Simple Leveling system

[Dougy Destroyer]

I have created a very simple leveling system for people that want to keep Heroquest nice and simple. I felt the mechanics were a little dated, aka rolling to move and heroes not leveling up.
Every one of the heroes can level up to level 5. The first row is level one, level 2 is the second row and so on.
The heroes can pick one of the 3 skills each level. I have added some new rules as well that are simple to incorporate. Its important to level up the monsters at quest 7 to keep the game interesting.

New rules

• Heroes level up every 3 quests.
• Monsters level up at quest 7 and use 1 more dice for attack and defend and have 1 more body and mind point.
• Automatic hero movement squares. Heroes move 8 squares and 6 with plate armor.
• Every dungeon has a secret room (through a secret door) with a tough boss or encounter (using miniatures from another game) and treasure chests (typically containing gold and potions).
• Weapons from the armory that can be thrown (including hand axe and spear) are no longer lost. Heroes can recover their weapons by occupying the square of the monster they threw the weapon at.

[mitchiemasha]

a little dated, aka rolling to move

Blaspheme! Such a sin to use those words. Unfortunately I've already spent my time in another post but... I'll be back. We've gone into detail many times here why roll to move is extremely important part of HeroQuest. Knowing exactly how much you can move and where is boring. The only way it works in games is if replaced with Action points or if the entire area is a zone... And, complete RPG types. Counting those squares is DULL if it's not a variable, might as well just move up to next baddie, roll, next, roll... As for those with the realism issue... "Will i trip on a flag stone"... As wrote above "Many times" discussed, so check out those threads for the debate. Especially my ramblings of a Dwarf chasing down Goblin archers with MAM, this comical chase aspect totally destroyed with fixed move!!! Not to mention the risk, the edgy dramatics for the EW guessing where to move them just out of reach

Simply adding an extra CD6 and Body point doesn't actually do much to spice up the game. Yes it does work against a power creeping Hero but, they might as well not creep if the enemy stays the same but +1.

Sorry if the first reply seems harsh... I will challenge and push your creativity!!!

[mitchiemasha]

I was in a rush but i'm still here... For weapons instead of

Weapons from the armoury that can be thrown (including hand axe and spear) are no longer lost. Heroes can recover their weapons by occupying the square of the monster they threw the weapon at.

"are no longer lost" Which is breaking the original rule... Try!!!

Weapons from the armoury that can be thrown (including hand axe and spear) that are lost, can be found by occupying the square of the monster they threw the weapon at.

It's all in the wording. The second version doesn't change your first in how it plays... but now you're not contradicting an original rule... You're simply adding to it. Which to some hardcore fans is very important.

Many of us play

A lost weapon is found if the area it was thrown in is searched.

Which gives it the balance of being a 1 Shot for each area until it's cleared. A hero can't search in the presence of monsters (unless they have a thief skill). And, in the way your's is wrote, what if you missed?

[cornixt]

I always thought of the item buying/finding as the leveling system in HQ. I would number each row of the document and thicker lines between rows to make the choice system clearer. Also, what if someone wants a second item from level 2 instead of row 3 when they level up to level 3? Is that okay?

I'm not as stuck on the roll-to-move element of the game as mitchiemasha, I prefer to shift it to the monsters instead of the heroes in order to keep the chance involved while not making the heroes stumble everywhere.

Not sure why you'd specify a secret room with a boss - isn't that for the quest writer to decide?

[mitchiemasha]

I prefer to shift it to the monsters instead of the heroes in order to keep the chance involved while not making the heroes stumble everywhere.

Roll for each monster, how does that work?

They're not really stumbling everywhere... The average roll is 7... which is what most people make the fixed move value. It's equally removing the chance of faster movement than it is of slower.

I agree that the choice system needs to be clearer, I was unsure about that myself.

Sixth sense: The barbarian’s sixth sense stops wandering monsters from being able to attack him immediately.

There's a lot of good effects quite similar to what we're used to seeing... but this one is new to me... I've never thought of negating the Wandering Monsters immediate attack before. Sixth sense, I like it.

Every dungeon has a secret room (through a secret door) with a tough boss or encounter (using miniatures from another game) and treasure chests (typically containing gold and potions).

This has to be a big no for me. In many cases it would seriously work against the narrative and design of each unique quest.

[Dougy Destroyer]

Haha mitchiemasha I can see you feel very strongly about using dice to move. I just personally prefer it because it makes the game a little more fast paced.
The increased damage etc of the monsters I think is a good idea even without the addition of hero levels. About half way through the game the heroes just start raping (drawven warriors need love too) and pillaging the monsters.
Yeah searching for the weapons works equally as effectively. If the hero had missed the throw he could of still just retrieved his weapon in the same manner as I previously stated.


Cornixt in response to your question about the levels. The heroes can only choose 1 of the skills on each row, going down the columns. I hope that makes sense haha.
The secret rooms are there for heroes that want more of a challenge and the rewards that come with boss battles, but you’re correct. I didn’t need to stipulate that.

[Anderas]

Heroes just need adapted quests then it will never become too easy. At the same time it is true that Orcs, Goblins, Skeletons and Zombies get boring at a certain Hero equipment level.

We made the Beastman, Minotaur and Chaos Dwarfs as monsters in the HQ25 section for having useful monsters after the equipment ist maxed.

[mitchiemasha]

If the hero had missed the throw he could of still just retrieved his weapon in the same manner as I previously stated.

Nope! because the monster is still stood on it.

[mitchiemasha]

The increased damage etc of the monsters I think is a good idea even without the addition of hero levels.

I'm all for making them stronger. Using US body is an essential mod to the UK edition... however, making them harder can break other peoples quest packs. If we want to do this we should creatively write it into the quests we are designing.

A few examples I've used.

Ancient magic enchants the Warriors armour through its Orb! The Choas Warriors have +1B until you find the source of this magic and destroy it

The curse in this tomb is strong and the undead are easily reanimated. Any downed must be finished off. To finish off a downed undead a Hero must stand on it's space and spend their Action. The EW rolls 1CD6 for each downed at the start of their turn Reainmated Nothing happens Energy Explosion, -1B to surrounding heroes if they fail to roll a on a Cd6

Another idea is to introduce traits for each monster class. This adds a lot of spice over a simple +1B. Giving Goblins: MAM can be deadly and so much fun, especially ones with a bow. The Fimir: Tail Bash, free counter attack if not killed when attacked. Beast Men: Ram Attack +1Ad6 if moved that turn. Chaos Warriors: Stand Fast, +1Ad6 if not moved that turn. Variables like that will keep the heroes on their toes. We also get to add champions, bow, spear users etc if using Chaos tokens/cards

The Undead mod can be insane... Does the hero risk leaving one downed to take down another or finish it off only to face an attack from what is still standing. An idea that works strongly against the "raping and pillaging" you mentioned. It's all good and well as long as it doesn't get back up, that not being definite is an important part of enticing the risk!!!

I give
Mummy: Paralysis
Skeleton Scythe: Diagonal attack with follow through.
Zombie: Infection
Orc: Waaagh
Skaven: Horde

It's all in the print out in my signature. Most of the ideas aren't originally mine. More of a twist to the discoveries of years searching, reading forums like this. A lot working towards issues found buried in the oldest of posts, pages long forgotten!

[Dougy Destroyer]

Mitchiemasha yeah you could only retrieve the weapon if the square is unoccupied. Basically the same as searching for it after the monster are dispatched. Either way works haha


Anderas and Mitchiemasha yeah they are actually a lot better ideas. Obviously a little more complex but definitely better.