The Road Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Content
• Aim of the Game
• Set-up
  • Quick presentation of gauge mats
• Sequence of a Game
  • Sequence of events for a day
• Solve a Road Card
  • Action: Turn around
  • Action: Cross through
  • Action: Bypass
• Retrieve a Findings Card
  • Types of Findings Cards
  • Trade Cards
• Solve an Encounter Card
  • Introducing the Encounter Cards
  • The Attacks
• Trade
  • Key
• Special Interactions
• Solve a Fatality Card
  • Presentations and explanations of the Fatality Cards
• Detailed Overview of the Gauge Trays
  • The Destiny line
  • Life, Energy and Moral
• The "?"
• Clarifications of Some Cards and Symbols
• Victory and Defeat Conditions
  • Victory
  • Defeat
• Game Modes
  • "Equipped" mode
  • "Traveller" mode
  • "Survivor" mode
• Multiplayers?
• Achievements
• Playing with Characters
  • Pytheas
  • Leopoldine
  • Hester
  • Sayadaw
  • Create your character
• Scenario Mode
• Logos

Game Content

• 40 Road Cards
• 20 Encounter Cards
• 9 Fatality Cards
• 25 Findings Cards
• 15 Trade Cards (5 green, 5 orange, 5 red)
• 10 Land Cards
• 1 Destination Card
• 2 large cards Gauge tray
• 5 Plastic markers

Aim of the Game

Survive the 6 day journey through the territories of Geynum and reach the Destination Territory.

Set-up

Shuffle the following decks separately: Road, Findings, Encounter, Fatality, Land.

Trade card decks can remain face up and can be viewed at any time during the game. Separate them by color.

Keep the Destination card close to you.

Place the small round plastic markers on the gauge mats. Place one marker on box 1 of the Day row, one marker on box 4 of the Destiny credits and one marker on box 4 of the Life, Energy and Moral lines.

Place the card decks and gauge mats in the suggested layout.

Quick presentation of gauge mats

The first mat carries the Days row and the Destiny Credits row. The second mat carries the Life gauge, the Energy gauge and the Moral gauge.

Sequence of a Game

[Before starting a game, select a game mode. Three game modes are available, and they are detailed in the "Game modes" section.]

Your goal is to survive for 6 days. Each day, you must solve a number of Road Cards. At the end of each day, you must advance your day marker to the next day.

By using the Destinations card, randomly determine a Destination Territory from the 5 possible destinations (A, B, C, D or E). To do this, simply roll a D6. If you roll a 6, you can select your destination, otherwise consider destination A as 1, B as 2, etc... If you don't have a D6, draw a card at random from one of the Trade decks. The letter on the drawn Card will determine your destination.

The Destination shows the number of Road Cards you will face on Day 6 of your trip. The penalty, next to the number of Road Cards, is to be resolved at the beginning of Day 6.

Once the destination has been determined, draw the first two cards from the Territory deck. Then choose one of the two cards and discard the second one. This action must be performed at the beginning of each day, except on day 6. Each territory card has a territory name, as well as a number of Road cards. This is the number of Road cards that separate you from this territory. Some territory cards also have a penalty or a bonus to be solved at the beginning of the day.

Sequence of events for a day

Once you have chosen the Territory card, place in front of you the number of Road cards shown.

Example: You draw Diomede and Cerbere. You decide to reach Cerbere, so draw 5 Road cards and place them face down.

Reminder: If the Territory card has a bonus or a penalty, it must be resolved before you draw the Road cards. The Destination Territory penalty must be faced before Day 6.

To face the day, you must solve the road cards, one by one and from left to right.

Solve a Road Card

There are different types of road cards. Location cards, obstacle cards and event cards.

• "Location" Road cards represent a place to be visited. (i.e., Abandoned House, Old Theater, etc...)
• "Obstacles" Road cards represent an obstacle that blocks your path. You can go around it or face it, sometimes with the help of items. (i.e., Cliff, Raised Bridge, Destroyed Road, etc...)
• "Event" Road cards represent events with which you may or may not have to interact. (i.e., Stifling Dust, Dark Night, Burial, etc...)

To resolve a Road Card, flip it over and choose one of the actions displayed. On most Road cards you have the possibility to Cross through, Bypass or Turning around.

The possible actions are always displayed in the same way on every card. If an action is missing, it may not be necessary or impossible to resolve.

Once the action is resolved, discard the Road card. You can only choose one action!

Road Cards Overview: each card shows its card name, a Turn Around arrow, a Bypass arrow, and a Cross through banner.

When there is a "/" on an action, you must choose one of the two options. On the illustrated card, option 1 is only possible if you have the "gas mask".

Action: Turn around

When you choose the action, "Turn around", you choose not to face the Road card. In return, you will have to take another, sometimes longer path to continue your journey. The "Turn around" arrow is accompanied by a number, that represents, the number of Road card(s) to add to your day instead of solving the card in question. Instead, undo the Road card and pick as many Road cards as you need. These cards must be placed in the exact location of the discarded Road card. The "Turn around" arrow can sometimes be red, meaning that it is impossible to take another road.

Using the "Turn around" action too often will deplete the deck of Road cards down quickly. If the Road card deck is depleted and you must draw a new card from it, you lose the game! (You are lost in Geynum)

• Example 1: You can avoid Crossing or Bypassing the Shopping Center against two new Road Cards.
• Example 2: You can ignore the Caravan and not visit it, against zero road cards.
• Example 3: You cannot avoid the Darkness Card by taking another path. You have to cross through it. You will either need the Torch or suffer damage.

Action: Cross through

Note: The Cross through action can sometimes be interpreted as "Visit", "Cross Over" or "Interact".

The banner at the bottom of the Road Cards represents the "Cross through" action. If you choose this action, you must resolve the entire line (unless there is a "/"). The line must be resolved from left to right. This action will allow you to make encounters, retrieve objects, interact with an event, and sometimes cross obstacles.

• Example 1: If you head through the destroyed church, you must solve an Encounter card and then pick up a Find.
• Example 2: If you cross the nuclear zone, you can pass through without any problem if the Gas Mask is in your inventory. If not, you lose 1 Life point. Using an item such as this doesn't discard it.
• Example 3: If you need to cross the raised bridge, the only way to succeed is using the Rope in your inventory. If you don't have it, you must choose one of the two other possible options: Finding another way or Bypassing. Using an item like this doesn't discard it.

Action: Bypass

When you choose the "Bypass" action, you must suffer the consequence(s) present next to the small "wavy" arrow. You go around the place or obstacle without looking for another path. The consequences will often be loss of energy or encounters. On some road cards, the "Bypass" arrow is not available, which means that it is impossible to go around it.

• Example 1: If you "Bypass" the Shopping Center, you lose 1 Energy point.
• Example 2: If you "Bypass" the Raised Bridge, you lose 1 Energy point and you must pick 1 Encounter card.

Retrieve a Findings Card

The Findings are represented by the Findings logo.

When you need to retrieve a Findings card, pick one and place it in your inventory (in your hand or on the table), it belongs to you. Finding cards are essential to your survival. Without them, your game may be cut short. You can have as many Findings cards as you want in your inventory as long as the maximum allowed weight allows you to do so (weight is detailed in "Detailed overview of the gauge trays").

There may be several pieces of information on the Findings cards:

• The Value of the item, represented by the Trade value logo.
• The Weight of the item, represented by the Weight logo.
• The level of Strength (only if it is a weapon), represented by the Strength logo.
• What the item gives to the player once consumed or used.

The Value of the Finds gives you an indication of what your findings is worth in the eyes of the people of Geynum. On Geynum, the money has disappeared and only barter remains.

The Weight of the Findings is important. After you've picked a finding, you must make an inventory of everything you are carrying. If the total weight of your reserve exceeds the weight set by the current day, you must discard the excess cards. Some findings don't have weight, meaning that they do not weigh enough to count towards your total weight capacity. In other words, they are not a weight for you and therefore weigh "nothing".

The Strength of Findings, only pertains to weapons. When you meet a Geynum resident, it may happen that the character you meet will engage in a fight with you. The only way to defend yourself is to have weapons.

What findings can provide. Some findings can be consumed or used by the player to gain Life, Energy, Moral or other benefits. Findings consumed in this way must be discarded (with a few exceptions that can still be traded, see "Clarifications of some cards and symbols"). You cannot consume a Findings card while resolving a Road (or Fatality) card, but only before or after!

Example: If you decide to consume the Tin canned food, recover 1 Life point and 1 Energy point then discard the card. You can also choose not to consume the tin can and trade it with a character who is willing to trade with you during your game (see Trade).

Types of Findings Cards

• Weapons
• Food
• Care items
• Other objects (anything that is not a weapon, food or care item)

Weapons allow you to defend yourself against the inhabitants of Geynum. Some are more powerful or not as heavy as others. You can also trade them.

Food quickly becomes necessary. It allows you to gain Life, Energy and/or Moral points.

Healing items allow you to gain Life and/or Energy points. They often have an important trade value.

Other items are sometimes only useful for trade. With a few exceptions, such as the Rope, the Gas Mask or the Torch, items that can help you to pass certain obstacles without hindrance.

When the Findings Deck is empty, you can no longer retrieve any more Finds.

Trade Cards

Trade cards are very special findings cards. You can only win them by trading with encounters. There are 5 Green Trade cards, 5 Orange Trade cards, and 5 Red Trade cards. You can keep the three decks separate or make a pile of them. These cards can be viewed at any time during the game.

The "Trade" cards, once in your possession, become "Finding" cards.

Solve an Encounter Card

When you need to solve an encounter card, turn the first card of the encounter deck over and place it face up near the deck. The character you meet will react to your presence in the location. To determine the reaction of the encounter, you must examine the symbol revealed on the back of the following encounter card (the one remaining at the top of the encounter deck, still facing down). The visible symbol shows you immediately whether the encounter attacks you, trades with you or interacts with you in some other way.

When the Encounter deck is depleted, shuffle the discarded pile to form a new Encounter deck.

Introducing the Encounter Cards

An Encounter card shows its card name, an Attack level, a Trade proposal and a Special interaction.

• If the back of the next card on the Encounter deck shows the Attack symbol, the encounter attacks you.
• If the back of the next card on the Encounter deck shows the Trade symbol, the encounter trades with you.
• If the back of the next card on the Encounter deck has no symbol, you must face the specific interaction that is printed at the bottom banner of the card. This is a "narrative" interaction that the player can imagine during their game. For example, the "Thief", can imagine that she is spending good time with you (you gain 1 Morale point), but during this time she takes advantage of the opportunity to steal one of your findings.
• If the Fatality symbol is also on the card, in addition to being attacked or traded with, you must draw a Fatality card. The Fatality card must be drawn even if you win the fight or refuse to trade.

The Attacks

When the encounter attacks you, you must compare your level of Strength to the character you meet. If your strength level is higher than the level of the character you meet you win the fight. If it is lower you lose the fight.

If you win the fight, you can continue the game without losing a life.

If you lose the fight, you lose 1 Life point (always only one Life point, regardless of the difference in Strength levels), so slide the marker on your Life gauge one level down and resume the game.

Your Strength Level is equal to the sum of the Strength Levels of the weapons in your inventory.

NOTE: you can only add-up a maximum of 2 weapons during a fight (one weapon per hand). Prioritize the two weapons with the highest strength levels in your item pool to get the best attack result. If you have more than two weapons in your possession, save them for possible trade. If you have no weapons, your level of Strength is zero. You don't have to fight and you can simply accept to lose 1 Life point in combat.

If your Strength level is equal to the Strength level of the encounter attacking you, lose 1 Energy point. Assume that the fight has exhausted you without injuring you.

Examples — in the instance that you meet the Thief and she attacks you, here are the consequences of this attack depending on your inventory:

• Situation 1: In this case, the Hammer gives you a Strength level of 2. The Thief also has a Strength level of 2. At equal Strength, you lose 1 point of Energy and resume the game (you can lose 1 Life point instead, by refusing to fight). An exception: if you and your opponent are both at a Strength level of zero, you don't lose any Energy or Life points.
• Situation 2: In this case, the Brass knuckles give you a Strength level of 1. The Thief has a Strength level of 2. If you have a Strength level lower than hers, you lose the fight and therefore lose 1 Life point.
• Situation 3: In this case, the Hammer and the Brass Knuckles give you a Strength Level of 3. The Thief has a Strength Level of 2. If you have a Strength Level higher than hers, you win the fight. You can continue the game without losing Life.

Trade

When the character you meet decides to trade with you, you must check what he offers you. On the card, next to the Trade symbol, a value is displayed by a color. This value is the asking price of the encounter and the color corresponds to the Trade deck used for this exchange.

• Example 1: In this case, the Thief offers to trade Red for a Value of 4, i.e. you can barter items from your inventory that have a total value of 4 or more, against one card from the Red Trade deck. You can trade several of your items to reach the required level.
• Example 2: In this case, the Priest offers to trade Green for a Value of 1, i.e. you can give him items from your reserve that have a total value of 1 or more, for a card from the Green Trade deck.
• Example 3: On some Encounter cards, such as The Wandering Child, instead of finding a Trade proposal, you will find the Ally symbol (shield). In this case, the encounter does not trade with you but becomes your ally. You can add the Encounter card to your item inventory. During a fight, you can add the Strength of your allies to that of your weapons to obtain a higher total Strength.

You can have as many allies as you wish. Allies are not considered findings and are not counted toward your weapon limit in a battle.

You can sacrifice an ally to avoid losing a fight. To do this, discard the sacrificed ally when a battle with a greater opponent than your own attacks you. Once the ally is defeated and discarded you do not lose any Life points after the attack and continue the game.

Key

• The value of an item in your reserve is undividable.
• You can donate items for a total higher than the requested value, but the excess is lost. You can combine several Findings cards to reach the requested level of value.
• Findings cards used for trade are discarded.
• You can give double the requested value to take two items from the trade deck (2 max). Example: If the encounter offers to Trade Green for a value of 2, you can give it a total value of 4 against 2 cards of your choice from the Green Trade deck. Exception: if an encounter offers to trade for a value of zero, you can only take one item from the Barter deck.
• If you don't have an item with a high enough value for the trade that is offered, continue the game ignoring the trade.
• You must respect the color of the Trade Deck written on the encounter card.
• The discarded "Trade" cards are removed from the game. If a Trade deck is empty, consider that the "Encounter" nothing to barter with you.
• When an encounter trades with you, you can barter with the encounter as long as you are still in its location. This is very useful in case you make a findings after a meeting on the same Road card.
• On some Encounter card there is no Trade symbol or value. This means that no trading is possible with the encounter (a black cross is displayed instead).

Special Interactions

During an encounter, if there is no symbol on the back of the next card, you must solve a specific interaction for each character you meet.

Although most specific interactions will have positive consequences on your game, they can sometimes have negative consequences.

Details about specific interactions:

• At times, you will gain Morale, Life and/or Energy.
• At times, the encounter will offer you an item from one of the Trade decks. It will be presented as a letter. Retrieve the deck card corresponding to the letter. If the item is not available in the Trade deck, you cannot benefit from it.

Some examples of particular interactions:

• The Priest offers you item B of the Green Trade Deck (Old Bible).
• The Swarm of Crows force you to draw a Fatality card.
• The Shaman offers you a Vision. The Visions allow you to reveal a Fatality card that is either a Fatality card at the end of your day, or the first Fatality card of the Fatality deck. You must use your Vision immediately after you have earned it.
• The Survivor: You can remove the last Road Card of your day and put it back face down on the Road Deck (the Survivor gives you a shortcut). If it is already the last Road Card of the day, nothing happens.

Solve a Fatality Card

Fatality cards are cards that will complicate your journey. There are 9 of them in total. When you need to draw a Fatality card, draw the first Fatality card from the Fatality deck and do not reveal it immediately. Place it at the end of your day. You must face it as soon as there are no more Road Cards to resolve in your day. If your day is extended by other Road Cards, the Fatality card will be moved to the end after the new Road Cards.

You can accumulate as many Fatality cards as you pick at the end of your day. Once resolved, the Fatality cards are discarded. If the Fatality deck is empty, ignore the Fatality cards until the end of the game.

Presentations and explanations of the Fatality Cards

• Lose 2 Moral points.
• Lose 2 Energy points.
• Lose 1 Life, Energy and Moral point, unless you have the item written under the white line in your inventory. The item is not discarded.
• Your Life, Energy and Morale gauges are reduced to level 1. If one of your gauges is already at level 1, it remains there. If one of your gauges is at level zero (limit zone), it remains there.
• Remove and blindly discard 2 cards from each Trade deck. Future trades will be less varied.
• Wrong way! Add 3 Road Cards to your current day.
• You lose "?" Life point(s). You can sacrifice an ally instead of suffering this Fatality. The "?" is explained in the section "The ?".

Detailed Overview of the Gauge Trays

There are two gauges mats: one to track the days and your Destiny line and the other with your Life, Energy and Moral gauges.

On the first tray on the day line, there are "Weight" symbols with a number. This is the maximum weight allowed in your inventory.

• On day 1 and 2, your maximum allowed weight is 6.
• On day 3 and 4, your maximum allowed weight is 5.
• On day 5 and 6, your maximum allowed weight is 4.

As soon as a finding causes you to exceed the weight limit, you must discard an item in order to have a total weight equal to or less than the weight limit. As you progress in your journey, your ability to carry weight decreases.

The Destiny line

Under the Day line is the Destiny line. It is a special gauge. It allows you to change your destiny.

The numbers 4 to 0 are not levels, but credits. During a game you have the right to use your "Destiny" credits to modify an interaction with an encounter card.

After turning an Encounter card over, check the symbol on the back of the next Encounter card to discover what interaction the encounter has in store for you. If the interaction does not suit you, you can change it by using 1 Destiny credit. When you use 1 Destiny credit, move the marker one notch and place the first card in the Encounter deck underneath the stack without looking at it. You should then look at the symbol on the next card to see the new interaction that replaces the previously discarded one.

You can use your Destiny credits several times in a row. Be careful: you must draw a Fatality card if you use last Destiny credit.

Example: In this case, the Thief attacks me and I have to draw a Fatality card. I use a Destiny credit to place the card from the Encounter deck under the stack of cards. The back of the next card tells me that the Thief is attacking me but I no longer have to draw a Fatality card. My Destiny credit will have been useful.

Note: When your Destiny marker reaches the 0 (zero), draw a Fatality card. In other words, using your last credit will not be without consequences. Each time you place your marker on this case, draw a Fatality card.

Life, Energy and Moral

The second mat allows you to monitor your Life, Energy and Moral levels.

• The Life Gauge represents your physical health. There are levels 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 (limit zone) and the Skull (dead).
• The Energy Gauge represents your energy. There are the levels 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 (limit zone) and the Skull (exhaustion).
• The Moral Gauge represents your mental state. There are levels 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 (limit zone) and the Skull (surrender).

These three gauges work in the same way.

If one of your markers lands on one of the Skull boxes on the board, the game is immediately lost.

When one of your sliders is on a zero square (limit zone), you can continue the current day. Be careful: if you end the day with at least one of your markers on the zero square (limit zone), you lose the game. You must therefore do everything you can to leave the Limit Zone before the end of the day. A day ends when there are no more Road cards or Fatality cards to resolve.

It is therefore sometimes preferable to look for another road to extend the day and try to leave a Limit Zone.

If you finish on Day 6 and one of your markers is in a Limit Zone, you lose the game.

The "?"

Some Road, Encounter, Fatality or Findings cards present information accompanied by a "?". To solve this "?", simply replace it with the numerical value of your lowest gauge level, among the Life, Energy and Moral gauges.

Examples:

• In this case, the Survivor trades Orange with a value of 2.
• In this case, the Drunk Man attacks you with a Strength equal to zero.

Note: you must replace the "?" by the numerical value when solving it.

Clarifications of Some Cards and Symbols

When a specific interaction of an Encounter card asks you to discard one of your Findings, you must discard one at random. If you do not have any Findings Cards in your item pool, nothing happens. The "Trade" cards in your possession, are considered as "Finding" cards.

When an action on a Road card asks you to discard one of your Findings, you must discard one at random. If you do not have any Findings cards in your item pool, you cannot take the action that asks you to do so. You will therefore have to choose to Find Another Way or Bypass. There is an exception for the "Escape" Road Card: you can flee even if you have no Findings in your inventory.

The Road Card "Trade Market" is a special card. When you arrive on this Road card, you have the possibility to barter as much as you want with the Green, Orange and Red Trade deck. This card works like a classic trade. For a value of 3, you can retrieve one card from the Green deck. For a value of 4, you can retrieve a card from the Orange deck. For a value of 5, you can retrieve a card from the Red deck.

The FlashLight adds +1 to the numerical value of your "?" when followed by the Findings logo. This means that you earn an extra discovery each time you solve a "?" in front of the Findings logo.

The Old Bible allows you to cancel a Road card that has just been revealed. The cancelled Road Card is discarded and is not replaced. Once the Old Bible has been used, you can no longer use it. Rotate it 90° to remind you of this. However, you can still trade it.

Unlike other Findings cards, the Novel and Old Bible are not discarded once used. Even if they can no longer be used, they can still be traded.

The Lucky Charm allows you to cancel a Fatality card. When a Fatality card is placed at the end of your day, you can discard the Lucky Charm in order to discard the Fatality card without resolving it.

The Backpack allows you to carry extra weight. With this card, you can add 2 extra weight units. For example, if you own the Backpack and you are on day 5, you can carry a weight of 6 instead of 4.

Victory and Defeat Conditions

Victory

You win if:

• You survive the 6 day trip on the Road. The sixth day ends after solving the last Road card and the eventual last Fatality card of day 6.

Defeat

You lose if:

• You need to pick up a Road Card but the Road Card Deck is empty.
• One of your gauge sliders is on a skull.
• One of your gauge sliders is on a Limit Zone and your day is over.

Game Modes

There are three ways to play THE ROAD and to discover the game in a progressive way. At the beginning of the game, determine which mode you want to play with. These game modes make minor adjustments, but these adjustments are significant for your survival!

"Equipped" mode

• Begin the game with the Rope and the Gas Mask.
• Begin the game with a Random Findings card.
• Remove the Punk Gang from the Encounter deck.

"Traveller" mode

• Begin the game with the Rope or Gas Mask.
• Begin the game with a Random Findings card.

"Survivor" mode

• Begin the game without any cards in your inventory.

Multiplayers?

The Road is an exclusively solo game, but the experience of the game can be experienced by several players similar to a cooperative game. All players around the table can decide on what actions to take to win the game.

Achievements

• Victory — Win a game in Survivor mode.
• Don't scare me — Win a game with two of your gauges at level 4 among the health, morale and energy gauges.
• Tough — Win 10 fights in a single game.
• Invincible — Win a game with your Strength at 7 or higher.
• Zoologist — Win a game by having met all the animals. (Cat, Wounded Dog, Crows, Bear)
• Small family — Win a game ending with the Wounded Dog and the Wandering Child.
• Destiny — Win a game with your Destiny Gauge at level 4.
• I like my steak well cooked — Win a game with the Saucepan and Raw Meat in your possession.
• The heavy breed — Win a game with the Gas Bottle in your hand.
• Literary — Finish a game with the Holy Bible and the Novel in your hands (you can use them but not to trade them).
• Unlucky — Lose a game because of the last Road Card on the last day (Day 6).
• Fatality — Lose a game because of the last Fatality card on the last day (Day 6).
• The bearskin — Win a game by defeating the Bear.
• Atheist in good faith — Trade the Old Bible without using it.
• That was close — Win a game by surviving at least 7 Fatality cards.
• Collector — During a game, keep at least 10 findings in your possession at the same time.
• Survive — Sacrifice an ally.
• Apocalypse tourist — Lose 1 Life point due to the Cat.
• Way of the samurai — Win a game with the Sword in your hands.
• Pytheas — Win a game with Pytheas.
• Leopoldine — Win a game with Léopoldine.
• Hester — Win a game with Hester.
• Sayadaw — Win a game with Sayadaw.

Playing with Characters

You have the option to play with four characters. Each character has its own characteristics and a different set-up.

Pytheas

Pytheas is a real outsider. He is convinced that to survive in Geynum, you should not trust anyone. When he was 13, his father tried to sell him to a rebel gang in exchange for merchandise. Luckily, he was carrying a knife. After wandering alone for years, he has finally become a well respected survivor by travelers and various rebel gangs. However, he is still looking for his father to introduce him to Diego... Diego is his brass knuckles.

• Set up: Start the game with the Rope and Knuckles.
• Special Ability: Pytheas gains a Find after each fight he wins.
• Weakness: Pytheas cannot have an ally. If an "Ally" encounter occurs during your game, nothing happens.

Leopoldine

Abandoned at the age of 5 and with her forearm devoured (by a wolf?), Léopoldine was taken in and raised by an old woman. Following the death of her adoptive mother, Leopoldine sought to explore Geynum in search of a safe haven.

• Set up: Start the game with the Rope and the Artisanal Elixir.
• Special Ability: You don't need to discard Crafted Elixir after using it. You can use it once a day. You can't trade it.
• Weakness: Leopoldine has only one arm so she can only fight with one weapon at most. However, she can possess more than one.

Hester

Hester is the leader of a clan. She is the pillar of a hundred survivors who live in underground networks, whose toxicity has only increased in recent months. Hester promises to find them a new land where they will be able to live peacefully.

• Set up: You start the game with the Lucky Charm and the Rope.
• Special Ability: Hester cannot be injured by animals.
• Weakness: Hester is a stubborn warrior. She can never use the "Turn around" action. Treat the "Turn around" arrow as if it was Red all along the game.

Sayadaw

Sayadaw has kept his ancestors' customs and rituals, and established a monastery on Geynum, until a group of cannibals seized it and murdered every living being. He sets out in search of a sacred place to meet his soul's calling.

• Setup: You start the game with two cards chosen at random from the Find deck.
• Special feature: Sayadaw can offer a card from his hand to avoid damage from an attack. (Find or Barter cards)
• Weakness: Faithful to his principles, Sayadaw refuses to use weapons. You can own, trade or gift weapons, but you can never use them to defend yourself!

Create your character

To create your own character, nothing could be simpler. Imagine a character or take inspiration from an existing real or fictional character. Offer him a quest / story for the player to identify with. Think about a set-up by granting him starting cards. Give it a special ability and a weakness. Test it out and share it on the official "The Road - Alone Editions" Facebook page or on BGG. It's your turn!

Scenario Mode

Scenario mode lets you experience a real story. 3 scenarios are in preparation. They will be available in French and English directly on the site www.aloneeditionsgames.com very soon.

Logos

The rulebook uses pictograms for: Road, Fatality, Findings, Trade, Encounter, Life, Energy, Moral, Day, Destiny, Ally, Weight, Turn Around, Bypass and Strength.

The "?" symbol means: replace it with the numerical value of your lowest gauge level, among the Life, Energy and Moral gauges.