Welcome to the third HeroQuest QUEST JAM hosted by AshQuest!

"The WHAT?" This is an event that will allow anyone (that means YOU) to design and enter a HeroQuest quest that you create!

There is no fee of any kind to participate or submit!
The event is open to HeroQuest players of all skill levels and from all over the world! 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.

Especially this year, because THE QUEST IS CALLING...

Read on!

THE JAM (INTRODUCTION)

Your challenge: To design a fun and original quest, for any amount of players.
Use any of the following free HeroQuest quest-making tools, or an image editor, or even draw and scan your physical quest!

 HQuestBuilder https://www.hquestbuilder.com/

Questbooklet http://www.questbooklet.com

HeroScribe https://www.heroscribe.org/

Everything 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!

Do you want to stick to the classic board?  Perhaps use the new First Light cave board?  Or maybe even design a quest using a Dragon Strike board, or even modular tiles only?

THIS TIME, THE CHAINS ARE BROKEN!  RELEASE YOUR POTENTIAL

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 TIMELINE

JOIN:  Participants can JOIN at any time from NOW until the JUDGEMENT PERIOD.
SUBMISSION PERIOD:  The SUBMISSION PERIOD is specified at the top of this page (under the banner) .  You will NOT be able to submit before it begins, but make sure you submit before the JUDGEMENT PERIOD.
JUDGEMENT PERIOD: The JUDGEMENT PERIOD begins after the SUBMISSION PERIOD ends...however, the length of the JUDGEMENT PERIOD itself MAY CHANGE depending on volume of submissions.  You will NOT be able to submit or update anything during this date!

THE PRIZE

Grand Prize: A brand new Rogue Heir of Elethorn & Path of the Wandering Monk Hero Collection packs

The Five Highest Ranked Quests will receive a video presentation!
Each judge can also choose a quest to receive a video presentation!
A randomly chosen quest will receive a video presentation! (10 presentations total)

THE RULES

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

There are now only 8 rules!

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. Participants will be expected to have read, understood, and agreed to the below!

1.  Each participant can only submit ONE quest.
2.  Each Quest can only use one full-size board (no double-quests).
3.  Quests can only use the board once (no "Dark Company" quests).
4.  Only the FIRST printable page of a Quest will be judged (all else ignored).
5.  Quests may use ANY number of ANY miniature, tile, rooms, doors or furniture.
6.  Plagiarism is prohibited; do not infringe IP / copyright of others.
7.  All qualifying submissions will be bundled in a free digital collection on Itch.  Quests may be presented on AshQuest (specific license information below).
8.  Keep entries safe-for-work and tasteful, and follow community guidelines.

WHAT IS ALLOWED?

As to TYPE OF ASSETS USED, Quest designers may use ANY EDITION of ANY officially released elements such as minis, tiles, cards, traps, abilities, rooms or anything else from the sources listed below!

--HeroQuest Game System
--HeroQuest: First Light
--Kellar's Keep
--Return of the Witch Lord
--Commander of the Guardian Knights
--Frozen Horror / Barbarian Quest Pack
--Mage of the Mirror / Quest Pack for the Elf
--Against the Ogre Horde
--Wizards of Morcar
--Prophecy of Telor
--Spirit Queen's Torment
--Rise of the Dread Moon
--Rogue Heir of Elethorn
--Path of the Wandering Monk
--Jungles of Delthrak
--Crypt of Perpetual Darkness
--HeroQuest (Marvel Winter Special)
--White Dwarf (quests)
--HeroQuest (adventure novels by Dave Morris)
--HeroQuest Adventure Design Kit

--As to NUMBER OF ASSETS USED, designers may use any number of any asset.  The asset rule from previous years has been DROPPED for this jam!

WHO IS THE ADVENTURING PARTY? 

The target party of heroes for any given quest can be anything - a single Barbarian, a full party of four classic heroes, a Wizard and a Warlock, a Druid in a party with a Dwarf and three men-at-arms...and more!

Further, the quest can be as easy or as difficult as is warranted by the quest designer for the party intended - an introductory quest for a party of new players, a challenging but rewarding dungeon with a boss for players of mixed skill levels, or a special quest designed for a strong party of heroes who have powerful weapons and full access to hiring mercenaries! When submitting a quest for judgement, know that by default, your quest will be assumed to be played with a party of FOUR NEW HEROES. If your quest is intended to be played by a specific configuration or experience level of heroes, you MUST state this in the quest notes! 

HOW ARE THE ENTRIES JUDGED? 

All the entries will be judged by a panel of judges including Ash, who will rate them on their own merits across four categories.  The rankings are SUBJECTIVE and based on the perspective and experience of each judge -- no two entries may be judged the same!  Only the FIRST page of a submission will be judged, and everything after completely disregarded / ignored; feel free to include more pages of a Quest for the general public to check out, to add optional quest notes, dialogue, modes of play or lore, but these will not be referenced when judging.

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 Ash a non-exclusive, global, non-sublicensable, 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.  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.

You also grant Ash the permission to include the quest submission in a free collection of quests to be made available to the general public at no charge after the event, so that fans and community members can retrieve the entirety of the submissions conveniently.

WHAT IF I SUBMIT A NONSENSICAL TROLL QUEST JUST FOR LAUGHS? 

If it's playable and the quest notes make sense, it will be a legitimate entry.  If not, it will likely be disqualified.

WHAT IF I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS? 

Feel free to join the Discord and ask Ash directly: https://discord.gg/rrGdtCU

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, monster and non-playable characters (such as Sir Ragnar and Princess Milandriel), represented by any of the materials listed above.  Specify in the quest notes 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).

This event is not sponsored, judged or endorsed in any way by Avalon Hill, Games Workshop or Hasbro.

Questions (Ask your own, they may be added here!)

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 free Quest-building online tools specified above to design a quest of their own, to submit to the jam.

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.  

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.  A user must be at least 13 years of age to interact with itch.io in any way!
-Create your quest using one of the quest makers described above.
-Ensure your quest meets all of the submission conditions and conforms to the rules of the jam.
-Submit your quest in .pdf form.  Screenshots / hand drawn will not be accepted.
-Wait for the judgement period!

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. 

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. 

Entries, at AshQuest's discretion, may be featured in video content and have a spotlight on AshQuest's YouTube channel where a presentation, recap or live playthrough may be presented.

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, and will take steps to verify the legitimacy of the account.

Afterwards, the winner may consent to be sent applicable prizes!

What if I need to add graphics or icons in an app, because the above apps didn't have the resources I needed?

Post-processing is allowed for this event, which means if a particular quest-building app does not have the resources you need, you are free to add the resources by any means necessary so long as you submit following all other rules above.

Can I edit my own quest before the submission period ends?  How many tries do I get?

Once submitted, participants will still be able to edit and reupload their submissions, as many times as they wish.  However, after the judgement period begins, no quest may be updated or changed in any way until after the jam judgement period is over.  Video presentations will always use the latest qualifying submitted version of an entry.

What happens if my quest is disqualified / removed?

Due to an unpredictable scope of entrants, I cannot guarantee that any notification will be granted nor any reason given, but I will try to notify the quest submitter in the event of a disqualification.  A participant can then fix their quest and re-submit. Any participants found to re-submit quests that do not follow submission guidelines may be removed and barred from re-entering, with or without notice! The responsibility of ensuring an entry meets the submission criteria belongs to the participant!

What if I want to enter, but don't feel comfortable 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?

TBA.

What are the judgement criteria?

Fun Factor! (Engagement, Pacing, Challenge)
Design! (Polish, Logic, Flow)
Narrative! (Immersion, Consistency)
Staying Power! (Replayability, Accessibility)

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?

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 physical prizes?

If the prize cannot be claimed by the winner, then the prize is considered forfeit and won by the second place winner, and the process will begin again.