| | /-\ | | / \ | |===| /\ |/\ /-\ | | | | /\ /-- -+- | | /_/ / | | \ \| | | /_/ `-, | | | \__ | \-/ \-/\ \_| \__ __/ \_ \_ HeroQuest: The FAQ Author: Carl Forhan (forhan@millcomm.com) This article is copyright 1995-1996 by Carl Forhan and may not be reproduced in any form without permission by the author, except for personal use or redistribution through normal Usenet channels and no fee is charged for such use. ------------------------------ Subject: 1. Disclaimer HeroQuest is a trademark of Milton Bradley. Advanced HeroQuest is a trademark of Games Workshop. The use of these and other trademarks is not intended to challenge their respective copyrights. This document is not specifically approved by Milton Bradley or Games Workshop. ------------------------------ Subject: 2. Table of Contents 1. Disclaimer 2. Table of Contents 3. New to this Version 4. Introduction Section I: General Questions 5. Can you tell me a little about HeroQuest (HQ)? 6. Is HQ still produced? How can I reach Milton Bradley? 7. What supplements ("Quest Packs") were made? 8. What is Advanced HeroQuest? 9. Do you have any suggestions for sprucing up the game (besides extra rules, etc.)? 10. What public domain info is available for HQ enhancements, and where is it located? 11. What other sources of HQ supplements are available? Section II: Specific Rule Questions 20. HeroQuest game system 21. Kellar's Keep 22. Return of the Witch Lord 23. Quest Pack for the Elf 24. Barbarian Quest Pack 99. End of FAQ ------------------------------ Subject: 3. New to this Version 10/02/96 HeroQuest article to appear in Fractal Spectrum (question #11)! 08/01/96 Update to Vindicator info (question #11). 05/31/96 Update to Vindicator info (question #11). 02/07/96 WWW site changed. 01/06/96 Added reference to Vindicator journal, question #11. 10/29/95 FTP site corrected. 09/18/95 FTP site changed. Answered questions 24a and 24c. General clean up. 04/25/95 WWW site has been established! See #10. FTP site has been established! See #10. Added UK supplements. Please note that many rule-specific questions are unanswered. If you have some answers you'd like to submit (or even more questions!) please forward them to me. ------------------------------ Subject: 4. Introduction Welcome to HeroQuest: The FAQ! This FreQuently Asked Questions document is intended to provide you, the reader, with information on the current status of HeroQuest, availability of components, etc., as well as provide some reasonable answers to questionable or conflicting rules. Please forward all questions, comments, and corrections for this FAQ to: forhan@millcomm.com Enjoy! ------------------------------ Subject: Section I: General Questions ------------------------------ Subject: 5. Can you tell me a little about HeroQuest (HQ)? Sure. HeroQuest is an enjoyable fantasy boardgame, where each player is allowed to develop a recurring Hero over a series of adventures (Quests). The game play is simple yet entertaining for a typical one to two hour Quest. Players are generally encouraged to work together against one designated player who controls the antagonists in the Quest: monsters, traps, and puzzles of all sorts. ------------------------------ Subject: 6. Is HQ still produced? How can I reach Milton Bradley? HQ is no longer in production at Milton Bradley. I mailed them a letter in August 1994 inquiring about this, and also on the availabilty of the remaining HQ inventory. I received a more or less form letter reply saying, "Thanks for your interest, but HQ is no longer produced." They didn't mention whether or not they had additional items in stock. Here's the US address for Milton Bradley that I used: Milton Bradley Company 443 Shaker Road East Longmeadow, MA 01028-5247 Phone: (413) 525-6411 Anybody know of an email address or web page? ------------------------------ Subject: 7. What supplements ("Quest Packs") were made? Kellar's Keep Return of the Witch Lord Quest Pack for the Elf Barbarian Quest Pack In addition, the following Quest Packs were released in the UK (it is unknown if they were released in the US): Wizards of Morcar Against the Ogre Horde Dungeon Design Kit (I personally own all the above, so, yes, every one of them does exist.) ------------------------------ Subject: 8. What is Advanced HeroQuest? Advanced HeroQuest was produced solely by Games Workshop. It is considerably different from its MB counterpart. The rules are much more detailed, and make it a more complex "role-playing" game. AHQ is no longer in production as of this writing (April '95). (Anyone care to give a better review of this item?) ------------------------------ Subject: 9. Do you have any suggestions for sprucing up the game (besides extra rules, etc.)? Here are a few: * Add some non-combat encounters. These could be anything from a dying Goblin with an important message, to a Dwarf who's digging for gold in a remote passage. Non-combat encounters make the players think more about what's going on in their surroundings. Sometimes the encounters have important implications, others may be strictly "random" to confuse or entertain the players. * Along the same lines, add important plots or themes to your Quests. What if there's a feud going on between the Orcs and the Goblins? Will they attack the Heroes, or try to enlist their help? How about a mystic portal that must be closed to stop the outpouring of Undead? These longer-running plots can create ongoing goals for the Heroes to pursue. * And who can resist the Recurring Villain? Create a villainous Wizard, Chaos Warrior, etc., complete with some special items or abilities, and have him do his best to foil the Heroes' Quests. You don't have to use him in every adventure, and sometimes he may not even be the primary antagonist, but a properly played Recurring Villain can be a nuisance and a challenge rolled up into one. Make sure he has a way to retreat, however, such as the Escape spell. You don't want your Heroes defeating him on the first encounter! ------------------------------ Subject: 10. What public domain info is available for HQ enhancements, and where is it located? There is a collection of files at the FTP site ftp.indirect.com. The directory is /pub/rpg/miniatures/HeroQuest. The file name is HeroQuest1.0.zip.gz. (The file is ZIPed for IBM PC's.) Any submissions you'd like to contribute go in the /pub/incoming/games directory. I would also appreciate it if you emailed me a copy of any new Quests, items, enhancements, etc. Please contact Britt Klein at tierna@indirect.com if you have trouble accessing/uncompressing this file. Thanks for the help, Britt! Also, a WWW site has been established for HQ. Most of the FTP material mentioned above is available now on the Web. The link you need is: http://www.eden.com/~tmp/rules/fan/hq.html Thanks to Bill Armintrout for volunteering to assemble this site! ------------------------------ Subject: 11. What other sources of HQ supplements are available? An article for HeroQuest which I have authored has appeared in Fractal Spectrum #13 (printed October 1996). This article elaborates on one of the most popular portions of the FAQ, question #9, by giving the reader more ideas on how to incorporate goals, atmosphere, recurring villains, and more into HeroQuest adventures. You won't want to miss it! Additional HQ articles may make their way into future issues of FS. Check out: http://www.fractal.mandarin.org/spectrum/spectrum.html for ordering info for the Fractal Spectrum. A newly published journal, Vindicator, is dedicated to the support of classic / out-of-print SF and fantasy board games. Issue #2-5a all include new HQ material. Future issues will include new supplements for existing microgames, and eventually new microgames themselves. Subscription info may be found at the Vindicator Online home page: Vindicator Online: http://www.millcomm.com/~forhan/vindicator.html ------------------------------ Subject: Section II: Specific Rule Questions ------------------------------ Subject: 20. HeroQuest game system a. Spell Cancellation How does one handle multiple (and possibly conflicting) spells cast on the same character? For instance Zargon casts Fear (1 attack die) on the Elf who has Courage (+2 attack dice). Does the Elf have 3 attacks (Fear + Courage = fearfully courageous?) or just 1 (Fear)? We decided to stack the spells, stating he was Fearful until he broke the spell, and then remained Courageous. Alternatively, Fear could cancel Courage altogether, but it could be argued Courage lasts until no more monsters are visible, therefore it could not be cancelled. b. Jumping Pits and Diagonal Movement In the basic rules it pretty clearly states that diagonal movement is not allowed. However, under the section that describes how to jump a pit a diagram shows that a jump to a diagonal square is allowed. (See diagram.) What's the deal here? _______ | |\ /| | | X | <-- Pit |___|/_\| | | | | |___| I think the intention of the rules here is to allow Heroes a means to get around a "corner" pit, and is not truly diagonal movement. If this movement were disallowed, then it would be impossible to get around the pit (unless you just fell in intentionally, I guess). So you have two choices: 1) Allow the jump as the rules indicate. Remember that 2 movement spaces must still be spent, just as if the Hero was walking around a normal corner with no pit. This solution is IMHO consistent with the intent of the rules. 2) Allow diagonal movement, which allows a Hero to step directly to the diagonal square, with no need to jump the pit at all. ------------------------------ Subject: 21. Kellar's Keep ------------------------------ Subject: 22. Return of the Witch Lord ------------------------------ Subject: 23. Quest Pack for the Elf a. Jumping Long Pits with Rabbit Boots Do the Rabbit Boots behave differently when dealing with long pits? If they fail a normal pit jump on a black shield, should they then not fail a long pit jump on a white shield, or even a skull? b. Jumping Long Pits with a Potion of Dexterity Does the Potion of Dexterity _really_ guarantee a long pit jump? ------------------------------ Subject: 24. Barbarian Quest Pack a. Yetis and Defending Can Yeti roll defend dice while hugging? (They can't make other attacks while hugging, but can they defend?) Every Hero or Monster should get to roll defend dice, regardless of the circumstances. However, one could develop a house rule whereby the defend dice of a Yeti is reduced while hugging by one or two dice. This is strictly optional, of course. b. Ice Gremlin stealing and moving If an Ice Gremlin moves first, then steals something, does he still get to run? One could argue stealing is an action, and as such terminates the movement phase. An alternative would be to allow the Gremlin to use his remaining movement points in the escape, if not the full 10. c. Lone Hero against Yeti If a lone Hero encounters a Yeti which successfully "hugs" him, is the Hero automatically dead? It would seem so; the rules didn't seem to allow for a hero to free himself from the Yeti's grip. A couple of alternatives here: 1) As the rules indicate, a "hugged" Hero may not defend nor take any actions. This is probably intended to allow a deadly Monster in the game which will cause the egomaniacs in the group to think twice before wildly attacking. :) 2) Allow the Hero roll his or her normal attack dice at the start of each turn. If at less than two skulls are rolled, the Hero remains in the hug. If two or more skulls are rolled, no damage is inflicted on the Yeti, but the hug is broken, and the Hero may move away if desired (the Hero's action is lost for the turn, naturally). ------------------------------ Subject: 99. End of FAQ ------------------------------