"Heed well the words of Mentor, Guardian of Loretome, and I will tell you of times past, of darker days when the Empire was saved against all hope. For I fear the darkness is about to return..."
"The fell legions of Morcar, Lord of Chaos, had swept all before them. At the sight of the Black Banner and the massed hordes of Chaos, even the bravest warriors of the Emperor had turned tail and fled, the land was laid waste and all men despaired.
"But then there came a mighty warrior "Prince from the Borderlands - Rogar the Barbarian they called him. He bore a glittering diamond on his brow - the Star of the West - as worn by the ancient kings of legend. Hope returned and men flocked to his standard, leaving their hiding places in the hills and forests. Other great heroes joined him: Durgin, the fearless Dwarven warrior from the "World's Erge Mountains. Ladril the Elven fighter mage from distant Athelorn and Telor the Wizard whose sorcery was to save Rogar on many occasions.
"For many years Rogar trained his army, being careful to avoid open battle with Morcar's general until all was ready, but ever harried their supply lines, wiping out countless Ores and Goblins.
"Then came the day for which Rogar had waited. His army had grown strong and was well practised. Camping in the high passes, Ladril saw the Black Hosts from afar and bade “Durgin blow the call to arms on his mighty horn. Rogar's army poured down upon the enemy from two sides and battle was joined. Many foul creature and good men perished that day. Yet, as the light of day faded it was Darkness that fled the field. ut the vietory was not absolute. Morcar and his general escaped beyond the Sea of Claws, and even now they plot their revenge. Soon their plots will be ready and the Empire will have need of a new Rogar. “But where are the heroes to equal him? You have much to learn if you are to become as great as Rogar and his companions. I will help all I can. The book I carry - Loretome - was written when time began. All that ever was and all that ever will be is recorded in its countless pages. Through Loretome I may guide you, but I may not intervene, lest a greater evil befall the World, and Chaos triumph forever."
The plastic monster and hero miniatures have been specially designed by Citadel Miniatures.
Before you can begin to play Hero Quest there are several playing pieces that need to be assembled. You will find detailed assembly instructions inside the lid of the box.
Hero Quest is a game of adventure, set in a land besieged by the forces of Chaos. Mentor, the mysterious and ancient wizard-sage has summoned four valiant adventurers to undertake the challenge of becoming Heroes and saving the land.
Play begins with the player to the left of the evil wizard player and then proceeds clockwise. During a character player’s turn he may move and perform one other action, which can be one of the following four:
i. Attack another character or monsterThe player may choose to move before or after he has done one of the above. (In the Introductory game character players will only be able to move and attack.) As the character players move they will discover more of the board. The evil wizard player will place onto the board anything that the character players can see. Therefore, when a character player opens a closed door he must pause to give the evil wizard player the chance to consult the Quest map and place onto the board anything that is shown for that room.
During the evil wizard player’s turn he may move and attack with each of the monsters he has on the board. Each monster may move and then attack or attack and then move in the same way the character players may move and attack. The game continues until either all of the character players have been defeated or all the surviving heroes have returned to the stairway tile and escaped.
This is a measure of your character's physical strength. Enter the value for Body onto your character sheet. During the game you may gain or lose Body points. Keep track of your current score on your character sheet. If the total ever reaches zero, your character is eliminated. Lost Body points may be healed by magic (spells and potions). However, this magic will never take the total above the starting level, it will only restore lost Body points.
This is a measure of your character's wisdom. Enter the number shown into the Mind box on your character sheet. During the game you may gain or lose Mind points. Keep track of your current score on your character sheet. If the total ever reaches zero, your character is eliminated. Mind points are not used in the initial Quests. They will become more important in future expansions to Hero Quest.
Now you must think of a name for your character and write it in the box provided on your sheet. For example, the Elf might be called Ladril, the Dwarf could be Grungi, the Wizard might be Zoltan, the Barbarian Sigmar, and so on. Use whichever name you feel is appropriate. Finally a blank shield is provided on each character sheet where you can design your own coat-of-arms and motto.
The squares on the board are divided into two types of area: rooms and passages. The rooms are enclosed by white lines (the walls). The passages are shown by the areas with light grey flooring. Passages may be one or two squares wide. The character boards show how many dice to roll to determine how many squares can be moved. Character players do not have to move the full distance indicated by the total of the dice.
The monster cards simply show the maximum number of squares that may be moved by each monster of that type. Therefore, the dice need not be rolled when moving monsters.
When moving, characters and monsters may not:Characters and monsters may, however, pass through an occupied square, provided that the player controlling the obstructing miniature allows you to pass; otherwise you must take another route or stop. Only one miniature can occupy a square. Once a character or monster has finished moving, he may fight if he has not already done so. Play then passes to the player on his left.
Having rolled a 5, the Elf character finds two of his possible routes blocked by Orcs. The Wizard will let him pass, however.
To attack a monster or a character, you must be in one of the four squares: to the side, front, or rear. You cannot attack diagonally.
Example: The Elf may attack from any of the squares where he is shown in the diagram.
He may not attack from any of the squares marked "X".
To attack, you roll a number of special combat dice (with shields and skulls). The number of dice you roll is shown on your character board or monster card against Attack. For each skull you roll your opponent will lose one Body point, unless he can successfully defend himself. If you fail to roll any skulls the attack is wasted and your opponent need not defend.To defend, a player rolls the number of special combat dice shown on his character board or monster card against Defend.
The character players must try to roll white shields while the monsters need round, black shields. Each shield rolled, provided it is the correct type, cancels one skull rolled by the attacker.
Once the result of the defence has been determined, the player who was attacked must reduce his Body point score on his character sheet by one point for every skull for which he failed to roll a shield. When a character’s Body points reach zero, the character is eliminated. Since all monsters only have one Body point, they are eliminated by any roll of a skull for which they fail to roll a round black shield.
Eliminated characters and monsters are immediately removed from play. Any Equipment or gold the eliminated character had may be picked up by another character, who searches for treasure in the room or passage in which the character was eliminated. However, the evil wizard player may also claim the Equipment and gold if, on his next turn he moves a monster into the same room or passage, in which the character was eliminated.
If a monster picks up the possessions of the eliminated character they are removed from the game, the monster may not use either the Equipment or the gold.
The attacker may now move if he has not already done so. Play then continues with the player on his left.
You are now ready to play your first Quest. One player must take the role of the evil wizard player. He must read aloud the parchment text for the first adventure in the Quest Book, ‘‘The Trial’’. He should then read through the notes (these are mot read aloud to the character players). The game then begins with the player to the left of the evil wizard.
Now you have played your first Quest you are ready to learn the rest of the game rules.
There are two characters in the game who may use magic, the Elf and the Wizard. Sort the 12 spell cards into their four sets. There are three cards in each set. Each set corresponds to a different aspect of magical energy: Earth magic, Water magic, Air magic and Fire magic.
At the start of each game the Wizard may choose three sets of spells (9 cards) and the Elf may choose one set of spells (3 cards). The Wizard chooses one set of spells first, then the Elf chooses his set, and finally the Wizard takes the remaining two sets.
Image Spell Card BacksWhen it is their turn, the Wizard and the Elf characters have the option of casting a spell instead of attacking. A spell may be cast either before or after moving. You cannot use part of your move, cast a spell and then move again.
Spells can be cast at monsters or characters provided they are visible to the spell-caster. Miniatures in the same room are always visible. Miniatures in passages or in different rooms are only visible if you can trace an unobstructed straight line between the two miniatures. If the line passes through a wall or a closed door or another miniature then the miniature is not visible.
The spell-caster may always cast a spell on himself. Each spell may be cast just once during the course of each Quest. Once cast, the spell card is discarded.
Characters may also search instead of making an attack or casting a Spell. The search can be made before or after moving. Characters may not search if they are adjacent to a monster or if there is a monster in the same room or passage. Monsters never search.
When a player searches he searches the whole room or passage in which he is standing.
Players must tell the evil wizard player what they are looking for. They may search for either secret doors and traps, or treasure.
The evil wizard player then checks the map in the Quest Book to see if there is anything hidden in that particular room or passage. If there is anything to be found, the evil wizard player must reveal it. Searching for secret doors and traps will not reveal treasure, and vice versa.
Secret door tiles are only placed on the board if a character player finds them by searching. Trap tiles are only placed if found by a search or if triggered by a character moving onto the trapped square.
Pit traps and falling block traps are placed onto the board when found. Spear traps are rendered harmless when found, so there are no tokens for spear traps. Trap tiles may be removed from the board by any character who has the Tool Kit equipment card and is adjacent to the trap. The Dwarf may automatically remove any trap tile he is adjacent to. He may only remove one trap per turn.
Secret doors may be found by a search on either side of the wall in which they are placed. Once found, secret doors remain open for the rest of the game.
Traps are not put on the board until a character player either searches for traps or moves into a square containing a trap, as shown on the Quest map.
The evil wizard player must tell a character player when he has set a trap off. The character must stop immediately and can do nothing else until his next turn.
Monsters do not set off traps. They may move freely through squares that contain hidden traps. Once a trap has been placed onto the board, however, monsters must follow the same rules as characters.
The rules for traps given below are repeated on the inside of the screen for reference.
The pit remains on the board as an obstacle. Any character who stumbles into a pit trap will automatically lose one Body point. Characters in a pit may attack and defend, but roll one less die than normal. They may not search whilst in a pit. The character may move as normal on his next turn.
Characters and monsters may attempt to jump across a pit trap. They must have enough movement to get across the pit, counting the pit square as one space. There must be an unoccupied space adjacent to the pit for the miniature to jump onto.
Any miniature who attempts to jump across must roll a combat die. If he rolls a skull he falls into the pit and loses one Body point and may do nothing else until his next turn. Otherwise, the miniature may continue its move.
When a character player moves through a square containing a falling block symbol, a block will fall. It will land into the adjacent square marked with the arrow on the Quest map, blocking the way. Any character or monster in the square into which the block falls must roll three combat dice. The victim must lose one Body point for each skull rolled, and then move to an adjacent unoccupied square. If the victim cannot move to an adjacent square, he is eliminated by the falling block.
Any player who triggers a spear trap will lose one Body point if he rolls a Skull on a combat die. The spear trap will only affect the first character to enter the square. Subsequent characters who move through this square will be unaffected.
Some of the treasure chests contain traps. The effects of these traps are shown in the Quest notes. If a player searches for traps in a room that contains a trapped treasure chest the trap is found and rendered harmless.
Some of the Quests provide details about specific treasures which can be found by searching. If a character searches for treasure in the appropriate room the evil wizard player should reveal what treasure is hidden there. If there is no specific treasure listed for that room then the character player must take the top Treasure card.
Monsters may not move treasure chests.
Some of the treasure cards are of gold or jewels. The character player who finds one of these should record the value of the treasure on his character sheet. The card is then discarded. It is not returned to the treasure card pile.
Other treasure cards show traps or wandering monsters. These cards should be read out and the instructions followed immediately. Trap cards and wandering monster cards are returned to the treasure card pile. The treasure card pile is then shuffled before another treasure card is taken.
Some of the treasure cards do not show treasure at all! Instead they show a ferocious monster. Each Quest in the Quest Book tells the evil wizard player which monster miniature to use when one of these cards is found.
If there is no vacant space adjacent to the character who drew the card, the evil wizard player may place the wandering monster in any vacant square in the same room or passage. In this case he may not, however, attack another character.
Once you have played through "The Trial" you are ready to undertake the other Quests. These should be played in the order they appear in the Quest Book.
As with "The Trial" each Quest begins with the evil wizard player reading the text in the parchment panel. He should also read through the other notes which detail, for example, where certain special treasures are hidden, how powerful a monster is, and whether there are any special rules that apply to that Quest.
There are five special Quest treasure cards: the Wand of Recall, the magical sword Orcs Bane, the Talisman of Lore, Borin's Armour, and the Spirit Blade. Do not mix these cards in with the ordinary treasure cards. They can only be found according to the notes in the Quest Book.
The character players complete a Quest successfully if they achieve the objectives described in the parchment text which the evil wizard player reads aloud at the beginning of the game. If they fail to do so, or if they are all players (and/or new ones) can always attempt the same Quest again, but the evil wizard player always starts a Quest with a full complement of monsters. Characters escape the dungeon by landing on the stairway tile. Monsters may never land on the stairway tile.
If your character survives, you may keep him and use him again in subsequent Quests. In this case, you may keep any Quest treasure cards you have found, and you may spend any treasure recorded on your character sheet to purchase better equipment (armour, weapons, and so on). You may not keep ordinary Treasure cards.
The character players may restore their characters' Body and Mind points to their starting value before beginning a new Quest.
There is a card for each item of equipment available for purchase. Any players wishing to buy equipment should take the card they want, reduce the money on their sheet by the value shown on the card, and make a note of the benefits of the equipment on their sheet. The spear and the staff, for example, allow characters to attack diagonally. A character may not buy equipment if he does not have enough money to do so, but money can be accumulated and kept from Quest to Quest.
These cards improve the characters' abilities. When using a weapon Equipment card the character player rolls the number of dice shown for that weapon, instead of the number of dice shown on his character board against Attack.
The armour Equipment cards are used in the same way. However, some cards like the shield and the helmet cards, allow you to roll an extra die. This is an extra die in addition to those you normally roll. If, for example, you had the chainmail card and the shield card you would roll a total of four combat dice in defence. You may not wear more than one type of body armour at one time.
Some weapons may be thrown, whilst the crossbow may be fited. When firing the crossbow or throwing a weapon the procedure for rolling combat dice in attack and defence remains the same.
Your opponent must be visible, as with casting a spell. There is no maximum range for firing the crossbow or throwing a weapon. However, you may not use the crossbow or throw a weapon if you are adjacent to your opponent.
If you use the same character from Quest to Quest you may reach the coveted status of Champion. Each time your character completes a Quest, write the name of the Quest in the box marked Tasks Completed on your character sheet. Once you have completed three Quests, the land's grateful Emperor will make you a Champion.