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Gaia Hero Quest Players Guide

Welcome to Gaia Hero Quest! This game allows you to assume the role of 1 to 4 mighty adventurers and guide them to glory in the dungeons of the evil wizard Zargon! The game requires two to four players and can be played at any speed. It is loosely based on the popular board game Hero Quest, but has a few adjusted rules to allow it to be played on a forum. The game has a basic and advanced mode; the basic mode allows for easier forum play while the advanced mode is more loyal to the original game, and also more complex.

Getting Started: To begin, gather two to four players to act as the heroes. The person running the thread will be the dungeon master, Zargon. The player running the game should have a map prepared on the Gaia Hero Quest Gameboard, a multilayer PNG that contains all pieces and monsters, the board itself, and other information. The dungeon master will also have the Spell Sheet, the Artifact Sheet, the Monster Sheet, and Treasure Table. The heroes will have to decide who plays what character, as there can only be one of each! Make sure to name your character and choose their gender. Male and female avatars are available for each hero!

Heroes - The players can select from the following heroes:

Barbarian: He is the brute force of the party. He has the highest attack and the most body points. His mind is very weak, however.

Dwarf: He has good attack and defence, and can disarm traps more effectively than other heroes.

Elf: He is a capable fighter, and has his own selection of mind affecting spells.

Wizard: He is a weak fighter but has a selection of powerful elemental spells.

Game Play:

The game plays in turns. The heroes take their turns one action at a time, and when they are completed, the dungeon master determines the effects of their actions, and moves any monsters that are present on the board. Preferably, the game will run one turn a day, with Zargon moving at a specific time. Actions are executed in the order they are posted. For example, if two heroes post that they are searching for treasure, the first hero will search first and the second's search will fail. Any hero not taking a turn before that time will "pass".

Once a designated time for turn execution has been assigned, a "fair game" period will also be assigned. During this period, any player can declare the actions of any hero who has not yet acted. This is to prevent idleness from killing a whole party. If no heroes act at all, the merciful Zargon may consider skipping his turn. Maybe.

On any given turn, the heroes may undertake the following actions.

Move - Move into or out of a room. You cannot move into an unexplored room if there are monsters present, but you can retreat into the room you came from. The first player to declare a move action decides which direction the party moves. However, if one player moves and another seaches for traps or treasure, the search will always take place before the move.

Attack - Attempt to wound or kill a monster. Roll a 6 sided die for each attack point your hero has. A 4,5,or 6 scores a hit.

Search for traps - Find any hidden traps in the room. Can only be done once per room.

Search for Treasure - Check the room for treasure. May be dangerous. Can only be done once per room.

Disarm a trap - attempt to deactivate a trap after it has been found. A 1,2,or 3 disarms the trap.

Use an item - Use an artifact or potion

Cast a spell - Cast a spell from the spell sheet.

When all four heroes have performed their actions, Zargon will determine the consequence. The contents of new rooms shall be revealed, and monsters will attack and defend themselves. If players have attempted to search for anything, their finds will be revealed to them.

Combat - Each hero has the following statistics:

Attack - This is how many dice are rolled when the hero attacks.

Defence - This is how many dice are rolled when the hero defends himself.

Body - This is how many hits the hero can sustain. A Body of 0 kills the hero.

Mind - The mental stregth of the hero. Some spells damage the mind instead of the body. A mind of 0 kills the hero.

Formation - The default party formation is the Barbarian, Dwarf, and Elf in Melee line and the Wizard in the back. This means that the Wizard cannot attack or be attacked unless the battle is a Pincer Attack. Ranged weapons and spells can be used from the front or rear lines. Monsters may have formations too, forcing the heroes to deal with the front-rank enemies before attacking those in the rear!

In situations where a room is not large enough to accomidate a formation, (a narrow corridor, for example,) the heroes in the first ranks will have priority. If only two heroes can fit side by side, only those two may attack.

When attacking, the attacker roles 1 6 sided die for each Attack point he has. For every 4,5,or 6 rolled, the attacker scores a hit. The defender then roles 1 6 sided die for each Defend point he has. If the defender is a hero, a 2 or 3 will subtract one hit from the damage. If the defender is a monster, only a 1 will subtract damage.

If an attacker forgets to roll a die when attacking, do NOT delete the original post. Instead, simply post again, stating that you are rolling your attack die. If it is found that you have deleted a post when attacking, that attack will be invalid. This is too avoid rerolling. If the attacker forgets to roll and Zargon's turn arrives, the attack fails automatically.

For each hit sustained, the defender loses 1 body point. When the body points reach zero, that hero is dying. If the hero has any healing potions on him, he may use them to restore his life. If he does not, the other heroes have one turn to save him. They can do this by using a healing potion or a healing spell. When a monster is reduced to 0 body points, it is dead forever unless a spellcasting monster reanimates it.



Casting Spells:
Spellcaster heroes and monsters have a selection of spells to turn the tide of battle.

The Elf

The Elf has a selection of powerful illusion spells.
Deep Sleep - A monster with 3 or less mind points falls asleep until Zargon's next turn.
Disappear - One hero cannot be attacked until he attacks or acts again.
Double Image - If a hero is attacked and damaged, roll a six sided die. A 1,2, or 3 cancels the damage.
Flashback - Cast after a hero's turn. The hero retakes his turn.
Hypnotic Blaze - All creatures roll 1d6. If a creature rolls greater than its Mind, it cannot attack, defend or move.
Slow - A monster's attack and defense are decreased by 1
Timestop - A hero can take two turns.
Twist Wood - Any wooded weapon becomes useless.

The Wizard

The Wizard has a potent selection of elemental spells
Air - Genie - Reveal next room, or attack one creature with 5 attack dice.
Air - Swift Wind - Lets a hero attack monsters in the rear rank on his next turn.
Air - Tempest - One monster loses its next turn.
Earth - Heal Body - Restore 4 body points to a hero.
Earth -Pass Through Rock - Lets the party move out of a room in any direction.
Earth - Rock Skin - Gives a hero one extra defend die. Canceled when damaged.
Fire - Ball of Flame - Deals two body points of damage to a monster.
Fire - Courage - A hero's attack increases by two until all monsters in a room are defeated.
Fire - Fire of Wrath - Deals one body point of damage to a monster.
Water - Sleep - A monster cannot attack or defend itself. Broken if a monster rolls a 6.
Water - Veil of Mist - All monsters in the room lose 1 attack die until they are killed or the heroes leave the room.
Water - Water of Healing - Restore 4 Body Points to one hero.

A Note on Turn Execution:

Actions are executed after all heroes have declared them in the order they are posted. The first hero to post an attack gets to attack first.

If two heroes attack the same monster and the first hero kills it, the second will switch targets to the next monster. The hero will prioritize a monster of the same type first, provided that the monster is in melee range. If there is no monster of the same type, then the nearest monster in melee range will be targeted. If no monsters are in melee range, a monster will be chosen at random.

If a spellcaster's spell is fired on a monster that dies earlier in the turn, the spell is canceled and may be cast again later.

If a combat spell is being cast and the battle ends earlier in the turn, the spell is also canceled.

If a healing spell is cast on a Hero who is fully healed earlier in the turn, the spell is canceled.

ALTERNATE RULES

Artifact Treasure! - Instead of artifacts being at scripted quest points, they may be found as treasure! Replace the "15 Gold Coins" entry on the Treasure Table with Artifact! When the treasure is found, remove the artifact entry as you would any treasure card, and roll on the artifact table. Remember to cross that artifact off the list; only one of each can exist in the game at once unless specified in its description.



Fast Searching - Automatically search the room for traps and treasure automatically. Tell the DM who will be the designated searcher and disarmer. The disarmer may still take damage from traps, and the searcher may still unearth wandering monsters, so use this carefully. If either designated player is killed, the option will be disabled until reassigned.

New Heroes - Send a new hero class into the dungeon. Your DM will assign the statistics.
EXAMPLES:
Pyromancer - A wizard who gets three castings of each fire spell.
Priest - A wizard who gets healing spells and can destroy undead creatures.
Crusader - A warrior with strong defense and healing spells.
Warlock - A wizard who casts Chaos Spells!
Your Avatar...?! - Discuss with the DM what stats your avatar would have.

Secret Doors - To increase game speed, secret doors were removed. This option adds them back in, and allows the players the option to "Search for Secret Doors".

Dice Movement - To decrease complexity, movement dice were removed. This option adds them back in, and restores the Veil of Mist, Pass Through Rock, and Swift Wind spells to their original descritpions.

Role Play Mode - Add a roleplaying aspect to the game! Makes for a slower, more detailed game.

Okay I'll take the barbarian and wizard, for all intensive purposes I shall name them Barbarian and Wizard!

Very well. The adventure begins!



You have ascened a staircase into the dreaded Halls of Goulash! An evil warlord, Bhutrahket, has been terrorizing the people and must be destroyed! Go now and conquer this dungeon for justice!

Barbarian opens the north door.

Wizard searches for traps.

The goblin swings his hatchet at Uhlf!

NEW TURN!