Gloomhaven is a city filled with adventure, danger, and peoples of all varieties. And, with your help, it could also become the new city of love.
Feeling lonely in the time of COVID? Looking for the special someone to keep you warm at night, to write you love poems… or kill entire legions of enemies for you? Well, I am happy to introduce you to Gloomhaven’s Most Eligible Bachelor. Let’s see if we can set you up with your next start up character.
He may not say much, but he has a lot to offer. He can be your knight in shining armor, astride a horse, ready to save you from the tyranny of that dragon that kidnapped you.
Actually, there are not a lot of dragons in Gloomhaven – more likely to be flesh eating rats. But all the same really.
This big boi keeps up to date with all the recent health trends, keeping his starting HP real high. He is a little bit of a weapon nut, so you will have to consider that if having too much gleaming metal on the walls is going to be a turn off. But, if you’re still down, you are going to have one swol helping hand around the house.
Cragheart is a rough and tumble hunk looking for love. Just as powerful and buff as the Brute, the Cragheart offers large damage outputs to anyone around them – including you if you stand too close.
Destruction and power are the Cragheart’s two greatest desires. Destruction is in the short term, allowing him to get into the fray and kill enemies that surround him. Power is the long term, leading too… well…
Actually, now that I think it over, I think we are going to send Cragheart home. We are not in the business of mixing love and power.
The Mindthief is a fickle lover to get a grasp on. He’s fast, moving from spot to spot, not staying anywhere for too long. He is a storyteller of a kind – an endless gossip. He loves to access peoples minds and learn their secrets, then spill them later.
The Mindthief LOVES to make people start to hate each other. This guy loves nothing more than making allies into enemies. Passive aggression is an understatement with this guy.
Look, we were a little desperate finding contestants. Just skip this one too – the amount of mind games this guy plays with your emotions, it’s not worth it.
We need to warn you about our next bachelor – she never sticks around for long. She knows what she wants, and most of the time it’s just something for the evening. However, never say never – she may find something long term if you are something real special.
Quick witted and fast on the draw, the Scoundrel knows how to deal with things at a distance. Whether it be wielding a bow or an eyebrow, she knows how catch what she’s looking for.
You think you have what it takes to go toe to toe with this one?
Elusive, smart, and a workaholic, the Spellweaver has some crazy potential in the world. She is a master of numerous arts and domains across Gloomhaven. The Spellweaver often offers her party boosts while also wielding some very powerful and dangerous arcane powers.
She is often considered the fulcrum for any party – at the last moment, when the battle could seem too much, the Spellweaver could perform that one heroic feat that could change everything. Just don’t expect her to be able to be the front of the battle – time spent pouring over books does not lend itself to a high HP.
They say that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but maybe this guy could have helped. Smart, generous, and with a heart of gold, the Tinkerer can make any hopeless romantic’s heart melt.
The Tinkerer is an artist at heart. He crafts arcane items to be able to protect Gloomhaven and his friends. He also has a medical degree, giving him the ability to heal the wounded in his party. While he may not be the strongest or the fastest, a man who works for the world can go a long way.
So, let’s summarize – a doctor, inventor, and community organizer who wants to help those around him? Swoon much?
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All images of Frosthaven from Cephalofair Games
Update (December 14, 2020): The beginning of an epic adventure stirs in the north! Frosthaven preorders at Three Kings Loot now available here.
Here at Three Kings Loot, we are so, so excited about Frosthaven. On May 1st, 2020, the game finished its incredibly successful crowdfunding campaign, with the 3rd highest funding total in all of Kickstarter’s history. After 31 days it managed to acquire $12,969,162 USD from 83,188 unique backers – during a worldwide global health crisis no less. So, what is up with this game that has us and that many other people so pumped?
Simply put, it’s the sequel to Gloomhaven. The brainchild of developer Isaac Childres, Gloomhaven is a cooperative, dungeon-crawling legacy game that released in early 2017. Over a campaign made of many missions, groups in Gloomhaven went on a collective journey from zeroes to heroes. They became stronger, acquired gold to purchase powerful items, made allies that eventually became playable classes, retired adventurers after accomplishing great feats, and eventually formed new heroes to take up their party’s mantle.
Since its release in 2017, Gloomhaven has regularly kept its spot as the #1 game on BoardGameGeek.com and won many awards, including the Origins Awards 2018 Game of the Year. Speaking from experience, the hype that has surrounded Isaac Childres’ creations is well-deserved. At first, I only knew that it was a great product I couldn’t keep on my shelves. Eventually, however, I decided to see for myself what the big fuss was all about. And somehow my group and I ended up playing through the entire campaign non-stop. Gloomhaven was a delight every minute of the many hours spent on it; we were excited to meet again week after week. We had set our eyes on conquering Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles next… until COVID-19 forced us all into our homes. T_T
While several related products have either come out already (Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles) or will be released later this year (Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion), Frosthaven will be a true, full-fledged sequel to the Gloomhaven. It follows a new band of brave souls, risking their lives in frozen lands north of the original game. In Frosthaven, your fellowship will rebuild a devastated town, defeat frightening threats, and unravel new mysteries. Like its predecessor, it promises to be an engaging, unique experience that no two groups will tackle the exact same way. Man, oh man – I really don’t have the words to express how ready I am to fall in love with this game with my friends.
Image courtesy of Cephalofair
There will be a grand total of 17 new classes coming to Frosthaven. However, at the start of the game, you will only be able to select one of the six starting classes. From left to right in the top picture:
At the start of your story, the town of Frosthaven is a small settlement struggling to survive. Its success will soon become entwined with yours as you decide which types of buildings to construct with your hard-won resources. These buildings will give you different bonuses and options during the campaign. Walls and towers to defend the town. Specialized workshops to refine your resources into powerful items. Inns and temples to attract more adventurers. As Frosthaven grows under your direction, it will face attacks and you will take up arms to protect the home you built in the north.
The harsh environment of the north will play a vital role in Frosthaven. Your campaign will begin in the relatively calm summer seasons, getting the town back on its feet. After that, time passes and the season eventually turns to winter. Deadly and difficult, the winter will see your buildings close as the nights grow long. You will spend precious resources in a struggle to stay warm. And dark shapes skulk in the shadows, gathering the courage to eventually assault your town. Each season will last 15 completed scenarios and have their own event decks. Ultimately, dealing with a dark northern winter every year will be an interesting challenge and enhance the game’s playability.
In Frosthaven, your enemies will drop loot from a random deck of cards, including money, items, and resources. Some items like the green mushrooms below will go into your alchemical experiments. Combinations of ingredients will make unknown potions that might have fantastically helpful effects. Or could give you a case of indigestion… We’ll find out! On the other hand, lumber and metal resources will turn into the party’s arms and armors. Or maybe you’ll need them to build, upgrade, and repair your town’s structures. Don’t have a use for a resource? You can add it to the party’s pool and save it for future needs.
Image from Cephalofair Games
Now that Frosthaven’s been funded, Cephalofair Games is going to be hard at work for its release in March 2021. According to what the company has told us, the retail prices of the associated products will be as follows:
If you’re as hyped as us, you’ll need to make sure you can secure your copy. During Gloomhaven’s first retail-printing, I remember stores everywhere were scrambling to get copies for their customers via their distribution companies. However, many distributors themselves had been short-shipped and each store’s orders were reduced. In fact, I only got one of the three that I ordered. That’s how just much demand there was for Gloomhaven all across Canada.
However, with Frosthaven, we’ve made sure to avoid all short-shipping issues by entering a retailer’s agreement with Cephalofair Games. This time, we’ll be ordering directly from Cephalofair Games and we can 100% guarantee every preorder. By the looks of things, I think there’ll be just as much, if not more, demand for Gloomhaven’s sequel and I am really glad that we’ve secured this agreement.
Didn’t make it in time for the campaign? Excited as we are? Our preorders for all items associated with this incredible game have already begun.
