Quest 8 (Forbidden City/Caverns) - EU vs NA differences

[Zenithfleet]

Its not like the game is difficult to learn, but for a large number of people they just never experienced anything like it before.

Yep. Even for the simpler EU version, the 2nd edition reorganised the rulebook into the 'introductory game' and 'full game'. I imagine there was some feedback that players of the 1st edition were finding it hard to get their heads around the concept and needed the rules to be introduced more gradually. In the 2nd edition, you start off learning to move, fight and put things out on the board--only six and a half pages of rules. The start of the booklet reassures you that you only need to read the first few pages before you can play your first game "without having to cope with all the rules". You then play 'The Trial', without any searching, trap or spell-casting rules. Only after dying horribly in that quest should you proceed to the 'full game' rules.

I actually did learn the game this way, instead of just reading the whole thing right away, because I was the sort of Lego Movie kid that diligently followed rulebook instructions.

The first thing I had trouble with was the idea you only put the furniture and monsters out gradually instead of setting it all up at the start. The second thing I struggled with was the concept of searching--somehow checking a whole room or passage without moving your figure. That kind of abstraction was hard to get a handle on at that age.

The American rulebook is more verbose, though, and more daunting than the terse, boardgame-style writing of the EU version. It's always struck me as aimed at a slightly older audience.

But I suspect the current '14 and up' may have more to do with safety regulations than the actual complexity. I'm not really sure HQ is in-depth enough for teenagers. For 14-year-olds, something like Warhammer or Advanced D&D might be more appealing. You're at the age when detailed, complicated rules with lots of fiddly exceptions are irresistible (especially for showing off) and you want to get away from 'childish' things.

Then you grow up, learn to see the forest instead of focusing on each individual tree, and rediscover the virtues of simple, easy-to-remember rules.

[Daedalus]

. . . by the way, my phone does not want to open the pdfs of the quest books on this site. They just will not load. The pdfs for all the cards load fine, just not the books. Is there another source to see the EU versions? I want to explore more of the nuances of the EU versions

I'm not sure why you have downloading problems with the Quest Books. I'd recommend trying http://heroquest.no-ip.com/ for an alternate source of EU and NA books.

[Onan]

And now that I've had my rant about the superiority of the EU quest, you can all tell me why I'm wrong.

You are absolutely right! Thanks a lot for this clarification!

I also thought that the missing blocked square is a mistake, but in fact that's how it works. It's the same kind of runaway mission as Hall of Dwarven Kings. Just get out of that damned place! But wait, maybe we have time for some looting...

The last time in a group Zargon stopped the flood of monsters after a while to make it playable. Yesterday I played it by myself with fresh heroes to check if it works at all. With the blocked square the fresh heroes have no chance to hack and slash their way through. But without it, it's a gem of a mission!

Here is my solo playthrough with naive hero behavior:

At first the heroes spread to the North and East. They quickly found the exit door, but the Elf wanted to know what is in room B (whose closed door was visible right from the start), so he passed through rock into it and got the big reward. The dwarf hoped to reach the treasure chest in the South-West, but had to give up because of the respawning undead. He sealed off the undead by staying right behind the pit trap.

The wizard cast Sleep on a skeleton, blocking the horde from the north.

forbiddencity.JPG

The elf thought he could quickly check the room to the South-East. The wizard warned him that he would only play the door stopper until the skeleton wakes up. The skeleton woke up, and 2 bad dice rolls later the wizard was dead. The barbarian (who was blocking the South-East respawn square) tried to fight his way to the door to block the respawn square, but he also died.

forbiddencity2.JPG

The dwarf and elf had to cut their way through 1 square at a time. A thrilling finale, but only the elf got through.

forbiddencity3.JPG

Cutting my way through the undead was fun, but only because it was right at the exit door. With the blocked square I was far in the West when the cutting started.

Just a quick remark here, as I don't really want to enter the discussion: for whatever reason, the German edition does not contain the second sentence saying that these initially open doors are placed onto the board at the beginning.

Yes, I also have the German booklet. So this was the first time I played this mission as intented. The rule is unclear though:
- Why do you only reveal the rooms and not the corridors?
- Are you allowed to spawn undead in an unrevealed corridor?
- Will the corridor be revealed when an undead spawns there?

[The Admiral]

The wizard cast Sleep on a skeleton, blocking the horde from the north.

You can't cast sleep on a Skeleton. And how would it wake up as it has 0 Mind Points and therefore can't roll any dice?

[Onan]

You can't cast sleep on a Skeleton. And how would it wake up as it has 0 Mind Points and therefore can't roll any dice?

I'm using the EU Spells:

This spell will put one monster or player to sleep. They may try to defend themselves by rolling one die per Mind point. If they manage to roll a shield they are unaffected. Once put to sleep they must roll a six at the start of their turn before they can move again.

No restrictions on undead. This is one of the best spells in RotWL. I don't know why the US edition nerfed it.

Waking up is like Pachisi. Roll a 6 on a single die to wake up, no matter your MP.