Simple, yet extreme modification to the combat system.

[dresdendoll]

I've always loved HQ but it always seemed like the odds were stacked so heavily in the favor of the heroes as far as combat went.
Recently my group has adopted the following:

To hit: roll any of the three skulls
To defend: roll any of the three shield types
applies to both heroes and monsters.

This has already produced some epic moments (i.e. the one goblin on the first quest that JUST WOULDN'T DIE!).
In conjunction with the level up system I created (will post soon) it has really evened the playing field and made for a much tougher time on the heroes.

What do you guys think?

[el_flesh]

It changes attack vs defense to a 50-50 ratio. If that's what you guys like, then go for it!

We make monsters also defending with white shields instead of black. Anyone, monster or human, can counter attack (for free!) if they roll DOUBLE the defense needed on any attack. The rationale is that you have defended so well (perhaps by dodging, turning your blade just right so it parries the blow and winds up pointy tip towards the onrushing bad guy, etc.) that your defense can be an attack in itself.
Low level monsters don't often get to counter (although even ONE shield allows counter vs a no damage lousy attack) but the more defense dice a character has, the more chance they get of making a counter attack.
Also we go with the North America rules, where the monsters can have more than one body point - which only makes sense!

[Daedalus]

How in the world do you get through a battle with 2 Chaos Knights? Have you tried it yet?
Magic must be more valuable as a quick kill option. Does the Wizard come off as more capable now?

[SonandDad]

I refer to the Spirit Riders in RofTWL quest 2 "The Cold Halls"

"The Spirit Riders are hard to kill and so, each time they fail to defend against an attack they must roll one attack die. If a shield of any kind is rolled, the Rider will die, but if a skull is rolled the Rider is unharmed"

I love these guys when playing Morcar, they wind Puck up something chronic. I limit the number to the tombs available (i.e. 4) in any quest and alway place the tomb in the quest and use the tomb treasure cards when they are searched. If every monster was to use the "survival" die throw (as we call it) then I think that the quest would never end. Haveing a special monster with either high attack and defence dice or some of the more powerfull Black Magic spells available also allows for some epic battles, and balances the Monster/Hero equation.

Some of the 1 B/P monsters do get through the Heros defence, so putting some of the above later in the quests does mean that the Monsters can win. ( Ask puck, first quest I wrote I killed all of his Hero's with just 2 Spirit Riders and they were all armoured up to the hilt. )
Sometimes it is just the luck of the dice.

[dresdendoll]

We played The Trial, the room on the southeast with two chaos warriors went down pretty quick. The wizard did prove to be crazy useful in that situation, but 3v1 odds usually win out too

[torilen]

I've always liked the way heroes attack and defend vs. the way monsters attack and defend. That's one
reason I like HQ. Especially in the american version, since the monsters have more than one body point.

I think this was done on purpose. The game was designed for the 10yr old to 15yr old for the most part, I
believe, and it was designed to give maximum fun for the players (they would need to take turns being
the evil wizard). The heroes have a hard time getting through the quests, but it is obvious they are much
better trained than the monsters.