Primarily Healing class?

[j_dean80]

What is a player's motivation to play a healer character? It sounds kind of boring to me.

There is no motivation. I think people write up too many hero classes simply because they think of them.
The healer might be a bad example because strategically, a hero group has good need of one, but on the wanting to play him part, I agree with you.

I think the problem goes the other way. There is absolutely no need for new classes because the game has everything covered already.

Player: "I want to be a healer"
Zargon: "Done!" <hands player the Wizard>

Player: "I want to be a Rogue"
Zargon: "Done!" <hands player the Elf>

Player: "I want to be a knight"
Zargon: "Done!" <hands player the Barbarian>

Player: "I want to be a Necromancer"
Zargon: "Done!" <hands player the quest book and grabs the Dwarf for himself>

well said. although I will say, how do you convert the game for more players? one of the other reasons we have other classes is that while we started with 5 total players (including zargon) we expanded to a regular group of 8 people, thus necessitating extra monsters with updated stats for difficulty and extra classes for heroes.

so yes, you are correct, in the base form of the game, no other classes are needed. but if we are adding to the game (hence being in the additions section of forum (which I say without the intent of sounding smug)) and modifying both difficulty and the number of players playing, the base heroes become monotonous if duplicating.

that's the beauty of heroquest. it can give you what you want out of the game. at its base level it plays great, but it also allows for enough freedom to add and modify while still succeeding as a game. for that I say, to each there own. to the core fundamentalists...cheers. to those adding, or even to those that want to play a healer... cheers as well. (and now I feel like oprah..." you get a cheers...you get a cheers...everyone get's a cheers")

How do you play 8 on the regular board? Waaayyyy too crowded. Would have to use a bigger board. Perhaps like The Dark Company with the 4 boards.

[DullandRusty]

when we play 8 (7 heroes) they tend to split up on the regular board if we use it, but more often I use Dwarven Forge terrain for 3d playing in the same set up as the board. It gives a little more space. also we were done with the majority of the main quest book when we had the party grow to 7 heroes so we expanded the map a little bit to include a few more rooms on it as we were doing some custom quests and modified expansion quests, again using dwarven forge terrain

[SirRick]

I was toying with a 5th Hero character in case my D&D group decided to try HeroQuest sometime.

One idea was a cleric or paladin who would have the choice of a special "spell" group which would be three casts of a spell that either heals two body points to a hero or deals two points of damage to an undead creature, similar to the homebrew cleric class on the Dragon Strike Central website.

A little extra healing may be needed in quest packs like AthOH or Mage in the Mirror, but generally a wizard with both Earth and Water spells is all the Healer/Support you need for most quests.

[Anderas]

That could be an idea. A Hero with limited healing, double-use with something else like the cleric could also roll an extra die against undead. Then you have something nicely flavoured, not over the top strong.
I like to use Mohawks Questimator. It is easy to add the few extra BP coming from the limited healing to the quest monsters if you use it.
I calculated ATOH once, yes there you can make good use of those headings indeed.

[cornixt]

For my own HQ-lite game I added a cleric that sits between the wizard and elf. He has two spell sets, one for attacking undead and one for turning any potion into healing. He can't use the stronger weapons but can wear any armour.

[torilen]

Well, it took a few days longer to finish than I had hoped, and lots of people have jumped in on the discussion, but
I finally wrote up some thoughts on the subject of "characters not suited for combat". Find it here:

Some Characters Are All About The Role Playing:
https://fantasygamestrategies.com/2018/ ... e-playing/


Yes, it is a bit long-winded. Sorry. But, with all that now said, let me offer a few thoughts directly to playing these sorts
characters in HeroQuest.

One thing that would add very few rules to HQ and allow a "healer" character to enjoy the game is the use of my Questing
Heroes System rule of Ordination: When a character is Ordained, they get to heal up to 6 body points, and may roll 1 combat
die against any undead. With each increase in Ordination, they can increase the number of body points they can heal each quest,
or may increase the number of combat dice rolled vs. undead, or they can add the ability to roll a combat die to Consecrate a
room or area, or may add the ability to roll a combat die to attempt a Resurrection.

Questing Heroes (which is based upon the HQ rules and game play) also provides several skills and abilities that are non-combat
related but could distinguish one character from the others: Climbing, Swimming, Alchemy, and Knowledge in all sorts of various
topics and subjects (which could be used as puzzles or when deciphering ancient scripts and riddles).

Of course, someone above mentioned distinguishing characters through the use of magical items, and this is an excellent idea for
HQ, since the rules are so sparse. Allow more than one character to play the wizard or elf, and offer new spells and new magical
items that are designed more for healing, or that are usable "only by the faithful" of certain deities. Allow the Dwarf to use special
priestly magical items, but restrict their weaponry or armor to certain types or materials. Offer the Barbarian paladin-like
holy weapons or holy armors, and restrict the use by giving penalties or taking away power for a while if the "Holy Paladin" does
something unholy...killing for no reason...killing without offering surrender first...stealing from others...owning too much gold...etc.

[SirRick]

For my own HQ-lite game I added a cleric that sits between the wizard and elf. He has two spell sets, one for attacking undead and one for turning any potion into healing. He can't use the stronger weapons but can wear any armour.

I was thinking of this too a hero w 5bp and 5mp, with two spell groups. One was a cleric the other was a bard. With this type of hero you need to figure out what equipment is between a wizard and a barbarian/dwarf/elf.

Cleric could use: Club, Staff, Mace, Helmet, Shield, Chain Mail (though I do like the idea of letting him use Plate Mail too). There is also the possibility of cleric themed spells as mentioned before, I just have to decide what kind of cleric-y spell group to make.

The bard could use: Any two-dice weapons (shortsword, spear, bow, etc), Helmet, and Chain Mail (no shield).

I would give the 5th hero player a choice of these these two variants. I thought about letting a cleric use a one combat die sling weapon, but a sling doesn't seem practical in a cramped dungeon. Maybe an artifact sling could be an option instead?