The Power Phase represents the shifting Winds of Magic in the Old World (where we are). Those who call upon magic, be it wizards, Elf Rangers, Warrior Priests, etc., all feel the powers go up and down as the Winds of Magic ebb and flow. At the beginning of each turn a d6 is rolled to determine what the Power Phase is for that turn.
The Power Phase also determines when random events will occur in a dungeon. If a Power Phase die ends up as a 1, that means something happens. A random event or group(s) of wandering monsters stumbles onto us. This can mean that a single fight might end up having numerous other groups of monsters swarming us while we are still dealing with the initial encounter.
How will we be determining events/monsters?
Answer:
In the base game there is a deck of 19 cards that you draw to see if it is an event or a monster. To represent this I will start with a d19 and as we hit monsters or events we will lower the number of options.
You draw a card/roll the die each time we enter a non-corridor room and non-objective room or anytime you roll a 1 on the Power Phase die. The more time we spend in a dungeon, the more we have to face.
There are events, Heroes, and items that can increase, or decrease, the probability that you run into an event or group of monsters.
To make it easy, the first 7 numbers represent Events. Numbers 8-19 represent wandering groups of monsters. Each time I roll I will remove one based on if we had pulled events or monsters in that encounter to give us the same general odds as using the cards.
What is the turn order?
Answer:
Power Phase: The Power level is rolled for the turn. Expected events are triggered.
Warrior’s Phase: Warriors can move, fight or explore.
Monster’s Phase: Monsters on the board move and fight.
Exploration Phase: If the Lantern Bearer is standing by an unopened door, and no monsters are present, the Lantern Bearer can open the door and see what is in the next room.
How do spells work?
Answer:
The number of spells or prayers and how likely they are to be successfully cast are determined by your class.
As a general rule, spells or prayers can be used at any time during the turn. The exception to that is offensive spells which have to occur during the player phase. Utility and Healing spells can be used at any point in the turn.
So if we hit a random pit and someone starts to fall in, the wizard can immediately cast a spell like Levitate or Fly that would prevent the character from falling.
A common tactic in the game is for the healers in the party to wait until after the Monster Phase and then use their healing.
How does hitting work?
Answer:
Warhammer Quest uses a chart to determine hitting. A replica of the chart is below. A better version is linked at the top of the screen.
As a general rule if your WS is tied with your enemy, you need a 4+ to hit.
If you have a greater WS, but are not more than double your opponents WS you hit on a 3+. If you are more than double your opponents WS you hit on a 2+.
If you have a lower WS, but are within double the enemies WS you hit on 4+. If your opponent's WS is more than double your own WS you need a 5+ to hit.
There are Abilities, magic items and Spells that add or subtract static numbers from your or your opponents attack roll. If you had a +1 to hit and hit on a 2, then a 1 would still hit for you as long as there were no offsetting penalties. Similarly, if you were fighting a Daemon which gives -1 to hit and you failed a Fear save (see Fear and Terror below), then you might need a 6 on the die to actually hit.
Your Enemy WS
WS ..………1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10
1………………4…4…5…6…6…6…6…6…6…6
2………………3…4…4…4…5...5…6…6…6…6
3………………2…3…4…4…4…4…5…5…5…6
4………………2…3…3…4…4…4…4…4…5…6
5………………2…2…3…3…4…4…4…4…4…4
6………………2…2…3…3…3…4…4…4…4…4
7………………2…2…2…3…3…3…4…4…4…4
8………………2…2…2…3…3…3…3…4…4…4
9………………2…2…2…3…3…3…3…3…4…4
10………….…2…2…2…2…3…3…3…3…3…4
How does damage work?
Answer:
Everything in the game does d6’s. As you level Heroes and Monsters will add d6’s to their damage.
At first level, most heroes begin with weapons that do d6+str damage in melee. Most ranged attacks use a weapon specific Strength score instead of the Heroes Strength score.
So in a normal scenario, a player would roll d6+str and then that is the amount of damage they do.
Against most attacks, the defending Hero or Monster then compares their Toughness plus any Armor bonuses they have.
As an example, a dwarf strikes a zombie. The dwarf has a Strength of 3 and rolls a 4 on the D6 doing a total of 7 damage. A zombie has a Toughness of 3 and no armor. So you take 7-3 and then find that the Zombie sustains 4 wounds. Since a Zombie has a total of 5 wounds, it remains undead and a threat.
There are traps, spells and even weapons that ignore Armor, Toughness, or both. The Sword of Anerion used by the Elf Ranger is an example of a spell that ignores both Armor and Toughness and does straight Wounds to the enemy.
What is a Deathblow?
Answer:
If you strike an uninjured monster and do enough in one hit to kill the monster you can perform a free Deathblow attack on an adjacent monster. Adjacent in this case must be directly North, South, East or West of the monster you killed, not diagonal. Also, if there is a wall between the two monsters, your Deathblow is prevented. If you have several monsters neatly aligned and can succeed in killing each one in a single shot, you may gain multiple Deathblows.
If you have multiple attacks, the Deathblow does not count against those attacks. So if your first attack hits and you kill the injured monster and then gain the Deathblow attack and fail to kill the monster you still get your second attack as normal and can use it to finish the monster you hurt, or to attack a different monster.
As an example, the Warrior Priest hits a goblin with his warhammer. He does 1d6+3 damage, and rolls a 5 doing a total of 8 damage. The goblin has 3 toughness and 2 wounds so the Warrior Priest has killed him in a single shot. Since goblins attack in great numbers there is a goblin directly south of that goblin and the Warrior Priest gains a free attack on the second adjacent goblin.
Each fight, if anyone is capable of doing a Deathblow, there will be a spoiler telling you how much damage is needed in a single blow to get through their Armor, Toughness and Wounds in a single blow. If your attack matches or exceeds that number and there is a Monster N, S, E, W of the slain monster, you may automatically take your Deathblow attack.
How does healing/death work?
Answer:
This system has a simplified damage system. Each player has wounds that are generated as they level up based on their class, with bonuses from events and magic that may lift your starting wounds total.
When a character reaches 0 wounds they fall and are unconscious on the ground. If they are still at 0 at the end of the turn, they are dead.
Most healing can only be used if you are adjacent to the character you are trying to heal. You are always adjacent to yourself. If you are using bandages on yourself they automatically work. If you use bandages on a companion who is down, they only work on a 4+. Bandages do not take an action to use. Bandages have a chance of spoiling each time we return to town.
Healing Potions can be used at any time on yourself or someone adjacent to you. Healing potions automatically work. Healing Scrolls can be used at any time and also work, as the scroll dictates, automatically. Scrolls can usually affect anyone in the same room or corridor as the caster without you having to be adjacent.
Spells, abilities and magical healing outside of potions will tell you if you can do it in the same room, in line of sight, or if you must be adjacent. If you are not sure which it is, please ask ahead of time.
How does Movement work?
Answer:
Characters have a M, or Movement, characteristic. Most characters begin with 4, but items and skills can increase, or decrease, your Movement characteristic.
When moving, a character cannot pass through any other model. A character can move diagonally as long as a wall does not block half the square you are going into. This is the same as a hard corner in 3.5 D&D/Pathfinder preventing you from going diagonally. It does not cost additional movement to go diagonally.
There are spells, abilities and magic items, such as Fly, which can allow you to break the normal rules for movement. See the spell, ability or magic item to determine what they allow you to do. If you have questions about how a specific spell, ability or magic item might affect something, please ask.
How does retreat/pinning work?
[spoiler=Answer]
This system assumes that once you are locked in melee, it is difficult to disengage from your enemy. Each character has a characteristic called Pinning. There are magical items, abilities and spells that can affect your Pinning characteristic.
If you wish to disengage to move further into combat, or retreat out of combat, you must roll a d6 and roll equal to or greater than your Pinning characteristic.
If you decide to break Pinning and fail it takes up your movement but you can still act as normal. If you succeed on your Pinning check, you can move up to your maximum Move Characteristic, without passing through other models, and then take your action as normal.
So there is no harm in trying to break Pinning. If you succeed you can move and act. If you do not succeed you can take your action where you are.
As a general rule a Monster is always considered pinned if they are adjacent to a Hero. So if you want to keep a monster away from other characters you can use Movement to protect other characters. Some monsters do have abilities to ignore or escape pinning.
How does Fear/Terror work?
Answer:
Some monsters, items or even dungeon rooms may be scary and require a check versus Fear or Terror.
The first, and lesser version, of this is Fear. Each monster/item/room can have a unique Fear rating. Players must roll a d6 and add their Willpower characteristic and must beat, not tie, the Fear rating to succeed. If a player fails the Fear rating they have -1 to all To Hit rolls.
Additionally, any spellcaster who has failed a Fear check has +1 to the cost of all spells. For the Wizard that means instead of spending 2 points to cast Healing Hands, they must spend 3 points for the same spell. In the case of casters who roll to get their spells off, like the Elf Ranger or Warrior Priest, you have -1 to your roll.
Terror is a worse version of Fear. Instead of -1 on To Hit rolls and +1 to the cost to cast spells/-1 to the roll to cast spells, you suffer a -2. So a warrior who fails a Terror check and would normally need a 3 to hit the monster, now requires a 5+ to hit the same monster and a Wizard would have to spend 4 points to cast a single Healing Hands spell.
Fear and Terror checks are taken per group of monsters. If multiple groups appear with a Fear rating, each character must make a check for each group. Characters must make each check even if they are already affected by a different group’s Fear rating. The effects of Fear do not stack. Instead the character suffers the Fear penalties against all opponents until every monster in the group that they failed their check against has been removed from the board. If the character is afraid of multiple groups of monsters, then all of the groups that they are afraid of must be removed before they stop suffering penalties.
How does Fate/Rerolls work?
Answers:
Heroes are beloved by the Fates. As you level up you will gain Fate points. Fate points can be used to reroll any of your rolls in a dungeon, traveling on the road or in the village/town/city.
Fate points are generally refreshed each time we enter a Dungeon and remain until we leave the village/town/city at the end.
If you are responsible for the roll, you can spend a Fate point to reroll it. Anyone can choose to use their Fate point if they do not like the Power Phase roll. So if we get a 1 and monsters would come pouring in, you could use Fate to stop that.
As a general rule of thumb though, I do not recommend using Fate in a Dungeon. The road back to town and the challenges of civilized life can be much more dangerous….
There are some magic items, abilities and spells that allow for rerolls as well. In the case of magic items or abilities, they should tell you how often you can use them. Spells can generally be used to do a reroll in the turn they are cast.
Should we go to a Village, Town or City?
Answer:
After we complete a dungeon, it is important to decide if we are going to go to a village, town or city. Each player should take the time to put in their header if they want to go to the village, town or city.
It takes 2 weeks to reach the nearest village, 4 weeks to reach the nearest town, and 6 weeks to reach the nearest city. If everything goes smoothly.
Each week we will take turns rolling percentage using d6’s
Percentages on d6’s?
Answer:
The game uses a lot of charts to determine the items the group finds, the dangers we encounter and the possibilities of civilization. If I call for a percentage roll, which everyone will do two of when we go to a village/town/city as an example, you will roll two d6. The first d6 will be treated as the 10’s die and the second d6 will be the single digit die.
So if you roll a 3 and a 5 we will get event 35 on the Hazards table, which would lead us to the Pool of Dreams.
Some events will stop our journey early, some will extend the journey, some may get us there faster.
What is the differences between a Village, Town or City?
Answer:
If we end up in a Village, we will only have access to common stores. This includes the Armourer, the Fletcher, the Weaponsmith, the Animal Trader, the General Store, and the Gunsmith. Each item in a store has a stock value. To see if an item is available in a village, you roll 1d6 and must reach or exceed the Stock value. If you ask for a stock roll and do not purchase the items you look for, bad things can happen. So do not roll unless you want to buy. Many items have a stock value of more than 6, which means you are not going to find them in a village.
Towns and Cities have all of the shops that a Village has, but they also have a chance of having special locations. Special Locations include the Alchemist’s laboratory, the Alehouse, the Dwarf Guildmaster, the Elf Quarter, the Gambling House, the Temple, the Wizard’s Guild, and any class specific location. To find a special location you must search and roll a 7+ to find the location. Searching for a location takes a full day.
To find a special location, or the roll for a stock check, in a Town you roll 2d6. To find a special location, or the roll for a stock check, in a City you roll 3d6. Some locations only allow specific Heroes in. An Elf would not be allowed to see a Dwarf Guildmaster and the Dwarf would never be found in the Wizard’s Guild.
To train, you must find the special location associated with your class. So you can never train in a village. If you fail to find the special location, you can continue trying during future days.
Each day in a village/town/city requires you to pay upkeep. The base living expense cost is 1 gp/day in a village, 2 gp/day in a town, or 3 gp/day in a city. Some classes or events can increase this rather dramatically.
Each day you are not training and in a village/town/city you will roll percentage and have an event occur while you are in the town. Some can be good. Others are less good.
Training takes 7 days. You have to pay your upkeep for each of these days, but only get the one event from going to find the special location.
If you are in two more then two weeks, you run the risk of something bad happening up to and including death or retirement. So watch out.
