by Bareheaded Warrior » August 22nd, 2022, 7:08 am
I think that the default position is that a secret door can be found from either side, as has previously been stated on this topic (but Quest Designers can vary this by adding Quest Notes if they wish to create a particular effect)
For me personally I hate the boredom caused when Heroes have to endlessly back-track to locate a secret door that has been missed (or alternatively search 'everything' when most of the time there is nothing to find) so in Quests that I design I only ever use Secret Doors to provide a shortcut or easier route, or a side room with bonus treasure, so that if they are found there is a bonus, if not found then they don't prevent the objective being reached.
Part of the confusion is around the poor iconography of secret doors, they are ‘doors’ (the clue is in the name), but the difference logically is that they are not placed on the board as per normal doors until they are found. However rather than using an icon like a door which seems the obvious approach, the official icon is one that covers a square, which spawns a lot of confusion around which side can it be searched on, does it make a difference whether the icon is on the corridor side or the room side, what about LOS through a secret door
I would suggest two possible approaches, the first more in keeping with the original, the second a little different (but better – me thinks)
1. Both sides / either side - on the Quest Map, mark both squares that a secret door can be found from i.e., the corridor and room (or two different but adjacent rooms) with the secret door icon. This way it is clear which squares the door can be found from and where the door is located i.e., between the two. You could also place two secret door tiles on the board when a secret door is found, one of each side. This could also open the possibility if a Quest Designer wants a door to be found from only one side, then they could indicate which by only placing one icon on the Quest Map on the side it could be found from- (although I would suggest that a belt and braces approach of using that iconography AND quest note would be best)
2. New Icon – replace the existing iconography with a new secret door icon that is located like a door (possibly a standard door icon with a large “S” at 90 degrees crossing the centre – those who enjoy making icons, feel free to post some suggestions – I’m not precious as long as they are clearly distinguished from normal doors so that we “Zargons” don’t accidentally put them out on the board prematurely) and then, once discovered, a standard door is placed on the board in the location indicated, after all a secret door that has been found is just a door.
The second option also has a bonus, in that it frees up the formerly secret door tile (and the secret door icon on the Quest Map) to be used as a new feature – the hatch.
The Hatch
A hatch is a sliding or hinged door that is flush with the surface of a floor or ceiling. A hatch is placed onto the board when visible like any other door or piece of furniture, unless it is hidden like a secret door (see Secret Hatch below).
The rules for introducing hatches, also known as trap doors (but I’m deliberately not using this term to avoid confusion with traps, trapped doors and even trapdoors as a trap and trapped trapdoors!), to your game are as follows.
Tiles to use
Whilst you can create your own or use one from another source, Kellar’s Keep provides two hatch tiles (which can be used to represent closed hatches), for open hatches I just use the secret door tile from the original game, as I represent found secret doors with a normal open-door piece as under Second Edition rules they are not placed onto the board until found and once found they are automatically opened so there is no real need to use the secret door tile (and I find this actually works better as logically a secret door that has been found and opened is just an open-door it isn’t secret anymore!) and the Marvel Winter Special provides a Grate tile which can be used to represent a closed hatch or at least a grate which works in exactly the same way.
For the purposes of game play a hatch consists of 3 parts
• the square containing the hatch itself
• any mechanism for climbing up and down (generally a ladder, rungs built into the wall or knotted rope, but for the purposes of the examples below we’ll assume a ladder)
• the square directly below the hatch containing the foot of the ladder (referred to as the “landing square”, generally this will be marked on the Quest Map “X”)
Opening a hatch
To open a hatch, you need to move onto a square next to the hatch tile, declare you are opening the hatch and allow the EWP a moment to lay out what has been revealed, same process as any other door. Opening a hatch includes the automatic movement through the now opened hatch, which doesn’t cost any movement points, so can be done even if you have no movement points remaining.
Moving through a hatch
You can move through a hatch that has already been opened on your turn by moving to a square next to the hatch tile and then provided you have at least one point of movement remaining, you can use that by moving directly from that square onto a square next to the landing square. Alternatively, you can move the other way through a hatch, by moving from a square next to the landing square directly onto a square next to the hatch tile, provided that you have at least one point of movement remaining (and provided that there is a method of climbing up to the hatch, assume that there is unless the Quest Notes specify otherwise)
In neither case does your figure ever occupy the square containing the hatch tile or the landing square. Squares that you are moving to must be unoccupied as usual or occupied by a friendly figure that allows you to pass as per the usual rules.
Trapped Hatch
A hatch like any other door, can be trapped. Opening the Hatch will trigger the trap.
Secret Hatch
A hatch can also be secret (hidden or concealed) in which case it isn’t place on the board until the square is stepped on or a search performed at which point it is placed on the board in an open state and the revealed room or passage is laid out by the EWP (as per your own rules for discovering secret doors which vary between editions)
Secret Hatch as a Trap
Secret Hatches can also be trapped. These are secret so are not placed on the board until the square is stepped on or a search performed as with a normal secret hatch, but at the point that the trap is activated treat the fall as though the character has triggered a pit trap but instead of placing the pit tile, you place the open hatch tile and the fallen character is placed on a square next to the landing square (EWPs choice if more than one is free) and their turn ends.
*The original rules for falling into a pit are that you lose 1BP but I get the EWP to roll 2 combat dice and the character loses a BP for each Skull rolled, so if you use this house rule then for falling down a hatch hole you may wish to roll 3 combat dice, like the Spiked Pit Trap (my replacement for the Pits of Darkness from Against the Ogre Horde)
Jumping a Hatch
You may choose to jump over it using the normal “jumping a pit” rules.
Attacking through a hatch
Characters may not attack through a hatch as they are not on squares next to each other, but missile attacks are allowed through a hatch provided that the attacker is on a square next to the hatch and their target is on a square next to the landing square (or vice versa)
Rewards:
= one hit
= one hit & pushback
= cancels one hit
