Some rules questions, please help

[ken]

Uuuh! Does that mean I own a valuable 1st edition Hero Quest?

*finds Danish rulebook*

Hmm... It's copyrighted in 1990, so I guess they just never changed the square rule in DK?
So are you guys saying you all just walk all over the board! I'm shocked and appalled! Nobody uses the square rule?

Us Country Boys here in Norfolk UK use the no passing through the same square rule, stops the squeemish running away.

[knightkrawler]

@Goblin-King:
IF they changed Danish 1st edition, they did it in April 1990 if not later. Methinks...
I think you own 1st edition.
Do you speak German?
There's a list of indicators compiled by Wehrter on hq-cooperation.de.

Look for a letter-and-number code on the back of the rule and quest books, on the goblin monster card, on the inside of the box lid and anywhere else you find these codes.
Then post them here. Maybe I can tell you something about your edition.

[Daedalus]

Hey! I'm back with some basic questions:

Ball of Flame, Fire of Wrath, Genie: do all of them require a line of sight?

But the wizard doesn't say "hey, Genie, go out and pick a door you like"...he tells him which door to open and therefore he must know and see this door. Maybe the wizard is able to see through the Genie's eyes once the spell has been cast.

I missed this thread earlier, but I'll interrupt (with apologies) and reply anyway.

The Wizard (or Elf) doesn't feel the monster in the room that isn't in LOS, but rather the magic of the EU Fire of Wrath spell does. Genie works the same way. As long as the door or monster has already been placed on the board, then a character has already seen it and knows of the location (but exceptions are possible). Hero Quest doesn't prohibit perfect communication between characters, so therefore the Wizard also knows the location of anything placed on the board. He then casts the Fire of Wrath or Genie spell (on a nearby square that he can see) and it magically homes in on the target's location that the Wizard provides. However, he may not cast it on a door or monster that hasn't already been placed on the board, so a Genie couldn't discover new areas other than revealing the contents of a newly opened room (but not traps or secret doors, as those are only found by a search or by a character triggering them).

The wording from "anywhere on the board" (Fire of Wrath) and "any door on the board"/"anyone on the board" (Genie) trumps the general LOS rule requirement for spell casting found in the Rules of Play. Rules on cards operate as rules extensions and are exceptions to the Rules of Play.

[Fullork345]

That is correct! and each Hero can only search each room/corridor once.

Always used to do that wrong then with traps. I used to always have it where it went by what they had line of sight to. Is it the whole corridor they are in?

For example, if the dwarf blocks the elfs line of sight, would all the traps in that hallway still be reveled? Or only up to the dwarf?

[Blackthorn]

The way the rules are written, the entire corridor can be searched for traps or secret doors as long there are no monsters. Line of sight is not a factor, so in your scenario the elf would discover all of the traps in that corridor. I can see making a house rule to make it more realistic, maybe factoring in line of sight and only letting them search a limited number of squares. I don't do this in my HQ games, but I believe many do.

[knightkrawler]

I can see making a house rule to make it more realistic, maybe factoring in line of sight and only letting them search a limited number of squares. I don't do this in my HQ games, but I believe many do.

I do it.
It's always the part of a corridor between two corners or crossings. Pretty simple when you use markers.

[Daedalus]

I'm thinking of adopting a similar restriction, but only for the outer-most corridors, which extend 19 or 26 square spaces across. This makes it possible to search 6 or 13 squares spaces beyond a Hero's maximum of 12 square spaces of movement. My reasoning is a Hero can only search what he can reach within his maximum move, which is 12 square spaces. Therefore, I split the four outer corridors into half-corridor search zones that extend from a corner to a middle or near-middle square. I'm still fine with the entire length of the inner corridors being searched in one action, however.

I want to have a search mechanic for outdoors, and I've never been satisfied with the trap beyond a door that can't be searched for. My solution is to have two search options, basically like Dragonstrike. The first option is the standard Hero Quest Search actions which include an entire room or corridor the Hero is in (except as noted above for outer corridors). Certain outdoor locations could also be defined as a room or corridor. A Hero may not move with this search, as movement is already necessary to search such a broad area adequately. The other option is a radial search action which may be done before or after movement. This includes all square spaces that a Hero can reach without opening a door that are no more distant than his current Mind Point score.

I'm also just about ready to adopt rules for searching that require rolling a combat die. Black shields are always a failure that end the Hero's search attempts in the area he is in. An exception is a secret door that must be passed to reach a Quest objective; the secret door is found, but not the method for opening it. Another Hero must succeed here.

For a search without a move, anything but a black shield is a success. Since a search with a move is rushed, only white shields are a success. However, skulls are a failure that may be reattempted. Skulls also trigger traps that weren't first found with a successful Search For Traps action, canceling the search. Traps are also sprung if it is necessary to cross one in order to search all of an area.

I also want to make a search more specific by placing a searching Hero on a sprung trap or discovered location, such as in front of a chest containing Quest treasure or at a secret door location. This placement is a consequence of the assumed movement included in the search action.

As for searches for treasure, I figure the roll should be more difficult for those searching after the first successful search. Therefore, a secondary or later search is only possible without a move and a white shield is needed for success. A skull still allows later attempts.