Adventure Tactics: Side Quest Guide Book 1 – Exploring Estellia
Adventure Tactics: Side Quest Guide Book 1 – Exploring Estellia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Any time you use a revive potion, you lose 1 adventure point from your final score.
One-Shot Adventures
These encounters are designed to be played as a one-shot adventure, with brand new heroes used solely for the duration of this encounter. To play a one-shot, simply select which encounter you wish to challenge, and note its recommended level. After choosing your heroes, level them up to that level, following the usual rules for Leveling Up, and Changing Classes (Rulebook, page 22). Once you finish this encounter, your adventure is complete. Your heroes do not level up, and you can return to the box all cards that you added while initially leveling them up.
Side Quests
Instead of using brand new heroes to challenge one of these encounters as a one-shot, you can use your heroes from an ongoing Adventure Tactics campaign. This can only be done if your party of heroes matches the recommended level for your chosen encounter. In addition, any Loot gained so far in the campaign cannot be used on a Side Quest - return them to your tuck box before this encounter. You can use all of your Class Features and Ability cards as usual. Any bags of gold received during these side quests can be used at the market when you return to your campaign.
Progressive Challenge
The six encounters included here can be played in order to form a progressive challenge: see how many adventure points your party can earn while running the gauntlet of all six encounters.
Begin with the first encounter, using a party of brand new heroes all at level 1. Once you complete it, move on to the next one in order, leveling up your heroes if that encounter has a higher recommended level. At the end of each encounter, note the adventure points you earned. Total these up over all six encounters and see if you can beat your high score!
How Well Did Your Team of Heroes Do?
Total adventure points across the progressive challenge to find your result:
| Total adventure points | Result |
|---|---|
| 0–5 | Shabby Squires. Work hard and keep at it, you'll become a hero soon enough! |
| 6–9 | Helpful Heroes. You've proven yourselves but still have a long way to go! |
| 10–14 | Fearsome Fighters. With a little more training you could be the best! |
| 15–18 | Elite Adenturers [sic]. Well done! |
Encounters
| Encounter | Level | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Barroom Brawl | 1 | p. 4 |
| Jelly Harvest! | 2 | p. 6 |
| Parker and Barrow | 3 | p. 10 |
| Puzzle of the Pillars | 3 | p. 12 |
| Lava Chute Dash | 4 | p. 16 |
| Trapped Reflections | 4 | p. 18 |
Barroom Brawl
A level 1 adventure.
Objective
Defeat all of the goblins while doing your best to evade indiscriminate attacks from the berserker.
Scoring
You earn adventure points according to the number of intact furniture:
| # of furniture left | Adventure points |
|---|---|
| 0–1 | 0 |
| 2–3 | 1 |
| 4–5 | 2 |
| 6+ | 3 |
Enemies
Berserker (B)
- Hit Points: 50
- Movement: 3
- Basic Attack: None
- Active Abilities:
- Furious Smash: [red die icon] [purple die icon] Goblin Minions take 1 point of damage, Heroes take [white die icon], and furniture is destroyed by this attack.
- Bloody Fists: [red square die icon] [red die icon] Target is pushed 2 squares away.
- Passive Abilities:
- Drunken Movement: The berserker may move through other characters but cannot end his turn in an occupied space.
- Behavior: The berserker travels to the next berserker destination (in increasing order). If the berserker ends his turn on a numbered destination tile, he uses Furious Smash. If a Hero is occupying a numbered destination tile where the berserker wants to go, the Berserker uses Bloody Fists against that Hero.
Goblin Minion (GM)
- Hit Points: 10
- Movement: 4
- Basic Attack: [white die icon] [red die icon]
- Behavior: Goblin Minions target the hero with their matching starting tile: Goblin Minion 1 will attack the hero who started on P1, Goblin Minion 2 will attack the hero who started on P2, etc.
Set-up
- Standees needed: Griffon Lord (to represent the Berserker), 3/4/5 Goblin Minions (depending on the number of Heroes).
- 3 Heroes: Goblin Minions 1, 2 and 3 (GM1, GM2, GM3).
- 4 Heroes: Goblin Minion 4 (GM4) in addition.
- 5 Heroes: Goblin Minion 5 (GM5) in addition.
- Heroes begin on yellow squares, with placement depending on the number of heroes. Use obstacle tiles on gray squares to represent furniture. Use the numbered Wraith tiles to represent the berserker's destination tiles, marked with red squares numbered B1–B5.
Special Rules: During each enemy turn, the berserker acts first, and then each remaining goblin will act.
Outcomes
Success: If the heroes defeat all of the goblin minions and at least one piece of furniture remains intact:
Success! With the last of the goblins defeated, the gigantic dwarf's eyes roll up and he collapses in a heap. His face is red and very sweaty, and almost immediately, he begins snoring loudly. Tolben tsk-tsks, 'It's always an interesting time when ol' Berserker Brann is around. C'mon, help me stand him up.' Eventually, Brann comes to and his gaze takes in the room. He looks directly at Tolben and sheepishly intones, 'I did it again, didn't I?'
A thankful innkeeper rewards the party with 1x Bag of Gold.
Score adventure points as listed under Scoring.
Failure: If the heroes are defeated or all of the furniture is destroyed:
Failure! The party quickly scampers outside as the roof of the inn starts to cave in. The innkeeper and the remaining panicked patrons also scramble out the door as the dwarven berserker continues his assault against the inn and the remaining goblins inside. 'We'd better leave town before the guard show up and start asking questions,' suggests Tolben.
Jelly Harvest!
A level 2 adventure.
Objective
Defeat more jellies than the rival adventurers.
Scoring
Compare the number of defeated jellies between the heroes and the rival adventurers.
| # of blobs you killed more than adventurers | Adventure points |
|---|---|
| ≤0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2–3 | 2 |
| 4+ | 3 |
Enemies
Fruit Jelly Bloblet
- Hit Points: < 3 / 4 / 5 >
- Movement: 2
- Basic Attack: [white die icon] [red die icon]
- Behavior: Attacks closest hero if one is in range. Otherwise, roll a [white die icon]:
- 1: Move 2 spaces west.
- 2: Move 2 spaces south.
- 3: Move 3 spaces east.
Masochistic Paladin (MP)
- Movement: 5
- Basic Attack: [red die icon] Defeat one jelly.
- Active Ability:
- Taunt: [red die icon] [orange die icon] All jellies in range move 1 square east.
- Behavior: The Masochistic Paladin moves to where she can affect the most jellies possible with Taunt and then uses Taunt. Then she uses her basic attack against the furthest jelly west within her range.
Lazy Thief (LT)
- Movement: 5
- Basic Attack: [red die icon] Defeat one jelly. (4 heroes: Attacks twice; 5 heroes: Attack becomes [red die icon] [purple die icon].)
- Behavior: Lazy Thief moves to the closest jelly and makes a basic attack. (4 or 5 heroes: Moves to the closest square where he can affect the most targets.)
Useless Goddess (UG)
- Movement: 5
- Basic Attack: [red die icon] Defeat one jelly. (5 heroes: Attacks twice.)
- Behavior: Moves maximum distance west and makes a basic attack.
Explosion Wizard (EW)
- Movement: 0
- Basic Attack: Recites unnecessarily over-the-top incantation.
- Behavior: Explosion Wizard makes a basic attack and adds one explosion counter (use damage tokens). At 5 explosion counters, shouts "EXU-PLOOO-SION!" loudly and defeats all remaining jellies.
Set-up
- Standees needed: Bjorna (as the Masochistic Paladin), Lady Vinleskya (as the Useless Godess [sic]), Rigby (as the Lazy Thief), and Kalthak (as the Explosion Wizard).
- Additional elements: Bloblets (as the jellies).
- Start with a Bloblet on each green square.
Special Rules: Use all 3 enemy initiative tokens. On the first enemy turn, the Masochistic Paladin and the Lazy Thief activate. On the second enemy turn, all jellies activate. On the third enemy turn, the Useless Goddess and the Explosion Wizard activate.
The rival adventurers have coated themselves with jelly paste so that they are never targeted by the jellies. Also, it's poor form to harm rival adventurers, so the Heroes and the rival adventurers cannot use attacks that would target or harm one another. The encounter ends after the Explosion Wizard's 5th activation.
In each round after the first, spawn jellies as follows:
- On rounds 2 and 5, spawn 6 jellies on blue squares.
- On rounds 3 and 4, spawn 8 jellies on blue and purple squares.
The heroes lose 2 jellies whenever a hero is Knocked Out. The heroes lose 1 jelly whenever they use a revive potion to reshuffle the Initiative.
Outcomes
Success: If the heroes defeat more jellies than the rival adventurers:
Lazy Thief: Ahhh! I thought we'd be the only adventurers desperate enough to come compete in this dumb festival!
Village Elder: Ahhh, how could this have happened? This year's festival is ruined! That explosion destroyed almost all of the jelly bloblets! We barely managed to save any! Look at all of the crying children!
Useless Goddess: Hahaha, looks like your stupid plan failed again. You should be grateful, because of them, there's enough jelly left for the village to throw an epic party tonight!
Explosion Wizard (face planted on the ground): ... I can't move ...
Failure: If the rival adventurers defeat more jellies than the Heroes:
Village Elder: Thank you so much, heroes! You saved the jelly harvest before that giant explosion went off! Come, we shall feast on sugary delights all night long! Children, stop eating for a moment and bring our new champions their glorious basket!
The party receives 1x Bag of Gold.
Score adventure points as listed under Scoring.
Parker and Barrow
A level 3 adventure.
Objective
Defeat Parker and Barrow.
Scoring
| Condition | Adventure points |
|---|---|
| Defeating Parker and Barrow without any heroes getting Knocked Out | +1 |
| Defeating the Experimental Jelly before defeating Parker and Barrow | +2 |
Enemies
Parker (P)
- Hit Points: < 35 / 50 / 65 >
- Movement: 3
- Basic Attack: [white die icon] + [red die icon] [red square die icon]
- Active Ability:
- Clubbin': [blue die icon] + [white die icon] [red die icon]
- Behavior: Targets closest hero (if there's a tie, targets the hero with the most HP). Parker moves and attacks. If Parker isn't within range to attack after moving, she moves an additional 2 spaces but does not attack. If Parker starts her turn adjacent to a hero, she uses Clubbin' instead of her Basic Attack.
Barrow (B)
- Hit Points: < 25 / 30 / 40 >
- Movement: 5
- Basic Attack: [blue die icon] [red die icon] (5 heroes: Attacks two different targets.)
- Passive Ability:
- Get Outta There!: Barrow can move between the right-most and left-most spaces of the board as if those spaces were adjacent.
- Behavior: Targets hero with the least HP. Barrow moves and attacks. After attacking, if Barrow moved less than 5 spaces, he uses his remaining movement to move away from the heroes.
Experimental Jelly (EJ)
- Hit Points: < 50 / 60 / 75 >
- Active Ability:
- Wave of Excitement: [red die icon] [orange die icon] Heroes in range are Weakened. Enemies in range are healed for [red die icon] (5 heroes: [blue die icon]).
- Behavior: The Experimental Jelly teleports to an unoccupied square that is nearest to the two heroes directly above and below it in the initiative order (wrapping around if necessary) and to where it can affect the most heroes. Then it uses Wave of Excitement.
Set-up
- Standees needed: Goblin Minion (as Parker), Goblin Archer (as Barrow), and a Bloblet (as the Experimental Jelly).
Special Rules: Use all 3 enemy initiative tokens. On the first enemy turn, Parker moves and activates. On the second enemy turn, the Experimental Jelly moves and activates. On the third enemy turn, Barrow moves and activates.
If Parker is Knocked Out and Barrow is active, Barrow will activate on Parker's initiative. If Barrow is Knocked Out and Parker is active, Parker will activate on Barrow's initiative. Parker and Barrow are not removed from the board when they are Knocked Out.
Outcomes
Success: If the Heroes defeat Parker and Barrow but not the Experimental Jelly:
Partial Success! You subdue the heinous criminals Parker and Barrow, but before you can capture the strange magical jelly creature, it winks out of existence in a flash of light. You're not able to return to the Institute with good news, but at least you have put an end to the crime spree of the goblin pair. Now they will face justice for what they have done!
The party receives 1x Bag of Gold.
+Success: If the Heroes defeat the Experimental Jelly before defeating Parker and Barrow:
Success! You subdue the heinous criminals Parker and Barrow and capture the strange jelly creature. This goblin pair with finally face justice for their many crimes. You return to the Magic Institute to return the jelly to its creators, but they are fascinated by the way it formed emotional bonds with Parker and Barrow. They insist you care for it and report your findings to the institute.
The party receives 2x Bag of Gold.
Failure: If the Heroes are defeated by Parker and Barrow:
Failure! You are unable to capture them, and Parker and Barrow make a daring escape. But not before robbing every merchant stall they see on the way out of town! Oops.
The Puzzle of the Pillars
A level 3 adventure.
Objective
Return all three Pillars to the correct pattern, as chosen by The Guide (see the Puzzle Solutions section), in under 13 rounds.
Scoring
Return the Pillars to the correct position:
| In # of rounds... | Adventure points |
|---|---|
| 1–8 | 3 |
| 9–10 | 2 |
| 11–12 | 1 |
| 13+ | 0; FAILURE! |
Enemies
Goblin Minion (GM)
- Hit Points: < 5 / 7 / 11 >
- Movement: 5
- Basic Attack: [white die icon] [red die icon] (4+ heroes: [white die icon] + [white die icon])
- Passive Ability:
- Harry: Players may not make Basic Moves when adjacent to a Goblin Minion.
- Behavior: Targets closest Hero. Moves and then attacks.
Wraith (W)
- Hit Points: < 5 / 8 / 13 >
- Movement: 4
- Basic Attack: [black die icon] [red die icon]
- Passive Ability:
- Respawn: When a Wraith is Knocked Out, return it to its spawn tile with full HP.
- Behavior: Targets the hero closest to the Pillar on its game tile, if any; otherwise it targets the closest hero. Moves and then attacks.
- 3 heroes: Will not move off the board tile in which it spawned.
- 4+ heroes: If the Pillar from its board tile is moved onto the middle board tile, the wraith targets the closest hero and may now move off the board tile in which it spawned.
Set-up
- Standees needed: 5x Goblin Minion, 3x Wraith.
- Additional elements: 3x Wraith Spawn Tile, Red Totem, Blue Totem, Black Totem (as the three Pillars of Ahnseti). The color of the totems does not matter; place them on the T squares. Use large stone walls for the large grey rectangles, and single wall squares for the small grey squares.
Special Rules: In this encounter, the group will have to solve the Riddle of Ahnseti. Before the encounter begins, choose one hero to be "The Guide." That hero chooses one of the layouts on the pages 14–15 to be the "correct" placement of the Pillars. That hero can reference the layout at any time, but they can only talk about the Pillars to the other heroes in vague terms.
For example, these sorts of clues are allowed:
- It's a little more to the west.
- Just tap it in!
- It needs to go FAR.
- That's good!
- Stop!
These sorts of clues are NOT allowed:
- It needs to go 4 spaces over, 1 space down.
- It needs to go here. points
To succeed at the encounter, you must move the Pillars of Ahnseti to their proper locations (known only to The Guide) on the center board.
You may attack a Pillar to move it. You may move the Pillar a number of spaces up to the damage you deal to a maximum of 3 spaces (If you deal 3 damage, you can move it 1, 2, or 3 spaces). You may move the Pillar in any non-diagonal direction away from your hero or point of attack, but you cannot move it closer to you. Pillars do not block line of sight.
If you start your turn next to a Pillar, you may pick it up as part of your movement. If you do, you may only move HALF the distance you normally would, rounded down. At the end of your movement, place the pillar to an unoccupied square next to you.
Use 2 enemy initiative tokens. On the first enemy turn, the goblin minions move and activate. On the second enemy turn, the wraiths move and activate.
Outcomes
Success: If the Heroes return the Pillars of Ahnseti to the correct pattern before round 13:
Success! You have sealed away the evil of Ahnseti's Grove! Domianne will have to look elsewhere to work her fell magics!
The party receives 1x Bag of Gold.
+Success: If the Heroes return the Pillars of Ahnseti to the correct pattern before round 11:
Success! You have sealed away the evil of Ahnseti's Grove! Domianne will have to look elsewhere to work her fell magics!
The party receives 2x Bag of Gold.
Failure: If the Heroes fail to return the Pillars of Ahnseti to the correct pattern before round 13:
Failure! You are forced to flee as the ancient evil beneath Ahnseti's Grove begins to stir. This spells trouble for all the lands of Estellia!
Puzzle Solutions
Important: only the Guide should look at this section.
At the beginning of the encounter, choose one of these layouts randomly. Remember which one you selected. You may reference this sheet at any time, but you may only refer to the layout in vague terms, as if you had a fuzzy vision.
The twelve layouts are labelled A through L. Each is a diagram of Pillar (T) and wall squares on a grid, printed on pages 14–15. The diagrams are not reproduced in this text; the printed sheet governs.
- Layouts A, B and C: page 14.
- Layouts D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K and L: page 15.
Lava Chute Dash!
A level 4 adventure.
Objective
Get to the exit by moving through the lava chute (the length of the chute depends on the number of heroes.)
Scoring
| Condition | Adventure points |
|---|---|
| All heroes get to the exit | 1 |
| Complete the adventure in 12 or fewer rounds | +1 |
| Pick up the treasure chest | +1 |
Enemies
Lava Wall
- Movement: [white die icon]
- Active Ability:
- Advance: The Lava Wall moves [white die icon] spaces to the right.
- Passive Ability:
- Duck and Cover: If the lava wall moves over a hero (or a hero is placed on top of it), that hero takes [red die icon] + [red die icon] damage and may immediately move [red die icon] spaces. If the lava wall moves over a fire sprite, remove that token and move the lava wall an additional [white die icon] spaces to the right (the lava wall may move multiple times if it overtakes multiple fire sprites). Remove any obstacles that the lava wall moves over.
- Behavior: Lava wall uses Advance. The Lava Wall cannot be damaged or affected by attacks or abilities.
Fire Sprite (FS)
- Hit Points: < 5 / 7 / 10 >
- Movement: 4
- Basic Attack: [red die icon] (5 heroes: [red die icon] + [white die icon]) [red attack die icon]
- Behavior: If a fire sprite is in range of a Hero, it makes a Basic Attack. Otherwise, it moves towards the nearest hero. If there are no fire sprites in play, the lava wall moves one space to the right instead.
Lava Chute Tiles
When you need to add a new game tile to the rightmost side of the board, use the following tiles in order (remember that, after you have moved through a number of new game tiles equal to the number of heroes, you then place the exit tile).
The tiles are printed as 1st through 5th Tile and an Exit Tile, shown on pages 16–17. Legend: Fire Sprite (red square), Obstacle (grey square), Exit Tile (green square), Treasure Chest (yellow square). The tile diagrams are not reproduced in this text; the printed tiles govern.
Set-up
- Additional elements: Fire Walls, Obstacle Tiles, Fire Sprites. If you need more Fire Sprites, use Bloblets.
- Start with a fire wall on the orange squares (as the lava wall), obstacles on the grey squares, and fire sprites on the red squares. The printed starting layout (FS1–FS4 and the two starting game tiles) governs.
Special Rules: On the first enemy turn, the fire sprites activate; on the second enemy turn, the lava wall activates.
When any hero reaches the rightmost edge on the rightmost tile, the lava chute must be extended by adding a new game tile to the rightmost edge of the board. Pause play and perform the following steps:
- If the heroes have revealed and moved through a number of new tiles equal to the number of heroes, setup the Exit tile on the rightmost edge of the rightmost game tile. Otherwise, setup the next lava chute tile in numerical order (the layout for all of these tiles is found below).
- Next, remove the leftmost game tile, and move the lava wall to the leftmost edge of the leftmost game tile. If any heroes were on the tile that was removed, place them anywhere on top of the lava wall. (There will only ever be 2 game tiles in play at any time).
To pick up the treasure chest (found on the exit tile), a hero must be on that square and spend one point of movement.
To exit the lava chute, a hero must be on that square and spend one point of movement.
Outcomes
Success: If all heroes make it through the exit:
Success! The party manages to scramble out of the insidious lava trap before any permanent damage is inflicted.
If a hero picked up the treasure chest, the party receive 3x Bag of Gold.
Failure: If a hero is Knocked Out by the lava wall, or all heroes are defeated:
Failure! The party eventually makes its way out of the burning trap but is singed and scorched. Quill begins to cast healing magic and Olette searches for ingredients to create a poultice to treat the party's various burns.
Trapped Reflections
A level 4 adventure.
Objective
Destroy all of the large mirrors.
Scoring
| Condition | Adventure points |
|---|---|
| Destroy all large mirrors in 6 or fewer rounds | 1 |
| Destroy at least 4 small mirrors | 1 |
| Destroy all 8 small mirrors | +1 |
Enemies
Reflection (R)
- Hit Points: Half of reflected hero's maximum HP (round down).
- Movement: Equal to its reflected hero's.
- Active Ability:
- Reflect: Reveal the top 2 cards of the reflected hero's deck. The reflection will play any revealed card that allows it to move or attack, placing them in your discard pile after use (unless the card says to remove it as part of its effect). It will not use any other cards: place unused cards in your discard pile. Reflections will always move towards, and attack, their reflected hero if possible. Otherwise, the reflected hero must decide how the reflection acts, always choosing the worst option for the party.
- Passive Ability:
- Shatter: If a reflection is knocked out, destroy the nearest small mirror and re-spawn the Reflection in that space. If all small mirrors are destroyed, re-spawn it on a large mirror.
Small Mirror (SM)
- Hit Points: < 5 / 7 / 10 >
Large Mirror (LM)
- Hit Points: < 15 / 17 / 20 >
Small and large mirrors do not move, and are not affected by conditions.
Set-up
- Standees needed: Use the hero standees for your hero's reflection (or the miniatures, if you are using the standees).
- Additional elements: Obstacle tiles (as small mirrors), Bone Wall fragments (as large mirrors).
- Place one reflection for each hero on a red square of your choice (R1–R5 on the printed board). Start with small mirrors on the grey squares (SM1–SM8) and large mirrors on the brown squares (LM1–LM8). The printed board diagram governs the exact placement.
Special Rules: Do not use the enemy initiative tokens. Instead, each reflection will activate on the turn of the hero it reflects, and will act before that hero.
Outcomes
Success: If all of the large mirrors are destroyed:
Success! As the last mirror cracks apart, light beams shoot off in every direction. Upon the walls are projected what can only be described as memories.
A figure dressed in dark robes struggles against broad shouldered men wearing religious armor. In another image, a priestess thrusts her hand out at the struggling figure, retreating from him as he is restrained by the two holy knights. Still another shows the robed figure pounding on a clear surface, foam flecks spilling from his clenched teeth.
Continuing the scene on another wall, you see the priestess and knights leaving the trapped man in his mirrored prison. And finally one last image of a very young priest holding a black chest. He looks bewildered as the knights and priestess leave him with the imprisoned individual.
Making up his mind, he stashes the box away in a natural cavity in the cave before scurrying after the priestess and her knights. Then the light dies and the mirror shatters.
Once you manage to restore light to the room, you discover a withered figure in the center of the chamber. The robes are the same as the prisoner, yet extreme age has left them threadbare. No life stirs in the body. Searching it, you uncover a few things of value. Inspecting the cavity in the cave wall, you find the chest well hidden behind many layers of old cobwebs and dust. If you hadn't seen the images, you're not sure you'd have ever found it. But the chest was there, nearly rotted from water and time. But its contents remained decently intact.
The party receives 3x Bag of Gold.
Failure: If the Heroes are defeated:
Failure! As blackness darkens your vision, you hear an ominous voice laughing. Dimly you are aware of a set of footsteps. Then the unmistakable sound of a sack of gold hitting the floor. The chime of the coins ringing against one another is musical compared to what comes next.
A sharp screeching permeates your senses. It's more than just a noise, but something that creeps across your skin, rough and unpleasant. When it ends, that deep voice says only one more thing. "Thank all the heavens for fools." Then all is dark.
When you each finally come to, there is now a flickering light, like a heartbeat out of rhythm. It's coming from one of the remaining mirrors. Its surface is marred with a disturbing rune that you can't look at for too long. Its image seems to twist and writhe in your mind like something alive. You avert your eyes.
Examining yourselves, you find the wounds you took have all disappeared as if they were mere illusions. And amidst your fallen forms is a single bag of gold. It sits there as a grim token of thanks from whoever you just released.
The party receives 1x Bag of Gold.