The Wizard and game play questions

[Count Mohawk]

I think the extra function came from you. Or was it Slev?

Probably Slev. The innovations that are unique from me are the HQModern font, the Expanded Spellbook and anything I use for AlterQuest.
Just about everything else comes from Slev - which makes sense, as I used his 2012-edition HQRevised as the baseline on which to build my additional mods.

Although, I have also playtested or personally critiqued most of Slev's newer content as well...

[wallydubbs]

The vanilla Wizard is a terribly underpowered scrub.

A note on Courage ... This means the wizard would have to move in and cast the spell so it can kick in by the next turn. In hero Quest there isn't usually a second-round or third or fourth. Not usually. On that same example if the wizard goes first and opens the door it means he is standing in front of the door and that means the other Heroes are either next to him or in positions where they can't see into the room very well. The wizard would have to be careful who he casts the spell on because it's possible to cast it on a hero who cannot see a Monster meaning it'd break immediately. A clever EW can move monsters accordingly to step out of that heroes line of sight briefly resulting in the spell breaking immediately, only to come back with the remainder of his move and face the hero without his Courage spell.

Rock Skin is another spell that got an unnecessary nerf. 1 combat die to defend isn't saving anyone anytime soon if it disappears after 1 point of damage. This spell isn't worth the trouble of saving then burning an action to cast. Problem is, it usually isn't worth casting in advance either because heroquest has ways of inflicting a point of damage on you here and there whether it's from a trap or something else.

Do you play the European version, because I have to disagree with you, respectfully though. Heroes will often flop on an attack, depending on what point you are in the game, so battle sequence can always last a few rounds. If you consider the Battle Axe being the maximum attack (4 Attack Dice), it's still possible to flop... or at least roll 1 skull and the monster block, or have additional body points.
In the early quests, such as The Trial or the final room in Prince Magnus' Gold, Courage is extremely valuable, as there are plenty of monsters and the heroes attack dice is still low enough to fail, this spell certainly has potential to last a few rounds, allowing the heroes to clear out the monsters in just a few turns.

Also, experienced players will find a way to milk the Courage spell for all that it's worth:
In the Trial, the Wizard cast Courage on the Barbarian when he encountered the Mummy and 2 Zombies guarding Fellmarg's Tomb. When the Barbarian was down to 1 Zombie, the Elf ran in and opened up the next door into Fellmarg's Tomb, revealing more undead, allowing the Barbarian to utilize Courage longer.

Line of Sight is strictly meant to give this spell duration. Zargon or Morcar gets the final say on Line of Sight, if the Wizard opens the door, sees monsters and casts Courage on the Barbarian, who is behind him, it's not reasonable that the Barbarian is taller and can see over the Wizard's shoulder. I wouldn't blame the evil wizard to judge the Dwarf too short to see past him; but the Evil Wizard has to give some sort of leeway. It's not the Evil Wizard's job to win, but make the quests challenging for the heroes.

Also with Courage, the monsters should actually play the part: Undead, when facing a hero with Courage wouldn't run out of their line of sight, they're undead, they're going to attack the first thing living. Regardless of how brave he is.
When I was playing Legacy of the Orc Warlord with my crew this Barbarian was killed by an orc after Grak used a sleep spell on him. This left the Wizard, Elf and Dwarf against Grak, 2 orcs and a goblin. The Wizard cast Courage on the Dwarf as a battle ensued in the hallway. The Dwarf took out 2 orcs while the Elf defeated the last goblin. Grak was still alive though; since he was the main boss, more clever then all the underlings and had knowledge of magic, I had him run out of line of sight, ending the spell. The heroes thought that was cheap, but what do you expect from the main boss?

Rock skin is more like a 50/50 shot. I've seen it fail on the first defense, but I've also seen it last an entire quest. The Wizard cast it on the Barbarian in the Rescue of Sir Ragnar and it lasted all the way to the end (the heroes did clear out all northern rooms before finding Ragnar, though. It may last a few turns, or die on first defence. But in later quests, it could make a hero untouchable. But when the hero has a helmet, shield, chainmail and Rock Skin, that's 6 defense dice. It'll be hard for an attack to break that (unless you roll all skulls for defence)... at that point it's traps the hero will need to worry about more then anything.

In the early game Rock Skin is either hit or miss, but Courage, at any point could be a game changer.

[Jalapenotrellis]

I know it is controversial and that this has been discussed many times, but the courage spell, with my new group today, universally was ruled by the players that it should only last for one attack. I brought up that it was controversial on the internet, but they couldn't see how that was possible based off of how it was worded on the card. I play the American version of course where it says the spell is broken by either line-of-sight or after your next attack.

[wallydubbs]

I suppose you're inclined to take the spell whichever way you choose, but I have 2 copies of the game, one is from the original European version with The Maze as the first quest, the other is the North American version.
In the European first edition the spell does indeed last only for one turn (as does Rock Skin), the 2nd edition out of Europe has the wording a bit differently and allows the hero to roll 2 extra combat dice until no monsters are in sight. The wording in the North American version is somewhat inbetween the two.
The first time I played with a group, nobody really asked questions about it, and pretty much took it for granted that the spell will last until there are no monsters in line of sight. That's even how I originally took it.
I really don't think they would've added the line of sight duration if it was only meant for 1 attack. That would make it less useful then a Potion of Strength.

[mitchiemasha]

but they couldn't see how that was possible based off of how it was worded on the card.

The problem is if the wizard player is last... This makes the spell worthless. Rooms are usually emptied in 1 round, he can't cast it on himself and attack, if a monster is left, it simply vacates sight. There's no real controversy on understanding how it's worded, that is clear... The issue is the Wizard having weaker spells in the harder US version.

The UK version specifically uses the word "EACH"

This spell may be cast on any one
player. That player may then
throw 2 extra dice each time he
attacks, until the spell is broken.
The spell is broken when there
are no more monsters visible to
that player

It's another example of the US version fixing a "NON ISSUE" and making it worse. The US version uses "NEXT" instead of "EACH" (this could of been intended or a mistake). I'm not sure where you're seeing the words "the spell is broken by either line-of-sight or after your next attack." But yes, the US version reads as a 1 time bonus.

This spell may be cast on any
one Hero, including yourself.
The next time that Hero Attacks,
he may roll 2 extra combat dice.
The spell is broken the moment the
Hero can no longer "see" a monster

If they wanted to make this spell simpler to understand and only a 1 time bonus, it would of been much easier to ditch the seeing part completely, making it a next time attack regardless. It's not as thematic but they're confusing themselves holding on to the original and introducing new intentions, breaking the spell in many cases. I prefer the UK version spell.

[mitchiemasha]

If I remember rightly, they actually advise the Wizard player to play last in the rule book. Had they played the game much, they'd of discovered the issues they'd introduced.

[wallydubbs]

If they wanted to make this spell simpler to understand and only a 1 time bonus, it would of been much easier to ditch the seeing part completely, making it a next time attack regardless. It's not as thematic but they're confusing themselves holding on to the original and introducing new intentions, breaking the spell in many cases. I prefer the UK version spell.

I agree with you completely on that part, mitchie. However, it's when you say "Rooms are usually emptied in 1 Round", that I can't see your reasoning. Are you playing with each monster having 1 body point?
The Central Room of the Trial requires 8 BP hits on the monsters, and with the 4 heroes at their starting weapons only have 8 attack dice to offer... it's highly unlikely that they roll a perfect on their first shot... and the monsters not getting 1 black shield.
Or look at the final room in Prince Magnus' Gold, 6 monsters with a total of 9 BPs. These are the times Courage is meant to be used.
In the Barbarian quest pack there are rooms with 3 Chaos Warriors, a Polar Warbear and a Yeti... even with maxed out heroes and mercenaries, it's highly improbable that they can clear out the room in 1 round.

And for those times when rooms only have limited monsters in them, why waste Courage if you know it won't last past a turn... unless the next hero wishes to run ahead, open the next door and reveal more monsters before the last in that room has fallen.

[Maurice76]

I guess the wording could have been much easier:

"Increases attack strength of target by 2 additional attack dice. The spell ends when there are no monsters in the same room or corridor at the end of targets turn."

For Stone Skin I would have perhaps used a different version:

"Your skin hardens, making you nigh invulnerable. You automatically succesfully defend against all physical attacks until the start of your next turn."

[mitchiemasha]

that I can't see your reasoning.

I was wrong about that. Not how I intended my words. There are many times a more than 1 time use Courage has it's place.

The rooms been emptied was to highlight the issue of the wizard playing last.

[wallydubbs]

Well if the room is empty by the Wizard's turn, or just down to a monster or 2, don't cast it... especially not on himself.