Arcadia Quest: Riders - New Friends
The lands surrounding the city of Arcadia had long been home to all manner of huge creatures. They lived happily there until everything started going wrong. As Arcadia was targeted by one malevolent baddie after another, the outlying wilds felt the impacts as well. It got really bad when Lord Fang came calling. The once-lush forests and plains started drying up and dying off. The inhabitants of those areas needed to find new places to live. Thankfully, they’ve done so. Not-so-thankfully, it’s right in the middle of town! The parks and streets are now filled with these beasts, and they’re not alone. Malkhor, a great hunter of legend, has also come to the city, looking to collect trophies for his wall. The Guilds of Arcadia are also seeing the potential of these new inhabitants, but in a much more cooperative form as Mounts. Who will win in the ultimate hunt?
Arcadia Quest: Riders is a new campaign expansion for Arcadia Quest and Arcadia Quest: Inferno. It introduces six new Mounts, two new Heroes, a new Boss and Minions, and a whole range of Upgrades to the game. Plus, there’s a branching, six-mission Campaign for players to adventure through. For this first look at the expansion’s contents, we’re going to focus on the new Mounts, Heroes, and some of the Upgrades.
The Mounts are huge animals can be captured and tamed by the players for their Guilds. At the start of the campaign, each player gets a Mount and their Dashboard that they place next to their regular Guild Board. A Guild can only ever have one Mount at a time, but they can be traded out between quests, if players want. Each Mount can have one Upgrade assigned to it. Mounts give players a new way to get their Heroes around, with each one being able to carry a Hero into battle. The Hero on top of a Mount is its Rider. Mounts don’t have Activations of their own, but will perform Actions when their Rider does. Riding on top of these beasts of burden has advantages, too. Other figures will be Shoved out of the way as a Mount moves across the board, pushing them into adjacent spaces. Size certainly has its advantages! There is also new Mount-specific gear that players can find and equip to their huge friends. While Mounts don’t tend to fight on their own, any extra bonuses they acquire from Upgrades is conferred to their Riders. So, for example, if a Mount’s saddle Upgrade gives them defensive rerolls, those will also apply any time their Rider is attacked. Quite handy in the thick of battle!
Each Mount has its own unique ability. Bawkbawk’s chicken wings mean she can jump to new spaces on the map. Tainlong’s fiery breath (from eating tacos, as much as her draconic heritage) burns enemies from afar. Beka, known for her stealth despite her size, allows Heroes to not trigger Guard Reactions when she moves across the board. Toshi’s mighty Shove, using her big, bushy head, will Daze anyone moved out of the way by it. Hornsteady gores at those he Shoves using his infamous rhino’s horn, dealing them a point of damage. Meanwhile, Luda, the bouncing giant puppy, can cause enemy Heroes’ gear to become Exhausted, just because she’s running everyone ragged. Gaining mastery of these abilities and knowing when to use your Mounts during a turn will be paramount to getting full use out of these unique creatures.
The Mounts aren’t the only new faces in town. The Wilding Twins, Colette and Gaston, have followed Malkhor (who, in turn, is following the Mounts) to Arcadia. They’ve pledged their loyalty to the Guilds and are ready to join in hunting the hunter, as well as showing these city-slicker adventurers how it’s done when it comes to working with the Mounts. Colette, the older of the siblings, is a master of exotic weaponry (which she just calls weaponry). When using an Exotic Weapon or Hammer, she can target an extra Enemy with her attack. Meanwhile, Gaston is brash and impetuous, lashing out quickly. After he makes a Melee Attack, players can Exhaust his card in order to make a second Attack. They’ll be a welcome addition to any Guild wanting to hire them.
The new gear for the Mounts isn’t the only new bit of kit in the set. New Upgrade cards are included for each Level. Grab hold of a Javelin to hurl at enemies. Or maybe a Guild member can equip the new Mount Whisperer attack spell, showing that they control the Mounts better than the riders do. All the way up to the Epic Whip, whose lashing strikes can deny an Enemy any sort of Defensive rerolls.
All of these new items are just a taste of what’s coming in Arcadia Quest: Riders. Stay tuned later this week for an in-depth look at the branching campaign where players will take on the legendary hunter, Malkhor, and his braying Jacklol minions. Arcadia Quest: Riders arrives on Kickstarter Monday, May 21 at 3:00 p.m. EST and only runs until Friday, May 25, so don’t miss out!
Learn more about Arcadia Quest: Riders here.
