About this page: the official quest books sketch the HeroQuest world briefly, naming places only when a quest needs them. This page mixes those official names (Mentor, the Loretome, Zargon, Rogar, Sir Ragnar, Prince Magnus, Ulag, Grak, the Witch Lord, Barak Tor, Kaba Karn, Darkfire Pass and others) with fan elaboration. The second half of the page is invented for this guide and is labelled that way.
"From the King's halls to the windswept passes where his army waits for rescue, every road in this realm ends at a door that someone was afraid to open..."
Places the Books Name
HeroQuest is a dungeon game first, so its geography is thin. These are the places that turn up in the 2021 Game System and the Avalon Hill quest packs.
| Place | What the books tell us | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| The King's realm | The land the heroes defend, ruled by the King. Sir Ragnar is one of his knights; Prince Magnus pays rewards. | Core Quest Book and most packs |
| Barak Tor | The barrow of the Witch Lord, visited twice in the core campaign. | Core quests 12 and 14 |
| Northern Dread Wastes | A bleak northern region named in the core Quest Book. | Core Quest Book |
| Darkfire Pass | The King rode with his army toward Darkfire Pass. | Kellar's Keep |
| Kaba Karn | An ancient dwarven stronghold where the King's army is holed up. | Kellar's Keep |
| Elethorn | Elven land: home of Ladril, Rogar's old companion, and of the Rogue. The "Elethorn saga" runs from The Mage of the Mirror to Rise of the Dread Moon. | Mage of the Mirror, Rise of the Dread Moon, Rogue Heir of Elethorn |
| Delthrak | A jungle full of branching paths, where the Berserker and Explorer join the heroes. | Jungles of Delthrak |
| Hopekin's Rest | Where heroes can earn Boons of Heroism between quests. | Wizards of Morcar (2026) |
Some packs set their quests in a kind of country rather than a named place: The Frozen Horror sends the heroes into icy lands of yetis, Ice Gremlins and Polar Warbears, and Against the Ogre Horde opens with the arena quests of the World's End Tournament.
A Sketch of the Known Places
The books do not tie these places together on a single map, so the picture below is only a sketch. The places are official; their positions are invented to give you something to point at across the table.
Sketch map (positions invented)
Which Stories Go Where
The quest packs move the action around. This chart links each region to the stories set there.
Filling in the Map: Fan Regions
Everything in this section is invented for this guide. It is here for Zargon players who want a bigger world for custom quests. If you use it, keep the official places where the books put them and let these regions sit around the edges.
The Northern Reaches (fan)
Pine forest and granite peaks, where winter holds court for half the year and fortress towns cling to the crags. A natural home for tough mountain folk and a gateway to the frozen lands.
The Heartland Towns (fan)
Rolling farmland, river barges and market towns: the part of the King's realm that the heroes are protecting. Use it for the village that hires the party, the merchant who lost a cargo, or the scholar who wants a book back from a tomb.
The Southern Coast and Desert (fan)
Wealthy port towns on the coast, and inland a desert full of old tombs. Good cover for mummy-heavy quests built from the core box's undead.
The Western Marches (fan)
A frontier of watchtowers, many abandoned, their beacon fires cold. A last fortified town is where rumours are traded and maps are worth their weight in gold.
The Eastern Ruins (fan)
Broken cities older than anyone remembers, said to have fallen in a single night when their rulers meddled with magic they could not control. A ready-made excuse for a deep, strange dungeon.
Using Regions at the Table
- Keep travel to a sentence. HeroQuest has no overland rules; a line like "three days north, through Darkfire Pass" is all the journey needs before the heroes reach the stairway.
- Let the region pick the monsters. Undead for barrows and tombs, orcs and goblins for border raids, ice creatures for the frozen lands.
- Name one landmark per quest. One memorable place does more than a whole invented kingdom.
Where Next
- Lore: Great Events puts these stories in order.
- Lore: Ancient Dungeons covers the tombs and strongholds the heroes actually explore.
- Custom Heroes & Monsters helps you build your own quests for these regions.