What Are Your Homebrew Rules for Searching?

[GimmeYerGold]

Wanted to revive this thread to ask a few followup questions, with regards to searching for traps in furniture, and disarming traps in furniture.

I agree with most of you here, that I allow each room to be searched only once, and each piece of furniture to be searched only once. It sounds like most of you house rule that furniture/chests are a separate search from the room.

1) Does that also mean that the furniture/chest must be searched separately for traps as well?
2) If so, does that mean a player must approach the furniture/chest, search it for traps, then attempt to disarm any furniture/chest trap on their NEXT turn? However, if there is no trap, do you let them search the furniture/chest for treasure on that same turn?
3) If there is a trap, does that mean the player cannot "search" the furniture/chest and collect the treasure until they have both 1) individually searched the furniture/chest for traps, and 2) disarmed the trap?

The previous two steps, searching for furniture/chest traps, and disarming that trap exhaust one turn each, so does safely collecting treasure from a trapped furniture/chest require 3 turns total?

Interested to know what tested house rules have worked and keeps the game going at a good pace, in that simple HQ fashion. Personally, I'm interested in a balance between streamline KISS gameplay AND challenge, so if you feel the same way, I'd like to know what's worked for you

Lastly, a fourth bonus question:

4) If a player finds no traps or secret doors during their search, (either in a room or in a piece of furniture, in the case of searching for traps only) do you let them draw from the treasure deck, as a sort of reward for their efforts? Or do you just inform them they find nothing, and move on to the next player's turn? I know some players feel they waste their turn if there's no result, but this is what separates a careful player from a hasty player. Alternatively, letting them draw from the deck could allow those wandering monsters and hazards to come out more often, but alternatively, it could slow down game play to have "something" occur after every search

[Redav]

My (untested) rules for searching the room for traps identifies any traps in the room. It also separates opening a chest from searching a room which is the same as the original rules. The difference is that if you search the room separate from the chest, a combat die determines the outcome. When you have removed the trap, the treasure can be taken on the same turn so the most you need to get the goodies is two turns (unless you trip the trap). To open a chest, you need to be adjacent to it and I haven't separated searching other furniture from the room.

[GimmeYerGold]

My (untested) rules for searching the room for traps identifies any traps in the room. It also separates opening a chest from searching a room which is the same as the original rules. The difference is that if you search the room separate from the chest, a combat die determines the outcome. When you have removed the trap, the treasure can be taken on the same turn so the most you need to get the goodies is two turns. To open a chest, you need to be adjacent to it and I haven't separated searching other furniture from the room.

Yeah, I think maybe I was doing it wrong. Searching a room for traps should reveal if a piece of furniture is trapped, THEN on his next turn, the hero can decide if he wishes to disarm any trapped tiles or pieces of furniture.

Will the Hero take whatever treasure was in the chest even if he fails to disarm the trap? If you follow the core rules about traps, a triggered trap immediately ends a hero's turn, so they wouldn't be able to actually get the treasure until their next turn, but it doesn't count as an action to pick up a revealed object, so they may then take a full turn. However, if another hero felt like being a jerk, and there was room adjacent to the chest, he could come take the treasure before then, now that all the work's already been done

[Theopolis]

My (untested) rules for searching the room for traps identifies any traps in the room. It also separates opening a chest from searching a room which is the same as the original rules. The difference is that if you search the room separate from the chest, a combat die determines the outcome. When you have removed the trap, the treasure can be taken on the same turn so the most you need to get the goodies is two turns. To open a chest, you need to be adjacent to it and I haven't separated searching other furniture from the room.

Yeah, I think maybe I was doing it wrong. Searching a room for traps should reveal if a piece of furniture is trapped, THEN on his next turn, the hero can decide if he wishes to disarm any trapped tiles or pieces of furniture.

Will the Hero take whatever treasure was in the chest even if he fails to disarm the trap? If you follow the core rules about traps, a triggered trap immediately ends a hero's turn, so they wouldn't be able to actually get the treasure until their next turn, but it doesn't count as an action to pick up a revealed object, so they may then take a full turn. However, if another hero felt like being a jerk, and there was room adjacent to the chest, he could come take the treasure before then, now that all the work's already been done

If a player searches a room for traps we include the furniture and chests. You have to be adjacent to a chest to open it. A room search covers the whole room. It also springs any furniture trap available. Individual furniture can be searched (some of our homebrew quests require specific searching). If a player searches a room without specific treasure they take their chances in the deck. (Side note we started playing with a very beat up set which was missing lots of treasure so it was very hazardous to search). My players tend to share everything (treasure, weapons, saucy bar wenches) so it rarely tends to matter who opens the chest/finds the artifact. Although we developed soul bound artifacts for this reason...

[Redav]

Will the Hero take whatever treasure was in the chest even if he fails to disarm the trap?

No. As you say a discharged trap ends their turn. In that instance, it would take turns for searching, failing to disarm and then taking treasure so three turns. Good question though, I've edited my reply to clarify this.

The rule set I'm creating is about adding some depth and a little realism but I'm not trying to cater for every specific variable. Like Theopolis said, some will get quite specific about what they do.

However, if another hero felt like being a jerk, and there was room adjacent to the chest, he could come take the treasure before then, now that all the work's already been done

Entirely possible. I have played Ticket to Ride with people who purposely take routes to block their opponents. Some argue that it might not be in the spirit of the game but it's perfectly legal, just nasty. I would imagine that those players might do exactly that if they were in that situation when playing HQ.

[Malcadon]

Here is what my Hero card backs look like:

Actions You may perform any one of the these actions either before or ofter you move. ATTACK an adjacent monster. (Some weapons allow for diagonal or ranged attacks) CAST A SPELL on yourself, another Hero or Monster that you can “see.” (only the Wizard, Elf or anyone with a spell scroll can cast spells) SEARCH FOR TREASURE in the room you're in, or the furniture you're standing next to. SEARCH FOR SECRET DOORS in the room or corridor you're in. SEARCH FOR TRAP in the room or corridor you're in, or furniture you're standing next to. DISARM A TRAP on the square you're on, or furniture you're standing next to. PERFORM A FEAT that is allowed by the Evil Wizard Player. (cannot be a form of attack or search) QUESTION A MONSTER who you can see, and is not under attack.

Rooms can only be searched once for treasure (this is basically an area search), and furniture must be searched individually for traps and treasure. All furniture from the core rule set, save for the Throne or doors, can be searched, as wall as aftermarket props like crates, barrels, pottery, caskets, beds, (non-printed) debris piles, headstones (not the headstones themselves, but the soil under it) and the like. Chairs, stools, wooden posts, ladders, candelabra, pillars, builders, solid stone blocks, any debris printed on map/board, and the like cannot be searched, as they are not likely able to conceal anything, and it would bog down the game if the players search each and every chair and stool they encounter, as well as some junk that happens to be printed on the map (that is for decoration). (Plus, I add a &%$#ton of props to my game set.)

"Drop items" (treasure held by a monsters, namely the Coin Draw rule I use) are placed at the feet of a monster that was defeated. If there are no monsters in sight, any Hero who walks over them collects them automatically, or all at once in any kind of search. Thrown weapons like daggers, hand axes and spears maybe recovered this way as well. If any Hero looses sight of the dropped or thrown items, they are picked clean by dungeon vermin.

Since I rule that players can move or attack with furniture, drastic actions like throwing crates/barrels at enemies, standing on tables for an advantage or overturning furniture (to block range attacks) would effectively "break" them (I use a Stun marker to note this effect), and they cannot be searched at all. Chairs[align=][/align] and stools are seen as expendable improvised weapons, even if they don't don't inflict the same amount of damage as crates, barrels and pottery.

As usual, pits can be searched like a room, and wells count as open pits.

I got the idea for treating treasure individually from a HeroQuest fan-made-game (do to programming limitations, crates and barrels were used for treasure search).

[Daedalus]

Wanted to revive this thread to ask a few followup questions, with regards to searching for traps in furniture, and disarming traps in furniture.

I agree with most of you here, that I allow each room to be searched only once, and each piece of furniture to be searched only once. It sounds like most of you house rule that furniture/chests are a separate search from the room.

I'd like to adopt a different idea from Chaotic Prime. One treasure search per room, plus an additional search for each monster contained within, up to a limit of 4 total searches. Of those available searches, I'm opting to allow a Hero to search an adjacent piece of furniture/chest instead of the room. Only 1 search for each piece of furniture/chest is allowed, though the standard rule of multiple searches of the room is still in effect. For example, an empty room with a table and cupboard may only be searched once, and one Hero decides to search either the room, table, or cupboard. If 3 or more monsters were defeated by 4 Heroes, both pieces of furniture/chests could each be searched once and the room could be searched twice. These extra searches are meant to be countered by a Zargon deck I've planned out.

1) Does that also mean that the furniture/chest must be searched separately for traps as well?

Like some earlier posts, I also don't require separate searches for traps. The Search for Traps action covers a whole room, including any piece of furniture/chest within. The separation of searching in my rules is for treasure location only. I'm working on a Furniture/Chest Cards that use a d6 roll if Quest treasure isn't noted. The table result parallels a Treasure Card draw, but has individual flavor to match the piece of furniture/chest. I'm expanding on what was found in Advanced Hero Quest for Hero Quest furniture.

2) If so, does that mean a player must approach the furniture/chest, search it for traps, then attempt to disarm any furniture/chest trap on their NEXT turn? However, if there is no trap, do you let them search the furniture/chest for treasure on that same turn?

As my first answer is no, my second answer doesn't correspond exactly. If the search of the room from anywhere within found a trap on a piece of furniture/chest, on the Hero's NEXT turn he must first disarm it. Otherwise, he suffers the effect of the trap--ending his turn--as he searches for treasure while adjacent. On the other hand, if the initial search for traps in the room revealed none, then I don't allow the Hero adjacent to a piece of furniture/chest to search for treasure in the same turn. I stick with the NA rules of one search action per turn, regardless of the success of a search. This potentially works in favor of Zargon, using the deck mentioned above.

3) If there is a trap, does that mean the player cannot "search" the furniture/chest and collect the treasure until they have both 1) individually searched the furniture/chest for traps, and 2) disarmed the trap?

Since I include furniture/chests when searching a room for traps, individual searching is only necessary for treasure. One Hero could find the trap, while another disarms it, and a third searches for treasure--all before Zargon gets a turn. A single Hero would need to search the room for traps, next remove it, and finally search for treasure on his third turn--allowing Zargon 2 turns before the goodies are gotten.

The previous two steps, searching for furniture/chest traps, and disarming that trap exhaust one turn each, so does safely collecting treasure from a trapped furniture/chest require 3 turns total?

Yes, using your example and my rules with one Hero only.

Interested to know what tested house rules have worked and keeps the game going at a good pace, in that simple HQ fashion. Personally, I'm interested in a balance between streamline KISS gameplay AND challenge, so if you feel the same way, I'd like to know what's worked for you

Sorry, none of my stuff is play-tested.

Lastly, a fourth bonus question:

4) If a player finds no traps or secret doors during their search, (either in a room or in a piece of furniture, in the case of searching for traps only) do you let them draw from the treasure deck, as a sort of reward for their efforts? Or do you just inform them they find nothing, and move on to the next player's turn? I know some players feel they waste their turn if there's no result, but this is what separates a careful player from a hasty player. Alternatively, letting them draw from the deck could allow those wandering monsters and hazards to come out more often, but alternatively, it could slow down game play to have "something" occur after every search

No freebie draws from the treasure deck--it's RAW for me. You mentioned earlier you have a Zargon deck of your own. Hasty vs. careful play becomes a tactical choice rather than just a play style when there is a negative consequence for making every possible search. This should speed things up as players are forced to move along or pay the price. Also, hazards and Wandering Monsters gotten from freely drawing from the Treasure Cards isn't slowing down play, in my opinion. Rather, it serves to force the Heroes to lose BPs faster. This has the positive effects of both adding tension and accelerating the end of the Quest, as the Heroes' defeat looms unless they rush to take on the objective. The tankard is half-full, I say.

Will the Hero take whatever treasure was in the chest even if he fails to disarm the trap? If you follow the core rules about traps, a triggered trap immediately ends a hero's turn, so they wouldn't be able to actually get the treasure until their next turn, but it doesn't count as an action to pick up a revealed object, so they may then take a full turn. However, if another hero felt like being a jerk, and there was room adjacent to the chest, he could come take the treasure before then, now that all the work's already been done

Triggering a trap doesn't automatically reveal the treasure. Think of a poison needle trap, a type mentioned in the furniture/chest traps section. Simply fiddling with the lock could get you stuck in the finger, before the lid is even opened. The core rules you mention cover this situation and any trap in a blanket rule for simplification of action. Deciding what is revealed or not, when activating multiple kinds of traps placed on 11 different pieces of furniture/chests is just too complicated for the board-game rules of Hero Quest.

[TMU]

I use one search for room, only treasure chests are searched as an addittion. So all other furniture except chests are searched as the room is searched. Simple.

[Jewels!]

I use one search for room, only treasure chests are searched as an addittion. So all other furniture except chests are searched as the room is searched. Simple.

I do this too, otherwise the game gets slowed to a crawl. Plus knowing my players they'd keep drawing wandering monsters and having 3 Fimir hop out of the weapon rack or whatever