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The funny thing is, I have no problem whatsoever with announcing how you will attempt gaining the 'prize', or what prize you hope to gain. In fact, I quite like it and I think it's a good idea because it also adds tension to the conflict. Player: "I will attack the orc with my battle-axe in an attempt to kill it..." GM: "The orc is doing the same..." Granted it's a bit dry but everyone at the table knows there's death on the menu. Drama and tension are ramped up even if it's simply because everyone's reminded that lives are at stake here. The problem I have (other than why you have to declare a prize/goal - and I'm pretty much ok with that part now), is that using this way of doing things, you can go around one-shotting opponents, and major villains at that. GM: "You are facing the dragon..." Player: "I aim my bow and arrow right under its maw in an attempt to rip its throat out and drop it stone dead..." Let's say you succeed, is that dragon dead? ------------------------------------------- As an aside, do you have to announce how you are going about achieving a prize and what the prize you are after is - for all contests in HeroQuest? If yes, that's great, that's a positive, because it's a universal ruling and everyone has to do it all the time. For reasons I can't quite explain, this makes sense to me. If it was yes for some contests and no for others, that might complicate matters.

But, 99.9% of the time when you fight an orc, it's to kill or be killed. Granted there are other reasons (prizes) for engaging with that orc, but that's just the 0.01% of the time. I'm not saying there's isn't another reason for conflict other than death-dealing, I'm just saying in most scenarios it's a battle to the death.

Thanks all for the advice, it's basically enabled me to pick up the game again and take another look. I understand there has to be a prize described (and the GM has to do so as well) but I wasn't sure as to the 'why' there had to be. At first, I thought it was to be fair to all involved because it meant everyone knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. I'm still not sure why it's required but I just go with the flow. Then I ended up asking, well what if you had two opponents that simply wanted to kill the other? The prize is 'survival' but it's a bit obvious and again I can't see the need for it. Even if it is to do with contests being over in a succession of actions or just one (simple contest), I don't see why a prize is required. I see it as the default is if you're attacking an orc, you want it dead and if you don't, you'll say so.

Not really. I need to kill the orc because he's trying to kill me. Perhaps it's a chance encounter on a secluded trail or similar

Ok, I think I need to reread those contest outcome tables. There's a few of them I believe, but it's a bit difficult seeing them all the same time on a pdf. I think that's the disconnect for me. If I had the hardcopy I could flip back and forth and compare them. Perhaps then I'll see how this all fits.

It's because the orc is trying to kill me

Ok, but in most if not all examples above, it's assumed you want to get something else other than taking out an orc. But what if you just want to smack an orc upside the head hoping to knock his block off, literally? It seems the rules work against you doing this.

That's what I mean: I swing my sword - [Prize] in an attempt to lop the orc's head off... I swing my sword - [Prize] I want to defeat the orc in combat... The prize is identical, one dead orc. Only the wording is different.

I still see no difference between the above examples and "I swing my sword at the orc to lop his head off..." 😳

Thanks all for the advice

Still not sure Would it be ok to run HQ without the declarations?

On page 21 of HeroQuest it says to 'Frame the Contest' and in doing so, you have to announce the ability being used and what you want the outcome to be. Why does it ask for the outcome? As an example: Traditional Rpg: "I swing my sword at the orc..." HeroQuest Rpg: "I swing my sword at the orc in an attempt to lop his head off..." Or Traditional Rpg: "I use my Climb skill to climb the small cliff..." HeroQuest Rpg: "I use my Climb skill to climb the small cliff in order to get to the top first..." It seems redundant so I must be missing something but I'm not sure what it is.

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Cheers Newt Remember - show no weakness! They thrive on that

Page 19: Advanced Magic (Optional) I was hoping for some clarification on a couple of things. "By default Divine Magic and Sorcery are not available as an option to advance at character generation, where both Religion and Sorcery casting skills start at their base values." So you can take them at character creation but not advance them or you can't take them at all? If you want your character to be a magic specialist with access to it at the start of play" What is 'it', singular? "...then check with your Games Master first and consult the sections below." So if you want to cast divine magic or sorcery, ask the GM and if they give the all clear you can take one, both? But not advance them in character creation, or you if given the go ahead, you can take and advance them?