Ye Olde Inn

Jalapenotrellis wrote:Thanks for pointing out the elf and Barbarian Quest pack have it written in official rules. If adjacent is defined as the four spaces orthogonally, what is preventing characters from arranging themselves during combat or presence of monsters from passing the crossbow to each other?

Your answer can be found at the end of page 5 of both the EQP or BQP:

Zargon, study this book carefully! While it is your guide to running
these adventures, it may not answer every question you have during
play. When in doubt, use your experience and imagination to make
the best choice. Remember that you are the ultimate authority in
your HERO QUEST world!

In the case of passing a crossbow, Zargon shouldn't allow such cheese. As I had mentioned above, you can/should consider the "endless supply of arrows" as a separate item to be passed (a quarrel of bolts.) Looking to p.17 of the Instruction Booklet, the passing of potions, an item, is limited to one per turn: " . . . You may give one of your potions to a fellow Hero. . . ." Since the passing items rules clarification of the BQP is related to this original rule, all passing can be limited as such. It thus would take two turns to pass a crossbow and bolts between adjacent Heroes, restoring reasonable use.

Jalapenotrellis wrote:. . . Also, wow this forum is awesome and active! First time poster here. Just curious if there is a way to subscribe to a forum itself? Such as the rules forum.

From the FAQ page:

How do I subscribe to specific forums or topics?
To subscribe to a specific forum, click the “Subscribe forum” link upon entering the forum. To subscribe to a topic, reply to the topic with the subscribe checkbox checked or click the “Subscribe topic” link within the topic itself.

The link is small but found at the very bottom of the forum page on the left side.

I have no problem with heroes swapping to use an item, there and then... as long as it's minimised. I believe we do get a moment in the Lord of the Rings where this actually happens. I made my mods to reduce it but not remove it. I like to keep as many options open to the players rather than tell them that's not how it works (as it wasn't worded that way). I reworded the GIVE mechanic many times to suit how they tried to play. There's nothing worse than constantly stopping a game with NO this NO that! I almost went down the NO path but thought why not.

Bonus Action: Sacrifice 1 rolled Move d6 to
Re-Equip: Change equipped weapons/armour.
Give/Receive: Weapon/potion to/from another whilst
passing or adjacent. Both may Re-Equip for free.

There's more Bonus Actions and in character creation you can give your Hero some specific Bonus Actions.
Link for the Rule Sumamry
Link for Character Creation

With the most important, it must remain incredibly simple. Now there's no issues of ending, starting adjacent or who's turn it actually is who has the item. As long as you have an unused Movement d6 to sacrifice, the exchange can be triggered. I was going to make it the FULL ACTION (Move or Attack) but I felt this slowed the game down too much and I wanted a mechanic for the characters special abilities, to which some need the attack and/or movement to still be useful, making it a generic concept incorporating many things, very simple for players to take on board.

There's no issue of over swapping the Plate Armour as that reduces you to 1Md6 anyways.