And now for part 2: slippery ice and ice ledge
I agree that as the ice ledge appears in more than one Quest in this pack then the full rules should be included in the Introduction, rather than in the first Quest and then pointed back to in subsequent quests
Slippery Ice RulesDo not place a slippery ice tile on the gameboard until a Hero steps onto the appropriate square.
Whenever a Hero moves onto a slippery ice square, the Hero rolls 1 combat die. If a white shield is rolled, the Hero falls and his turn ends immediately. Any other roll means the Hero can continue moving (if he has moves left).
The Hero must roll for each slippery ice tile moved onto.
A fallen Hero cannot take any actions or defend against attacks until his next turn.
Monsters are not affected by slippery ice.
A slippery ice tile cannot be found by searching, nor can it be disarmed.
Once it is placed on the gameboard, it can be jumped over like a pit.
A few thoughts…
Much as I love the combat dice I do find their use for this kind of test a pain as it always taxes my memory trying to remember the combinations for passing the various tests, like these below…to name a few, so I use a red die, with a target figure test instead, given in brackets below!
• disarming a trap (Dwarf) needs skulls or white shields [2+]*
• ice ledge (covered below) needs skulls or white shields [2+]
• slippery ice needs skulls or black shields [3+]
• jumping a pit needs black or white shields[4+]
• disarming a trap (tool kit) needs black or white shields [4+]*
(*My rules allow anyone to disarm a trap on 5+ with a +1 for the Toolkit and +2 for the Dwarf (+1 for both))
The first time that any Hero steps on this square he has a 4/6 chance of passing the test and continuing his movement unaffected. Any subsequent Hero (or even the same one again) now knowing that the Hazard exists, still gets the same 4/6 chance of passing the test, bearing in mind this feature states that it cannot be disarmed, shouldn’t the first hero automatically fail and subsequent ones get to roll, as per a pit trap that couldn’t be disarmed?
Once the square has been discovered, you get the option to attempt to jump the dodgy square, as if it were a pit. The odds of passing a pit jump test is 3/6 so this seems a strange option. If you attempt to jump and fail do you end up on your ass automatically, you would think so, so opting to jump the square reduces your odds of success – a standard pass being 4/6? Or do does it mean you may attempt to jump it as a pit and if you fail you have to roll the standard check to see if you slip, so you would have to fail the jump AND the slip 3/6 AND 2/6?
Compare this to a pit trap, you MAY get a chance to disarm the trap, but if you don’t you fall in automatically, but the pit itself for any subsequent Hero is not hidden and you got the option to jump it, failure results in falling in.
Why can a fallen hero not defend himself, armour still works, he can defend himself if he has fallen into a pit which must logically be a further fall then just to the ground, with one less DD but not if he has fallen onto the ground, wouldn’t this be better as defends with one less dice?
If a Hero that fails, falls and that ends his turn, then the line “A fallen Hero cannot take any actions or defend against attacks until his next turn. ” isn’t needed, apart from the defend piece.
If a Hero fails the roll and ends up on his backside then I think that square should be considered impassable until his next turn, to avoid having to handle multiple Heroes occupying the same square but this means Heroes queuing up and significantly increasing the risk again...
Ice Ledge RulesQuest 4 - Note E - The ice ledge that surrounds the crevasse is very slippery. When a Hero steps through a door and moves onto his first square in this room, he must roll 1 combat die. The hero is safe and can continue moving if a skull or white shield is rolled. If a black shield is rolled, however the Hero begins slipping into the crevasse, suffering 1 Body Point of damage. The Hero must immediately roll another combat die. If another black shield is rolled, the Hero plummets into the crevasse, never to be seen again. Any other roll means the Hero returns to the square in which he entered the room, ending his turn. At the beginning of any turn in which a Hero is in this room, he must first roll to see if he slips into the crevasse.
Why test upon entry and then at the start of each turn? I get the start of the turn, this is as per slippery ice, you step onto it and test (although the test is passed on a skull or white shield 5/6 rather than slippery ice’s skull or black shield 4/6), but generally in HQ the ‘test at the start of each turn if in the room’ logic is applied where effects are duration-based such as localised heat or cold damage effects (chill room, forge room) the longer you stay the more you suffer, but that does apply here (or slippery ice) once you have stepped onto a square and survived, you could presumably if you wanted to remain safely on that square forever and shouldn’t need to test again.
Why does slipping onto your ass cause a lost BP here but not with slippery ice, isn’t the threat of permanent death sufficient?
“Any other roll means the Hero returns to the square in which he entered the room, ending his turn.” – sort of makes sense for the first roll when entering the room (although why does he ‘return’ he never left) but does this mean that if the hero is on another square in the room at the start of his turn, he has to go back to the square that he entered the room from? Surely not. He stays on the square unless he falls into the crevasse, reword needed.
There are monsters in this room, everywhere that it appears, so Heroes would have to fight in these conditions, forcing them to roll again to risk the crevasse for every monster (move-attack, end turn, roll again on new turn)
Perhaps this effect, should only be on the first square in the room (either door depending on which way you enter)?
If the room is run, as written, then I would suggest that no one in their right mind would hang around a search the room, but then again they might if they have neutralised the peril or are immune to it for some reason, so I guess searching must be permitted but would need at least one more ‘risk roll’ if applicable
Snowshoes of speed – cancel out the effects of slippery ice, but not the slippery ice ledge, why not?