Welcome to the Forest of Fate!

Hey there! Are you up for an exciting adventure? Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’m here to guide you through the game rules of the Forest of Fate. So grab your gear and let’s get started!

Objectives

In the Forest of Fate, your goal is simple yet challenging. It’s all about making choices and exploring different paths to find the legendary Ruby of Truth. Your decisions will determine your fate, so choose wisely!

Gameplay

Once you enter the forest, you’ll come across various situations, obstacles, and characters. Pay close attention to the descriptions and use your intuition to guide your choices. Remember, every decision you make can have consequences, leading you towards victory or defeat.

To navigate through the forest, use the arrow keys on your keyboard. They’ll help you move from one scene to another, enabling you to discover hidden treasures, face challenges, and encounter interesting characters.

Important Tips

Now, here are some tips to help you on your journey:

1. Listen to your instincts: Trust your gut feeling when making decisions. Your intuition can lead you to great rewards.
2. Search for clues: Keep an eye out for any hints or clues that might help you find the Ruby of Truth. They could be anywhere!
3. Stay curious: Explore every corner of the forest, as there might be hidden paths and surprises waiting for you.
4. Beware of traps: The Forest of Fate is filled with cunning traps. Be cautious and think before you act.
5. Embrace teamwork: If you come across other players in the forest, consider teaming up with them. Together, you can conquer challenges and increase your chances of success.

Conclusion

The Forest of Fate is an immersive and thrilling game where your choices shape your destiny. As you explore the forest, remember to trust your instincts, search for clues, stay curious, beware of traps, and embrace teamwork. Are you ready to embark on this epic adventure? Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Well, my friend, you’ve achieved quite the feat. You’ve plundered and squandered more treasure than your average adventurer could fathom. But now you find yourself exhausted, far from home, and what’s the point of having a grand adventure if no one gets to hear about it?

The Essential Elements

• 56 Encounters
• 5 Quests
• 1 Finishing Post
• 6 Characters
• 4 Artefacts
• 10 Items
• 12 Abilities
• 12 Skills
• 12 Statuses
• Instructions

The Tale

To take a journey through the Forest, you’ll need a copy of The Tale. It’s crucial – there’s no other way to play. You can find the free digital and printable editions at fate.cards.

Getting Started

Step 1. Create Your Character

In front of me, I choose my Character card and let it rest face-up on the table. Simple enough.

Now it’s time to find the matching Ability cards, which come in the same color as my Character card. I pick one and place it under my Character, making sure that the heart-shaped marker is pointing at the number 10. The other Ability card goes back in its box, no longer needed.

Quick tip: If there are only two or three of us playing, we can each choose two characters to make the game more interesting.

2. Make Your Ouest

Together, we flip through the Quest cards and decide on one to start with. We place it in the center of the table for everyone to see. That’s where our adventure begins.

3. Get Your Loot

Here’s a nifty trick: In Easy mode, we can pick an extra starting item of our choice, in addition to the loot we get from our initial Quest. How cool is that?

First things first, find the Artefact or Item mentioned in your chosen Quest and place it in front of any player with its face-up. Keep the rest of the Items aside, and put the other Artefacts back in the box.

4. Plan your Route

Take the Encounter cards and shuffle them. Then, create a winding path by laying them face-down, starting from where you picked up the Quest. You get to decide how the path will shape up! The length of the path depends on the number of players and the level of difficulty you want (check the table on the opposite page for details).

All the Encounters should face the same way, just like the text on the Quest card.

5. Home Sweet Home

Now, find The Finishing Post and place it face-down at the end of the path. This is your final destination!

Once you’re all set up, your table should resemble this example.

How many Encounters?

We suggest that new players begin with the Normal difficulty level and then make adjustments based on their personal preferences. Younger players might find Easy mode to be the most enjoyable.

Game Play

Welcome to the Forest, a place full of danger and uncertainty. It’s not safe to venture alone, so we’ll be journeying together on our way back home. However, I have to warn you that not everyone may survive. In fact, there’s a chance that none of us will make it back. To increase our odds of survival, we’ll need to cooperate and combine our Skills and Abilities to stay ahead of the Forest’s challenges.

Each of us has our own set of Skills and Abilities. We all have two Great Skills and two Good Skills, but what makes us truly unique is our individual Abilities. And who knows, there might even be a chance for some of us to unlock Epic Skills!

Tip: Before we continue, let’s take a moment to get familiar with the Skills and Abilities of our fellow adventurers. It might be helpful to read them out loud and pay attention!

Getting Started

To kick things off, I’ll read the Quest aloud. This will help set the scene and give us a better understanding of what lies ahead. Oh, and don’t forget to take a look at your starting loot. It might come in handy later!

Hey there! When you’re ready, let’s flip over the first Encounter card, the one closest to the Quest, and dive into the scenario. I’ll read the story to the group.

Tackling Encounters

Now, each Encounter needs someone from your team to step up and face it. You can either use one of your Characters and their Skills or rely on an item. There’s no set turn order, so it’s up to you to decide who takes on each Encounter as it shows up.

Once the player is chosen to face the Encounter, they get to decide which Skill their Character will use. Remember, both the Character card and the Encounter card must have the same symbol for the Skill to work.

Pro tip: Check if the Skill symbol appears on both the Character card and the Encounter card before using it.

If you want to find out what happens next, just look up the paragraph number on the matching Skill symbol in the Story Book. This will reveal the outcome of your choices. But remember, always use the symbol that’s closest to the card you came from. For example, if you chose Guile and arrived from the South, look for the symbol that matches Guile.

The outcome of your choices is revealed in two parts. First, you’ll read the first part of the outcome. Then, you’ll skip to the paragraph number that matches your current skill level – Fair, Good, Great, or Epic. But be careful! Once you start reading, you can’t change your mind!

Success & Failure

Whether you succeed or fail depends on your Skill, the difficulty of the current Encounter, and a little bit of luck. So always pay attention to your surroundings and trust your instincts!

Tip: Sometimes it’s better to use a Skill that’s more suitable for the situation, even if it’s not your character’s strongest Skill.

If you choose wisely, you’ll come out unscathed. Sometimes, you might even get a special Item as a bonus – just keep it next to your Character for later.

But if luck isn’t on your side, you’ll lose some life points. Don’t worry, just move your Ability marker to show your new total.

Oh, and here’s a tip: Some Abilities and Artefacts can help you avoid damage, prevent bad effects, or bypass the long way.

Actually, you don’t have to win every Encounter to move forward. But if you fail (by losing life points), the rest of the party has to take the long way around. It’ll cost them one life point each, but hey, nobody can lose their last point this way.

Once you deal with an Encounter, leave it face-up and keep going to the next one.

Now, let’s talk about Items and Artefacts.

If you have a certain Item, you can skip an Encounter instead of using a Skill.

Hey there! Let me show you how to use an Item. Just look up the paragraph number provided in the center of the Encounter card and read it out loud. Simple, right? Oh, and don’t forget that you can only use each Item once, so once it’s been used, you have to set it aside. Can’t go grabbing the same item over and over again!

Now, let’s talk about Artefacts. They’re pretty cool because they give you powerful one-off abilities. But here’s the catch: once you use an Artefact, you can’t gain it back or recharge it during your journey. So, use them wisely! Choose the right moment to unleash their power.

Statuses

Statuses are like temporary boosts or penalties to your Skills. They’re based on the outcomes of your actions. Statuses can be good or bad, but you can only have one at a time. So, when you come across an outcome that tells you to apply a Status, make sure to do so. For example, if it says “Become Confused,” then you become Confused.

Keep in mind that Statuses wear off after three Encounters, no matter who faced them. And to help you keep track of how many Encounters are left, just slide the Status card beneath your Character card. It’s a handy way to stay on top of things!

Uh-oh! I just found out that the Ranger is feeling a bit slow today. They’ve gone from being really fast to just pretty good for the next three encounters. Bummer!

Once the Encounter is finished, I move the Ranger token one space forward on the Status track as indicated by the arrows on the card.

And so, once more, the Ranger repeats the process with the following meeting, advancing the Status marker to its ultimate destination.

Once I finish the third Encounter, I’m cured of any Statuses and back to full speed. It feels great to be back to normal!

But there are some conditions that can immediately get rid of Statuses:

• If I don’t have the Skill affected by the Status
• If I gain a different Status
• If another character gains the same Status
• If I use the affected Skill during an Encounter

Throughout my journey, I can also use certain Abilities, Items, and Artefacts to remove or apply Statuses.

Shades

If I’m all alone and abandoned, I have a choice. I can either choose to die and leave the game, or I can let the Forest capture my soul. If I choose the latter, I will be transformed into a Shade and seek revenge on the party that left me behind. It’s a scary thought, but sometimes vengeance is an option.

Imagine this: you have the opportunity to live forever. Eternal life, the gift that many have sought after throughout history. It’s a tempting prospect, isn’t it? But before you accept such an enticing offer, there are some important things to consider.

First and foremost, let’s explore what it means to have eternal life. It’s not just about living forever; it’s about experiencing the passage of time without end. Every joyful moment, every heartbreak, every triumph, and every defeat will become a part of your never-ending journey. Can you imagine the weight of that? The bittersweet nature of a life without an expiration date? It’s a profound concept that can leave you feeling both exhilarated and overwhelmed.

But here’s the catch: eternal life is a double-edged sword. While it might sound enticing at first, it raises some important questions. What happens when everyone you know and love has passed away? How do you cope with the loss of familiar faces and the changing world around you? Will you continue to find joy in life when everything and everyone you hold dear has vanished? It’s a thought that can provoke both excitement and trepidation.

There’s also the matter of purpose. What drives us to achieve and grow? The knowledge that our time is limited often acts as a catalyst for action. It pushes us to make the most of every moment and leave a lasting impact on the world. But if we were to live forever, would that sense of urgency vanish? Would we lose our motivation to strive for greatness? These are crucial questions to ponder.

Living forever also means witnessing the endless cycle of life and death. How would this impact our perception of existence? Would it become mundane and lose its value? Or would the infinite potential for growth and discovery keep life perpetually fascinating? It’s a challenge to comprehend the magnitude of what eternal life truly entails.

Ultimately, the decision to accept eternal life is a deeply personal one. It’s a complex choice that requires careful consideration. There are no definitive answers, only ponderings and hypotheticals. So, take your time. Reflect on what it means to live forever, and ask yourself: will you betray the beauty of mortality for the gift of eternal life?

To become a Shade, all you have to do is flip your Ability card. This card will show you your Shade Ability, which will help you in your goal to stop the survivors from escaping the Forest.

Now, let’s talk about how the game progresses. Before any discussion happens, the Shades have to place their bets on which Skill they think the survivors will use next. Each Shade puts their chosen Skill card face down on the table. If there are multiple Shades, they have to agree on which Shade Ability to use, and only one can be active at a time.

Once the Shades have made their bets, the party reveals their chosen Skill card. This is when you reveal your hidden Shade Ability card as well. If you guessed correctly, your Shade Ability will come into effect for the current Encounter. However, if you didn’t guess correctly, the Encounter will be resolved as normal.

When you play with more Shades, your journey becomes more challenging. It’s important to try your best to keep your companions alive for as long as possible!

The End of the Game

The game will end when all players have run out of life points, or when at least one Character has reached The Finishing Post.

Did You Make it Home?

Congratulations! To determine your ending, flip The Finishing Post card to reveal the scoring table. Then, follow the instructions on the card to complete your story.

The happiness of your ending will depend on the number of Characters that made it back and the amount of loot you have when you arrive.

Each life point is worth 1 victory point. Unused Items are worth 5 victory points and unused Artefacts are worth 10 victory points.

If you don’t make it back to The Finishing Post, you don’t get an ending! Your story ends in the Forest, where it began.

Out of life points?

Your journey is over if you run out of life points. You’re not strong enough and will be left behind. But this isn’t the end of your story.

Tip: To keep things exciting for new players, don’t read the next page until someone runs out of life points.