Last-Second Quest Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Setup Example
• Quest Cards
• Adventurer Cards
• Gameplay
  • Searching
  • Scoring
  • Questions of Validity
  • Scoring Example
  • Round Winner
  • Winning the Game
• Alternative Storage Mats
• Icon Legend

Components

• 28 Quest cards
• 15 Adventurer cards
• 4 Ready to Go cards
• 10 Storage mats (5 Chests, 5 Backpacks, 5 Saddle Bags, 5 Carts)
• 60 double-sided Item tiles
• 5 Locked tokens

Setup

• Each player gets a Storage mat (for your first game it is suggested to use the Chest).
• Deal each player an Adventurer card, blank side faceup in front of the player. In addition, each player receives a Locked tile which they put to the side.
• Shuffle the Quest deck* and place it facedown near the center of the table.
• Place all the Item tiles in a pile in the center of the table.
• Place the "Ready to Go" cards near the pile of Item tiles, faceup, equal to the number of players minus one. Place them in ascending order with the highest number on top (in a 4-player game you will have a pile of cards with the 3 on top, the 2 underneath it, and the 1 underneath that).

*It is possible to make games easier or harder by selecting the difficulty of cards in the Quest deck: each Quest card has a number of seals at the bottom that represent its difficulty. For an easy game, only use cards with 1-2 seals. For a normal game remove those with 4 seals. For a hard game use cards with 2 or more seals.

Setup Example

The rulebook shows an example setup for a 4-player game: a Ready to Go card showing 3 sits at the top of the table, each player has a Storage mat with an Adventurer card and a Locked tile beside it, and the Quest deck and the Item tile pile sit in the center.

Quest Cards

Each Quest card specifies the items needed for doing well on the quest (checkmark), as well as forbidden items that will take away points (cross). The seals on the bottom indicate difficulty.

Adventurer Cards

Later in a game, Adventurers will have penalties and bonuses. These are usually resolved in the first step during Scoring.

Gameplay

Searching

Turn a Quest card faceup and immediately start the round.

All players simultaneously search the pile for items to be placed on their Storage mats: search must be done using only one hand and only one item can be kept in hand. Items taken can be put back in the pile or placed on the Storage mat, but once placed on the Storage mat they cannot be moved or discarded.

An Item tile must be placed in a way that covers a number of squares equal to the size and shape of the item. Illegally placed items are removed at end of Searching.

You can orient a tile in any way as long as it fully covers up squares on your Storage mat (no part of the tile partially covers a square, or sits outside the Storage mat). You may even flip a tile over to see if the other side works in your favor.

When a player fills all the spaces of their Storage mat, they take the top "Ready to Go" card.

When all the "Ready to Go" cards are gone (all but one player has a completed Storage mat), Searching immediately ends, and Scoring begins.

Scoring

Each player shows their Storage mat to the others.

1. Resolve Adventurer penalties/bonuses (question validity).
2. Any forbidden item is removed (question validity).
3. Any required item is worth 1 point (question validity).
4. Any two empty squares are worth -1 point.
5. A "Ready to Go" card is worth points equal to the number printed on it.
6. All other items will remain but not score.

Questions of Validity

If players do not agree about the validity of an item (for example, one player can consider a shovel a weapon because you can hit someone with it and another player contests it because it's clearly a tool) players will vote to decide how the item will be considered.

Before the vote is taken, players can try to persuade others to vote in their favor by debating the validity (or not) of the item in question. (This can be timed if the debate takes too long.) Then ALL players will vote and only a majority will decide the outcome: in case of a tie, the owner of the item decides the outcome. (Note: one can argue to include an item in a category, and in a later round argue to exclude it from the same category!)

If an item is voted as being forbidden, it is removed and the resulting empty squares can subtract points. Otherwise, an item will remain, scoring if it is a required item.

NOTE: In a 2 player game, both players must have agreement on the status of an item in question. All other rules above apply. Example: If one player argues that an item is forbidden, but the other player does not agree, the item is considered forbidden and removed.

Scoring Example

1. The Beastmaster's penalty forbidding it to use ranged weapons is resolved first. The Beastmaster's card reads: "You are forbidden to use ranged weapons. You gain 1 point for each pair of food and animal items. After Scoring, choose one animal item from your Storage mat, put it aside, and keep it for a future Quest." One player argues that the knife is a ranged weapon, but the Beastmaster claims you do not usually throw sacrificial knives, which they feel is what this knife clearly is. After everyone states their opinion, the vote is taken and the majority vote is in favor of the Beastmaster - so the sacrificial knife stays.

2. Next, forbidden items are removed. The sextant and feathered hat are removed, clearly for being used outdoors and for being stylish, respectively. A player argues that the chalice is also a stylish item. The Beastmaster counters that it is just a chalice. Vote is taken and it is in favor of it being stylish - so it is removed.

3. Now, required items are scored. The Beastmaster claims they have 4 points: 1 point each for the mace and sacrificial knife (melee weapons), and 1 point for the love potion and magical poisonous apple (magical items). Total score so far: 3. No one buys the idea that the apple is magical, so the vote is unanimously a 'no'. But since it is not forbidden, the apple stays, but does not score. Someone argues that the Beastmaster claimed their knife was sacrificial, therefore not a melee weapon, but clearly, the Beastmaster says, it is a stabby close combat weapon if needed. The Beastmaster wins that vote. The same player then makes a case that the bottle with the heart is perfume instead: the vote for this one is tied so the bottle remains in the chest as a magical item and will score.

4. Empty squares are now scored. There are 11 empty squares, resulting in -5 points. Total score so far: -2.

5. Lastly, we score the "Ready to Go" card: 2 points. Add the number of points printed on the Ready to Go card. The card shown has the number 2 printed on it and thus is worth 2 points. Final score for the round: 0.

Round Winner

The player with the most points wins the round and fulfills the quest.

In case of a tie, the winner is the player with most required items; if there is still a tie, the winner is the player with the highest valued "Ready to Go" card.

If the game is not over, reset the "Ready to Go" cards and mix all items back into the center pile.

When a player wins for the first time, they turn over their Adventurer card and use a Locked tile to cover up the bonus ability. The penalty remains visible and is active for that player throughout the rest of the game.

If this is the second win for a player, they remove the Locked tile, revealing the bonus ability. Now, both the penalty and bonus texts are active for the rest of the game.

The Adventurer card shows the penalty and bonus texts. For example, the Adventurer card shown with no wins reads: "You are forbidden to use armor and shields. When the Quest is revealed, you start Searching 5 seconds before other players." The same text appears on the One Win and Two Wins cards.

Winning the Game

When a player wins for the third time, they become a famous hero and win the game!

Alternative Storage Mats

Changing the Storage mats gives you a different game. The Backpack has a smaller area for items, but also 4 special slots: below the Backpack can be placed only a 1x1 item and a 1x2 item, while on the top and on the left can be placed any linear item of 3+ squares (those spaces count as 3 squares each if left empty). The Saddle Bags have almost the same space as the Chest but is divided in 2 separate areas, plus one special slot for a linear item of 3+ squares (those spaces count as 3 squares each if left empty). The Cart needs more items to be filled and has an irregular space because is partially filled.

Icon Legend

Item tiles and Quest cards use the following icons:

• Melee Weapons
• Ranged Weapons
• Armor/Shields
• Magical
• Musical
• Tools
• Wooden
• Metal
• Black Colored
• Valuables
• Stealthy
• Sacred/Clerical
• Evil
• Venomous
• Animals
• For Outside Travel
• For Underground
• For Cold Climate
• Food
• Elegant/Stylish