
Dwarf King’s Hold: Undead Rising will be with us on March 29th apparently. Can’t wait.
Nothing on mantic web site as yet.