Quest for the Heartstone, with an identification code of XL1, was published by TSR in 1984. It is an oddity – the only adventure written to support a couple of action figures. The action figures in question? Warduke and Strongheart (and some of their friends).

Although I was active in the game around this time – and bought the adventure a few years later – I never saw the figures myself. Some of the characters also appeared in the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, but I have no memory of them. They have popped up from time to time after that, most recently in the 5E adventure, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.

While they’ve had this ongoing presence in the Dungeons & Dragons lines, these characters have never resonated strongly with me. And despite owning this adventure for over 30 years, it’s not one to which I’ve given much thought. Let us now dive into the first adventure appearance of Warduke and Strongheart!

TSR published the adventure for the Expert line – that is, the basic series during the “Red Box” days. It is not an AD&D adventure, as it aimed more at the casual audience. Funnily enough, the figures have Advanced Dungeons & Dragons logos. Its code, XL1, indicates that it is an “Expert Licensed” adventure – there would be no XL2.

The adventure supports a party of 6-8 characters of levels 5-10, with a total count of 45-55. The scenario advises the party includes two clerics. It also notes the possibility of completing the mission in a single session.

The background for the adventure is intriguing: a young queen, recently widowed, needs to remarry. However, on the advice of the High Patriarch, she hires a group of adventurers to seek out a magical stone (the Heartstone) which can determine who is the best possible husband (and king). However, because someone might interfere with this process, the real reason must remain secret. The Patriarch tells the party it belonged to the dynasty’s founder, and they want to bury it with the late king.

The initial stage of this adventure involves the characters travelling through a marsh to reach the Mountains of Ice. This trek consists of nine encounter areas arranged linearly. The scenario explicitly says the party can’t leave the path. “Characters cannot use a boat in this marsh because fresh-water termites have infested the marsh.” That is, apparently, a thing.

Most of the encounters are “Monsters attack the party”, but some have additional details to enliven them. For instance, a water elemental changes its form to resemble a basilisk or a crocodile. In addition, hobgoblins that the party can pursue into a secret encounter.

The next stage involves climbing the icy trails up to a cave system. We get nine additional encounter areas, many of which have monsters to fight, including a white dragon. The adventure handles the dragon well; it uses a ventriloquism spell to fool the party into leaving it alone, and it prefers not to fight if possible. If the party do insist on fighting, the dragon might flee, and its lair holds a few surprises for the unwary party as well.

What makes this section particularly interesting is that there are ways into the main dungeon complex through several of the caves, so it’s no longer a purely linear adventure where you must encounter each area in turn. You could even duck into an earlier cave, then come out of a later one and continue on the path more before once more re-entering the dungeon. It is one of the more varied dungeon maps of the era.

The main dungeon map is isometric, similar to the map in Dragons of Despair. Secret doors abound, and the party are likely to take some time to find the proper path to the Heartstone.

I note with some amusement that the dungeon – or at least the lower level – is called “The tunnels of death”. There are four levels; the first three link to the path outside. When it comes to encounters, the dungeon features several traps, a lot of monsters, and very few opportunities for role-playing. I’m sure the DM could insert some, but that is definitely not the point of this adventure. It’s about fighting monsters and exploring the dungeon. One of the mysteries for the party to solve is how to reach the uppermost level, which requires the use of a magical “Wellevator” – a combination of well and elevator. The players can find clues in the dungeon about it, although activating it through trial and error is also possible.

Eventually, the group will find the Heartstone and confront Warduke, the villain of the piece… what’s that? Warduke isn’t one of the villains?

As it turns out, Warduke appears in this adventure only as a set of stats, perhaps for a player to control him as a PC or the DM to insert him somewhere in the adventure. It’s not like he, or any of the other characters, has a personality! (Seriously, the stats are incredibly minimal – picture of character, six ability scores, class, level, hp, AC and magic items. That’s it).

Instead, Dahnakriss the Master Thief possesses the Hearthstone, aided by his friend Tharadodus the Wizard. Interestingly, the characters may fight neither – Dahnakriss escaping before the fight begins, and Tharadodus persuading the PCs not to fight him. To make things stranger, neither of these characters had were in the D&D figure line!

So, for an adventure that says it “features Warduke and Strongheart”, neither of them appears in the body of the adventure – just some stats and some pieces of art in the pregenerated character section.

The ultimate encounter of the adventure sees the party taking on evil duplicates of themselves (or good duplicates, if they’re playing the evil characters). This is a challenge the Heartstone itself creates, rather than one of the villains of the piece.

But wait! If you look in the product AC1 The Shady Dragon Inn (published in 1983, the previous year), it notes that Strongheart and Warduke were part of an adventuring group that discovered the Heartstone, an artifact that brought out their hidden/strongest qualities – thus making Warduke evil. So, this may indeed be an origin tale. It’s just not described that anywhere in the adventure and you need to know a small detail in another product to discover that.

Another odd thing: The adventure just ends. There’s no epilogue where the characters return to Queen Leahra with the Heartstone. One of the most interesting things about the scenario isn’t revisited. Was it intended that this be the first of a series of adventures? The adventure begins with some intriguing world-building, but then abandons it for its duration.

So, what then of the adventure? If your players enjoy fighting and exploration, there are far worse examples of this sort. The map is great, and the adventure also features several illustrations to show the players when they meet the appropriate encounter. It does feel like an adventure intended to be used. It’s just that there’s a lot of uninspiring material to wade through. The suggestion that the party could complete the scenario in one session amuses me. How long is that session? Even with D&D’s shorter combats, the adventure still has a lot of material!

However, I was prepared to dislike this adventure greatly. I don’t. It’s fine. There are hints at something greater, and it presents the DM with the opportunity to build on the good material. But as a product designed to show off Warduke and Strongheart, it’s hard to judge it as anything as a failure. I guess it’s a relief no one cares about them? Enjoy the good material and skip the rest. This module could have been far worse!