Clairvoyance

[Daedalus]

I agree with Wallydubs that traps (including magical ones for a Wizard) should be included as contents for purposes of the Clairvoyance spell, and rock areas don't count for the searched room. I also agree with Sotaris that secret doors should also be discovered. I'll go further and argue Quest treasure should also be revealed as contents. If Borin's Armour is part of the Quest notes of the chosen room, why not? It's there, isn't it?

For that matter, if there isn't any Quest treasure present, whatever is found and revealed by a treasure card could also count as contents. If the card indicates weal like coins, well, that spends the same as gold coins from a treasure chest. If it shows woe such as a hidden arrow, that's still as tangible as a spear trap; a wandering monster will attack same as any other, so the evil wizard player places it.

If the drawn treasure card turns out to be useful treasure, the card should be placed at the side of the gameboard to be claimed by the Wizard* after the room is free of monsters (he already searched with the spell.) However, if the Wizard* isn't in the room, the standard search rule for treasure applies and another character player can take it.

[If the treasure card drawn is instead potentially harmful (Hazard, Magical Trap or Poison), the Elf or Wizard avoids the effect due to his foreknowledge. The exception is a Wandering Monster, which the evil wizard player places anywhere in the targeted room. Either way, the card is shuffled back into the deck as usual.-edit]

_* Wizard or Elf, whoever chose the Detection spells

[wallydubbs]

I agree with Wallydubs that traps (including magical ones for a Wizard) should be included as contents for purposes of the Clairvoyance spell, and rock areas don't count for the searched room. I also agree with Sotaris that secret doors should also be discovered. I'll go further and argue Quest treasure should also be revealed as contents. If Borin's Armour is part of the Quest notes of the chosen room, why not? It's there, isn't it?

For that matter, if there isn't any Quest treasure present, whatever is found and revealed by a treasure card could also count as contents. If the card indicates weal like coins, well, that spends the same as gold coins from a treasure chest. If it shows woe such as a hidden arrow, that's still as tangible as a spear trap; a wandering monster will attack same as any other, so the evil Wizard* player places it.

If the drawn treasure card turns out to be useful treasure, the card should be placed at the side of the gameboard to be claimed by the Wizard* after the room is free of monsters (he already searched with the spell.) However, if the Wizard* isn't in the room, the standard search rule for treasure applies and another character player can take it.

_* Wizard or Elf, whoever chose the Detection spells

Thanks Daedsalus, those are some pretty useful insights. I was thinking about doing such with quest treasures or treasure cards. But in regards to treasure cards when it comes to Wandering Monsters, Hazard, Magical Trap or Poison cards, would you suggest that the Wizard simply peeks at the next treasure card (that card is now designated specifically for that room) and the heroes have the choice to "search for treasure" or not. So by choosing not to search, no trap is sprung and no poison is found, but what of the Wandering Monster? Were saying to just add a monster(s) into the room, attack the Wizard (or Elf) now, or leave it as an optional card draw?

[Daedalus]

Looks like I failed to finish the post, so I'll edit this in at the end:

If the treasure card drawn is instead potentially harmful (Hazard, Magical Trap or Poison), the Elf or Wizard avoids the effect due to his foreknowledge. The exception is a Wandering Monster, which the evil wizard player places anywhere in the targeted room. Either way, the card is shuffled back into the deck as usual.

Kinda ends up working like Treasure Without Doom scroll, plus it finds traps and secret doors. Wow, this spell rocks!

[Jalapenotrellis]

Most of the time Spells of Detection won't get picked and it's partially due to this card. They can always open the door themselves and find out.

The card does not specify it, so I don't think it would be breaking any rules by adding the little bonus of pointing out traps in the room the hero picks. The spell says that Morcar (or Zargon) would lay out the contents of the room, I think a trap should count... it would make the spell slightly more effective.

So, in my group, this card might be used. The difference between it and Air Spell: Genie (open a door anywhere on the board), is that it doesn't open the door. Morcar doesn't get to activate any of the monsters.

Historically, the big bad evil guy is in the middle room. They could get it laid out and decide how to position or strategize to get the jump. This could entail the wizard casting Pass Through Rock, Veil of Mist, or Invisibility (or the Elf helping) to make sure everyone gets to surround the bad guy before he gets a chance to summon minions (let's face it, that's how the spell casters work in this game--they die fast if they do not get behind some bodies).

So, if the player uses this spell, they will get, essentially, HeroQuests's version of D&D's surprise attack. On a later turn, they can get 3 tactical movement spells in play to basically screw the big bad evil guy.

Not that my players would use this. They still think it is a good idea to store Genie in their Spell ring, as many times as that 5 attack die has rolled 1 or no skulls or actually been blocked. There are so many good spells to store in the Spell Ring! (honestly, I don't think this one is one of them though).

[Jalapenotrellis]

I can confirm that my group chose Clairvoyance on their first introduction to the new spells:
Wizard: Air Spells, Spells of Darkness, Spells of Detection
Elf: Water Spells

The Clairvoyance was used to see the final boss room immediately, which allowed them positioning and preparation for laying out an attack before I could activate. They went in and killed the High Mage before he was able to get a spell off. It's an incredibly powerful spell for that reason alone. Alternatively, if they open the door, the Wizard gets turns to activate and protect himself.

The ways the boss rooms are laid out, it is possible to do this for quests 1-4--plan a burst attack strategy. I wanted to reward them for using these spells, but it really killed a lot of the content (no spell casting by me, bee-lining to the boss, burst damage).

Of note, Arrows of the Night is really good against undead who cannot defend against it with no mind points.

[wallydubbs]

I think, due to the upgrades I gave this spell (spotting traps, quest treasures, etc.) the wizard of my group highly favors the Spells of Detection.
It's a lot more interesting seeing the Wizard pick his spells with the extra WoM/WoZ spells to utilize. He used to pick Earth and Fire spells as his "go to game", but the Clairvoyance spell really comes in handy and you can see the apprehension on his face when he plays Treasure Horde (it's risky yet exciting, so it's all in good fun). So now Earth and Detection are his two favorite. For his 3rd spell he usually listens to the Quest Intro first to give him some type of clue as to what the quest will pertain to and decides from there. If he knows he's up against an Evil spell caster he commonly picks Spells of Protection, he'll utilize that Dispell; If there's undead, they can't defend against Arrows of the Night; need to rescue a hostage? Hide him in the Cloak of Shadows if things get rough; Giant Wolves? Never leave home without Sleep and Water of Healing!