We're acquiring traits and conquering challenges.
That's right, it's Call to Adventure
from Brotherwise Games.
This heroic yarnspinner pits one
to four storytellers against one another
in a competition to tell
the most heroic of biographies.
Players progress through three acts
of their story, casting runes
to determine their fate,
and walking the moral line
between hero and anti-hero.
At the end of the game, the player with
the highest destiny score is the winner.
Set-up begins with a shuffle of the various decks.
Character cards, separated by type.
Origin, motivation, and destiny.
Story cards, separated by act.
One, two, and three.
And the hero and anti-hero cards.
Each player receives a player board,
a hero marker, and three experience tokens.
Take the character cards and deal two
of each type to each player,
two origins, two motivations, and two destinies.
Each player chooses one to keep
and removes the other from the game.
Then deal one hero card to each player
to form their starting hand,
which they keep hidden.
Next, each player places their three character cards
on their board to form their story.
The origin on the leftmost space, face up.
The motivation in the middle, also face up.
And the destiny card on the right side, face down.
These cards have icons on them,
representing abilities: strength, dexterity,
constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma.
Some cards also have point values
in either triumph or tragedy.
And story icons, which can be worth
bonus destiny points at the end of the game.
On the left side of the board
is the corruption tracker,
where each player tracks their moral choices.
Place the hero marker on
the third level of the track,
indicating neutrality, for now.
During the game, players may gain corruption,
lowering their hero marker,
or virtue, raising it,
but who would want to do that.
The placement on the track
restricts the type of cards
a hero may use, and provides a score bonus
or penalty at the end of the game.
In the common area of the table,
set up the three story decks,
the hero deck, and the anti-hero deck.
Beside each story deck, deal a row of
four face-down cards in a three player game.
In a four player game, deal five cards per row.
Place the rune tray nearby with all the runes.
Core runes, ability runes, and dark runes.
Finally, reveal the Act I cards face-up.
The player who last finished
reading a novel takes the first turn.
Gameplay occurs in turns,
during which a player takes actions,
and then play passes clockwise.
On their turn, the active player
may choose a card from the face-up row.
Depending on the card type,
the player may attempt to gain it.
If the card is a trait and they meet
the prerequisites on the bottom of the card,
they may add it to their story,
defining their character's
personality or life experience.
The prerequisites generally have a cost,
like spending an experience token
or a required ability icon already in their story.
When they gain the trait, they place it
under their leftmost story card,
leaving the top of the card visible,
thus adding the icons to their story.
If the card is a challenge,
the player's hero has to overcome
a daring deed to achieve their destiny.
On the left side of the card
is a difficulty number, with a set of icons
which define the type of abilities
that can be used to overcome the challenge.
On the top and bottom of the card
are two path options, one of which
the player must choose to attempt.
Some of these paths also have a plus one box
next to them, increasing the difficulty number.
Once a path has been chosen,
the player gathers their runes.
They always get the three core runes
along with any relevant ability runes,
one for each ability icon on their story
that matches the challenge type.
Additionally, they may spend an experience token
to add a dark rune to their pool up to three times.
The active player may only roll
a maximum of three runes of each type.
After applying any bonuses from hero
or anti-hero cards, they cast the runes.
Let's decipher 'em.
Slash marks add one point to the challenge attempt.
Ability icons on the ability runes
add two points to the challenge.
A corruption icon adds two points
to the challenge attempt,
and also forces the player to lower their marker
on the corruption track by one.
Other icons allow the player to
draw a hero card, anti-hero card,
one of either, or take an experience token.
If the amount of success points
equals or exceeds the challenge,
the player gains that challenge,
adding it to their story
and keeping the relevant path revealed.
If they fail the challenge,
it is discarded from the table
and the player gains an experience token instead.
Nice try.
During their turn, in addition to
gaining a trait or facing a challenge,
they may also take any number of
bonus actions, including playing
any hero or anti-hero cards
or spending an experience token
to discard one face-up card on the table
and draw and reveal a new one from the same deck.
When playing hero and anti-hero cards,
they stay next to a player's story
and provide either triumph or tragedy points,
both of which add toward the destiny score.
Players continue taking traits and challenges
until the start of a turn
when a player already has three cards
under their current story card.
They then reveal the next row
of cards for all players,
and they attempt to gain those cards.
Other players may also attempt the new row
on their turn, but must have three cards
under their leftmost story card
before adding to other story cards.
Once they have three,
that card is effectively locked.
Once a player has gained three cards
under their destiny story card,
the final act is closed
and the end game is triggered.
Each other player gets one more turn
and then it's time to calculate the final score.
Each player reveals their destiny card
and adds up the points.
Add all triumph and tragedy points together
to make destiny points.
These can come from story cards,
act cards, position on the corruption track,
and those hero and anti-hero cards next to the story.
One destiny point for each experience token.
Any points from matching story icons.
A pair gives two points.
Three of a kind, four points.
And four more of the same icon gives eight points.
That's my strategy right there.
And the bonus points from the destiny card, of course.
Add 'em up and the player with
the highest destiny score is the winner.
Players should now go round the table,
telling their hero's story,
recalling all those epic events along the way,
how they became so brave and an orphan.
And that's Call to Adventure.
The game also includes story mode,
co-op play, and ways to expand the game
with allies and adversaries.
Allies can provide assistance with challenges,
and adversaries are a linear path challenge
with only one goal, defeat the adversary.
Once you've got a few games under your belt,
add those into the story decks for more advanced play.
I'm Becca Scott, and I'm going full heroic for this one.
No anti-hero cards for me, just all good.
You know, Awful Good Becca,
that's what they call me.
You can watch me and my friends
play this game and other awesome games
on Game the Game, right here on Geek and Sundry.
We'll see you there.