Quest Calendar: The Gates of Terralon
Quest Calendar: The Gates of Terralon Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Dice
This Quest Calendar game is played with 7 polyhedral dice. When asked to make a dice roll, you will see which die to roll indicated with a 'd' followed by the number indicating the sides of the die. The dice are: d4, d6, d8, d10, d10, d12, d20.
The "0" on a d10 means '10'.
When asked to roll the d100, use both d10:
- "60" and "5" = 65
- "20" and "0" = 20
- "00" and "1" = 1
- "00" and "0" = 100
Dice Rolls
Once you will play a character, you will have various stats for that character. Subsequent days will have you make dice rolls and add a modifier based on your character. Example instructions: INVESTIGATE the room. [roll a d20 + Intellect]. If your character has a +2 for Intellect, roll the 20-sided die and add +2 to the result. If you get a 15 on the dice roll, add +2, and you will end with a result of 17.
Heroes
You will play as a hero, making decisions for and acting as the main character of the story throughout the year.
Only 1 character will be available for the short prologue. After that, you will be presented with 6 heroes you can choose from. Others are available on the website at www.SundialGames.com. You will also find instructions for creating your own hero if you choose to do so.
Character Stats
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intellect, Wisdom, and Charisma are bonus modifiers used on your rolls throughout the year. HEALTH is the amount of damage you can take before dying. DEFENSE is how difficult it is to be hit by an enemy. ATTACK is the bonus you receive when rolling to hit an enemy. DAMAGE is the die you will roll to see how much damage to apply to enemies. Heroes have various abilities. Some are skills that give you bonuses to specific rolls; others are used in combat. There will be reminders, but get familiar with these abilities so you know how to use them.
Choices
Each day may have a couple possible options for how you deal with the situation. If you are meant to choose just one option, you will see the options listed alphabetically such as: A, B, C, etc. If you are meant to do each, they will be listed numerically such as 1, 2, 3, etc. For example:
- A) / B): Choose to do either A or B.
-
- / 2): Do action 1. Then, do action 2.
-
- / 2-A) / 2-B): Do action 1. Then, choose to do either 2-A or 2-B.
Resolving the Events of the Day
The resolution for the events of a given day will be on the back page of the PREVIOUS DAY. Do not throw the previous day away until you have used that page to resolve the events of the current day. Example: If on Wednesday, Feb 2, 2022 you are asked to roll an investigation check, you will find out the results of that roll on the back of Tuesday, Feb 1, 2022.
Combat
Combat runs differently in a Quest Calendar than you may be accustomed to in other RPGs. In other games, you usually continue combat over several rounds until the enemy is defeated. In a Quest Calendar, you only get a set number of rounds to fight a monster. When fighting groups of several monsters, you get 1 round per monster. In each round, you get an Attack and a Damage roll. This is your chance to defeat the monster before you get hit and take damage. If you do not hit the monster or deal enough damage to kill it, then your Defense will help reduce incoming damage.
When fighting against a single enemy over several rounds, you can't kill the monster until the final round. When you hit and do sufficient damage, you will "Stun" the enemy so it can't attack in later rounds.
For combat abilities, you may decide to use them once you see the outcome of a combat round. For example, the Cleric's Smite ability (Once per Page: Add d4 to a Damage roll) can be used once you know your damage was not enough to kill the goblin.
You can use healing abilities in combat, but you can't use a Health Potion or Greater Health Potion in the middle of combat. Make sure you have enough health before starting your dice rolls. You can use other potions in combat, such as Dragon's Fire or a Combat Tonic, but not a Health Potion.
Ability Reminders
Each day will give "Reminders" for abilities that you can use. If you feel you should be able to use an ability but there is no reminder, use your best judgement. You can always visit our website to ask questions on a forum. www.SundialGames.com
"per Rest"
When you use an ability that says, "Once per Rest", mark it as used. You will need to wait until your character takes a Rest before you can use it again. There are set days where your hero can Rest.
"per Page"
When an ability says, "Once per Page," it references the "calendar page" such as Friday, January 20th. These abilities can only be used once per page. Potions, such as Aged Wine, affect a stat "per Page," meaning that Aged Wine will add a d6 bonus your Charisma for the calendar page. Remove that bonus on the following page.
Pickpocket
The Pickpocket ability says, "Once per Page when encountering a non-enemy character: Roll d4 to gain that much in gold. On a roll of 4: lose 1 Virtue Point." This ability can't be used on every page. You will see a reminder when it can be used. Reminders for the Pickpocket ability are noted by an icon; these icons may not always be easy to find. Keep an eye out for them.
Single Player or Multiplayer
A single person can play this game to its full experience. Multiple people can play on a single calendar as long as every player plays separately. By that, we mean your results and rolls do not affect another player's. You all fight the same enemies, roll to get past the guard, buy different items, collect the same equipment, and hire the same followers, etc. However, we encourage you to alter the internal narrative to suit a party of players.
Dealing with Death
Sometimes, the dice can be unforgiving with the fate of your hero. It may be that at some point along your journey, your hero's health gets reduced to zero (0). The adventure must go on. You can be resurrected, but at a price. Bring your current health to half of your max value, rounded up. Roll a d6:
- Pay gold for life. Lose all your gold. If you have none, reroll d6 again.
- Suffer a Physical Injury. Roll a d6:
- 1-2: Reduce your Strength by 1.
- 3-4: Reduce your Dexterity by 1.
- 5-6: Reduce your Constitution by 1.
- Suffer Mental Trauma. Roll a d6:
- 1-2: Reduce your Intellect by 1.
- 3-4: Reduce your Wisdom by 1.
- 5-6: Reduce your Charisma by 1.
- Suffer a Grievous Wound. Roll a d8:
- 1-2: Reduce your Max Health by 2.
- 3-4: Reduce your Defense by 1.
- 5-6: Reduce your Attack by 1.
- 7-8: Take a -1 penalty to all Damage rolls.
- Sacrifice one of your magical equipment items. If you do not have one, roll again.
- The gods smile upon you. You are resurrected without consequence, but seeing the other side of death has left you drained. Mark all "use per Rest" abilities as used until your next Rest.
If you wish for a more difficult game, you may choose a new hero if you die and roll a result of 6. Choose a new hero at the same level but without the equipment your previous hero has accumulated.
Once you have resurrected, resume the next encounter of the day with your modified character stats.
A single Physical Injury, Mental Trauma, or Grievous Wound can be removed during a Rest. These may also be removed by some items, or by some magical effects, if stated by those items and magics.
Rest
There will be designated days when your character will get to Rest and recover from their journey. On these days:
- Restore your health to full.
- Regain all expended uses of abilities.
- Regain all Spell points and Chi points.
- Remove the Poisoned condition and the Cursed condition.
- Pay all upkeep for any followers you have. The followers you can't afford will leave you.
- Change your equipment if you desire. You can't have 2 of the same item types (ring, gloves, etc.) equipped at the same time.
- Remove a single negative modifier caused from a previous death ("physical injury", "mental trauma", or "grievous wound"). If you have both a physical injury and a grievous wound, pick one to restore. If you have a physical injury against both Strength and Dexterity, pick one to restore. If you died twice and got a physical injury to Strength both times, fully restore your Strength.
Level Up
There are certain days when your hero will gain levels. Your hero has gained enough experience to improve in their traits, abilities, health, etc. On these days, you will be instructed on how to adjust your hero. If you have the companion Hero Book, you will be able to simply turn the page to the hero's next level. You can also visit our website to download and print the character sheet for your hero's level. Go to www.SundialGames.com.
When you level up, you do not get a Rest.
Any additional uses of abilities you gain can be used but do not refresh any expended uses.
Increase your current health by the same amount of health you gain for that level. For example: if your max health is 20, but you have taken 9 points of damage, your current health is 11. If you level up and gain 4 health for your new level, your max health will be 24, while your current health will be 15.
Shops
Throughout the campaign, you will visit shops where you can make purchases of items that can help you on your journey. Use gold that you have accumulated to make these purchases. You may sell items back to the shop if they are selling that item. You must sell it for the same price the current shop sells it for. If you move on from the shop but regret that you did not purchase something, you must wait to make purchases until another day, when you visit another shop.
Followers
There are a couple of days when you can hire a follower to accompany you. Followers provide your character with access to abilities your hero might not know. This effectively allows you to gain abilities as long as you can afford them. You will first have to pay an initial fee to hire the follower. Afterwards, you will be required to pay their upkeep cost to keep them. Their upkeep cost is paid every time your hero takes a Rest. If you cannot pay upkeep, the follower leaves.
Equipment
You will come across items in your adventure which will give you great benefits. You can equip only one of each type (helmet, boots, ring, etc.) to your hero at a time. You can switch these out when you take a Rest. If you should die, one of these items will be taken from you if you roll a '5' on a d6 (see 'Dealing with Death'). We have a special 'Equipment Page' available in the Hero Book and on our website (www.SundialGames.com), that you can use to keep track of these.
Virtue
Virtue is a mechanic that reflects your hero's morality based on your decisions at certain points in the adventure. Virtue ranges from a minimum of negative ten (-10) to a maximum of positive ten (+10). Every hero will start at 0 (zero). You may gain or lose Virtue Points with certain decisions. Your Virtue may also affect some hero's abilities or even bonuses you may receive.