Homebrew: Nightmare The Withered Heath

The Withered Heath is notorious for being one of the quests in the game which can drag, sometimes interminably. Players cannot advance quest stages until they found Dragon Sign objectives, which requires a haphazard search through the Caves deck. The challenge with designing a Nightmare version of this quest was to refine the mechanics of the quest, while also streamlining the stage progression. A situation where the players are in total control and are just grinding through the Caves deck looking for one more Dragon Sign is a negative play experience we would like to avoid.

To that end, this version of the quest includes a representation of the dangers of winter weather in the hills of Ered Mithrin. Every time a Weather treachery is revealed, instead of placing it in the encounter discard pile it is instead attached facedown to Winter’s Wrath. This increases the threat in the staging area, much as inclement weather makes a trek through the mountains that much more dangerous. However, once the storm clears, players can easily find Dragon Sign by pulling a copy of one of the objectives out of the Caves deck.

The enemies, locations, and treacheries are all designed to punish players in various ways. The players might not survive their trek through the Withered Heath, but at least they won’t be wandering the hills endlessly lost. I hope players enjoy this take on an infamously frustrating quest, while it won’t make it easier, it hopefully will make it less frustrating to play. Stay warm!

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