Hero Quest 2021 Remake: Errata Compilation

[HispaZargon]

In line with last comments, I also detected the following misprints or vagueness in Joe's expansion questbook:

- The Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, page 7: sentence "... potions of speed are described in the HeroQuest Game System armory" should had been written as "... potions of speed are described in their Game System Equipment card" since they are not weapons and no dedicated Armory formal catalogue exists.

- The Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, page 9: sentence "... crossbow is described in the HeroQuest Game System armory" should had been written as "... crossbow is described in its Game System Equipment card" since no dedicated Armory formal catalogue exists.

- The Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, page 13: sentence "... battle axe is described in the HeroQuest Game System armory" should had been written as "... battle axe is described in its Game System Equipment card" since no dedicated Armory formal catalogue exists.

I guess the creator clearly thought the remake's Game System box was going to include an Armory cardboard item as in the classic American Edition of HeroQuest board game but maybe including such item was scrapped in later design steps or it was never going to be included, who knows.

[Nlinindoll]

In line with last comments, I also detected the following misprints or vagueness in Joe's expansion questbook:

- The Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, page 7: sentence "... potions of speed are described in the HeroQuest Game System armory" should had been written as "... potions of speed are described in their Game System Equipment card" since they are not weapons and no dedicated Armory formal catalogue exists.

For the sake of clarity, I would agree that specifically citing the Equipment Cards would make it clearer. But I would not necessarily consider this Errata. Reason being… the new rule book specifically defines the armory. The rule book states:

“A Trip to the Armory
As a hero, you may collect valuable treasures such as gold coins during a quest. Between quests, you may use gold coins to purchase powerful weapons and protective armor from the armory (see the equipment deck).”

[HispaZargon]

In line with last comments, I also detected the following misprints or vagueness in Joe's expansion questbook:

- The Crypt of Perpetual Darkness, page 7: sentence "... potions of speed are described in the HeroQuest Game System armory" should had been written as "... potions of speed are described in their Game System Equipment card" since they are not weapons and no dedicated Armory formal catalogue exists.

For the sake of clarity, I would agree that specifically citing the Equipment Cards would make it clearer. But I would not necessarily consider this Errata. Reason being… the new rule book specifically defines the armory. The rule book states:

“A Trip to the Armory
As a hero, you may collect valuable treasures such as gold coins during a quest. Between quests, you may use gold coins to purchase powerful weapons and protective armor from the armory (see the equipment deck).”

Ok, I agree with your explanation, thank you. I will not include them in the errata summary.

[Kurgan]

Agreed that it's not an error. "The Armory" is now a concept as the time you take to buy things between quests, rather than a cardboard menu (now replaced with a deck of equipment cards that now includes potions and a few extra items it didn't before). The Japanese Game System has a similar concept... it uses a deck of cards but the Armory is where you buy things from and sell them back to (although that version DOES limit stock by individual cards) we you well know.

Calling it the "Equipment deck cards" or explaining that "A trip to the Armory" means going through the Equipment deck and "buying" items from it with Gold (and the stock is NOT limited by number of cards for each item) is explained in the remake Rulebook already. Right?

Edit: Sorry, somebody beat me to it.

Errata for the Forsaken Tunnels of Xor-Xel free quest just released as reported by others:

1) One of the Double Blocked Squares should be made using single blocked squares since there are only 2 of these double tiles included with the official game system.

2) Treasure chest in room C is unmarked (played straight this means a treasure card draw would happen for any search in that room).

Thanks for your keen eye on all these things HZ and others!

[HispaZargon]

Calling it the "Equipment deck cards" or explaining that "A trip to the Armory" means going through the Equipment deck and "buying" items from it with Gold (and the stock is NOT limited by number of cards for each item) is explained in the remake Rulebook already. Right?
...
Thanks for your keen eye on all these things HZ and others!

Yeeeehaaaa! Hahaha... all right... but if I have understood well, strictly talking in case of Potions of Speed (TCOPD, page 7) I think it should had been said "A trip to the Alchemist's Shop" instead of "...to the Armory", isn't? Is it correct Kurgan according to the Rule Bookand other questbooks?

[Kurgan]

Yes! You are more correct than I!

The Alchemist Shop and the Armory really would be all in the same thing now, but they started out separate (no selling potions back at half price, that we know of!).

[j_dean80]

Official note regarding empty treasure chests from Twitter:

Avalon Hill Games
@AvalonHill · 5h
If there's not a note about special treasure, you'll pull a treasure card just like any other room. Zargon has many tricks up his sleeve!

[HispaZargon]

Official note regarding empty treasure chests from Twitter:

Avalon Hill Games
@AvalonHill · 5h
If there's not a note about special treasure, you'll pull a treasure card just like any other room. Zargon has many tricks up his sleeve!

Thank you, so now fortunately it is clear and official. Here is the link to the Avalon's Hill Games confirmation (see picture comments thread).

[Kurgan]

Nice to hear it wasn't an error... those are the basic rules response to situations like that.

Sharpen your blades and enter the Forsaken Tunnels of Xor-Xel, a free to download quest map for HeroQuest. Happy holidays from the Avalon Hill team!

I like the response below Avalon Hill's answer...

Or House Rule a Mimic. Zargon can have extra tricks.

Sounds like a fan of Sjeng's "Evil Wizard Deck."

[HispaZargon]

Now I have been thinking about the Alchemist's Shop... and I have observed some uncomfortable points about it, but first of all let me summarize a little bit the available official info:

First of all I would say that remake's Rule Book does not mention anywhere nothing about any Alchemist's Shop. The Rule Book only talks about the Armory, this is what it says in page 4:

"During a quest, a hero may acquire valuable treasures. These riches may be used between quests to purchase powerful weapons and protective armor from the armory."

...later in pages 13 & 14:

A Trip to the Armory
"As a hero, you may collect valuable treasures such as gold coins during a quest. Between quests, you may use gold coins to purchase powerful weapons and protective armour from the armory (see the equipment deck). You may purchase any number of items from the deck. The items are always in stock even if a player decides to use the card for a quick reference."

"For complete information on all of the weapons and armor, please refer to the equipment cards."

... and finally in page 22:

"Finally, you may now visit the armory and purchase new weapons and armor with the gold coins you have accumulated. Be patient. It may take a few quests before you have enough money to purchase anything."

"Wizard: Since there are so few things that you can buy from the armory, it would be wise for you to save your money."

More info:

In the Basic Game System questbook there is no mention to any Alchemist's Shop but one Potion of Speed and one Holy Water cards are provided in the equipment deck with their gold prices, so even they are not weapons nor armour, I assume they can be also purchased in the Armory according to the Rule Book.

In contrast, the rest of the questbooks (KK, ROTWL, POT, SQT & TCOPD) include a dedicated Alchemist's Shop inventary of four potions in page 2, remarking "This potions may be purchased only between quests". Additionally, KK & ROTWL questpacks boxes also include 4 equipment cards each with the same potions listed in their questbooks.

Then... according to all herein above, here is the main question I have:

¿Are heroes able to purchase potions only shown/included in the Alchemist's Shop of a different questpack than the one they are playing now?

This question I guess only has two posible answers: YES or NO

If the answer is NO, heroes will be limited to buy only potions from the Alchemist's Shop shown in the questbook they are playing and/or the equipment deck cards... but should we consider all the available cards? or only the ones provided in the questpack they are playing? In this case It is not clear if they could buy Potion of Speed and Holy Water potions playing any questpack or only if playing Game System questpack... TCOPD questbook page 27 also shows those Game System items there so I guess at least in this questpack they may be also purchased too... I think it is a mesh because the Quest Book does not explain how should be managed the use of Alchemist's Shops, so in this situation I would consider a clear misprint in the Rule Book.

In the other hand, if the answer is YES, I guess heroes have no restrictions to go to the unique Alchemist's Shop in the area and there they find a Walmart... they can buy there every potion, weapon or armour shown in all the equipment cards and Alchemist's Shops in the questbooks owned by the Evil Wizard. This is the option I like more since it adds more diversity to the game and because the Rule Book does not say anywhere that it cannot be done in this way, so it seems to be the option which fits better with the official rules... but again I think it should had been clarified in the Rule Book. Edited: As therealshrek pointed here, the Alchemist's Shop of classic Barbarian & Elf Ques Packs indicated that the answer is YES, but they are the only official releases that clearly answered this question).

Additionally, another uncomfortable issues appear with the Potion of Healing price, 200 gold coins according to POT questbook page 2:

This potion restores up to 2 Body Points, so I think 200 gold coins is a correct price for it. Moreover, classic 1991's Japanese Edition of HeroQuest also included this potion in the equipment cards deck with same price, 200 gold coins, so everything seems to fit but, unfortunately I think this price does not fit very well with the price of other potions:

Venom Antidote: According to the rules shown in its KK & ROTWL equipment cards, SQT questbook page 2 & TCOPD page 2, "Venom Antidote costs 300 gold coins and it heals up to 2 Body Points of damage caused by poison neddles or posion darts only". Who the hell will spend 300 gold coins for it in the Alchemist Shop if you can buy a Healing Potion for 200 gold coins, which heals up to 2 Body Points and it doesn't matter what caused the damage? In this case, I expect Venom Antidote cost would be around 150 gold coins but never 200 gold coins or more attending to the Healing Potion price. In the other hand, maybe the Healing Potion cost is so cheap, who knows... So, we have again rules with no sense that I think should be corrected.

Potion of Restoration: It costs 500 gold coins and restores 1 Body Point and 1 Mind Point. Similar issue as Venom Antidote, 500 gold coins for restoring only 1 Body Point and 1 Mind Point I think is too expensive since Potion of Healing restores 2 Body Points per only 200 gold coins. Assuming 100 gold points per body point restoration, do you think the extra 1 Mind Point restoration would cost 400 gold coins? I don't have the answer but I think those potions prices need a revision, maybe 300 gold coins instead of 500 would be a more balanced price for Potion of Restoration but it is of course a homebrew suggestion from my side.

Potion of Magic: According to POT questbook page 2, this potion costs 400 gold coins and allows a spell caster to recover 3 spells already casted in current quest. Imagine the spell caster is the Wizard and it recovers the spells Heal Body and Healing Water... Each one of those spells may heal up to 4 Body Points, so they would be similar to a healing potion of 4 Body Points recovery. Attending to the 2 BP Healing Potion cost (200 gold coins), I guess the 4 BP potion should cost around 350 gold coins. I know casting a spell is not the same as drinking a potion since the first consumes a hero action and I also know that potions can revive a hero if its Body Points are reduced to 0 and it would be more difficult to do by casting a spell, so ok, I would conservatively reduce the equivalent gold cost of each spell from 350 gold coins to 250... If you multiply such quantity per the number of spells the hero is able to recover by drinking the Potion of Magic, it should cost 3x250 = 750 gold coins minimum, so in my opinion Potion of Magic price (400 gold coins) is too cheap attending to Healing Potion price and what heroes are capable to do with this potion, it is so powerful!!!

The main question about Alchemist's Shop also existed in classic American Edition of HeroQuest but unfortunately I think the remake has inherited the same problem. Additionaly, the remake included a new and cool feature which is a Healing Potion that can be purchased, but saddly I think its price does not fit with the mentioned potions... Well, It has been a long thread I know, sorry for that... I also know HeroQuest is not intended to be a balanced game but all above doubts I think are caused due to rules are not clear or sometimes too illogical.

"The best thing about HeroQuest are THE RULES!!!!" hahahaha