Solo Play
Posted: June 26th, 2011, 1:58 am
Whilst I was reading through the AHQ rulebook, to try to help Neonille with his queries, I re-read the section on Solo AHQ. This gives rules to play the game by ones’ self. As those of us who have played AHQ before have said, there is far too much dice rolling to make it enjoyable. So, I have been working on an easier, smoother way to go, using the standard HQ equipment. I used the Hero Stat. Cards, Treasure cards, Equip. cards and Quest Treasure cards. Also the standard Combat dice. The AHQ comes with a 12 sided dice, which works quite well, but I see no reason why one can’t use the two red dice instead. The basic AHQ game is played by rolling up Corridor Features, i.e., length, far end and contents. I have kept this idea, which works quite well. One starts with Stairs Down, two five sq. by two sq. corridor lengths and a T junction far end. Set the way you are going to play your Heroes, and off you go. When your four Heroes have done, you as the DM rolls a dice on a Matrix for your turn. This consists of, 1-2, Trap, 3-10, nothing, 11-12, Wandering Monster.
Make a Matrix for your Heroes, i.e., 1-3, Dwarf, 4-6, Barbarian, 7-9, Wizard, 10-12, Elf. Roll on this Matrix if a Trap or WM comes up, to decide who suffers.
If a trap comes up, 1-6, pit, 7-12, spear. Roll for the unfortunate, 1-6, he sees the trap, 7-12, he is caught. If a WM, place the WM next to him & attack. Simple HUH?
When your H reach the T, decide which way to turn, and roll up the way ahead, Passage Length, Features, Far End. If you find a Door/Doors, play as normal. On opening a door, the are four possibilities, a Normal Room, a Hazard Room, (these can be quite interesting), a Lair, full of Monsters, or a Quest Room, with your objective inside. Roll for Room Doors, ie,how many Doors, & if any Furniture, if you want any.
A Normal Room can be searched for Treasure using the HQ cards, and Secret Doors, if there aren’t any standard doors. Don’t forget the DM turn after the last Hero. This can be quite interesting, when Traps & WM come into play. I find it is quite difficult to protect the Wizard, and you may decide to beef up his Defence dice & Body Points, but that is up to you. So far, I have played a couple of games, using a Quest Treasure Artifact as my aim. These of course are found in the first Quest Room that is rolled up. I guess one could play through the standard Quest Book using this Method. When opening a door in a room, roll the dice, odds it’s another room, evens, a corridor. Use your common if the room or corridor won’t fit.
Matrix for Passage Length
1-6, one length
7-12, two length
Passage Features
1-2 Wandering Monster
3-7 one door
8-10 two door
11-12 WM
Passage End
1-2 T junction
3-4 Dead End
5-7 Right Turn
8-10 Left Turn
11 Stairs Down
12 Stairs Out. If you find Stairs Out, go back to Junctions not rolled up, or search for Secret Doors in blank corridor sections.
Room Type
1-6, Normal
7-8 Hazard
9-10 Lair
11-12 Quest.
Room Doors
1-4 None
5-8 one
9-12 Two
Secret Doors
1-6 Nothing
7-12 Secret Door, place in wall being searched
Similarly, work out Matrix for Monsters in a Lair, using the HQ set & one to twelve on a roll, same for Quest Room. AHQ allows you to loot dead monsters, and why not?, so set a value on each group you roll up, and share it out. WM also can be looted, with the killer getting the cash! In AHQ the heroes & DM roll for suprise on lairs & quest rooms. Highest roll wins & places monsters, seems to work OK.
Hazard Rooms
The AHQ has a long line of Hazards, I have pared it down a bit, but no reason not to make up your own.
1-3 WM
4 Non Player, (Sir Ragnar? Damsel in Distress?, that sort of thing
5 Chasm, place a Chasm Tile in the room, with a Treasure Chest & a WM on the other side. Plus a door. Heroes can attempt to jump across, the kill the WM & open the chest. Roll for jump, 1-6 fall in, lose 1 Body, 7-12, succeed, fight the beast & open the chest. Open door, or jump back, same rule applies.
6 TC, 100 Gold
8 WM
9 Pool. Take a drink, 1-6 poison, lose one body point, 7-12, gain one body point.
10 Magic Circle. Stand on the circle. 1-2 Curse, lose one Body Point. 2-4 Nothing Happens, 5-7, if the wizard, Magic Power, play one spell of your chosing twice.8-10, Healing, restore to full body points, 11-12 WM
So, there you go, can be fun, and while away a few hours. You will need some graph paper to map your Dungeon, much easier than laying it all out, also you could run out of tiles! Depending on your luck with the dice.
PS to help the Wizard, I have cooked up a Bracegirdle, a Masonic Sash, to give him 2 extra in defence, and will put it in my next Quest Room
Make a Matrix for your Heroes, i.e., 1-3, Dwarf, 4-6, Barbarian, 7-9, Wizard, 10-12, Elf. Roll on this Matrix if a Trap or WM comes up, to decide who suffers.
If a trap comes up, 1-6, pit, 7-12, spear. Roll for the unfortunate, 1-6, he sees the trap, 7-12, he is caught. If a WM, place the WM next to him & attack. Simple HUH?
When your H reach the T, decide which way to turn, and roll up the way ahead, Passage Length, Features, Far End. If you find a Door/Doors, play as normal. On opening a door, the are four possibilities, a Normal Room, a Hazard Room, (these can be quite interesting), a Lair, full of Monsters, or a Quest Room, with your objective inside. Roll for Room Doors, ie,how many Doors, & if any Furniture, if you want any.
A Normal Room can be searched for Treasure using the HQ cards, and Secret Doors, if there aren’t any standard doors. Don’t forget the DM turn after the last Hero. This can be quite interesting, when Traps & WM come into play. I find it is quite difficult to protect the Wizard, and you may decide to beef up his Defence dice & Body Points, but that is up to you. So far, I have played a couple of games, using a Quest Treasure Artifact as my aim. These of course are found in the first Quest Room that is rolled up. I guess one could play through the standard Quest Book using this Method. When opening a door in a room, roll the dice, odds it’s another room, evens, a corridor. Use your common if the room or corridor won’t fit.
Matrix for Passage Length
1-6, one length
7-12, two length
Passage Features
1-2 Wandering Monster
3-7 one door
8-10 two door
11-12 WM
Passage End
1-2 T junction
3-4 Dead End
5-7 Right Turn
8-10 Left Turn
11 Stairs Down
12 Stairs Out. If you find Stairs Out, go back to Junctions not rolled up, or search for Secret Doors in blank corridor sections.
Room Type
1-6, Normal
7-8 Hazard
9-10 Lair
11-12 Quest.
Room Doors
1-4 None
5-8 one
9-12 Two
Secret Doors
1-6 Nothing
7-12 Secret Door, place in wall being searched
Similarly, work out Matrix for Monsters in a Lair, using the HQ set & one to twelve on a roll, same for Quest Room. AHQ allows you to loot dead monsters, and why not?, so set a value on each group you roll up, and share it out. WM also can be looted, with the killer getting the cash! In AHQ the heroes & DM roll for suprise on lairs & quest rooms. Highest roll wins & places monsters, seems to work OK.
Hazard Rooms
The AHQ has a long line of Hazards, I have pared it down a bit, but no reason not to make up your own.
1-3 WM
4 Non Player, (Sir Ragnar? Damsel in Distress?, that sort of thing
5 Chasm, place a Chasm Tile in the room, with a Treasure Chest & a WM on the other side. Plus a door. Heroes can attempt to jump across, the kill the WM & open the chest. Roll for jump, 1-6 fall in, lose 1 Body, 7-12, succeed, fight the beast & open the chest. Open door, or jump back, same rule applies.
6 TC, 100 Gold
8 WM
9 Pool. Take a drink, 1-6 poison, lose one body point, 7-12, gain one body point.
10 Magic Circle. Stand on the circle. 1-2 Curse, lose one Body Point. 2-4 Nothing Happens, 5-7, if the wizard, Magic Power, play one spell of your chosing twice.8-10, Healing, restore to full body points, 11-12 WM
So, there you go, can be fun, and while away a few hours. You will need some graph paper to map your Dungeon, much easier than laying it all out, also you could run out of tiles! Depending on your luck with the dice.
PS to help the Wizard, I have cooked up a Bracegirdle, a Masonic Sash, to give him 2 extra in defence, and will put it in my next Quest Room