The Frozen Horror at a Glance
The Frozen Horror takes the heroes out of the familiar dungeons and into the frozen north. It is the Barbarian's pack: it comes with an alternate Barbarian figure, a squad of hireable mercenaries, a new set of ice monsters, and the Frozen Horror itself as the creature at the end of the road.
| Item | Avalon Hill edition |
|---|---|
| Publisher and year | Avalon Hill (Hasbro); offered first through Hasbro Pulse, shipping around September 2022 |
| Requires | The HeroQuest Game System (the core box) |
| Quests | 10 |
| Heroes added | An alternate Barbarian figure. This is a new sculpt of the core Barbarian, not a new hero class. |
| New figures | 12 Mercenaries; Ice Gremlins, Polar Warbears and Yetis; the Frozen Horror |
| Companion app | Supported by the free HeroQuest Companion App, including its Digital Zargon mode |
No survival track. This guide has found no temperature, warmth or hypothermia rule in either edition of The Frozen Horror. The cold comes through in the story, the board and the monster roster; you still fight, search and move with the core rules.
Classic edition (1989–1990): the original Frozen Horror was a North America-only release from the early 1990s, sold as the "Barbarian Quest Pack" (Wikipedia dates it to 1992; some listings say 1991). It included a female Barbarian figure, opened with quests the Barbarian plays alone before the other heroes join, and introduced mercenaries and ice monsters. Europe never got it.
The Barbarian Up Front
The original pack began with the Barbarian on solo quests, and the Avalon Hill pack keeps the Barbarian at the centre of its story. Check your quest book's introduction for exactly how the opening quests are set up for your group. When the Barbarian does fight alone, the core stats are what you have to work with: Attack 3, Defend 2, Body 8, Mind 2.
| Opponent (Attack / Defend / Body) | Barbarian kills it in one attack | It hurts the Barbarian (at least 1 Body Point) |
|---|---|---|
| Goblin (2 / 1 / 1) | 81.3% | 44.4% |
| Orc (3 / 2 / 1) | 75.0% | 62.5% |
| Abomination (3 / 3 / 2) | 33.3% | 62.5% |
Those are exact odds for the combat die (three skulls, two white shields, one black shield) using the classic 1990 North American monster chart. The new ice monsters have their own cards in the pack; this guide does not reprint their stats. The point holds anyway: with only 2 Mind Points the Barbarian is vulnerable to Dread magic, and with no friend nearby to hand over a potion, a hero questing alone has to carry their own healing.
Mercenaries
Mercenaries are the pack's headline mechanic. They are hirelings: the heroes pay gold to bring them along, and they fight on the heroes' side. Each one is a figure on the board that can take a square, block a corridor and attack, which changes how a small party plays.
The exact costs and rules for hiring are in the pack; follow them as printed. Gold spent on mercenaries is gold not spent on armor, and that trade-off is the real decision this pack adds.
Hold the corridor
Monsters cannot move or attack diagonally. A mercenary in the front square of a corridor takes the first attacks and buys the Wizard a safe turn to cast.
Fill a small party
With two or three heroes, hirelings make up the missing bodies. With a full party they are a luxury, not a need.
Armor lasts, help may not
Armory gear stays with a hero for the rest of the campaign. Weigh that against hired help before you spend.
Try It at the Table
- Read the new monster cards first. Before your first fight with a Yeti or Polar Warbear, look at its movement and Body Points so you know whether you can outrun it or need to block it.
- Remember the basics in a new setting. Move then act, or act then move; never split a move around an action. Search only when no monster is in view. Doors, once opened, stay open.
- Plan your gold. Decide as a group whether this campaign's gold goes on armor or on mercenaries, rather than leaving it to whoever has the most coins.
- Keep the Barbarian in front. Highest Attack, highest Body: this is the hero's story, so let them take the hits.
Running It as Zargon
The Frozen Horror gives Zargon unfamiliar monsters and gives the heroes unfamiliar allies. Read the new monster cards and the mercenary rules before the first session so you can answer questions without stopping the game. Use the cold as description, not as a hidden penalty: the pack does not add one, and inventing one makes the heroes' choices harder to plan. Playing Zargon has more on running pack campaigns.
Where Next
- The Frozen Horror: Lore, the story behind the pack.
- The Mage of the Mirror, the next quest pack, where the Elf takes the lead.
- Barbarian, the hero this pack is built around.
- Treasure & Equipment, for weighing armor against hired help.