Please help me out of a quandary...

[wallydubbs]

In the UK version, Fire of Wrath is the only spell that doesn't require Line of Sight, Ball of Flame did. It was just a little something that made Fire of Wrath stand out, so it wasn't just a weaker version of Ball of Flame.

I preferred the old version of Courage, that it will last until the end of the battle when no more monsters are visible. Stephen Baker was the creator in the UK and text was much more clear, but in the US there was a point of contention as to what the spell meant by "Next,"'we have the whole debate recorded somewhere on this sight.
Avalon Hill would later issue a correction that this will only work for 1 turn, despite reversing course on what Baker actually meant. Although one could technically make an argument that Baker even changed his mind as there were two versions of this Spell in Europe. The first iteration of the game started with The Maze as the first quest, where Courage and Rock Skin both lasted 1 turn.
A 2nd version was released also in Europe, before coming to North America, that changed the first quest to the Trial and added longevity to Courage & Rock Skin.

[Gold Bearer]

Rock Skin and Sleep are also different. Sleep is a lot less powerful because they wake up before the attack, Courage and Rock Skin just give you two extra dice on your next attack/defence roll.

In the UK version, Fire of Wrath is the only spell that doesn't require Line of Sight, Ball of Flame did. It was just a little something that made Fire of Wrath stand out, so it wasn't just a weaker version of Ball of Flame.

Also Genie doesn't need LoS. Fire Of Wrath and Ball Of Flame also give the target one and two defence dice respectively so more powerful than the US versions.

I preferred the old version of Courage, that it will last until the end of the battle when no more monsters are visible. Stephen Baker was the creator in the UK and text was much more clear, but in the US there was a point of contention as to what the spell meant by "Next,"'we have the whole debate recorded somewhere on this sight.
Avalon Hill would later issue a correction that this will only work for 1 turn, despite reversing course on what Baker actually meant.

It ALWAYS only worked for your NEXT attack!
You get two extra dice on your next attack unless there's ever no enemy in sight of you before your next attack because the spell is broken if there's no enemy in sight. The card says both things so both things are true by definition of the card describing the rules.

[lestodante]

Sleep is a lot less powerful because they wake up before the attack, Courage and Rock Skin just give you two extra dice on your next attack/defence roll.

The monster does not awake if attacked but he try the roll if attacked or at the start of his turn (the text may be fooling), otherwise he still stays asleep, unable to defend.

In the UK version, Fire of Wrath is the only spell that doesn't require Line of Sight, Ball of Flame did. It was just a little something that made Fire of Wrath stand out, so it wasn't just a weaker version of Ball of Flame.

Exactly, they were well balanced.

Fire Of Wrath and Ball Of Flame also give the target one and two defence dice respectively so more powerful than the US versions.

US versions also give the target 1 and 2 defence rolls.

I preferred the old version of Courage, that it will last until the end of the battle when no more monsters are visible. Stephen Baker was the creator in the UK and text was much more clear, but in the US there was a point of contention as to what the spell meant by "Next,"'we have the whole debate recorded somewhere on this sight.
Avalon Hill would later issue a correction that this will only work for 1 turn, despite reversing course on what Baker actually meant.

Correct, they nerfed it in the US version, may it be intentional or not. But I think it was better in the UK version.

It ALWAYS only worked for your NEXT attack!

This is not correct... check the UK version:

ukspells90.jpg

[Gold Bearer]

Sleep is a lot less powerful because they wake up before the attack, Courage and Rock Skin just give you two extra dice on your next attack/defence roll.

The monster does not awake if attacked but he try the roll if attacked or at the start of his turn (the text may be fooling), otherwise he still stays asleep, unable to defend.

That's 2nd edition.

Fire Of Wrath and Ball Of Flame also give the target one and two defence dice respectively so more powerful than the US versions.

US versions also give the target 1 and 2 defence rolls.

Not EWP defence rolls, 5 or 6 on standard dice so hero defence rolls.

It ALWAYS only worked for your NEXT attack!

This is not correct... check the UK version:

ukspells90.jpg

Those are 2nd edition.

Euro Ball Of Flame: A target in sight defends with two dice against a two skull Fire based attack.

US Ball Of Flame: A target in sight rolls two standard dice, if they roll no 5s or 6s they lose 2BP of Fire based damage, if they roll one 5 or 6 they lose 1BP of Fire based damage and if both dice are a 5 and/or 6 they take no damage.

Euro 1st Edition Courage: A target in sight attacks with two extra combat dice the next time they make a Physical Attack.

Euro 2nd Edition Courage: A target in sight attacks with two extra combat dice when they make Physical Attacks until there's no Enemy in sight of them at any point.

US Courage: A target in sight attacks with two extra combat dice the next time they make a Physical Attack unless there's no Enemy in sight of them at any point before their next attack.

Euro Fire Of Wrath: A target anywhere defends with one dice against a one skull Fire based attack.

US Fire Of Wrath: A target in sight rolls a standard dice and loses 1BP of Fire based damage if they roll lower than a 5.

Euro Genie: Attacks a target anywhere with five dice or opens any door revealing the room's contents and activating any revealed Enemies.

US Genie: Attacks a target in sight with five combat dice or opens any door revealing the room's contents and activating any revealed Enemies.

Euro 1st Sleep: A target in sight defends against a one skull Spell Attack with a number of combat dice equal to their current MP (0MP Undead are automatically affected), if they fail to successfully defend the attack instead of taking damage they miss their following turns and cannot perform any Actions until they roll a 6 on one dice at the start of one of their turns or if they're attacked (they wake up before the attack).

Euro 2nd Edition Sleep: A target in sight defends against a one skull Spell Attack with a number of combat dice equal to their current MP (0MP Undead are automatically affected), if they fail to successfully defend the attack instead of taking damage they miss their following turns and cannot perform any Actions until after they're attacked (they wake up after the attack so cannot defend) or they roll a 6 on one dice at the start of one of their turns.

US Sleep: A target in sight rolls a number of dice equal to their current MP, if they fail to roll one or more 6s they miss their following turns and cannot roll defence dice or perform any Actions until they roll one or more 6s on a number of dice equal to their current MP at the start of one of their turns. This spell has no effect on 0MP Undead targets.

Euro 1st Edition Rock Skin: A target in sight defends with two extra combat dice the next time they defend.

Euro 2nd Edition Rock Skin: A target in sight defends with two extra combat dice until the next time that they take any BP damage.

US Rock Skin: A target in sight defends with one extra combat dice until the next time that they take any BP damage.

[lestodante]

I would not consider 1989 version since it was fixed and replaced by the 1990 in few months. It was only printed in 1989 while all other versions (1990-1993, including the Advanced Quest edition/Dark Company) featured the same card deck of the 1990 version.
1989 version was broken under many aspects, including rules and treasure cards, also missing some equipment cards, so, although it is not, I consider it some kind of demo version, not worth of consideration for rule comparisons with the US version.

[Gold Bearer]

I would not consider 1989 version since it was fixed and replaced by the 1990 in few months. It was only printed in 1989 while all other versions (1990-1993, including the Advanced Quest edition/Dark Company) featured the same card deck of the 1990 version.
1989 version was broken under many aspects, including rules and treasure cards, also missing some equipment cards, so, although it is not, I consider it some kind of demo version, not worth of consideration for rule comparisons with the US version.

How dare you, that's MY Hero Quest!
I had no idea there were other base versions until much later.

[BlackJax]

Until recently I was only aware of one version of the HQ rules that I grew up playing with (which I now know as the UK 2nd edition - July 1990) but having played the new version (Avalon Hill one) once back in October last year and then discovering the Inn shortly afterwards it now appears that there are at least 4 different rule version in play (ignoring translations), the UK 1st edition April/August 89, UK 2nd edition July 90, North American 1990, and the modern Avalon Hill version and I'm finding the task of comparing four rulesets to each other very challenging, so please bear with me!

I would not consider 1989 version since it was fixed and replaced by the 1990 in few months. It was only printed in 1989 while all other versions (1990-1993, including the Advanced Quest edition/Dark Company) featured the same card deck of the 1990 version.
1989 version was broken under many aspects, including rules and treasure cards, also missing some equipment cards, so, although it is not, I consider it some kind of demo version, not worth of consideration for rule comparisons with the US version.

I find this position interesting because I'm beginning to get the impression that the 1990 North American edition might have been based on the UK 1st edition (April/August 89) rather than the UK 2nd edition (July 90).

A couple of examples

The UK 1st edition doesn't clearly state where a hero has to be placed to disarm a trap, but implies that the hero needs to be stood on the trap square to disarm it, the NA edition clearly states that the hero has to be on the trap square to disarm it (so same rule as 1st edition) but the UK 2nd edition clearly states that the hero has to be on the square next to the trapped square (so the rule is different to both the 1st and NA editions)

The UK 1st edition has only one version of the LOS rule (the "trace a straight line from one square to another square, if the line doesn't pass through a wall, closed door or another figure then it is visible"), the 1990 NA version has the same one version, but the UK 2nd edition has two different LOS rules, one for seeing (that ignores other figures) and one for shooting (that icludes other figures), so again the NA edition is closer to the UK 1st edition rather than the UK 2nd edition.

[Parzival]

There are actually 5 versions of the spell cards text now:
UK 1st ed.
UK 2nd ed.
US 1st ed.
US 2nd ed. (2021)
US First Light, which specifically nerfs many of the spells. I hate spell nerfing. This one turns Courage, Fire of Wrath, and Ball of Flame into barely useful spells, and weakens Genie into an LOS only spell. I ignore the First Light spells.

I do like the cited UK versions of Fire of Wrath, which thus is actually a more potent Magic Missile spell from D&D: Auto hit anywhere on the board. (If functioning as an actual D&D Magic Missile spell, it would be: Auto hit against any one visible target.) Either is a really cool spell, and not as powerful as it seems— after all, you can’t blast a monster you don’t know about, and it’s only 1BP— it’s not a BBG killer, but it’s a good clinch shot, which is what the Wizard should be capable of.

The US 2021 and First Light Sleep say the target “cannot attack or defend” and doesn’t mention waking up, except on a successful spell break roll. I take that literally— it snoozes until it makes a save on the start of its turn. Attacking it does NOT wake it up, and ignores its Defense roll completely. Frankly, I follow the old school D&D approach that any Sleeping critter can be killed outright— you don’t have to roll an attack, you just kill it automatically. Of course, if there’s other monsters around you have to defeat them first, so the Sleeping monster could wake up on its own while you’re busy fighting its allies. But that’s my intepretation.

[Gold Bearer]

What's First Light? I've heard of it, I think I used to know, rereleased US version with more rule changes?

I love old D&D, not from tabletop, from old goldbox games. The necromancer's Deathbolt spell from Wizard of Morcar is more like Magic Missile, LoS and damage automatically.

Yea they don't wake up when attacked for US Sleep but it's a lot easier for them to wake up at the start of their turn. That's a brutal version of Sleep you're using, old school D&D helpless condition was hardcore, and D&D Sleep was a large AoE! It only worked on a combined total of HP though so it was OP AF to start with then next to useless before long.

[wallydubbs]

What's First Light? I've heard of it, I think I used to know, rereleased US version with more rule changes?

I love old D&D, not from tabletop, from old goldbox games. The necromancer's Deathbolt spell from Wizard of Morcar is more like Magic Missile, LoS and damage automatically.

Yea they don't wake up when attacked for US Sleep but it's a lot easier for them to wake up at the start of their turn. That's a brutal version of Sleep you're using, old school D&D helpless condition was hardcore, and D&D Sleep was a large AoE! It only worked on a combined total of HP though so it was OP AF to start with then next to useless before long.

First Light is the more public version of HeroQuest. In attempts to reach a wider audience Hasbro/Avalon Hill released a new starting quest pack through Target. So if you go to a local Target store you might find it in the board game section. It's a much more condensed version, the monsters and furniture are all in tile form. I'm surprised you never heard of it. But they reworded most of the spells and character cards.