The Quest Kids: Big Bads of Tolk's Cave Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Meet Flint
• New Dungeon Tile Deck
• Action Dice
• Event Tiles & Cards
  • Event Tiles
  • Event Cards
  • Rolling Action Dice
    • Borrowing Dice From Another Player
    • Using Dice That Are Not In the Game
  • Success!
  • Fail!
• Tolk Item Cards
  • Tolk Item Icon
• Big Bad Boss Battles
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
    • Big Bad Attacks
    • The Quest Kids Attack
  • End of Battle
• Kickstarter Exclusive Dice Tower (Early Bird/Launch List Reward)

Setup

You will need all of the components from The Quest Kids base game to play The Big Bads of Tolk's Cave expansion except for:

• The base game Dungeon Tiles
• The "Gain one Tolk Gem" Quest Card.
• The Tolk Gems

Setup your adventure as you would for a game of the Quest Kids base game using the Big Bads Dungeon Tiles (instructions on pages 8-11 in The Quest Kids rules).

New for The Big Bads of Tolk's Cave:

• Give each hero their matching action dice and action dice reference card.
• Place any dice for heroes not in the game and their reference cards near the board.
• Place the decks of Green Event Cards, Red Event Cards and Tolk Item Cards near the board.
• Locate the special BIG BADS Dungeon Tile and place it near the board.
• Finally, choose which Big Bad you'd like to encounter at the end of your journey, locate the Big Bad tiles and cards associated with that boss and place them nearby (these cards will not be needed until the end of the game).
  • The prototype only has Dazzlon as an option.

Meet Flint

Flint is the newest member of The Quest Kids! He is a brave Dragon of Spirit Valley. Historically, the Dragons of Treasure Falls have been enemies of the Quest Kids and their allies. However, there are groups of Dragons who fight on the side of truth and honor. Flint's parents lead the good Dragons and Flint is the first Dragon to ever be a Quest Kid. He is trusting, optimistic and powerful (he is a Dragon after all). His parents have taught him to have faith in the good inside of all creatures, and because of this he wields the Orange Tolk Gem of Faith.

Flint begins the game with one WISDOM Ability Card.

New Dungeon Tile Deck

There are 42 new dungeon tiles included in The Big Bads of Tolk's Cave. Every dungeon tile included in this expansion has a logo in the top right hand corner to help players differentiate between these tiles and the base game tiles.

Speaking of the base game, players can certainly use their favorite silly bad guys from the original Quest Kids in The Big Bads of Tolk's Cave. Simply swap out bad guys that have the same dungeon title color and star value.

Action Dice

In The Big Bads of Tolk's Cave we are introducing a staple of fantasy gaming to young players: dice! Each hero will have a pair of unique action dice that they will use throughout their adventure.

Players should keep these dice on the "Special Items" section of their player board.

There are 6 actions represented on the action dice:

• ATTACK
• OUTSMART
• HELP
• SNEAK
• TEAMWORK
• WILD (can be used as any action)

Each player also has a unique ACTION DICE REFERENCE CARD. This card clearly shows what six actions each hero has on their dice and is intended to help introduce the concept of dice probability to younger players.

Event Tiles & Cards

Event Tiles

While exploring Tolk's Cave heroes will now encounter Special EVENT TILES. These tiles present players with fun and challenging scenarios that will be resolved using the Action Dice.

There are four total Event Tiles in the game (one green, one gray and two red).

Once a player uncovers an Event Tile that player will place the tile on their player board (it is worth stars) and then be the first player to draw an Event Card. All players will take turns drawing and resolving Event Cards and then play will resume as normal with the next player.

Prototype: there are only 5 event cards of each color in the prototype (there will be more in the base game). Once you run out of event cards simply shuffle the discarded events and create a new deck.

Event Cards

There are two different colors of Event Cards: Green and Red. Players will draw a GREEN Event Card when they discover a Green or Gray Event Tile and a RED Event Card when they discover a Red Event Tile.

Each Event Card presents a hero with a problem and then two options on how to handle the problem. When a player draws an Event Card they should read the situation and two options to the group (or have an older player help with the reading).

Each option will require a certain combination of ACTIONS to be rolled in order to be successful. Players must declare which choice they decided on before rolling their dice. If they are successful they should reference the GREEN CHECKMARK section of the Event Card. If they don't roll the needed actions they should reference the RED X section.

Rolling Action Dice

When rolling Action Dice to resolve an Event Card players always roll the two unique dice that are associated with their character.

Players must announce which option they are choosing BEFORE rolling the dice.

Borrowing Dice From Another Player

Additionally, a player can also ask one other player in the game to borrow one of their dice to roll as well. A player receives a Kind Kid card for letting another player use their dice.

Example: Noah is attempting to resolve an Event Card that requires one OUTSMART action and one HELP action. Noah has a good chance of gaining an OUTSMART action by rolling his dice, however he does not have any HELP actions on his dice. Therefore, he borrows one orange Help Action Dice from Flint and rolls all three dice. Flint receives a Kind Kid card.

Using Dice That Are Not In the Game

If you are playing a 2, 3 or 4 player game then a certain amount of Action Dice will not be controlled by another player. If you would like to roll a dice that is not in the game you can do so by discarding one ability card of your choice to the Big Bads Tile.

The more ability cards on the Big Bads Tile at the end of the game the harder the Big Bad will be to defeat!

The maximum amount of dice a player can roll on their turn is 3.

Success!

A player successfully completes the Event Card if they are able to roll the action icons needed for their choice. REMEMBER to check your Tolk Items for special abilities that may let you re-roll action dice or gain free actions.

Once successful a hero gains the reward that is listed in the Green checkmark section of the Event Card. Players will always receive a Tolk Item card for completing an Event Card and some Red Event cards include additional rewards.

Fail!

If you are unable to roll the needed action icons then you have unfortunately failed to solve the problem. You should reference the Red X section to find the failure penalty.

A player will always need to discard an ability card to the Big Bads Tile for failing an event tile and some Red Event cards include additional penalties.

Tolk Item Cards

The Big Bads of Tolk's Cave also introduces UNIQUE ITEMS to young players. There are three types of Tolk Item cards:

• Weapons (gold)
• Armor (gray)
• Potions (pink)

Players will obtain Tolk Items by either completing event cards or finding them during their exploration of Tolk's Cave.

Tolk Item Icon

Anytime a TOLK ITEM ICON appears on a Dungeon Tile a player can draw one item from the deck.

WEAPON Items and ARMOR Items provide players with lasting special powers! These items allow you to gain additional abilities when exploring dungeon tiles, use less abilities to scare away monsters, gain free action dice rolls and much more. Each Armor and Weapon item can only be used once per turn.

IMPORTANT: a player can only have ONE WEAPON item and ONE ARMOR item. If you already have an ARMOR or WEAPON item and draw a second ARMOR or WEAPON item from Tolk's Deck choose which item you'd like to keep and then discard the other item.

POTION items are one-time-use enhancements. Some potions must be used immediately, others can be used whenever the player chooses and others will be used at the end of the game. Once a POTION is used it should be discarded. Players can only have one potion at a time.

Players can place their POTION, WEAPON and ARMOR items stacked ontop of each other with only the power descriptions showing. These can be placed under the CAMPAIGN CARDS section of your player board.

If you run out of Item Cards simply shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck.

Big Bad Boss Battles

At the end of an adventure in Big Bads of Tolk's Cave the heroes must face off against a Big Bad!

There are two new types of cards used in a Big Bad Battle:

• Big Bad Attack Cards
• The Quest Kids Attack Cards

Setup

1. Take the deck of Big Bad Attack Cards for the Big Bad you selected at the beginning of the game and place it at the top of the main room in the middle of the board.
2. Look through The Quest Kids Attack Cards and remove all cards that list a player count higher than your number of players (ex. If you are playing with three heroes remove the QK Attack Cards that have 4 heroes and 5 heroes options.
3. Place the deck of QK Attack Cards beneath the Big Bad Attack Cards.
4. Line up the Quest Kids figures in the spaces below the QK Attack Cards.
5. Lastly, give the Big Bad a pile of Heart Cards based on the following:
   • a. Heart Cards by player count:

2 Players	3 Players	4 Players	5 Players
4 Health	5 Health	7 Health	9 Health

Cards on Big Bads Tile:

1-3 Cards	4-7 Cards	8+ Cards
+1 Health	+2 Health	+3 Health

Gameplay

There are two phases during a Big Bad Battle. First the Big Bad Attacks and then The Quest Kids Attack.

Big Bad Attacks

1. Place one Big Bad Attack Card face down behind each player's figure.
2. Flip all of the tiles over at the same time and resolve the cards (this can be done at the same time or one player at a time).
3. Each Big Bad Attack card contains the following elements:
   • a. The name of the attack
   • b. Two options on how the Quest Kid can defend against the attack
   • c. A reward for successfully avoiding the attack
   • d. A penalty for failing to block the attack
4. Just like with the Event Cards players can choose which option they'd like to roll for and must announce this choice before rolling. Players can always roll both of their hero's dice.
5. Unlike Event Cards players cannot ask to borrow a dice from a fellow player in exchange for a Kind Kid Card.
6. However, players can discard any ability cards they have remaining on their player board to roll additional dice. The max amount of dice one player can roll is 4 dice.
7. IMPORTANT: don't forget to check your item cards for abilities that may be helpful when rolling Action Dice.

The Quest Kids Attack

After the Big Bad has attacked each hero it is The Quest Kids turn to strike!

1. Flip over the top QK Attack Card.
2. Each QK Attack Card has two different attack options:
   • a. All QK Attack cards have a 1 Hero Option
   • b. The other options is for 2, 3, 4, or 5 Heroes to team up together and try to inflict damage on the Big Bad.
3. Players can work together and decide how to handle the attack card and which heroes should attempt the attack.
4. If the attack is successful each participating hero takes a heart from the Big Bad pile and places it on their player board.
5. If there is still a hero or heroes who have not attacked this round then flip over another QK Attack card. If only one hero remains they must choose the 1 HERO option.
6. Unlike Event Cards players cannot ask to borrow a dice from a fellow player in exchange for a Kind Kid Card.
7. However, players can discard any ability cards they have remaining on their player board to roll additional dice. The max amount of dice one player can roll is 4 dice.
8. IMPORTANT: don't forget to check your item cards for abilities that may be helpful when rolling Action Dice.

If The Big Bad still has hearts remaining then a new round of battle begins (The Big Bad attacks and then The Quest Kids attack).

Shuffle and create a new deck with the discarded Big Bad and QK Attack cards as needed.

End of Battle

Once the Big Bad's last heart card is taken The Quest Kids are victorious! Players should then count stars to see which hero had the most epic journey.

If at any point during the Big Bad Battle a hero loses their final heart they are knocked out of the fight. The other players with heart cards can continue to fight the Big Bad. If all players are knocked out then The Big Bad is victorious. Players should still count their stars to see which hero had the best journey before getting defeated by the Big Bad.

Kickstarter Exclusive Dice Tower (Early Bird/Launch List Reward)

NOTE TO CONTENT CREATORS: The included Dice Tower will be a free Early Bird and Launch Email List reward for backers. However, after the early bird is over the Dice Tower will be available as an add-on during the campaign.

The Dice Tower is a Kickstarter Exclusive and will not be available in the retail version.