HeroQuest FAQ
222 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Game Contents
- Does the Wizard's Staff give the Wizard two attack dice?
- What are the Zargon/Mentor, portcullis and straight staircase tiles for?
- Are equipment cards a limit on how many weapons, armour or tools exist?
- Do you need to remove or reuse furniture when a quest runs out of tables?
- Can a hero wear more than one pair of Bracers?
- Does the short sword let a hero attack diagonally?
- How many treasure cards are in the base game?
Choosing Your Role
- Does the Bard get his extra Defend die only when he wears no metal armour and carries no shield?
- Can the Wizard or the Warlock wear Bracers?
- Can HeroQuest be played with only two players?
- How many heroes should each player run with fewer than four players?
- Must a party always be four characters, and can you choose any four?
- Can a party include two heroes of the same class, such as two Barbarians?
- Is Sir Ragnar a playable hero, and does he have a hero card?
- Are the rules for the newer heroes printed anywhere besides their cards?
- How do the Wizard and the Elf differ in spellcasting?
- Can the Wizard or the Elf choose different spells at the start of each quest?
- Do Rogue skill cards start available at the beginning of the game?
- Does wearing armour reduce the Knight's movement dice?
- How many Defend dice does the Druid's Shapeshift spell give her?
- Can a Druid use her weapons and armour while in Shapeshift form?
- Can a Druid in Shapeshift form still search for traps or treasure and disarm traps?
- Does the Druid's no-metal-armour restriction cover her helmet and shield?
- Can a monk use two elemental abilities in one turn, such as Strength of the Mountain and Eye of the Storm?
- Can a monk use Twisting Torrent to cancel damage from an enemy attack on Zargon's turn?
- Can a monk use Speak with Stone to search while monsters are in the room?
- Do enemies roll defence dice against a monk's fire elemental abilities?
- Does someone have to play Zargon, or can the app take that role?
How Zargon Sets Up the Game
- Can the Dread Sorcerer or the Witch Lord be used as a boss monster?
- How many body points do monsters have in the US version of HeroQuest?
- Which Chaos Spells and Chaos Cards are used in the early quests, and can any monster play a Chaos Card?
- Can the Gargoyle in Melar's Maze act before the marked door is opened?
- Are artefacts placed randomly during setup?
- What does the Zargon player place on the board at setup?
- Which doors start open and which start closed at setup?
- What happens when the closed doors in the box run out during a quest?
- Are defeated monsters placed again if the heroes return to their area?
- If a monster type runs out during setup or play, can you use a different monster of the same colour?
- Can you add more than four heroes, or adjust Zargon when using expansion heroes?
- Should traps be placed across the whole quest map, or only where the quest puts them?
- How do the stair pieces in Kellar's Keep work?
Hero Statistics
- When a hero gets a better weapon, do the attack dice from both weapons add together?
- Does the Rust spell reduce a hero's attack dice?
- How many attack dice does a hero roll when fighting unarmed?
- Does the Dwarf start with a short sword or a hand axe?
- Can a hero drink a potion at any time, drink several in one turn, or drink one before dying?
- What are Mind Points used for?
- What happens when a hero's Mind Points reach zero?
- Is there an Intelligence stat in HeroQuest?
- What are each hero's starting Body and Mind Points?
- Do a hero's Body Points reset to the starting value after each encounter?
- How do you record a hero's Body Points on the character sheet, and does a hero die when they reach zero?
- Can a Healing Potion be used on Sir Ragnar?
- Why does the Knight start with 3 Defend dice?
- How does a Warlock regain Demonkin or Demon Form?
- Can a hero carry several weapons and switch between them?
- Do the European and US HeroQuest editions use different attack dice systems?
To Begin the Quest
Hero Movement
- Do looking down a corridor or opening a door count as one of the six actions, and can a hero keep moving afterwards?
- If a hero opens an adjacent door during movement, must the hero move through it into the room?
- Can a hero stop moving in front of a door, whether the door is closed or open?
- When a hero opens a door, are all the room's monsters and furniture placed, or only what the hero can see?
- Which corridor squares are revealed when a hero looks down a corridor or opens a door?
- Are blocked-square tiles placed as soon as a hero can see them, including when looking down a corridor?
- Must a hero move or take an action on their turn?
- Can a hero move part of their movement, take an action, and then move the rest?
- Does searching for treasure or traps use up a hero's movement?
- Is there a penalty for a hero who moves away from a monster it is adjacent to?
- Do furniture pieces block movement and line of sight for heroes and monsters?
- Can more than one hero occupy the same pit trap square?
- What happens if a hero fails the skull roll when jumping a pit trap?
- Can a hero jump over a trap that has not been discovered yet, such as one placed just inside a door?
- Can a hero jump a sprung or unsprung trap during movement?
- Do sprung pit, falling-block and spear traps stay on the board?
- What happens when a hero moves onto a trapped square?
- Can Pass Through Rock be used to enter a room through its wall?
- How many movement spaces does the stairway count as?
- Does adjacent mean only the four orthogonal squares, or diagonals too?
- Can a hero retrace squares it has already crossed in the same movement?
- Can heroes move up to 8 spaces instead of rolling movement dice when no monsters are on the board?
The Six Hero Actions
- Can a crossbow hit a monster on a diagonal square?
- Can a hero attack diagonally past a door frame?
- Can the Barbarian attack diagonally with his broadsword?
- Can the Long Sword attack diagonally?
- Do the Monk's Elemental Styles all refresh at the start of his turn when no monster is in sight?
- How does the Monk unlock the Fire style, and can he use it straight away?
- Does the Wizard's Cloak count as armour for hero restrictions?
- Can a Wizard or Warlock wear a Wizard's Cloak and Bracers together?
- Where are the rules for buying weapons and armour in the current HeroQuest, and do the equipment cards replace the cardboard Armoury?
- Is the Armoury stock limited, and must heroes keep the equipment cards?
- Can a hero own more than one of the same weapon, and do duplicates add dice?
- Can you sell equipment back to the Armoury for gold?
- Can the Druid's Pixie spell find traps and secret doors while monsters are present?
- When do gold and potion treasure cards go back into the treasure deck?
- Do you shuffle the treasure deck before every treasure draw?
- Where do wandering monster and hazard cards go once they are drawn?
- Can all four heroes search the same room for treasure, and how many searches per room?
- When a wandering monster appears during a treasure search, does it attack at once?
- Must a hero stand next to a chest or furniture to search it for treasure?
- Can heroes search for treasure in corridors, not just rooms?
- What happens when a room has special treasure listed in the quest notes?
- Does searching a room for treasure spring its pit, spear or falling-block traps?
- Does searching for treasure before searching for traps spring a chest or furniture trap?
- Does one treasure search cover every chest and piece of furniture in a room?
- How far does a search for traps or secret doors reach, and does it need a roll?
- Can a hero search for traps on the far side of a door from outside the room?
- Are traps and secret doors shown to the heroes without a search?
- Can one search look for secret doors, traps and treasure together?
- Can a hero move and then search in the same turn?
- Can a hero take more than one of the six actions in a turn?
- Does drinking a potion use up the hero's action?
- Is a trap tile placed on the board when a search finds the trap?
- Must a hero stand on a trap to disarm it, and is there damage for trying?
- Can another hero disarm a trap that someone else found?
- What happens when a hero springs a pit, falling-block or spear trap?
- Do monsters spring hidden traps when they move through them?
- Can monsters attack or move diagonally?
- Do monsters defend when attacked, and do they strike back?
- If a monster is attacked twice in one turn, does it roll its defend dice only once?
- How is line of sight traced between squares, and does touching a wall corner block it?
- Does furniture block line of sight?
- Do friendly heroes block line of sight for spells?
- Does finding a secret door open it or reveal the room behind it?
- Are spell cards single-use, including Sleep?
- Are potions single-use, or can a hero drink one over several quests?
- How many spells can be in effect on one hero at the same time?
- How does the Spell Ring artifact work?
- Does a spell cast on another hero take effect at once or on the next turn?
- Can monsters roll defend dice against Lightning Bolt?
- Does Rock Skin's extra defence die still apply when the hero wears armour?
- Can the Earth spell (Walk Through Walls) take a hero into an undiscovered room?
- When must Veil of Mist be cast, and does it survive Zargon's turn?
- How long does the Courage spell last?
- Does using Holy Water take the hero's attack, so they cannot also attack that turn?
- Can a hero drink Heroic Brew and save it for a later attack?
- Can the Warlock regain Demonform while she is still in Demonform?
- Does a Warlock in Demonform ignore pit traps, and must she land on one to disarm it?
- Can a hero drink a potion to survive at 0 Body Points, even on Zargon's turn?
- Can a healing spell save a hero who drops to 0 Body Points?
- Can a surviving hero take a dead hero's gold, items and artifacts?
- Can a hero pass an item or potion to a hero who is far away?
- Does giving an item to another hero cost an action?
- Can a hero equip a weapon found mid-quest and use it for the rest of that quest?
- How many dice does a hero roll when fighting with no weapon?
- Is a thrown weapon lost, and is the hero left unarmed?
- If a room has more than one trap, does a hero who searches or enters set off all of them?
- Can a hero search for traps before drawing a treasure card to avoid its hazards?
- Does switching to a different weapon before an attack cost movement?
- Can a one-use artifact be used again in a later quest?
- Can a hero cast Heal Body in response to an attack on another hero's turn?
The Evil Sorcerer Zargon's Turn
- Can Zargon move every monster on the board in one turn, and can several monsters attack the same hero?
- When does Zargon take his turn: after every hero has moved, or after each hero's turn?
- What happens on Zargon's turn when there are no monsters on the board?
- How do you track a monster's body points when it needs more than one hit?
- Who takes a dead hero's weapons, armour, treasure and gold, and what if no one is nearby?
- Can a Wizard or other spellcaster heal herself with a Healing spell after her Body Points reach 0 on Zargon's turn?
- If you run out of one monster type, can you use a different monster of the same colour?
- How does the Sleep spell's wake-up roll work on a sleeping monster?
- Do defending heroes counterattack, or subtract skulls, when a monster hits them?
- Can summoned monsters move and attack on the same Zargon turn they are summoned?
- Can Zargon move monsters into rooms or areas the heroes have not yet discovered?
- Are monsters removed from the board when they leave the heroes' line of sight?
- Can a monster move through a square occupied by another monster?
- What are Chaos spells for, and which monsters can cast them?
- How many times can a monster cast a Chaos spell?
- Does a hero under the Command chaos spell still take turns as a hero?
- How do wandering monsters work when a treasure card is drawn?
- Do the stone Chaos Warriors in The Lost Wizard quest still move and attack?
- How does the Frozen Horror move through narrow corridors and past furniture?
- Do you tell the heroes that a gargoyle statue in the room is really a monster?
- Do spawnlings with no controller move during Zargon's turn, and do spawnlings also move with their spawn monster?
- Does the Monk's once-per-turn limit on a technique mean once per his own turn, so he cannot spend a style to cancel damage on Zargon's turn?
Ending the Quest
- Are a hero's lost starting weapons and armour restored automatically between quests?
- Can a hero sell their starting weapon to the Armory?
- Do potions, gold and other treasure cards carry over from one quest to the next?
- What does a hero keep, and what is restored, when the next quest starts?
- Can a hero sell equipment back to the Armory for half its cost between quests?
- Must heroes return to the stairway to complete a quest?
- Is the staircase one square or four squares?
- Do heroes get gold for becoming Champion after finishing the base quests?
- What makes Quest 2 (Sir Ragnar) a success or a failure, and does a dead hero still complete it if Ragnar dies?
- Can a quest be replayed with the same heroes?
General
- Can the Monk use artifacts that are not weapons or armour, such as the Cloak of Shadows or a tool kit?
- Is a Helmet metal armour for the Druid and Bard restrictions, and is a Shield not?
- Can the Druid or Bard wear Bracers, and is there a hero restriction on them?
- Can the Rust spell destroy a Shield or Bracers, or only swords and helmets?
- Can the Wand of the Warlock be used on an adjacent monster in melee?
- Does the number of equipment cards limit what a hero can buy or own?
- Do heroes keep their characters, equipment and gold when they move on to the next quest set or an expansion?
- Is there an official solo mode for HeroQuest?
- Does the HeroQuest remake include the Advanced HeroQuest rules?
- What rules and components differ between the UK and US HeroQuest editions?
- Does the 2021 HeroQuest edition play differently from the 1989 or 1990 original?
- Are the newer quest packs and expansions compatible with the original 1989 or 1990 HeroQuest?
- Can the heroes finish Barrow of the Witch Lord without ever entering the Witch Lord's room?
- Are the Barbarian-only potions from The Frozen Horror single use?
- Does Holy Water work against Specters?
- Can a monster under a Sleep spell roll defence dice when attacked?
- Can a hero drink a Heroic Brew and a Potion of Strength together?
- Can a hero give a healing potion to Gawr, the goblin in Quest 12 of the Prophecy of Telor?
- After a hero buys a weapon upgrade, does the starting weapon stay with the hero?
- Can a hero pass potions, artifacts or weapons to another hero, and must they be adjacent?
- Do spawnlings attached to a hero card stay there, and do they act on Zargon's turn?
- Does Sir Ragnar count as a hero for spells that target heroes?
- Are artifacts from expansion quest books added to the game only when the quest tells you to?
- Can equipment from expansions be bought in the base Armory between quests?
- Do you still need character sheets if you use the companion app?
- Do mercenaries block with white shields or black shields?
- Where do the Sorcerer's Tome and Protective Unguent come from?
- Can two people play HeroQuest, and how do Zargon and the heroes split?
- Does an Elemental Style get exhausted at end of turn if the Monk activated it but did not use it?
- Can heroes visit the Alchemist's Shop between quests in Kellar's Keep?
- Can several heroes buy the same equipment item at the Armory?
- What are the faces of the white and red combat dice?
- Can you play with the base game and expansion cards in one combined deck?