Fighting Fantasy Adventures Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
  • Counters and Tokens
• Starting the Adventure
• Playing the Adventure
• Fighting
• Ganging Up
• Staff Block
• Luck
• Stamina
• Moving Around the Dungeon
• Retreating
• Splitting Up
• Using Ability Cards
• Using Item Cards
• Surprise Monsters
• Information
• Additional Iconography
• Completing an Adventure
• Restarting After Defeat
• Ending the Campaign

Game Components

Hero cards (4) — Each hero has different skill, stamina and luck points. Decide which is most important to you when choosing your character.

Ability cards (30) — The bottom section indicates which abilities belong to each hero.

Tactical Board (1)

Adventure tuck boxes (5) containing two decks of cards. Do not shuffle the cards! Dungeon/Location/Battle cards. Encounter cards.

Counters and Tokens

Hero counters (4) and Monster counters (6)

Party Position Marker (1) — Six-sided dice (4)

These tokens are double-sided.

Skill tokens (6) — Gold tokens (16)

Stamina tokens (18) — Food/Time tokens (12)

Luck tokens (12) — Marker cubes (10)

Starting the Adventure

First, find the four hero cards that look like this: Warrior, Healer, Scout, Mage.

Decide amongst yourselves who will control each hero. If there are only two or three of you then somebody will have to control more than one hero. The key thing is that all four heroes must be used, no matter how many actual players there are.

Now, take the cards and counters for the heroes you control.

Each hero will begin the adventure with a set of Level 1 Ability Cards; below is the Healer's set as an example. Note that each card shows L1 in the lower-right corner.

• Courage — Play this card before dice are rolled in combat. Choose another hero. They gain +2 skill for the entire combat situation. You cannot play this on yourself.
• Healing Hands — Heal up to 3 stamina on one hero, including yourself. Cannot be used during combat. Can heal a hero even if their stamina has been reduced to zero.
• Rejuvenation — Choose another hero. They can recover one Ability card. Cannot be used during combat.
• Staff Block — You can use your staff to engage two opponents. You gain +2 skill BUT you cannot inflict any damage. Place two opponents of your choice in your column; the second one does not gain +1 skill against you. Other heroes in your column can still attack and gain the normal modifiers.

Study your cards! The remaining Ability Cards (L2, L3 and L4) should be placed to one side, as they will be gained when you successfully complete adventures.

Make sure you have the Ability Cards that go with the heroes that you control (denoted by colour). Some heroes may have more cards than others.

Place the Tactical Board on the table, but away from the centre. You will use this to show what order your party is travelling in and what creatures you are fighting. The centre of the table should be kept clear to allow for the placement of the Dungeon, Location or Battle Cards.

There are also various tokens, counters, black cubes, and dice. For the moment just place these to one side; the cards will instruct you if and when to use them.

The adventures in this box form a campaign and must be played in this order:

• The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
• Island of the Lizard King
• Deathtrap Dungeon
• The Forest of Doom
• The Siege of Stonebridge

Select the tuck box containing your next adventure and remove the two decks of cards. You'll need to find cards by their numbers, so DO NOT SHUFFLE THEM!

One of you needs to take control of these cards; we suggest the person who enjoys reading and speaking out aloud. The top card on each deck is there to hide the cards beneath them, so leave them where they are. You might want to quickly discuss with your fellow players to decide how you're going to play the game.

Place Dungeon, Location or Battle card 1, then place the Party Position Marker upon it. This marker indicates where your party is during the game. Begin the game by reading Encounter card 1.

Playing the Adventure

You now need to make two decisions:

• Which direction you will go, and
• What order you will move — you move in single file.

You show the order of your party by placing your coloured hero counters on the Tactical Board.

You can change the order of characters before moving to the next room, but not after you enter a room, as who goes first may have an impact on what happens next.

You then find the Dungeon or Location card that matches the number in the next room, red side up, and place it next to this card, creating a floor plan. You also find the Encounter card with the same number, also red side up, and read out what is written on it.

Please note: in this rulebook, we will use images from an introductory adventure called "The Orb of Lucis" to avoid any spoilers for the other adventures.

Some rooms will present you with a challenge you may solve through intelligence, improvisation, skills and abilities. Other rooms will contain strange creatures which you will have to fight.

The number in the shield icon shows their skill level (how good they are at fighting). The number in the heart icon shows their stamina (how much damage they can take before falling over).

The letter above the shield shows you which Monster counter will represent this monster. If more than one letter is shown, multiple monsters are present.

During the adventure you will pick items up, which will nearly always be in the form of a card. You can pass items between you as you wish, but not during a fight. You cannot pass on your Ability cards, they stay with you.

When you resolve a Dungeon card you flip it from the "active" red side to the "completed" black side. This is very important, as it shows you which rooms you have cleared and there may be information on the other side.

As you progress through the adventure, you will place each dungeon room next to each other, so the full layout of the dungeon you're exploring becomes clear.

Fighting

If you enter a room that has one or more monsters in it then you may need to fight them to be able to pass through the room. If the situation calls for combat then check which and how many monsters are on the card.

The bottom of the card will tell you how many of each type are there. The left and right side will contain the skill and stamina statistics of each monster and with which Monster counter they are represented in the battle. Take all the required Monster counters and line them up from left to right, going from A to F.

If there are more monsters than heroes then the surplus monsters will be lined up from left to right above the monsters already in those columns. They will gain a skill modifier as indicated by the row they are in.

Any heroes who do not have an opposing Monster counter can now move to a column of their choice, taking up the next empty space OR they may choose not to fight, removing their counter from the Tactical Board. You now fight the first round of combat, which is described in detail below.

A fight consists of one or more rounds. In each round a hero will attempt to hit the monster they are fighting. After each round of fighting you can adjust party order as you wish or retreat from the room. Adjusting party order means rearranging which heroes are fighting which monsters, and the order in which they are fighting if they are ganging up on the same monster.

If a hero previously chose to stay out of a round of combat then they can join in the next one if they wish. Similarly, a hero can choose to drop out of combat as long as each monster has one hero pitted against it.

In the example shown, the Warrior attacks the big Ogre (A) while the Healer and Scout each attack one of the Goblins (B) and (C). The Mage backs up the Warrior, attacking the Ogre.

One of the heroes could have chosen to stay out of the fight as there are more heroes than monsters.

A round of combat starts with the first hero fighting the first monster in the same column. The order goes from left to right. Then resolve combat involving heroes/monsters in the second row, then the third row and so on.

An individual combat is resolved by the hero rolling two dice and adding them to the hero's skill (shown in the Shield icon). Another player should roll two dice for the monster, adding the Monster's skill. Whoever has the lowest total loses stamina equal to the difference between the two totals. This is recorded by placing negative stamina tokens on the monster or hero as required. In the case of a tie neither side loses stamina.

If you reduce a monster to zero stamina then remove the Monster counter from the Tactical Board; it is dead. If a hero is reduced to zero stamina then remove the hero counter from the Tactical Board; they are unconscious.

If there are surviving monsters and heroes after the first round of battle, a new battle round starts.

At this point in time, the party can choose to retreat from the room, see below for more details.

If they choose to continue the fight, all the party members can rearrange themselves in the columns that still have monsters and start the next round of combat.

Example:

The Warrior has rolled 5 5. They add their skill of 9 to make a total of 19.

The monster has rolled 2 3, which when added to their skill of 10 makes a total of 15.

The Warrior thus inflicts 4 damage on the monster (19−15=4).

Place a stamina token and a stamina token to show this. When the Mage attacks they will gain +1 to their die roll.

Ganging Up

If there are two or more heroes attacking the same monster then the order in which they attack is important. The second hero will gain +1 to their die roll. The third hero to attack gains +2 and the fourth hero would gain +3.

The same rules apply if there are two or more monsters in one column.

Staff Block

The Healer has the ability to engage two monsters in combat if they so choose. In the first round of combat this will be the monster in front of the Healer and the one to the right, if there is one. Note that Monster counters remain in their normal positions.

In the following rounds of combat the Healer can be positioned so that there is a monster in the same column and one in the column to the right. The monster to the right does not need to be engaged by another hero in this case. Any heroes not engaged directly can choose not to fight or join a column of their choice.

The Healer must fight the monster in their column and the one to their right as individual combats. They will gain +2 skill in each combat. They will suffer stamina loss if necessary, but cannot inflict stamina loss on their opponents. Any heroes in the same column as the Healer fight normally.

Luck

VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! If you miss this rule then you will never survive the adventure.

Each hero has a luck level. You can lose 1 luck (take a -1 luck token) and re-roll ALL of the dice just rolled in combat, so for you and the monster.

You can do this as many times as you wish as long as you have luck left. You can also use luck to re-roll the dice in other situations where you are asked to roll dice.

Stamina

Stamina is a measure of how much damage you can take. If you are reduced to zero stamina then you are not dead, you are simply unconscious.

While in an unconscious state, you cannot move nor can you talk. If at a later point in time another hero can use some form of healing potion or spell to increase your stamina then you regain your senses and will be able to continue with the adventure. You cannot move while at zero stamina, so remain in the room while the rest of the party continues. Place your hero counter in that room to remind you of this fact. Your party members can take any items they wish from you.

Unconscious heroes can be dragged to the next room if the party retreats.

If all heroes are reduced to zero stamina then the party fails the adventure. Please check page 15.

Moving Around the Dungeon

Use the Party Position Marker to keep track of your current location.

You can move at will around the rooms that you have cleared. Thus you can easily back-track to a room you cleared earlier. However, you cannot move through rooms that still have monsters present or a challenge that would stop you moving through it. Remember that when you clear a room of monsters or solve any challenge you flip the Dungeon card to its other side. (The circle at the top of the card will now be black.)

Retreating

If you choose to retreat from a room, then you must go back to the room you entered from. Any damage inflicted on the monsters in the room is removed and any dead monsters will resurrect. You can still go back to this room at a later point in time but the creatures there will be fully recovered.

You must drag any unconscious heroes out of the room and leave them in the room you retreated to.

Splitting Up

You must stay as one group unless the adventure tells you otherwise.

However, you must leave unconscious heroes behind. Use their Hero counter to keep track of their location.

Using Ability Cards

Most of your Ability cards will have some form of use in combat, though some cards can only be used outside of combat. Icons towards the lower right of each card will indicate when a card can be used.

Please use your Ability cards when necessary, paying attention to the description on each card. For example, only the Mage can become invisible.

When you use an Ability card, flip it over — each card can only be used once per adventure unless stated otherwise.

Note that if an ability can be used at the start of combat, this means before your first attack.

Using Item Cards

During your adventures, you will come across items that may prove useful, either in a specific situation, or in every battle. Similar to Ability cards, icons in the lower right will indicate when a card can be used.

As indicated by the icon in the lower left, some items can only be used by a particular hero, while others can be used by anyone.

Important details will be indicated on the cards.

Additionally, while some items can be used only once, many items can be used repeatedly, even kept and carried forward with you to the next adventure.

There are three item types, which are:

• Adventure — this can only be used in the adventure in which it is found, and typically only once.
• Consumable — these items can be carried forward through the campaign, but can only be used once.
• Equipment — armour, weapons and worn items that can be carried forward through the campaign.

Surprise Monsters

While most monsters are found on Dungeon cards, some are found on Encounter cards, often as a result of your actions.

Information

From time to time, you may discover potentially valuable information. You may retain these cards for future reference.

Additional Iconography

There are a variety of icons on the back of location cards to remind you of what happened in this location and any objects you might have found.

• Battle Won!
• Obstacle Cleared!
• Item Found!
• Trap!

Completing an Adventure

If you successfully complete an adventure, the card will tell you so. Congratulations! Normally, you will be told to take the next level's Ability cards.

At this point, Adventure and Information cards go back into the deck while Equipment and Consumables go with you to the next adventure. Other tokens are lost.

Heroes regain all their skill, stamina and luck. Their Ability cards are refreshed if they were exhausted.

Please note that The Forest of Doom and The Siege of Stonebridge form a single big adventure which means you carry over any cards that say "Retain this card."

You have completed the adventure! As you are all still alive, each surviving hero should now gain the next level Ability cards and add them to their available Ability cards.

Restarting After Defeat

If all heroes are reduced to zero stamina then the party fails the adventure and all heroes die. You can replay this adventure or continue with the next adventure. You will start with the standard heroes with their Level 1 Ability cards. All Items and Consumables are lost. When you successfully complete an adventure, heroes gain the Ability cards one level higher than the ones they presently have.

If at least one hero survives the adventure then it is assumed they rescue their friends, which means you successfully completed the adventure.

Ending the Campaign

You will know if you have won the campaign.