-=HS Elite Ruleset=- TESTERS WANTED

[elphiecoyle]

ADD LEVELS AND NEW ABILITIES TO YOUR HEROSCAPE ARMIES

Thanks for checking this post and feeding ure curiosity on what is HeroScape Advanced. About a year & a bit ago I created HS Advanced mainly with a lot of thinking/creating and feedback on other "deeper" customs of HeroScape. A year later i've updated it a bit (mainly improoved my communication of this slightly tricky concept), and would love everyones feedback (especially if you print this and have a game with mates). I'm wanting to grow this (but still keep it practical and not requiring a pen and paper) so do post your thoughts!

Thanks and Enjoy...
Elf.

Note: Latest Version is 1.95 at the Top of Page 2! Thx!

[elphiecoyle]

HeroScape Advanced Ruleset
aka HeroScape “Advanced/Professional/Elite/RPG”
Ver ( 1.8 )

For the Serious HeroScape Enthusiast, wanting something deeper from HeroScape, HeroScape Advanced has been created. These rules add quite a bit more to a game that, lets face it, was originally aimed towards 8-14 year olds. Recently the characters themselves have been getting a more adult theme (with Dawn of Darkness being released), and hopefully these additions to the Master Ruleset will bring you many rich hours of HS.

Features:
- No record keeping, everything is represented using spare land tiles placed on cards or wound markers.
- Designed from the bottom up for HeroScape, not a rip of D&D or some other game.
- Simple yet diverse (not adding individual RPG additions to each character, just enhancing their existing stats based on the attributes on the left hand side of each card)
- Not "Dungeoning", requiring extra walls, props, height restrictions (feel free to add this in if you want)

The Rules:
----------------------------------

Play is as in the Master Set with the following additions:

Move Bonus:
Any hero or part of a squad that doesn't attack may add 50% extra spaces of movement rounded down.

Cover:
When you can only see less than 30% of the hit area of a piece that piece gets +1 def dice (roll 20 sided dice to resolve dispute, highest wins)

Levelling (Experience):

All ARMY's Start at the REGULAR LEVEL (with no enhancements)

Whenever a PIECE destroys another PIECE (limited to 1 roll per turn):
Roll the 20 sided die, and if the piece DESTROYED Is:

A Huge Hero:
And you rolled a 6-20, Your Entire SQUAD (or the Hero) "Levels Up"

A Hero (Smaller than a Huge):
And you rolled a 11-20, Your Entire SQUAD (or the Hero) "Levels Up"

A Member of 2/3 Figure Squad:
And you rolled a 15-20, Your Entire SQUAD (or the Hero) "Levels Up"

A Member of 4+ Figure Squad:
And you rolled a 17-20, Your Entire SQUAD (or the Hero) "Levels Up"

Modifiers:
- "Lucky 20 Sider" Glyph does affect this roll.
- -1 Modifier to rolls for each level its already gained. (-1 if unit is Veteran, -2 if Elite)
- +1 Modifier for each level above normal the destroyed piece is. (+1 if destroyed unit is Veteran, +2 if Elite, +3 if ULTIMATE)
- “Challenge Mode” (OPTIONAL rule if you are wanting to make it harder/slower to level, recommended if playing -=HeroScapeWars=- in conjunction with this) – Permanent -3 Level Up Roll Modifier.

If they LEVEL UP, they get a land tile placed on the card representing their new LEVEL.

LEVELS are listed below and armies keep whatever powers/abilities they have gained/unlocked from previous levels (excepting Replenishes which only happen the moment they gain that particular level):

Regular (Nothing on card):
- Normal starting level, no extra abilities

Veteran (Place a Single Sand Tile ON the Army CARD):
- +1At, +1Def
- “Replenish” (Bring back from out of the game into the starting zone) one Squad member (for SQUADS) / 2 Wound markers (for Heroes)

Elite (Place ON TOP of the Sand tile a Single Rock Tile):
- +2move, +2 Range if Range >4 (+1Atk of Range <4)
- “Replenish” one Squad member (for SQUADS) / 2 Wound markers (for Heroes)
- Unlock Personality Ability (an Extra Ability dependant on their Personality)
Personality Abilities (Look at what their personality type ALREADY is and add this special ability to that ARMY):
Disciplined – After Moving, each piece in the Army may “Reform” (move) adjacent to another “Disciplined” PIECE (can be another member of its squad, 2 or less spaces away and up to one level up, ignoring engagement) [E.g. Bring Marcus into the perfect position with some roman legionnaires or 2 out of the 4 legionaries moving to a better position adjacent to other 2]
Ferocious – Before Moving, Army may “Knockback” all Figures surrounding it, one space in a line away from him, any other Figures in the line get knocked back. They can be “Knocked Back” up to 2 Levels Up, and will take falling damage according to normal rules. If any Figure is unable to take full “Knockback” (edge of board, next square is higher or equal to their hieght) they take 1 Wound.
Merciful – Automatic removal of 2x Wounds on itself or another single piece within 2 LOS Spaces at the end of each Round
Precise – All blanks on a normal attacking roll count as skulls. (or Gain "Vicious", see below, if you don't have Version 2 dice)
Relentless – Gain “Frenzy 16” (or Frezy 13 if they already have Frenzy 16)
Tricky - All blanks on a defending roll count as shields. (or Gain "Tough", see below, if you don't have Version 2 dice)
Valiant – Gain "BodyGuard" - Can recieve the wounds another Piece within 3 LOS Spaces would have recieved from a normal or special attack. Up to three wounds can be be moved to the character with "BodyGuard" and only immediately before the other Piece receives them.
Wild – Gain “Double Attack” (or “Triple Attack” if they have it already)

ULTIMATE (Place ON TOP of the Rock tile a Single Grass Tile):
- Unit gains - "Skilled": Whenever this Army rolls a 20 sided die add 2 to its die roll (this does not include your initiative roll)
- “Replenish” 1 squad member (for SQUADS) / 2 Wound markers (for Heroes)
- Gain Extra Class (If ARMY is A HERO):
Their class changes to your choice of Champion _______ or ______ Warlord
(eg: Mimring becomes “Champion Beast" or "Beast Warlord”,
Marcus Decimus Gallus must become “Champion Warlord”)
- Gain Heroic Health (If ARMY is A SQUAD):
Gains- Each character in Squad now has 2 Health, when a character takes only 1 wound, place the wound marker ON the base of the Actual Piece. Note character can be healed of this as per normal rules.
- Unlock Valkyrie General Ability (an Extra Ability dependant on their General)
Valkyrie General Specific Ability (ARMY Gets the Ability from Whichever GENERAL the ARMY Belongs to):
Utgar – "Vicious" - When Rolling Attack Dice in a normal attack always add one automatic skull to whatever is rolled.
Jandar – "Tough" - When Rolling Defence Dice against a normal attack always add one automatic shield to whatever is rolled.
Vydar – "Carr's Training" - Gain Ghost Walk and Disengage (Agent Carr’s gains +2 Life instead)
Einar – “Historic Heroes” – After all Figures on this Army are destroyed, at the end of every round roll a 20 sided die, 15 or higher and all characters on card come back at their starting positions, at “Normal” level.
Ullar – “One with Nature” – Whilst any character from this Army is standing on a grass tile or adjacent to a tree, gain they gain Disengage and “Evasion” - When any figure in this army rolls defense dice against an attacking figure who is not adjacent, add 8 defense dice to the defending Viper.

----------------------------------

Please send all comments/recommendations or requests to use/adapt these rules (especially if you're from Hasbro, would love to hear from you ;-D ) to:

ojmodmaniac@hotmail.com


----------------------------------

Conclave Creations – E.R.S. (EliteRuleSets) Div.
Elphie Coyle – Core Designer.
Pumpkin_King & Friends – Game Testers.
© 2007.

[elphiecoyle]

Few questions for all u Heroscapers out there...

What does everyone think?

Is there anything I could change/improove to make it easier to understand/better to play?

Does anyone create sweet looking PDF's that resemble the original ruleset that could contribute?

Is there anyone else who's really into playtesting/rules creating that would like to jump on board the HS EliteRuleSets team (to make this bigger and better!)?

Post here or PM me!

Cheers,
Elf.

[brickman1444]

sounds pretty good and i like using the extra land tiles for "leveling up"

[elphiecoyle]

Great, thanks for the feedback.

Any other ideas?

[Pumpkin_King]

Hello, elphiecoyle. I took one look at your advanced rules, and loved them. I printed them out and played them with my group, and everything seemed thematic and fluid, one thing naturally flowing into another. But there were two small, nitpicky things. The Cover feature seems subjective from one person to another. Maybe it was just my group, but it seemed almost every time someone mentioned they had 1 extra defense because of cover, it ended in a d20 roll. Also, Ullar's One with Nature specifies that the unit gets "Evasive". What exactly is that? I thought it might bethe Evasive 8 ability that the EoVs have, but I wasn't sure.Hello, elphiecoyle. I took one look at your advanced rules, and loved them. I printed them out and played them with my group, and everything seemed thematic and fluid, one thing naturally flowing into another. But there were two small, nitpicky things. The Cover feature seems subjective from one person to another. Maybe it was just my group, but it seemed almost every time someone mentioned they had 1 extra defense because of cover, it ended in a d20 roll. Also, Ullar's One with Nature specifies that the unit gets "Evasive". What exactly is that? I thought it might bethe Evasive 8 ability that the EoVs have, but I wasn't sure.

Edit: I played through a larger, longer game, and spotted some things I wanted to ask about.

1. When you level up a squad, it specifies you may "replenish" a member. It goes in the starting zone, right? Sorry, but there was some contention over that.

2. We thought that heroes and squads that had leveled up should have a harder time leveling up again. Maybe subtracing points from the d20 level-up roll, depending on what rank it has?

3. Instead of a second attack and defense boost, the third level-up bonus should be a d20 boost, IMHO. Figures on the card add 1 to their d20 roll.

4. Does a a figure roll for level up every ime it destroys a figure? This might get one-sided, with, say, the DW8k using rapid fire on hordes of Venoc Vipers. Maybe You only roll for level-up once for every attack/special attack/special ability you perform?

5. A figure that destoys another figure that had leveled up hould get a bonus on their own level-up roll. This is mostly bacause of a lifetime of playing RPGs, and being used to taking the risk to go after hard foes.

[elphiecoyle]

Thanks Heaps Pumkin King!

You're the first person to give thorough feedback! I haven't had many games of my own custom creation as a fair chunk of my gaming group are still noobish to HS, and not ready for HS Advanced.

I have to get up early tommorow to do a minor role in the movie "fool's gold" (yay 4 me) so i'll edit and update my rules asap, considering ure fantastic comments.

Btw do you (and ure group?) want to become EliteRuleSets official Testing team? All i'd ask is that u test the rest of our customs at some stage and give more great comments. Obviously i'd credit u in future versions.

Cheers,

Elf.

[elphiecoyle]

Ok my answers/changes to ruleset:

Cover:
I really don't know how u'll attend to this, try "if there is no ABSOLUTE CLEAR line of sight (No other figure or terrain) that character gets +1 defense dice" and see how that goes" or 80% cover as that is a bit more certain than 50%.

Evasive:
Yes it is the same as Evasive from EoVipers.

1. Replenish: Yes it is the starting zone. Pls see the new Move Bonus Rule that accomodates this clarification.

2. Levelling Up: (I was concerned that no units would make it to "ULTIMATE" level, but i'm considering this change)

Regular (Nothing on card):
Veteran (Place a Single Sand Tile ON the Army CARD) (-1 Modifier to level roll):
Elite (Place ON TOP of the Sand tile a Single Rock Tile) (another -1 Modifier to level roll):
ULTIMATE (Place ON TOP of the Rock tile a Single Grass Tile) :

OR (and I would think this is better for the game, as half the fun of this is levelling lots in the small timeframe of a game) changing the first enchancement on ULTIMATE from:

+1 Att, +1 Def
to
Unit gains "Skilled": Whenever this Army rolls a 20 sided die add 2 to its die roll (this does not include your inititative roll).

3. See above.

4. Yes this is limited to one level up roll per turn.

5. (Fantastic, I love it!) When rolling for levelling, a unit gets +1 to their level roll for each level above normal the destroyed piece is.

Move Bonus: Any hero or part of a squad that doesn't attack may add 50% extra spaces of movement rounded down.

All changes will be added to the next version and this may be used as an appendum in the meantime.

[Pumpkin_King]

Hmm, thanks for the clarification/answers, elphie. My and my group would love to help on any future projects. We're going to try out the other game mods you made, and work on those. Oh, btw, I think adding 2 to thr d20 roll for skilled may be a bit much. I mean, Kee-Mo-Shi, with help from Su-Bak-Na, and maybe Lodin....

[elphiecoyle]

Any and Every time Pumpkin_king.

Let me know how it all goes, any mod's u put as much feedback as u have on this one and i'll add ureself and ure mates as testers on future versions.

[chezious]

I have tried those variant rules and let me tell you, it went quick. My Charos dominated the game after I took out the Krav Maga agents which also became uber. I noticed one player didnt like it too much once his Syvarris was defeated, which leveled up as well. Other than that I liked it. Might need to tone it down a bit, because I feel characters got too powerful.

[elphiecoyle]

Fantastic, thanks for the feedback. I have no problem adding a toner downerer for anyone that wishes figures to not get too Uber too soon, AND/OR for players playing "HSWars" as the whole campaign goes for Ages.

My only concern is that not many chars will level in a single stand alone game and therefore half defeat the purpose of adding leveling and feeling like u get to level up lots.

Update will be posted soon.