Using Henchmen in HeroQuest
The Quest Pack for the Barbarian is harder than some of the other packs, and allows the Heroes to hire Mercenaries to help them. I have included a short summary showing how Henchmen (Mercenaries) are used in the Barbarian pack and in Advanced HeroQuest
Mercenary rules found in Quest Pack for Barbarian:
1. Gold must be paid before each quest.
2. Controlled by the Hero who hired them. The mercenary or mercenaries go after that Hero's turn.
3. Can hire as many as Hero can afford.
4. Mercenaries can move, open doors, attack, and defend. Only the Scout can search and disarm traps. No mercenary may search for treasure.
5. If a Hero dies, any mercenaries paid for by that Hero are still controlled by the player. The mercenaries stay with the group until the quest is over.
| Mercenary Type |
Cost Per Mercenary |
Move |
Attack Dice |
Defend Dice |
Body Points |
Mind Points |
| Crossbowman |
75 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| Halberdier |
50 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| Scout |
50 |
9 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| Swordsman |
100 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
The rules for the weapons the Mercenaries wield are found in the armory section of the rules.
Crossbowman wield crossbows.
Halberdiers wield halberds.
Scouts have the Dwarf's ability to detect and disarm traps.
Note: Here are some questions that could be asked about the above rules. I may very well have missed them in the rulebook:
a. What happens to the mercenaries if all the Heroes die?
b. What happens to the mercenary's equipment if he dies?
Henchmen rules in Advanced HeroQuest: (note - an expedition in Advanced HeroQuest is not a quest. It is the period from when the Heroes enter a dungeon to when they leave it. It can be any number of quests, depending on how many levels make up the dungeon.)
1. There are two ways to get Henchmen: some will automatically join the Hero as he becomes more powerful and his fame spreads; others may be hired to fight in the dungeons for gold.
2. Each time a Hero gains a fate point, he also attracts a Man-At-Arms. The Hero doesn't have to accept the services of the Henchmen, but the Hero will not get another chance until he earns another fate point. This Henchman costs nothing to hire, but the Hero must pay him 35 gold coins between expeditions
or the Henchmen will leave.
3. Henchmen can also be hired - Men-At-Arms cost 50 gold coins per expedition and Sergeants 100 gold coins. A Hero who has attracted a Man-At-Arms through earning a fate point can also hire additional Henchmen.
4. In between expeditions, a Hero must pay each Man-At-Arms 35 gold coins, and each Sergeant 75 gold coins or the Henchmen will leave.
5. Two Men-At-Arms may be swapped for one Sergeant at no extra cost.
6. Henchmen make out wills and leave all their earthly possessions to others.
The Heroes get nothing from a Henchmen if he dies.
Henchmen rules in White Dwarf #138
1. Heroes can only hire Man-At-Arms. Sergeants cannot be hired. Man-At-Arms cost 50 gold coins per expedition.
2. Each time a Hero gains a fate point, a Man-At-Arms offers his service. These Man-At-Arms cost 35 gold coins per expedition.
3. Sergeants will offer their services to a Hero who has gained at least 1 fate point. Sergeants cost 75 gold coins per expedition. Sergeants cannot be swapped for Men-At-Arms (see rule 5 above).
4. Special Henchmen: Each Hero has a special type of Henchman that he will attract after gaining 2 fate points for Elves, Dwarfs and Wizards, or 3 fate points for the Barbarian. If the services of this Special Henchman are declined, the Hero must gain 2 more fate points before another Special
Henchman offers his services. No player may have more than one Special Henchman at a time. Special Henchman cost 50 gold coins per expedition. Like regular Henchmen, the Special Henchmen leave all their possessions to others, and the Heroes get nothing from them if they die. If a Special Henchman is
killed (and not magically brought back to life), the Hero has failed in his duty of comradeship-in-arms with his loyal and brave Special Henchman and as a result must loose 1 fate point to reflect this ill-fortune. If a Hero dies and is not returned to life, his Henchman will always leave. A replacement Hero cannot keep the Henchmen his predecessor had.
a. Captains will offer their services to the Human Warrior (Barbarian). Besides the 50 gold coins, the Hero must purchase at least 25 gold coins of equipment for the Captain between each expedition.
b. Elf Wardancers offer their services to Elves. Elf Wardancers wear only Leather Armor. Elf Wardancers roll 3 red dice for movement. Besides normal combat, Elf Wardancers have these special attack abilities. I have modified these rules somewhat, and will put in square brackets [] any notes that refer to the original. The player must declare if he is using any of
these before rolling attack die:
Concentrated Attack - The Wardancer uses all his training and skill to penetrate the monsters defense. He may attack with +2 extra dice, but defends with 1 fewer die. [The rules do not have the 1 fewer defend die].
Transfix - After the first round of combat with a single
monster in normal mode, the Wardancer may use a combination of mystic dance and song to Transfix his opponent. Roll 1 red die. On a roll of 3-6, the monster is Transfixed. The monster attacks and defends with one fewer die [Note: the rules also let the Wardancer attack and defend with one extra die also]. If the Wardancer makes this attack on the same monster on his next turn, a new roll must be made. If the monster makes the roll (1-2) then the attack is normal.
Whirling Death - The Wardancer enters into a frenzy of bloodlust and may strike with 2 attacks against any one opponent. The frenzy hinders the Wardancers defense capabilities, and defends with 2 fewer defense dice [The defense dice rule was not in the original rules]. Once this attack
has been selected, the Wardancer must continue the assault against this monster until it is either dead or runs away. When this happens the Wardancer may choose to continue the assault against a new opponent or choose a new attack mode.
Taunt - The Wardancer gestures, threatens, shouts insults, and so outrages a specific model that it becomes compelled to attack him. The monster rolls 1 red die. On a roll of 3-6 the monster must move towards the Wardancer and attempt to engage in close combat. This does not work on
monsters with mind points of 0 [The 0 mind point rule was not in the rules].
c. Dwarf Trollslayers offer their services to Dwarfs. Trollslayers never use shields nor armor. They never use range weapons (bows). A Trollslayer may go berserk. They automatically go berserk when confronted by a Troll, and must attack it no matter what other creatures may be present, the hazards in the way (unless it
is impossible to get to the Troll) or his own safety. A berserk Trollslayer can attack twice per turn, but rolls 2 fewer defend dice.
d. Wizard's Apprentices offer their services to Wizards. The Apprentice can learn 1 spell initially (Wizard Hero's choice). In between quests he can learn more spells at the cost of 1000 gold coins per spell [the rulebook said 100, this seemed very low]. The Wizard chooses the spells for the Apprentice
from the cards he chooses at the start of the quest. Note - the Wizard also knows these spells. The Apprentice cannot learn more spells than his master. Apprentices can use all magical items which Wizards can use, and have the same weapons and armor restrictions as Wizards.