🎭 The Director's Chair: What Zargon Is For
In the story, Zargon is the evil sorcerer who wants to destroy the realm and the heroes. At the table, the rulebook gives the Zargon player a different job: serve as game master. You guide the heroes through the quest, reveal the dungeon exactly as the quest notes say, and control every monster on the board.
Play the monsters to win their fights, because the heroes deserve a real threat. But your bigger goal is a quest that runs smoothly and feels dangerous. Think of yourself as a film director who also plays every villain: you set the pace, but the heroes are the stars.
🎬 The Three Jobs of the Zargon Player
📜 Before the Quest
Read Ahead, Alone
- Read the quest yourself first. Each quest opens with parchment text that you read aloud to everyone. The quest notes and map that follow are for Zargon's eyes only.
- Keep the map hidden. The heroes see only what their figures could see. You will add doors, furniture and monsters to the board as they explore.
- Check the notes for special items. Special treasure, Dread spells for named monsters, and any changed monster stats (for example, a monster that rolls an extra Attack die) are all listed there.
- Set up the Game Master's screen. The monster chart on the screen gives each monster's movement, Attack, Defend, Body and Mind.
Turn order is fixed: the player to Zargon's left goes first, play runs clockwise through the heroes, and Zargon takes the last turn of each round. The rulebook suggests seating the Barbarian on Zargon's left, then the Dwarf, the Elf, and the Wizard on Zargon's right.
🗺️ Revealing the Dungeon
The core of the Zargon job is honest information. The rulebook tells you to use the quest notes to react to heroes as they move:
- When a hero looks down a corridor, place any doors, blocked-square tiles and monsters the map shows along it.
- When a hero opens a door, place the monsters, treasure chests and other furniture that belong in that room. Doors never close again once opened.
- Secret doors, traps and treasure stay hidden until a hero spends an action searching for them, unless the quest notes say otherwise.
- When a hero searches for traps, announce which squares hold traps (point to them) but don't place trap tiles until a trap is sprung.
- When a hero searches for treasure, read any special treasure from the quest notes (only the first hero to search that room finds it). Otherwise the hero draws from the treasure deck.
Wandering monsters: if a treasure draw turns up a wandering monster, place the monster named in the quest notes next to the searching hero (or as close as you can) and immediately roll its Attack dice. It stays on the board and acts normally on your later turns.
Some quests ask for more of one monster than the box holds. The rulebook lets you substitute any other monster figure of the same colour.
⚔️ Zargon's Turn
On your turn, each monster on the board can do what a hero does: move, then take an action, or take an action, then move. A monster can't move part of the way, act, and finish its move. You don't have to use a monster's full movement.
One per monster
Attack an adjacent hero, or cast a Dread spell if the quest notes gave that monster one.
Fixed, not rolled
Monsters don't roll movement dice. Each one moves up to the number on the monster chart.
The forbidden list
Search, move or attack diagonally, pass over heroes, move through walls, open or close doors, share a square, or search for, disarm or spring traps.
Attacking a Hero
- Name the hero you're attacking (it must be adjacent).
- Roll the monster's Attack dice from the chart. Each skull is one hit; no skulls means a miss.
- The hero rolls their Defend dice. Each white shield blocks one skull.
- The hero marks off one Body Point per unblocked skull.
When a hero attacks one of your monsters, you roll its Defend dice, and each black shield blocks one skull. Black shields are only one face in six, which is why monsters fall quickly. For exact odds on any matchup, use the Dice Roller.
Tactics in numbers: using the classic monster chart (Goblin 2 Attack, Orc 3 Attack), a goblin attacking a hero with 2 Defend dice does at least 1 Body Point of damage 4 times in 9 (44.4%). An orc does it 5 times in 8 (62.5%), for an average of 23/24 of a Body Point per attack. Two monsters on the same hero in one round are far scarier than two monsters spread across the party.
Dread Spells
- You may cast a Dread spell instead of attacking.
- Give Dread spells only to the monsters the quest notes name.
- The caster must be able to see its target on your turn (line of sight).
- Each Dread spell can be cast once per quest. Several of the twelve Dread spells aren't used in the core quests; they turn up in quest packs and are yours to use in quests you design.
Optional rule from the rulebook: in the original game, furniture was only atmosphere. If your table wants a more strategic game, you can treat furniture as blocking line of sight and movement. Agree on it before the quest starts.
🎯 Pacing: Peaks and Valleys
A quest takes roughly one to two hours, and it feels best when danger rises and falls. You can't change what the quest notes put in each room, but you control how you describe things and how hard each monster pushes.
🎚️ Building and Releasing Tension
Building tension:
- Describe sounds before a door opens: "You hear scratching beyond the door..."
- Remind the heroes of what they've spent: "That was your last healing potion."
- Foreshadow what the quest notes tell you is ahead: "Claw marks score the stone here."
Releasing tension:
- Make victories land: "The gargoyle crumbles to rubble!"
- Read special treasure with relish when a search finds it.
- Let a cleared room breathe while the heroes search it.
🌊 The Rhythm of a Good Quest
🗣️ Describing Rooms
🎨 Painting with Words
When you place figures on the board, add a sentence of colour. The board already shows what is there; your words make it feel dangerous.
❌ Flat: "There are three orcs in the room."
✅ Vivid: "The door groans open. Torchlight shows three orcs hunched over a meal. Their eyes snap up, and they reach for their blades. The largest one growls and pounds his chest."
Describe, but never add information the quest notes don't give. If a description hints at a trap, it should be because the heroes found one.
🎪 Giving Characters a Voice
The rulebook doesn't require roleplaying, but invites everyone to lean into their characters. As Zargon you voice every monster and many of the people in the quest notes.
🏰 Mentor
Slow and deliberate, slightly lower. "Heroes... the path ahead... is treacherous indeed."
👹 Orcs and Goblins
Growl, short words, broken sentences. "Heroes come! Smash them!"
🧙 Zargon Himself
Cold, patient and amused. "Search all you like. Every room you open brings you closer to me."
🛡️ Allies in the Quest Notes
Rescued prisoners and quest-givers like Sir Ragnar or Prince Magnus: relieved, proud, or impatient to get home.
🧠 Knowing Your Players
Players enjoy different parts of a quest. You can't rewrite the quest, but you can lean your descriptions toward what each person enjoys.
⚖️ Fair Play and Difficulty
🎯 Play It Straight
HeroQuest is a game the heroes can lose, and that is what makes winning feel good. Roll in the open, follow the monster chart, and don't invent extra monsters or reinforcements mid-quest. The heroes trust that the dungeon is what the quest map says it is.
You still have honest choices that change how hard a quest feels:
- Target choice: focusing attacks on the hero with the fewest Body Points is ruthless; spreading them out is gentler.
- Movement: monsters may rush the heroes or wait in a doorway. You never have to use their full movement.
- Spell timing: a Dread spell cast at the first chance hurts more than one held back.
🔧 When a Quest Goes Badly
The rulebook covers this. If a quest ends in disaster (for example, all four heroes die) or goes unfinished, Zargon should modify the quest before it's replayed: fewer monsters, different monster types, or extra help such as Potions of Healing. Use the blank map and symbols at the back of the quest book.
If a hero dies carrying an artifact the next quest needs and your monsters steal it, include that artifact as a special treasure early in the next quest.
📊 Reading the Table
- Quiet planning: a good challenge.
- Frustrated sighs every turn: lean gentler on target choice, and suggest a tweak before the replay.
- Jokes while the Barbarian clears rooms alone: play your monsters smarter.
🔦 Every Hero Gets a Moment
The four core heroes shine in different ways, and the quest notes give each of them chances. Point those moments out with your descriptions.
🛡️ Barbarian: the strongest fighter (3 Attack dice, 8 Body Points). Describe the big monster stepping forward to meet them.
⛏️ Dwarf: disarms traps without a tool kit and fails only on a black shield. Make a found trap feel like the Dwarf's problem to solve.
🧝 Elf: fights well and casts one school of spells. Give the Elf's spell its own dramatic moment.
🔮 Wizard: the weakest body (4 Body Points) but nine spells. When a spell turns a fight, say so.
🎭 The Shape of a Quest
A Quest's Story Arc
🎬 Ending on a Hook
The core quests form a campaign, and the parchment text of each one sets up the next. When a session ends between quests, read a line of the next parchment, or remind the heroes of a villain who got away or a reward still owed.
🔄 Callbacks
Bring earlier events back: the monster that took a fallen hero's gear, the reward Prince Magnus promised, the artifact the heroes still carry. Campaign continuity costs nothing and makes the heroes feel like one party with a history.
🚨 Common Table Problems
😴 The bored player: keep turns quick. While others take their turns, ask them what their hero is watching for.
📖 The rules question: make a quick call, keep playing, and check the rulebook after the quest. Rule the same way all quest.
💀 A hero dies: the rules say that player is out for the rest of the quest. Their gear can be picked up by any hero in the same room or corridor; if no hero is there, a monster skulks in and takes it for good. The player can rename the hero and come back as a new character next quest. Give the death a moment of description.
⏰ Slow decisions: remind the table that monsters act on Zargon's turn, so the heroes' plan has to hold up for a whole round.
📱 The App as Zargon
Nobody wants to be Zargon tonight? The free official HeroQuest Companion App can take the role of a Digital Zargon, so up to four players can all play heroes, or one player can run all four heroes solo. The app tells you where to place pieces and how the monsters move; you still roll the dice and handle the cards. The printed rulebook itself always needs a human Zargon. See Playing Without Zargon for the details.
🎯 Try It at the Table
The Orc Chieftain's Hall
Setup: you're designing your own quest on the blank map at the back of the quest book. The final room holds an orc chieftain (use an Orc figure with an extra Attack die, written in your quest notes) and his guards.
Your challenge: write three versions of the room's quest notes:
- Gentle: for a party low on potions. Two orc guards, and a Potion of Healing as special treasure in the room before.
- Even: four orcs, and two goblins waiting in the corridor outside who close in once the fight starts.
- Brutal: four orcs plus a Dread Sorcerer with one Dread spell.
Then write: the parchment text, one line of description for the door opening, and one thing the chieftain shouts.
🌟 Zargon's Golden Rules
- Fun first: if the table wants a house rule, agree on it openly before the quest.
- Follow the notes: reveal what the quest says, when the quest says.
- Consistent rulings: once you rule a certain way, keep ruling that way.
- Everyone matters: give every hero a moment.
- Play the monsters honestly: a real threat makes the victory mean something.
- Fix it next time: if a quest goes badly, adjust it before the replay, not in the middle.
🧭 Where Next
- Custom Heroes & Monsters: design your own monsters and quests, with house rules clearly marked.
- Playing Without Zargon: the Companion App's Digital Zargon and other ways to play without a game master.
- Zargon's Toolkit: trackers for monsters, Body and Mind Points, and the treasure deck.
- Combat & Tactics: how the heroes will try to beat your monsters.