• Credits
  
• Updates
  
• Introduction
  
• General Questions
  
• Specific Rule Questions
• Disclaimer
  

Enjoy!

What is HeroQuest?

HeroQuest (HQ) is a fantasy boardgame. Players take on the role of one of four Heroes: the Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf, or Wizard. Another player takes the role of Zargon/Morcar, the Game Master, who controls the forces of Chaos that the Heroes face in hidden stone labyrinths of underground rooms or corridors. Game play is simple, and allows the players to play as a straight board game or to incorporate Role Playing. A typical session, or Quest, lasts between one to two hours.

Who designed HQ?

HQ was originally designed by Steve Baker, who worked for MB UK at the time. He was also responsible for the design of MB's Space Crusade. Much of the artwork for the game, along with the figure sculpting, was done by Games Workshop

What differences are there in the UK (1989) and the US (1991) versions of HQ?

HQ was first released in 1989 in the UK. The initial release contained cards for every item that could be purchased from the Armory, plus each monster had only one Body Point. The Heroes' adversary was named Morcar. The US version released in 1991 had a cardboard box insert with the Armory listing, and monsters had different Body Point statistics. The adversary in the second release was named Zargaon. Except for the first quest, the quests contained in the UK and US versions were basically the same.

The first quest in the UK edition is The Maze. Each Hero starts in one of the corners of the board, and must find the stairs. The first Hero to find the stairs gains 100 gold coins. The first quest in the US edition is The Trial. The Heroes start together, and must find and destroy the Gargoyle Verag.

What is Advanced HeroQuest?

Advanced HeroQuest was produced solely by Games Workshop. It is considerably different from its Milton Bradley counterpart. The rules are much more complex and detailed. The game has been out of production since 1992.

Is HQ still produced?

Milton Bradley is no longer producing HQ. Carl Forhan mailed them a letter in August 1994 inquiring about this, and also on the availability of the remaining HQ inventory. He received a 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.

How can I reach Milton Bradley?

Here's the US address for Milton Bradley:

Milton Bradley Company
443 Shaker Road
East Longmeadow, MA  01028-5247
Phone: (413) 525-6411

Email: mbconsumer@hasbro.com

Web:   http://www.hasbro.com/
       (MB's parent company)

Where can I find HeroQuest?

Since HQ and all the accompanying Quest Packs are out-of-print (OOP), you can only rarely find them in stores these days. Check flea markets and garage sales, or the Rare/OOP section in your local game store. Online, HQ can be found at online auctions like eBay, and can be found for sale on several of the newsgroups (go to Google's Advanced Group Search page to look for recent postings for HQ). A good idea when searching either an online auction or newsgroup is to look for 'heroquest' (one word) and 'hero quest' (two words) as the game gets posted both ways.

What supplements (Quest Packs) were made?

There were two Quest Packs released in both the US and Europe:

• Kellar's Keep
  
• Return of the Witch Lord

Two Quest Packs were released only in the US:

• Elf Quest Pack (with the quest booklet "The Mage of the Mirrors")
  
• Barbarian Quest Pack (with the quest booklet "The Frozen Horror")
  

Three Quest Packs were released only in Europe, each in several languages:

• Wizards of Morcar
  
• Against the Ogre Horde
  
• HeroQuest Masters Edition contained the quest The Dark Company
  
  
• In addition the Adventure Design Kit was released in Europe. This is not an actual Quest Pack, but a kit to use in designing your own quests.
  

Three HeroQuest books were released in the UK. Two of these contained single level, solo quests:

• The Tyrant's Tomb by Dave Morris, contained the quest A Growl Of Thunder, a solo quest for the Barbarian.
  
• The Screaming Spectre by Dave Morris, contained the quest Running the Gauntlet, a solo quest for the Wizard.

A HeroQuest Comic Book was released in Great Britain in 1991. This contained articles describing the Heroes and Monsters of the game, painting your miniatures, a Quest called Revenge of the Weatherman, a comic strip adventure, HeroQuest merchandise, and some new tiles.

What order should the quests be played in?

The quest packs themselves contain hints as to the order of some of the quests should be played in. After the basic quest book, there is a page detailing how the Emperor was trapped in Karak Varn (Kellar's Keep). In Against the Ogre Horde, Morcar (Zargon) laments his failures in Kellar's Keep and with his ally the Witch Lord. In the same quest pack he sends out his Chaos Warlock Festral, who returns home in Wizard's of Morcar in failure. Using these clues these quest packs should be played in this order:

1) Basic Game Quests
2) Kellar's Keep
3) Return of the Witch Lord
4) Against the Ogre Horde
5) Wizard's of Morcar

There are no other clues as to where The Frozen Horror, Mage of the Mirrors, or Back Company fit into the list. I would suggest playing them after the first 5 quests. Any other ideas?

What other sources of HQ supplements are available?

Two quests were published in White Dwarf Magazine, published by Games Workshop.

• White Dwarf #134 - The Halls of Durrag-Dol
  
• White Dwarf #145 - The Eyes of Chaos

Adventures Unlimited published one article in issue #5, The Inns Of Chaos.

Vindicator published several HQ articles:

• Vindicator Volume 1, #2 - Review: Quest Pack for the Elf and HeroQuest Hall of Foes I
  
• Vindicator Volume 1, #3 - Review: Barbarian Quest Pack and HeroQuest Hall of Foes II
  
• Vindicator Volume 1, #4 - HeroQuest Variants
  
• Vindicator Volume 1, #5a - The Rogue
  
• Vindicator Volume 2, #3 - HeroQuest Treasure Cards

Fractal Spectrum published these two articles:

• FS #13 - HeroQuest: A Notch Above
  
• FS #17 - HeroQuest Hall of Foes III

Note that the articles from Vindicator and Fractal Spectrum have been reprinted in the Alchemist's Bench.

What information is available on the Internet for HQ?

There are many new Quests, Board Overlays, Monsters, Heroes, and Rules that can be downloaded from the many HQ pages that are on the Internet.

• I have a large collection of HQ links on my Link Page.
  
• There is also a free HQ email newsletter, the Alchemist's Bench being published.

What other games have components such as figures or boards that might be compatible with HQ?

Title	Publisher
Advanced HeroQuest	Games Workshop
Warhammer Quest	Games Workshop
Dragonfire	Heartbreaker Hobbies
Dark World	Mattel
BattleMasters	Milton Bradley
Lionheart	Parker Brothers
DragonStrike	TSR

Note that all of these games are out of print.

Do you have any suggestions for improving HQ?

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 to confuse or entertain the players.

• You can design Quests around a plots or themes. 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!

HeroQuest game system

SPELL CANCELLATION

How does one handle multiple (and possibly conflicting) spells cast on the same character? For instance Zargon casts Fear (reduce to 1 attack die) on the Elf who's normal roll is 2 attack dice. The Elf then casts Courage (+2 attack dice) on himself. How many attack dice does the Elf roll?

The spell effects should be applied in the order they occur. So in the above example, the Elf would have 3 attack dice. No matter what weapon he is using, he is reduced to 1 attack die because of the Fear. The Courage spell then adds 2 attack dice to this number. If the Courage spell is broken (either by losing sight of a monster or by using the 1 attack that it is good for) then Fear is the only spell in effect and the Elf is reduced to 1 die. If the Fear is broken first, the Elf can roll 4 attack dice (2 + 2 for Courage).

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
        |___|/_\|
            |   |
            |   |
            |___|

In the basic rules, a pit may be jumped if the Hero has 2 movement squares left. He moves into any of the Adjacent squares beyond the pit (see the rulebook section JUMPING A TRAP). In this instance, the only adjacent square is diagonal, so it is the only pit that the Hero may land on.

UNARMED COMBAT

What happens if a Hero's weapon is destroyed with the Rust Spell? How do they fight?

In HeroQuest, the Heroes roll attack dice depending on the weapon they are using. The rules make no mention of fighting without weapons, yet the possiblity does exist. In the Quest #6, "Legacy of the Orc Warlord", it states that an unarmed Hero rolls 1 attack die. Since this is the same as a Hero armed with a dagger, I let the Heroes roll "Unarmed Combat Dice" to attack unarmed. The Hero must roll a Black Shield to hit. They may roll this many dice:

Barbarian			4
Dwarf			3
Elf			2
Wizard			1

Kellar's Keep

Return of the Witch Lord

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Elf Quest Pack

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?

No, Rabbit Boots (an artifact gained in the Return of the Witch Lord) behave the same regardless of the size of the pit.

JUMPING LONG PITS WITH A POTION OF DEXTERITY

Does the Potion of Dexterity really guarantee a long pit jump?

Yes.

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Barbarian Quest Pack

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.

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. However, many things don't count as an action, only those things specifically listed on the Hero cards and rulebook. You could allow the Gremlin to use his remaining movement points in the escape.

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.

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 of the group to think twice before wildly attacking. :) One suggestion would be to allow the Hero to roll his/her normal attack dice at the start of each turn. If 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, however).

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Section 6: Disclaimer

HeroQuest is a trademark of Milton Bradley. Advanced HeroQuest is a trademark of Games Workshop. The use of these is not intended to challenge their respective copyrights. This document is not specifically approved by Milton Bradley or Games Workshop.

Written by Carl Forhan and Dewayne Agin
This article is copyright 1995-1998 by Carl Forhan, and 1999-2000 by Dewayne Agin, and may not be reproduced in any form without permission by the author, except for personal use or redistribution through normal Usenet channels and if no fee is charged for such use.
Comments or corrections?