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Thread: HeroQuest
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2021-11-27, 03:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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- San Antonio, Texas
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HeroQuest
So, who has been playing?
I've been playing some off-script games with my son, 6. I've wound up with a few house rules, mostly to make it easier on his solo barbarian. The 4 year old was initially interested, but she's not quite up to playing the wizard she wants to be.
1) He can take a knee after a fight to get back 1 health that he's lost.
2) He can dual-wield if he has two weapons. Dual-wielding means he doesn't get a shield, but he does get to roll 1 extra combat die.
3) He can switch between the crossbow and his weapons at will, but it consumes his movement.
4) He has a single of Spell Casting, but it just holds 1 spell... as a barbarian, he doesn't know any spells.
5) Both kids loved the rats, so they can use their rat to get "advantage" on a search for treasure... pull two cards and take the better. Down side? The rat is vulnerable, so if it's not in their backpack, it can get hurt or killed.
I've also been generous with equipment, so he's got a helmet, a shield, a crossbow, and a Talisman of Lore (giving him 1 more mind point, so he's not so vulnerable to magic).
It's been a lot of fun. Lots of fighting goblins. He wants to face a dragon, soon.The Cranky Gamer
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*Picard management tip: Debate honestly. The goal is to arrive at the truth, not at your preconception.
*Mutant Dawn for Savage Worlds!
*The One Deck Engine: Gaming on a budget
Written by Me on DriveThru RPG
There are almost 400,000 threads on this site. If you need me to address a thread as a moderator, include a link.
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2021-11-30, 11:25 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2020
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- United States
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Hero Quest for Kids?
Does anyone have experience playing Hero Quest with kids? I am thinking about buy it for my son and daughter. (Ages 8 and 6)
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2021-12-01, 01:15 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2008
Re: Hero Quest for Kids?
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2021-12-01, 10:23 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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- Imagination Land
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Re: Hero Quest for Kids?
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2021-12-01, 06:26 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2013
Re: Hero Quest for Kids?
From what I can tell from the reviews, it sounds like the rules are the same as the original, which were very simple. I'm buying it for my 4 yro, and am confident she'll be able to play it with some help. Your kids should be fine.
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2021-12-01, 06:30 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2013
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2021-12-01, 07:51 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2020
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- United States
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Re: Hero Quest for Kids?
I always subtract a few years off the recommended age when buying a game. Heroquest's recommended age is 14 which feels really high to me. I think I was DMing BECMI by that point. I can see a younger child not being able to handle being the GM (What was that called in Heroquest?)
I was thinking about doing an RPG, maybe a D&D 5e rules lite, but I think my kids will get a kick out of the miniatures.
One complaint I have, looking at the set online, is that all the Hero Miniatures are male. I will need to find some female ones for my daughter.
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2021-12-02, 01:00 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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- Imagination Land
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Re: Hero Quest for Kids?
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2021-12-02, 02:55 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2019
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2021-12-02, 05:33 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2009
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- In my library
Re: Hero Quest for Kids?
Yeah, same here. My RPG experience went HeroQuest->BECM->3.5. I think I was like 10, which would have made my youngest brother six. For the PCs my main advice is 'young players shouldn't play the Wizard'.
Sadly £100 is out of my price range for the remake.
Honestly there should be male and female miniatures for each hero, I'm kind of tired of this stereotyping. Although I remember them all being male in the old version.
But yes, male and female versions of each, plus advice for deciding on what to two if two players want to be the Wizard (or one wants the Wizard and two want the Elf). That's what I'd have liked to see.
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2021-12-02, 12:04 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- San Antonio, Texas
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Re: HeroQuest
The Cranky Gamer
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*Picard management tip: Debate honestly. The goal is to arrive at the truth, not at your preconception.
*Mutant Dawn for Savage Worlds!
*The One Deck Engine: Gaming on a budget
Written by Me on DriveThru RPG
There are almost 400,000 threads on this site. If you need me to address a thread as a moderator, include a link.
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2021-12-03, 12:39 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2020
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- United States
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Re: Hero Quest for Kids?
I looked into it. You only get the gender swapped mini's if you paid into the kick starter campaign. I found this 3rd party set online. I like the dwarf but the price is a little high.
What annoys me is minis cost a big company pennies to make. If they already have already produced the gender swapped minis, why not sell them as an add on?Last edited by Trafalgar; 2021-12-03 at 01:48 PM. Reason: Punctuation and spelling
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2021-12-03, 12:53 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- San Antonio, Texas
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Re: Hero Quest for Kids?
The Mod Ogre: Merged this thread with the previous HeroQuest thread. Not a problem, just the one thread per topic rule.
As I said above, though, I've been playing it just fine with my boy, 6. His younger sister, 4, was interested, but not really able to play the wizard she wanted to, so unless I come up with some alternate rules for her, she has to sit out (her play was disrupting the game for the Boy).
I've house ruled some thing, but only some are for ease of solo play... some of it has just been "These are rules that should be in there, or, at least, that I always wanted."The Cranky Gamer
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*Picard management tip: Debate honestly. The goal is to arrive at the truth, not at your preconception.
*Mutant Dawn for Savage Worlds!
*The One Deck Engine: Gaming on a budget
Written by Me on DriveThru RPG
There are almost 400,000 threads on this site. If you need me to address a thread as a moderator, include a link.
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2021-12-03, 02:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2020
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- United States
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Re: HeroQuest
I guess the big question is whether to roll dice to move or not.
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2021-12-03, 02:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- San Antonio, Texas
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Re: HeroQuest
Last edited by LibraryOgre; 2021-12-03 at 02:38 PM.
The Cranky Gamer
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*Picard management tip: Debate honestly. The goal is to arrive at the truth, not at your preconception.
*Mutant Dawn for Savage Worlds!
*The One Deck Engine: Gaming on a budget
Written by Me on DriveThru RPG
There are almost 400,000 threads on this site. If you need me to address a thread as a moderator, include a link.
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2021-12-04, 01:41 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2020
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- United States
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2021-12-04, 10:45 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- San Antonio, Texas
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Re: HeroQuest
It gets a lot more annoying, IMO, when you've got the dwarf, or the barbarian gets in Plate. You're limited to the movement of the lowest person, unless you want to split the party.
I do kinda think monsters get too much movement, though. I don't mind a static number, but they're all lightning-quick compared to heroes.The Cranky Gamer
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*Picard management tip: Debate honestly. The goal is to arrive at the truth, not at your preconception.
*Mutant Dawn for Savage Worlds!
*The One Deck Engine: Gaming on a budget
Written by Me on DriveThru RPG
There are almost 400,000 threads on this site. If you need me to address a thread as a moderator, include a link.
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2021-12-05, 03:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
- Location
- In my library
Re: HeroQuest
Eh, monsters not rolling saves on bookkeeping, and players rolling allows you to be 'stuck in combat' fairly organically. It avoids involving anything like attacks of opportunity and keeps the game simple. It's not player/monster transparency, but it's a fair sacrifice to make for playability. Exact values of monster movement might be a more legitimate problem, when I played with my siblings we lost the Barbarian on mission 2 because they got stuck in combat.
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2021-12-05, 04:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2007
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2021-12-05, 10:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- San Antonio, Texas
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Re: HeroQuest
So, we played again tonight... the wife as a warlock, one of her boyfriends as the druid, and the boy as his barbarian. It was a slight variation on the first quest... since we'd left the barbarian in a dark hole last time, we had her wake up there, and go through the door, where she found the druid and the warlock conveniently tied up in what is normally the entry for that dungeon. Being stalwart adventurers, they decided to explore the dungeon they found themselves in.
Ooooh, boy.
So, they get to the first door, and the boy decides his barbarian is going to kick down the door. He rushes in and gets into a fight with the orcs, but they go down pretty quick... and the abomination comes in from the next room. They take that down, and the goblin with him runs away (towards the Boss). The barbarian chases after him and shoots the goblin in the head. It's quiet.
The druid and the warlock search the rooms. And the barbarian, alone, goes to kick down another door. She runs into two Dread Warriors and YELLS (he is quite clear that she shouts as loud as she can) that she's found two big guys.
This has the monsters pour out of three rooms, plus the two Dread Warriors she's already facing. It is PAN DE MONIUM. Fortunately, the warlock and the druid make it to the barbarian, and they start retreating down a two-wide hallway. The barbarian, swinging 4 defense dice (2 + shield + helmet), is getting slowly whittled away. The Druid heals her a bit, but they're all in bad shape. The gargoyle and one of the orcs, stuck at the back, peel off and start to go through the rooms the party has emptied out... they're going to get behind them. The party drops the last Dread Warrior and runs for the gargoyle's room, finding stairs there. They run out the stairs, over some warding runes, and into safety.
Between the 3 of them, they started with 19 Body points. They left with 8, total, and that's after using up all of the druid's healing... if the druid hadn't healed them, it would be 2... and only 1 if the barbarian hadn't been able to take a knee after the first fight.
It was a lot of fun.The Cranky Gamer
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*Picard management tip: Debate honestly. The goal is to arrive at the truth, not at your preconception.
*Mutant Dawn for Savage Worlds!
*The One Deck Engine: Gaming on a budget
Written by Me on DriveThru RPG
There are almost 400,000 threads on this site. If you need me to address a thread as a moderator, include a link.
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2021-12-06, 01:06 AM (ISO 8601)
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2021-12-11, 09:21 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2013
Re: HeroQuest
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2021-12-19, 10:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2013
Re: HeroQuest
Session 1: failed. Gave my 4yo all 4 heroes to control, this resulted in turns taking too long and her losing interest, 2 characters would have been better. Will try again, and gestalt the characters (probably combining them wizard and dwarf, and elf and barbarian), combining body, abilities, and starting equipment, and adding 1 to the highest attack and defense of the combo.
Will probably allow auto-searching for treasure after the monsters in a room are defeated.
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2021-12-19, 12:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- San Antonio, Texas
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Re: HeroQuest
I did a bit of this... a lot can get handled by equipment.
Start with an Elf or Barbarian.
1) Early on, give them a toolkit. That takes care of being kind of like a dwarf.
2) Healing potions should be a bit more common, especially if not an elf.
3) Good combat equipment. Get them a crossbow, a good weapon, and some armor. Even a shield and helmet make a huge difference.
4) Artifacts: There's one that gives you a bonus body point, and one that gives a bonus mind point. Give those early.
None of this requires houseruling beyond "You have a bit of extra gear"
I also let my guy get one of those "spell rings", and instead of letting him cast a spell a second time, he gets to cast one spell, once per adventure. He likes healing spells.The Cranky Gamer
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*Picard management tip: Debate honestly. The goal is to arrive at the truth, not at your preconception.
*Mutant Dawn for Savage Worlds!
*The One Deck Engine: Gaming on a budget
Written by Me on DriveThru RPG
There are almost 400,000 threads on this site. If you need me to address a thread as a moderator, include a link.
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2021-12-20, 06:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2013
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2021-12-21, 02:01 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- San Antonio, Texas
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Re: HeroQuest
Copypasted from another forum, so might be a bit redundant:
The boy's playing a solo barbarian (I'm giving a bit of aid when he's solo; he has a "familiar" who gives him a bonus chance on treasure finding and trap disarming; roll/draw twice and take the better). He mostly beat the first scenario when my wife and her boyfriend were playing with him, but they wound up running away from the gargoyle and one of his minions, and completely missing the section with the undead. So, he decides to go back down and get that gargoyle.
He gets trapped in the undead section (I had the door to the hallway shut, and the door to the undead open, if he messed with the candles), and decides, rather than try to get out, to fight everything (he is 6. Fighting everything is Awesome, so he does that). Fights through the undead, gets horribly wounded, bad rolls on healing potions... he's in a state. Then he tries to get out. And the door is closed. And he fails to lockpick it (I ruled he used disarm traps rules for that). So, he decides to take his hand axe and chop it down.
Unsurprisingly, the Gargoyle and his remaining henchmen (2 orcs and a goblin with a crossbow) hear him chopping down the door. ("This was supposed to be a stealth mission" was said several times; it ceased to be a stealth mission a LONG time ago, due to another incident with a hand axe, but he still said it). He's grasped the concept of the conga-line of doom, so he stays in the room and starts fighting the orc the gargoyle sent forward... then the gargoyle STEPS THROUGH THE WALL (I decided it was a neat Earth spell for the gargoyle to be able to use).
This should be the huge, climactic, moment. Outnumbered, surrounded, the toughest foe he's ever faced just got the drop on him...
And the gargoyle flubs the attack. ZERO skulls on his attack... boy doesn't even need to roll defense. His barbarian attacks... and rolls 3 skulls. And the Gargoyle, with his 5 dice, failed to roll a single black shield. All 3 points hit. Gargoyle goes down from a single shot. He butchers the two orcs, then, but is down to 3 Body points. He starts chasing the goblin. The goblin keeps moving to just in range, then shooting him. He's down to 1 Body point after a couple times... and decides to cut and run. He's done what he's set out to do, and now has a grudge against a goblin. I'm thinking I'll make the goblin a recurring enemy... give him some armor and better weapons, maybe some more body points and warlock spells (the warlock escape spell is awesome for an ongoing antagonist).The Cranky Gamer
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*Picard management tip: Debate honestly. The goal is to arrive at the truth, not at your preconception.
*Mutant Dawn for Savage Worlds!
*The One Deck Engine: Gaming on a budget
Written by Me on DriveThru RPG
There are almost 400,000 threads on this site. If you need me to address a thread as a moderator, include a link.
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2022-01-31, 12:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2015
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- Eberron
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2022-02-01, 05:36 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2009
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- In my library
Re: HeroQuest
It's still going to take at least two weeks for my copy to arrive, more likely a month what I get for not preordering I guess.
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2022-02-17, 09:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2009
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- Perth, West Australia
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Re: HeroQuest
I am proud to say that for once my hoarding habit paid off. At least for 1 session.
I had the original HeroQuest in my early 20s, and its two expansions Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witchlord. Kept it over the full 20-30 years that followed, through jobs, courtship, marriage, and kids ... and I finally decided to execute my evil plan, dusted the box off and introduced it to 11yo son and 14yo daughter. Rush of memories came back as I brought out the pieces I'd hand-painted near on 30 years ago (only had patience to do the four PCs).
Bear in mind I had the UK version which gave all the monsters 1 Body point each, making them nowhere near survivable enough. Son took OG barbarian for high attack roll, daughter took OG mage Because Magic.
Even as we were playing the appeal, for me at least, was still there. The kids picked it up pretty quickly. With only 2 players on the unchanged first dungeon, the game balance and seeming intent to drain out the wizard just ahead of the final battle worked pretty well, it would've been an easy match with 4, but it was challenging enough with 2.
Because it was really, really simple combat I houseruled in that you get to roll an extra attack dice if you're hitting an enemy from behind. The original intent was to knock a body point or two off the kids. This backfired ... dreadfully ... as my son's experience with videogames and math ability meant he immediately optimised the use of his barbarian and started running in behind enemies to Conan smash every one of them from behind. Four attack dice when you've got one body point just isn't sustainable, the US version had more variation in body points and that certainly plays out as better on my experience.
But I also credit my kids' coordination at the end. Gargoyle was shielded by a wall and two chaos warriors. They'd burned pretty well all their heals and were down to about a quarter of full body points. But daughter had held back a 'pass through walls' spell, cast it on the barbarian, and my son floated right through the opposition with his move action, rolled his dice ... and took out the gargoyle in one hit. Quest over. They were happy ... but they didn't want to play again mainly because it "takes too long", i.e. about 90 minutes all up for 1 mission, albeit that was because they explored every room.
HeroQuest is really solid as a very simple tactical combat introduction. Not too strong on the narrative as you'd expect, though some of the memory aids -- empty doorways replace closed doorways so you know where you've explored -- are intriguing and really help. Past about age 10, though, it dearly needs some combination of houserules, complexity, wandering monster/reinforcement mechanic, or tougher opponents to make it a real challenge. What it could really use is a time mechanism or other countdown of some kind, because without that the whole "you can only move, search for treasure, or search for traps in 1 turn" is kind of pointless. But if you want your kids to feel bad@$$ without having to absorb a full 3.5 or 5e ruleset, this game's good for that. And good for nostalgia, I can personally vouch.Last edited by Saintheart; 2022-02-17 at 09:21 PM.
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2022-02-18, 07:22 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
- Location
- In my library
Re: HeroQuest
My copy has arrived! Now it's just time to wait until friends are down and I can inflict it on them!
Mostly liking the minis, although I'd have preferred heroic scale. Apart from the orcs, they just look wrong.