HQ - HEROES & VILLAINS (knightkrawler's full rule set)

[Anderas]

Read your rules now
They have developed a lot since my first read. Especially the order of rules and the chapter répartition, I think I will copy that!
I didn't understand your LOS rule. Do you allow to shoot the models behind the first row?

[knightkrawler]

Line of Sight
A square and everything occupying it is in line of sight of a figure if from anywhere in it an uninterrupted imaginary line can be drawn to the center of the square the figure is occupying. This is true regardless of where the figure is facing. A figure always has line of sight to themselves and to everything the area they are in contains.
Line of sight is interrupted by these obstacles: some pieces of furniture (cf. Doors & Furniture Legend), rubble, closed doors, and walls. It is not interrupted by wall corners or door frames, even if they are geometrically points on line of sight, unless line of sight crosses or ends in at least one square corner.

For "needless" clarification, the "square" is a two-dimensional concept, so it is literally just that square on the board you use as a determiner. Not the base of the mini, not its eyes, not its hand-stretched-out-the-most. The square. This line of sight can be interrupted by game components, individually defined if and how in the Doors & Furniture Key.
This is literally just for "seeing", a definition for what LOS is, slightly changed from the original HQ's concept and clarified by concept and method. This rule is really not much more than a reference the group can use if anything is unclear in a given situation. "Can my figure see this figure?" or "Do I have to set up this figure now or does the hero have to move one square further?"

The application is something else.
For spells:
...The target figure of a spell must be in the same area as the figure casting it or in their line of sight...
means you can cast a spell on any figure in the same area as you (if not interrupted by an obstacle, which basically means e.g. a cupboard in the middle of the room, seperating you and another figure)
OR on a figure that's in a different area but that's in your LOS by the above definition.

For attacks, from the Card & Icon Key:
(“ranged”) using a card listing "ranged", a hero may only attack squares not adjacent to them. The attacked must be in "line of sight". Concerning ranged attacks, all figures except the attacked are obstacles if the squares they occupy are crossed by "line of sight". A hero may only use one card's modifier on "attack roll" depicting "blade" or "blunt" or "ranged" for an attack roll.
(“thrown”) using a card with "thrown", a hero may attack any square, not only an orthogonally adjacent one. If they attack a square not orthogonally adjacent, they must discard the card immediately. The attacked must be in "line of sight" and there cannot be any number of obstacles between attacker and attacked. Concerning ranged attacks, all figures except the attacked are obstacles if they are crossed by "line of sight".
Both of these state that there cannot be an obstacle (as defined by the Doors & Furniture key OR a figure as defined by the entries themselves), so no shooting and throwing "over" non-target figures.
Of course, all terms in inverted commas are in reality icons made by Count Mohawk. Don't know how to put the HQModern font in a post.
I hope this clarifies things a bit, I know it's not easy language-wise, but rather intuitive once you wrapped your mind around it.

[Anderas]

It clarifies a lot yes. So there is a second paragraph in the icons key, that I didn't read yet.

[knightkrawler]

Yeah, there are a few things that needn't go into the rulebook per se.
The icons with explanations, e.g, which made it also superfluous to put a ranged attack chapter in the rulebook.
Or areas in a map, which went into the questbook because I plan on doing questbooks using other maps, so parts of the rulebook would be invalid for these questbooks.

by the way, adding clarification to what I posted about ranged attacks:
"adjacent" includes orthogonal and diagonal squares by definition in the rulebook (the 8 around you).
By the above definition, you're not allowed to use ranged weapons against diagonally adjacent squares, which makes the "diagonal" feature of other weapons much more worthwhile.
One of many squishily worded rulings from HeroQuest I clarified by pragmatics, syntax, and semantics.

[Anderas]

The symbol chapter contains lot of repetitive text. All the spell card symbols could have one common sentence and then you explain your scissor stone paper system in a second paragraph. Which is by the way worth copying into my system.
The chapter was as well difficult to read on a mobile phone. Maybe making two columns from it would solve that problem.

[knightkrawler]

You mean the Card & Icons Key?
That's a list, like a glossary. A table. It's natural that there are repetitions for individual entries.
After all, they are supposed to serve as cross-referencing material, each entry read for itself out of context when looked up for clarification.
Of course, reading the Key as flowing text, the repetitions are weird.
Also note that it is a file of its own, not a chapter of the rulebook.
Myself, I'll print and laminate it for quick reference, as I'll do the other appendices and Print & Play files.

That being said, a revision is in order at the beginning of next year or so.
That's why I need every snippet of feedback.

I'm very grateful for your input, by the way.

[slev]

I need moar time so I can have a proper look at this. Unfortunately, I've still 11 Quest Books and a set of Apprentice Spell Cards and equipment to make...

[knightkrawler]

I would appreciate your input very much, kind sir.

[knightkrawler]

UPDATE September 2016

- I changed the title of the Questbook Brothers in Blood into Blackblood after the tribe of Orcs the Warlord and Shaman reign over.
Much better now. (07 - Q2 in the dropbox folder)

- A new quest book consisting of five individual filler quests added: Legends Lost (08 - F1 in the dropbox folder).
As opposed to regular campaign quest books that have an overarching storyline connecting the quests, this quest book consists of quests that can be played on their own in between campaigns.
I edited five rather stand-alone quests from the HeroQuest game system, NA version, for this book. They connect in theme, cleverly insinuated by the title, but that's basically all the connection there has to be.

I'll get my ass to editing the Witch-Lord trilogy for the next questbook to finish off the game system quests.
Working title: Graves & Grievances.
"Castle of Mystery" is the only untreated game system quest and will go into the next filler quest book F2.

[mitchiemasha]

Here's a question. Why is the healing surge a trap image?

In the Quest book I'm not a fan of the way each note is put in its own box. This makes it take up extra space, which wastes paper and ink. The notes will be just as readable not in the box. As for the set up, couldn't you simply put an emblem for each type and how many in the corner of the room as it's free to place as you choose?

Areas and movement starts half way through the page. Is their a reason for this, A picture to be placed? The spacing between your sections doesn't follow a consistent rule, chapters paragraphs etc.