Traps on the other side of the door

[Jalapenotrellis]

I don't house rule. Stick to the rules. The one thing I'd say that we have left to interpretation is Borin's Armor, where we play it as extra defense and not a hard amount of defense dice. If we are playing that wrong then I would happily change it.

So, how do you rule the traps behind doors? Tough luck for the Heroes, since they can't search through a door? Even if that trap is a Falling Block trap, that would / could trap a Hero in a room he can't get out of in any way?

Traps behind doors = tough luck

It is one of the few somewhat guaranteed ways to inflict damage in the game.
And OFTEN it is accompanied by having two entryways into a room, forcing the heroes to choose and have a guess at what awaits them on the other side.

Yes. This is a tough luck game. It specifically states in the rule book that there is no way around the trap beyond a door scenario. (They can always cast Pass Through Rock and search.)
I have yet to find the no way out falling rock trap that separates or kills a hero--which quest is that??

[Kurgan]

The trap on the other side of the door is a nasty trick, but I created a "once per quest" ability for my new Ranger character specifically for this. He can choose to search the square on the other side of the door for a trap without entering the room. But it's still pure luck...

Just noticed this post. Well, I guess it's a nice way to go about it, but it does introduce a house-rule. This puts it in the ballpark of "whatever you like, EW!", outside of the standard rules.

I actually wonder how many people stick to the rules and not go outside those boundaries and how many people go for house-ruling stuff.

Seems like a large sampling of posters here use house rules of some type, even if it's just playing Euro exclusive quest packs with North American rules.

Believe me there are plenty of opportunities for the EW to live up to his name with the "trap behind door" trick, but if they're lucky enough just once (still have to have a Ranger with them to do it, period), and detect that trap, they will feel like a million bucks (or bricks of gold or something). Thing is though he can always shrug his shoulders and say "that's how the official quest was arranged..." (blame MB, etc)

Most of my "house ruling" is just to make it more interesting for members of my gaming group who have already played basic HQ to death, and to overcome some of the broken difficulty in the EQP/BQP... my goal isn't to make it too easy so that there's no sense of tension or danger ever.

[j_dean80]

Pretty much everyone uses at least 1 house rule. Even mixing NA and EU rules is a house rule.

Are you talking about the members here on the forum, or in general? Because I was talking about it in general. But I realise as well that we'll never know that particular figure.

But this is all side-tracking. The issue was about Traps on the other side of a door .

I don't house rule. Stick to the rules. The one thing I'd say that we have left to interpretation is Borin's Armor, where we play it as extra defense and not a hard amount of defense dice. If we are playing that wrong then I would happily change it.

So you won't play Against the Ogre Horde, Wizards of Morcar, or Dark Company? Also any Quest from Dave Morris or the White Dwarf?

[Jalapenotrellis]

The trap on the other side of the door is a nasty trick, but I created a "once per quest" ability for my new Ranger character specifically for this. He can choose to search the square on the other side of the door for a trap without entering the room. But it's still pure luck...

Just noticed this post. Well, I guess it's a nice way to go about it, but it does introduce a house-rule. This puts it in the ballpark of "whatever you like, EW!", outside of the standard rules.

I actually wonder how many people stick to the rules and not go outside those boundaries and how many people go for house-ruling stuff.

Seems like a large sampling of posters here use house rules of some type, even if it's just playing Euro exclusive quest packs with North American rules.

Believe me there are plenty of opportunities for the EW to live up to his name with the "trap behind door" trick, but if they're lucky enough just once (still have to have a Ranger with them to do it, period), and detect that trap, they will feel like a million bucks (or bricks of gold or something). Thing is though he can always shrug his shoulders and say "that's how the official quest was arranged..." (blame MB, etc)

Most of my "house ruling" is just to make it more interesting for members of my gaming group who have already played basic HQ to death, and to overcome some of the broken difficulty in the EQP/BQP... my goal isn't to make it too easy so that there's no sense of tension or danger ever.

Can you explain the broken difficulty of the last two quest packs? People say that but I'm not quite sure what they mean as I have not got that far yet. I'm assuming that the heroes will have full gear and plenty of potions by then. Additionally, they will know combat techniques such as appropriate door blocking and spell casting on appropriate mobs and kiting if necessary.

[Maurice76]

Yes. This is a tough luck game. It specifically states in the rule book that there is no way around the trap beyond a door scenario. (They can always cast Pass Through Rock and search.)
I have yet to find the no way out falling rock trap that separates or kills a hero--which quest is that??

There's at least one room in Against the Ogre Horde, which can lock any Heroes not yet beyond the trap from ever reaching the exit in the dungeon; it's in "The Outer Caves". When the first Hero enters the room, somewhere in the bottom left, he's faced with a Fimir and if he chooses to move adjacent to it to attack it, he basically has 2 tiles to choose from. One of them triggers a falling block that blocks the door through which he entered. However, that door is mandatory to pass through to reach the exit. Even if he chooses the correct tile, he may not kill the Fimir in one blow, which would enable the next Hero to Search for Traps upon entering the room. Instead, that Hero would then probably attack the Fimir as well - likely triggering the Trap, blocking off the remaining two Heroes from reaching the exit (unless either one of them has a Pass Through Rock spell).

I also know of a room in one of the other quests (Elf Quest Pack, quest 10, the top left room) which has no visible or hidden exits besides the one through which the Heroes can enter and the room holds a Chest. However, the Falling Block trap will block the door; when the trap is triggered, players will have to decide whether to gamble that the quest wouldn't lock up their character without a way out, because that Chest is a lure to get them into the room. They have no knowledge that no other exit exists and will be trapped in that room if they choose to jump into the room instead of back, out into the hallway. The Chest even has a treasure described for it, even though the Hero would only ever be able to escape the room if he'd have an Elven Cloak of Passage or a Pass Through Rock spell available somehow.

Can you explain the broken difficulty of the last two quest packs? People say that but I'm not quite sure what they mean as I have not got that far yet. I'm assuming that the heroes will have full gear and plenty of potions by then. Additionally, they will know combat techniques such as appropriate door blocking and spell casting on appropriate mobs and kiting if necessary.

The first few quests in both the Elf Quest Pack and the Barbarian Quest Pack are solo quests. The Elf will be faced with Wolves that have 6 attack dice and 5 hitpoints. When I tried this once, long ago, with my brother, he got chewed up and killed by the very first Wolf he encountered. Even fully decked out from all the quests he did before. The Barbarian faces off against Yeti's, who can give a hug when their attacks land. The only way to break a hug is for another character to attack the Yeti. But in a solo quest, the Barbarian is alone.

Also, the overall amount of monsters (counting hitpoints and damage potential) in most quests is far too high for a single character to defeat and live through the end of the quest pack, most of the time.

[arch8ngel]

The first few quests in both the Elf Quest Pack and the Barbarian Quest Pack are solo quests. The Elf will be faced with Wolves that have 6 attack dice and 5 hitpoints. When I tried this once, long ago, with my brother, he got chewed up and killed by the very first Wolf he encountered. Even fully decked out from all the quests he did before. The Barbarian faces off against Yeti's, who can give a hug when their attacks land. The only way to break a hug is for another character to attack the Yeti. But in a solo quest, the Barbarian is alone.

Also, the overall amount of monsters (counting hitpoints and damage potential) in most quests is far too high for a single character to defeat and live through the end of the quest pack, most of the time.

I haven't reached the BQP before... but I thought the Barbarian could hire mercenaries for the solo quests?

[Maurice76]

I haven't reached the BQP before... but I thought the Barbarian could hire mercenaries for the solo quests?

Literally, the Yeti's description is this:

[quote]Whenever the Yeti's attack causes a Hero to lose at least 1 Body Point, the Yeti grabs the Hero in a powerful hug. This hug inflicts 2 Body Points of damage to the Hero at the start of each subsequent Zargon turn. The Hero cannot defend against this attack, nor can he take any actions. The Yeti can make no other attacks while hugging. This continues until either the Hero dies or the Yeti is killed by the Hero's companions."

The Yeti has 3 attack and defend dice and 5 hitpoints. If the Barbarian gets hit, his mercenaries need to finish him off before the Barbarian is killed. Since mercenaries have only 2 Body Points, a succesful Yeti attack will kill them at the start of Zargon's next turn, unless the Yeti is killed in between.

[arch8ngel]

I haven't reached the BQP before... but I thought the Barbarian could hire mercenaries for the solo quests?

Literally, the Yeti's description is this:

Whenever the Yeti's attack causes a Hero to lose at least 1 Body Point, the Yeti grabs the Hero in a powerful hug. This hug inflicts 2 Body Points of damage to the Hero at the start of each subsequent Zargon turn. The Hero cannot defend against this attack, nor can he take any actions. The Yeti can make no other attacks while hugging. This continues until either the Hero dies or the Yeti is killed by the Hero's companions."

The Yeti has 3 attack and defend dice and 5 hitpoints. If the Barbarian gets hit, his mercenaries need to finish him off before the Barbarian is killed. Since mercenaries have only 2 Body Points, a succesful Yeti attack will kill them at the start of Zargon's next turn, unless the Yeti is killed in between.

That is pretty brutal, but I suspect the winning strategy is to splash out for a merc team of crossbowmen, or to use a merc to open rooms.

Because that rule certainly sounds like the Yeti is forcibly committed to their bear hug once the attack is made, meaning they can't shift targets until their current target dies.

[Maurice76]

Because that rule certainly sounds like the Yeti is forcibly committed to their bear hug once the attack is made, meaning they can't shift targets until their current target dies.

That's the way I understand it, too. That means the Barbarian needs to keep his mercs alive, though and with 2 hitpoints, they might die fast. Some missions even feature 2 Yetis in a single room, though I believe those are in the Group Quests. One of those quests has 2 Yetis as the Wandering Monster for that quest, ugh.

[Jalapenotrellis]

For the yetis: can't the hero just use a crossbow and kite them to avoid the hugs? The hugs would obviously be read to the player as an ability of the monster. Also, it can't hug two things at once, right?
Again, I'm not this far in the series to know.
Also, for the falling block traps that do block the doors, I noticed the notation is different in Against the Ogre Horde. They have arrows, whereas the other quests don't for this type of trap, right? I find that confusing.
Then, aren't there spell scrolls that they could get with pass through rock on them? I think I remember reading that at some point. There is also ring of return.
Alternatively, the wizard could be the one who does that room with a trap disarm kit, or whomever gets locked in could pass their equipment to the character who does pass through rock to "rescue" the equipment.