The Trial...of death

[mcapone888]

I am about to start up a new campaign of HeroQuest 2021 playing with my own kids. I remember playing the 1989 US version back in the day and that first quest was a killer. It actually caused most of my friends back then not to want to play the game anymore because they found it so hard to be beat the first quest (the trial) playing the rules as is. I know the kids in the UK had it easier as most of the monsters were only 1 hp. I assume the makers of the game thought it would be a good idea to demonstrate every monster type in the first quest of the game to make it seem so massive, but it just caused people to (I feel) to always have an issue with this first quest (in the US anyway).

So... now I am about to start the core campaign for the first time with my kids. While I don't want to automatically hand them a win, I do want to take the 'nightmare' out of the first quest. Do you guys do anything outside of the normal rules for the first quest (the trial) to help the heroes? Am I blowing this out of proportion, maybe it was just more difficult back then because we were 12? I am looking at the quest now and it still looks like a beast if you spend too much time wandering around.

I do not want to say that for just the first quest all monsters have 1 hp. I am thinking instead to remove some of the monsters, or change them all to easier monsters to deal with (like making all the monsters either a goblin, orc, or skeleton).

What is your take on this first quest, the trial? Do you find it too difficult for new heroes, do you make changes to it?

[Kurgan]

The Trial is an awesome quest (and they do warn that it will "not be easy" and working together is important). But you're right, many don't finish it, or take multiple tries to get through.

Some say don't play it first, instead start with the Rescue of Sir Ragnar or another early quest, or substitute the Maze under NA rules. But if you want to re-tread the old classic here is what I suggest, taking as little out of the experience as possible (and I know in another thread I recommended the Evil Wizard Deck to you, don't start using it on this quest yet!).

In this version of course the heroes get to use all of their magic, but have just their starting gear.

One way to handle the "Trial isn't first" alternative is to have it be the THIRD one they play, and give them some kind of reward. Say, tell them IF they finish this "trial" they will gain a special reward (like the old 500 gold coins for becoming a "Champion" in the EU 1st edition; just remember that the NA makes you champions after beating the Witch Lord in quest 14, so still retain the fact that they will be dubbed "Imperial Knights" after they accomplish that later monumental task!).

But let's say you still want to do the Trial first, like so many Hero Quest players as a true rite of passage...

Of course you don't use Traps or secret doors, per the rules, but one change I would make is to remove the "Hazard" cards from the Treasure deck FOR THIS QUEST ONLY (I got many complaints even though technically they're different from "traps"). Instruct them however that in future quests there may be other dangers searching for treasure that even "searching for traps" may not reveal and they may have to take their lumps sometimes.

To throw the heroes a bone for this quest, I would put an extra Treasure into the quest somewhere. For example you could put a Potion of Healing into the "empty" treasure chest. Another trick is to put something into one of the other rooms "hidden in the furniture." I especially like to put a potion in the Alchemist Bench (your choice of course).

Potions of Healing don't always have to be the same, it could be +4 BP, the roll of one red die, or a partial, like +2 BP.

As far as weakening the monsters, it's not necessary I don't think, but you could warn the heroes the first time they encounter each new monster type, by highlighting the monster card. Let them know that Orcs are more dangerous than Goblins, that Chaos Warriors are almost as powerful as the Gargoyle, etc.

Once they have completed the Trial, advise them that if they were able to conquer this quest, they should be ready for just about anything, at least in this campaign (as only a couple of quests are harder, towards the end, but by then they will have better gear!).

[mcapone888]

These are all great suggestions. I think I am going to go with a combination of them, or I believe I may have come up with an alternative of my own:

Option 1 - Start with the Maze rather than the Trial. I never ran the Maze as a player or the DM, but what I remember about it way back when was that the heroes all start in separate corners and need to work their way to the middle of the board to meet up. I may start them with this quest instead and hold off on the Trial for the third adventure as you suggested.

Option 2 - I may just go with the Trial first, but make some of the changes you suggested: remove the hazard cards and scatter some extra healing potions around. The healing potions I add will be unlike the normal healing potions as the ones I add will have an expiration date and cannot be taken with the heroes in to the next adventure or sold after the Trial. So use them or lose them in the Trial. Any 'normal' healing potions they find can be taken with them.

Option 3 - Anytime I have to place a green monster (goblin, orc, or fimir) in the Trial, I will instead place a goblin. Should all goblins be on the board, then I will start placing Orcs for any green monsters. For the white monsters, I will only place skeletons. If all four skeletons are on the board I will start placing zombies. For the Chaos Warriors I will use Fimirs. The Gargoyle I will leave as is. Wandering monsters will be goblins.

I am going to weigh my options and go with one of these. Thanks for the suggestions.

[SirRick]

I've never had a problem with this quest, if I was playing a hero(es), though as Zargon, I've seen players lose this quest twice, but usually by doing extremely stupid things that get them killed.

Part of the reason that I never seen too much trouble with this quest, is we mistakenly played searching for treasure incorrectly for years. We played with only one search allowed per room, and never shuffling the deck after each search like we were supposed too.

The actual rule of 4 searches per room drastically increases the difficulty. You don't really get any more treasure with so many searches, because after the first couple of rooms, and shuffling each time, Searching for Treasure becomes Searching for Wandering Monsters instead.

So perhaps just willingly searching for treasure less often and sharing spoils so the 4th hero doesn't get attacked twice in a row from a wandering monster, might be enough to make it easier.

[Kurgan]

I too played it wrong for years (ignoring the 1 search per hero per room = 4 treasure searches per room).

If you do indeed shuffle the treasure deck before EVERY search, that is certainly possible (using that method, it may be they would never find anything good). However, they can still count cards to understand when all of the good cards are removed. It's not just treasure, but the Potions are very helpful. By careful protection, the only worry when searching are the four hazards, which are unblockable hits as mentioned.

[j_dean80]

I too played it wrong for years (ignoring the 1 search per hero per room = 4 treasure searches per room).

If you do indeed shuffle the treasure deck before EVERY search, that is certainly possible (using that method, it may be they would never find anything good). However, they can still count cards to understand when all of the good cards are removed. It's not just treasure, but the Potions are very helpful. By careful protection, the only worry when searching are the four hazards, which are unblockable hits as mentioned.

How many rooms of 4 searches would it take to run out of good cards? I’ve never had that problem.

[SirRick]

Well, I believe there are 14 good cards and 10 bad ones, so from my experience after playing with the new set a couple times, the first couple rooms my group found 3 good cards in each room, then after that a couple more good cards mixed with bad ones, then due to bad luck we got about 15 wandering monsters or hazards in a row.

This happened both times we managed to play with the new set. So even though there were still about 6 good cards or so left, we never got them because everyone became terrified of searching.

[Kurgan]

WOM, EQP and BQP each add new cards to the treasure deck (up to you whether you add more than one pack at a time to the deck), but assuming you're using the standard NA treasure deck, then yes, 14 good cards, 10 bad. Most quests have more than enough rooms (that lack special treasures, remember only the first hero who searches gets that, the other three get cards) to exhaust the deck unless the shuffling somehow keeps putting the bad cards at the top. Most rooms can be searched (nothing says that the room with the stairs or the boss/goal can't be searched in most cases).

Just glancing over them, The Trial seems to yield up to 25 draws. Quest 2, 38. Most quests won't have that many special treasures (in the notes going to the first searcher only), so yeah.

Some have interpreted a "nothing" result (from the notes) to mean there is nothing else in the room at all, but most of us treat the nothing as only for the first person. And unmarked chests (like the erroneously neglected one in quest 3 which was supposed to have treasure, via the EU original) would yield a card draw.

[Daedalus]

Some members have opted to delay playing The Trial until Quest 6. Another tack could be not to return "bad" cards back to the Treasure deck after they are drawn, same as with "good" cards.

[Jabie]

The best response I ever heard to this question is that the Trial should be skipped and The Maze (or - shameless plug - the Arena and then the Maze) should be used to simulate Mentor's initial training. After Quest 6, Mentor meets the party on the stairs. He is disappointed that they were captured by Grak and decides that the party needs extra training, which takes the form of New Beginnings, then Rogar's Hall, then The Trial (which can be looked on as a sort of "graduation" quest)

This has several advantages. Firstly, it moves the Trial far later on in the questline to a time when the party has acquired better equipment and has a firmer grasp on the rules and the need for cooperation. Secondly, if you use the Maze, the Heroes only encounter Orcs (The Arena does a similar thing but with Goblins). This extends the "wonder" stage of the game: the heroes don't know how tough a Fimir, Chaos Warrior or the undead are until they have encountered them. The lesson is then reiterated in New Beginnings with Mentor revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the various foes the party is likely to fight. The Trial destroys all the wonder in the very first quest by using every monster in the book!

Rogar's Hall may be a TPK, but it's far more survivable with a little more equipment and experience and because it is an illusion, the Heroes are never in any actual danger. The incentive of extra gold will no doubt help and might go to boosting another Hero before The Trial.

The Trial then serves as a graduation quest, a fact somewhat re-iterated by the text. By now the party should have an extra shield or two, maybe the odd potion and quite possibly a decent weapon or two as well. And they've been working together for a while and know the rules of the game, not least the importance of cooperation, especially if Rogar's Hall was a TPK.

Incidentally, has anyone added the Trial as a singular quest to the Quest section of this site? It's feasible - if unlikely - that some users might only have the Maze and not the Trial, especially with Heroquest become en vogue thanks to the new release.