HeroQuest - The Maze vs. The Trial | A Discussion of the Different Introductory Quests for HeroQuest 

I've never played the UK versions. As Zargon, I used to run the trial as the 3rd quest instead of the first because of its difficulty and because players would forget that traps and secret doors were even a thing sense they were absent from the first quest. Now, however, I run it as quest 1 with two changes. The first change is that in the room marked B, the chaos warriors begin as statues and the chest is trapped, failure to disarm results in the chaos warriors awakening. The second is that I change the door leading into the room marked C into a secret door.

i remember when we were kids we always ended playing the trial EU again and again cause we run out of time everytime and we didnt like to let the quest unfinished!!

thats a beautiful group photo of the minions. well painted and framed sir

If you mentioned it and I missed it I apologise in advance; just to highlight that if you’re using the app the New Beginnings quest is part of the Pulse download section. Until this video I didn’t pay much attention to the Pulse stuff as I have plenty of the new HQ to dig into; however I think I’ll give it a run and see what it’s about ! Thanks, as always, for the great work!

Good stuff. Thanks ABNB. I am always amazed how much passion surrounds this game. I certainly enjoy your passion for it❤

LOVE this video! Personally, here's what I do with Rogar's Hall ! I dislike the concept of it being a simulation, with Mentor feeding the Heroes healing potions. I don't like that! Hence here is what I do! In Quest #6 (Legacy of the Orc Warlord), the heroes are actually CAPTURED! After their successful escape and completing Quest #6, I have Mentor APPEAR to the Heroes.....he tells them, "I am extremely worried about your recent capture and I realize it is my fault, as you need more Training. I am taking you now to Rogar's Hall!" And then I run Rogar's Hall as Quest #6-A, and I run it as an ACTUAL quest, not a simulation. By Quest 6, the heroes have accumulated their OWN potions and weapon-upgrades, so they are able to successfully defeat it! It's a very cool quest with some interesting twists like the Natcha-Goblins with POISON blades!

As one of the 1989 crowd, "The Maze" always seemed a more natural intro quest. I found out about "The Trial" when it was released in the UK later on (and a friend bought HQ) but it's a very hack & slash start to what is after all a much more nuanced game. No traps or secret doors????? Wild 😉

This video has made me realise how much I really want (and need) to paint my HeroQuest miniatures and furniture! Yours look really good. Do you plan to do any painting videos for the new HQ miniatures? I don’t like them anywhere near as much as the original ones, but I do prefer the idea of playing the new version over the old one because all the card components are better quality and it uses the US rules. Seeing you paint the new minis might make me like them better 😅

Another great video. Kids got slaughtered by the dreadnought......let's get back taking a swing at the Gargoyle with the broadsword!!

Great video as always, mate! I ended up running all 3 quests(The Maze, Rogar's Hall and New Beginnings) BEFORE The Trial as a way to ease in my players into HQ. Narratively, the scroll text of The Trial never made sense to me when Mentor says this is the culmination of alltheir training, yet it's their first mission together? Doesn't seem right to me! We play a very modified version of HQ, and I tweaked a few of the quests accordingly: The Maze I added a Minotaur + Orc retainers in the middle room as a boss and it definitely had my players on the ropes! The minotaur has the same stats as an abomination/fimir. Rogar's Hall I had all the enemies have 1 BP just like the Euro version of the game, it made sense since in the scroll text Mentor said everything is an illusion in the dungeon. I ran New Beginnings and The Trial as normal. I ran all these missions as a gauntlet, so while the players rested in between, they didn't go to the armory between quests, so they had to use their potions sparingly and use whatever equipment they gathered. It also helped they have a cleric with them with heals, but those have a limited use!

Ahhh the Trial. My latest group included some meta-gamers who liked to think they were too clever for this game. I am pleased to report, the quest text was not lying, only 2 of the four heroes got out alive, and even then only barely so. I do frankly like the trial, it does possess story elements, or rather the shadows of them, that a good GM could expand out into full flung stories. For example, who is Verag? Who is Fellmarg? I'd like to imagine that Zargon sent some agents of Chaos(or dread) to recruit Verag into his horde or monsters. Verag in turn is an independent monster who likes to dwell in ancient cemeteries, this one just happens to be the burial place of a legendary warrior of times long gone by. Translating this into D&D is tricky. Most of the monsters can be borrowed directly from the base monster manual with three distinct exceptions. The Dread (or chaos) Warrior requires a little bit of imagination. The mummy from the basic 5E might be too much for a group of level 1 adventurers, while the Gargoyle is more of a tricky subject. In 5E the gargoyle is more of a light skirmisher, I usually apply the "Advanced Template" from 1st edition Pathfinder. Or in other words just increase all of their ability scores by +4 and up the CR by +1.

good stuff! love your videos 🙏

I think the Trial was designed to show everything off in one go, assuming, probably correctly, that the game may only get once chance on Christmas/Boxing Day to win people over before forever languishing in the loft/cupboard. It was more of a show stopper to get people hooked, rather than risk losing the attention of new players with a slower intro quest.

Minor correction: It was actually Mentor (not Morcar or Zargon) reads out the mission objective.

Wow. Breaking out the old cardboard doors. Nice. I honestly really like both quests. I ran them both back to back for my current HQ campaign.

I agree with you on starting with Ragnar. Much better quest.

I totaly forgot about this quest. I first had to check on ye old inn if this quest was availible in dutch version. But yes as soon as i saw the layout i rember it. Yes its beter than the trail, but i also liked the new online one from ah. Thanks for bringing back some childhood memory's.

Its easy to get rose coloured glasses on things we played as children. But at the end of the day pvp board games are good for an evening or two of fun. If you are going to have a long term campaign you need to play cooperatively. Rpg's face the same problem both on table top and computer. You cant both balance games for pvp and pve you gotta choose one thing. And if you are going pvp you will need a reset button for the game play. While in cooperative games you can enjoy longer games.

Totally agree with starting with Rescue of Sir Ragnar. I always skip the Trial.

Agreed. I like the "new beginning" a lot for the same reason you said. Do you aware the Japanese version of the 90's are totaly different and the first quest is different too even if the title could be translated as "the trial" and later there is a quest with 4 path like the maze.

Oooh now this makes me curious. I've only known the Murican version.

I think the Trial is as far as 50% of the games buyers ever get, so it includes everything as a consolation.

I bought a Super Thanks in the previous video, but it didn't show up. Did you even got that or RU-vid just stole the money?

I hate the Trial. To me it was slapped together for no other purpose but to showcase every single miniature/feature in the game. I believe it is the hardest mission in the base game. It ruins the sense of anticipation by showcasing every feature. None of my play groups ever made it passed the Trial, which means no one ever made it to the second mission. When I learned, 30 years later, that the trial was shoe-horned in by the American team I was simultaneously devastated and relieved. I instantly formed a new group and after 30 years, finally played through the entire campaign. That being said, I've never made it to an expansion because there are no instructions on how to carry characters over, keep your stuff? Or start new characters? Obviously, what you chose would have a huge impact on the game.

I really don't like the trial. You have to work together so if you only have 2 players the hero play is either gonna loose with only one hero or has to play as several heroes wich isn't ideal for a first adventure. Besides: most people expect the difficulty to start of low and then ramp up. Getting your teeth kicked in on the first mission and then finding out the next 3 are a lot easier creates a very lopsided experience.

I do not like monopoly. The game is designed to cause as many fights as possible as people try to be the best.