Ultimate Custom Heroquest

[Anderas]

three

[Infje]

Excellent stuff guys. Really impressive. I'm hosting a new Heroquest event in a couple of weeks so I'll be sure to test some of these. Anybody else got some more suggestions?

[Anderas]

For the EWP Deck I tried several modes of playing. Best worked:
Take a token each round. If there was no Monster on the board for the entire turn, or the heroes decided to do nothing with them, take two tokens.
With 8 tokens you can "buy" an EWP card.

The tokens really are only for counting until you get the next EWP card. I tried other modes, but this worked best. Not too many or too less EWP cards.

[clmckay]

Any excuse for me to post my link...

GIVE GOBLINS MAM... the most single important change.

OK. I've finally given this a nice concerted testing. It works very well - for my group.

They're in some mountain quests now, so I used the GW Night Goblins and to distinguish them from regular goblins, I gave them MAM. A few caveats:

My group plays as one continuous campaign, as such, to keep things interesting, we've a whole host of added artifacts, spell groups, treasure cards, different maps, etc, etc, etc.

This means there's an element of power creep in our games. It's controlled, but there.

I limited the Goblins with MAM to a max of 4 per room (4 was very rare) in conjunction with other monsters.

I've used MAM before, but it's been very limited in application. Usually only very specific monsters.

In that context, the MAM ability added an excellent new dimension to the tactics employed, both by Zargon and the Heroes.

I'm very pleased with it and it'll be a standard ability of the "Night Goblins" for my games.

I think that this ability for all goblins in the base game though would be too much. Perhaps for a few select Goblins, if your group becomes too powerful, but not as a blanket for all goblins. Besides, it's a nice ability to hold back for later custom content. My players really seemed to enjoy having it for the "Night Goblins", because they had very similar stats to regular goblins, but the ability added to the flavor side (along with the models) to make things feel different from the usual green goblins.

[mitchiemasha]

I have fond memories chasing a goblin down a corridor that kept getting sly digs in, with my small movement rolls. I was playing the dwarf so fitted perfectly thematically.

[Daedalus]

Beyond what has already been mentioned about NA monster Body Points, monster abilities, and a supplemental Morcar/Zargon deck, here are the more common mods (some more accepted than others) that I can remember at the moment:

• New Hero types
• new spell groups
• new armory weapons
• if it is unclear what to do in a situation, Zargon should use his best judgement and make a ruling (from EQP and BQP)
• equipment can be sold to the armory for half price (from the EQP and BQP)
• a crossbow may not be used with a shield
• a crossbow may not be reloaded and shot with a move
• crossbow ammo must be replaced after a fixed amount is consumed, it runs out randomly, or after any use in a Quest
• thrown weapons may be recovered after a search (possibly only if no AD black shields)
• no Armory or Alchemist's Shop visits between linked Quests
• Heroes share gold coin treasure evenly from Quests (from EQP and BQP--EU players may not go for this)
• Heroes may take turns in any order
• Heroes may only pass equipment from an adjacent square (from EQP and BQP)
• search a chest for treasure from an adjacent square
• immediately exit a Quest after achieving the objective
• outer corridors are searched in separate sections from corner to junction
• large monsters may attack diagonally (from EQP and BQP)
• a Hero may only roll one defense against a monster with multiple attacks (from BQP)
• a Hero with 0 BP is in shock: 1 AD, 1 DD, 1 red die for movement (from EQP and BQP--EU players may not go for this)
• a spell caster may cast a heal spell on a dead Hero after taking an action at the cost of his next action
• the Wizard starts with four spell groups and may even learn to cast groups from WoM for a greater total
• the Barbarian begins with or later achieves +1
• Heroes later achieve new abilities, usually Hero-specific

[MontanaUSA]

Simple one. Being able to attack more than one enemy per turn.... set the limit at 2 or 3. And step up how many enemies there are a little.

[benvoliothefirst]

Well THIS thread is exactly what I've been looking for, for the past twenty-five years!

Very excited to hear from some TRUE MASTERS OF THE GAME about the mods they use. As a veteran SimCity 4 modder, I like the idea of "vanilla" vs "dependency-based" mods, that either work with just base game components, or having to steal parts/rules from other games/expansions. Looking forward to playtesting!

[Weltenlaeufer]

Just found this old threat! Great stuff, thanks guys!

[Weltenlaeufer]

Please forgive the spelling. I had a few minutes at work and quickly typed out what I could come up with at the moment.

Armory:

Prior to Quest, if shopping is available, I make an Equipment Deck. It's composition is as follows:

If starting from scratch with the first Quest:

Staff x 3
Short Sword x 3
Broadsword x 3
Longsword x 2
Battle Axe x 1
Helmet x 3
Shield x 3
Chain Mail x 3
Plate Armor x 2
Crossbow x 3
Toolkit x 3
Dagger x 5

I usually have them draw 8-10 normally. This represents what is available for purchase.

Later, add in potion cards to the deck. Usually 2 or 3 of a type (Healing, Strength, etc). I have cards for the expansions potions as well, they get added in as those expansions get started. I vary the amounts of each item based solely on my mood or a vague feeling for where in the world they are may have different items. I also add in my custom Equipment and potions in the same way. I cap the size of the deck at 50 cards, with some items added or removed entirely.


Undead:

I use a variation on the undead rules around here. Maybe it's the same, can't say that I've paid a ton of attention.

If an undead monster (Such as Skeleton, Zombie or Mummy) is killed, I roll 1 Combat Die on Zargons turn to see what happens with it.

Skull = Dead
White Shield = Up and can move/attack next turn
Black Shield = Up and can move/attack current turn

I will decide which quests to apply this houserule on. Usually, I spin it as "A great darkness permeates this place, the undead don't stay dead!" I will typically have this be the case until the Big Bad of the quest is defeated (if it's a stand alone), then, once killed they stay dead.

Evil Wizard Deck / Quest Encounters Deck / Lone Monster Deck / Realm Deck / Event Deck / Etc Deck

I use all of the above, but not at the same time.

Feel out the players. See what the quest is. If it feels right, I use one of the decks. If not, I don't.

For triggering a draw I've tried all sorts of things. Taking a card if the Heroes do nothing on a turn except walking or arranging themselves works well. It feels like a reasonable way to show that time passes in the dungeon even if the Heroes aren't doing a lot.

For an event deck, I've used drawing a card on double numbers.

I used to use the Lone Monster deck, but have since made it a flavor option for a Hero who can talk to Monsters. So a druid-type lets say (though I hate the name Druid). He may have an additional action, "Talk to Lone Monster" or what have you. If he uses that skill, he can draw a Lone Monster Card.

Overland Travel

My Heroes wander around an overworld map. I'm rushing at the moment so I can't describe it, but it's around here somewhere on the forum. It's changed a bit since then, but you get the gist.

I made Quest cards for each of the canon quests and other fan quests and my own quests. They get these as they go around and it represents what they have available to choose from. Completing some opens more, some they randomly come across.

clmckay, its an old topic but I was wondering how you do the Overland travel?

I was checking out a review of Descent 2 and this has a Travel event system which sounded interesting, where you basically draw travel event cards. I want to incorporate overland travel as well but dont know how I can make it exciting. Do you have a link where you talk about your system or is there a Travel event thread for Heroquest somewhere?

Thanks!