First quest: The Maze or The Trial?

[GimmeYerGold]

A blocked square here and there and some differently planned doors would help limit multiple choices and force the heroes through more (or every) rooms.

You say that as though limiting choice and forcing heroes along a railroad is a good thing?

Absolutely not. It was a suggestion for the meek-hearted who might feel that way.
I prefer the original Trial BECAUSE of the coincidents and very diverse outcomes I've seen.

I've never tried the maze, but I feel very strongly about the Trial as an intro quest. I like how it is an "overture" of the Heroquest system, rather than a tutorial. Every single type of monster (and one special monster) and piece of furniture is used! The only thing it lacks is traps, so in that way, it is kind to let the Heroes focus on exploration and combat as their first lessons.

There are two treasure chests with quite nice rewards, and two places where nothing is found--the rusted weapon rack, and the empty treasure chest.

[ruiza97]

I did the Maze last week with 2 twin 11 year old boys and their grandmother. It went well.

[Fullork345]

There are two treasure chests with quite nice rewards, and two places where nothing is found--the rusted weapon rack, and the empty treasure chest.

Back in the day I used to always have the treasure card drawn, was that wrong?

[GimmeYerGold]

There are two treasure chests with quite nice rewards, and two places where nothing is found--the rusted weapon rack, and the empty treasure chest.

Back in the day I used to always have the treasure card drawn, was that wrong?

Most folks here house rule searches, so it's up to you what's right for the game. For instance, in the system rules, you search the room and those details about the furniture or treasure chest would be revealed, indicating that no special treasure is found, and you'd draw a card. So you're good.

A lot of houserulers here do the need-to-be-adjacent-to-furniture-to-search-it rule, as do I, so if you play that way, and the chest is empty, then I guess you'd be out of luck, and find diddly-squat :/

[The Admiral]

For me The Maze is a waste of time except perhaps as a solo quest for a brand new hero. The Trial is probably best put in as the last quest of the first 14. A sort of final test of the Heroes before they go off on their life of adventure.

[Daedalus]

There are two treasure chests with quite nice rewards, and two places where nothing is found--the rusted weapon rack, and the empty treasure chest.

Back in the day I used to always have the treasure card drawn, was that wrong?

There's another way you could play it based on p.16 of the NA Instruction Booklet under How Zargon Reacts To A Hero's Search For Treasure:

As Zargon, if there is a special treasure
(as described in the Quest Notes), you
must read aloud the treasure description
once the treasure has been found. The
special treasure is discovered only once
by the first Hero who searches the room
for treasure, even if other Heroes later
search that same room.

If there is no special treasure in the
searched room, direct the searching
Hero to draw a Treasure Card as
described....

A rusted weapons rack and and empty chest can be considered valueless special-treasure since it is described in the Quest Notes and it must be read aloud once it has been found. The first Hero who searched that room for treasure is stuck with the nothing result, just as a Hero drawing from the EU Treasure Card deck may be stuck with the "Nothing" Treasure Card. The valueless special-treasure is now considered discovered, and may not be discovered again.

Other Heroes who later search that same room are able to draw from the Treasure Card deck. They may not discover the useless special-treasure as it is effectively no longer in the room.

[alyndavies]

I only recently noticed there were two differing versions of the quest book, when I looked at them I took the kids through the trial first, then did the maze (the gargoyle one). Though for the first few quests I do give little tips or winks at the kids if their in a room and they need to do something. Basically it saves time and lets us advance through the game.

[Daedalus]

There are two treasure chests with quite nice rewards, and two places where nothing is found--the rusted weapon rack, and the empty treasure chest.

Back in the day I used to always have the treasure card drawn, was that wrong?

Depends how you interpret the rules. I have a new answer. http://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2507&p=60906#p60906

[Kelstar]

I recently did the Trial after having first done the Arena and then the Maze. We set it up as the Mentor giving the new heroes three trials. The Trial is super doable if the heroes have previously done the Arena and Maze and acquired some gear. The Barbaian, Elf and Dwarf all had +1 defence. The Elf sleeped the Chaos Warrior and the Wizard genied the Gargoyle.

[yellowmosquito]

I just discovered "The Maze", and I think I'm going to start with that quest from now on.

I recently tried "The Trial" with a bunch of novices (ie, non-board gamers) and they were all routed. This was despite my best attempts to help them succeed. The rolls were just not in their favor, I guess. They were making basic mistakes such as not ganging up on enemies and picking too many fights at once.

The Maze has fewer enemies, so they can learn the basic game mechanics without it being too late to save their characters. There is also a competitive aspect to that quest, so it should serve to transition them from typical competitive gameplay they are used to, and towards the cooperative style of game play found in Heroquest.