Why Re-reinvent the Wheel (Advanced Heroquest)? - and a Disclaimer...

You might be asking yourself, what is all this? This game is so long out of print and the standard rulebook and expansions can generally be found online. Further there are many fantastic fan-made variants already floating around the internet. There are even some dedicated fan sites and online-communities with heaps of great ideas dedicated to Advanced Heroquest.

Advanced Heroquest was a game I discovered as a young adult. It filled too many nights to count with great adventure and treasure hunting. I obviously have a deep nostalgic respect for this game. And despite an entirely botched game-box release this game provided a lot of fun for a lot of folks. It suffered mainly from a lack of miniatures; Warhammer Quest in contrast came with enough miniatures to populate the entire fantasy universe, even Heroquest, the predecessor to Advanced Heroquest, came with a wide variety of monster models. The initial box release for Advanced Heroquest didn’t even come with enough proper Skaven to run the built-in mission! The expansion Terror in the Dark came with no miniatures! Aside from the content issue, like every game, some of the mechanics could be improved upon; though the general rule-set as is still holds up quite well to other games that have come and gone.

With a little searching online you can find some of the great rules variants to Advanced Heroquest. I’d recommend starting at Greywolf’s Advanced Heroquest page and the Kabay: Advanced – Advanced Heroquest page. If you prefer a more “DnD” style role-play adventure be sure to grab Advanced Heroquest Second Edition; it’s beautifully done and is really an entire rework of the rules and game-play. If the simple elegance of old-school Heroquest is more your speed then Toco’s Allied Heroquest is for you. He managed to merge Heroquest and Advanced Heroquest quite seamlessly in an impressive rule-set. Finally there is Slev’s AHQ2. While not as visually impressive as some of the others, this is by far the most significant content variant to the game. My own variation borrows a lot from Slev’s great work. He went through great pains to improve the game and clearly put an enormous amount of time into design and play-testing. Slev managed an expansive reshaping far beyond my skill level and every diehard fan should check it out.

So why do this? Well first, I want to play and enjoy this game with my friends. One rabbit hole (or dungeon) leads down to another and the next thing you know you are writing your own variant. Basically I wished to have all the rules, from the core game, Terror in the Dark, the White Dwarf articles, and the better variants (mostly poached from Slev) all in one place. I wanted to be able to search them and edit them where I see fit. I wanted to stay mostly true to the standard game, but the two issues I wanted to address specifically were the lack of Hero character variety, and the monster-placement/combat bottle-neck. Along the way I ended up changing quite a bit more but each change is subtle and the standard game is generally intact.

The following is a generic list of the items that have been changed in this rules variant known as Enhanced! Advanced Heroquest (EAHQ); doors are now 2 squares wide, spells expanded, monster-placement/combat altered, death zones altered for long reach weapons, components removed, a new magic test for casting too many spells is added, arrow/missile retrieval changed, dungeon counters less frequent, sentries less frequent, hero creation amended / new classes and more wounds, blackpowder weapons and finally - skill cards.

Skill cards was the Hero advancement solution I was seeking (thanks Sjeng and Patroclus at Ye Olde Inn). Through the use of Skill Cards a Hero can flaunt his skill when the time is right, and as he becomes more proficient he can do this more frequently. Giving a Hero a permanent skill may be too powerful, but a limited number of Skill Cards will still allow him to benefit from his training without ruining the game balance. Having them limited in number also made it possible to provide potent and mighty abilities that are as fun to use as they are deadly.

So that’s it basically; there are probably a few more little things I’m forgetting. Stay tuned for a new Dark Elf Quest coming at some point down the road. Please enjoy Enhanced - Advanced Heroquest!

DISCLAIMER
This is not an official website and none of the links, photos, and documents are official and in no way represent the original brand. This is a modification of a (20 year old) out-of-print game called Advanced Heroquest. The use of any name here does not constitute a challenge to trademark status. All names, rules, tables, and artwork here are used without permission. This is entirely fan assembled and is not intended for sale or distribution. The purpose of this document is to generate interest in our small community for a once great game, while encouraging the collection, and purchase, of Citadel fantasy miniatures.

-Gunzhard