Heroquest remake by Hasbro - The BIG discussion thread

[Kurgan]

I agree that both would be nice. The "trouble" if you could call it that, is that once you start down the card path, everyone is going to want to have a card for every bit of equipment. They'll provide dupes for some of the popular ones but that's it. The cards are a quick and easy signal of what gear you have, but really that's what the character sheet is for. Over the editions, the character sheet gave you more room to actually write down what you had (and what it did) rather than filling up the space with ornate drawings of coat of arms and such. Over time too, players will have piles of cards in front of them... and you thought the Wizard had trouble keeping track of all his stuff!

Still, the fact that they're not using the "well there are only two shields, buddy, you're out of luck" mechanic, is fine by me (which was never an issue with the NA version).

See WHAT'S NEW ??? for my Summary analysis of what is actually new in the Remake.

[ajjohnsen]

Yea I'm torn on whether or not I like the "both shields are taken, sorry buddy" mechanic. It does add a bit of strategy for the party on how they split up their gear, and also forces an equipment burden ceiling on them. To adventure in a dungeon against monsters while carrying around the kitchen sink with you seems unrealistic in a game that yes is fantasy but allows for the roleplay in semi-realism

I dont know, we will see how it all plays out but I am remaining positive for now

[Oftkilted]

Yea I'm torn on whether or not I like the "both shields are taken, sorry buddy" mechanic. It does add a bit of strategy for the party on how they split up their gear, and also forces an equipment burden ceiling on them. To adventure in a dungeon against monsters while carrying around the kitchen sink with you seems unrealistic in a game that yes is fantasy but allows for the roleplay in semi-realism

I dont know, we will see how it all plays out but I am remaining positive for now

They specifically said that “equipment isn’t limited by cards”.

But that being said, the “limited by cards” was how the euro version was originally. IE two helms, etc. and only one tool kit. Even the second edition IE release specified that you had to have the cards to disarm traps in EU 2e.

It does make for interesting choices, and tends towards not having all (except the Wizard) equipped with basically the same thing (or all the things) something that I can’t say I’ve seen often is the use of henchmen along with the adventurers.

[Kurgan]

The Kitchen Sink Hero may seem unrealistic, but how realistic is it that even in this fantasy setting, they can't find any more than 2 shields or helmets in the ENTIRE Empire? There's only one Armorer for miles around? Just how poor is this kingdom??

At least in the 1st EU edition (and Japanese game system in which the limitation was also present but was much more generous in terms of instances of gear), you could still find more equipment, potentially, within the quests by searching... they just put a limitation on what the Armory (so to speak) was selling.

The idea of limitations and changes between quests is very video gamey, but it can simulate different conditions. Let's say between some quests things are fine, but later on, perhaps the Armory has different items for sale, or higher (or lower) Prices on certain things? But this is a lot of extra work to make those changes and balance them in a convincing way that isn't going to make everybody upset (they spent all that time saving only to find out that the prices have doubled putting that needed upgrade out of reach for yet another quest!).

But with the cards, you could discard a few random bits and say only the remaining cards are being sold at "this particular armory today" or something. Much like how you can make the Treasure deck more dangerous (or safer) by removing certain cards. But these are all house rules, and if the players have a certain expectation, it would seem crappy to spring that on them without saying so ahead of time.

[j_dean80]

Perhaps they can buy all the equipment but the cards limit how much they can carry into a Quest.

[Kurgan]

It doesn't this in case (Remake's rules), but I guess you could require the Heroes to put their extra gear into storage and let them swap from their inventory between quests.

I for one am in favor of hiring "Oswald the Overladen," a porter, to carry your extra gear for you, in those cases!

But seriously, imagine if you DID limit what could be brought in. So in the previous quest, let's say the Barbarian finds a Shield. Now they stop by the "Armory" to buy some new gear for the next quest with their saved up gold. They only get to buy 1 more Shield now, because the "limit" is 2? Just because there are "only" 2 cards? That seems a bit strict and even more unrealistic than just saying the Armory only has 2 shields today and so that's all you can buy. I see the logic in the number of cards being the limiting factor, but making it an absolute hard limit seems silly at this point, which is probably why they changed it in the 2nd edition. The Japanese version had a similar limit, but I would have to re-read the translation to see if there was any exception made for gear you found in the field vs. wanted to buy from the "Armory."

Actually that makes it much more clear, thank you. The cards are just a fun thing... a luxury item, like having enough Monster minis to have a "killed" pile plus a "reserve" pile to put out when you see them (when in reality you just re-use them, and substitute others of the same color or similar strength if you run out).

[cynthialee]

Oswald the Overladen is now a dude I shall include in the HQ games. He has all the heroes extra gear and has the skills of the Scout +1 Body Point (you need to be stout to carry all that gear)
he of course can arm himself with any weapon he has in the inventory

[Shadzar]

I agree that both would be nice. The "trouble" if you could call it that, is that once you start down the card path, everyone is going to want to have a card for every bit of equipment.

Its like they don't have a rulebook to tell you the way the works and can list the available number of items for sell between quests in the armory, and just use the cards as quick reference by Zargon/Morcar. Like the monster cards, there is only one of each, but more than one of each monster because they are only a reference.

also the black dragon was to be named Venim

[Kurgan]

Wow, AND he was a BLACK dragon. Somebody is a spider-man fan...!

That (non-funded, we're-not-getting-it) quest book was supposed to have 10 quests in it. So maybe that's a clue what the other two are supposed to be. It was actually going to have new tiles as well (can't make out the pictures well enough to see what they were of course).

Like I said, re: Equipment cards, there are benefits to both systems, but in the end, you just write it down on your character sheet, whether there is a card available or not, no big deal. Cards are helpful for house-rules and things.

[Oftkilted]

I’m not a huge fan of the “Nodwick” style Henchman actually being able to wield weapons.

Basically, a “carry all the things” style henchman is really good at carrying things. But is entirely non-violent. (All their experience goes into learning how to carry stuff better.) Badically they get the good skills like “Nonweapon Proficiences Schlepping, Toting, Hauling, and Lifting with Knees”.

As for the cards limiting what can be purchased? In the core game you had the Wizard who was a caster. Two “combat focused” Warriors and the elf ... a Jack of all trades. There’s merit to both using cards and also not using cards. If you’re assuming that Warriors will be bringing fighting Henchmen then the limits were reasonable. If not ... then at some point the group will likely be overwhelmed towards the end of the campaigns.