Searching for traps and secret doors

[mitchiemasha]

mostly

"They mostly come at night... Mostly"

What a flash back. Classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Maurice76]

mostly

"They mostly come at night... Mostly"

What a flash back. Classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're comparing Slev to a slimy alien?

[mitchiemasha]

Just how I read that word every time I see it.

[Kurgan]

I introduced a new character called the Ranger. Once per quest (it's like a "spell") he can play a card called Detect Traps & Secret Doors. The card may either:

Search for traps AND secret doors in a room or corridor, even when monsters are visible.

OR

Search a designated single space for traps on the other side of an open door.

So two scenarios that you wish you could do something, but get screwed over by the quest map, and you only get to overcome that rule once.

[wallydubbs]

I've got 2 play groups, originally I was aiming at combining the searches, but in the group with my girlfriend, she was adamant on doing thing "by the book", so for that group, the searches were not combined.
Thus I noticed a difference between the two groups as this group tends to miss secret doors more often.

I do like Admiral's idea of combining the searches primarily for the Dwarf.
The group with my girlfriend tends to sometimes bypass this by buying the Elf a Potion of Vision, allowing her to automatically see traps and secret doors without searching.

There was this one quest where the Barbarian (played by her daughter's boyfriend) entered a room with an orc in it. But he was sitting across the table and asked me to move him next to the orc so he could attack. But of the 2 spaces I could move the Barbarian, one had a Spear Trap. So I hesitated and said, "Which space?"
"Doesn't matter," he answered.
"You choose," I insisted.
So he luckily chose the space that didn't have the spear trap. When it was my girlfriend's turn, she walked in with the Elf (still under the effects of a Potion of Vision), and I announce "upon entering the room the elf immediately spits a spear trap," as I point to the square.
The boyfriend looked at me, "So that's why I had to choose..." I just started laughing.

[mitchiemasha]

she was adamant on doing thing "by the book", so for that group, the searches were not combined.

It is by the book, it's simply a case of which book and interpretation of. But yeah... those secret doors are going to get missed, which can seriously slow things down further. In other cases it can be funny, lost confused Heroes!

[Daedalus]

In my old EU days one search found all, but the NA rules made each search a separate action, and that's how I've been playing for almost 20 years now. But I got to thinking that maybe Europe had it right? The thought of a Hero meticulously combing the room searching for a hairline crack in the wall, or a hair breadth trip wire and only finding one and not the other actually seems less realistic to me. This would also speed thing up dramatically, and we have so much to play!

In a game, it's good policy to do what is fun . . . you have chosen wisely.

The EU combined search is easier and more fun for many of us. Now for an NA apologetic. As already mentioned by Wallydubs, splitting the searches creates an opportunity for missed secret doors. The purpose of a secret door is partially subverted if it can more effectively be found with a general search. On a fun scale, it isn't fun to only have regular doors (not interesting), it it isn't fun to miss all secret doors (too hard), and somewhere between it is most fun to find most secret doors. I feel the EU game makes finding secret doors so easy that it is nearer to finding just regular doors as compared to the NA rule. Our forum has taught us that it's really just a perception as to where the most fun lies, however.

Another point of separating searches is due to the physical location of where the Hero is searching: secret doors are found on walls, not floors; traps are found on floors or on chests which are located on floors, not walls. Exceptions to this fact must be detailed in the Quest Notes section. Since searches use assumed movement, searched locations are only there to simulate exploration. So this kind of search-location focus only affects verisimilitude in Hero Quest.

[Agente Cooper]

In EU, the action "look for traps and secret doors" involves several actions:
1. Reveal (and put token) all pit and stones traps.
2. Reveal (and disarm) all arrow trap.
3. Reveal and OPEN all secret doors.
This is a little risk, because this secret room could has monsters that will attack in next Morcar turn.

[Onan]

In EU, the action "look for traps and secret doors" involves several actions:
1. Reveal (and put token) all pit and stones traps.
2. Reveal (and disarm) all arrow trap.
3. Reveal and OPEN all secret doors.
This is a little risk, because this secret room could has monsters that will attack in next Morcar turn.

3. is an interesting find. This came up in our group during the last weeks, too. My son was Zargon. I found a secret door with some monsters behind, and he happily revealed the room behind without me opening the secret door. My turn was over and the monsters attacked.

The EU rules don't tell you to open secret doors when found, but the say:

Once found, secret doors remain open for the rest of the game.

It's a bit strange to say "remain open", without first saying when they open. Nothing is written about opening secret doors, so maybe Agente Cooper is right and secret doors open automatically when you find them.

There is no "closed secret door tile", which also hints in this direction.

And think about the Spirit Riders in RotWL Q2. You find 4 secret doors. You open one, find a Spirit Rider without treasure, maybe try a second, but then leave the others. Now imagine they all open at once when found and you place the 4 Spirit Riders. Much cooler!

And it gives an explanation why you find a secret door at the other end of a corridor, 24 squares away: You don't see the hidden outline of the secret door far down the corridor, but you trigger a hidden mechanism that opens the secret door. The trigger might be a loose stone on the square you currently stand on or the wall next to you.

And it adds some suspense to an otherwise completely pointless game mechanic.

I'm trying to establish this rule in my group, but changing rules after 4 years of play is not easy...

Anyone else who opens secret doors automatically when found?

[The Admiral]

In EU, the action "look for traps and secret doors" involves several actions:
1. Reveal (and put token) all pit and stones traps.
2. Reveal (and disarm) all arrow trap.
3. Reveal and OPEN all secret doors.
This is a little risk, because this secret room could has monsters that will attack in next Morcar turn.

3. is an interesting find. This came up in our group during the last weeks, too. My son was Zargon. I found a secret door with some monsters behind, and he happily revealed the room behind without me opening the secret door. My turn was over and the monsters attacked.

The EU rules don't tell you to open secret doors when found, but the say:

Once found, secret doors remain open for the rest of the game.

It's a bit strange to say "remain open", without first saying when they open. Nothing is written about opening secret doors, so maybe Agente Cooper is right and secret doors open automatically when you find them.

There is no "closed secret door tile", which also hints in this direction.

And think about the Spirit Riders in RotWL Q2. You find 4 secret doors. You open one, find a Spirit Rider without treasure, maybe try a second, but then leave the others. Now imagine they all open at once when found and you place the 4 Spirit Riders. Much cooler!

And it gives an explanation why you find a secret door at the other end of a corridor, 24 squares away: You don't see the hidden outline of the secret door far down the corridor, but you trigger a hidden mechanism that opens the secret door. The trigger might be a loose stone on the square you currently stand on or the wall next to you.

And it adds some suspense to an otherwise completely pointless game mechanic.

I'm trying to establish this rule in my group, but changing rules after 4 years of play is not easy...

Anyone else who opens secret doors automatically when found?

I have always wondered if I should be opening a secret door when it is found, but I made a decision right from the start not to do so. It sort of makes sense to open it from a rules perspective because there are no open and closed secret doors, only ones that look open on their counter. I just thought, just because I have found the location of the secret door it shouldn't mean |I have to open it immediately, but maybe they should be?