HeroQuest, child of Milton Bradley's fruitful (if short) marriage with Games Workshop, is the game that got me into RPGs.  It was a beautifully simple game.

You had four Heroes: Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf and Wizard.  Each had his own powers and specialties.  These four Heroes entered into dungeons (represented by a full color board on which the action occurred) to do battle against the minions of Zargon the Wizard.  These Heroes won treasure, which they could translate into powerups before going on another Quest.

Simple as beans.

One player took the role of Zargon, whose responsibility it was to set up the board and referee the game.  Zargon was the only player allowed to read the Quest Book, which contained the full map of the Quest (with monster, trap and treasure locations.)  He sat behind the Information Screen, a gorgeous cardboard cutout with art of Zargon himself commanding his evil legions to hunt the Heroes.

Board setup was a central aspect of the game.  HQ came packed with plastic furniture, dungeon dressing, monster minis and doors.  As the Heroes worked their way into new rooms, Zargon would set new minis within as directed by the Quest Book map.  Words fail to capture the childlike glee of kicking in a door to be rewarded with a pause as my mother filled the room with plastic Goblins and box text rang in my ears.

The Heroes set their Hero minis on the board to fulfill the demands of the Quest Book, then set off killing things and taking stuff.  Movement was random, rolled on d6s as specified on your character card.  Heroes were allowed to take one non-movement action per turn.

Combat was bog-simple, as well.  Attackers rolled custom Skull dice; each skull rolled counted as a hit.  Defenders then rolled Defend dice, subtracting a hit for each skull rolled.  Any remaining hits were then subtracted from the defender's Body score, killing the defender once Body reached zero.

That's pretty much HQ in a nutshell.  22 pages of common-sense rules that even the youngest and most impatient of children could learn (given time and guidance.)

SO!  Here it is, the 21st century, eighteen years after HQ's birth (sixteen after its American debut) and there's no sign of life in this classic property.  A classic of basic roleplaying lies dormant (owned by HASBRO, no less!) with no renewal in sight.

So how would you bring back HQ?  As is?  New art?  Better minis?  Principles of narrative narrativity?  Modular board?  No board?  The board is a holographic projection on which cards turn into shitty cartoon dinosaurs?  Anything goes!  Give us HQ for the 21st century... and beyond.

....

Me?  I'd pony up for new minis.  If Hasbro can drop stuff like the D&D minis game, then I'd have them spice up the HQ stuff.  Painted Heroes and Monsters, more furniture and dungeon dressing (some gothic arches and crumbling stonework might do nicely,) and an "advanced" rulebook with guidelines for curious Zargons to draw up their own Quests once those supplied ran dry.

HeroQuest rulebook pdf follows.

Note the hosting site.

Special abilities for all the figures (one should be enough)
HeroClick-like hit point or special ability counters
Collectible figures (each with a rather unique ability)
3D maps? (hard to do 'em both good and cheap)
+ a special line of figures with both more nudity and blood. Bonus points if this includes Frazzetta's death dealer

Modular, collectible board pieces.

I'm afraid Issaries, Inc. now owns the trademark HeroQuest, so this  21st century game will have to find another name.

Quote from: droogI'm afraid Issaries, Inc. now owns the trademark HeroQuest, so this  21st century game will have to find another name.

I very much doubt it. If Issaries has any brains at all, Issaries will not try to fight a long and ultra expensive legal battle against a megacorporation much bigger than they are over a name that said megacorporation had FIRST.  There's fuck all for them to gain by it.

Anyways, Issaries' Heroquest stole the name, and their HQ sucks.


RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditAnyways, Issaries' Heroquest stole the name, and their HQ sucks.

Be that as it may, GS owns the trademark and possession is 9/10s etc.


[EDIT: Historical note – Greg Stafford actually owned the trademark 'HeroQuest' over twenty years ago. Long-time Glorantha fans will remember that we were promised HQ some time in the late 70s or early 80s. It took so long coming that GS let the trademark lapse, and it was taken by Games Workshop. When the trademark was allowed to lapse again, GS reclaimed it.]

I think a more bite-sized distro idea might be interesting.  Sort of a HeroScape take on matters...

Or has HeroScape already done what I propose?  Anyone played it enough to know?

EDIT:  Wikipedia says that the designers of HeroScape are the same ones who gave us BattleMasters and HeroQuest.

Those guys are badasses.

I've seen a few games in the store that look promising in the dungeon-crawl-as-boardgame area. The main ones are Descent and Runebound, by Fantasy Flight.

Anyone played them?

(I doubt they'd hold a candle to my beloved Magic Realm, but the problem with MR is that it requires near-fanatical study to master the full rules, akin to Squad Leader if not ASL.)

Descent is closer to HeroQuest from what I've seen -- although the GM and the other players are in direct competition... not sure how it was for HQ.

For all intents, Heroscape IS Heroquest for the 21st century.  Only, instead of focusing on dungeons and whomping monsters to collect treasures, it focuses on constructing environments and battling fantastic creatures in a competitive setting.

As for games like Heroquest, there are several.  Descent and the European release of Dungeons and Dragons both come to mind.  

While they aren't advertised as such, a D&D Basic Set, a few tile sets, and about $200 worth of collectible D&D miniatures could probably fill the Heroquest bill too.

Mage Knight Dungeon attempted to fill the role, but managed to completely suck.

Quote from: GabrielFor all intents, Heroscape IS Heroquest for the 21st century.  Only, instead of focusing on dungeons and whomping monsters to collect treasures, it focuses on constructing environments and battling fantastic creatures in a competitive setting.

So going backwards is the 21st century way? Hmm, you might not be that wrong about it...

Quote from: RPGPunditAnyways, Issaries' Heroquest stole the name...

A bald-faced lie.

Quote...and their HQ sucks.

And a puerile tantrum.  Two for two!

That said, isn't the new Heroscape game essentially a reworking of the HQ boardgame with collectible elements? [Ah, which has already been mentioned a couple of times.]

!i!

I think that Descent may be the new MB Heroquest, fonkaygarry. I loved that game, and also disagree with Pundit on his opinion of Stafford's HeroQuest. Give a try at Descent, mate.

Quote from: RPGPunditAnyways, Issaries' Heroquest stole the name, and their HQ sucks.

Stole? What the fuck are you talking about? Issaries trademarked Heroquest, legally.

Your frustrating habit of mixing truth and nonsense continues, as indeed, Issaries' HQ sucks.

Quote from: ImperatorI think that Descent may be the new MB Heroquest, fonkaygarry. I loved that game, and also disagree with Pundit on his opinion of Stafford's HeroQuest. Give a try at Descent, mate.

Descent also drops the silly notion that the game isn't competitive and pits the "PCs" in direct competition against the "GM".