Elixir of Life / Ring of Return: once and for all?

[Derfel Link]

Hey there, it's the first time for us playing HeroQuest the north-american way and could use some advice on the Elixir of Life / Ring of Return artifacts: when it says It can only be used once, does it mean once and for all?
If it was for me (Zargon), that would mean once and for all, but would like to know your thoughts about it.

Funny thing: we're playing the original maps excpet for when heroes die, then we're turning to JoeC alternate maps; well, that happened on quest 6, and let JoeC know heroes hate him bad. Way bad Joe, if you're reading, please work on the Kellar's Keep alternate maps, as we're 5 quests far from that

Thanks for reading!
Cheers

[drathe]

Yes. The are one time only. Not once per quest. Once they're gone, they're gone.

Happy to hear you're enjoying the game again after so many years.

[Ethica]

That proves it! Once you're dead the only thing that can bring you back to life is an elixir of life, not a healing potion.

[drathe]

A healing potion can be used by the dying hero at the moment they reach zero. Like a last ounce of strength sort of thing. Elixir of life may be used by another hero on the dead hero during a later turn. Turns out, they were just mostly dead. With no Elixir, they become all dead. All dead means there's nothing you can do but go through their pockets in search of loose change.

[torilen]

mostly dead...HA. hehehe.

[Ethica]

Having a rule that you can drink a healing potion at zero body points to stop yourself from dying makes the game really easy and it makes the number of body points your character has irrelevant. If american rules allow it then that balances the fact that our monsters only have one body point.

[Draven]

A healing potion can be used by the dying hero at the moment they reach zero. Like a last ounce of strength sort of thing. Elixir of life may be used by another hero on the dead hero during a later turn. Turns out, they were just mostly dead. With no Elixir, they become all dead. All dead means there's nothing you can do but go through their pockets in search of loose change.

I don't have the cards at hand, but I always thought that potions could only be used at any time during that players turn. If a player gets attacked and his body points go to zero, isnt that him just dead. Its not his turn, so he shouldnt be able to use a potion.

[el_flesh]

Depends how 'real' (ha!) you want to make the game - the idea of turns is an artificial construct to make the game, well, playable - everything is supposed to be happening almost all at once! If you get attacked by two creatures very close in time, and one of them hurts you enough that you are sliding down to the floor to die; you had better pull your emergency magic Save my Liiife potion off your belt and drink it...

[Daedalus]

Hey there, it's the first time for us playing HeroQuest the north-american way and could use some advice on the Elixir of Life / Ring of Return artifacts: when it says It can only be used once, does it mean once and for all?
If it was for me (Zargon), that would mean once and for all, but would like to know your thoughts about it.

Like drathe said. Play them just as they are worded. To expound, the other artifact cards don't contain the qualifying phrase can only be used once, so all but the two above-mentioned artifacts remain in play each Quest.

As a further comparison, consider the Spell Ring artifact. It uses the phrase At the beginning of a Quest. The Ring of Return says to the starting point of the Quest. The definite article the more strongly indicates one, specific Quest instead of a, which can be used for many individual instances.

Finally, potions may only used once, as their text indicates: This may only be used once. Do not return this card to the deck. An elixir is also consumed once like a potion, as it is also a small container (bottle,vial, or flask) of liquid. Once you drink a beer, it's time to get another one.

[Daedalus]

A healing potion can be used by the dying hero at the moment they reach zero. Like a last ounce of strength sort of thing. Elixir of life may be used by another hero on the dead hero during a later turn. Turns out, they were just mostly dead. With no Elixir, they become all dead. All dead means there's nothing you can do but go through their pockets in search of loose change.

I don't have the cards at hand, but I always thought that potions could only be used at any time during that players turn. If a player gets attacked and his body points go to zero, isnt that him just dead. Its not his turn, so he shouldnt be able to use a potion.

This site is great, because drathe has provided all of the HeroQuest resources at the Homepage. I opened up another window with my browser and found the Potion of Healing card. It states:

...You can drink this potion at any time,...

Also, found on p.17 of the Instruction Booklet (NA ed.) under More About Treasure:

Potions
As a Hero, you may drink a potion at any time.

So a potion could be drank on Zargon's turn, when the monster brings the Hero to 0 Body Points. Literally a life-saver.

WTF? The Instruction Booklet has every other set of pages printed upside-down! Kinda a prob with the newest version of Opera, as there isn't a rotate button. Thanks a lot, Opera dorks!