List of Artifact Locations (Game System)

[Kurgan]

Spoilers, for those who haven't played them, obviously, but I thought it might be helpful just to list here where each of the Artifacts are found. Artifacts introduced in Quest packs can only be found within those packs*, but a few Game System artifacts show up elsewhere again. These are the official locations according to the 1990 NA edition (and 2021 remake)...


Talisman of Lore - Quest 5 **
Wizard's Cloak - Quest 6 **
Borin's Armor - Quest 7 **
Wand of Magic - Quest 8 (Wand of Recall)
Elixir of Life - Quest 9 **
Ring of Return - Quest 10 **
Orc's Bane - Quest 11 **
Wizard's Staff - Quest 12 **
Spirit Blade - Quest 13
Spell Ring - Quest 14 **


The Spirit Blade shows up again in Return of the Witch Lord, Quest 3 (if you don't already have it)...

Kellar's Keep has an Elixir of Life in Quest 7, and again in Quest 1 of the Elf Quest Pack (Mage of the Mirror), and again in the Dark Company (Advanced Quest)****....

Otherwise, the Game System is your only chance to get most of the artifacts in the "official" quests... and that's fine because the Artifacts to me should be rare and unique, sought after and prized discoveries. My play group isn't playing the quests in order, we jumped straight to the packs, after playing a couple of GS quests as a warm up, but we may revisit a few just to get the prizes, or else I will slip them into a random "empty" quest where applicable (see this thread on "empty" chests in official quests...!). Edit: While 2025's First Light was designed to be played as an alternate to the GS, it doesn't quite contain all of the same artifacts... for instance you won't find the Wizard's Cloak or Spirit Blade there (but you will find the Ring of Return twice, and the Ring of Fortitude which the GS doesn't have, as well as a card-less artifact unique to that box).

Spell Scrolls are interesting. They first appear in the Quest packs, but KK and the BQP both have instances where you are expected to do a "random draw" from the Spell Scroll deck, whatever it may contain at that point.

* KK & ROTWL share some Artifacts in common. Both have some of the same Spell Scrolls (Heal Body, Fire of Wrath, Ball of Flame & Courage), and both have Magical Throwing Daggers.

** There is a second chance for these Artifacts to be found in the 2021 Hasbro Remake's "Mythic Tier" quest book expansions. It appears you could end up with more than one Elixir of Life, Borin's Armor, Wizard's Cloak and Spell Ring if you play these quests as well as the Game System. Another copy of the Wizard's Staff can be found in The Jungles of Delthrak Expansion (as well as Borin's Armor, but in the latter case only if you don't already possess it).

**** Dark Company (Advanced Quest released 1992) was intended for play under the European 2nd edition rules. This is the first and only official appearance of the EOL in this version of the game and brings back a dead hero with only 1 BP. The version you find on Phoenix's page is a fan-created remake using the North American rules.

The free online quest by Doug Hopkins know as New Beginnings (2022) [intended as an easier, optional introduction to the Game System] includes the Ring of Fortitude (an Artifact included in the remake Game System, and despite rumors to the contrary the "new" slim box design still contains this card).

The 2021/2022 remake edition of the HeroQuest Game System contains some new artifact cards that never existed before in the 80's or 90's... (Phantom Blade, Fortune's Longsword, Ring of Fortitude, Rod of Telekinesis). These bonus artifacts were created for the "Mythic" quest booklets that were the stretch goals of that Haslab campaign. The retail releases of these books call for those cards. In 2025 an "alternate game system" was released for big box retail store shelves (starting with Target in the US) and the Ring of Fortitude is found there too. So like several of the Chaos/Dread spell cards... they don't have an official use except in expansions OR your custom adventures.

Two artifacts, the "Dragon Spear" and "Crown of Shadows" were only found in Joe Manganiello's "Crypt of Perpetual Darkness" booklet which (along with its unique tile sheet and Dragon miniature), until 2025, has been considered "proprietary." It is now expected in retail sometime around July 1st.

More spoilers at the links below!

Other Artifact Locations:

Kellar's Keep
Return of the Witch Lord
Elf Quest Pack
Barbarian Quest Pack
Japanese Game System
Mythic Tier quest books
Rise of the Dread Moon
Against the Ogre Horde: this expansion does not feature any artifacts.
Jungles of Delthrak
First Light

[wallydubbs]

I actually like to shake things up a bit. Particularly in quests 6, 7 and 11.
I've noticed when heroes have a weapon with 3 or more attack dice they don't commonly use Orc's Bane all that much, so I chose to bring that in earlier, in Legacy of the Orc Warlord, it's found in the room with the rest of the heroes equipment.
In the Lost Wizard, since Wardoz is dead, the heroes will find the Wizard's Cloak on the Zombie Wardoz and give it to their Wizard.
In Bastion of Chaos I allow the heroes to find Borin's Armor in the trapped chest that sets off the stone Gargoyle. Borin's Armor is a much more prized artifact then Orc's Bane, since heroes aren't normally able to afford Plate Mail until late in the Game System quests, it makes more sense for it to show up late in the quest pack as the quests are supposed to be getting harder.

Also, since no Artifacts are found in Against the Ogre Horde or Wizards of Morcar I allow the heroes to randomly draw a spell scroll when they come across a Sorcerer's Table.

[Spookyhappyfun]

This (and the other ones for the Quest Packs) is a helpful list. Thank you!

[Kurgan]

Also, since no Artifacts are found in Against the Ogre Horde or Wizards of Morcar I allow the heroes to randomly draw a spell scroll when they come across a Sorcerer's Table.

I love this idea too, and I'd like to think I made it up myself, but I probably copied it from you, or somebody else who mentioned it in another thread. I take it like this:

If they run across the Alchemist Bench, the Apothecary (Elf) or Alchemist (Wizard) can restore one used spell by searching that room for treasure. In a normal magic campaign, if the same come across the Sorcerer's table, the same thing applies. BUT if they have no unused spells ("skills" in the non-magic campaign variant), they can draw a random potion (Alchemist Bench) or random spell scroll ("alchemist item" in the non-magic campaign; from the Sorcerer's Table). So in the end, either piece will let them revive a used card or get a bonus card... first come, first served.

I like the idea of making the furniture more interactive and make it seem more special when you come across a specific piece (why I do an Equipment card draw for the Weapon Rack if there's no quest treasure designated).

[wallydubbs]

I love this idea too, and I'd like to think I made it up myself, but I probably copied it from you, or somebody else who mentioned it in another thread.

I like the idea of making the furniture more interactive and make it seem more special when you come across a specific piece (why I do an Equipment card draw for the Weapon Rack if there's no quest treasure designated).

You can also look up some of the created artifacts by drathe, to use along the way. Considering the difficulty of the Frozen Horror quest pack, adding some of his spell scrolls as well as the Runic Axe to the game would greatly increase the heroes chances of survival.

I agree with you on interactive furniture. There are so many weapons racks in Keller's Keep and rarely is anything ever found in them. Even the Great Citidel has weapons rack with nothing of note in it, opting to place a crossbow in the room with the tomb instead.
The Alchemist bench is always a good place to find a Potion. Though I'd have the heroes roll a D6 for it, getting poison at the roll of one, and then whatever based on expenses between 2 and 6.
I totally concur with what you're going for on gaining back a spell, but I allow a Potion of Recall to work on the Wizard as well. Also, I think Sjeng made an artifact (Rod of Memory) that allows the Wizard to attempt to gain back any spell at the cost of his action. If he rolls a black shield he gets it back. I liked this artifact and included it as a find in Wizards of Morcar.

[Kurgan]

The "get one of your spells back" thing sounds good for a character recovering their "Pass Through Rock" of course that doesn't solve every jam, because it might not have been that Hero who gets "stuck."

[Kurgan]

Added the shortcut to Kellar's Keep. Also, check out my fixes for the Phoenix quest reproductions (spoilers).

[cynthialee]

Also, since no Artifacts are found in Against the Ogre Horde or Wizards of Morcar I allow the heroes to randomly draw a spell scroll when they come across a Sorcerer's Table.

I love this idea too, and I'd like to think I made it up myself, but I probably copied it from you, or somebody else who mentioned it in another thread. I take it like this:

If they run across the Alchemist Bench, the Apothecary (Elf) or Alchemist (Wizard) can restore one used spell by searching that room for treasure. In a normal magic campaign, if the same come across the Sorcerer's table, the same thing applies. BUT if they have no unused spells ("skills" in the non-magic campaign variant), they can draw a random potion (Alchemist Bench) or random spell scroll ("alchemist item" in the non-magic campaign; from the Sorcerer's Table). So in the end, either piece will let them revive a used card or get a bonus card... first come, first served.

I like the idea of making the furniture more interactive and make it seem more special when you come across a specific piece (why I do an Equipment card draw for the Weapon Rack if there's no quest treasure designated).

I will roll a D6 and declare that that many empty scrolls are on the table. Each action the Wizard or Elf takes to scribe a scroll I will allow them to copy 1 spell in their spell list that they currently have in their cards (can't copy a spell you don't have)...If they do not roll a Black Shield. Typically they are certain to get at least 2 scrolls. In the past I have had the player roll 1 Combat dice for each point of Mind and they get the scroll made right if they can roll a black shield. This quest note will make it harder for the elf to make a scroll than the wizard, especially if the wizard has the talisman of lore.

At the alchemist bench I allow them a chance to craft 1D6 potions with the same mechanisms. I will take a draw of a few potions from the potions deck I made, and those are the potions one can make with the ingredients on hand.

[Kurgan]

Interesting. I thought you were going to ask where the threads are for the artifact locations in the new Mythic questsbooks... I think it's a bit early for spoilers like that but eventually yes, unless someone beats me to it!

[Kurgan]

Starting a new (spoilerific) thread about artifact locations for the Mythic tier quest books...

Prophecy of Telor Artifact Locations [now available in retail!]

Spirit Queen's Torment Artifact Locations [now available in retail!]

Crypt of Perpetual Darkness Artifact Locations [store leaks indicate it's coming to retail in the second half of 2025!]

The free (stand alone) quest released by Stephen Baker before the 2021 Remake's release entitled Rogar's Hall (fixed version, official) includes a random Artifact draw (any artifact) which is returned at the end of the quest since it's just a training adventure. This was released before the Haslab campaign completed, so we could imagine it only has the GS artifacts in mind (which as it turns out includes a few more than existed in the version from the 1990's... but Zargon decides whether to toss in the CoPD artifacts as well).

The free online quest by Doug Hopkins know as New Beginnings (2022) includes the Ring of Fortitude (an Artifact included in the remake Game System, and despite rumors to the contrary the "new" slim box design still contains this card).

Other Artifact Locations (SPOILERS!) can be found here.