FEAR the DARK - HeroQuest fanzine - issue 1

FEAR the DARK

an HeroQuest fanzine and a tribute
issue #1

SEPTEMBER 2020

The Empire is powerful and the Emperor rules the land with supreme wisdom and an iron fist. Everyone, within the borders of the Empire, may sleep well at night, for the terrors of the dark forces of Chaos are just a memory of the past. In the Empire, everyone prospers: you just have to obey, in exchange for safety. You may live a long and boring life, if that suits you, and the Emperor’s Inquisition doesn’t suspect you of some heresy.

But this is not the life for the likes of you.

A strong barbarian with an appetite for gold and glory.

A stubborn dwarf seeking oddities and treasures.

A curious elf from the ancient fallen kingdom of the fables.

A smart wizard in search of more power and lost magic.

Beyond the borders of the Empire, the land is full of peril and opportunities. Ancient necropolis of long gone civilizations, tombs of kings whose memory turned to dust, ruins of temples of forgotten gods; you just have to summon the courage to face the monsters and horrors within, to emerge with a treasure.

Deep underground labyrinth have turned into lairs of orcs and goblins, crumbled fortresses and towers host mad wizards and alchemists, endless dungeons hide the nests of Chaos forces brooding their plans to subvert the peace of the human kingdoms. With the proper companions, you feel strong enough to venture there and return stronger, wiser, and richer.

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 this issue, and will slowly expand beyond the original box and miniatures. It will also attempt to provide a modular system; it keeps the traditional rules and will progressively add little, indipendent pieces to them. You will be able to use all those rules, or just some of them.

Issue number 1 – September 2020:

- A short presentation

- A usable summary of the traditional rules

- A bonus Quest Zero: to teach the basics of the game

- Three beginners Quests, to start a new game

- A little rule about Fear of the Undead