The rule book contains all the actual rules, so we recommend that you at least skim through that book before reading this help book.

Sample Game

The best way to learn almost any game is to find someone who plays the game and convince them to teach you. Unfortunately, we could not include a skilled Fantasy Adventures player in every package. As a substitute, we have included a description of a sample game between two skilled players. Both players are playing with only starter deck. All the cards they use are included in your deck so you can examine them for a better understanding of what is happening in this sample game.

After each section (which corresponds to a game stage or phase), we have included part of a brief narrative based on the game. This is provided for your amusement and to aid your visualization of the game.

Once all the decks are fully shuffled, they start by drawing ten cards from each of their two decks. The ten Encounter cards are set aside to be used as their hands. From the ten Hero cards, they choose eight heroes to form their parties. They both choose a good mix of spell casters and powerful heroes. These eight heroes are then placed into positions in a front and back rank of four heroes each, as shown in the diagram. The spell casters are placed in the back rank to protect them from non-flying monsters.

From the ten Encounter cards they drew, Chris and Alex can each choose up to three items to grant to their parties. Since Alex only has one item card in her hand, the only item she can grant is a Rod of Fireballs, which she gives to her Wave Wizard. Chris has two items, so he gives his Companion a Long Bow and gives his Spearman a Lightning Blade. They don't have to grant all of their items, but they would rather have the items in play, since items not only helps their heroes but also counts toward victory. These items are placed behind their respective heroes, with only the name visible, as shown in the diagram.

Once they have both finished placing items, they each roll one die to determine who will go first. Alex rolls a 5 and Chris rolls a 2. Since Alex rolled higher, she gets the first player turn; she becomes the monster player. Once Alex plays an Encounter on Chris, which will happen during the placement stage, Chris will become the hero player. Until then, Chris is considered a non-involved player.

Lord Christopher looked out upon his kingdom, his heart heavy with sorrow. Over the past few years, his once-beautiful land had been beset by monsters set on burning his towns, slaughtering his livestock and harassing his townsfolk. Such problems were common in this era. Traders from the domains of Lady Alexis told of similar outbreaks through the Known Lands. Times were not good.

But today the lord's eyes looked out with hope. His decree had brought the desired result; ten of the greatest heroes of the land had answered his summons. Today he would decide which of them were worthy to go forth and cleanse his kingdom from this taint of evil. His decree had stated that only the eight finest heroes would be selected, and his duty now was to decide which eight.

Christopher entered the audience chamber and gazed upon the assembled heroes. In one corner, a strangely clad group was having a heated discussion. As Lord Christopher sauntered by, he overheard "...of newt! Why, if we were still using such primitive..." "...templar theory of universal correspondence cannot be reconciled with the fundamental nature of aether..." His heart brightened with the knowledge that his summons had brought three knowledgeable in the mystic arts.

Taking a more detailed look about him, Lord Christopher was surprised to see the insignia of the Companions on the shoulder of one of the muscle-bound men on the other side of the room. Their duties at the imperial palace usually kept them too busy to help the people in such a humble manner. As he examined the rest of the heroes, Lord Christopher wished that more heroes of the Companion's stature had come. Oh well.

After interviewing all the candidates, a Gaul and a Auxiliary were politely thanked for their time and sent home with a lovely edition of Lord Christopher's home game.

After guiding the remaining eight heroes to their quarters for the night, Christopher made the rounds of the castle to ensure that everyone was asleep. Assured that no one was around to watch, he silently crept down the secret entrance to the royal treasury. These heroes were skilled in battle, but an extra edge wouldn't hurt. His family's vault contained items much more powerful than the standard swords and simple armor that these heroes now wore.

Unfortunately, the royal treasury had become rather depleted over the last few years. After a few hours of fretful scrounging, Christopher could only find two objects that would be of use to his heroes. He hoped that the inscription on the "Long Bow that Only Occasionally Misses its Mark" was true. He was more impressed by a sword of hewn lightning, held together by magic. The nature of the lightning made the sword wonderful against some monsters, but only as good as a normal sword against others. "I guess these will have to do..."

At the start of this player turn, Alex's 12 cards are:
monsters (& melee values): Howler (2), Dragonette (2), Karotid (3), Gremlin (2), Brom Nomads (3)
item: Ring of Wizardry
spells: Soothing, Fire Wall, Flying, Earth Shield, Familiar
trap: Magic Trap
At the start of this player turn, Chris's 10 cards are:
monsters (& melee values): Arpentix (3), Caeleteph (3), Schleing (4), Ortheons (2)
items: Magic Dart Scroll, Leather Armor
spells: Healing, Airwaves, Web, Flameblade

...The party set out the next day rested and strong, bringing with them only their meager supplies and their two wondrous gifts from Lord Christopher. The mages had spent the night learning new spells that they hoped would prove useful today...

Alex places a Magic Trap, a Dragonette, a Howler, a Gremlin, and a Karotid in an Encounter stack against Chris. The total Melee Value of all the monsters in the encounter is 2 (Dragonette) + 2 (Howler) + 2 (Gremlin) + 3 (Karotid) = 9, so she just meets the maximum Melee Value allowed this turn. She places the Magic Trap on top of the stack since she knows that it will be the first card she will reveal. She sets this stack face down in front of Chris.

...By talking with some villagers, we discovered that a group of monsters had joined forces and were terrorizing the area near the castle. The monsters always came from the direction of Mount Darwi, and the few townspeople who had been sent to explore that area never returned. Retracing the tracks of the beasts led to a hidden passage into the heart of the mountain. We entered cautiously, knowing not what lay within...

Chris rolls for his Ranger to disarm the trap. Since the Ranger has the trap ability, Chris needs to roll a 1-4. He gets a 4, which means the Ranger succeeds. The Magic Trap is discarded. A new trap round begins, but ends when Alex admits that there are no more traps.

...The Ranger volunteered to enter first, as her training gave her the best chance to avoid any hazards. We followed behind her, admiring her skill. She never made a movement without first carefully observing the area around her. Any deviation from the standard cold stone floor led to a brief but thorough examination of the area.

Halfway across one passageway, she paused to check the wind. That was when she noticed the small dark device planted halfway up the wall across from her. Recognizing the sigils on the device as ancient inscriptions which could disrupt the magical patterns of an area, she instructed the rest of us to halt. I knew a little something about this kind of trap; it wouldn't matter if we walked halfway back to town. She just wanted to stop us from distracting her.

She slowly approached the strange object. As she was making her way across the room, she reached into her belt to retrieve a small ward she had acquired from a friendly hedge wizard for just such an occasion. These magical traps were the hardest for one trained in wilderness ways. I voiced a silent prayer that she would remember the correct incantation for this particular trap...

...Once the trap had been disarmed, the Ranger called the party to continue onward. Hopefully the rest of the trip would be less stressful...

Chris has a Storm Shield spell ("This round, flying monsters are at -2 Melee and all other monsters are at -1 Melee.") which would be very useful here. It is a defensive spell, so he can normally cast it at any time while he is hero player. However, since this is a duel and it has already been announced, he cannot cast any spells until the duel is completed.

The Dragonette is Melee 2, and the Oracle is Melee 1. The Oracle is adjacent to a Squire, who has a 1 support value. Normally this would allow the Squire to add one to the Oracle's Melee Value, but since this is a duel, support cannot be used. They roll melee dice. Chris rolls a 3 and Alex rolls a 1. Alex's total is 1 (roll) plus 2 (Dragonette's melee value) = 3. Chris's total is 3 (roll) plus 1 (Oracle's melee value) = 4. Chris's total (4) is greater than Alex's total (3), so Chris wins. The Dragonette is defeated and has no heals or saves, so it is placed in the discard pile.

...The Ranger paused as her eyes adjusted to the light from the chamber. Her compatriots quickly caught up and were stunned by what they saw. After an hour of crawling through dark, cramped caverns, the brilliant light of these phosphorescent plants was dazzling. The monsters knew this, of course, and took advantage of our disorientation to attack. A Dragonette whizzed over the heads of those in the front and headed toward our Oracle. Whether it was merely good fortune or second sight gained by her divinatory powers, her mace flew through the air just seconds before the lizard reached her and struck the beast squarely on the head. It looked as if the Dragonette would not waken for many hours...

The Dragonette has been defeated, leaving Alex with a Karotid, a Howler and a Gremlin. She reveals them and then considers where to assign them. She wants to defeat the Ranger to remove Chris's only hero with trap ability. She decides to assign her largest monster, the Karotid, to the Ranger.

She then considers how best to assign her other two monsters. She could assign both the Gremlin and the Howler to the Ranger, thus making a large Horde. This would give the Karotid +1 Melee due to the size of the Horde. Another alternative is to send one of her monsters against the Spearman located next to the Ranger, thus cutting off the Ranger's support. Alex decides to use the second option. She assigns the Howler to Chris's Spearman. The Gremlin is left over. Alex places it in a Horde with the Karotid. That way, the Gremlin is likely to survive to the Action phase, where its special can be used. The final assignments are the Karotid and the Gremlin against the Ranger and the Howler against the Spearman.

Since the Karotid and the Gremlin have been assigned to the same hero, they are a Horde. Alex chooses the Karotid as the meleeing monster of the Horde. She then declares what order the attacks will be resolved in during the Melee phase: the Horde's attack will be resolved first, then the Howler's.

...Once we were able to see the whole room, we saw a huge cavern with various exits pointing off in all directions. This room was occupied by what appeared to be a young beggar girl, a man-wolf, and a tiny misshapen fae-beast that eyed our man-made items with hatred. The young girl looked normal at first, but a closer glance revealed that she exhibited the unearthly hue of the undead. Before we could react to their appearance, the monsters approached our left flank. Our Ranger and Spearman were in danger...

Ranged phase

Chris targets the Howler with his Companion's Long Bow. The Companion has a Melee of 4, and the Long Bow ("Ranged attack at +1") adds one to his melee for Ranged attacks. Chris must roll a 5 or less for the Marine to hit the Howler. He rolls a 4. The Howler must save or be defeated. The Howler is Melee 2, so it must roll a 2 or less to save. It rolls a 2, so the Ranged attack has no effect; the Howler is not defeated.

..Our Companion lived up to his training. He had notched an arrow in Lord Chris's bow before he even walked into the room. As the monsters began to approach, he fired an arrow into their midst, striking the Howler soundly in the shoulder. It let out a piercing cry, but continued its approach...

Melee phase

In this case, there are two melees to resolve: the Horde against the Ranger and the Howler against the Spearman. In the Assignment phase, Alex declared that the Horde's attack would be resolved first.

The Karotid is melee 3 and the Ranger is melee 2. A Spearman is adjacent to the Ranger and has a support value of 1, which would normally add one to the Ranger's melee. However, the Howler is assigned to the Spearman, preventing her from supporting anyone this round. The Ranger receives no bonus from support.

The Gremlin is in a Horde with the Karotid, but it is the only monster other than the Karotid in this Horde, so the Karotid receives no Horde bonus.

Chris flips his Cloud Wizard to cast an Storm Shield spell ("This round, flying monsters are at -2 Melee and all other monsters are at -1 Melee."), which reduces the Karotid's melee by one.

They roll. Alex rolls a 2; Chris rolls a 3. Alex's total is 2 (roll) + 3 (Karotid) - 1 (Storm Shield) = 4. Chris's total is 3 (roll) + 2 (Ranger) = 5. Chris wins. Chris chooses to defeat the Karotid rather than the Gremlin. Alex cannot heal it, so the Karotid is discarded.

Notice that if Chris had not cast the Storm Shield, both Alex and Chris would total 5. Normally, this would leave both the hero and the monster alive for this round, but undead win ties and the Karotid is undead. The Ranger would have been defeated if not for the spell.

The next melee is the Howler vs. the Spearman. The Howler is Melee 2 and the Spearman is melee 2. The Cloud Wizard's Storm Shield spell lasts for the entire round, so it is still in effect. The Spearman has a Lightning Blade ("+1 Melee vs. Fire or Water monsters"). The Howler is a Fire monster, so this automatic special ability applies. They roll. Alex rolls a 3 and Chris rolls a 6. Alex's total is 3 (roll) + 2 (Howler) - 1 (Storm Shield) = 4. Chris's total is 6 (roll) + 2 (Spearman) +1 (Lightning Blade) = 9. Chris wins. The Howler is the only monster assigned to the Spearman, so it is defeated. Alex cannot heal it, so it is discarded.

...Before the Karotid could reach the Ranger, a great commotion came from the back of our ranks. From the direction of our Cloud Wizard came a overwhelming rush of sound and fury. I recognized this vortex as a Storm Shield spell. It disrupted the air around the monsters into such a confusing tumult that they could barely keep their balance, much less fight.

The Karotid managed to swagger over to our Ranger. The Ranger's sword was drawn and ready. After exchanging a few rapid blows, the Karotid fell to ground, defeated.

Meanwhile, I glimpsed our Spearman as she caught the Howler unawares. Earlier I had mocked her for her lack of heavy armor or side weapons. Her prowess now showed me that she needed none of these showy accessories to prove her worth. The blade given us by Lord Chris seemed to move of its own accord against the beast.

Soon, all that remained to oppose us was the Gremlin and its ridiculous smirk...

Alex gets the next action. She attempts to use the Gremlin's special ability ("Can destroy an item of your choice on 1-2.") against the Companion's Long Bow. She rolls a 2 so the bow is discarded.

Chris gets the next action. He flips his Oracle to cast a Spirit Lightning ("Defeats one monster on 1-3"). The Spirit Lightning is an Air spell and the Oracle is skilled at casting Fire spells, so Chris must roll to see if the Oracle can cast a spell of the wrong element. On a 1-3, the spell is cast as normal. On a 4 or 5, the spell is returned to Chris's hand with no effect. Unfortunately, he rolls a 6, so the Spirit Lightning is discarded with no effect. Even if he had rolled a 1-3, he would still have to roll again to see if the monster was defeated, since Spirit Lightning "defeats one monster on 1-3."

Alex gets the next action, but she has no more special abilities available, so she passes.

Chris gets one more action and then the Action phase will end. Chris has no unflipped spell casters and no hero or item special abilities, so he passes and the Action phase ends.

At the end of this phase, all flipped heroes are unflipped.

...Our Flame Wizard began to mutter in words unknown to any tongue of man. As the rhythm of his chanting increased, the temperature in the room rose. Suddenly, a burst of flame flew from his fingertips, hurling toward the Gremlin. I could smell the distinct taint of burnt hair, but the Gremlin leapt out of the cloud of smoke, barely singed. It flew at our Companion with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, its skilled hands had reduced our prized Bow to nothing but a sad pile of string and wood.

Our Oracle responded to this atrocity with a spell of her own. Over her head, a storm cloud began to condense out of the air. I saw the first spark of lightning begin to glow, and I could feel the energy permeate the room. Unfortunately, our Oracle faltered over the unfamiliar words of the water spell, so subtle and long compared to her usual quick, fiery incantations. The storm seemed to know that she was unfamiliar with the ways of water. Instead of releasing its energy in a powerful burst of destruction as the Oracle wished, it started to gently drizzle on the Oracle's head...

Melee begins. The Gremlin is melee 2, and the Ranger is melee 2. The Ranger gets 1 support from the Spearman. The Gremlin has no bonuses. Alex rolls a 3, Chris rolls a 1. Alex's total is 2 (Gremlin) + 3 (roll) = 5. Chris's total is 2 (Ranger) + 1 (support) + 1 (roll) = 4. Alex wins; the Ranger is defeated. Chris flips his Druid to cast a Heal spell ("Heal one defeated hero on 1-3."). The Druid is green, so the spell works. However, Chris rolls a 6 to see if the heal occurs, so the spell fails. The Ranger is discarded.

As his first action in the Action phase, Chris flips his Oracle to cast a Fire Wall spell ("...All monsters must save or die. Fire monsters save at +2..."). The Gremlin is a red monster, so it must save at +2 or be defeated. Gremlin is melee 2, so 2+2=4. Alex rolls a 6, so the Gremlin is defeated and thus discarded. Since all the monsters have been defeated, this Encounter ends. Since this is the only Encounter, Recovery begins.

...The Gremlin lunged at our Ranger, dodging her blows with incredible ease. We quickly learned that those claws are good at dismantling more than just equipment. The Ranger's sword tumbled to the ground, useless. Our Druid rushed up to save her, beginning her lyrical incantations before she even reached the Ranger, but her efforts

were wasted. The Ranger was too far gone for even the Druid's natural magics to help.

Enraged, our Oracle engulfed that entire side of the room in flames. A sea of fire and smoke engulfed the Gremlin. It may have survived the Fire Wizard's attack, but I knew that after being engulfed by that inferno it would not return to bother us again...

...Exploring the now safe cavern, we found piles of mangled and mutilated items that marked the damage the Gremlin had wrought over the years. Searching through the random shards of metal and wood, we found only two items that could be of any use. These items were parceled out to individuals to ensure that no squabbles erupted over ownership. Heroes may be noble, but they are only human, especially when confronted with fabulously valuable treasures.

Our Marine found an old but well-constructed suit of leather armor hidden under a pile of dismantled chain coats. Our Druid took a scroll which had been kept in a beautifully wrought case. The case has saved the scroll; it bore the Gremlin's scratches without releasing its prize. We treasured these items, knowing that every bit of assistance would be needed to survive as we trudged deeper into this dungeon...

...Meanwhile, in a distant kingdom, another group of adventurers under the banner of a different ruler was also searching for monsters to battle. So far, their quest has not been going as well. A rumor at the local tavern led them on a wild goose chase. All they gained from their day's travels was a magical ring, left behind as worthless in an otherwise empty monster's lair. A scrap of oddly decorated material found at that site did give them some ideas on where to search for the present whereabouts of these monsters. Tomorrow should be a much better day...