HeroQuest + Loke: Counterattack of the Witch Lord 

Love the cell room. It has utility everywhere, and lots of ways to use it. Hero inside, monster inside, NPC inside, corpse inside, treasure inside, trapped treasure inside, secret door inside, nothing inside!

Niiice, great throwback! I didn't think of the gauntlet similarities too!

Oh yes. I've got a bit of a script for starting heroes in an expansion, but I'll share a couple important points here: Expansions want you to have completed the base game, rather than other expansions. Most people carry over their parties from the game system, but this can sometimes pose problems because there are different outcomes: -all heroes fail leading to total party knockout, at which point heroes are newly created OR the party is allowed to try again; -all heroes complete the campaign (at varying levels of having been upgraded), and continue to steamroll monsters or struggle accordingly from quest 1 in the expansion -veteran heroes died and equipment wasn't recovered, perhaps even in the final quest, leading to only a partial party (or even one hero) surviving! The idea being then, what can you do to accommodate the heroes? Review the game system quests and look at the equipment rewarded near the end. Think about the upgrades the campaign gives you the chance to acquire. What would a party realistically carry over? It gives enough time and gold to possibly acquire the best gear, plus artifacts (if treasure hunts go well, and if heroes are allowed to use expansion rules to sell equipment back to the armory). With that in mind, I would consider either giving the party an amount of starting gold - for each member - to accommodate their status as heroes who already completed the game campaign (even if they didnt). Then, I'd consider giving a number of artifacts available from the base game. How much you accommodate and with what items will be up to you, but at the very least, perhaps the spirit blade given to the party if they're starting RotWL...borins armor if starting KK. I'll dive into this in more detail in a video!

Also, dwarf.... I'd think a out limiting the party to the base 4 heroes at first, allowing players to "unlock" the others. Maybe one at a time, arbitrarily, maybe awarding the most daring hero with the first choice. Maybe as hireable mercenaries (letting the player pay to play as, for that quest or permanently). Maybe putting them in a secret room in the dungeon, and the hero who encounters them and frees them befriends them, and is now able to play as them starting next quest.