HeroQuest (board game)

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This article is about the board game by Milton Bradley. For the roleplaying game HeroQuest see HeroQuest (role-playing game). For other uses see HeroQuest.

HeroQuest, sometimes also written as Hero Quest, is an adventure board game created by Milton Bradley in conjunction with the British company Games Workshop and set in the latter's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe. The game was based loosely around archetypes of fantasy role-playing games: the game itself was actually a game system, allowing the gamemaster (called "Zargon" in the US, "Morcar" in the UK) to create dungeons of his or her own design using the provided game board, tiles, furnishings and monsters. Several expansions were released, each adding new tiles, artifacts and new monsters to the core system. Because of the ease of play of the game (a full dungeon can be explored and beaten in as little as an hour, compared to five or longer for a full-blown role-playing game) and its vivid detail work, it is fondly remembered in gamer circles (much like Talisman also by Games Workshop) and copies of it are jealously hoarded. Copies routinely go on eBay for double or more of the original $19.99 selling price.

Contents 1 Original Game 2 Characters 2.1 Barbarian 2.2 Dwarf 2.3 Elf 2.4 Wizard 3 Spells 4 Game setup 5 Player turn 5.1 Movement 5.2 Combat 5.3 Spell casting 5.4 Searching for pit traps and trapdoors 5.5 Searching for treasure 6 Game end 7 White Dwarf Magazine Articles 8 Expansion packs 9 Computer Game Version 10 Other Merchandise 10.1 Novels 10.2 Jigsaws 11 Advanced HeroQuest 12 See also 13 External links

[edit] Original Game

HeroQuest was created by Stephen Baker, who worked for the UK division of Milton Bradley (MB). HeroQuest was released in England, Europe and Australia around 1989. It was released in North America in 1990 in a slightly different version. In 1992, HeroQuest won the Origins Award for Best Graphic Presentation of a Boardgame of 1991.

The game consisted of a board and a number of individual miniatures and items. The protagonists were 4 heroes ("Barbarian", "Dwarf", "Elf" and "Wizard") who faced a selection of monsters Orcs, Goblins, Fimir, Chaos Warriors and a Warlock, a Gargoyle and a number of Undead - skeletons, zombies and mummies.

[edit] Characters

The four player characters offer a choice of more combat-oriented, or magic-oriented gameplay.

[edit] Barbarian

The barbarian is depicted as being tall and muscular, brandishing a broadsword. He is the strongest character in combat, benefiting from excellent attack and moderately good defence, but lacks any magical abilities. He has the most amount of body points so can withstand a lot of injury.

[edit] Dwarf

The dwarf is short, stocky and well armoured, carrying a battle axe. He is very good in defence, but lacks the attack strength of the barbarian and has no magical abilities. The dwarf also has the unique ability of being able to disarm traps. He has slightly fewer body points than the barbarian.

[edit] Elf

The elf is tall and slender, armed with a short one-handed sword. He is equal in attack strength to the dwarf, but is able to use one kind of elemental spell - air, earth, fire, or water magic. He has still fewer body points than the dwarf.

[edit] Wizard

The wizard wears a full-length cloak and carries a staff. In combat, he is the weakest in attack, but compensates for this by being able to use three kinds of spells, for a total of nine spells. Has has very few body points so can be easily killed in combat.

[edit] Spells

Both the wizard and elf characters can cast spells, which are separated into four groups of three.

Spells

Air spells Genie Swift wind Tempest

Earth spells Heal body Pass through rock Rock skin

Fire spells Ball of flame Courage Fire of wrath

Water spells Sleep Veil of mist Water of healing

[edit] Game setup

The game is played on a grid representing the interior of a dungeon or castle, with walls segmenting the grid into rooms and corridors. One player assumes the role of the evil wizard character (Zargon/Morcar), and uses a map taken from the game's quest book to determine how the quest is to be played. The map details the placement of monsters, artifacts, and doors, as well as the overall quest the other players are embarking upon. Quests vary and include scenarios such as escaping a dungeon, killing a particular character, or obtaining an artifact. The evil wizard first places the entry point on the map - usually a spiral staircase which the other players must ascend, although on some quests the players enter via an external door or begin in a specific room. The map may also specify a wandering monster. This is a monster that may enter the game if a player is unlucky while searching for treasure..

The remaining players select their character from the four available. If the wizard is chosen while the Elf is not then the wizard player may choose any three spell sets. If the Elf is chosen while the wizard is not then the Elf may choose any spell set. If both the wizard and Elf are chosen then the wizard chooses a spell set first, then the Elf chooses a set and the wizard gets the remaining two sets. The players may also start the quest with items collected on previous quests, such as extra weapons, armour, and magic items.

The game begins with the evil wizard reading the quest story, to set the scene for the game about to be played. Starting with the player to the left of the evil wizard, the game begins.

[edit] Player turn

Turns comprise two actions, which may be performed in either order. The player can choose to move, attack, search for traps, or search for treasure.

[edit] Movement

Players roll two standard dice and may then move up to that number of squares. Players may move over a square occupied by another player if the occupying player grants permission, but may not occupy the same square. Doors, monsters and other objects are placed on the board by the evil wizard player according to line of sight. Once placed on the board they are not removed unless killed, thereby providing a steady stream of monsters for the evil wizard player to utilise.

[edit] Combat

Combat involves special dice bearing skulls and shields. The character players and the evil wizard player use two different sets - the evil set containing more skulls. The number of dice used is determined by the basic statistics of the player or monster, whether they are attacking or defending, plus any modifiers due to spells or items being carried.

The attacker attempts to roll as many skulls as possible, and the defender as many shields as possible. If the attacker rolls more skulls than the defender rolls shields, the defender loses body points according to how many skulls they failed to defend. If, however, the defender rolls more shields than the attacker rolls skulls, the attacker loses body points in the same way. If either character's body point count falls to zero, they are killed and removed from the game. All monsters have just 1 body point.

[edit] Spell casting

Spells can be cast by the elf and wizard characters, and some special monsters played by the evil wizard. Spells can be broadly split into offensive, defensive and passive varieties, and their use and effect varies greatly. Some must be played immediately before attacking or defending.

[edit] Searching for pit traps and trapdoors

There are three kinds of traps in HeroQuest - pit traps, spear traps, and occasionally falling rocks. Of these, only pit traps appear on the board as the others are used only once. If a pit trap is not discovered and a player walks over it, they fall in and lose one body point. A quest may also contain trapdoors which allow alternative routes to the objective or access to secret rooms containing treasure or monsters.

A player can only search for pit traps and trapdoors in the room or corridor they are currently standing, and only if there are no monsters within the room or corridor. When this happens, the evil wizard character places pit trap and trapdoor objects on the map. This allows players to move over pit traps without falling in.

The dwarf character can disarm pit traps, and although they do not appear on the board, spear traps as well.

[edit] Searching for treasure

In a similar manner, players can search a room or corridor for treasure if no monsters are in the vicinity. On some quests, searching for treasure in certain rooms and corridors will yield a particularly valuable artifact. More likely, however, the quest will not have specified any treasure for the current location and instead a treasure card is taken. Treasure cards are generally good, containing useful or valuable items, but they may also trigger traps or cause monsters to attack.

[edit] Game end

The game ends when every player has exited the board, or has been killed by the evil wizard. If the objective of the quest has not been accomplished then the evil wizard character wins. Items collected during the quest may be kept for future quests. The quests usually form part of a longer story, especially the quests which are part of the expansion packs.

[edit] White Dwarf Magazine Articles

• White Dwarf 134 Contained a scenario for HeroQuest, 'The Halls of Durrag-Dol'. This scenario introduced Skaven hordes.
• White Dwarf 145 Contained a scenario for HeroQuest, 'The Eyes of Chaos'.

[edit] Expansion packs

• Kellar's Keep

Released in Europe and Australia in 1989, America & Canada in 1991. Kellar's Keep added new quests, new items and spells and a further batch of monster figures - more Orcs, Goblins and Fimir.

• Return of the Witch Lord

Released in Europe and Australia in 1989, America & Canada in 1991, the Witch Lord extended the undead with more skeletons, mummies and zombies.

• Against the Ogre Horde

Released only in Europe & Australia in 1990 it included more powerful monsters: one each of an Ogre Lord, Ogre Chieftain and Ogre Champion with 4 Ogre Warriors

• Wizards of Morcar

Released only in Europe & Australia in 1991, Wizards was a large expansion set with many new cards and a further 16 plastic figures (Evil Sorcerers, High Mage, Necromancer, Orc Shaman and Storm Master making up the wizards and a dozen "Men-at-Arms"

• The Frozen Horror

Was released only in America & Canada in 1992. The figures included a lone "Female Barbarian", Mercenaries, Ice Gremlins, Polar Warbears and a pair of yeti as well as the "Frozen horror" of the title. The additional tiles and effects all had an ice and snow theme.

• The Magic of the Mirror

Released only in America & Canada in 1992 delivered a Elven theme: Female Elf, Elven Archmage and Elf warriors against Giant Wolves and Ogres.

• The Dark Company

Released only in Europe, was the base game with 13 new quests that made up the "The Dark Company" with 12 Men-at-Arms figures

• HeroQuest Adventure Design Kit

Released only in Europe in 1990, this expansion kit contained items to help HeroQuest players design their own quests:

• Adventure Design Booklet

4 sheets of adhesive labels (monsters & furniture) with an 80-page pad of a new design, larger character sheet

[edit] Computer Game Version

A computer game adaptation was also released in 1991, forcing Sierra On-Line to rename their Hero's Quest series to Quest for Glory.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Other Merchandise

[edit] Novels

At least 3 HeroQuest Novels have been published:

• The Fellowship of the Four
• The Screaming Spectre
• The Tyrant's Tomb

[edit] Jigsaws

• HeroQuest Puzzle: "Adventure Design Kit"
• HeroQuest Puzzle: "Kellar's Keep"
• HeroQuest Puzzle: "Ogre Horde"
• HeroQuest Puzzle: "Return of the Witch Lord"

[edit] Advanced HeroQuest

Advanced HeroQuest was a revised and expanded version of the HeroQuest game. The basic concept is the same: four heroes venture into a dungeon to fight monsters and gain treasure, but the rules are more detailed and complex.

[edit] See also

• Warhammer Quest is another similar type of game by Games Workshop developed and issued in 1995 after Advanced HeroQuest had gone out of print.
• Descent: Journeys in the Dark (2004, Fantasy Flight Games)
• Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Adventure Boardgame (2002, Hasbro)
• Space Crusade (1990, Milton Bradley/Games Workshop)

[edit] External links

• US Instruction Booklet from Hasbro
• US Quest Book from Hasbro
• Dewayne Agin's HeroQuest Site
• The HeroQuest Resources Site
• The Ferret’s HeroQuest Home Page
• Old Scratch's HeroQuest forum
• BoardGameGeek reviews and pictures of:
  • Advanced Heroquest (1989)
  • Advanced Heroquest - Terror In The Dark (1991)
  • HeroQuest (1989)
  • HeroQuest - Adventure Design Kit (1990)
  • HeroQuest - Against the Ogre Horde (1993) or Heroquest - L'orda degli Ogre
  • HeroQuest - Barbarian Quest Pack (1992)
  • HeroQuest - Dungeons of Peril (2002)
  • HeroQuest - Elf Quest Pack (1992)
  • HeroQuest - Kellar's Keep (1991) or Heroquest - La rocca di Kellar
  • HeroQuest - Return of the Witch Lord (1991)
  • HeroQuest - Wizards of Morcar (1993)
• HeroQuest on the Gamster's site
• HeroScribe's HomePage
• HeroQuest.ES English Section