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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 2, 2007 9:31:54 GMT -6
I'm talking about the old MB classic boardgame. You had this generic dungeon level and characters would explore by moving miniature figures on squares on the board. The board changed each game as doors moved around, passages opened or were blocked, and only some sections of the generic level were used each game. As you opened each door, the GM would place monsters and doors and stuff on the board -- but only the things that the players would be able to see.
Hero Quest is an excellent gaming tutorial if you want to introduce someone new to RPGs. 1. It's very visual. Door and monster minatures, squares to move in, cards for spells and treasures, and so on. 2. It teaches players to take turns. Indeed, part of our strategy was in determining marching order because only certain characters could search for traps, others were better fighters, and so on. 3. It teaches players cooperation. We always took the attitude that the entire party either succeeds or fails, and that if even a single character gets out with the mission accomplished then everyone wins. I've never seen so many players willing to sacrifice a character to help the group before. 4. It teaches resource management. Spells and hit points become more of a community resource when the group plays together. Also, in between quests the players get to spend their gold on weapons and better armor and the like. Our players were so into "party" mentality that people would suggest "hey, let's get the barbarian a better sword so she can fight on the diagonal" and simiar thoughts. Very nice!
I thought of this game because of the "searching for traps" thread. We allowed a trap-search to be five squares in any one direction so that characters could move-stop-search but it would slow them down somewhat.
Anyway, if you can find a copy of this game on e-bay for a decent price I strongly reccommend giving it a look.
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Post by greentongue on Dec 2, 2007 10:04:18 GMT -6
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Post by jdrakeh on Dec 2, 2007 13:10:56 GMT -6
Hero Quest (and the forerunner, Warhammer Quest) both rock. Warhammer Quest had an RPG supplement, though, which makes it rock just slightly more
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Post by doc on Dec 2, 2007 13:30:09 GMT -6
Not to deviate too far from the topic, but Warhammer Quest remains one of my favorite board games of all time. It really had it all: looks, style, ease of play, challenge, continuity, the works. Too bad it was so expen$ive.
That being said, HeroQuest was indeed a great game in it's day, and I still remember D&D players in the 80's saying how they had been introduced to gaming through HeroQuest and Dungeon.
Doc
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2007 16:39:19 GMT -6
I got "HeroQuest" for Christmas way back when (just around the time I was getting interested in going "beyond game books", so to speak). I never had the fortune to play it, but I still have all the pieces (most of them, anyway).
Incidentally, we were at Wal-Mart last weekend, & I saw a new type of board game kind of along the same lines of HeroQuest. I didn't take too long a look at it, so I don't really remember it's name--I was too focused on "Star Wars Risk-Classic Trilogy Edition" [which we promptly bought ;D]).
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Post by doc on Dec 5, 2007 16:58:30 GMT -6
Was it Descent? Maybe Runebound? Both excellent games! Descent is based largely on Warhammer Quest, while Runebound is based largely on Talisman.
Doc
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2007 17:07:47 GMT -6
I'm not sure. I just checked them both out at their site, but the artwork & boxes didn't look like the one I saw. Both these games look pretty wicked, though!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2007 17:18:15 GMT -6
I think I found it. It looks like the game is called "HeroScape". The game (taken from the website) is described as:
"A fully-customizable game system that lets you build your own battlefields, create your own armies, and battle the enemy using your own strategies."
The game uses tiles & so forth to create your own "terrain". Looks like there are tons of miniatures, cards, & dice that come with the "Master Set" (they have tons of expansion packs as well). As for the genre, it looks like an amalgam of fantasy, science-fiction, espionage & others. I don't think it's a pseudo R.P.G. like "HeroQuest" (it seems like more of a table-top strategy game), but it looks like it could be fun...
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Post by coffee on Dec 5, 2007 17:24:34 GMT -6
I have the master set of HeroScape. It's amusing. It's also expandable, but you don't need more than the master set to play.
It doesn't really have a background, as such; it has an excuse. But the important thing is to get into it and just play.
(I'd probably be happier about this game if my girlfriend hadn't wiped the floor with me both times we've played it...)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2007 17:29:57 GMT -6
Sweet. Maybe we'll pick that up when the cash is freer.
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wulfgar
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Post by wulfgar on Dec 12, 2007 9:01:17 GMT -6
Heroquest is a cool game. I had a lot of fun with it many years back. Played it this past year, and it didn't hold up that well though. Still, I'm holding onto my copies of it and Dragon Strike (basically TSRs version of Heroquest) to use the pieces for D&D games- men, monsters, furniture, etc.
Star Wars Original Trilogy Risk is a GREAT game. You chose wisely oltekos.
Heroscape is a skirmish combat game. It's not an "adventure" game in the vein of Heroquest at all. I've got the base set and a handful of expansions. The cool part is mixing robots, dinosaurs, WWII soldiers, and orcs all into one big battle. It's very easy to teach too. Downsides: it's a bit of a money pit if you are a completist, and it takes up a lot of physical space- I keep everything in a big plastic tub. Another plus though is that you have a variety of cool minis you can use with an rpg too.
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Post by makofan on Dec 13, 2007 9:04:55 GMT -6
I have HeroQuest, and the concept is cool, but the play is kind of boring. Hard to get the right balance of danger - it's usually a snoozefest or a TPK. Great props though!
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Post by philotomy on Dec 13, 2007 21:48:55 GMT -6
I have HeroQuest. My son was a big fan of it, a few years ago, and ran his own custom "dungeons" before graduating to the Mentzer D&D Basis set. I tend to not be very enthused by HeroQuest, though; I have fun for about five or ten minutes, and then ask "why aren't we playing D&D?" This is the same problem I have with many similar games: Runebound, Talisman, Dungeon!, et cetera. They're not bad, but they just make me want to play D&D, so they never really satisfy. HeroScape is a little different, since it's not an adventure game, but a miniature skirmish game. It's entertaining. My brother-in-law has everything (I think). The last time we visited, he showed my son a big table set up in his game room, and my son was *VERY* impressed.
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Post by coffee on Dec 13, 2007 22:21:22 GMT -6
I tend to not be very enthused by HeroQuest, though; I have fun for about five or ten minutes, and then ask "why aren't we playing D&D?" This is the same problem I have with many similar games: Runebound, Talisman, Dungeon!, et cetera. They're not bad, but they just make me want to play D&D, so they never really satisfy. Yeah, I have the same problem with AH's Wizards Quest. It just drags, and then the orcs repopulate and fill the board (yawn). Give me an old fashioned dungeon crawl any day!
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 13, 2007 23:12:52 GMT -6
Philotomy, the answer to the "why aren't we playing D&D?" question goes back to the reasons I posted earlier in the thread. Some gamers prefer a more visual structure and it's really neat to watch things get placed on the board as characters would see them. HQ is all about strategy and taking turns and all of those things. Characters still move around to explore and fight baddies, and you could change some of the details but leave the main HQ concept intact.
In other words, what you could do is use the board and doors, import movement and combat from OD&D and play OD&D with some of the same visual strengths found in HQ. There is no reason why a DM couldn't create a bunch more monsters, allow more spells, use the D&D treasure tables, and so on. I think that the use of the board and miniatures and so on gives the game a certain feel, and the exact rules used to play aren't as important as that feel.
So, is that game still HQ? Technically it isn't, but it could be a neat blend of the best of both systems.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
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Post by pjork on Dec 13, 2007 23:43:22 GMT -6
I love HeroQuest, and find HeroScape great fun. There is some mechanical resemblance between the two, a fact which I attribute to the designer of HeroQuest being credited as one of the designers of HeroScape. I was going to direct anyone interested to aginsinn.com, a huge repository of fan-created HeroQuest material, but I just checked and it's not there anymore.
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Post by crimhthanthegreat on Dec 14, 2007 6:41:28 GMT -6
Try this Wayback Machine Link, I checked and some of the download links work from this HeroQuest link.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2007 17:22:59 GMT -6
Great link, Crim. I'm having flashbacks already (I hope it's the game... ).
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Post by Finarvyn on Jan 1, 2008 19:30:12 GMT -6
Try this Wayback Machine Link, I checked and some of the download links work from this HeroQuest link. Thanks for the link, Crim! This is exactly what I've been looking for (except for that pesky "Advanced Hero Quest" which looks way more complex than I want to see in my HQ games).
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serendipity
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Post by serendipity on Jan 2, 2008 7:35:33 GMT -6
As I read this thread, there's an ebay listing for HeroQuest Barbarian Quest pack showing at the top of this page. It lists two of them as costing $100 and $125 respectively (gulp) and if I'm not mistaken, that's just for the add-on, not the actual boardgame. I think maybe I'll wait until garage sale season starts to hunt for this one.
--Sere Update: Upon doing an ebay search, I discovered that someone is trying to sell the Barbarian pack (unpunched) for $400. Obviously the ones listed above were bargains.
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Post by vladtolenkov on Jan 29, 2009 16:52:29 GMT -6
I remember seeing Hero Quest back when it was out and thinking something very much like Philotomy commented above--i.e. isn't this just D&D but as a boardgame? Why would I want to play that?
However, looking back I now think: "why didn't I pick up that game?" I've recently got an itching to play some dungeon crawl boardgames and Hero Quest sounds like it would be fun. I looked at Warhammer Quest as well and that looks like an amazing game, but I was completely unaware it until recently, and WQ goes for crazy money on Ebay apparently. I may look into getting Descent when I've got some extra money.
A few months ago my friend James, and I played a game of Moldvay Basic with WOTC minis and dungeon tiles. I imagine that played very similarly to what Fin was suggesting above with Hero Quest & OD&D.
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Post by abecross on Sept 5, 2009 21:22:10 GMT -6
HQ is a lot of fun for a pickup game that can be played without any prior knowledge of RPGs or detailed explanations as to "what exactly do I do in this game called D&D?". You can play a quick game in about an hour, with no character gen and very little thought. It's just "Roll the Dice and Get a Skull!" play. If I was going to teach a 5 year old how to play RPGs, I would start with this. It's advantages are it's limitations, you can't DO much of anything other than what's detailed in the rules, unless you want to start homebrewing it, which leads you right back to: WHY AREN'T WE JUST PLAYING D&D?!?!?!
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Post by Malcadon on Sept 12, 2009 21:52:31 GMT -6
I am one of those HeroQuest fanatics who would buy other games just to cannibalize it to HQ! I have houseruled my game until its an RPG lite. I consider QH to be the best boardgame EVER! I really like the art from the cards and props, as they have a gritty sword & sorcery feel to it - I wish more games follows that style! I own WarhammerQuest, but the game never felt right. It also felt too structured. I got DragonStrike for the sake of HQ, but I really liked the simple role-playing elements. I just got Heroscape to cannibalize it into a wide range of games (QH, Battletech, and such), and I did not find the game itself all that interesting. I found out that the guy that designed Heroscape - Stephen Baker - also designed HeroQuest! This is what my HQ usually looks like: The furniture and floor tiles was designed by Crooked Staff Productions. Quite a bit of effort when into making the furniture. I allow players to make use of the furniture (throw chairs, knockover tables for cover, jump in tables for a height advantage, and so on), but at the cost of loosing what treasure it might hold. Monsters drop coins when they die (the coins are from DarkWorld and Pirates of the Spanish Main, and are numbered from 1 to 6 - 1 to 3 being the most common). My treasure deck adds in some of the British cards (you can find card downloads all over the net), but with 6 Nothing! cards. I keep the the treasure deck behind the screen, and read them as treasure is found. Most of my HQ monsters are fixed to hold interchangeable weapons - thus the loose weapons in the pic. Player are always allowed to talk to monsters - if they are talkative. When I play HeroQuest, I play the Hell out of it!!! ;D
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Post by coffee on Sept 13, 2009 0:26:16 GMT -6
I recognize those doorways. I had a DM of 3.0/3.5 who used them.
(He also had catapults from another game that fired little red balls, about marble sizes. But that's a different story...)
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Post by Malcadon on Sept 13, 2009 1:47:40 GMT -6
I recognize those doorways. I had a DM of 3.0/3.5 who used them. They are your standard HQ open doorways. The doors themselves, are from DragonStrike, and are removable. DS doors are a simple sheet of cardboard, held up by a back plastic clip. The shape the doors match up to HQ doorways EXACTLY, so I cut the doors down to shape. (He also had catapults from another game that fired little red balls, about marble sizes. But that's a different story...) I got that game. Its called Weapons & Warriors. I only got them because they remind me of Crossbows & Catapults (a game I really enjoyed back in the 80s). When painted, the W&W Catapults (more so, the Trebuchet) looks good enough for wargaming use.
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Parzival
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Post by Parzival on Jul 27, 2023 17:19:37 GMT -6
“Arise, O thread!” I’m surprised this apparently hasn’t come up here, but HeroQuest is back in all its glory. In 2021 Avalon Hill/Hasbro revived this via a crowd-funding offer on HasbroPulse.com. It raised nearly $4 million, which resulted in Hasbro releasing it for retail, and making numerous expansion sets. The art and sculpts are new and the language is slightly changed to avoid GW’s proprietary terms (“Chaos Warrior” becomes “Dread Warrior,” “Fmir” becomes “Abomination”), but in all other respects it exactly the same game. And it’s awesome! This month Avalon Hill/ Hasbro has released the first new expansion Quest set for the game since the 1990s (Well, not counting the original works included in the crowd-funded “Mythic” tier stretch goals… which of course, I have… )— Rise of the Dread Moon. Just received my copy this very week. I blogged about the re-release back in 2021: parzivalsplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-return-of-heroquest.html If you’re a HeroQuest fan and have the original, the new expansion sets should work with your old set. If you missed out on HeroQuest back in the day, now you can get it for half or less what the original sets go for on auction sites. Check out AvalonHill.com or HasbroPulse.com (or Amazon, etc., etc..)
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Post by hamurai on Jul 27, 2023 22:50:05 GMT -6
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Parzival
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Post by Parzival on Jul 28, 2023 7:29:57 GMT -6
I *knew* I’d said something here before! But for some reason, the Search feature didn’t return a hit on “HeroQuest” in the forums, other than this thread. (Should have checked my own postings, I guess…) In any case, larger minis are easy enough to work around. If someone has an old set, I wouldn’t hold off on the new expansions based on figure scale.
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Post by hamurai on Jul 28, 2023 14:42:45 GMT -6
We're using the new board and mix the old and new miniatures. After all these years, it's still a lot of fun.
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Parzival
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Post by Parzival on Mar 11, 2024 12:17:56 GMT -6
Came home from lunch and the new Against the Ogre Horde expansion set was waiting on my doorstep. Nifty expansion pack— now the monsters have ranged weapons! Now my painting queue is huge…
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