By request, this is simply a set of cards for HeroQuest (in the style of the 2021 re-release) to use as a quick reference when triggering traps.
Print at 600 DPI, and they should be the same size as the official cards.
Please let me know if there are any legibility issues when printed, and I can lighten the background to make the text easier to read.
Note that I took one single artistic license issue with these references: various quests use the Poison Needle, Poison Gas and Poison Dart trap names interchangeably, each time inflicting either 1, 2 or 3 Body Points of poison damage. For the sake of brevity, I assigned each of these three chest trap types a set damage value. However, when encountering a chest trap in a quest, it usually only matters what the damage listed is and whether it is a “poison damage” attack or not (since there are items that negate or reduce poison attacks specifically). Whether it is labeled a Poison Needle, Poison Gas or Poison Dart trap shouldn’t matter. If you disagree with the way I did this, let me know and I will happily change the traps to indicate variable damage instead.
The first cards are for the core set’s traps and a second card summarizes traps from the expansions Kellar’s Keep and Return of the Witch Lord. I will do cards for the White Dwarf and Against the Ogre Horde traps next. The Frozen Horror and The Mage of the Mirror trap references will come as soon as Hasbro releases PDFs of those quest packs with the correct icons. The same goes for Wizards of Morcar, which has yet to be announced for reissue, though I have contacted someone who made a fantastic set of updated icons though I haven’t heard back yet sadly.
A huge thank-you to Odanan for making and – more importantly – sharing the fantastic card template I used for these.
The hQuestBuilder web app by squidgem0nster is a very cool way to quickly create maps and quests for HeroQuest that I’ve been honored to help out with and would highly recommend as a more simple alternative to using a fully-fledged quest maker program like the amazing HeroScribe, particularly if you want to make something on the go using a mobile device.
A recent update allows you to use your own user-created single-tile icons for custom monsters, traps, etc. The main limitation to this is that you have to point to an image already hosted online somewhere (i.e. you can’t just add a local image from your hard drive); this is especially problematic as while png files work fine,i you really should use svg (vector) format icons for quality that matches the existing ones.
Below are links you can use to access the custom icons I’ve made for HeroQuest mapping (see here for an example) in the hQuestBuilder web app. Simple copy and paste any URL below into the popup box when you click a “+” sign under “Homebrew” in the web app to be able to use that icon in your map Make sure you use a URL pointing to an SVG image and not the preview images on this page!
The following traps are adaptations of ones found as “one-offs” in a several official quests, either old expansions that have yet to be reprinted or published in books or magazines such as White Dwarf.
Each appeared in one published quest each, but I felt they were interesting enough that they would be fun to re-use. I’ve kept them mostly as originally designed except for slight tweaks to make them “universal”; that is, so you can use them when creating custom quests by placing them as either chest traps (activating only when a chest is opened/searched) or “trigger space” traps (like spear traps, pit traps and falling blocks, where they activate once a certain space is entered).
Poison Gas Traps
Adapted from ‘The Halls of Durrag-Dol’, published in White Dwarf #134.
This trap may be placed on chests, furniture or empty floor spaces.
When triggered, Zargon places a Poison Gas Trap tile (triggered side up) and says that a foul-smelling vapor fills the room. At the start of each of Zargon’s next three turns, any hero or monster inside the room rolls one combat die. On the roll of a skull, they lose 1 Body Point. This attack cannot be defended against; only heroes or monsters who are specifically immune to poison (or possess Artifacts that grant such protection) do not roll.
Monsters that are immune to poison:
All undead (Skeleton, Mummy, Zombie, etc.).
All Gargoyles (unless otherwise specified).
Skaven White Seers (from White Dwarf Magazine #134).
All incorporeal beings (e.g. Death Mist from ‘Keller’s Keep’).
This trap can be detected and disarmed as normal. When detected, Zargon places the Poison Gas Trap tile (triggered side down). It may be jumped once discovered.
Acid Fog Traps
Adapted from ‘The Eyes of Chaos’, published in White Dwarf #146.
This trap may be placed on chests, furniture or empty floor spaces.
When triggered, Zargon places a Acid Fog Trap tile (triggered side up) and says that a sickly green fog billows from a hidden vent. At the same time, all the doors (including secret doors) to the room in which the trap was triggered seal shut. To exit the room, a hero must break down the doors; to do this, they must attack and destroy a door with either a normal attack or spell. All doors have 3 Body Points.
At the start of Zargon’s turn, each hero or monster in a room where an Acidic Fog trap has been sprung automatically suffers 1 Body Point of damage. This cannot be defended against; only heroes or monsters who are specifically immune to acid (or possess Artifacts that grant such protection) take no damage.
Monsters that are immune to acid:
Venim the dragon (from ‘The Crypt of Perpetual Darkness’).
All incorporeal beings (e.g. Death Mist from ‘Keller’s Keep’).
This trap can be detected and disarmed as normal. When detected, Zargon places the Acid Fog Trap tile (triggered side down). It may be jumped once discovered.
Magical Statue Traps
Adapted from the ‘Against the Ogre Horde’ official European expansion.
Magical Statues are stone sculptures enchanted with Dread magic that shoot fireballs or death rays when encountered. Zargon should place a Magical Statue Trap tile on the gameboard as soon as they are within line of sight of a hero; unlike most other traps, they do not need to be discovered by searching.
On Zargon’s turn, any Magical Statue that can see a hero makes a ranged attack with the strength of 3 combat dice. This can be defended against as normal.
Magical Statues are immune to all spells and ranged attacks (e.g. Crossbow), but can be destroyed through normal close combat attacks. They roll 5 dice in Defense and have 2 Body Points.
Magical Statues are removed from the gameboard once they are destroyed. Magical Statues never move, and cannot be passed through by heroes or monsters alike.
If a hero attacking a Magical Statue rolls 2 or more black shields on their Attack dice then their weapon breaks and is lost, even if the roll destroys the statue. Weapons that only roll 1 combat die in Attack (e.g. Dagger or Staff) break on a single black shield. This only affects non-magical weapons and not unique Artifacts (such as Orc’s Bane or the Spirit Blade) which cannot break in this way.
New Trap Tiles
Left to right: Trap Trigger tile, Poison Gas Trap tile, Acid Fog Trap tile.
This download contains the above rules in PDF form, suitable for printing and in a format designed to match the official HQ21 rulebook/questbook style.
The download also includes high quality and printable versions of the trap tiles, and icons for use with the mapping software HeroScripe (which can be downloaded from http://www.heroscribe.org/heroquest.html)
Changelog:
v1.1 – Updated to include standalone SVG and PNG format versions of the trap icons, for use in making your own maps using software other than HeroScribe (e.g. InkScape, Photoshop, etc.)
These icons were extracted from the official Hasbro PDF files for the re-release of HeroQuest (hereafter referred to as “HQ21”), and have been converted specifically for use with HeroScribe. The icons themselves remain the copyright of Hasbro Inc. and Avalon Hill, and are only used here in a not-for-profit fan capacity. No challenge is intended for the rights to them.
To install this pack, simply copy the folder “Icons” and all subfolders into your HeroScribe directory. Also, copy either Objects_Default.xml and Objects_Default.html – OR – Objects_AIO.xml and Objects_AIO.html, depending on whether you are using the basic version of HeroScribe or have installed the “All-in-One” pack.
Note that if you have customised your HeroScribe install with a mix of new icons, you will need to edit your Objects.xml and Objects.html files manually, copying and pasting from the versions in this pack. Unless you are comfortable with this, I strongly recommend simply creating a new install of HeroScribe for use with this pack.
All icons are available in the original colours seen in the official HQ21 quest maps, but I have also included alternate versions of the monster and hero icons that match the old 1980’s quest map style (both European and American) for those that want to use the new monsters in classic maps.
I have tried to keep the sizes the same as in the official maps. The only change I made was to resize the “cupboard” icon slightly so it is now the same size as the “bookcase” icon (previously, it was smaller for some reason).
I have also included the icons in their raw, unscaled “SVG” format, should you wish to recolour them, convert them to another format (such as png) or use them in different graphics program.
This is only the first version of this pack. Although all furniture, hero and monsters from the basic set are included, I hope to be able to update it with icons from the expansions, providing Hasbro release PDF versions of those quest books too.
Currently, the main thing missing from this pack is a board layout that accurately matches the HQ21 map version. I have had issues trying to edit board files in HeroScribe but hopefully will be able to solve this for a future release. At worst, I am thinking I will include a board “tile” that would allow the irregular shaped room walls the re-release maps use as opposed to the standard grid anyway. I have included the board in SVG format though, for those that want to try to use it in another program.
Regardless, I hope folks find this pack useful! This took a surprising amount of work, so please consider giving credit if you use them in any major way. Of course, the icons remain the copyright of Hasbro Inc. I just did the conversion work.
Changelog: v1.0 – First release. v1.1 – Added board SVG . v1.2 – Fixed hero SVG image sizes to match monsters and furniture. – Fixed door SVG rotation. – Added icons and SVG images for entrance/exit doors, letter, number, rectangle and arrow map markers. v1.3 – Changed icon folders for better organization and future upgrade compatibility. v1.4 – Fixed bug when trying to load non-existant HQ21 board (removed since not working yet). v1.5 – Added official HQ21 Kellar’s Keep icons. – Fixed Door In/Out/In-Out arrows to be the correct colour (was the wrong shade of red). – Changed zorder for Cliff Corridor and all Stairs (original and HQ21 versions) for better map layering. v1.6 – Added official HQ21 Return of the Witch Lord icons. – Fixed both the SVG and HeroScribe icon versions of the ROTWL Coffin (the original had missing white sections the artists had forgotten to fill in). – Created an alternate recolor of Death Mist icon (to match other enemy icon color) and alternate Coffin with Trap icon (shaded like other traps). – Not yet added: the “Fog” pattern used to mark the tiles a Death Mist can move through (planned to be added in a future update but proved difficult to convert).
Poison Gas Traps
Acid Fog Traps
Magical Statue Traps
Banjo's House Rules 
![HeroQuest “Core Set” Trap Reference Card (v1.0) [via MediaFire]](https://www.mediafire.com/view/9tm2fupzj586kv4/HeroQuest_-_Trap_Reference_-_Core_%2528Banjo%2529.png/file){kind=link}
![HeroQuest “KK/ROTWL” Trap Reference Card (v1.0) [via MediaFire]](https://www.mediafire.com/view/yc24scluxmcj374/HeroQuest_-_Trap_Reference_-_KK-ROTWL_%2528Banjo%2529.png/file){kind=link}
