A more interactive HQ

[Sotiris]

You have a good head for this kind of thing, but I think you should reconsider the special abilities of the characters a bit. You do not seem to weigh BP very highly against abilities, or the ability to equip weapons. The Barbarian doesn't need that extra attack die, as he already has that. And the powers are too combat-based. Especially the holy water. Nowhere in the game is it clearly defined what constitutes an undead. We know the Witch Lord is, because he was dead and then he wasn't--that's the very definition of undead, "dead but alive." These heroes are really very strong, and have options that essentially preclude avenues of combat options that don't involve their special abilities. Such abilities should not come into use all that regularly, otherwise the player simply drives a mechanism around. Heroquest is a slow game that is designed entirely around resource management. Its about making Body Points last the whole way.

A good example of what I'm saying is my Thief character who has the ability that he cannot be attacked unless he is the only available Hero a monster can reach. That sounds really powerful, until you play the Thief. You have to work to keep that advantage, because the moment you don't have it you get laid the fraggle out. My sister-in-law usually plays a thief, and she usually gets killed by traps out of her complacency.

If you really look at the Ranger, he basically gets 5 free uses of Fires of Wrath. You basically get an Elf with more spells and more BP. There is a reason the game makes you pay 25 gp each time you want to throw a dagger.

There's no reason to compare them with the original heroes. As i wrote before, the xp system and the +1 skill makes them more powerfull.
Zargon also has his tokens to confront them. Heroes' map travel (between quests or in a city to buy equipment) and their wandering through the quests adds tokens to Zargon's pool.
Let's say the opens a door and finds a . If he select to not attack then Zargon, during his turn, has the opportunity to play a chaos token on . If the , when his turn comes, attacks and rolls and the rolls , barbarian loses 5 B.p. (extreme example but it happens with lowest damage).
Or imagine how tough will a be when a token buffs his defense..

About the thief. I prefer an ability that makes him find gold easier than your sniper ability. It's not wrong, i like it but it doesn't please me thematically.

The old Ranger you looked at hadn't 5 Fire of Wraths! Fire of Wrath means that you already scored a and your enemy will defend it with a (defender's bonus instead of ) rolling 1 die, regardless of his defense dice.

Anyway thnx for your interest! I'm a fan of simple HQ too. If something's going wrong i'll fix it during the pbp playtest.

So currently the group is:BarbarianAmazonMercenary

If I go with the Cleric we have 29 + 5BP. If everyone else is happy with this, then that's my choice.

Check my last changes (sorry for that...) and confirm your final decisionEDITED
Corrections/Clarifications
EDITEDCleric: Holy water removes 1 undead B.p. from an adjacent regular monster OR heals you or an adjacent hero by 1 B.p. (stackable, action) EDITED
EDITEDAmazon: move-action-move, but during the 2nd movement phase she may not pass through heroes. You may not use a plate mailEDITED
Bard: the song tokens that he may start a quest never exceed his Mind Points. (his song tokens are free of action but not stackable)
EDITEDWizard: i removed Bolt Hit and added this "When completing a quest you earn 2 Xp instead of 1. You may not be resurrected"EDITED
Agreed?
We'll play the US rules with some homebrew written in the 1st page.
I don't mind if you remember the quests well. I'll consider it as a lucky exploration.

[Gold Bearer]

If I was to find some holy water and give it to the cleric, could he then use it to heal one of my BPs and if he usees it on a mummy will it kill it like the original holy water rules?

[Sotiris]

If I was to find some holy water and give it to the cleric, could he then use it to heal one of my BPs and if he usees it on a mummy will it kill it like the original holy water rules?

The answer is yes to both questions.

[Gold Bearer]

Okay then, let's go. Arg wants to start killing things.

Edit: Maybe the five holy waters the cleric starts every quest with should be renamed to blessed waters then if the ones that are found have more of an effect. Does he get five extra ones if he's still got some left over? He could end up with loads.

[Sotiris]

Okay then, let's go. Arg wants to start killing things.

Edit: Maybe the five holy waters the cleric starts every quest with should be renamed to blessed waters then if the ones that are found have more of an effect. Does he get five extra ones if he's still got some left over? He could end up with loads.

Blessed water is a nice idea!
No, 5 blessed waters max per quest (it's not like the Bard's unused tokens).

The wizard would be more appealing if the Bolt attack was just a standard (magical) 1 combat die ranged attack skill.

Did you see the upgraded Wizard? I removed the Bolt Hit. New skill: He gains double Xp per quest but cannot be resurrected. You may select him if you like.

I'll post soon the rules and shops with the 1st quest in PBP to find easier what you need.
I'll write some houserules that i didn't mentioned at the 1st page of this topic:
- A potion of healing doesn't have effect on a Hero who just reached 0 B.p.
- Damage from poison may not be healed from spells and healing potions.
- Plate mail gives +1 dd instead of +2 but it can be worn with the chain mail. That means a lot of gold coins are going to be spent for a hero who needs his 6th defend die. Same for Borin's Armor.
- You may store items into the city. If your hero dies, you still have the items.
..i can't remember more..tell me if you have any question.

[The Road Warrior]

Did you see the upgraded Wizard? I removed the Bolt Hit. New skill: He gains double Xp per quest but cannot be resurrected. You may select him if you like.

Where does xp come into it? Did I miss something?
I'm sticking with the Cleric. You just made the Wizard considerably less appealing.

[Sotiris]

Where does xp come into it? Did I miss something?

It's explained in the 1st post of this topic.

4) Xp point system. A hero grants 1xp with every completed quest. When he reaches the champion status (3 completed quests) he has access to a special shop where he may buy the following potions/scrolls by crossing off the equivalent xp:
- 1 potion (strength, defense or heroic)=1xp
- 1 random Elf spell (Elf spells are spellscrolls for M.P.>4 heroes)=2xp
- 1 spell set from Wizards of Zargon pack (a M.P.>5 hero may choose a set of 3 scrolls from an available spell college)=3xp

[The Road Warrior]

Ah... I see.

So the Wizard's bonus here is that he can expand his spellbook relatively quickly.

If the wizard buys one of the spell sets from WoM, is that permanent or on a one use basis like the spell scrolls.

I'm sticking with the Cleric either way, just curious.

[Sotiris]

If the wizard buys one of the spell sets from WoM, is that permanent or on a one use basis like the spell scrolls.

One use, like a spell scroll.
I like that skill but he has to complete 3 quests to get the champion status (access to the special shop).
Also, i would like to remind you these houserules..

1) All of the 42 treasure cards, from all of the expansions are included in the deck. edit: +1 card "Nothing"= 43 total

2) If your hero dies, you select another one from the available. You may not select the same unless all of the 10 heroes have died, then you unlock again a new set of 10 heroes. Every hero's death gives an advatage to Zargon player: he chooses a treasure card and removes it permanently from the game (it lasts for all over the campaign).

[chaoticprime]

Oh, yeah, I forgot you changed the whole system. Nevermind.