Welcome to the first HeroQuest QUEST JAM, hosted by AmalgamAsh!

"The WHAT?"

This is an event that will allow anyone (that means YOU) to design and enter a HeroQuest quest that you create, for a chance to win a copy of Avalon Hill's Commander of the Guardian Knights character expansion!

There is no fee of any kind to participate or submit, and the event is open to HeroQuest players of all skill levels.  Whether you are a Hero or a Zargon (or Morcar, or Grimdead!), a veteran or a newbie, a collector of the classic edition or a supporter of the new Avalon Hill release, you have what it takes to enter.

Read on!

Your challenge: To design a fun and original quest, for one to four heroes, using HQuestBuilder -- the free and easy-to-use quest building app.

https://www.hquestbuilder.com/

Everything else is up to you!  Do you want to design a solo quest? Use monsters from the US Frozen Horror with monsters from the EU Wizards of Morcar?  Make brand new quest mechanics?  Plan a battle with the biggest, baddest Dread and Chaos sorcerer of all time, Zargon/Morcar/Grimdead?  You can do it!

Maybe you'd like the quest to begin and end in the same room, or use every single tile on the board?  Maybe the setting for your quest is a dungeon, a castle, catacombs, a cave or even a town?  Perhaps you'd like to design a rescue mission or a bounty hunt, or an all-out war scenario?  The choice is yours!

Be sure to read on for the rules, event submission and judgement dates, How To Join And Submit, and the FAQs before marching off to design your perfect quest!

THE RULES

Before you go off designing the ultimate quest, there are a few simple rules to follow for the jam.

Simple as they are, the rules are absolutely mandatory; any who dare abandon these laws shall be disqualified, and made to clean the ogre chieftain's chamber pot.

-Quests MUST be created in HQuestBuilder, and MUST be submitted as PDF files!

-Once submitted, participants will still be able to edit and reupload their submissions, however, after the judgement period begins, no quest may be updated or changed in any way!
-Each participant can only submit ONE quest!
-Quests may NOT use more than one board, and can only use the board ONCE (i.e no double-quests, and no "Dark Company" style quests)!
-Quests are limited to ONE page; in other words, the entire contents of your submission must be contained on one side of a single 8.5x11 (Letter) OR A4 page once printed, such that the map is on the top half of the page and quest notes and other text on the bottom half.

-Quests PDF files may not be altered in any way, even just for flavor or visuals, after being exported from hquestbuilder.  Essentially Quest submissions MUST go straight from hquestbuilder to the jam.

(Currently some users experience an issue where their export does not show or print lines of the grid.  These quests are still valid to submit!)

-Plagiarism of any kind is prohibited; copying others' quests is not allowed!
-Quests must make use of the existing assets (complete list of all assets allowed specified below).  
-Quests submitted will be played on AmalgamAsh's YouTube Channel, and the author of the quest text agrees to allow the text to be read in the videos made and shared (more information on license below)!
-Quests must be free and may not be charged for (this is an itch.io rule by default)!

WHAT IS ALLOWED?

Designers may use elements such as minis, tiles, cards, traps, abilities, rooms or anything else from ANY of the sources listed below!

--The HeroQuest Game System (ANY edition, ANY year, ANY territory, including HeroQuest: Advanced Quest Edition)

-the Mythic Tier contents (separate expansion contents listed below, but the added monsters and heroes with this edition may be used, i.e the extra gargoyle, Dread Sorcerer, gender swapped heroes, and so on)
--Kellar's Keep (US or EU edition)
--Return of the Witch Lord (Us or EU edition)
--Frozen Horror / Barbarian Quest Pack (US)
--Mage of the Mirror / Quest Pack for the Elf (US)
--Against the Ogre Horde (EU)
--Wizards of Morcar (EU)
--Prophecy of Telor
--Spirit Queen's Torment
--Crypt of Perpetual Darkness
--Commander of the Guardian Knights
--Rogue Heir of Elethorn
--HeroQuest (Winter Marvel Comics special)*
*The Hazards tiles included with this issue may be used, as well as the four Skaven / Troll monsters with their stats.

Assets such as those introduced in any other source, such as White Dwarf or the HeroQuest adventure book / novels, are not authorized for this jam.

As to NUMBER OF ASSETS USED, there is no limit on the number of each asset you can use in your design.  HOWEVER, if your quest uses more than the assets that come with a single copy of any of the above named assets, then the quest MUST specify what asset is to be used as a proxy.

For example, if you want to create a quest that uses more than one gargoyle, you must use space in your quest notes to specify exactly what the players will need to use to represent the third gargoyle, since only one gargoyle comes with the base game and one gargoyle comes with the mythic tier and no other expansions.  

Using this as a guide, you can substitute any model with any other model, and any special room tile with any room tile that is exactly the same size, as long as the proxy requirements are stated in your quest notes for each item.

Obviously, that may use up your allowed space quickly, so be careful if you decide to build a quest that uses more than the nominal number of assets!

For the monsters introduced in the Marvel Winter special, use the following guide:

12x Skaven Warrior

1x Grey Seer

3x Rat Ogre

1x Troll

IN ADDITION:
-Participants are allowed to create monsters with custom stats.
-Participants are allowed to create artifacts, items, spells and equipment that do not have accompanying cards.
-Participants are allowed to create playable and non-playable characters (such as Sir Ragnar and Princess Milandriel), represented by any of the materials listed above.  Specify what must represent who in this case!
-Participants are allowed to create any mechanics they wish (any special rules must be explained in the Quest Notes).

Tutorials on how to get started using HQuestBuilder are available below -- be sure to check them out!

An introduction to HQuestBuilder!

The app also has a built-in tutorial!:
https://www.hquestbuilder.com/

How to save your quests as PDF!

This event is not sponsored, judged or endorsed by Avalon Hill or Hasbro!

Questions

What is HeroQuest?

HeroQuest is a table-top dungeon-crawling board game, first released in the late 80's by Milton Bradley and Games Workshop.  A game for two to five players, it pits four hopefully cooperative heroes against one dungeon master (known as Zargon) in an epic campaign of 14 quests, where the heroes explore dungeons and catacombs, face many dangerous monsters, avoid traps, hunt for treasure and powerful artifacts, upgrade their armor and weapons and more.  The game has enjoyed an active and passionate community for thirty years and recently celebrated a re-release from Avalon Hill, who have not only introduced new heroes and campaigns but also recreated many of the classic expansions to make them once again accessible.

What is a Quest Jam?

A Jam is a limited-time event whereupon participants enter to show off their created works, usually within specified limitations or following a theme.  Jam can act as contests, in which submissions are judged by peers, a panel or by the host.  In this Jam, the created works are Quests -- HeroQuest Quests!

Each participant will use the free Quest-building online tool HQuestBuilder to design a quest of their own, to submit to the jam.

What is the prize?

One copy of a new, unopened and sealed, Commander of the Guardian Knights character expansion.  This is a physical item, and will be shipped to the winner.

What is the Commander of the Guardian Knights?

The Commander of the Guardian Knights (CotGK) was a character expansion released by Avalon Hill sometime in 2022 and sold for about $15 USD.  It was released in a small production run and quickly sold out.  Avalon Hill stated that they didn't know the run would be so successful, but were unable to make more due to contractual limitations with whom they partnered to make the product.  While it will never be released again in the same form, there is a new Knight character being introduced in 2023's Rise of the Dread Moon expansion, with a new sculpt and artwork.  However, the CotGK expansion can be found on eBay (at exhorbitant prices).

Do I need to own HeroQuest to enter the Jam?

While experience playing HeroQuest is definitely a plus, no purchase is necessary to participate!  Participants should be familiar with the rules and flow of gameplay of HeroQuest, and will be expected to submit quests that fall squarely within the core gameplay of the game system (any edition, including any number of expansion content outlined below).

What do I need to do to enter the Jam?

Follow the instructions below to the letter!

-Because the event is being held on the itch.io platform, you'll have to have (or create) a free itch.io account.  Quests can only be submitted by itch.io members.
-Create your quest using the free HQuestBuilder app (quests cannot be created by other means; participants must use the app).
-Ensure your quest meets all of the submission conditions and conforms to the rules of the jam.
-Submit your quest in .pdf form.  Screenshots and other file formats will not be accepted.
-Wait for judgement day!

What is itch.io?

Itch is a platform for users to share their game-related works, from completed commercial or free games to demos, works in progress, musical or graphical asset packs, game engines, plugins, tabletop rpg books, visual novels and more.  Lots of different gamers use itch to explore and find new games every single day.  Itch is also home to an enormous amount of jams, providing tools that anyone can use to host their own.  

What is HQuestBuilder?

Hquestbuilder is a free online HeroQuest quest design app made by squidgemonster.  It has everything necessary to easily make a HeroQuest quest and even entire campaigns.  You can check out squidge's introduction video here!

What happens when I submit?

Your quest will be available for all to see, ready for anyone to play, and will be judged by the panel assembled for the event.  Each quest will have a spotlight on AmalgamAsh's YouTube channel where a recap or live playthrough may be presented.

What rights or licenses are conferred when I submit my quest?  Do I still retain authorship?

Any applicable ownership and / or copyright of any material remains that of the creator.  No rights are surrendered nor conferred.
When you submit your quest, you grant AmalgamAsh a non-exclusive, global, perpetual, irrevocable license to create video content about the contents of the submission (map notes, layout, introduction and so on) and distribute such content on any online platform including but not limited to YouTube and Odysee.  This is only necessary to ensure that video content can be made and shared to any country on any video platform at any time, and that links to such videos can be shared across any social media platform.

Your quests remain yours, free to do with as you will!  I'm just making videos!

What happens if I win?

The winner will be announced publicly right on the jam page, as well as on my channel.
I (Ash) will contact the winner directly using the communication method they provide with their jam submission.
Then I will ask for their shipment information and send their prize using an insurable, trackable method.

What if I want to enter, but don't feel comfortrable sharing my information?

This is fine - you can enter and absolutely turn down the prize if you are not comfortable sending your contact information or address!  You'll still have the 'bragging rights' of being the first ever HeroQuest Quest Jam winner!

Ash will contact the submitter of the next highest judged quest and proceed from there!

Who is judging the entries?

Ash of AmagalAsh,
Giles McNeill of SundayQuest fame, and
SquidgeMonster, author of HQuestBuilder!

What are the judgement criteria?

Fun Factor, Originality / Creativity, Challenge Balance, Replayability, and Playtime Length.

What if there is a tie?

Ash reserves the right to break ties on any arbitary judgement criterion at the time of the tiebreaker.

What does Ash get out of this?  He's just giving away his Knight!?

I get to host an amazing jam, play your quests on my channel for all to see, and maybe even hopefully get more attention so I can run even more amazing HeroQuest jams!

If I win, will I need to pay anything to receive the Commander of the Guardian Knights?

If in the US, shipping will be FREE.

If outside of the US, Ash will contact you about shipping costs to your country.  Ash will cover up to $15 USD of international, insured postage, and the remainder of the actual cost must be covered by the winner.  If the remainder cannot be covered by the winner, then the prize is considered forfeit and won by the second place winner, and the process will begin again.