Formidable Foes

Formidable Foes Rulebook

Table of Contents

1 Game Board (Fortress Furor, Wisdom Track, Power Chip Supply) The majority of the board is devoted to the dungeon of Fortress Furor, and its pathways, intersections, and chambers, where players fight monsters and gather treasures. Players use the wisdom track to record their individual wisdom levels, which will determine what monsters they are able to fight. Players may acquire power chips from the supply to keep on hand for added strength in battles with monsters.

15 Intersection Tiles With the aid of teleports, players can shortcut through large sections of the dungeon. The teleports are formed by matching tile pairs.

4 Teleport Tiles With the aid of teleports, players can shortcut through large sections of the dungeon. The teleports are formed by matching tile pairs.

6 Playing Figures in 6 Colors Players assemble their playing figures and use them to move throughout the dungeon.

6 Wisdom Markers in 6 Colors Players use these markers to note their individual wisdom levels on the wisdom track. (The black marker is for the white figure.)

42 Magic Spells Players can use magic spells to their advantage during the game.

1 Monster Die and 1 Player Die Players do battle with these 2 dice. Monsters use the big die (with values 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4), and players use the small one (with values 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3).

50 Monster Tiles The monster tiles show various monsters; their strengths (the numbers 1-50); their riches (i.e., the number of gold pieces a player gains from defeating the monster, which count toward victory at the end); and, in some instances, their extra power (i.e., the number of additional power chips a player must expend when battling the monster).

3 Treasure Chest Tiles Toward the end of the game, players can find treasures that will give them more gold and wisdom.

1 Dumbest Player / Faerie Fabula Tile

In the second phase of the game, the dumbest player tile must be displayed in front of the player with the lowest wisdom level at any given time. At the start of his turn, the dumbest player may move the weakest monster in the dungeon.
At the end of the game, Faerie Fabula (on the back of the tile) will officially present herself to the fortunate first-place player who wins the right to formally free her.

2 Wisdom Advancement Tiles Players use the wisdom advancement tile that is appropriate for the number of players in the game to help determine their new wisdom levels after defeating monsters in battle.

85 Green Power Chips Players use power chips to "pay" for their battles with monsters.

5 Bonus Gold Pieces Players earn these gold pieces as bonuses following certain battles.

Preparation

Sort the monsters by their strengths into 4 piles as follows: put Monsters 1-4 face down in the first pile, Monsters 5-23 face up in the second pile (Monster 5 should be on top and Monster 23 on the bottom), and Monsters 24-48 face up in the third pile. Put the dumbest player tile at the bottom of the second pile. Shuffle Monster 49 (Furunkulus) and Monster 50 (Prince Fieso) in with the 3 treasure chest tiles to form a fourth face down pile and place it next to the other 3 piles. In the course of the game, when 1 monster pile is used up, players then draw from the next pile in order.

(The preparation sheet's pile table reads: 1–4 — face down; 5–23 — sorted, openly; 24–48 — sorted, openly; 49 & 50 — 3 treasure chests, face down.)

Shuffle Monsters 1-4 face down and then randomly place 1 face up on each of the 4 starting chambers of the dungeon. The remaining monsters will enter the dungeon as the game progresses and players explore new areas of the dungeon (see "Aftermath of Battle").

Take 49 power chips and place 1 on each of the empty chambers in the dungeon.

Place the intersection tiles face down on the intersection spaces on the board.

Shuffle the 4 teleports and then place 1 face up onto each of the spaces marked for them on the board. Each pair of like-colored teleport tiles forms a shortcut through the fortress depths.

Place the wisdom advancement tile appropriate for the number of players onto the board (this is not necessary with 4 players because the information needed is already printed on the board). This tile shows the number of wisdom points players use when calculating their new wisdom levels after defeating monsters.

Sort the magic spells according to the Roman numerals I to V. Shuffle each pile separately and then combine them to form a face down draw pile as follows: put the "V" cards on the bottom, the "IV" cards on top of those, and so on, with the "I" cards atop the completed stack. The whole pile is placed on the appropriate space of the game board.

Each player chooses a color and takes the matching playing figure and wisdom marker along with 6 power chips. Remove any remaining power chips from the game.

The players choose a start player and he marks his beginning wisdom level by placing his wisdom marker on space 1 of the wisdom track. In clockwise order, the other players place their wisdom markers on the next free space on the board in ascending order, with 1 marker per space so that, for example, player 2's marker is on space 2, and so on.

Playing the Game

These are the rules for 3 to 6 players. The changes required for a 2-player game are described at the end.

First Round: Each player begins his first turn with his player figure on 1 of the 4 starting chambers. Players choose which chamber at the start of their first individual turns.

On a turn, each player always chooses 1 of the following 3 actions:

(a) Move and Battle The player may move his figure up to 6 spaces (see "Movement") and then fight a monster if, as a result, he now shares a space with one (see "Doing Battle"). His turn ends after the battle. If a player starts his turn on a space with a monster, he may simply proceed to fight the monster without moving.

(b) Move Twice The player may move his figure up to 12 spaces (2 x 6). Movement is done exactly as described above under "Movement" except that, if the player arrives at a space containing a monster and therefore must stop there, he cannot go on to attack the monster until the next round.

(c) Take Power Chips The player takes all of the power chips from the dark spaces of the power chip supply and places them in his own personal supply. The player must then refill the available power supply by taking the chips from the light spaces and placing them in ascending order on the supply, starting with space 1. This constitutes a player's entire action for the round!

(The supply diagram shows: the player gets 5 power chips; the remaining chips are moved to spaces 1-4; the following player would only get 3 power chips.)

Important: If the power chip supply is completely empty, a player cannot take this action.

Then, the next player in clockwise order takes his turn and chooses between the 3 actions.

Movement

When moving, count all spaces, including intersections and chambers. A player may end his movement on any space, except that a player must stop if he moves into a space containing a monster.

If a player starts his turn in a space with a monster, he cannot just move away.

Exception (very rare): If a player starts his turn on a space with a monster that he cannot kill because he lacks the necessary wisdom level, he may choose to turn in a power chip (to the supply) to flee from the monster by moving away in any direction by making a move as explained in action a) and b). (see also "Doing Battle").

A player may end his movement on the same space as another player. This is sometimes a smart move (see "Gaining Wisdom Through Study").

If a player moves onto a space containing a teleport (see example: step 1), he may move with another step to the other space containing the like-colored teleport (step 2 and 3). Alternatively, a player may choose to ignore the teleport and move on normally.

If a player ends his movement on a space containing a monster, he may fight it (see "Doing Battle"), or he may simply end his turn there (monsters do not start fights).

Doing Battle

Battling

A player's possibilities for combat depend upon the player's wisdom level, as shown on the wisdom track.

The Wisdom Track

Each player's wisdom level is shown on the wisdom track. A player's wisdom increases when he successfully battles a monster or when he studies under a master (see "Gaining Wisdom Through Study"). Wisdom can never be lost.

The Wisdom Advancement Tile

After defeating a monster, the amount of wisdom a player may gain depends on the number of players in the game. A player always gains wisdom from beating a monster. The player's new wisdom level is equal to the sum of the monster's strength added to the number on the wisdom advancement tile. Therefore, players should strive to defeat the strongest monsters. A player's wisdom level can never exceed 50.

Possible Battle Scenarios

I. If the battling player's wisdom level is equal to or greater than the strength of the monster, he can successfully battle the monster. To attack, he tosses the dice (see below: "The Dice").

II. If the player's wisdom level is lower than the monster's strength, the player will not be able to defeat the monster, but he may still fight the monster by tossing the dice. This can sometimes be a good tactical move (see "The Dice" and "The Loot").

III. If the monster's strength is so low that, using the above formula, the player would not gain any wisdom levels by killing it, then the monster simply dies of fright, and the player automatically wins without rolling the dice—but unfortunately, this also means the player gets less loot (see "The Loot"), and his wisdom level remains the same.

The Dice

Both dice are used to determine the results of a battle between monster and player. The big die (with values 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4) represents the monster, and the small die (with values 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3) represents the player.

When fighting, the player tosses both dice and compares the results by taking the difference between them:

Number on Monster Die minus Number on Player Die = Result.

The result is the number of power chips the player must spend. The player pays that number of power chips and thereby defeats the monster. He then takes his loot (see "The Loot"). If the difference between the die rolls is 0, the player has fought so nobly that he must pay nothing. The maximum number of power chips a player would have to pay is 3 (4–1).

Lucky Roll: If the player rolls a 3 and the monster rolls a 2, then the result is a "-1," and the lucky player does not have to pay any power chips. In fact, he gets to take a bonus gold piece (he does not get a power chip).

Important: Any time that a player has to turn in power chips, he places the first chip on the lowest empty space of the power chip supply and removes the rest from the game.

If a player does not have enough power chips to win the fight, he must turn in all of his power chips, and he does not get any loot—although he does gain 1 wisdom level. Additionally in this special case he may move away 1 additional space for free, even if the monster is not too strong for him. The monster, however, stays put.

The Loot

Players gain victory points from winning battles (in the form of the defeated monster's gold) along with a magic spell and wisdom.

Each monster possesses 1 to 7 gold pieces (which count toward victory at the end of the game). After the battle, the player simply takes possession of the defeated monster tile as the "gold." Players may keep their defeated monster tiles secret.

Additionally, the player gets to take the top magic spell from the draw pile to add to his hand. He can use it in following rounds (see back side of these rules for "The Magic Spells").

Lastly, the player gains wisdom. He moves his wisdom marker to the space on the wisdom track equal to the sum of the defeated monster's strength and the value indicated by the wisdom advancement tile on the board.

Note: The value of the wisdom advancement tile is added to the monster's strength, not to the player's individual wisdom level.

Multiple players may have the same wisdom level. When this happens, simply stack the players' wisdom markers on top of each other, placing the marker of the player who got there first on the bottom. The player whose tile is on the bottom is considered to be the dumber of the tied players (see "The Dumbest Player and Wandering Monsters").

Example: In a 4-player game, Chris has a wisdom level of 25. He goes into battle with Monster 23 and rolls a 3 for the monster and a 2 for himself. Chris defeats Monster 23 by turning in 1 power chip to pay the difference (3 – 2 = 1). He moves his wisdom marker to space 29 on the wisdom track (because the monster's strength of 23 is added to the value of 6 in a 4-player game). He then takes the Monster 23 tile (worth 1 gold), and draws 1 magic spell from the pile.

Important Note 1: If the player gets a "lucky roll," he adds 1 bonus gold piece to his loot. If there are no bonus gold pieces left in the supply next to the board, the player can take an appropriate dead monster tile instead (see "Important Note 2").

Important Note 2: When a player's wisdom level is so high that a monster drops dead from fright without the player having to roll the dice, the player's loot is decreased by 1 gold piece. If the monster only had 1 gold piece to begin with, then the player does not get to take the monster tile (instead, he places the dead monster tile face up with the pool of bonus gold pieces next to the board to be used in the future as "change"). If the monster had more than 1 gold piece, the player gets his diminished loot either by taking the reduced number in bonus gold pieces or by taking the defeated monster tile and then paying back a dead monster with a value of 1 gold to the pool. Also, he gets to draw a magic spell as usual.

Important Note 3: When the player's wisdom level is lower than the monster's strength, the player always loses the battle. Nonetheless, he must still roll the dice. The result dictates the number of power chips he loses (in the rare event of a "lucky roll," the player in this case does not get any bonus gold). Even though he lost, the player still gets smarter from the experience, gaining 1 wisdom level. Additionally, he may move 1 space away from the monster for free.

Important Note 4: Players do not get any magic spells with their loot for defeating Monsters 43-50.

The Aftermath of Battle

Defeating a monster in battle usually results in the opening of new areas of the dungeon (because the player is now able to "see" into all of the chambers he could reach from his location). The player turns up all of the face down intersection tiles that he can reach along the pathways leading from the chamber he is in (see "Example"), but only as far as the closest chamber in any given direction (regardless of whether these neighboring chambers are empty or still contain a power chip or monster).

Important: The player should flip the intersection tile over in such a way that the tile's edges align with the intersection's edges, but the player must take care not to look at the tile before it is flipped. An intersection will open up pathways from 3 of its 4 sides, and players may only take these 3 pathways when passing through the intersection.

The player removes any power chips from these newly reachable chambers and places them in the power chip supply. The player then takes a corresponding number of monster tiles from the draw pile, shuffles them face down, and places 1 each face up onto each of the newly visible chambers.

If the player turns up the dumbest player tile when drawing from a monster pile, he gives it to the player with the lowest wisdom level and draws a replacement monster (see "The Dumbest Player and Wandering Monsters").

When the 3 piles containing Monsters 1 through 48 are used up, the last 5 tiles enter the game (see "Treasure Chests").

Important: If a player decides to flee from a monster that is too strong for him and in doing so, enters an unrevealed area of the dungeon, he turns up intersection tiles and places new monsters as described above. A player may flee from a monster that is too strong for him at the beginning of his turn by paying 1 power chip and taking a complete move ("Movement"). Similarly, a player may only move 1 space away in any direction after losing a battle – because he was too weak or had not enough power chips – except that this move is free (see "The Battle" [sic: printed reference; the section is headed "Doing Battle"]).

Example: Anna moves through the red teleport on Space A. She now "sees" Intersection D. After revealing it, she can also "see" Intersection E. Next, she removes the power chips from Chambers B, C, and J and places them in the power chip supply. She then draws the top 3 monsters from the face down pile, shuffles them, and places them face up in the 3 chambers. Anna can also see Chamber H, but there is no power chip in that chamber anymore. Nonetheless, Anna can still only see as far as Chamber H rather than beyond it. She cannot see Chamber G because Chamber F is blocking her line of sight (which would be true even if Chamber F were empty). Chamber I is not visible because Intersection E is turned in such a way as to block her line of sight. Anna moves to Chamber C and battles. After winning the fight, she "sees" into new areas, including into Intersection L, which she now reveals.

Important: Players cannot "look" through a teleport into other regions of the dungeon.

Note: Any time a player enters a new region in the middle of his movement, he interrupts his turn for a moment to immediately reveal the appropriate intersections and to place monsters. If, however, a player ends his movement on a space containing a monster, the player is unable to "see" anything but the monster until the monster is defeated.

Special Rules

Gaining Wisdom Through Study

When a dumber player ends his turn on the same space as a smarter player, the dumber player may become a student of this master. Accordingly, at the end of the dumber player's turn, he gains 1 wisdom level; except that, if the would-be student was only 1 level behind the master to begin with, the student gains nothing because a master would never give away the very last of his secrets.

Important: If the dumber player ends his turn on a space with multiple masters, he still only gains a total of 1 wisdom level per turn. If on the master's turn, the master moves away from the shared space, the dumber student player can watch where the master goes and then decide if he would like to follow the master to this new location, even though it is not the dumber player's turn. The flattered master does nothing to stop this. If the student decides to follow along to the master's new location, the student player gains 1 wisdom level there at the end of the master's turn. Of course, the rule still applies that the dumber player may not gain a wisdom level if it would make his wisdom level equal to that of the master. Naturally, a player cannot follow another player out of turn if the other player is dumber, or if the other player has the same wisdom level as he does.

Important: The dumber player may also decide to tag along out of turn if a smarter player passes through the dumber player's space on the way to another location.

The Dumbest Player and Wandering Monsters

As soon as the dumbest player tile enters the game, the second phase of the game begins. The dumbest player is always the player with the lowest wisdom level. If 2 players are tied for the lowest level, then the dumbest player is the player whose marker is on the bottom.

The dumbest player has the privilege of being able to move the weakest monster remaining in the dungeon. This could be helpful in different ways—for example, in hindering other players. Before the start of his turn, the dumbest player may move the weakest monster on the board up to 3 chambers. The monster may only be moved from chamber to chamber along previously discovered pathways; in other words, the monster may not be moved through intersections containing face down tiles or through chambers still holding power chips. A monster can be moved through chambers containing other monsters, but the traveling monster may not end its movement in the same space as another monster or in a pathway.

Whenever a monster is moved through a space containing a player, the monster nabs the player and "transports" the player along with it. If the traveling monster passes through a space containing another monster, the traveling monster dumps off the player in the space with the other monster, and then continues on alone (see "Example"). Players who are already in a space with a monster cannot be transported.

Monsters do not have unlimited strength and can only transport 1 player at a time, which means that if 2 players are in a space with a monster, the monster is blocked. If a monster is transporting a player and comes across another player (or players) while moving, the monster and all the players must stop in the next monster-free chamber they reach. The Monster is now blocked! Of course, the monster can continue to move on if it sweeps 1 or more players into a space containing another monster because the player(s) will get hung up on the stationary monster.

Example: Monster 14 is currently the weakest monster on the board. The dumbest player may move this monster a distance of 3 chambers. If, as the monster's first step, the dumbest player moves the monster to the space where the red and blue players are standing, the monster must stop moving because it cannot pick up and transport 2 players at once. Alternatively, as the monster's first step, it could move to the space containing the yellow player, grab yellow, and then dump yellow off with Monster 24. With yellow now tangled up with Monster 24, Monster 14 can continue on to the space where the red and blue players are standing. The monster cannot pick up and transport the black player because black is already in a space with a monster. The player cannot look beyond Monster 24 into the unexplored region and cannot see into the unrevealed intersection or into the chambers with power chips. The monster could also pick up the yellow player, head back to the space it came from, and then move 1 chamber further back toward the entrance. The monster can also transport the dumbest player.

Important: Monsters cannot use teleports.

Important: If the weakest monster is blocked, the dumbest player can move the next weakest monster instead.

Note: The dumbest player must exercise this privilege before taking his turn. As soon as the dumbest player takes 1 of the 3 turn actions, he can no longer go back and move the weakest monster.

Treasure Chests

To open a treasure chest, a player must end his movement on a space containing the treasure tile, in which case he can simply take the tile. He places it with his defeated monsters and adds the corresponding amount to his wisdom level by moving his wisdom marker.

Important: Taking a treasure counts as doing battle, except that the player does not roll the dice. This means that a player cannot take the action (b) Move Twice to reach a treasure and also pick it up in the same turn, but he can end his turn on the treasure chest and hope to pick it up on his next turn. Similarly, acquiring a treasure ends a player's turn, and so a player cannot continue moving once he has taken it.

Tougher Monsters

Some monsters (especially the big ones that appear toward the game's end) have a picture of a green heart with a number in it. These monsters are harder to defeat because extra power is required to do so. When battling one of these monsters, add the number in the green heart to the result of the dice roll to get a higher number. The battling player must pay more power chips to defeat the monster. If the player is so smart that the monster simply dies of fright, the player must still turn in the number of power chips shown in the green heart. If the player gets a "lucky roll," he takes his bonus gold and pays 1 less power chip.

Wisdom of 50

Whenever a player's wisdom level reaches 50, his marker stays there. Players cannot get any wiser than that. If all players reach 50, no player is considered to be the dumbest player anymore.

Game End

The game enters its ending phase when the next to last draw pile is used up (Monster 48). From now on, players use the last draw pile containing the tiles for Monster 49 (Furunkulus) and 50 (Fieso), which were shuffled together with the treasure tiles at the start of the game.

The game ends immediately when both Furunkulus and Prince Fieso are defeated. All monsters and treasures remaining in the dungeon at that time stay on the board and escape the players' clutches, although the player who defeated the final monster still gets to take his loot.

Players add up the value of all of the gold pieces on their monster tiles along with their bonus gold pieces and their treasures. The player with the highest total wins the game and finally frees the fascinating Faerie Fabula (naturally, the Faerie is drawn to the richest player!). In case of a tie, the tied player with the most power chips wins. Note that, in the event of a tie, players can potentially boost their total power chips with appropriate magic spells (see back side of the rules for "Magic Spells").

Special Rules for 2 Players

On their turns, the 2 players choose between the following 3 actions:

(a) Move, Battle, Move Again and Battle Again As in the regular game, a player can now move his figure up to 6 spaces 2 different times, fighting a monster at the end of each movement segment.

Exception: The starting player, on his first turn, may only move once and fight 1 monster.

(b) Move Twice and Battle As in the regular game, the player can move his figure up to 12 spaces except that, at the end of the movement, he may fight a monster.

(c) Take Power Chips Follow the regular rules for this action.

The Magic Spells

Players may only use magic spells on their own turns and when taking either action (a) Move and Battle, or action (b) Move Twice, but not when taking action (c) Take Power Chips. A player may cast as many magic spells on his turn as he chooses. As soon as a spell is cast, it is used up, and the player removes it from the game. All numbers appearing on magic spells are "up to" numbers, meaning that a player can also apply a lower number. If the magic spell contradicts the normal rules, the magic spell governs.

Important: As soon as a battle is finished, the player's turn ends immediately, and he can no longer use any magic spells.

Equally Important: The dumbest player may not use any magic spells before exercising his privilege to move a monster.

The Blue Spells (Enchanting Players)

Movement +2 (+3/+4/+5/+6/+7/+8/+9) A player can use this spell to extend his movement by the indicated number of spaces. The spell may be used as the need arises. For example, a player can choose action (b) Move Twice to enable him to reach new regions of the dungeon and can then employ a magic spell to "pay" for the steps in excess of the normal 6. By doing so, the player can effectively convert the action into action (a) Move and Battle, and, thus, go on to fight a new monster.

Power Chips +1 (+2/+3/+4) By casting 1 of these spells, the player can take the indicated number of power chips from the reserves (out of the game) rather than from the supply. This is the only type of magic spell that may still be employed after rolling the dice in battle so that the player can obtain the power chips he needs to "pay" the difference on the dice. A player is never compelled to use this magic spells to get enough power chips to defeat a monster.

Wisdom +1 (+2/+3) The player is credited the stated number of wisdom levels, and moves his wisdom marker up on the wisdom track accordingly. This can result in a change in the dumbest player. The maximum wisdom level is 50, the wisdom spells cannot reach a higher level.

Transference (to Other Players) This allows the player to move his figure to the same space as another player without using the movement part of his turn to do so. The player can begin his movement from this new location. If the other player at the new location is able to qualify as a student, then the student player may tag along for the rest of the active player's movement. This spell may only be cast before a player begins his movement.

Invisibility (from Monsters and Opponents) A player can move his figure through monsters, and potential "student" players may not follow him. If, through such movement, the player reaches new areas of the dungeon, those areas are revealed as described in the rules governing the "Aftermath of Battle." This spell may only be cast before the player moves. At the end of the player's turn, he becomes visible again.

The Red Spells (Enchanting Monsters)

Transform Monster (±2/±3) Before engaging in battle, the player may cast this spell to raise or lower a monster's strength by 1. A player would raise the monster's strength to gain more wisdom from the battle, and would lower the monster's strength to enable its defeat. After battling, the modified monster strength is used to calculate any gains in the player's wisdom level. If the monster is not defeated, the monster's strength immediately returns to normal. A player can use more than one of these spells and add the numbers.

Move Monster 2 Chambers The player may cast this spell to move a monster (not a treasure chest tile!) a distance of 2 chambers, applying all of the rules governing the effects of and limitations on movement of the weakest monster by the dumbest player.

Move 3 Monsters (1 Chamber Each) Follow the rules for the spell "Move Monster (2 Chambers)."

Exchange 2 Monsters/Treasure Chests The player may switch the position on the board of any 2 face-up monsters (the same goes for treasure tiles!), even if players (including themselves) are in the same space as the monsters (or treasure tiles). The players remain where they were. The player may switch the position on the board of any 2 face up monsters and/or treasures, even if other players are in those spaces.

The Green Spells (Enchanting the Dungeon)

Rotate Intersection (Turn 2 Intersections) The player may rotate 1 or 2 face up intersections to his liking, even if players are standing on them. If in rotating an intersection, any players on the intersection suddenly "see" into new regions of the dungeon, the player whose turn it is immediately carries out all of the usual steps for revealing new areas, as described under "Aftermath of Battle."