Kinfire Chronicles: Night's Fall Rulebook

Table of Contents

Overview
Getting Started (Setup)
Combat
Adventuring
Town Exploration

Overview

Kinfire Chronicles: Night's Fall is a cooperative game best played with 2 to 4 players, each controlling 1 hero (called a Seeker) of their choice. You can play solo by choosing 2 Seekers and controlling both at once, but the experience is much improved with companions. Part of the fun is working together as a team, making decisions as a group, and having each other's backs in combat.

The game is played over a series of quests, each of which lasts an average of 45–60 minutes. Between game sessions you can pack the game away in its box and your progress will be saved (see Game Sessions and Saving Your Progress).

Your experience will be simplest if you continue to play the same Seekers throughout the campaign. If you wish to add or swap Seekers later, see Changing or Adding Seekers.

The rules are divided into four booklets that are read in order as the campaign introduces each pillar of play: Getting Started (setup), Combat, Adventuring, and Town Exploration.

Getting Started (Setup)

Choosing Your Seeker

In the main box there are 6 Seeker boxes, each showing pictures of the Seeker on the side. Each player selects one Seeker and opens that box. Each Seeker box contains a Seeker sheet, a plastic standee, and a Seeker deck (18 cards plus the Seeker's lantern card), along with a short piece of that Seeker's story.

The Health Dial

In the Welcome box you'll find a sheet of cardboard with a health dial for each Seeker, plus a bag of plastic axles.

Punch out the axle hole and the health window in your Seeker sheet.
Punch out the correct Seeker health dial (it has your Seeker's face on it) and place it beneath the Seeker sheet, numbers side facing up so the numbers show through the health window.
Press the two parts of a plastic axle firmly together to join the Seeker sheet and health dial.

This dial tracks your Seeker's health. Your starting health for each quest is brightly highlighted on your dial. At the start of each quest, set your Seeker's health dial to its starting value.

If a Seeker's health ever falls to 0, the whole group loses the battle, so take care of each other.

Exception: If playing with only 2 Seekers, each Seeker starts every battle with 5 extra health (+5 health). This special starting health is lightly highlighted on your dial.

Enemy Health Tracker

Assemble the first enemy health tracker using two plastic axles. Punch out the pieces from the Welcome box cardboard and join them together so the numbers on the dials show through the windows on the face of the tracker. Match the colors on the dials to the side of the tracker: green to the left, pink to the right. Because you might encounter terrifying creatures, this tracker can reach up to 99 health, with a tens digit and a ones digit.

As you progress through the campaign, you'll find several more enemy health trackers in the quest folios. When you come across one, punch it out at the end of that quest and assemble it as you did here, so you always have enough trackers by the time you need them.

Your Seeker Deck and Lantern

Each Seeker deck consists of 18 cards plus a lantern card. The lantern card is special: pull it out and set it facedown near your Seeker sheet. It shows the unique magical ability of your kinfire lantern. In battle you must charge your lantern before you can use it.

Card Colors

Cards in your Seeker deck come in three colors, representing three heroic virtues:

Red cards represent power. Power is physical strength or toughness, useful for feats requiring raw strength or endurance.
Green cards represent finesse. Finesse is agility or cunning, useful for feats such as acrobatics, trickery, or sleight-of-hand.
Blue cards represent wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge or mental prowess, useful for feats requiring learning, perception, or leaps of logic.

Two-colored cards have a two-colored border and may be treated as either color — choose which color you want the card to be. A single card can never count as multiple colors at once.

White cards are wild and can be any of the three colors.

Action Cards and Boost Cards

The cards in your Seeker deck are divided into actions and boosts.

Action cards are played during your turn in combat to let you do things.
Boost cards are played outside of your turn in combat, typically to help another Seeker.

Each action is linked to a matching boost card. To begin, shuffle your Seeker deck and place it facedown near your Seeker sheet.

The Destiny Bag

The bag in the Welcome box, called the Destiny bag (or "the bag"), is a key element of gameplay. You prepare it once for play and don't alter it afterward unless you change which Seekers you're playing.

Sort the plastic chits from the Welcome box. Add the standard chits (heart chits, the Darkness chit, and numbered enemy chits) to the bag no matter which Seekers are playing. Then add 12 total Seeker chits, evenly divided between the Seekers being played. For example, with Khor, Asha, and Feyn, add 4 Khor chits, 4 Asha chits, and 4 Feyn chits. (With 4 Seekers, add 3 each; with 2 Seekers, add 6 each.) Store any unused Seeker chits in their respective boxes.

Standees and the Board

Take your Seeker's plastic standee out of its box and assemble it with its base. The standee represents your Seeker's position on the map during combat; store it in your Seeker's box when not in use.

The lid of the main box is fully removable. Remove it and flip it over to serve as the board. Place the Atlas from the Welcome box on the center part of the board — inside the Atlas are the battle maps used for combat.

From the Welcome box, take the Armor cards, Exhausted cards, and the 4 types of temporary status cards (Hurt, Weak, Stunned, Trapped) and place each in their respective spots on the board. Finally, place the Destiny bag in its marked space, filled with the chits you added.

Let's Begin

Open up the folio for Quest 1, The Road to Vinna.
Read the introduction text printed underneath the folio flap.
Take the cards out of the folio and read the first card as instructed at the end of the introduction. Don't read any cards until instructed to do so, to prevent spoilers.
That's it for now. Good luck on your quest!

Changing or Adding Seekers

Seekers grow more powerful over time, so it can be tricky to swap in or introduce new Seekers mid-campaign. The main things to address are kinfire tokens and the Seeker's deck.

Kinfire tokens are accumulated by each Seeker over the campaign. When a new Seeker is added or swapped in, they should be given the same number of kinfire tokens as the member of the party who currently has the fewest.

Seeker decks grow mightier as Seekers acquire more powerful cards, but a new player won't know which cards suit them yet. The group may either rebuild the new player's Seeker deck for them before they begin, or let the new player use their starting deck for the first quest to get a feel for things.

Game Sessions and Saving Your Progress

You aren't intended to play the entire campaign in one sitting. Whenever you complete a quest, you may pack up and resume next time. Pack all materials related to a Seeker into that Seeker's box; store any memory cards, prompt cards, and extra unused cards at one end of the loot box; and put coin and fate tokens into a Seeker box or the Destiny bag as you prefer. Enemies and other cards from the completed quest can be returned to that quest folio. If you have any unused city actions, either use them before packing away or make a note so you don't forget them.

Combat

Setting Up a Battle

With the board set up (Atlas on the center panel, Destiny bag on the left panel, status cards / Armor cards / Exhausted cards on the right panel), prepare a battle as follows:

Open the Atlas to the map indicated by the current quest. Fold the cover back so only the current map is showing.
If the Seekers have any fate tokens, place them on the spaces indicated on the board's left panel.
At the start of each battle you come to a card showing how to set it up. Take the required enemy sheets from the folio and place them above the map.
The battle setup card also shows how to set up the enemy's ability tokens. Look in the Welcome box for the 13 ability tokens (numbered 1–12 and a special Darkness token), punch them out, and place them next to the enemy or enemies as shown.
Place an enemy health tracker next to each enemy sheet and set it to that enemy's starting health (shown in the large heart on the enemy sheet).
Punch out any needed enemy standees from the quest's cardboard sheet, insert each into a plastic base, and place each on the map in the spaces indicated by the battle setup card.
Shuffle your Seeker deck and draw 7 cards. Make sure you've drawn at least 1 action card; in the unlikely event you didn't, draw a new hand of 7 and shuffle the old hand back into your deck. If there are already cards in your discard pile at the start of a battle, shuffle them back into your deck before drawing.
Draw the number of armor cards shown in the shield on your Seeker sheet and add them to your hand. (For example, Khor draws 3 armor cards; Feyn draws none.)
For each battle there are four starting spaces on the map, marked by sets of footprints on the battle setup card. Place your Seeker standee in one of the indicated spaces; no more than one Seeker per set of footprints.
Each enemy determines which Seeker it hates the most and focuses on that Seeker, shown on the lower left of the enemy's sheet (e.g., the Seeker with the most/least health or armor, or the closest Seeker). Break any ties however you prefer. Punch out and place that enemy's focus token next to the hated Seeker's sheet.
Make sure your lantern card is facedown next to your Seeker deck, "Lantern Charging" side showing.

Normally, you begin by shaking the Destiny bag and drawing a chit to see whose turn it is. (In Quest 1, the game walks you through the first two turns.)

Order of Play

Each turn, a player draws a chit from the bag to see what happens next:

Enemy chit (numbered 1–12): Place it in the spent chits area and look for the matching ability token next to an enemy sheet. Trigger the ability next to that token.
Seeker chit: Place it in the spent chits area. The Seeker shown on the chit takes a turn.
Heart chit: Place it in one of the empty spaces on the time track. The players then choose a Seeker, and that Seeker takes a turn.
Darkness chit: Place it in one of the empty spaces on the time track. Then look for the matching Darkness ability token next to an enemy sheet and trigger the ability next to that token.

Resetting the bag: When all 4 spaces on the time track are full of heart and/or Darkness chits, it's time to reset the Destiny bag. At the end of the turn, return all spent chits and chits on the time track to the Destiny bag, then shake to mix. This ensures you never see every chit in the bag, so you can't determine exactly which chit will come out next.

Fate Tokens

In life-or-death situations, fate tokens can turn the tide. Before drawing from the Destiny bag, you may spend 1 fate token by dropping it into the slot on the void box (found in the loot box). Spent fate tokens remain in the void. Once spent, draw 4 chits instead of 1, choose the chit you want, and return the other 3 to the bag. (If fewer than 4 chits remain, draw what's left, pick 1, and return the others.) A maximum of 3 fate tokens may be spent per battle, though you may save any you have for future battles.

A Seeker's Turn

During your turn, you may do the following in any order:

Move: You may move your Seeker standee 1 space, either before or after you act.
Act: You must either play 1 action card from your hand and do what it says, or pass and either draw or discard 1 card.

Wards are action cards that stay in play face-up in front of you after being played and may have lingering effects. You cannot have more than one ward in play at a time; if you play a second ward, discard the first.

After you finish resolving an action card, place it face-up in your discard pile (unless it has the Disposable trait — see below). After moving and acting, check that you have at least 1 action card left in hand; if so, your turn ends.

Disposable cards: A one-time card with the Disposable trait is not discarded after use. Instead, remove it from your deck and return it from whence it came (for example, back to the current quest's cards).

Attacks, Boosting, and Blocking

Ranged attacks can only be made against a foe exactly 1 space away — no more, no less. Melee attacks can only be made against a foe in the same space. You can always move 1 space on your turn (before or after playing a card) to get into range.

When you play an attack action, your companions have the opportunity to help. This is called boosting an action. Each other Seeker may play 1 (and only 1) boost card on each of your action cards, placing it face-up in their discard pile. You cannot boost your own actions, and you cannot play a boost to defend against an attack targeting you.

Normally a boost card must match the color of the action it's played on. A boost played on a white action may be any color; a boost played on a two-colored action may match either color. Multiple boosts on the same action don't have to match each other, as long as each matches one of the action's possible colors. (For example, on a red/green action, both a red and a green boost can be played at once.)

For a damage boost, count up the total extra damage from the boosts and add it to the attack's damage, then subtract that much health from the enemy's health tracker.

Blocking: When an enemy attacks you, your companions may each play one block boost to reduce the damage, played face-up into their discard pile. A block boost must match the color of the enemy's attack (blocks of any color match a white attack). You cannot play a block for yourself.

Armor: After companions block, your armor reduces damage further. For each armor card in your hand, reduce the damage you take by 1 (down to a minimum of 0). Then, after armor reduces damage, you must discard 1 (and only 1) armor card from your hand, returning it to the pile on the board. Using armor is mandatory each time you suffer damage — you can't skip it to save armor for later. Any remaining damage reduces your health; rotate your health tracker to the new total.

Boost Cards

Boost cards are played outside your turn. They may never be played on your own turn, nor to defend against an attack targeting you. Each player may play only 1 boost per action or attack.

Block boost: Reduce damage on an ally by the indicated amount. Must match the color of the attack; only reduces damage for one ally when blocking melee or ranged attacks.
Damage boost: Increase all of an ally's attacks during this action by the indicated amount of damage. Must match the color of the action.
Health boost: Allows an ally to regain the indicated amount of health after the action it's played on. Seekers cannot exceed their starting health. Must match the color of the action.
Move boost: Allows an ally to move 1 extra space before or after their action (they don't have to use all movement at once). Must match the color of the action.
Card boost: Allows an ally to draw or discard 1 card after the action. Any card can be discarded. Must match the color of the action.
Redraw boost: After a chit is drawn, play this boost to return that chit to the bag and draw again. Redraw boosts aren't played on actions or attacks, so they don't have to match any color.

Running Out of Action Cards

If you ever find yourself without any action cards in your hand, immediately discard your hand, returning any status or armor cards to the supply, then draw a new hand and draw armor cards equal to the number shown on your Seeker sheet. When you discard your hand this way, you suffer 1 damage for each Exhausted card you discard.

If you play your last action card and a card boost is played on it, refill your hand before resolving the card boost.
If your last played action card grants you another action this turn, refill your hand and charge your lantern before taking that action.

Charging your lantern: Each time you draw a new hand, you charge your lantern. If your lantern card shows its "Lantern Charging" side, flip it over. Once charged, you may use your lantern card as if playing it as an action card from your hand (lanterns have a color and can be boosted like action cards). After using it, turn it back to its "Lantern Charging" side. It is possible to charge your lantern more than once per battle if you go through multiple hands of cards.

When drawing a card, if your Seeker deck is empty, turn your discard pile over and shuffle it to make a new deck. If both your deck and discard pile are empty, you cannot draw any further cards for now.

A Seeker's Special Ability

Each Seeker has a special ability described in the upper left corner of their sheet. It's unique to them and can be the difference between success and failure.

An Enemy's Turn

When a Darkness or enemy chit is drawn, it triggers the ability next to the matching token. (For example, if the #3 chit is drawn, trigger the ability the #3 token is sitting next to.) Unless the enemy's sheet says otherwise, an attacking enemy may move 1 space before attacking.

Active vs. passive abilities: Active abilities have a black arrow to the right of them and have ability tokens placed next to them; an active ability only triggers when a matching chit is drawn from the bag. Passive abilities lack the black arrow and have no ability tokens; they trigger whenever they say they do, and may even be in effect at all times.

Focus: Whoever has an enemy's focus token is that enemy's focus — the enemy wants to kill that Seeker specifically and ignores other Seekers to pursue them. An attacking enemy moves toward and tries to attack its focus. For a melee attack, the enemy attempts to move into the Seeker's space; for a ranged attack, it attempts to move to a space exactly 1 away. If the enemy has more than one equally good movement option, the players decide where it moves. If the enemy can't move close enough to attack, its attack doesn't trigger, even if it could have reached a different Seeker.

Refocusing: When an enemy refocuses, move its focus token according to the default rule on its enemy sheet. Some abilities instead refocus an enemy on a specific Seeker or follow a different rule. If there's a tie when refocusing, the players choose how to break it.

Reading Abilities

Icons you might encounter on cards and enemy sheets:

Melee attack: May only hit a foe in the same space as the attacker. If there are no available targets, the attack is wasted and any "after attacking" effect does not trigger.
Ranged attack: May only hit a foe exactly 1 space away, no more or less. If there are no available targets, the attack is wasted and any "after attacking" effect does not trigger.
Blast attack (ranged or melee): Hits all foes in the targeted space; friends are not affected. For example, a melee blast for 3 in your space hits all enemies in that space; a ranged blast targets all Seekers in the targeted space but not other enemies.
Damage that does not draw focus: Damage that does not draw an enemy's focus to you.
Damage that draws focus: Each enemy targeted by this attack moves its focus token to you.
Status-inflicting attack: Inflicts a status (Hurt, Weak, Stunned, or Trapped) on its target in addition to damage. See Statuses.
Gain health: "Gain 2 health" means increase your current health by 2. Seekers may not exceed their starting health. Enemies may exceed their starting health unless their abilities state otherwise.
Suffer damage: "Suffer 2 damage" means reduce the target's health by 2.
Gain armor: "Gain 1 armor" means draw 1 armor card and add it to your hand.
Gain kinfire: "Gain 1 kinfire" means gain 1 kinfire token (normally found in your current quest folio). Place it next to your Seeker sheet.
Gain Exhausted: "Gain 1 Exhausted" means add 1 Exhausted card to your discard pile. This usually occurs between battles (the Exhausted cards get shuffled into your deck at the start of the next battle), but sometimes you're instructed to draw one into your hand during combat.
Ward: A ward action stays in play once played, and its effect continues as described on the card. You may only have 1 ward in play at a time; if you play a new ward, discard the old one.

Statuses

Status effects are negative effects that stick around on a target for a while. Statuses can be temporary (lasting at most until the end of the current battle) or lingering (lasting until you sleep at an inn).

Statuses on enemies: When an attack with a status effect is used against an enemy, take a status card of the indicated type and turn it to its enemy side. Choose one of the enemy's active abilities (not a passive one) and cover it with the status card. When an active ability with one or more statuses on top of it is triggered, all of the status cards take effect before the ability resolves. For example, an enemy with a Hurt status on top of an ability suffers 2 damage before using it; an enemy with 2 Hurt and 2 Trapped statuses suffers 4 damage and can't move (the extra Trapped status is wasted — you can only be so trapped). After resolving status cards, discard them to their corresponding piles.

Statuses on Seekers: If an attack with a status effect is used against you, take a status card of the indicated type, turn it to its Seeker side, and add it to your hand. Typically, 1 of each status in your hand triggers at the start of your turn, and you may discard 1 status of each type at the end of your turn. Discarded status cards return to their piles. Hurt and Weak cards affect you based on how many of that type are in your hand — for example, 3 Hurt cards at the start of your turn make you suffer 3 damage.

Exhausted cards are a lingering status, different from the others. They only trigger when you discard your hand after running out of action cards: each Exhausted card discarded this way deals 1 damage to you. Exhausted cards remain in your deck until you sleep at an inn. You take no damage from an Exhausted card if you discard it as a result of an action or boost.

Being Defeated and Defeating Enemies

When any Seeker is reduced to 0 (or less) health, your entire group has lost the current battle. The battle immediately ends and the battle setup card tells you what to do next. It is expected that you will lose some battles, and this usually does not end the campaign.

When an enemy is reduced to 0 (or less) health, it is defeated unless it immediately enters a new stage. If you defeat an enemy, remove its standee from the map (unless instructed otherwise) and take its focus token as a trophy (you may find a use for trophies in town). Defeating an enemy doesn't necessarily win the battle — refer to the battle setup card for the victory condition.

Transferring ability tokens: When an enemy is defeated and other enemies survive, transfer the defeated enemy's ability tokens to the surviving enemy whose sheet is furthest to the right. Tokens stay in the same area when moving (upper-ability tokens move to the new enemy's upper ability, etc.). The exception is when tokens would move to a passive ability: in that case, divide them evenly between the enemy's active abilities (if there's an odd token, the players decide which ability it goes to).

Multi-stage enemies: Some enemies, when reduced to 0 health, enter a new stage. When this happens, you may be instructed to place overlay cards on the enemy sheet. The enemy is then reset to full health and any statuses on its sheet are discarded. Any excess damage from before it entered its new stage is wasted, and the current turn immediately ends. An enemy may have several stages; follow the directions for entering a new stage each time.

Overlays

Overlays are cards placed on top of an enemy's sheet to change their abilities, behavior, or even art. Find the number at the bottom of the overlay and match it to a numbered location on the enemy sheet to determine where it goes. Once in place, an overlay completely replaces the information underneath it. If an overlay changes an active ability into a passive ability, divide its ability tokens between the enemy's remaining active abilities, with any odd token placed on an ability of the players' choice.

Ending a Battle

Once a battle is over, the Seekers return to their starting health, discard their hands (returning any armor or temporary statuses to their appropriate decks), and shuffle their discard pile and remaining deck together to form a new deck. Charged lanterns are turned facedown once more. Lingering statuses remain in a Seeker's deck until they sleep at an inn.

Map Terrain

Some spaces on battle maps feature terrain effects, harmful or helpful.

Harmful terrain inflicts the shown status (Hurt, Weak, Stunned, or Trapped) on any Seekers or enemies each time they enter the space.
Helpful terrain grants the shown boost to any Seekers or enemies while they are in the space. For instance, a space with a +1 block boost reduces each attack against anyone in it by 1 damage. If a helpful boost has a ranged or melee icon after it, it only applies to attacks of that type.

When moving, enemies avoid harmful terrain and favor helpful terrain, but only so long as they can still move toward their target. Enemies ignore terrain that doesn't affect them (for example, if an ability makes them immune).

Black lines on the map represent fully impassable terrain. Seekers and enemies can't move or attack across black lines.
Red lines represent terrain that blocks movement. Seekers and enemies may attack across red lines but can't move through them.

Allies

The battle setup card may instruct you to put ally cards into play in addition to enemy sheets. Place ally cards as indicated next to the enemy sheets. Ally cards can represent allies helpful to the Seekers, allies helpful to the enemies, or unusual items or environmental effects. Statuses cannot be placed on allies. If an ally card has an active ability, place ability tokens next to it as shown. If an ally has health, it may need its own health tracker and can probably be attacked. If an ally with ability tokens leaves the battle, transfer its ability tokens to the surviving enemy whose sheet is furthest to the right, dividing them evenly between that enemy's active abilities (players decide any odd token).

Void (Colorless) Cards

You may eventually come across black Seeker cards. These are "void" cards and have no color. As such, they cannot be boosted and are never a successful card flip when adventuring. (An Exhausted status card is an example of a void card.) When sleeping at an inn and modifying your deck, void cards can fill a red, blue, or green slot in your deck as you prefer, just like white cards.

Icon Cheat Sheet

Melee: attack an enemy in your space.
Ranged: attack an enemy one space away.
Blast: attack all enemies in the target's space.
Damage that does not draw an enemy's focus to you.
Damage that draws an enemy's focus to you.
Weak / Hurt / Stunned / Trapped: an attack that inflicts that status on its target.
Gain armor: draw 1 armor card and add it to your hand.
Gain Exhausted: add 1 Exhausted card to your discard pile.
Gain health: increase your current health by the indicated amount.
Card boost: draw or discard 1 card after an action.
Gain kinfire: gain the indicated amount of kinfire tokens.
Block: reduce damage by the indicated amount.
Move: move 1 extra space before or after your action.
Suffer damage: reduce the target's health by the indicated amount.
Redraw: after a chit is drawn, return it to the bag and draw a new one.
Ward: an action that stays in play until you play a new ward.

Adventuring

Fighting isn't the only thing Seekers do. They take perilous journeys, investigate mysteries, chat with strangers, and even solve deadly puzzles. This is called adventuring, and it takes place as you read the story cards that make up each quest.

Making Decisions

The most basic thing you do while adventuring is make decisions. Often you're presented with multiple paths and must choose as a group how to proceed. You cannot split up and take different paths ("Never split the party"). A basic decision directs you to different cards depending on your choice — for example, "If you journey left, go to 0-2; if you turn right, go to 0-3." You'd then find and read that card.

Story cards are numbered on their backs so accidental spoilers can be avoided while searching for a specific card. Other types of cards are lettered instead (for example, 0-A).

You may wish to choose a leader for your group to break ties when you can't agree on a course of action. This is optional; if you choose not to have a leader, resolve disagreements some other way (flip a coin, roll a die, etc.).

Conundrums

Some decisions are a true test of character — questions of philosophy, ethics, or deep reflection. In these instances, if the group chooses the path that a Seeker agrees with the most, that Seeker receives a kinfire token, a valuable resource representing personal growth. A conundrum presents the choice and lists which Seekers gain a kinfire token for each option. Punch these tokens out of the sheet found inside the current quest folio; there should always be enough to go around.

Memories

Sometimes, when you do something particularly memorable or important, you receive a memory card. Memory cards are kept face-up near the playing area and stored together in the loot box between games.

Later events may reference memories, for example "If you have Memory 0-B, go to 0-15" (mandatory) or "If you have Memory 0-C, you may return the golden monkey by going to 0-16" (optional — "may" always implies a choice). If you qualify for several mandatory choices on a single card, you must choose the first one you qualify for.

Some memory cards have game effects written on them; you must follow those effects for as long as you have the card. For example, a memory card reading "If you would go to 0-15, go to 0-17 instead" redirects you as long as you hold it.

Skill Checks

When you do something dangerous or risky, you may be asked to perform a skill check. These vary and are explained on the quest cards, but the concepts generally remain the same.

Often you're instructed to flip 1 or more cards, looking for cards of a certain color. To flip a card, turn the top card of your Seeker deck face-up and look at it, then discard it. For example: "Each Seeker must flip 2 cards. Every Seeker who doesn't flip any blue card suffers 1 damage."

To check what colors your deck is likely to flip, look at the color bar in the center of your Seeker sheet: the longest bar is the color your deck contains the most of, and the shortest is the color it contains the least of.

White cards are wild when flipped — they can be any color you need (red, green, or blue). Colorless (void) cards have no color when flipped.

Your deck is shuffled at the start of each quest and again at the start of a battle. Otherwise, you only shuffle during an adventure if your deck runs out of cards (turn over your discard pile and shuffle it with your remaining deck).

Penalties

Penalties you might receive while adventuring:

Exhausted cards: When you do something tiring or draining, you may gain an Exhausted card (placed in your discard pile). Exhausted cards are largely useless in combat and deal damage to you when you discard your hand with any Exhausted cards in it. As a lingering status, an Exhausted card is only removed from your deck when you sleep at an inn.
Health floor: You cannot drop to 0 health while adventuring. If you have any other choice available, you must take that option instead. If unavoidable damage would reduce your Seeker to 0 health, they are reduced to 1 health instead.

Rewards

Rewards you might receive while adventuring:

Coin: The currency of the land. Coin communally belongs to the group and can be spent while in a town (occasionally you'll be prompted to spend some while adventuring). Punch it out of the quest folio's token sheet. Spent coin is stored in the Welcome box; unspent coin can be stored in the Seekers' boxes or the Destiny bag between plays.
Kinfire: Normally received during conundrums, and sometimes for an act of bravery or a great victory. Kinfire is almost never spent; if you do spend some, drop it into the void box. Store your kinfire tokens in your Seeker's box between plays.
Loot and treasure packs: While adventuring, you may find new cards to add to your Seeker deck — specific loot from that quest, or you might be instructed to open a treasure pack. Treasure packs come in three power levels: copper, silver, and gold. Choose any one treasure pack of the level you were awarded and open it for a small selection of cards. Typically cards can only be added or removed from Seeker decks when you sleep at an inn, but sometimes you'll have the opportunity to add cards early — follow the instructions given. Unused cards are stored in the loot box.
Prompt cards (new quests): After Quest 2, you'll be able to choose which quest to go on next from your available prompt cards. Each prompt card provides a short description and represents a quest of an appropriate challenge for you — you'll never be offered a quest beyond your capabilities. New prompt cards are found in the quest folio or the city deck of wherever you are. Store prompt cards in the loot box until you're ready to undertake that quest.

Special Seeker Options

While adventuring, some options are only available to specific Seekers and may not be chosen if that Seeker isn't currently being played. Perhaps Asha's training helps her detect a secret door, or Roland's scholarly knowledge lets him read ancient text. Such special options are marked accordingly. If the proper Seeker isn't being played, that option is unavailable. Note that your group can still choose not to follow a special path, even if the proper Seeker is being played.

Level-Up Packs and Interludes

Sometimes, after a particularly intense battle, you'll be instructed to open one of the level-up packs found in the loot box. These packs contain new cards intended for each of the Seekers, plus an interlude card for each Seeker. Cards that have a Seeker's picture on them may only be used by that Seeker. (Unless otherwise stated, you can only add new cards to your deck when you sleep at an inn.) Interlude cards tell a small story of personal significance to your Seeker; read them silently or take turns reading them aloud, as your group prefers.

Town Exploration

Between quests, you'll want to spend time exploring whatever town you're in. This lets you rest up, go shopping, or unlock hidden quests.

City Actions

Starting at the end of Quest 2, each time you complete a quest you and your companions are given a number of city actions to explore your current town. To use a city action, look at the city map, choose a numbered location to visit as a group, then find and read the matching numbered card in that city's deck. For example, in the town of Vinna, Luca's Tea Wagon is #5 on the map, so you'd find and read card V-5.

Your city action usually ends after you visit a location and follow the card's instructions; the card tells you when the action is over. Once you've used up your city actions, you must go on another quest before receiving more (choose from your acquired prompt cards).

If the numbered card isn't in that city's deck, that location isn't available — either you've already seen all it has to offer, or you'll have to try again later. Trying to visit an unavailable location does not use up your city action.

Shops and the Market

When you visit a shop, the card instructs you to add that shop to the market the first time you visit. You'll then find a menu card listing the shop's inventory and prices (in coin), along with the actual cards for sale. When you buy something, you may either add it to your supply of unused cards or immediately swap it into a Seeker's deck using the rules under Sleeping at Inns. When you visit a shop as a city action, you may purchase some or all of the shop's inventory before your city action ends.

Disposable items: Some cards purchased from shops, such as medicines, are disposable. Disposable items must be returned to the shop's inventory after being used in combat, but can be purchased again later.

Selling Trophies at Bounty Houses

At some shops (listed on the menu card), you may sell the enemy focus tokens you've claimed in battle for coin. Some shops even offer special items in return for specific enemy focus tokens — such items are typically made from leather or parts harvested from more bestial enemies. Shop around before selling all your focus tokens or you might miss out on a unique item. You may only have one special item crafted per visit to a bounty house, though you may sell as many focus tokens for coin as you wish.

Inns

When you visit an inn as a city action, you're typically offered the option to sleep there (though you may have to pay coin). Sleeping at an inn allows you and your companions to remove all lingering status cards (such as Exhausted cards) from your Seeker decks, returning them to the correct card piles on the board. In addition, sleeping usually gives each Seeker the opportunity to customize their deck using cards you've found or by trading cards with other Seekers.

Customizing Your Seeker Deck

When an inn allows you to customize your Seeker deck by swapping out one or more action cards, you must obey the following limits:

Limit 1 — Secret Techniques: If a card shows a Seeker's face on it, it's unique to that Seeker; no other Seeker may add it to their deck.
Limit 2 — Deck Size: Your Seeker deck must always have 18 cards, which includes 9 action cards plus their 9 linked boost cards (each boost is named after the action it's linked to). Your lantern card and any disposable cards do not count toward this limit. Any time you remove an action card, you must also remove its linked boost card; any time you add an action card, you must also add its linked boost card.
Limit 3 — Color Requirements: Your Seeker sheet's central color bar shows the number of actions of each color your deck must include (not counting your lantern card or disposable cards). For example, Asha must have 4 green, 3 blue, and 2 red actions, along with those actions' linked boost cards. A multi-color action can count as any one of its colors; white cards and void (colorless) cards can count as red, green, or blue for deck-building purposes.
Limit 4 — Kinfire: Some cards have a kinfire requirement shown at the bottom. You can only add 1 kinfire worth of cards for each kinfire token you've accumulated. For example, with 3 kinfire tokens, your deck may contain cards with a total kinfire cost no greater than 3. With no kinfire tokens, you may not add any cards with a kinfire requirement. Should you lose kinfire tokens, you must ensure your deck is within its kinfire limit before your next quest, spending a city action to rest at an inn to make the adjustment if needed.
Limit 5 — No More Than Three Instant Cards: Some powerful cards take place in an instant and do not use up a Seeker's action; these have the instant icon in their bottom corners. Usually these have the "Free Action" ability, but not always. An action card that can be played as a boost instead may also be marked with the instant icon. A Seeker's deck may not contain more than 3 action cards with the instant icon.

Events

Events are typically one-time encounters you have while exploring a town. When told to go to an Event, take the card out of the city deck, read it, and do what it says.

Unlocking New Quests

Another useful thing you can do in town is unlock new quests. Locations you visit may offer a new quest immediately, or you might have to solve a mystery or overcome an obstacle to unlock it. When you do, the location tells you to take a prompt card; search the city's deck for the proper prompt card and add it to your available prompts. When you're out of city actions, you'll choose a quest from among your available prompt cards, discarding that prompt card afterward (place it next to the void box). Available prompts should be stored with the Seekers' unused cards.

Trainers

Some locations are a special type of shop known as trainers, who can train you in special skills. They work like regular shops but require a successful skill check to gain the new cards. When training, you can attempt the skill check as many times as you can afford for a single city action.