Randomquest
Randomquest
Randomquest
I. BASIC OVERVIEW.
Random Quest is a card-based system to create random dungeons for
a GameMaster-less game of HeroQuest (HQ). It is designed for any
number of players, using any desired Heroes, and can be played
solo. Specific quests can be played, as can general 'explore the
dungeon' type quests.
To create cards, just print the ones included with this set.
While the cards can be folded and glued on paper, they should
probably be mounted on cardboard or posterboard to stiffen them
for use. Here are some printing ideas:
When cutting the cards, I usually leave some white space around
them before gluing or sticking them to the cardboard/posterboard.
The cardboard/posterboard I use is also extra large to accommodate
the white space. After the glue has dried or the card is stuck, I
then cut the card out in the desired shape.
Dewayne's HQ Page:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Chasm/9223/
You will need a card for every tile you print, both Passage
and Room. You can download the blank card backs to create
your own cards.
1. Passages Tiles.
You will need quite a few passage tiles to play the
game. Passages come in straight, corner, and 'T'
shapes. You will need a card in the Passage Deck for
each passage tile. A good number of passages would be
15 Passage tiles, 5 Corner tiles, and 3 ‘T’ tiles. More
tiles can be printed if desired, but fewer may cause you
to run out of passage tiles too often.
2. Room Tiles.
In RandomQuest, you can play short games using fewer
rooms, or long games using more rooms. You should have a
large number of rooms ready, though, even if you are
only going to use a few. This will insure that you
don't know which room is coming up ahead. You will need
a card in the Room Deck for each room tile. You cannot
have too many cards, but you can have too few. You
should probably print at least 20 room cards.
A. Hero Characters.
Any number of players can play RandomQuest. The players are
not locked into playing the specific four Heroes from HQ,
they may play any Hero they wish. Many additional Heroes can
be found on HQ WebPages. Players may play a Hero even if
another player has already chosen him.
B. Mercenaries.
Several of Milton Bradley’s quest packs included rules for
mercenaries. If you are using these rules then mercenaries
should be chosen, and paid for if applicable, before the
quest.
D. Quests.
There are several ways to choose a quest for RandomQuest:
1. Pre-written quests.
Any quest, whether from the HQ quest booklet, a quest
pack, or a self-written quest can be used in Random
Quest. In addition any quest from other games, such as
Warhammer Quest, D&D, etc., can be used. When using a
pre-written quest you must look over the quest for any
objectives. Objectives would include special artifacts
to be found, specific monsters to be killed, etc. Do
not include any regular treasure, such as gold or
potions, in this list. These items are covered in the
room cards. Note that there can be more than one
objective for a quest; i.e. finding an artifact and
killing a special monster. Players should also decide
if they wish to use the wandering monster given in the
quest (if there is one), or if they want to randomly
draw for wandering monsters.
2. General Quests.
General quests are ones where there is no specific quest
objective involved - you just want to play. Come up
with a general theme - i.e. you are attempting to clean
a dungeon or castle of all monsters, you are on a
general treasure hunt, etc.
E. Deck preparations.
1. Room Deck.
Shuffle the Room Deck. Then:
2. Monster Deck.
The monster deck can be set up any way the player(s)
desire. If you are playing a pre-written quest that
calls for a special type of monster, such as the Undead
monsters, or only Orcs and Goblins, you can remove all
others from the deck. Likewise if you have a special,
very hard monster, you may wish to remove the card from
the deck if you are playing solo. Any cards that are
removed should be set aside; you will not be using them
in this quest. Shuffle the Monster Deck.
3. Treasure Deck.
Shuffle the treasure deck.
4. Passage Deck.
Shuffle the Passage Deck. Draw one passage card - this
is the starting position. Ignore any 'Monster' rules on
this card, but follow the instructions on everything
else.
The Hero that draws the monster card always places monsters
in the room or passage.
D. Furniture.
The person who drew the room card always places furniture in
the room. Some rooms have locations shown for furniture
placement; in others the placement is up to the Hero that
drew the card.
E. Treasure.
Treasure in RandomQuest is always found in rooms - never in
passages. The treasure found in a search is determined by
drawing cards from the Treasure Deck. Like in HQ, treasure
(or traps) cannot be searched for as long as monsters are in
the room. There are two types of treasure.
When drawing a card from the treasure deck, the deck must
first be shuffled. The appropriate number of cards is then
drawn. If a trap card is drawn, the player has tripped it
unless he first successfully searched for traps. If he did
search for traps place the trap card beside the room. The
Hero who drew it, or any other, may now attempt to disarm the
trap. If a Hero disarms the trap or trips it, he may draw a
treasure card. If another trap card or a wandering monster
card is drawn, draw again until an actual treasure card is
drawn.
F. Wandering Monsters.
When a wandering monster occurs, the appropriate wandering
monster should be placed on the board. If the Heroes are
using the wandering monster from a pre-written quest, its
miniature should be used. Otherwise a monster card should be
drawn from the deck, and the appropriate miniature is used.
Wandering monsters should always be placed on the board next
to the Hero that caused the wandering monster. If there are
no free spaces next to the Hero, place the monster as close
to the Hero as possible. The Hero who caused the wandering
monster decides where the monster is placed.
G. Monster Movement and Attacks.
Monsters will always attack the Hero closest to them. If
they cannot attack a Hero, they will always move to the
closest Hero. If the Heroes attempt to run from a monster,
the monster will follow the Heroes. If the Heroes split up,
the monster will follow the closest one. When in doubt over
which Hero is the closest, decide by a die roll. Each Hero
rolls a die, and the highest number is the Hero attacked. If
some Heroes tie, then those Heroes re-roll.
H. Secret Doors.
Heroes may search for secret doors in rooms - never in
passages. Each room can contain any number of secret doors.
If a Hero searches for secret doors, he rolls one red die.
On a roll of 1 he has discovered a secret door, and may place
a secret door tile in the room anywhere on the wall he
wishes. If he rolls a 6, a wandering monster has appeared.
V. SPECIAL CASES/RULES.
A. Running out of passage tiles.
Because the number of rooms off each passage is determined
randomly, it may occur that you run out of passage tiles
before you run out of rooms. If this occurs then the other
rooms are 'secret' rooms. The players must backtrack and
search rooms for secret doors.
E. Multi-level quests.
You can play multi-level quests if desired, using the stair
tile that came with HQ as a way of moving between levels.
This would make a quest harder for more experienced players,
or those who have enough artifacts that they easily defeat
the monsters in a single level quest.
a. Randomly.
Roll a red die and randomly draw this many spells.
Do not look at these cards.
c. Determined by quest.
If a quest gives specific spells for a Chaos
spellcaster, then find these cards. Turn them face
down and shuffle.
4. Escape Spell.
If the Escape spell is cast, the Chaos spellcaster will
escape to a room that has not been drawn yet (unless
there are no more rooms - see below). If he is
encountered again, he will always be at full strength.
Unless his spells are specifically given, shuffle the
Chaos Spell Deck and redraw the correct number of spell
cards. Chaos spellcasters who cast the Escape spell are
good to find - they gain four treasure cards when the
spell is cast (no traps or wandering monsters). If they
cast Escape more than once, they gain another two cards
every time they cast it. The dead spellcaster must be
searched to find these treasures. Treat the dead
spellcaster like furniture (lay the figure down on its
side) for the treasure search.
a. Objective quests.
The Chaos spellcaster will always appear in the
Objective room. If the objective room has already
been found, then follow rules for non-objective
quests.
b. Non-objective quest.
When a new room card is turned over, the Hero doing
so should roll an extra red die 9this is besides
any other monster rolls). If a 6 is rolled, the
spellcaster has “Escaped” to this room.
c. No more rooms.
If there are no more rooms (i.e. the Chaos Warlock
has escaped from the last room) then you may
either:
a) Assume that the Chaos Warlock has escaped from
the dungeon.
or
b) Draw an extra room card (one that you did not
use in this quest) as a secret room. Search the
board for secret doors. The Chaos Warlock is in
the secret room.
You follow the trail left by the Undead, avoiding new troops of
the creatures that are on the way to your castle. Night falls,
and you try to rest, but the fear of the Undead creatures
wandering the countryside prevents you from getting much sleep.
Morning comes at last, and you start again on your search for the
source of the monsters. Before noon you enter a mountain range -
craggy and forbidding. Late in the afternoon you spy a fortress
deep in a dark valley. It is here that the creatures are coming
from. You decide that you will enter the keep and attempt to stop
the Undead before they succeed in destroying your home.
Deck Preparations:
All decks except the Monster decks are created as normal. Remove
all monsters except for the Undead from the Monster deck.
Each turn the Heroes are in this room, an undead creature will
come out of the Power Sphere. Roll a red die: on a 1-2 a
Skeleton appears. On a 3-4 a Zombie appears. On a 5-6 a Mummy
appears. Once the Necromancer has been killed the Undead quit
coming thru the Portal.
Quest description:
Hanmar Svingly was Lord of the Seaturn Elves many centuries ago.
A raiding party of Fimir stole his sword. His descendents have
discovered the location of the sword, in a dungeon deep in the
Masgrin Swamps. They offer 500 gold coins to every Hero in your
party to retrieve it.
Deck Preparations:
Only use the Orc Monster cards.
Special Rules:
Any time you search for treasure, a wandering monster appears on a
role of 1-3. Of course the wandering monster in this quest is an
Orc.
Quest Reward:
As a reward for your gallantry during the fight, the Dwarven Lord
of Seldorsuun will give each surviving Hero a choice of items:
1) A magical longsword giving the wielder an extra attack die,
and two against Orcs.
2) 2) A magical suit of Plate Mail, so light that it doesn't
reduce the wearer's movements.
3) 3) Four magical potions. Roll 4 red die. Consult this
table for each die to determine the potions:
1 Heroic Brew
2-3 Potion of Defense
4-5 Potion of Strength
6 Potion of Healing
4) 1000 gold coins.
Deck Preparations:
Remove any 'named' rooms from the Room deck - keep only the ones
described by room dimensions (i.e. 3x3, 4x4, etc).
Quest Preparation:
This quest may be played as many times as desired. Before play
you should place all cards into the monster deck. Draw one card
and look at it. If you have a card with more than one monster on
it, i.e. 2 Orcs, replace it and draw another. You need a card
with only a single monster on it. Now roll 1 red die, and
multiply the number by 5.
Quest Description:
The local Magistrate calls you into the town hall. “We are having
a problem with [insert name of monster card drawn]. We will give
you [die roll multiplied by 5] gold coins for each one you kill.
Additional Notes:
You can play this quest with any number of levels. If you want to
randomly determine how many levels to play, roll a red die.
1 2 Levels
2-4 3 Levels
5 4 Levels
6 5 Levels
Only the Hero that actually kills the monster is awarded the gold
coins. Whether the coins are kept by the individual Heroes, or
pooled and split evenly is up to them. The Hero MUST exit the
dungeon alive to collect his reward, though.