Ehanced Rules for HeroQuest
These are the rules that I follow when I am running my HeroQuest. They are rather complicated but fun to use so get ready for a night of reading and thinking. If you find a problem with any of these rules, don't be afraid to let me know, I am always open to suggestions and my players know.
1 - Modifications for basic rules from the standard Milton Bradley's HeroQuest rules
- For now all I got is the basic HeroQuest set and another MB set called Battle Master which is a little difference but same world. It just takes place on an "outside" hexagonal map/mat. I have taken some the of the monster from there to use in it also, as well using the mat for the main outerworld for HeroQuest. I will try to get some photos scanned for anyone that doesn't know what Battle Masters [BM] is. The purpose for the mat is to place several towns out and a couple castles and towers etc. A tower comes with BM but for anyone that doesn't have any model castles or anything to use for this purpose then I suggest just cutting out some cardboard and drawing a castle or town or whatever you want on it. On this map is where the heroes can buy castles whatever, the houses and sheds being in the towns.
- How - I have added in experience in here for a way that the heroes can advance in levels. If you do not choose to use this form then just use the standard HQ rules for after every sequence of quests or every 10 quests to raise one of their stats. With my way, 2 heroes advanced to level 4 doing just the 14 quests that come with the HQ game so that would be an average of level 2 if all 4 heroes were playing in the first 14. To me it sounds about right.
- Calculating - To calculate how much experience a hero gets is easy. I just take the HP [body points] of the monster and use that for the number of experience points.
- Bonus EXP - Heroes can get extra experience but using their skills, like a Dwarf gets 1 exp for every trap he/she disarms. Barbarian get 1 exp extra for killing a monster with all dice as a skull, Wizard gets an extra exp by using a spell to kill a monster or by successfully casting one on a "boss", while the elf recieves an extra exp by killing a monster with a ranged weapon.
- Levelling - To raise a level a hero must get the required experiece then go train, please see the Levelling Quest I have designed for this purpose, crude but I am just starting with this.
- How much EXP needed? - The way I seem to have found out to make this work without getting too strong of a hero a the beginning is the hero starts off on level 1 then needs 25 experience points to receive permission to start the training. The next level will require an addition 25 more, or 25+25, but their exp goes back down to 0, so in effect it will be 50 exp for level 3 and 75 more for level 4. If you would like to keep the exp they have earned then just add it up. 25 exp for level 2, 75 exp for level 3, 150 exp for level 4, 250 exp for level 5, etc. Check out the Experience Table if you still don't under stand or for quick reference.
- Falling into a pit - When someone falls into a pit they recieve one less die when attacking and defending. It is the end of their turn when they fall into the pit, and recieve the standard 1 damage unless otherwise stated. It takes 1 movement point extra to get out of the pit. When attempting to jump over a pit, they must state it beforehand and have 2 extra movement points when they reach the pit; ie. roll a 2 or more when standing right beside the pit. If they are 5 paces away from the pit and state they are jumping and roll a 5, they fall into the pit, even if they claim they only want to move 4 paces or less.
- Falling blocks - When a player moves onto a falling block trap, they lose the standard 1 damage unless otherwise stated. Or you can use my rules where for every states 1 damage point, set it to 3, ie. if it states 2 body points damage then set it to 6 damage, then the hero rolls their defence dice as though they are attacking [with my rules their defence could be as high as 12 or low as 2] If the hero rolls only 3 shields then that means 3 damage to the hero. The hero may also want to move the blocks out of the way, this can be done by rolling a 1d6 and adding 3 onto it [ie. if the hero rolls a 4 then there are 4+3=7 boulders to move away]. It takes 1 turn for 1 hero to move 1 boulder.
- Spear traps - These I leave as is. If one damage is stated then 1 damage to hero, no chance to defend.
- Dart traps - These I leave as is. If one damage is stated then 1 damage to hero, no chance to defend.
- I know there are other traps out there but have yet to use them in any quests so I have yet to experience with them.
- I have added a lot more weapons and armor into this game and taken out some of the ones listed for the original game since they are just too standard. ie shield, helmet, etc. since there are now many types of the weapons and armors. Check out my always incomplete Weapons & Armor list, incomplete since I am always updating it.
- Specials - For special weapons/armor/jewelry/potions etc, I have decided that in the stores [Armory in HQ rules], there are limited supply of these and they are only in stock if a hero sells one [then there is just 1 in stock, if 3 are sold then 3 are in stock, simple] or if the DM [Zargon in HQ rules] decided to add a couple things in between quests or of the purpose of an up-coming quest.
- Selling - As usual, selling is always done at half price but rounded down, ie. if selling something that originally costed 75 gold, then it would cost 75/2=37.5 or 37 gold. DM - Don't forget to add the special items in the store list. Best way to do this is to have a list for each store and more a 0 in the box beside the item name for quantity, when there is none in stock, and just erase it and put the appropriate number in the box when something is sold to or from the store.
- Sizes - There is a certain amount that a hero can carry, now this is kind of the complicated part so if you choose not to use it, I don't blame you. But personally, I like it and so do all my players. The only complaint I ever got was "Great, now my backpack is full, I have to drop something". Now, if you have played Diablo, then you may not havemuch trouble with this since it is the same concept, thats where I got it from. The only main difference is that each box can only hold 100 gold and on your belt, it holds 8 amd you must buy a money pouch if you plan to pick up any gold from monsters after a battle and if there are still monsters around. Otherwise the gold that was on it just disappears and nobody gets it. There are other kinds of belts but we'll get into that later. Small items like potions, extra belts, rings, bracelets, etc only use up one box, while weapons like a battle axe takes up 6 boxes [3 boxes by 2 boxes] Another difference from Diablo is that Staffs take up 4 boxes [1x4] and a rod like the Wizard's Rod takes up 3. I suggest using you own discreasion for the sizes of the weapons. If you are having trouble with this, go try Diablo for a bit and you'll know exactly what I am talking about.
- Belts - So far I have been using 3 kinds of belts. Leather Belt which holds 8 items, this is a normal belt. Belt of Might which gives the hero +1 attack dice but holds only 2 items. And a Fine Platinum Chain which give the hero +1 magic but holds only 4 items. There are other things for the belt that the heros can buy like a Money Pouch [use to allow hero to pick up gold during combat without any penalty], Small Belt Sack [used on the belt to hold 3 items, only used with special belts like Belt of Might and Fine Platinum Chain, with it a hero can take out a potion from the sack without a penalty]. A hero recieves a penaly, which is considered an action for that turn, when a hero refills their belt with potions/scrolls/etc from their backpack or using something from the backpack like drinking a potion from the backback instead of the belt would be the action for the turn.
- Potions - Healing potions cost only 25 gold at the store while the other potions [Defence, Strength, and Heroic Brew] cost 100 gold each, so selling them would 50% their cost. The store does NOT buy back healing potions. The Elixer of like is like a special item, the store only has any if a hero sells them to the store, and they cost 500 to buy or 250 gold to sell to the store.
- Like in the HQ rules, the max attack from a weapon is just 4 damage right now. This could change if I decide to add in some more special items or if you have any.
2 - Modifications to the characters
- Attack - The attack starts off at anything less than 3, never more than 3.
- Defence - The Defence always starts off at 1, no matter what class the hero is.
- Health Points [HP] - Formerly called Body Points in HQ rules, HP just sounds better. That and I am used to it more.
- Magic Points [MP] - Formerly called Mind Points in HQ rules, MP sounds better too. Must be just that I am used to other systems. MP still has the main concept of mind points though.
- Skills - Most heroes have skills that they use for the better of the quest. I plan to have it where all heroes have 1 skill though, maybe later on.
- Races - I will have other races put up also but have yet to test any out in my system, I'll add them in as soon as they are tested for a few levels.
3 - Modifications to the monsters
- Attack - The normal attack for any monster is doubled in here [Orc would be 3X2=6 dice now]. This includes any Bosses.
- Defence - The Defence is now its normal defence plus one [Orc would be 2+1 defence now]. This includes Bosses too.
- Health - The HP is no plus one also[Orc would be 1+1=2 HP now]. You could try it later on as doubled but that would be for a long game. This includes Bosses too.
- Experience - For experience I said before that it is taken by the monster's HP [Orc would be 2 so 2 EXP it is]. This includes Bosses too.
- MP - They stay the same.
- I got these from someplace else but just modified them a bit. Cost is how much the hero buys it for. Vault is how much gold the hero can keep in there. Holds is the amount of items in boxes that can be stored [ie battle axe is 6 boxes].
Building Type Cost Vault Holds Storage Sheds 850 1000 25 House 1200 2000 35 Keep 2500 6000 50 Castle 8000 Unlimited Unlimited
- The same concept that a hero must hire guards to defend their building between quests apply here if the DM wishes it.
Type A D HP MP Guard 7 4 5 4
- As soon as I find out where I took any of the stuff that I borrowed from other people's enhanced rules, I'll thank them here. I started to take them from all over the place after I had my original rules written up, then found all these sites with other rules, skimmed through some of them and got more ideas, tried them out and modified them a bit more to fit in my game.