AHQ-Revamping Squad’s Workshop

Revised Healing Rules for AHQ

Version 1.01

Redesign Notes

Advanced HeroQuest is well known for its brutal difficulty. I believe we can fairly say that the fragility of
the Heroes, though a legacy of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, is one of its most distinctive features as a
dungeon crawler.

Unless I’m missing something, it seems that the core of the issue is the way combat healing works in
AHQ. I see that only spells and healing potions may be used to heal in combat according to the rules, but
potions produce their effects at the beginning of the next turn in which they're taken. The rules don’t
specify if adventurers in an enemy death zone may take healing potions, though, but that doesn’t seem
to be the case. Healing spells, on the other hand, are allowed only if no other figure is in the healer's
death zone.

As one may notice from the above, it may get tricky to heal in combat under the vanilla rules,
particularly when the adventurers find themselves surrounded by monsters, which I think is one of the
main reasons why the game may be so difficult at times. It may seem, however, that the said 1/12
chance of damaging TH12 characters goes in tune with the original mechanics for healing with potions
(and spells), as a chance of 1/4 or even 1/6 would make those characters more vulnerable, so it may not
be a good idea unless healing in combat becomes easier.

In such circumstances, I see that the bottleneck formation is not only the form of room combat
prescribed by the original rules (at least in solo mode), but the one that should be used every time if the
adventurers expect to survive. I think it's clear that, given the scarce number of wounds allocated to the
Heroes and how combat healing works, the chances of overcoming a room encounter may be severely
reduced if the adventurers are allowed to be surrounded by enemies. Entering a room occupied by
monsters in the vanilla game (something that is supposed to be the norm in a dungeon crawler) is simply
incompatible with its original design. Ultimately, what makes AHQ playable (I think) is the variable
number and value of monsters provided by its matrices. I believe the game would be even more difficult
and repetitive otherwise.

So, is that it? Is that how AHQ should be played? Am I missing something? Should variants modify or
preserve the original gameplay? to what extent?

It appears to be common knowledge that AHQ was rushed to market, and that it could have used more
playtesting and support. In my opinion, the original game may get repetitive after clearing a few rooms,
particularly in solo mode. I believe it's an outstanding and revolutionary system that could do much
better…that deserves much better! However, it seems that the original combat mechanics can hardly be
tweaked without also modifying the other variables already mentioned in the title above. I mean, if one
wants to fix the bottleneck issue and make encounters more varied and riskier for the Heroes in any
way—fighting inside rooms like in a normal dungeon crawler for a change—then I’m afraid that at least
the mechanics of healing (and probably also the number of wounds allocated to the Heroes) must be
altered as well, as the game would become unbearably difficult otherwise (FPs and everything else can
remain the same for our purposes here).
Speaking of which, I think that my house rules for fixing the bottleneck issue and Toughness 12
characters should be used only if healing is also tweaked, as they may turn Heroes more vulnerable
and exposed to damage at the same time. Years of tweaking AHQ and playing it with modified healing
made me forget mentioning it in my house rules (my bad). Notes are now included in both documents
(plus the new Revised Healing Rules for AHQ).

In any case, it seems that the mechanics of combat healing along with the number of wounds allocated
to the Heroes are the two variables that can most easily be tweaked to adjust the difficulty of the game
without messing with anything else.

Revised Healing Rules

Healing Potions and Spells in AHQ are used according to the following:

Healing Potions restore the adventurer’s wounds to their starting level in the same activation in which
they are drunk. Healing is not allowed if the adventurer is in a focused death zone. The same rules apply
whether the adventurer is fallen or not.

The Flames of the Phoenix spell may be cast normally as long as the healer is not in a focused death
zone.

*Optional: Adventurers in a focused death zone may drink healing potions upon passing a Speed test.
Add +1 for each additional death zone if any. If the test is failed, the potion is lost. In any case, the
adventurer may not take any other action in the same turn.

*Optional: Healing herbs cost $25 GCs, and they restore four wounds in the same activation in which
they are taken as long as the adventurer is not in a focused death zone. Speed tests for evading death
zones are not possible when healing with herbs.