Arcane Observatory

This is the first board section I've introduced into the game that isn't from the core WHQ box or expansion.  It's the "Ruined Observatory" tile from Paizo's GameMastery Ruins supplement.  To get more cards for my Dungeon deck, I purchased a second copy of WHQ from EBay, and use the extra Dungeon cards for any new rooms I want to integrate, using a black Sharpie to simply write the name of the room on the front of the card.

Arcane Observatory - Special Rules

Some long dead Wizard constructed this fabulous domed hall.  Animated stars, comets, and other celestial objects are magically projected onto the ceiling, moving in complex, compelling, elliptical patterns.  The intent of the spectacle is to dazzle and confound intruders, and the Monsters in the dungeon have learned to take advantage of its effects, and have themselves grown immune to its influence.

• Roll a d6 to determine how many Exit Doors are in the Arcane Observatory, on a 1-3 there is one Exit Door, and on a 4-6 there are two Exit Doors.  Place both Exit Doors in the last row of squares in the room.
• The Arcane Observatory will trigger an Event on a 1-3 of a d6 roll.
• Each time a Warrior attempts to perform any action when on a square of this board section that is occupied by the dome, they must first pass a Willpower Check (roll 1d6, add Willpower, and score 7 or higher).  This includes moving (one roll for complete movement, no need to check each square), making an attack, casting a spell, drinking a potion, etc.  If they fail the Willpower Check, they simply forget to do what they had intended, as they are mesmerized by the wondrous spectacle of the stars displayed on the glorious dome overhead.
• A Warrior standing on the central square of the dome can sacrifice a magical item (Treasure, Weapon, Armor, etc), which causes the spell emanating from the Observatory to be broken for all Warriors.
• Monsters are immune to the arcane hypnotizing effect of the Observatory.

Circle of Power

For the Circle of Power, I use the special rules from White Dwarf 204, the "Room for Improvement" article.

Circle of Power - Special Rules

• During the Power Phase, add 1 to the die roll to determine the amount of Power available (although rolling a 1 still triggers an Unexpected Event).
• However, if a 6 is rolled, the potency of the Winds of Magic are beyond what Spellcasters can normally leverage.  Each time a spell is cast during such a turn the Spellcaster takes 1d6 unmodified Wounds as the magical energy tears at their body.

Monster's Lair

Monster's Lair - Special Rules

Exits

The Monsters' Lair has one exit, located at the opposite end of the room.

Events

Instead of drawing an Event Card, roll on the Monster Table to generate this room's Event.

Dungeon Cell

Dungeon Cell - Special Rules

The morbid cell contains various remnants of the prior unfortunate occupants, and the devices used to restrain them.

The Warriors can search the Dungeon Cell one time in an attempt to salvage something useful from the room's contents.  To do so, the Warriors must perform no other action that Turn.  Roll 1d6 to determine what they find (if anything):
1. The Warriors make quite a bit of noise going through the debris, draw an Event Card now.
2. The Warriors stir up a nest of 2d6 Giant Rats from their filthy nest.
3. The Warriors spend some time searching but don't recover anything of value.
4. The Warriors turn up one pair of servicable Boots, most likely the only thing left from one of the room's victims.
5. The Warriors find a usable length of Rope.
6. The Warriors can salvage 1d6 Bandages from some old clothing they uncover.

After the Warriors search, be sure to reposition them using the Search Rules!  Re-position the Warriors before any Monsters are placed as a result of the search.

Guard Room

Guard Room - Special Rules

The Guard Room will always contain Monsters guarding it.  When drawing the Event Card, keep drawing until a Monster Card is drawn.  Shuffle any unused Event Cards back into the deck.

Bandages and Provisions

As stated in the WHQ Roleplay Book, Bandages and Provisions can be used to heal Wounds, and are always the first things my Warriors attempt to purchase in a Settlement.  When a fellow Warrior is at zero Wounds, an adjacent Warrior can attempt to use Bandages or Provisions to bring them back up on their feet.  I say attempt because there are a few caveats:

1. The Warrior attempting to rescue the fallen companion must use his own Bandages or Provisions, and cannot use any carried by the fallen Warrior, there simply isn't enough time to go rummaging through their gear.
2. When trying to revive a Warrior at zero Wounds with Bandages or Provisions, you must roll 1d6.  On a 1, 2, or 3 the attempt is a failure.
3. Also, it should be noted that a Warrior on zero Wounds CANNOT use their own Bandages or Provisions, they are too weak.  They can down a Healing Potion, however.

The only tweak I make in my WHQ house rules is the modify the 1d6 roll into an Initiative Check.  I like to emphasize the ability scores of the Warriors in the game.  So, rather than having to roll 4, 5, or 6 to successfully apply Bandages or Provisions to a fallen Warrior, you will need to make an Initiative Check (roll 1d6, add Initiative, and score 7 or higher).

Torture Chamber

I have a vision of building up a massive Dungeon deck containing tiles from WHQ core rules, the two boxed expansions, the White Dwarf articles, and then including, one by one, any interesting dungeon tile I can print myself or get my hands on from any other source.  For each new tile, I'll mock up a Dungeon card, and each Dungeon room in this deck will have its own special rules to give the adventure more flavor and fun.

I'm already adding special rules to the various Objective Rooms as outlined in prior posts, and White Dwarf has outlined a similar idea with the normal WHQ 4x4 rooms, in issue #204, in the article "Room for Improvement".  I've already adopted the article's idea of adding 1 to the number of Monsters encountered after the heroes descend the Stairway.  In future posts, I outline my adaptations of the rules for the normal Dungeon rooms.  I made a few tweaks, but these are largely adopted straight from the article.  To start with, we have the Torture Chamber.

Torture Chamber - Special Rules

The atrocities that occurred in this grisly room leave a palpable bad taste in the air.  The gruesome implements of torture, pools of congealed blood, and whatever remains of previous victims, are all a grim testament to the unspeakable acts that occurred here.  What's more, the agonized spirits of many of the victims haunt this place, and their presence weighs on the Warriors the longer they remain in this morbid chamber.

Each Power Phase, any Warrior standing in the Torture Chamber must pass a Willpower Check, or suffer -1 Movement.  This effect is cumulative, until the Warrior is reduced to a Movement of 1.  The first time the Warrior passes their Willpower Check, they shake off the effect entirely and their Movement returns to normal for good.  Warriors leaving the Torture Chamber with a Movement penalty must continue to make Willpower Checks until they succeed and their Movement is restored to normal.