Pocket Book Adventures Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• How to Aim
• Campaign Areas
• Movement
  • Starting position
  • Recording movement
  • Terrain
  • Enemies
  • Objects
• Combat
  • Enemy Abilities
• Recording Your Progress
• Leaving/Entering an Area
  • Recording your performance
  • Transferring your progress
• So It Seems You've Been Killed
• Now Go Save the World!

How to Aim

To aim, all you need is a starting point and a target, like what is pictured in the rulebook. The rulebook uses this as a tutorial.

1. Place the tip of your pencil on the starting point. Nothing but the pencil tip should be touching the page; that includes any part of your writing hand, if possible.
2. Without looking at the page, lift your pencil up and attempt to place it on the center of the target.
3. Where your pencil lands determines what actions you can take or how successful you were.
4. If you miss the target completely, just try again. If there are any penalties for missing (usually there aren't), they apply each time you miss, even if you miss multiple times in a row.
5. If your pencil lands perfectly on the line between two outcomes, feel free to use your discretion based on how tough you want the game to be.

That's it! Now when you're told to aim from one point to another, you'll know what to do!

Campaign Areas

Each pair of pages in this book is a new campaign area. Here's a quick summary of what's on them.

1. Stats Table. This is where you record your stats, items, weapons, etc.
2. Enemies. This section contains what you'll need to identify enemies on the field and resolve encounters with them.
3. Enemy Abilities. This section describes the different abilities that each enemy has and how they affect you.
4. Field. This is where you record movement, encounter enemies, etc.
5. Goal Tracks. Goal tracks record your performance for each area. The stars you earn eventually determine your final score for the game.
6. Field Target. The field target is used to determine the outcome of variable events on the field.
7. Field Notes. This area lists and describes any special objects on the field.

The sample area shown in the summary is "Area 2 - Grasslands", with enemies Pixie, Eye Worm and Goblin. Its ability key reads: Misfire - Gain 2 HP (after normal damage). Empty - Hearts give no HP. Fumble - Gain 1G.

Movement

Campaign areas are grouped into seven regions, each having their own set of movement rules.

Although detailed rules for each region are described at the beginning of those sections, there are some common rules that apply to most/all regions.

Starting position

When entering a new area, start movement from the starting position icon.

Recording movement

As you move around the field, draw a line following the path you've chosen and mark the new space you end on. That is your new "current location."

Terrain

Shaded spaces denote terrain. You may not land on or pass over terrain. If you run into terrain during movement, turn left or right and continue on.

Enemies

If you run directly into an enemy during movement, stop on the space just before them and end movement.

You may not land on or pass through an enemy while they are alive. Once you have defeated them, however, you may step over their dead carcass with ease.

Objects

To interact with an object on the field (such as pick up an item, etc), simply pass over the space it occupies.

Once you have passed over an object (even if you did not pick it up), you may not interact with it again.

• Hearts allow you to regain 1 Hit Point (HP), up to your maximum.
• Max Hearts give you 1 HP, like hearts, but they also increase your maximum HP by 1.
• Coins give you 1 gold (G).
• Coin Stacks give variable amounts of gold. To determine how much, aim from the coin stack to the field target. Landing in the center gives you 5G. Each ring after that gives you one less gold.
• Items give single-use advantages to you and can be held for later use. You may hold up to 3 items at a time.
• Weapons are similar to items, but have no limit to the number of times you can use them. You may only hold 1 weapon at a time.
• Chests work like coin stacks, but give 10G for hitting the center and 2 less for each ring after. They also remain on the field until you have opened them. To open a chest, you must:
  • Have the key.
  • End movement on the space the chest occupies.
• Keys do not count as items, so they do not count against your 3-item limit. They also only work on a single chest that is in the same area.

Combat

If you end movement on any of the 8 spaces surrounding an enemy (whether or not you ran into them directly), initiate combat.

To fight an enemy, aim from the dot on their attack bar to their target. Where your pencil lands determines the amount of damage you take:

• Outer ring: Take 2 damage
• Inner ring: Take 1 damage
• Center: Take no damage

Once your pencil lands anywhere on the target, the enemy is defeated. Record your new HP and status effect (if any) in the Stats Table. See "Recording Your Progress" for more detail.

If your HP ever reaches zero, that means you have died. See "So It Seems You've Been Killed" for what to do.

Enemy Abilities

If your pencil lands on a darker shaded region, record damage like normal, but also execute the enemy's ability.

Some abilities are immediately resolved. Other abilities (denoted by a | on each side of the name) can affect you for extended periods of time in the form of a status. If you are afflicted with a status, record it in the Stats Table.

• Drench: Take 1 extra damage for each water space surrounding you.
• Empty: Regular hearts give no HP.
• Vanish: All objects surrounding this enemy are removed from the field.

Status effects can be removed in two ways:

1. by using an item to cure them, or
2. by visiting a physician in a village.

You can be affected by multiple statuses at the same time. However, you cannot be affected by the same status more than once at a time.

For example, you can be affected by Sludge and Poison at the same time, but you cannot be affected by Poison again if you are already currently poisoned.

Recording Your Progress

The Stats Table has 5 tracks for recording your progress throughout each area.

• HP. This track stores your current number of Hit Points. It also stores your current Max HP in the outlined box to the left of the track.
• Gold. This track stores the amount of gold you have.
• Status. This track stores the status effect you currently have, such as Confuse, Sludge, etc.
• Item. This track stores the item(s) you currently hold. You may hold up to 3 items at a time. If you use an item, cross out or erase the corresponding box on the Item Track.
• Weapon. This track stores the weapon you currently hold. You may only hold one weapon at a time. If you pick up or buy a new weapon, you must permanently discard the weapon you currently hold by crossing out or erasing the corresponding box on the Weapon Track.

Leaving/Entering an Area

Once you are ready to leave an area, look for a gap in the field's border with an arrow next to it. Any time you pass over that arrow, you may leave the area.

If you choose to leave, interact with any objects you pass over, then leave the area without initiating combat.

Recording your performance

After leaving an area, but before entering a new one, record your performance for that area on the goal tracks.

In each area, you can earn up to 3 stars per goal track. The number of stars you earn will eventually determine your final game score.

• Baddies defeated. The more baddies you defeat, the more stars you'll earn. Circle every star that has a number equal to or less than the number of enemies you defeated.
• Damage taken. The less damage you take, the more stars you'll earn. Circle every star that has a number equal to or greater than the total damage you sustained, regardless of how much HP you healed.
• Moves taken. The fewer moves you take, the more stars you'll earn. Circle every star that has a number equal to or greater than the number of spaces you ended movement on (NOT the total number you passed over).

If you ended movement on the same space multiple times, that space still only counts once.

Transferring your progress

When entering a new area, take the current value of each track in the Stats Table and write it in the left-most box of the new area's corresponding track.

For the HP track, you will also write your current Max HP in the outlined box on the left.

So It Seems You've Been Killed

In the very unfortunate event that you die, all is not lost! Just do the following:

1. Cut your gold in half (rounding in your favor), or drop your weapon and item(s).
2. Refill your HP back to maximum.
3. Cure all status effects.
4. Pick up where you left off. The enemy that killed you is still alive.

Now Go Save the World!

Or don't. I mean, saving the world is usually a pretty hard thing to do, after all. Failure is certainly possible - maybe even likely...

Anyway, good luck!