Difficulty

[Schmidt]

the heroes might discover a trap aaaaaall the way across the board, but guess what? Now they have to remember where it was or keep searching to be reminded.

"There are no new traps to be discovered in this area."

[knightkrawler]

I am of Sjeng's opinion. (To clarify: concerning vanilla HQ)
I use question mark markers from Descent. Heroes know where a trap is, but do not know what kind it is until they trigger or disarm it.

[mako-heart]

I am of Sjeng's opinion.
I use question mark markers from Descent. Heroes know where a trap is, but do not know what kind it is until they trigger or disarm it.

I never allow markers for traps its up to the players to remember where the trap is, if they forget where it is then they have to search again. trapsare not revealed untill they are triggered or disarmed.

[sajungzak]

I wouldn't normally allow for "unactivated" monsters to move around unseen.

I agree. Once seen, sometimes a monster will run around a corner. When I do this, I remove the monster from the board and finish the move unseen. He cannot be moved again until seen again. The players don't necessarily know this, but I may have hinted to this rule once or twice if challenged...

Concerning traps:

Why? once found, it's found. It's either placed on the board or triggered and spent.

I disagree. When found while searching for traps, the square where the trap is located is pointed to, but no tile is placed unless sprung.

[Daedalus]

We we're playing quest 6 of the main game. As soon as the heroes ventured out into the hall I started using the Chaos Knights without placing them on the board. This allowed me to ambush them. I only placed them on the board if they were in the line of sight. I take it that as a DM I'm free to move whatever monsters that are placed in the halls without informing the players. I only inform them as soon as they appear in the line of sight of the players. I don't see why I should leave them static, only to be triggered when the heroes see them. This caused them to accuse me of cheating and spawning enemies. What do the experts think/use? I feel that when monster is out of sight I'm free to remove them and spawn them were I see fit (while keeping it fair).

I'm referencing the EU rules, which should be the game your using (the NA rules work similarly). I never actually played them, but that won't stop me from trying to apply them to your situation in The Stone Hunter. (I'm with GK's assessment.)

Placing monsters is referenced on p.4 under Outline of the Game, but p.8, Moving around the board states monster placement best:

(rule 1) "As the character players move around the gameboard they enter new
rooms and passages. If you are the first player to enter a new room or
passageway, you should give the evil wizard player enough time to consult the
Quest Book map and place onto the board any visible monsters and furniture."

Monster movement is also covered briefly on both p.4 in the Outline of the Game and p.6, Order of play:

(rule 2a) "...During the evil wizard player's turn he may move and attack with each of the
monsters he has on the board...."

(rule 2b) "...On his turn, the evil wizard player may move some or all of his monsters currently
on the board...."

It appears to me that it isn't possible to move a monster until it has been placed on the board (rules 2a and 2b), which doesn't happen until it is visible to a Hero at the location shown on the Quest book map (rule1). As the Hero makes a monster visible on his turn by entering a room or corridor, the monster won't be free to move from its starting location until afterwards, on the evil wizard player's turn.

In quest 7, as soon as the monster in the northern hall was killed they searched for traps. That means for the entire hall. I think it's ludicrous that they can see that far ahead. I was thinking about only being able to search for a set number of squares. Only that would be difficult to keep track of. Any ideas?

I'm with knightkrawler on dividing the outer corridors into quarter sections of the board. For me the wording is from one corner to the midpoint of an outer corridor--same thing. (I think I may like knightkrawler's description better.) For those of us who want more veracity in this part of the game, keeping search distance within the maximum movement distance of a Hero works well as a limit, I think.

The EU rules merely require a trap to be found for a tile to be placed. No tile is necessary for a spear or chest trap--they are considered rendered harmless once found. However, the NA rules don't allow for a trap tile to be placed until it has been sprung. Spear, chest, and furniture traps lack tiles and remain dangerous until sprung.

[sajungzak]

The EU rules merely require a trap to be found for a tile to be placed. No tile is necessary for a spear or chest trap--they are considered rendered harmless once found. However, the NA rules don't allow for a trap tile to be placed until it has been sprung. Spear, chest, and furniture traps lack tiles and remain dangerous until sprung.

I've only ever played with the NA rules. EU rules here seem alien to me. Maybe I'm biased, but I like the NA rules better in this case.

[The Road Warrior]

Really? You sure?

We've always played that pits only open if someone actually step on it.
And why would spear traps be deactivated just because you spot it? That also highly devalues the dwarf/toolkit.
And you cant make spear trap mazes?

And it kinda fixes the problem with being able to search too big an area.

sadface!

Gotta look that up later...

That's the way we play it ( I forget what the rules actually say). I also don't reveal a trap twice. Once the players have found it, it's up to them to remember where it is.

[Goblin-King]

I agree. Once seen, sometimes a monster will run around a corner. When I do this, I remove the monster from the board and finish the move unseen. He cannot be moved again until seen again. The players don't necessarily know this, but I may have hinted to this rule once or twice if challenged...

I don't think you can take monsters off the board once they are placed (unless they are killed). I'm talking according to official rules of course. House rule to your 's content.

[sajungzak]

Do you have monsters treat corners hiding an unexplored corridor like a closed door?

[Goblin-King]

I'd say that a discovered monster can move freely in undiscovered areas as long as it doesn't open doors or walk through walls, fallen rocks etc.