Monster "point values"

[torilen]

That is what role-playing gaming is all about - everyone having fun. Yes...as the evil wizard or game master (GM),
you're going to lose. It is an unfortunate side-effect of gaming...good will always win in the end. It's how they get
to the end that makes it fun for you as the GM.
The fun for you is coming up with complicated puzzles for them to solve (as real people - say, three switches that
have to be moved in the proper order, or something semi-bad happens each time they're not). The fun for you is
throwing a small horde of goblins at them...knowing they'll win, but it will take them down to almost nothing...
then have a few healing potions hidden nearby afterward...watch and see how they decide to handle the horde.
OR - maybe you can break them down to almost no life time after time, only to give them a healing potion afterward.
Watch how their spirits rise with the healing, only to fall when they see that they will once again be near to death.
How many times can you do it before they're totally emotionally exhausted?

If you do actual role-playing portions...the fun for you is coming up with crazy game master characters for the
heroes to meet and talk to. Perhaps a neat treasure that you've created, and watch them rub their greedy hands
together when they find it...only to find out, when they figure out how to make it work, that all it does is glow
green when an orc is nearby.

The fun for you is coming up with the quest - a friend is sick and they need to track down three ingredients for
the potion to make them better. They need to go to the "library" first to find out where the ingredients can be
found, and then must fight their way in to get the ingredient at each place.

A lot of fun for you is to plan the quest out well, so that they are capture by the enemy just as you're going to end
for the night. They'll have to come back next week to break free from the prison...maybe there is the crazy old man
who shows them the loose brick...and the old man is really just using them as pawns for his evil scheme.

...................

One of the main things to do as the GM is to give them a rich world in which to play, and just let them have at it.
Use the rules given in the game system, get away from the quest packs, and just let them explore a world of your
creation. Let them talk to people, investigate crimes, save kidnapped children, perhaps even allow them to fall
in love (if you and your wife are playing...that might be fun).
Describe the world around them. Tell them the color of the trees, the types of flowers on the ground, tell them the
smell of the cooking pie in the bakery. Allow their characters to develop their favorite food and drink...allow their
character to buy clothing that is their favorite color.
Maybe try to find out what the heroes favorite animals are...and just happen to have special crafted weapons in
the armory - maybe the dwarf who owns the place was commissioned to make the weapons, but then the noble
got killed, and he has these specially made weapons on sale, because no one else wants them. The hilts of the
weapons have the heads of their favorite animals on them.

But yes...in short. The whole point of the game is for the players to have fun and enjoy their heroes...your job is to
make it fun for them, and by doing so...by using all the creative juices you can squeeze out...their smiles are your
reward.
(hahaha...their smiles are your reward...how ridiculous does that sound, huh?)

[cynthialee]

torilen;
You and I are cut of similar cloth.



Indeed, smiles are the reward of a good GM.
And it sounds splended. I can think of no greater reward.

[Daedalus]

I was wondering if anyone has ever figured out a "point system" you could use to more precisely balance quests you create. For example, assigning "point values" to each kind of monster. Any thoughts? Thanks.

I posted this elsewhere before I found the Inne. I edited it for appearance, and also added blue edits to account for an adjustement discussed towards the end of this thread:

  Something that has been done before: assign an experience point (XP) value to monsters for leveling up the Heroes. The following system could be used for that, but that's not what I'm after.  
  Instead, the purpose of the system is for rating the difficulty of the HQ Questbook Quests and to make comparisons possible with your own Quests.  Interested?  Do you dare read my mountain of words?

Monster XP   The general principle in this rating system is to assign a factor of experience points, or XP, to a monster for each characteristic point above a minimum.  Collectively, the monsters and master monsters have the following minimums for characteristics: Move 1, Attack 1 (derived from the Wizard), Defend 1, Body Points 1, and Mind Points 0.  Any characteristic above a minimum awards a certain number of XP per attack die, defend die, Body Point or Mind Point. Mindless undead gain a 1 XP bump due to their immunity to the Sleep spell.
  Move works differently, as it is compared to a Hero's average Move of 7.  If a monster's Move is less than half of a Hero's average Move, a -1/2 XP penalty is accrued.  If a monster's Move is equal to or greater than a Hero's average Move, a +1/2 XP bonus is gained.
    Multiply Defend XP by Body XP (unless one factor is 0), as those factors combine effectiveness. Then total that sum with all other XP and then round down, if necessary.

Monster Characteristics XP Values

                    Move                             Attack               Defend                 Body                   Mind              Undead
  less than 4 .......... -1/2 XP       3 XP for each      2 XP for each     3 XP for each       1 XP for each       1 XP for
  between 4 and 6 .... 0 XP              die over 1           die over 1         point over 1         point over 0        mindless
  greater than 6 ..... +1/2 XP                                 1 XP for each                               1/2 XP for each
                                                                                die over 1                                    point over 0
                                                                                                                                      
  To illustrate using a Goblin [Move 10, Attack 2, Defend 1, Body 1, Mind 1], it gets 1/2 XP for a Move of 7 or more, 3 XP for one attack die over the minimum of 1, and 1/2 XP for 1 Mind Point over the minimum of 0.  The total is 1/2+3+1/2 = 4 XP.
  This system provides the basic monsters with the following (blue entries use the new DD and MP values):
                                      

Monster Experience Point Values

                     Goblin ... (5) 4 XP        Skeleton ... (5) 5 XP        Zombie ... (7) 6 XP         Orc ... (10) 9 XP                                                                       

Mummy ... (12) 16 XP      Fimir ... 13 XP      Chaos Warrior ... (25) 29  XP      Gargoyle ... (27) 35 XP

Traps and Hazards XP   Calculating the difficulty of a Quest requires more than simply summing the XP values of its monters.  Traps and hazards must also have values assigned.  Comparing the likely damage of a trap or the automatic damage of a hazard to the probable damage from a monster, parallels may be drawn to arrive at the XP value of a trap or hazard:  

Traps and Hazards Experience Point Values

 Hazard     Chest trap     Spear trap     Pit trap     Falling rock trap     Unavoidable*    Undetectable^

     
            10 XP         5 XP/ BP           3 XP             5 XP                  7 XP                    +2 XP                  +5 XP

  * Unavoidable: Is the goal that is blocked by a trap unreachable by another, safer route?  (Both a chest trap and hazard already have this factored in- they don't add this bonus.)
  ^ Undetectable: Is the trap located directly behind the other side of a door, or likewise not possible to search for? (A hazard already has this factored in- it doesn't add this bonus.)

  Example: There is a pit trap located on the other side of the only door into a room.  The value is figured as 5 XP for the pit trap, +2 XP for being unavoidable, and +5 XP for being undetectable- for a total value of 12 XP.


Wandering Monsters and Hazards   Most Quests only require two more XP considerations, that of Wandering Monsters and Hazards.  The number encountered are dependent upon the players' searches for treasure.  Therefor, they are both recorded as a factor triggered by the treasure deck.  For example, Quest 1 uses the Orc (10 XP) as the Wandering Monster.  This Quest would add 10/WM for Wandering Monsters and 10/H for Hazards to the base XP total of all monsters and traps.  Knowing that there is a 6 in 24 (1 in 4) chance of pulling a Wandering Monster and a 4 in 24 (1 in 6) chance of pulling a Hazard, and assuming a certain average number of treasure deck draws per player (say 4), you could estimate the Wandering Monster value at 40 and the Hazard value at 30.


Monster Spells   One more possible XP issue is certain monster's spells.  They require XP values to add to the master monster's XP,  so use the following:

Monster Spell XP Values

Fear ...................... 1 XP       Tempest ............ 1 XP        Ball of Flame ...... 2 XP
Sleep ..................... 2 XP       Rust ................. 2 XP        Escape ............. 3 XP
Cloud of Chaos .......... 4 XP       Command ........... 4 XP        Summon Orcs ..... 4 XP
Summon Undead ........ 4 XP       Lightning Bolt ...... 5 XP        Firestorm .......... 5 XP

Quest Special Rules An individual Quest may have a special rule that affects the XP value, so apply judgement in such cases.  Consider  the North American ed., Quest 10, Castle of Mystery.   Some rooms are less likely to be teleported to by more than one Hero, so they are more dangerous.  The monsters within were valued appropriately: teleport on a 7, no adjustment; teleport on a 6 or 8, XP x 1.25; teleport on a 5 or 9, XP x 1.5; teleport on a 4 or 10, XP x 2; teleport on a 3 or 11, XP x 3.


Quest XP Values   Now for the NA ed. Quests with their XP values:

Quest Book Quests and Their XP Values

WM = Wandering Monster      H = Hazard

 Quest 1                             261 XP +10/WM, +10/H      Quest 2                                 168 XP + 10/WM, + 10/H
 The Trial .................... 331 XP*                              The Rescue of Sir Ragnar .... 238 XP*

 Quest 3                             192 XP +10/WM, +10/H      Quest 4                                 214 XP +13/WM, +10/H       
 Lair of the Orc Warlord ... 262 XP*                               Prince Magnus' Gold .......... 296 XP*
  .
 Quest 5                             213 XP +7/WM, +10/H        Quest 6                                 242 XP +13/WM, +10/H
 Melar's Maze ................ 271 XP*                              Legacy of the Orc Warlord ... 324 XP*

 Quest 7                             227 XP +12/WM, +10/H      Quest 8                                 274 XP +13/WM, +10/H
 The Lost Wizard ........... 305 XP*                               The Fire Mage ................ 356 XP*

 Quest 9                             241 XP +13/WM, +10/H      Quest 10                               316 XP +0/WM, +10/H
 Race Against Time ........ 323 XP*                               Castle of Mystery ............. 346 XP*

 Quest 11                           280 XP +13/WM, +10/H      Quest 12         Barak Tor-       234 XP + 5/WM, +10/H
 Bastion of Chaos ........... 362 XP*                              Barrow of the Witch Lord .... 284 XP*

 Quest 13      Quest            251 XP +25/WM, +10/H      Quest 14                                221 XP +12/WM, +10/H
 for the Spirit Blade ........ 381 XP*                              Return to Barak Tor ........... 299 XP*

 * The XP value is considered average if the Heroes each search for treasure 4 times in a Quest.

  The above reference could be used as a comparison model for an unfinished Quest, or for any home-brew Quest as well.  


Heroes' XP   As for the Heros' XP values, they are calculated a bit differently.  There normally is no Move bonus, but plate armor can cost a -1 XP penalty, and Elven Boots can give a +1 XP bonus.  Defend dice are more valuable, so each die over 1 accrues (3) 2 XP instead of (2) 1.  The Dwarf's disarm and remove traps has a value of 5 XP.

Armory items, artifacts, and potions: Armory items add their dice value over 1, just as a Hero's Attack or Defend dice do.  Weapons with a diagonal attack add 1 to the dice value of the weapon.  Artifact armor and weapons work similarly.  Some artifacts will require individual judgment.  Most treasure deck potions are worth 2 XP, but a Heal potion is worth 5 XP.

Hero Spells: Spells add to XP using the following values:

Hero Spell XP Values

                        

Swift Wind ................. 1         Fire of Wrath ......... 1

Tempest .................... 1         Ball of Flame .......... 2

                                            Genie ....................... 3         Courage ............. 1/4^

Pass Through Rock ........ 1         Veil of Mist ............ 1

Rock Skin ................... 1         Sleep ................... 2

Heal Body .................. 5          Water of Healing ..... 5

  ^ Use 1 if ruled useful for the next attack only, or use 4 if ruled useful for multiple attacks.


Heroes' XP value(s):   Altogether, the Heroes begin with (131) 174/177 XP*, broken down as follows:

  Barbarian [Move -, Att 6 XP, Def (3) 2 XP, BP 21 XP, MP (2) 1 XP]; (32 XP) 49 
  Dwarf [Move -, Att 3 XP, Def (3) 2 XP, BP 18 XP, MP (3) 1 XP], Disarm and remove traps 5 XP; (32) 45 XP
  Elf [Move -, Att 3 XP, Def (3) 2 XP, BP 15 XP, MP (4) 2 XP], Spells: 5  XP(air), 4/7* XP(fire), 7  XP(rock), or 8 XP                                                                       (water); (30) 40 XP, (29/32) 39/42 XP*, (32) 42 XP, or (33) 43 XP
  Wizard [Move -, Att 0 XP, Def (3) 2 XP, BP 9 XP, MP 6 XP], Spells: (16/19) 37/40 XP* (no water), (17/20) 38/41 XP*
            (no rock), (20) 41 XP (no fire), or (19/22) 40/43 XP* (no air);  34/37 XP*, 35/38 XP*, 38 XP, or 37/40 XP*

  * Use the first value if Courage is useful for 1 attack only, or use the second if it is useful for multiple attacks.


Comparing Hero XP with Quest XP  If the Heroes each draw 4 times from the treasure deck, on average they will gain 4 potions worth a total of 14 XP.  Combine this with the Heroes' 131 XP.  If you double that 145 XP to 290 XP, it is roughly equivalent to each value of the first few Quests.  Note that the first XP value of Quest 1 is 331 XP, a good deal above the 290 XP value for the Heroes; this Quest is considered hard.  The next Quests come in at an easy to moderate 238 XP and 262 XP.  They are considered very achievable.  The conclusion can be drawn that the XP difficulty of a Quest can guaged by doubling the XP value of the Heroes' XP, assuming an average of 4 draws of the treasure deck per Hero.   I'm too tired to compare all the Quests against progressing Heroes with better dice and artifacts.  Maybe someone can respond and beat me to it as a critique.
 

[cynthialee]

Wow.

That is a comprehensive piece of work.

It should be its own post with a sticky.

Gonna take some time to absorb it all and figure it all out. I am impressed.

[torilen]

daedalus - I'm gonna have to come back and read this later this weekend...
but...HOLY CRAP. Do you have no life at all...seriously?
hahaha

[Ethica]

Sorry that I'm going on about something which is off topic slightly.

I agree with adding in RPG elements to heroquest so that it's more than a standard board game. What I'm saying is that imagine you killed a hero with a monster you threw in, in order to make an instance more interesting, where would be the fairness in that? Or the elf died but the dwarf was saved because he drank a potion you threw in to make the quest less difficult, where's the fairness in that? As Monika from Friends said "rules, control the fun". I hate when heroes are killed, I hate when Morcar wins, but that doesn't stop me from trying to kill heroes with all the resources I have available.

I will close by proposing this- What would make for a more satisfying game- (1) The heroes make it through a 'by the book' quest by the skin of their teeth or, (2) The heroes always seem to make it through by the skin of their teeth because, regardless of their strategy and luck, you're manipulating the quest so that it turns out that way. ?????

[torilen]

ethica - I'm certainly not saying that they need to make it through every quest by the skin of their teeth.
Some quests should be easy. Take, for example, the one quest where they jumped through magical doors
from one individual room to another. That was a little hard because of the monsters in each room, and
there was a chance that a hero would be by himself...but that was a very interesting, fun quest because
they never knew where they would end up. That would make for a satisfying game for everyone, if you
were the person who created that portion of the game.

Personally...I almost always modify a game in some way, if nothing else by throwing in a little extra fun
treasures...usually something fun made especially for a specific hero. Yeah, it might give them an advantage
and allow them to live while another hero dies...that is the chance we take by changing things.

But, really...what is the fun in playing just by the book?? And that is especially true if the characters are making
it by the skin of their teeth every time, no matter what strategy they use. That means the book is wrong, if you
ask me.

[cynthialee]

It can be problematic.

If you take a head or two on occasion the survivors feel like they have acomplished something. And when the retelling of stories of heroic deeds are told it is almost invariably the tales of the hereos that died on the path to glory that are talked about the most.

[Thrawn]

I was wondering if anyone has ever figured out a "point system" you could use to more precisely balance quests you create. For example, assigning "point values" to each kind of monster. Any thoughts? Thanks.

I posted this elsewhere before I found the Inne (edited for appearance):

  Something that has been done before: assign an experience point (XP) value to monsters for leveling up the Heroes. The following system could be used for that, but that's not what I'm after.  
  Instead, the purpose of the system is for rating the difficulty of the HQ Questbook Quests and to make comparisons possible with your own Quests.  Interested?  Do you dare read my mountain of words?

Monster XP   The general principle in this rating system is to assign a factor of experience points, or XP, to a monster for each characteristic point above a minimum.  Collectively, the monsters and master monsters have the following minimums for characteristics: Move 1, Attack 1 (derived from the Wizard), Defend 1, Body Points 1, and Mind Points 0.  Any characteristic above a minimum awards a certain number of XP per attack die, defend die, Body Point or Mind Point.
  Move works differently, as it is compared to a Hero's average Move of 7.  If a monster's Move is less than half of a Hero's average Move, a -1 XP penalty is accrued.  If a monster's Move is equal to or greater than a Hero's average Move, a +1 XP bonus is gained.

Monster Characteristics XP Values

                      Move                            Attack               Defend                Body                    Mind
      less than 4 .......... -1 XP       3 XP for each      2 XP for each     3 XP for each       1 XP for each
      between 4 and 6 .... 0 XP           die over 1           die over 1         point over 1         point over 0
      greater than 6 ..... +1 XP

  To illustrate using a Goblin [Move 10, Attack 2, Defend 1, Body 1, Mind 1], it gets 1 XP for a Move of 7 or more, 3 XP for one attack die over the minimum of 1, and 1 XP for 1 Mind Point over the minimum of 0.  The total is 1+3+1 = 5XP.
  This system provides the basic monsters with the following:
                                      

Monster Experience Point Values

Goblin ... 5 XP        Skeleton ... 5 XP        Zombie ... 7 XP         Orc ... 10 XP

Mummy ... 12 XP      Fimir ... 13 XP      Chaos Warrior ... 25  XP      Gargoyle ... 27 XP

Traps and Hazards XP   Calculating the difficulty of a Quest requires more than simply summing the XP values of its monters.  Traps and hazards must also have values assigned.  Comparing the likely damage of a trap or the automatic damage of a hazard to the probable damage from a monster, parallels may be drawn to arrive at the XP value of a trap or hazard:  

Traps and Hazards Experience Point Values

 Hazard     Chest trap     Spear trap     Pit trap     Falling rock trap     Unavoidable*    Undetectable^

     
            10 XP         5 XP/ BP           3 XP             5 XP                  7 XP                    +2 XP                  +5 XP

  * Unavoidable: Is the goal that is blocked by a trap unreachable by another, safer route?  (Both a chest trap and hazard already have this factored in- they don't add this bonus.)
  ^ Undetectable: Is the trap located directly behind the other side of a door, or likewise not possible to search for? (A hazard already has this factored in- it doesn't add this bonus.)

  Example: There is a pit trap located on the other side of the only door into a room.  The value is figured as 5 XP for the pit trap, +2 XP for being unavoidable, and +5 XP for being undetectable- for a total value of 12 XP.


Wandering Monsters and Hazards   Most Quests only require two more XP considerations, that of Wandering Monsters and Hazards.  The number encountered are dependent upon the players' searches for treasure.  Therefor, they are both recorded as a factor triggered by the treasure deck.  For example, Quest 1 uses the Orc (10 XP) as the Wandering Monster.  This Quest would add 10/WM for Wandering Monsters and 10/H for Hazards to the base XP total of all monsters and traps.  Knowing that there is a 6 in 24 (1 in 4) chance of pulling a Wandering Monster and a 4 in 24 (1 in 6) chance of pulling a Hazard, and assuming a certain average number of treasure deck draws per player (say 4), you could estimate the Wandering Monster value at 40 and the Hazard value at 30.


Monster Spells   One more possible XP issue is certain monster's spells.  They require XP values to add to the master monster's XP,  so use the following:

Monster Spell XP Values

Fear ...................... 1 XP       Tempest ............ 1 XP        Ball of Flame ...... 2 XP
Sleep ..................... 2 XP       Rust ................. 2 XP        Escape ............. 3 XP
Cloud of Chaos .......... 4 XP       Command ........... 4 XP        Summon Orcs ..... 4 XP
Summon Undead ........ 4 XP       Lightning Bolt ...... 5 XP        Firestorm .......... 5 XP

Quest Special Rules An individual Quest may have a special rule that affects the XP value, so apply judgement in such cases.  Consider  the North American ed., Quest 10, Castle of Mystery.   Some rooms are less likely to be teleported to by more than one Hero, so they are more dangerous.  The monsters within were valued appropriately: teleport on a 7, no adjustment; teleport on a 6 or 8, XP x 1.25; teleport on a 5 or 9, XP x 1.5; teleport on a 4 or 10, XP x 2; teleport on a 3 or 11, XP x 3.


Quest XP Values   Now for the NA ed. Quests with their XP values:

Quest Book Quests and Their XP Values

WM = Wandering Monster      H = Hazard

 Quest 1                             261 XP +10/WM, +10/H      Quest 2                                 168 XP + 10/WM, + 10/H
 The Trial .................... 331 XP*                              The Rescue of Sir Ragnar .... 238 XP*

 Quest 3                             192 XP +10/WM, +10/H      Quest 4                                 214 XP +13/WM, +10/H       
 Lair of the Orc Warlord ... 262 XP*                               Prince Magnus' Gold .......... 296 XP*
  .
 Quest 5                             213 XP +7/WM, +10/H        Quest 6                                 242 XP +13/WM, +10/H
 Melar's Maze ................ 271 XP*                              Legacy of the Orc Warlord ... 324 XP*

 Quest 7                             227 XP +12/WM, +10/H      Quest 8                                 274 XP +13/WM, +10/H
 The Lost Wizard ........... 305 XP*                               The Fire Mage ................ 356 XP*

 Quest 9                             241 XP +13/WM, +10/H      Quest 10                               316 XP +0/WM, +10/H
 Race Against Time ........ 323 XP*                               Castle of Mystery ............. 346 XP*

 Quest 11                           280 XP +13/WM, +10/H      Quest 12         Barak Tor-       234 XP + 5/WM, +10/H
 Bastion of Chaos ........... 362 XP*                              Barrow of the Witch Lord .... 284 XP*

 Quest 13      Quest            251 XP +25/WM, +10/H      Quest 14                                221 XP +12/WM, +10/H
 for the Spirit Blade ........ 381 XP*                              Return to Barak Tor ........... 299 XP*

 * The XP value is considered average if the Heroes each search for treasure 4 times in a Quest.

  The above reference could be used as a comparison model for an unfinished Quest, or for any home-brew Quest as well.  


Heroes' XP   As for the Heros' XP values, they are calculated a bit differently.  There normally is no Move bonus, but plate armor can cost a -1 XP penalty, and Elven Boots can give a +1 XP bonus.  Defend dice are more valuable, so each die over 1 accrues 3 XP instead of 2.  The Dwarf's disarm and remove traps has a value of 5 XP.

Armory items, artifacts, and potions: Armory items add their dice value over 1, just as a Hero's Attack or Defend dice do.  Weapons with a diagonal attack add 1 to the dice value of the weapon.  Artifact armor and weapons work similarly.  Some artifacts will require individual judgment.  Most treasure deck potions are worth 2 XP, but a Heal potion is worth 5 XP.

Hero Spells: Spells add to XP using the following values:

Hero Spell XP Values

                        

Swift Wind ................. 1         Fire of Wrath ......... 1

Tempest .................... 1         Ball of Flame .......... 2

                                            Genie ....................... 3         Courage ............. 1/4^

Pass Through Rock ........ 1         Veil of Mist ............ 1

Rock Skin ................... 1         Sleep ................... 2

Heal Body .................. 5          Water of Healing ..... 5

  ^ Use 1 if ruled useful for the next attack only, or use 4 if ruled useful for multiple attacks.


Heroes' XP value(s):   Altogether, the Heroes begin with 131 XP, broken down as follows:

  Barbarian [Move -, Att 6 XP, Def 3 XP, BP 21 XP, MP 2 XP] 32 XP 
  Dwarf [Move -, Att 3 XP, Def 3 XP, BP 18 XP, MP 3 XP], Disarm and remove traps 5 XP, 32 XP
  Elf [Move -, Att 3 XP, Def 3 XP, BP 15 XP, MP 4 XP], Spells: 5  XP(air), 4/7* XP(fire), 7  XP(rock), or 8 XP (water);                                                                                                                       30 XP, 29/32 XP*, 32 XP, or 33 XP
  Wizard [Move -, Att 0 XP, Def 3 XP, BP 9 XP, MP 6 XP], Spells: 16/19 XP* (no water), 17/20 XP* (no rock), 20 XP (no                                                                fire), or 19/22 XP* (no air);  34/37 XP*, 35/38 XP*, 38 XP, or 37/40 XP*

  * Use the first value if Courage is useful for 1 attack only, or use the second if it is useful for multiple attacks.


Comparing Hero XP with Quest XP  If the Heroes each draw 4 times from the treasure deck, on average they will gain 4 potions worth a total of 14 XP.  Combine this with the Heroes' 131 XP.  If you double that 145 XP to 290 XP, it is roughly equivalent to each value of the first few Quests.  Note that the first XP value of Quest 1 is 331 XP, a good deal above the 290 XP value for the Heroes; this Quest is considered hard.  The next Quests come in at an easy to moderate 238 XP and 262 XP.  They are considered very achievable.  The conclusion can be drawn that the XP difficulty of a Quest can guaged by doubling the XP value of the Heroes' XP, assuming an average of 4 draws of the treasure deck per Hero.   I'm too tired to compare all the Quests against progressing Heroes with better dice and artifacts.  Maybe someone can respond and beat me to it as a critique.
 

I'm actually using this right now to guage WAAAGH! difficulty against the original quests, just to give me a mathematical sanity check on difficulty. One thing I wonder about is whether traps are overvalued. A simple search for traps, which in most cases is possible, eliminates the threat of traps. I've noticed that using these formulas, trap heavy quests rate really high.

I also noticed that you had diagonal attacks included, but didn't see anything for range. (Crossbows on heroes makes a huge difference.)

This did give me an immediate outlier I'm going to need to playtest and evaluate though. My 4th quest came up 455 when my expected value (2*estimated hero xp) is 320 giving me a 1.42 difficulty ratio. (I took quest xp divided by expected hero xp to get a ratio for each quest to compare them.)

It's been an interesting exercise though.

[drathe]

In the American version, to which Daedalus is accustomed, traps remain after a search and must be disarmed to eliminate the threat they pose.