Do you tell if a Gargoyles is in stoneform?

[Thrawn]

I've read that the HQ gargoyle is actually a Greater Demon of Khorne, or chaos bloodthirster:
Pretty cool!

You are right. But apart from having the same visual design they really don't have anything in common.
The gargoyle behaves like a gargoyle, turning into stone and stuff. But maybe the gargoyle started out as a demon, but MB reconed that having a DEAMON BLOODTHIRSTER in their game, would perhaps be too much for some parents? Dunno, just a thought.

In the back of the EU questbook, the Gargoyles are described as 'stone statues of great monsters, brought to life through arcane rituals'. So I reckon the HeroQuest Gargoyle is a statue of a Bloodthirster. The Chaos boys who sculpted it were probably thinking "hey, we're gonna make this statue come alive, let's make it look real scary in honour of our dark gods".

...in which case, Gargoyles could actually look like anything. You could theme your Gargoyle to match your Quest. A Nurgle Chaos band would probably sculpt a statue that looks like a smallish Great Unclean One, for instance, while a Slaanesh band's Gargoyle would be... highly distracting.

That's actually a nice idea, and opens up a TON of miniature options. I actually painted my gargoyle to look like stonework. I could do that with about any miniature to make more by looking at it this way.

[Goblin-King]

In the back of the EU questbook, the Gargoyles are described as 'stone statues of great monsters, brought to life through arcane rituals'. So I reckon the HeroQuest Gargoyle is a statue of a Bloodthirster.

This makes so much sense AND it's in an official book. This is henceforth official lore.

Also remember that both on Morcar's screen and on the cover of Kellar's Keep, the living moving gargoyle is actually made of stone. It doesn't turn into flesh and armor when in it's moving form. The stone just gets somewhat softer to allow movement, but also weaker to damage.

Back to my own initial question... I have thought about it for some time and think the most logical is to reveal it's form. Ingame its turn based, but if it were real the heroes would immediately notice a huge moving statue trying to kill them. So I would tell them.

[Nephew of Mentor]

I think as far as revealing if it is stone, do your players ask "is it stone?" I would say having them ask that is a sign that they are paying enough attention to it to know if it is stone or not. I would say they could do this as a "free action". If they rushed the thing and attacked in the same turn they entered the room then I would just wait till they got done rolling and then let them know they wasted an action, which is bound to upset them because now they can't search for treasure. As for searching for treasure while the gargoyle is stone in the room, searching for treasure is sometimes one of the actions that activates the gargoyle, so I think it is required to be able to do so.

[Daedalus]

I like the idea that Gargoyles come in different, monstrous forms. The back of the North American Quest Book also describes them as such. I'm gonna pull a suprise, one day. I too believe that they are best painted in shades of gray, brown, and red. I really like Mohpus' skin tones found in this Gallery pic, though I'd go with more stone-like weapons and armor.

The Marvel Winter Edition describes a Gargoyle under The Monstrous Regiment:

As they carried on down the corridor, they suddenly came across a huge statue, twice the height of Skullmar. The Captain of the Dead Host looked up at it. "What a splendid piece of sculpture. I don't remember seeing that before."

"Oh, that's not a statue, Wing Commander, it's a Gargoyle. Watch this." He moved toward the statue, was about to touch it, then stopped and turned back to Skulmar. "I'd stand back a bit if I were you."

As Skulmar retreated slightly, the Chaos Dwarf reached out and lightly touched the Gargoyle. It immediately came to life, cracking its whip, waving its sword and beating its huge wings. It aimed a blow at Milnik, who barely dodged in time. "Down boy! Down!" he shouted.

The Gargoyle calmed a little and stood still, growling in the back of its throat. Slowly it turned back to stone....

This somewhat campy, fluff-story exerpt isn't exactly rules, but it was published with the help of Steve Baker, HQ's creator, as an advisor. I'd say that makes the above narrative a good source for not only what a Gargoyle looks like, but how it behaves as well. So to answer the OP's query about "Do you tell if a Gargoyle is in stoneform?", they are told when they touch it. I'd extend that to any form of contact, even missiles and certain spells. Such contact affects a Gargoyle, immediately causing it to come to life and be revealed (also suffering damage if successfully attacked). Otherwise, it just appears as a statue.

Should the Heroes be allowed to search for treasure? Yes, unless they somehow contact the statue, and I'd say that's a certainty unless they specifically state they are avoiding it. Such avoidance behavior carries the risk of not finding a Quest treasure that the evil wizard could have noted just for that purpose.

That's my take. Of course, a jerky evil wizard could require a Dwarf to actually touch it.

[Sjeng]

and even better:

so cool

[knightkrawler]

I've read that the HQ gargoyle is actually a Greater Demon of Khorne, or chaos bloodthirster

Hi, first post.

I think, the HQ gargoyle is the statue of a bloodthirster come to life through magic.
And if it's in statue mode, tell the heroes that it looks like made of stone and immobile until it moves or attacks.
Some role-playing there.

[el_flesh]

"A cold statue. Unmoving. Clearly not alive or even motile. But something about it seems off. It does not have dust, like the other items in the room. Something about it seems to hum from deep inside. It's nothing you can hear, or see. But there is something more than cold stone here."

[knightkrawler]

That's it, exactly.

[heroicbrew]

I run my game pretty tight with the quest book. I only give the heroes information if the notes state "you may tell the heroes..." I think it's more fun for them (and for me) to discover things like this on their own. I see the gargoyle as being made out of stone, so the heroes can't really tell if it's a statue, or simply a very still gargoyle

I do know that whenever that gargoyle figure gets dropped on the board, even if just as a statue, the heroes get very cautious. They usually figure out that some action is going to bring that thing to life, so they get careful where they're stepping and where they search for treasure/traps.

[mikemacdee]

I only give the heroes information if the notes state "you may tell the heroes..." I think it's more fun for them (and for me) to discover things like this on their own.

Old topic, I know...but I roll like this, too. I think a quest is much more rewarding and entertaining when the heroes discover things the hard way, rather than having Zargon spell everything out for them. It's way more fun when the heroes open a door, see a gargoyle, and flee for three turns before realizing it's not chasing them, and does indeed appear to be a statue.

And then they're paranoid for the remainder of the quest, wondering what foolish action will turn the beast to flesh and unleash it upon them.

And then they get to the end of the quest and learn that it was a statue all along. And I get stuff thrown at my head. But we all laugh afterward (well, I do anyway).

*based on a true story*