Play HeroQuest according to US rules

[SirRick]

The main difference in the US version, is the monsters are stronger (with more attack dice) and have more body points as you mentioned. The monsters are also more numerous compared to the Euro version. Most of the boss characters have their own spells too, so they don’t have to temporarily borrow from the heroes.

I believe the European versions had less monsters to account for the rules for searching for treasure. Each hero can search for treasure once in each room, meaning a total of 4 searches per room. The rules state you shuffle the treasure cards before each search (potentially allowing previously bad cards from the previous search to be drawn again). I believe this rule is often overlooked, including from the people who made the US version. The 4 searches per room greatly increases the difficulty if played as written in the rules. 4 treasure searches does not usually mean more treasure, but more death, particularly if playing Quest 1: The Trial.

Fortunately for US players, we tended to accidentally play the game wrong and only allow 1 treasure search per room without shuffling the deck each time. This somewhat balances out the extra difficulty and speeds up the game as well.
If playing with normal treasure rules is making the game too difficult, consider only allowing 1 total treasure search per room instead.

Also I believe in some Euro versions (maybe all) the Dwarf could remove traps that had already been triggered, such as a pit trap, or a falling block trap. In the US version those traps stay in place for the remainder of the game, with the exception of Quest 13 where there are some special rules for falling block traps.

I prefer the US version hands down, it feels more complete. In the attempt to make things “bigger and better” some things were overlooked, which had unintended consequences, especially in later quests when the wandering monsters are two at once.

[Kurgan]

There are many subtle differences between the EU (1st or 2nd edition) and NA rules (whether 1990 classic or the 2021 remake) many more than people usually think of besides the obvious aesthetic changes and little lines of text altered or missing here or there. Entire threads are being summarized here!

Yes, the layouts (not just the titles) of certain quests are different, besides the obvious first one in the 1st edition. Usually this involves adding more monsters or focusing the action on a final boss type of encounter, but in at least one instance an error was introduced ("Lair of the Orc Warlord" botches the whole treasure chest trap situation in the NA edition and denies the heroes a hefty sum of treasure that was handled perfectly in the EU editions, in my humble opinion).

I would recommend obtaining the instructions booklet (rulebook) and studying it to get a full rundown and feel for it.

So a few things for those switching to NA rules:

Can I drink a potion or activate an unused healing spell (assuming I haven't taken my action yet) to save myself from dying at zero body points? Yes I can.

If I open a door, do I have to take a step into the room to reveal everything or can I reveal the room and yet remain outside, or step in and then step back out again on the same turn? Yes I can.

If I trigger a Falling Block Trap or Pit Trap, is this now a permanent obstacle/hazard in the game? Yes, it is.

Do I have to return unused Potions from the Treasure Deck at the end of the quest or do I get to keep them (written on my character sheet) for future quests? I get to keep them.

Do monsters have variable body points ever? No, they have whatever body points are assigned them on the monster cards unless modified by the quest notes. Fimirs and Mummies have 2 BP, while Gargoyles and Chaos Warriors have 3. Many "boss" monsters have 2-5 BP often increasing in order of difficulty. It is also worth noting that some monsters have been given more squares of movement available than before (Chaos Warriors and Skeletons).

Do Heroes have inherent strength of attack this time? No, their attack strength is based on their starting weapons... without these all heroes attack with only 1 combat die (though you can add bonuses based on spells and/or potions to this).

If it possible to search passages (corridors) for treasure? No (this was only allowed in the 1st EU edition), but each room can be searched by each Hero once (meaning most rooms can be searched four times, with only the first hero getting the "quest notes" treasure, if any and the rest drawing cards). The deck is actually supposed to be shuffled before every search (which one learns by reading the entire instruction booklet... reading only one section leads one to believe only one shuffle per quest is required).

Further...

The Treasure deck itself is different. The EU deck had more unique events, whereas the NA deck seems to favor having pairs of identical events... two of the same hazard (called "trap!" in the EU edition which make confuse some people since you could search for traps, find nothing, then search for treasure and get one of these bad cards!), two of the same gold reward, etc. Holy Water and Potion of Speed were removed in the NA edition (though one instance of "Sacred Water" exists in one of the NA expansions; the Remake makes it a very expensive Armory/Equipment Deck item instead), while the Potions of Healing were changed from restoring automatically 4 BP to restoring the roll of 1 red die (so could be 6, but could also be 1...!) and we are given three of them instead of just two. The number of Wandering Monsters have been increased. Overall the total amount of gold that could be obtained from exhausting the Treasure Deck of "good" cards has been decreased, since the EU edition had a major card ("treasure hoard!") and a random gold amount (10x1d6) which the NA lacks.

Spells are different. The 1st EU Edition's spells were often quite weak (Courage and Rock Skin are written to last only one attack/defense!), while the EU in general makes spells more powerful because targeting is not always based on strict Line of Sight but can hit monsters anywhere in a room (even behind furniture or a wall of unfriendly characters).

Equipment in the NA Armory is different. Prices are the same or higher in some cases. Shortsword can't hit diagonally now. The Staff is only 1 attack die (but the new Wizard's Staff artifact functions like the old EU Staff, though only the Wizard can use it once it is found). The Spear, Hand Axe, Cloak of Protection and Bracers (EU 1st edition didn't have this, but Remake edition adds it back in). You can buy daggers now (great for the Wizard!) and a new weapon, the Longsword (though some debate its usefulness depending upon how you interpret the powers of the Crossbow... should it hit the four orthogonal adjacent squares at close range too or not? both weapons are the same price after all).

NA has more Artifacts, including the Spell Ring, Elixir of Life (which can save a dead hero apparently without limits!), Wizard's Cloak (a free version of the Cloak of Protection) and several single use Artifacts in the Expansions (ROTWL having the most unique ones, but the ubiquitous Spell Scrolls that appear nowhere in the EU editions). The Talisman of Lore only grants 1 extra mind point instead of 2. The Wizard is explicitly restricted from using Borin's Armor, the Spirit Blade and/or Orc's Bane this time. The Wizard's overall armor is thus reduced since there are no Bracers (EU 2nd edition introduced these) for him to buy, though the Remake edition added them back, at a higher price and (due to an omission) allowed him to use the Hand Axe (which was part of the EU editions but removed from the 1990 NA edition!). The Ring of Return is a great anti-frustration item added to the Castle of Mystery quest (the one with the teleporting doors!).

Traps operate somewhat differently. Trap tiles are not placed until the trap is actually triggered. A pit trap drops on the square showing the falling rock icon, hitting the person occupying that square with 3 combat dice (no defense) and they are then forced to move one square to a free space, if any with a permanent rock tile taking the place of their former position. Disarming any trap requires a die roll and a failure triggers the trap, but a Spear trap still has a chance of missing and if it does the hero is able to continue the rest of their turn.

Swinging Axe Traps (BQP) are different than Swinging Blade Traps (ATOH). Just a little note even though the map icons are similar.

Chaos Spells don't exist in the EU edition's original quests. Some bad guys have special abilities, but having separate cards or tokens for them don't appear until the EU expansions WOM and ATOH (the latter uses token tiles that grant the evil sorcerer multiple uses of certain unique mental abilities).

NA has an Alchemist Shop in addition to the Armory accessible between quests (Alchemist Shop is introduced in the expansions) where Potions can be purchased. The Armory takes the place of the Equipment deck (except in the Remake which re-introduces the Equipment cards, but still refers to the Armory as a CONCEPT) and allows unwanted Equipment to be sold back to the Armory at half price in gold (this rule is clarified in the NA expansions EQP/BQP but before this was just a guess... in the EU editions it isn't officially listed anywhere). Later packs like EQP/BQP feature potions exclusive to one hero and suggest you should shop at any other Alchemist shops from expansions you own between quests.

NA mercenaries (BQP) are stronger than those hire-able in the EU (WOM) but have a much higher cost to retain between quests as well as some having a higher starting cost.

Also similar Chaos Spells in the NA Game System also appear in WOM but have different effects (for example Rust in the NA only destroys a single metal sword or helmet but not any artifacts, whereas the EU WOM version can destroy any single piece of Equipment).

A lot of us play some mixture or hybrid of the rules these days and Phoenix's editions are one attempt at harmonizing EU exclusive material into the NA form, but keep in mind his stuff isn't official. While I agree with a lot of it, it's certainly not necessarily the best or only way to do that. I certainly respect Sjeng and all the other major contributors to Ye Olde Inn, but sometimes I just do stuff my own way... what was it from D&D... steal from the best, crib from the rest? Something like that.

[Gargi70-]

I also played the European version, but I didn't know that the monsters were stronger in the US version. I think it will be more interesting, I'll try the US version.

The main difference in the US version, is the monsters are stronger (with more attack dice) and have more body points as you mentioned. The monsters are also more numerous compared to the Euro version. Most of the boss characters have their own spells too, so they don’t have to temporarily borrow from the heroes.

[Agente Cooper]

For me, the rule that completely changes the game, and that nobody comments on, is the "search for traps" action. In the European version when searching for traps, it automatically deactivates the spear traps, and sets the secret doors OPEN, so unwanted guests can appear. In the American version, the search for secret doors is an independent action, and they are placed CLOSED, so there is no risk in doing it.

[Bareheaded Warrior]

We already have a topic for this EU vs. NA rule comparison