Fantasía S.A.
Fantasía S.A. Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Goal
The goal of the game is to be the first knight to amass enough Loot to retire and live a life of luxury. Loot is obtained by securing Sponsorships, which are gained by completing Heroic Feats. The Loot needed to win depends on the number of players:
| Players | Loot needed to win |
|---|---|
| 2 | 14 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 9 |
Components
Fantasía S.A. includes the following components:
Two six-sided dice. Use these dice for your attempts at Heroic Feats. If you like games and have some eighteen thousand dice lying around the house, look for two for each player.
5 Knight cards. Each player receives one of these cards. The front shows the player's knight, and the back shows the same knight after having received a good beating. Your Knight card stays in front of you for the whole game. It normally shows the handsome face of your knight, but when you end up in the hospital, turn it over to show the galán covered in plaster casts. If you like, you may make whatever sound effects seem most appropriate when doing so, such as "Arrrggghh!", "Aaaaaay!" or "I'm dying, Horacio!".
30 Feat cards. Feat cards are like "help wanted" posters for heroes. Like all the rulers of fantasy worlds, the kings and queens of this land are unable even to cross the street without a hero to lead them by the hand. Fortunately, they pay well. You will carry out three types of Feats: Combat (go out and get into a scrap with something or someone), Rescue (go and fetch someone and bring them to your boss), and Pickup (go and fetch something and bring it to your boss). If you are thinking that the life of a fantasy hero worryingly resembles that of a mafia thug, you have already reached the level of cynicism needed to play Fantasía S.A.
41 Hero cards. There are two types of Hero cards: Action and Equipment.
- Action cards. Action cards can do all sorts of strange things that we will not stop to explain here. They will tell you themselves when you may play them and what will happen when you do, so don't worry.
- Equipment cards. Equipment cards represent the gear your knight can use. You play them from your hand by exchanging completed Feats for Gold (sharpened coins and nail-like pieces made of gold in a 5% proportion and tin in a 95% proportion). Gold is the standard currency of this land. There are Style Equipment cards, which make you more or less stylish; Assistant cards, which give you helpers who tend to be useful; and Clothing cards, which let you dress your knight in a way that hides their physical flaws.
24 Sponsor cards. What you really want are Sponsor cards. You acquire them by exchanging completed Feats for Renown, which you then use to attract Sponsors. If you manage to get Sponsors that have enough Loot (the big money bags at the bottom of the card), you gain them immediately. There are Materials Sponsors, who advertise raw material goods; Service Sponsors, who advertise various "services"; Herald Sponsors, who advertise things related to the incompetent local government; and Magic Sponsors, who advertise... come on, you can do it... "magical" things.
Setup
To set up the game, follow these steps in the order given. If you deviate from them even slightly, our sinister agents will kick down your door and start breaking things.
- Give one Knight card to each player. If anyone wants a different knight, they must fight for it. Once the conflict has been resolved and the shattered remains of the furniture have been cleared away, each player places their Knight card in front of them with the healthy side face up. Any Knight card left over goes back into the box.
- Separate the remaining cards into three decks according to their backs. There should be a Feat deck, a Hero deck and a Sponsor deck. Shuffle each deck well.
- Deal three Hero cards to each player. This will be their hand.
- Take the top three cards of the Feat deck and place them face up, one after another, next to the deck. These cards are called the Feat Reserve.
- Take the top three cards of the Sponsor deck and place them face up, one after another, next to the deck. These cards are called the Sponsor Reserve.
- The owner of the game goes first; it is good to be the king. You are now ready to play.
Turn Structure
On their turn, a player does the following in the order given:
- Phase 1, Cards Galore. The player refills the Feat Reserve and the Sponsor Reserve if necessary, and draws a Hero card.
- Phase 2, Bold Deed. The player heals their knight if it is in the hospital, or attempts a Feat.
These steps are explained in more detail below.
Once a player has finished their turn, the turn passes to the player seated to their left.
Phase 1, Cards Galore
First, if any of the Reserves has fewer than three cards, refill it from the appropriate deck, all cards face up.
After refilling the Reserves, draw a Hero card from the Hero deck and add it to your hand. Feel free to gloat over your new and beloved card. If this makes your hand more than six cards, you must discard immediately until you have six again, before you may use any card.
Phase 2, Bold Deed
If your Knight card shows that you are in the hospital (that is, it is turned over and shows your knight in plaster casts), skip the rest of the turn and turn the card back over so that it shows your brave knight's handsome face again.
Otherwise, you must attempt a Feat. To do so, choose one of the three cards face up in the Feat Reserve. The large number on the Feat is its difficulty, which represents how hard it is to carry out. Note the difficulty and roll two dice, adding the results together. This is a Feat Roll. If you roll a number equal to or greater than the Feat's difficulty, you succeed in carrying it out. If you roll less, you have failed. You're a wimp!
Note: many Equipment and Action cards will give bonuses or penalties to the roll when attempting certain Feats. Simply add up all the modifiers and then add them to the result of the roll (for example, a result of 7 with a +2 bonus and a −1 penalty gives a total result of 8).
Important: a 12 on the Feat Roll is always a success, even though negative modifiers would normally have made the knight fail. A 2 is always a failure.
If you fail: follow the Failure instructions of the Feat and then place it on the Feat discard pile. This may send you to the hospital or make you lose Sponsor Equipment cards. Some Feats can even become harmful Equipment if failed, forcing you to carry a cursed object or put up with an annoying freeloader. Not to mention what the other knights will laugh at you for.
Going to the hospital. If you have to go to the hospital, turn your card over so that it shows your plaster-cast knight. On your next turn you will not be able to attempt a Feat. If you are sent to the hospital when you are already there, nothing happens.
If you succeed: follow the Success instructions of the Feat and then place it on the Feat discard pile. In most cases, this will let you "exchange" the Feat for Gold or Renown. Gold, the number in the golden circle, is used to buy Equipment in your hand, while Renown, the number on the small scroll, is used to buy Sponsors from the Sponsor Reserve. If there is nothing you want to buy and can also afford, then tough luck, just as in real life.
Buying Equipment
When you exchange a Feat for Gold, you may choose one Equipment card in your hand whose Gold cost is equal to or less than the Gold value of the completed Feat. Play the card face up in front of you. You do not receive change when buying Equipment, and you may not buy two or more Equipment cards with a single Feat. Once you have played the Equipment card, remember to put the Feat on the Feat discard pile.
Example: you succeed at the Feat Marcos "Child's Shield". Its Success instructions give you either 4 points of Renown or 3 Gold. Looking at your hand, you see you have a Theatrical Wind Elemental that costs 2 Gold, so you place this card face up in front of you and put Marcos "Child's Shield" on the Feat discard pile. Even though the Theatrical Wind Elemental only cost 2 Gold, you will have spent the 3 Gold of the Feat.
Buying Sponsors
Buying Sponsors works exactly like buying Equipment, except that you exchange the completed Feat for Renown rather than Gold, and Sponsors are bought from the Sponsor Reserve, not from your hand. You may not exchange the same Feat for both Gold and Renown; you must choose one of the two options.
Example: after your success at the Feat Marcos "Child's Shield", you decide to use it to acquire a Sponsor rather than Equipment. Its instructions tell you that you may gain 4 points of Renown. Looking at the Sponsor Reserve, you see that Enrique the Saint's Resurrection Emporium is available for 4 points of Renown, so you take that card, place it face up in front of you, and then put Marcos "Child's Shield" on the Feat discard pile.
Important: if, when playing a Sponsor card, your Loot equals or exceeds the amount needed to win the game, you are immediately declared the winner. Yes, sir! Mercilessly mock the other players, they are a bunch of losers!
Sponsor and Equipment Cards in Play
Once you have played a Sponsor or Equipment card, you gain its Loot and any benefit it describes for as long as it remains face up in front of you. If you lose it, for example by failing a Feat, discard it to the appropriate pile. Don't forget to complain bitterly and swear revenge on your rivals, the dice, or whatever else you like.
End of a Deck
If a deck of cards runs out, shuffle its discard pile to create a new deck.
Playing Action Cards
Action cards indicate when they may be played and what effect they have. There is no limit to the number of Action cards that may be played in response to an event, so, for example, a player could play two cards of Una Misión Divina before making their Feat Roll in order to gain a +2 bonus.
Order of Action Cards
When more than one player wants to use Action cards at the same time, the player to the left of the active player is the first who may play one. Play continues rotating to the left; each player may use only one card per pass. Passes continue around the table until no one else wants to play Action cards.
End of the Game
The game ends at the very moment a player gathers enough Loot to win. The minimum Loot needed to win depends on the number of players:
| Players | Loot needed to win |
|---|---|
| 2 | 14 |
| 3 | 12 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 9 |
For this total, count all the Loot of the Sponsors each player has in play, as well as any extra Loot that their Equipment cards may give them.