Henrik Refsnes

Being a hero is hard and sometimes you just want what’s owed. Torsten and his men have chased you for days across the inhospitable and frozen north with a tenacity that makes you wonder if they are demons and not men. All for a minor dispute of monetary ownership. A simple misunderstanding.

But it’s personal now. You sought shelter from a blizzard in a cave and rigged a trap to welcome your pursues—one they walked right into. While the cave-in crushed them beneath the rubble, unfortunately, it also blocked your only way out. Now, you’re alone in the dark with the odds stacked against you.

Karma, as it turns out, is a bitch.

NOTES

This is a solo adventure meant to be played by a single hero. Set up some time with your favorite one, just the two of you—but don’t be creepy. You’re the evil wizard, not the creepy wizard.

The fat lines on the map are not graphical glitches due to crunch culture in the Hero Quest adventure design industry. It is an artistic attempt to represent elevation and actual distance where usage of the spell Pass Through Rock would be weird. The board is flat and confined—don’t make it weird. If a hero uses the spell to cross one of these lines they end up lost in the solid rock of the mountain (but by all means give them a chance to turn around).

Many of the tiles in this quest come from the Frozen Horror expansion of Hero Quest but due to crunch culture there was no time to include them in this post. The quest was essentially launched in a state where you have to download and glue shit together yourself. For the most part the rules for these tiles work the same, with only one or two minor vacations (variations, dammit). Regardless, find them redescribed below.

Slip(and slide)ery Ice. Do not place slippery ice tiles until a hero steps on the appropriate square. A hero that steps on slippery ice must roll 1 combat die. If a white shield is rolled the hero falls and ends their turn immediately. Any other roll allows the hero to continue normal movement. If they step onto another slippery ice tile, roll another die. Monsters are not affected by slippery ice (oddly enough) and the ice cannot be found or disarmed, but once placed it can be jumped over as a pit. In this quest, when a hero slips they do it sideways and ends their turn on the square next to the ice (as indicated by the arrow). If the new square causes a chain reaction, keep going with the turn (and effect).

Icy River. Each square of the underground stream count as two squares of movement. Each time a hero enters an icy river square roll 1 combat die. If a white shield is rolled the hero loses 1 body point. Think of it as endurance fighting the current, as well as hypothermia (and hopefully nobody is attempting to swim in metal armor). In any case, monsters are unaffected by all of that (apparently).

Ice Slide. Do not place the ice slide until a hero steps on the first square of the slide. A hero who steps onto the slippery chute is whisked away in the direction of the arrow and ends the turn on the last square of the slide. As the hero slides, roll 1 combat die. If a white shield is rolled the hero loses 1 body point. The ice slide cannot be found or disarmed and it cannot be climbed in the reverse direction. (But at least monsters also slide down the chute, right? Right?)

X. The hero starts here, with the caved in tunnel to freedom behind them—the long tunnel to freedom. Longer than any hero can clear using the spell Pass Through Rock, and as strange as it may be, this holds true for all min-maxed combinations of boots, potions, artifacts and spells (just proceed forward ok?)

A. Someone stayed here recently, but they’re not at home. No one is. If searched for treasure the hero can find a virtual treasure trove of useful things: a backpack, several torches, a tinderbox, a smelly bedroll with a dirty but warm blanket, three spoons (one bent) and a bowl, a week’s worth of trail rations, a cooking pot, a bottle of wine (or is it vinegar?) and a half eaten cookie. Seriously though, if it doesn’t have stats it isn’t useful… Ok, fine. There’s a Helmet too—the bloody cooking pot can be used as a helmet. Now go solo this.

B. It would seem this cave is the last resting place of some long forgotten hero. How appropriate. On closer inspection, however, there is only one hero in this cave—and not in the tomb (yet anyway). The empty sarcophagus holds a secret door that leads down into the dark grave of the mountain (note to self: research subtle foreshadowing).

C. The embers of this empty forge has long since died and there is not a soul around. But there is treasure (hey, thanks karma). The rack contains a Shield and a Broadsword, and the chest holds a Tool Kit. Which is ironic, because the chest is trapped and unless disarmed, it might be hard to use the tools with sliced off fingers (lose 1 body point).

D. Past the pressureplate-triggered shooting arrows in the hallway is a storage room with another trapped chest (lose 1 body point). Once that is all dealt with the hero can find a Potion of Healing and 56 gold coins. The cupboard has a false back that opens to a narrow passage leading to the room marked E.

E. The door to this room is wired to a crossbow in the wall and a hero that opens it without first disarming the trap loses 1 body point. Searching for treasure yields a Potion of Strength and another Potion of Healing from the alchemist bench. As if that was not enough, the bookshelf slides sideways to reveal a secret vault.

F. Nobody has been here in years, judging by the dust. But whatever their fate, before they left, they made sure to trap every single chest in this place (lose 1 body point). Fortunately, they left their things. The chest contains a Potion of Dexterity, Venom Antidote and 194 gold coins, and the bookshelf holds a Spell Scroll: Heal Body (almost as if bad karma doesn’t exist).

G. It’s really cold in this room—like, really cold (place the appropriately sized Ice Vault room tile). Each turn a hero enters or remains in this room, roll 1 combat die. If a skull is rolled, the hero loses 1 body point (monsters don’t, naturally). Also watch out for falling stalagmites (or lose 1 body point).

H. This room is split in half by a bottomless abyss (place the Bottomless Chasm room tile). The divide can be jumped like a pit, but a hero who fails is lost forever. In other words, mind the gap or it’s game over. That is, unless they have a Ring of Return to restore a previous auto-save.

I. Another room, another chasm—this one surrounded by an icy ledge. A hero who moves onto one of the squares immediately surrounding the crevasse must roll 1 combat die. If a skull or white shield is rolled the hero may continue to move (or end on that square if they came from the slippery ice). If a black shield is rolled the hero is in dire straits and must roll another die. If a second black shield is rolled, the hero falls never to be seen again (another game over). Any other roll ends the hero’s turn on that square (because the rule that they have to start over from the door doesn’t make sense). At the start of any turn where a hero stands adjacent to the crevasse, first roll to see if they slip (before moving).

J. This room is held in a faint blue glow (place the Scepter Room tile). If searched for treasure it turns out the glow comes from a Wizard’s Staff frozen in ice. A hero can free the staff from the ice by moving onto the square with the icon. But (there is always a but) right inside the door a small tunnel leads down. Vertically. It’s a shaft. A hero attempting to climb down rolls 1 combat die. If a white shield is rolled, they slip, fall, and lose 1 body point. A hero that slides from a slippery ice square doesn’t roll, they go straight down the hole and lose 1 body point. 

K. The icy shaft from the room marked J lands the hero here, on their ass in the rubble, and the shaft is too slippery to climb back up (c’est la vie).

L. A statue of a madonna with big boobies guards the door—ominous and clearly suspicious, but ultimately harmless. The swinging axe trap is less so, and might take the hero’s head off while they stare at the statue. Roll 2 combat dice and lose 1 body point for each skull. That’ll teach ’em, well, something.

M. Another bottomless chasm, like there wasn’t enough of them already. At least this time there is a bridge (place the Pit Room tile from Against the Ogre Horde). Still, the path is blocked—by Torsten. In a bizarre turn of events he is not dead and buried beneath rubble, but right here, hot on the trail (ahead even). This guy just doesn’t take a hint.

	MOVE	ATTACK	DEFEND	BODY	MIND
Torsten	2 dice	4	3	6	2

N. This passage leads up to the room behind the door the hero slid past on their way down the icy chute. Incidentally, it is also the route Torsten took to catch up (wait, he’s not affected by the ice traps either?)

O. The door leads further into the halls of the dead. Continue to part 2, and no, there is no armory or alchemist shop on the way. But in pulp there is no time to bleed, so at least lost body points and abilities are restored.

Wandering monster in this quest: Frozen Hero (aka Zombie)

Hero Quest and the HeroQuest logo are trademarks of the Milton Bradley Corporation, a subsidiary of Hasbro, ©2008, in association with Games Workshop ©1988-1993. All rights reserved. Use of its theme and images in this post is not intended as a challenge or threat to their copyright. This quest is made available exclusively for private, in-home use and is not permitted to be altered or sold, in whole or part, for profit.