How Heroes Grow
HeroQuest has no experience points or levels. A hero's Attack, Defend, Body and Mind start where the hero card says, and they grow in only three ways:
- Equipment bought from the armory between quests: weapons set your Attack dice, and armor adds Defend dice.
- Artifacts found in the quests themselves.
- Potions and one-off treasure that help during a quest.
Gold and gear carry over from quest to quest, recorded on your character sheet. Heroes who complete all 14 quests of the core Quest Book earn the title of Sovereign Knights.
Finding Treasure
Searching for treasure is one of the six hero actions:
- You can only search rooms, not corridors, and only when no monster is in the room.
- Each hero may search a given room once, but every hero may take a turn searching the same room.
- If the quest notes list special treasure for that room, Zargon reads it out. Otherwise you draw from the treasure deck (24 cards in the core game).
- Almost half of the treasure deck is wandering monsters and hazards. A wandering monster appears next to you and attacks; hazards do what the card says. Those cards go back in the deck.
- Chests and other furniture can be trapped. Search for traps first, or risk springing one.
Quests also pay rewards. In the core Quest Book, Prince Magnus offers 240 gold coins (split among the heroes) for rescuing Sir Ragnar; the King pays each hero 100 gold coins for finding the lost wizard Wardoz, and 100 each for destroying Balur the Fire Mage; and Bastion of Dread pays a bounty for every monster killed. Players may share gold with each other.
Between Quests
- Split any final reward among the heroes and record it.
- If the quest was completed, every hero gets back all Body and Mind Points and every spell cast.
- Visit the armory: buy any number of items from the equipment deck. Items are always in stock, so two heroes can both buy a helmet.
- Keep any treasures you found; they come with you into the next quest.
The First Light rulebook (same rules as the 2021 game) also lets heroes sell armory items back for half the listed price, rounded down: a 350-gold longsword sells for 175. The Rise of the Dread Moon pack adds an Underground Market that also buys items at half price.
The Armory
Classic edition (1989–1990): most prices and effects below are the classic North American armory. The 2021 line confirms the Dagger at 25, the Shortsword at 150 and the Longsword at 350 gold coins; other 2021 prices may differ, so check your equipment cards. The European original priced some items differently and had extra items such as the Hand Axe, Spear, Bracers and Cloak of Protection.
Weapons
| Weapon | Gold | Attack dice | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dagger | 25 | 1 | Can be thrown at any monster you can see, but is lost once thrown. Wizard may use. |
| Staff | 100 | 1 | Attacks diagonally. No shield. Wizard may use. |
| Shortsword | 150 | 2 | |
| Broadsword | 250 | 3 | The Barbarian's starting weapon. |
| Longsword | 350 | 3 | Attacks diagonally. |
| Crossbow | 350 | 3 | Fires at any monster you can see, but not one next to you. Unlimited bolts. |
| Battle Axe | 400 | 4 | No shield. |
Armor and Tools
| Item | Gold | Defend dice | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helmet | 125 | +1 | |
| Shield | 150 | +1 | Not with the Battle Axe or Staff. |
| Chain Mail | 500 | +1 | Combines with helmet and shield. |
| Plate Armor | 850 | +2 | So heavy you roll only 1 red die to move. Combines with helmet and shield. |
| Tool Kit | 250 | none | Lets a hero try to disarm a found trap (any result but a skull on one combat die). The Dwarf doesn't need one. |
The Wizard can't wear normal armor or use large weapons, and the rulebook advises him to save his money. A new weapon replaces your Attack dice rather than adding to them: if the Elf buys a longsword, the Elf rolls 3 Attack dice.
What an Upgrade Is Worth
Exact odds per attack, using classic monster stats (Orc: 2 Defend dice; Dread Warrior: 4 Attack, 4 Defend, 3 Body).
| Attack dice | Example weapon | Wounds an Orc | Wounds a Dread Warrior | Kills a Dread Warrior within 3 attacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dagger, Staff | 34.7% | 24.1% | 1.4% |
| 2 | Shortsword | 59.0% | 45.8% | 25.2% |
| 3 | Broadsword, Longsword, Crossbow | 75.0% | 62.9% | 58.6% |
| 4 | Battle Axe | 85.1% | 75.4% | 81.6% |
| Hero's Defend dice | Example kit | A Dread Warrior wounds you | Average Body Points lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | none | 75.7% | 1.40 |
| 3 | helmet | 65.5% | 1.15 |
| 4 | helmet + shield | 55.6% | 0.93 |
| 5 | helmet + shield + chain mail | 46.3% | 0.75 |
| 6 | helmet + shield + plate armor | 38.0% | 0.59 |
Two practical points follow. For the Dwarf and Elf, the jump from 2 to 3 Attack dice (a longsword) is the biggest single upgrade in the armory, and the longsword's diagonal reach is a bonus. For defense, a 125-gold helmet does nearly as much per coin as anything else. Plate armor's two dice come at a real cost: one red die for movement averages 3.5 squares instead of 7.
Armory Planner
Pick a hero and their kit, and see the cost and exact combat odds. Prices and monster stats are the classic North American numbers from the tables above.
Potions
You can drink a potion at any time, even on another player's turn, and it doesn't use your action. You may drink more than one at once. On your turn you may hand a potion to an adjacent hero. A healing potion is the only thing besides a healing spell that can save a hero at 0 Body Points.
Classic edition (1989–1990): the classic treasure deck's potions were the Potion of Healing (restore Body Points equal to one red die), Potion of Strength (2 extra Attack dice on your next attack), Potion of Defense (2 extra Defend dice the next time you defend) and Heroic Brew (two attacks instead of one). Quest packs add many more; Rise of the Dread Moon even lets heroes brew their own.
Artifacts
The core game has 14 artifact cards. They aren't in the treasure deck: the quest notes place them, usually as the reward for a particular room or foe. In the core Quest Book you hunt the Talisman of Lore in Melar's Maze, the Ring of Return turns up in the Castle of Mystery, and the last three quests turn on the Spirit Blade, the only weapon that can harm the Witch Lord.
Classic edition (1989–1990): other classic artifacts included Borin's Armor (plate that grants 4 Defend dice without slowing you), Orc's Bane (a shortsword that attacks Orcs twice), the Wand of Magic (cast two different spells in one turn), the Spell Ring (cast one spell twice), the Elixir of Life (bring a dead hero back) and the Wizard's Cloak and Wizard's Staff for the Wizard. Read your 2021 artifact cards for current effects.
Try It at the Table
- Plan the first purchase. After the Rescue of Sir Ragnar, each hero gets 60 of Prince Magnus's 240 coins. What can a hero afford by the end of Quest 3, and is it a helmet or saving toward a longsword?
- Share the gold. Gold can be passed between heroes. Pooling coins to buy the Dwarf a longsword early may help the party more than four small purchases.
- Equip the Wizard sideways. He can't wear armor, so his "armor" is a healing potion and a place behind the Barbarian.
Where Next
- The Heroes: all twelve official heroes and what they bring.
- The Core Quest Book: where the gold and artifacts are earned.
- Character Sheet: track gold, gear and quests completed.