Frosthaven Reveals More Starting Classes, Other New Details

Frosthaven has revealed several new starting classes, along with a ton of new details about the upcoming tabletop game. Earlier this weekend, Gloomhaven creator Isaac Childres held a panel at PAX Unplugged to talk about his upcoming game Frosthaven, which serves as a standalone expansion/sequel to his award-winning game. Not only will the game feature a ton of new playable classes, we'll also get a new mechanic related to seasons, a new way of building up the town, and even a new resource system that replaces the looting system used in Gloomhaven.

Fans got a look at the six starting class of Frosthaven, which include the Necromancer, the Banner Spear, the Blink Blade, the Geminate, the Deathwalker, and the Drifter. Several of the classes have new unique mechanics. For instance, the Blink Blade manipulates time and has to declare whether he is moving Slow or Fast when he finishes a Long Rest. A Blink Blade's abilities have different effects depending on whether he's Fast or Slow, as well as different Initiatives. The Deathwalker has the ability to create Shadows, which she can move around the board and use to boost her attacks or heal those who stand inside of them. The Drifter has a variety of persistent abilities that he can manipulate to ensure that they don't run out of charges. The Banner Spear serves as a traditional tank who summons allies that she uses in various formation attacks. The Necromancer is also a Summoner, who summons corpses at the cost of her own health. Finally, the Germinate has two forms that it switches between, each of which has its own abilities and cards.

Although Frosthaven has the same combat mechanics as Gloomhaven, the game will offer some revamped options to explore while in town. One big change is that there will be two different event decks - one for winter, and one for summer. Players will keep track of the seasons and switch event decks when the seasons change. Additionally, players will also have the ability to upgrade Frosthaven over time, which will unlock new mechanics such as the ability to create new items or potions.

While Frosthaven is intended as a standalone game from its predecessor, players who own Gloomhaven will have the ability to bring some of the items and classes over from their game. All of the classes in Frosthaven and Gloomhaven are intended to be interchangeable, and players can eventually unlock an "importer" in Frosthaven to bring over items. Players can also spend their starting money on Gloomhaven items to bring the items with them when they start the game. However, the story of Frosthaven is independent of Gloomhaven, so players won't necessarily need to finish Gloomhaven before diving into this game.

We'll have more looks at the Frosthaven starting classes later this week. Frosthaven's Kickstarter will be launched in March 2020.