Ye Olde Inn

this is a class i made up many years ago for a quest pack which i think involved vampires.
it was designed primarily as a healing class to counter the steady, even damage the vampires would deal. i cant remember it exactly and im sure that as a child my spells were a lot more imbalanced than they are now
it also used a different magic mechanism that was based more around mind points and reusing spells, i didnt like the way that the wizard could only cast 9 spells for the entire quest. thusly he either spent the entire quest not casting and saving his spells for the final 'boss' of the area, or, being out of usefull spells by the time you got to the final monsters. it was also to make things like talisman of lore more desireable.

the priest uses a deck of 24 prayer cards. the Priest player draws cards from the top of the prayer deck into his hand; his hand size is equal to his total mind pool. At the start of a quest all prayer cards are returned to the prayer deck and the priest draws a new hand equal to his total mind points at the start of the quest. As prayers are used they are returned to the bottom of the deck (or discarded) and a new card is drawn from the top of the deck. The deck is always shuffled between quests. The prayer deck is always kept face down. if anything happpens during the quest to increase the priests total mind pool, like equiping the talisman of lore or using the Prayer of Illumination (see below) then his hand size will increase as well.

For the sake of rules, treasures and artefacts, prayers are considered a type of spell.
For equiptment and artefact rules, priests are considered a type of mage, a priest however, may use a shield.

so heres the priest:

PRIEST
"You are the Priest, a devout follower of the holy light. The pure strength of your faith may be used to bolster your allies and smite the forces of chaos."

Attack = 1 dice
Defence = 2 dice
Movement = 2 dice

Mind = 4
Body = 6

Prayer deck:
• Prayer of Healing – (4 copies of this card in the prayer deck)
This spell may be cast on any one player. Roll combat die equal to the casters total mind points. Target is healed 1 body point for each shield (of any colour) rolled. Return to the bottom of the deck after use.

• Prayer of Restoration – (4 copies of this card in the prayer deck)
Heal all friendly targets in the same room or corridor for 2 body point. Costs 1 mind point. Return to the bottom of the deck after use.

• Prayer of Cleansing – (4 copies of this card in the prayer deck)
This spell may be cast on any one player. Removes all negative effects from a target. Return to the bottom of the deck after use.

• Prayer of Retribution – (4 copies of this card in the prayer deck)
This spell may be cast on any one monster or player. Attacks target with combat dice equal to the casters current mind points. Costs 1 mind point. +1 damage against undead. Return to the bottom of the deck after use.

• Prayer of Forgiveness – (4 copies of this card in the prayer deck)
Resurrect one fallen ally and restore 2 lost body & mind points. Costs 1 mind point. Return to the bottom of the deck after use.

• Prayer of Illumination – (3 copies of this card in the prayer deck)
this prayer may be cast on any one player. Restores the targets lost mind points and increases total mind points by 1. Effect lasts until the end of the quest. Do not return to the deck after use.

• Prayer of Benediction – (1 copies of this card in the prayer deck)
May only be cast in a room, attacks all enemies in the room with combat dice equal to the casters current mind points. Costs 1 mind point for every enemy attacked. Do not return to the deck after use.

well, comments and suggestion welcome please!

No attack. It's a priest. No base defense. It's a priest. Didn't you hear of "turn the other cheek"? - it was commanded that if someone slaps you give them your other cheek so they can slap that one too.
The priest could carry a small shield. Wear a cloak. But they refuse to attack with weapons. It's a priest.

I would give them the special ability use their pray card against undead - immediately releasing (i.e. killing) them. It should deal damage to a lich, which, while powerful, is still undead.

That's just my take on the character...

whoever said priests had to be a pacifist?
priests are general pacifistic in the real world (VERY big generalisation there) but in a fantasy world like heroquest that's irrelevant. in the warhammer world that HQ is based on the empire has a few types of very nasty priests!

hm - never considered that.

So then crossbowmen could have their range totally nerfed then, too...

I don't necessarily have a problem with a priest attacking or defending - think about what you fight in HQ - evil
and chaos, the two things that a priest (and his god) would hate and want to wipe off the face of the earth.

I see a little problem with the character design - it seems a little overpowered compared to the other characters,
what with the prayer deck and all - unless you intend to redesign the other characters and the way magic works
entirely.
Keep in mind, however, whatever redesign you make on the characters' ability to cast magic, you need to apply to
the chaos creatures that cast, as well. When designing fantasy worlds and fantasy game systems, you have to realize
that whatever the characters can do, the evil guys can do, also. If not, the world and the system begin to make very
little sense, and no one wants to play it.

As far as the spells themselves - I think the Prayer of Illumination is off base - there is very little in the HQ system that
allows for a character to increase body or mind points beyond their starting amount, except for artifacts. Granted, I would
love to play with a group that likes the idea of training and increasing points as the game goes on, but fact is, it just doesn't
really happen in HQ.
other than that - most of the spells seem to be pretty much the same. Why not offer some variety:
- Heal a target
- Cause damage to a target
- Cause a target to move slower or faster
- Cause a target to gain or lose body point/mind points
- Cause a target to make two attacks in one turn, or lose an attack
- Cause a target to become disoriented and attack the closest thing (enemy or not)
- Cause a target to attack better, or cast a spell better, etc.

you know, things like that.

First off, welcome to the community! I hope you enjoy it here and share more of your customisations.

He may be a little overpowered compared to other characters, but that doesn't mean he can't be used later in the game, or as a special character. I really like the prayer deck idea. Personally, I wouldn't allow any of the prayers to be recycled back into the deck, otherwise a Wizard playing with him might be a bit jealous. But anyone can change things to fit their own personal games if they wish. Thanks for sharing.

I think that it would be cool if the priest simply had the special ability: Prayer. He would decide to pray to his god and then randomly draw a card from the deck. "Let's just see how benevolent your god is now!"

That way, you could have some fun with the character. Like turns into a bunny for 2 rounds or strikes a 6 Combat Dice lighting bolt at the target of your choice. Or gives a monster an extra combat die in attack, etc...

Oh, I do enjoy your bastiferousness, Phoenix.

One could even make a 'temple' for the priest to visit in-between quests. Give xx Gold coins to the temple (something like 50 Gold Coins/point) and get "prayer points", basically a way to dodge crappy prayer card draws. You draw a "all monsters on the board receive an additional BP" card and spend 4 prayer points (as listed on the card) and get to throw that card out (do not return this card to the deck).

Artifact: Holy Symbol
Twice per Quest you can make two prayers on your turn.

Artifact: Blessed Mail
basically borin's armor, but only for the priest

Artifact: Holy Mace
This mighty weapon is infused with the leg bone of a great martyr. It inflicts 2 Combat Dice in Attack. When fighting undead it inflict 4 Combat Dice (on a roll of 4 Skulls, the target does not get to defend, it simply turns to dust!).

Artifact: Bracers of Compassion
These spiritually endowed bracers give you 1 extra combat die in defense. You may also use these bracers to give your companions life. By placing your hands on your companions, you may transfer up to 3 of your Body Points to your fallen brethren.

i like the artifacts Phoenix, especialy the holy mace. i think that whole critical hit mechanic would work very nicely.
with regards to the prayer deck being overpowered compared to current spell system, yes it is but that is by design. i think the magic system in HQ was very weak compared to the physical combat sysem. effectivley the wizard had 9 spells that lasted the whole quest. a wizard whos strength was casting spells could only cast 9 spells. the whole quest - just nine spells. that always annoyed me. i had planned to upgrade the magic system to something similar. In reply to Torilens comment the spells were deliberately designed fairly narrowly focussed on healing and 'smiting' and not copying the current spells too much.
he was also deisgned to be used in a vampire themed quest set i was making and that was long after we had finished playing through all the expansions up to and including the AtOH, so his contemporaries would have been pretty powerful too.
the vampires in the series had a similar mechanic to the prayer deck except they used a blood pool instead of their mind points. i'll try to recreate them for monsters section soon.
also i found some priest miniatures