Welcome to the second HeroQuest QUEST JAM, hosted by Ash at 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, and 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.

Read on!

THE JAM (INTRODUCTION)

Your challenge: To design a fun and original quest, for one to four heroes and possibly an evil wizard player, using any of the following free HeroQuest quest-making tools:

 HQuestBuilder
https://www.hquestbuilder.com/

Questbooklet
http://www.questbooklet.com

HeroScribe

https://www.heroscribe.org/

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 TIMELINE

JOIN:  Participants can JOIN at any time from NOW until March 31st.
SUBMISSION PERIOD:  The SUBMISSION PERIOD begins MARCH 23rd and ends April 6th.  You will NOT be able to submit before March 23rd!
JUDGEMENT PERIOD: The JUDGEMENT PERIOD begins April 6th and has an ESTIMATED end of MAY 31st.  However, This date MAY CHANGE depending on volume of submissions.

THE PRIZE

A growing collection of published homebrew assets sent to Ash for video presentation, including the following:
-The CHAOS EVENT Deck by HeroicAdventurers
-MEGAQUEST (2.0) by Deathtone
-ADVANCED GAME SYSTEM (I & II) by Lizuren
-The DOUBLE SKULLS TAVERN TALES, VOL 1 by Ian Schofield
-A selection of ADVANCED ARMORY by Flash Hammer Creative Studios
-an exclusive set of homebrew by Ash
-and MORE!

A special thank you to HeroicAdventurers and Deathtone for their contributions to the prize pool!

THE RULES

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

There are 14 of them -- just like 14 quests in the game system :)

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. Quests MUST be created in one of the above tools.
2. Quests created in hQuestBuilder or QuestBooklet may be edited after exporting, such to add graphics for officially allowed assets (specified below).
3. Each participant can only submit ONE quest.
4. Quests may not use more than one board (i.e no "double-quests"), and assets must stay within the board (i.e no tiles used outside of board)!
5. Quests can only use the board once; no "Dark Company" style quests where the arrangement of pieces changes from the initial map design to create extra rooms.
6. Quests may not require more than existing assets allow (complete list of all assets allowed specified below). 
7. Quests are limited to ONE page for submission purposes.  Second-page rules, annotations, lore, quest notes etc. will not disqualify a quest, but will be ignored and disregarded during judgement and presentation.  Only the first page counts!
8. Quests may not be altered in any way (markings, visuals, post-quest additions, etc)  UNLESS made with HeroScribe.
9. Any attribution text (such as "made with hQuestBuilder") MUST be kept!
10. Plagiarism of any kind is prohibited; copying others' quests is not allowed!
11. All Quests remain the creative property of their creators as applicable!
12. Qualifying quests submitted will be bundled in a free digital collection available to all!
13. Qualifying quests will be showcased on AshQuest's YouTube channel (more information on license below)!
14. Quests must be free and may NOT be charged for!

WHAT IS ALLOWED?

As to TYPE OF ASSETS USED, Quest designers may use officially released 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 except Mythic Tier)
--Kellar's Keep (any edition)
--Return of the Witch Lord (any edition)
--Frozen Horror / Barbarian Quest Pack (any edition)
--Mage of the Mirror / Quest Pack for the Elf (any edition)
--Against the Ogre Horde (any edition)
--Wizards of Morcar (classic EU)
--Prophecy of Telor
--Spirit Queen's Torment
--Rise of the Dread Moon
--Rogue Heir of Elethorn
--Path of the Wandering Monk

--Assets such as those introduced in any other source, such as the Mythic Tier (including Crypt of Perpetual Darkness), exclusive Pulse Quests, Commander of the Guardian Knights, GenCon exclusives, the HeroQuest Marvel Winter Special magazine, White Dwarf or the HeroQuest adventure novels, are not authorized for this jam.

--As to NUMBER OF ASSETS USED, designers must limit the total number of any asset used to the official amount released within a single copy of above named assets.  

For example: if you use the Game System, Prophecy of Telor, and Spirit Queen's Torment, you have access to a total of 6 Dread Warriors, available across all releases in the above list; therefor, no more than six Dread warriors may be used at a time in any submission (not including Wandering Monsters; see below).

--Double-sided tile room assets may not be used twice in a quest (only a single room tile of any type is included with a single asset listed above).

For example, there is only one Rotating Room tile included in a single copy of Return of the Witch Lord (any edition), therefor only one rotating room may be used in a submission.

When in doubt, ask the question: "Can I build this quest If I have one copy of everything listed above?"

Important:  As an exception, this rule is NOT inclusive of Wandering Monsters.  In the above example quest containing six Dread Warriors, the Quest Designer is allowed to also use Dread Warriors as Wandering Monsters without breaking the asset rule.

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 five categories.  The rankings are SUBJECTIVE and based on the perspective and experience of each judge -- no two entries may be judged the same!

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 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 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.  Each quest will have a spotlight on AshQuest'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 Ash 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, and will take steps to verify the legitimacy of the account.

Afterwards, the winner will receive a mixed loot bag of physical media, mainly consisting of homebrew HeroQuest content published by third parties (card decks, quest packs, minis and more).

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

Sorry, but that will get your quest immediately disqualified.  Make sure the app of your choice can handle what you need to enter -- "post-processing" of any kind on a quest submission will get that quest disqualified.

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!

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 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?

Ash of AmagalAsh / AshQuest
SquidgeMonster, author of HQuestBuilder
MyDadIsDracula, previous HeroQuest Quest Jam winner
Giles McNeill, of general fame (and of course, SundayQuest)

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?

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 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 $30 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.