Does Advanced Heroquest Need House Rules? | Discussing Some of the Game's Mechanisms & Changing Them

Always Board Never Boring continues his coverage of Advanced Heroquest from Games Workshop by briefly discussing some minor rules changes and house rules that don't significantly alter the game but which may help to smooth out some of the game's randomness and make experiences slightly more consistent.
Please note, after uploading this video ABNB realised that his naming convention of "character" and "enemy" in the Death Zones discussion is rather confusing. "Character" does NOT mean "hero", it just means the model in question at the time, and "enemy" does NOT mean "monster," it just means any adversary of the model in question. To be absolutely clear, ALL models exert a death zone, whether they are a hero or a monster. Apologies if that isn't obvious from the terminology in the video.
Also, please note, ABNB loves Advanced Heroquest and is not suggesting the game is broken. This video is mainly just to highlight how very easy it is to change, supplement, or remove certain rules to switch up the gaming experience.
If you want some timestamps, here they are:
00:00 Intro
00:55 Creating characters
04:12 Doors
05:10 Dungeon generation
09:21 Normal rooms
10:18 Death zones
13:10 Final thoughts
#heroquest #advancedheroquest #gamesworkshop
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[@erikl1558]

I could be wrong but in terms of changing up the way to discover rooms, I think the Terror in the Dark expansion included such a progressive table for which room you discover, based on how many rooms you had already explored. Great video - always fun with AHQ content even if I only play WHQ these days :)

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

That's correct. There's a series of tables. The first few rooms you roll on the first table, but after discovering the first two rooms, you roll on a new table, and then after a few more rooms you roll on a third table, and so on. As a result you can't find a quest room until you have entered at least three rooms, but strangely, even after going to eight rooms, you still only have a 5 in 12 chance of finding a Quest room, so you never reach a point where you are guaranteed to find a Quest room and your missions can still go on for a very long time.

[@johnmiddleton4291]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring That's why dungeon crawling is a job and not a hobby.

[@DiscobiscuitUK1]

Never dry, always informative! Thanks for your efforts and your content!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks. That's very kind of you. I really appreciate the support.

[@xavierjust8681]

Brilliant video! I have been recently working on my own rules based in AHQ and I have tables for more types of room and for rolling furniture and what that furniture contains or triggers when explored. It adds a lot of variation and fun. Also, I roll for the type of door, single or double, so battle strategies around it will vary.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

That's cool. It's a very fun system to work with.

[@Heroes_of_Qalanor_RPG]

Stats: In 'Heroes of Qalanor' each race has set stats, but you then get 7 points to spend, but no more than 2 points are allowed to be added to any stat. This would work well with AHQ too, adjusting the numbers of course.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Something like that would work. One of the things I like about Advanced Heroquest's existing system is that while certain races have a leaning towards being better at certain things, it's still possible they won't excel and another race will be better. You can still get a dwarf who is a better archer than an elf, or a human who is tougher than a dwarf.

[@danstampe1665]

Nice to have more quality content about advanced heroquest👍😊 Will there be episodes where you do painting guides to the figures?

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Yes, I plan on painting the whole game, plus all the metal miniatures I have been acquiring. will probably intersperse those guides with painting for Masters of the Universe though.

[@bigbloke2000]

Great video. Good to have a summary of ways to gently modify Ad.HQ to ease out some of the kinks. Thanks!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks.

[@Wilberon_McBane]

Echoing other comments, definitely NOT dry and always informative. You have a good tone and humour, with tight scripts and a general pace that keeps things moving but not rushing through some of the aspects that benefit from further explanation. Quality one again dude 👊😎

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks so much. That's really kind of you to say. It's always nice to hear when content lands the way I hope it will!

[@pez5767]

Really my only gripe with AHQ is that there are so many rolls during the exploration phase. A way to speed up that process would be nice.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I don't think the rolling is too bad. It's pretty quick once you know the tables, and the granularity means there are plenty of combinations to discover. If you want to speed up things like corridor generation, I imagine one of the easiest thing to do is draw up a new table where each result combines several results from the other charts. For example, a roll of 1 could be a single corridor with no doors and a T-junction. That sort of thing.

[@bladerdj3503]

Different coloured dice might be an idea. One colour per table.

[@leonardodosvinci4130]

With a custom build you could probably put most of the furniture on the outer rim of the room and move next to it to interact. It would work for the bookcase and chests at least and give you max room for tactics. Nice vid btw.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks for watching.

[@moseth7606]

As someone who doesn't own or has even played this game I'm throughly enjoying your content on this dude!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks. I'm glad you're finding it interesting.

[@genestealerz]

Really enjoy the attention and high Quality content AHQ is receiving on your channel! I'm currently playing with the enhanced rules, since they don't wander off too far from the original ruleset. Been making new modern look monster and heroes cards for the game if you are interested. You can find them on the BGG AHQ forum.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks. Glad you are enjoying the content. It's such an easy game to tinker with.

[@73Xerxes]

Great video and commentary... Thank you for digging in deeper on AHQ. I recall back in the day when I bought my HQ system and seen some expansions which I picked up from the local toy store back in the day. I believe sometime was passed and I see this box on shelve called AHQ and another Terror in the Dark.. I was " what is this?".. enjoyed this back then and still now.. very curious once the dust starts to settle down for Avalon Hill if they decide to dip into this and bring it back updated? P

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks. Advanced Heroquest was entirely produced by Games Workshop so unfortunately Avalon Hill don't have any rights to it. That's also why Advanced Heroquest has a small "q" while HeroQuest gets the big "Q".

[@73Xerxes]

Wow! Really never knew that on the Q, q size difference The more you know.... Thanks Great work again

[@robertlykins728]

My only rule would be no three long passages! For space on a small table sakes! Other then that!

[@robertlykins728]

Love it! ❤

[@keiththechief4546]

Great video, some interesting ideas. I am about to get back into playing advanced heroquest for the first time in about 30 years! Used to always play as heroes back as a kid with a mates older brother being the DM. Now have a friend that has never played it, so I have dug out all my old stuff (original HQ with 3 expansions and AHQ with terror in the dark) and I'm going to be the DM. Would you have any suggestions on balancing with him playing as a lone hero? Should he play multiple heroes or have a good number of henchmen? Would appreciate some advice as my memory on the game is hazy! Awesome channel, you have gained a new subscriber!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

There is an adventure in the core rules for a solo hero taking along a group of henchmen, but really it isn’t very hard to control four heroes at once. It’s not like they have a lot of special abilities or hands of cards to keep track of. I think the game is best when you have a team as it ramps up the tactics in battles so I would see if your friend would go for that idea. Thanks so much for subscribing to the channel. I really appreciate the support.

[@keiththechief4546]

@Always Board Never Boring thanks for taking the time to respond. Will definitely try going with multiple heroes.

[@daviddupont517]

Anakin approuve😅 Very good video about a game that look very underrated. There is a bit of " death zone" in the newer warhammer quest, isn't it?

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

The Warhammer Quest games do something similar, yes. You have to stop moving if you enter a space adjacent to an enemy. They don't have the rule about a model focusing on the first enemy that enters their death zone, though.

[@zombiedad]

Good stuff!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thank you.

[@1000jjwalker]

I was too young when this frist came out . But the dice rolling generation dungion and its solo eliminates is very intriguing.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

It's a really cool game. I think a lot of people might find it feels a little dated now, but that just adds to its charm for me.

[@1000jjwalker]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I don't know I'm not familiar with alot of games mostly using d10s

[@TheSonicSE]

I’m a fan of double doors in both HQ and AHQ. Not all of them, just a chance for them to be double. The double doors from Bardsung are the perfect size!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Double doors really change up how the game plays. You can certainly add an extra roll when generating doors - just a 50/50 chance of being single or double to keep changing up how the battles unfold. Bardsung looks pretty good, but I haven't had a chance to play it.

[@MikeRenouf]

Really enjoyed this. I agree AHQ has so much potential for tweaking and adjusting. Slev recently released a new version of his 'Reforged' rules. Have you played with those at all? I know you said you're a fan of the game as-written, but might be interesting to look at some other variants?

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I've looked through the Reforged rules in the past. He has done amazing work; it's all very impressive. But it doesn't really feel like Advanced Heroquest to me anymore - it's too far removed to make it his dream game. I don't cover that sort of homebrew on the channel.

[@MikeRenouf]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring that's fair. Great channel you've got going 👍

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

@@MikeRenouf Thanks. I'm glad you like it.

[@EnDungeoned]

Yea I always found the original tables in AHQ would generate very empty dungeons

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

They certainly can do if you get stuck in too many corridors.

[@LaMOi1]

What I’m currently tinkering with is having narrative drops, but keeping things randomised. So having a core mission theme, and then placing essentially objective markers, points of interest randomly around the board, that you then, have story drops from a random card deck. I’d love to be able to have some kind of piecing together with a mystery. I currently only have cards that say things like, for example “your search is over you find what you’re looking for” - I also want to try to implement small story choices. “Do you execute the Goblin Warlord or let him go?” Etc, and have randomised consequences. Nothing too intricate but something. Tricky… Do you know of any board games / dungeon crawlers that try to implement such things? Specially anything that tries to have a randomised mechanic to it…?

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

City of Chaos, which I reviewed on my channel a while back, is a good one to look at. Out of print now, unfortunately. Cursed City from Games Workshop also has points of interest in the map that lead into “choose your own adventure” type situations.

[@LaMOi1]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Cursed city has that? Ohh. I will check those out ! Thanks!

[@danstampe1665]

Have you tried playing by the treasure cards that come with the game? I know that it is planned that you have to make your own as a GM, but it would be nice to get an example of how to use them in a game, as I believe that it is stated in the rules that you still have to open the labyrinth with dice rolls and tables so I don't quite understand how it is meant to combine the two things 🤔 Can you even use the treasure cards in solo games? I apologize if my question is a little stupid, but it's also the first time I play adhq, so I guess I'm a bit excused 😅

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Treasure maps give the players hints as to what lies ahead. It gives them an opportunity to adequately prepare, avoid certain encounters, or locate the necessary items to overcome a puzzle or complete a challenge. Each map represents a part of a pregenerated part of the dungeon (so the four maps included with the game show the pregenerated areas of the first four dungeons the heroes will explore in the included mission). Treasure maps have no purpose in a solo game, but if you want to give them some meaning, use them as dice roll modifiers when rolling to generate a new room. Each treasure map found in the current dungeon adds +1 to the room roll, making it more likely you will find a Quest room.

[@jamesmorgan3623]

When rolling hero stats we use rules as written. I find the the bad rolls often get, er, knocked by accident.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

It's often quite fun to just run with the bad rolls. Have some rubbish members on the team, and then enjoy whatever fate throws at them.

[@achromicwhite2309]

Good video. I think you're right, AHQ is a game where you can just... build your own game.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I think it's a great game for dungeonmasters, because it's so easy to do what you want with it.

[@achromicwhite2309]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Indeed. I'm particularly interested in the fact that the game has basic solo rules... which implies that a DM maybe could play WITH other adventurers. Though the rules would probably need tweaking to really get that working well.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

The solo/co-op rules work up until the point you want to introduce pregenerated dungeon segments that contain surprises. At that point, you need someone to keep those secrets from you and play an antagonistic role.

[@johnmiddleton4291]

I have a 24 sided die that works well for exploration rolls. Just make the 1 an extra 2 or reroll it. Great excuse to use a die I never do otherwise.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Flattening out the curve with a single dice would definitely help a lot. Do you find that there are still too many "nothing" results, or does it feel like a nice balance? I do like the sense of sprawling emptiness and that delay until enemies start to pop, so I don't like the dungeon to be too packed with stuff.

[@johnmiddleton4291]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I've never had an issue with nothing results. I think it's sort of dumb when a dungeon has one room after another like you are exploring a shopping mall. AHQ is like randomly generating a space hulk a corridor at a time rather than having a premade map. It would actually be really cool to make an exploration table for Space Hulk, now that I mention it. Most dungeons are supposed to be abandoned structures of varying age that assorted monsters have laired in. The key there is abandoned by their original builders or culture. A fully functioning active cultist dungeon or wizard lab sort of place requires loads more design work to have it make sense at all, realistically and functionally speaking. Undermountain in D&D for example. There are some dungeons that are effectively wilderness explorations that are below ground that consist of various dungeon locations linked by tunnels, ruins, rivers, or dwarf roads etc. They often have actual settlements and various groups to fight or ally with. The D&D Underdark is a very good example of this. That's all far beyond the scope of any existing dungeon crawler game, but it would be really cool if someone made one.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I think we feel sort of the same way about the empty dungeons. There's something so interesting about finding long, empty winding corridors, watching the GM gradually accumulate those dungeon counters, and then opening a door and stumbling into a lair of skaven that immediately almost outmatch you in battle. It makes everything feel so real and tense, and the tension only grows as the corridors stretch on. I don't think there's another dungeon crawler that generates that same sense of realism. Bouncing from room to room of different monsters, just for the sake of a constant stream of varied enemies, never makes a dungeon feel quite right.

[@timd4524]

I find it quite fun in it's original form.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

It's incredibly fun in its original form. In fact, of all the things I discuss in this video, only making doors two squares wide is an actual change to the core mechanisms. I would say everything else is just using the system that's there in slightly different ways.

[@TheSonicSE]

Have you tried playing HQ with the AHQ rules?

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

No. The rules for doing so are included in Advanced Heroquest, but I've never done it. I just use all the HeroQuest heroes, monsters and furniture in games of Advanced Heroquest.

[@HivisoftheScale]

ooh here's an idea: Add new playable races Halflings, Half-Orcs, ect ect.... only takes a little imagination to fill up those stats

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Yeah, it's very easy to come up with new races, or just interesting NPCs. Also, the stats for some of the enemies are basically as good as the stats for starting level heroes in this game, so it's easy to flip the script and run a band of villains entering a place filled with heroes and their henchmen.

[@HivisoftheScale]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring damn... GW should just hire us to do a revised AHQ... Oh well...

[@eisenphx980]

Down the rabbit hole. AHQ is the quintessential sandbox. Also: This way madness lies 🙂

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I don't tend to poke my head too far down those rabbit holes. Advanced Heroquest is a great (and easy) game to tinker with, though.

[@eisenphx980]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Sure is. Also the vast amount of background info for The Old World, both in WFRP and other board games makes it easy to get inspired. I really need to look at combining WFRP, AHQ and Mighty Empires. Hm, this looks like a comfortable warren.......

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

And he was never seen again...

[@tablesaltgames]

I find that a lot of nothing tends to happen. Dead ends and empty rooms.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I do think that was intentionally part of the game, at least to a certain degree. Battles are so deadly, those long pauses and periods of search feel more dangerous - each new corridor is filled with menace, and the emptiness just makes it worse when something terrible happens. To me, it feels much more realistic than bumping into a fresh group of monsters around every corner and behind every door. Of course, every empty room and corridor is also another opportunity for the gamesmaster to accrue those dungeon counters and hit the heroes with traps and wandering monsters, either due to searches for treasure or the simple passing of time. It's part of what makes the game and the setting feel so real and full of dread.

[@Mailed-Knight]

I still liked the video.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thank you.

[@comicsgatekeeper9746]

Was that a terminator 2 reference??

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

That certainly sounds like something I would do.