secret doors

[Ethica]

Does anyone actually play with secret door or trap die roll checks? So if the hero fails or passes the secret check you might as well say "You have either been successful in seeing that there are no secret doors or unsuccessful in seeing any secret doors there might be." Yes it adds realism and it probabaly exists in more complicated games like D&D, but does anyone else think that this idea could be really annoying for players, how many times should heroes re-search every room to be sure?

[Sjeng]

I I search for doors, and there is one, I find it. Simple as that.

[drathe]

"The European rules state that a secret doors are found by a search on either side of the wall in which they are placed."
Sorry to be pedantic, but I can't find this statement in my rule book, which I assume is European, UK, what page is it on? My book, page 12 says " A whole room or all visible squares of a passage may be searched in one turn. Players may search for either secret doors & traps or Treasure. Cannot see anything about "either side of the wall" Too early for

http://www.yeoldeinn.com/eu-system.php#books

Ken is using the first edition European rule book. Daedalus was referencing the more common second edition European rule book released with most European HeroQuest sets. The second edition rule book clarifies many questionable rules. Both rules are stated on page 12, but in different editions of the rule book.

[Daedalus]

You da Mentor!

[Ethica]

Here in the UK we have a game show (if you can call it that) called Mastermind where the contestant gets a couple of minutes to answer questions on their specialised subject. drathe would go on there and it'd be like "My specialised subject is the rules and history of Heroquest". "On what page of the second edition european rulebook would you find rules governing secret doors", "page 12", "correct"...

[torilen]

Ethica - I haven't played in a long time, so I can't say that I have used the rolling method. I plan to use it when
I do get a chance to play, as long as my players would like to try it out.
As far as re-searching - the rules state a room or area can be checked once - with each hero getting a chance to
search, at least one should be able to find a secret door.
It would present a problem, though, if the secret door was the only way to end the quest, and it was not found. The
evil wizard would have to suspend the one-search per room rule in that case.
OR...if the players wish to search more than once, each time after the first attempt, the evil wizard should check to
see if a wandering monster shows up. That's probably what I would do. Same thing with treasure and trap searches...
allow them more than one search, but a wandering monster might show up after the first attempt.

[Ethica]

Torilen - Do you see my point? After a hero has made a search they've no way of knowing if they've (successfully) found no doors, or (unsuccessfully) not found a door. Because most rooms do not have secret doors almost every single room has to be searched twice/thrice/by all 4 heroes. It's such a waste of good playing time. I simply can't believe that it works in practice. I think the wandering monster would discourage additional searches but then vital secret doors may not get discovered.

All nuts, original rules in this area are best. Sorry for going off on one.

[drathe]

Here in the UK we have a game show (if you can call it that) called Mastermind where the contestant gets a couple of minutes to answer questions on their specialised subject. drathe would go on there and it'd be like "My specialised subject is the rules and history of Heroquest". "On what page of the second edition european rulebook would you find rules governing secret doors", "page 12", "correct"...

Is this an open-book game show? I normally double-check my resources before making page references.

As for rolling secret door searches, I can understand the splash of realism thrown in that a door may be hidden well enough that it's not found at first, or even during a subsequent search. However, if we're adding some realism into this, if I search a room once and find nothing, I realistically would assume there are no secret passages and move on. Only if I come to a dead end in the Quest with no way to proceed would I realise there must be another way. Then brings the question of where and can I actually find it.

How does one find a secret door on a roll? Is it, if a six is roll on a red die, you know where the door is, should there be one? Or roll a number of dice for a skill and if you get equal to, or higher, you know where the door is, should there be one? I suppose either way, I would continue rolling turn after turn until I was 100% sure that if there was a door, I would have found it before moving on in the game.

The way I see it, and the way Ethica perceives it, the current HQ rule of, "if you search and if there is a door, you find it," just skips over all the rolling until it's found because I would just stay put until I know 100%. Just seems to save time.

But these are just personal opinions. Many play and enjoy rolling for searches. If you're keen on the rule, just try it out in a Quest and ask your players for feedback after they've experienced the rule. It may be their cup o'tea.

[ken]

Ken is using the first edition European rule book. Daedalus was referencing the more common second edition European rule book released with most European HeroQuest sets. The second edition rule book clarifies many questionable rules. Both rules are stated on page 12, but in different editions of the rule book. Said drathe
Well spotted, obviously me & my rule book are of "a certain age". Won't tell you just how old, but I first rode a motorcycle legally in 1956. Hey Ho! Just come back from celebrating my birthday! Big meal out, and to a showing of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Very good!

[torilen]

rode your first bike in 1956 - HA, you're old. hehehe

As far as the movie goes - I don't even recall hearing any commercials about that one. How
did you find out about it?