Some Redesign Notes on Combat, Damage, Healing, and Wounds

[RECIVS]

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.

From experience (a mathematical model may be needed otherwise), it seems that such fragility or vulnerability of the Heroes results mainly from the interaction of the following gameplay elements: combat formation, damage mechanics, healing options, and number of wounds. I know there are other factors at play, such as Fate Points, but I think they’re secondary, and, in most cases, its use is determined by the said variables. I mean, FPs can make the game easier by negating damage in combat, yes, but they have nothing to do with how that damage is caused. Other elements (such as dungeon size, enemies, hazards, henchmen, spells, traps, treasure, weapon skill, etc.) play their part as well, of course, but they also do it indirectly I believe. Anyway, only the ones mentioned in the title are taken into account here; the others are considered constant variables for the purposes of this post. As usual, my methods and conclusions are open to criticism:

As we all know, every Hero in AHQ may start with 2-5 wounds and a Toughness (TH) value of 5-8 depending on race. In some instances, TH may be increased to 12 relatively easily through training and armor. TH12 models require damage rolls of 12 (or 1/12 chance) to be wounded, which may be a game breaker for most people, me included, but that's another story.

Unless I’m missing something, it seems that the core of the issue is the way combat healing works in AHQ considering the scarce number of wounds allocated to the adventurers. 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 get 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 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.

Now, we may see that most of the AHQ variants modify the said gameplay elements in one way or the other:

Depending on their race, the Heroes in Reforged may start with 6-9 wounds (the highest among the variants) in order to compensate for the changes that make the adventurers easier to attack, hit, and damage (such as lower stats, broader death zones, fixed value of enemies, etc.). Reforged is the only revision of AHQ that allocates a fixed number of wounds to its characters, depending on race and path. One may see that the TH values of starting characters (2-5) are notably lower than in AHQ, making Reforged also the variant with the lowest TH values; as a consequence, TH 10+ characters are rare in Slev's revision. It shouldn't be a surprise then that combat healing is much easier in Reforged than in the original: Healing potions work in the same activation in which they're taken, restoring the adventurer’s full health as a free action even when in an enemy death zone. Healing herbs cost 20 GCs, and they can restore four wounds, also in the same activation.

Second Edition preserves the original number of starting wounds (2-5) for the same races included in AHQ (ogres may start with 5-8). TH values are also the original ones (3-8) depending on race. On the other hand, an unmodified roll of 11+ always damages, which makes characters slightly more vulnerable but the game more playable. Combat is conducted pretty much like in the original game, though new actions that may spice up the encounters have been added (such as change place and push). Healing in combat may be easier than in AHQ, as healing potions work in the same activation in which they're taken (though they only restore four wounds). Heroes also have access to bandages that may allow them to heal one wound themselves or an adjacent friendly model upon passing an Intelligence test, which also work in the same activation in which they're used. An ability to heal while in an enemy death zone is included (see dodge).

Characters in Extreme may start with 3-7 wounds depending on archetype, which tends to be slightly higher than in AHQ and the second highest after Reforged. TH values of starting Heroes are almost the same as in the original (5-7). Damage rolls work in the traditional way, but the solution this variant offers for TH12 characters is that some spells and types of attack ignore armor bonuses. However, combat in rooms is somewhat different, as the adventurers are always placed in the five by two (squares) area next to the door. Whoever wins the surprise places their figures before the opponent, and they activate first. Monsters may not be placed in the adventurers’ area of deployment. Healing potions, on the other hand, may be drunk in the middle of combat even if the adventurer is in a death zone, restoring wounds to their maximum value in the same activation in which they’re taken (at least that’s what I interpret from the rules). Drinking a healing potion in combat requires only one action; however, adventurers may carry a maximum of three potions, which is the most restrictive among the variants.

AHQ3 slightly increases the number of starting wounds to 3-6 depending on race and class. TH values are also somewhat higher than in the original (4-9). Damage is resolved with HeroQuest dice, which sets this variant aside from the others. Combat works slightly different than in AHQ, though, as two squares are left between the adventurers and the monsters in room encounters; whoever wins the surprise gets the initiative. There are three different types of healing potions: Restoration Potions heal all the adventurer’s stats (including regeneration of lost limbs) for 120C, Potions of Healing restore up to four wounds for 50C, and Potions of Minor Heal restore up to two wounds for 20C. The rules don’t specify neither if healing potions work in the same activation in which they’re taken nor if they can be used in an enemy death zone, but those situations seem to be allowed.

AHQ2, Allied, and Enhanced either preserve the original mechanics without change or implement the battle dice of HeroQuest for resolving damage, which in any case is of no interest for our purposes here.

We have then that most of the AHQ variants modify the vanilla rules for healing with potions, and some of them also increase the number of wounds allocated to the adventurers. It seems clear that the variants in which healing is easier than in AHQ are the ones that also offer more variety of combat.

In conclusion, I believe that some of the already-mentioned vanilla mechanics (such as delaying the effect of healing potions when the Heroes can have an average of only three wounds), though “realistic”, may restrict the tactical variety of room encounters in AHQ. Even for a purist like me, such mechanics, as classic and revered as they may be, shouldn't be preserved for nostalgic reasons alone.

From my perspective, flexibilizing the process of healing with potions and spells as well as revising the number of wounds allocated to the Heroes, for example, may allow for more varied and engaging combat dynamics without necessarily spoiling the level of tension and difficulty the original game is well known for.