The lowly squire becomes a knight of legend.

An orphan girl claims her birthright as queen of the

realm. A noble turns vigilante when his parents are tragically killed. The stories change with each
generation, but the themes are timeless… and every heroic journey begins with a Call to Adventure!

In Call to Adventure, 2-4 players compete to create fantasy heroes. On the journey from your
humble Origin to your epic Destiny, you will gain Traits, face Challenges, and grow in your Abilities.
Every player will build a character and tell a story, but only one will become the greatest hero!

Contents

30 Character Cards 60 Story Cards 40 Hero & Antihero Cards

10 Origin ● 10 Motivation ● 10 Destiny 20 Act I ● 20 Act II ● 20 Act III 20 Hero ● 20 Antihero

4 Corruption Tracks 24 Runes 40 Experience

3 Strength ● 3 Dexterity ● 3 Constitution Tokens
4 Hero Markers
3 Intelligence ● 3 Wisdom ● 3 Charisma
3 Core Runes ● 3 Dark Runes

Overview
In Call to Adventure, players face Challenges and acquire Traits over the course of three Acts.
Along the way, each player’s hero will gain Triumph points for victories, Tragedy points for
following a darker path, and Experience tokens when they fail.

At the end of the third Act, the player with the highest Destiny score is the winner!

Triumph ( ) + Tragedy ( ) + Experience ( ) = Destiny

For more details on calculating your Destiny score, see End of Game (pg. 5).

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 Setting Up the Game
Before the game begins, sort through all game components, shuffle the decks, and prepare
the play space. During setup, each player begins creating a Character.

1. Deal the Cards

Deal each player six Character cards:
• 2 Origins
• 2 Motivations
• 2 Destinies
Each player chooses one of each to keep,
then removes the rest from the game.

If this is your first time playing, just deal each

player one Character card of each type.

Deal every player one Hero card to form their starting hand. These should
remain hidden. Finally, give each player three Experience tokens.

2. Reveal Your Character

face up with your chosen Origin to the left, your Motivation in the middle, and your Destiny
on the right. These cards form the basis of your character tableau, called your Story. Your
Story will grow over the course of the game, and shows:
• How many Ability runes you have
• Triumph or Tragedy points you gain over the course of the game
• Any special powers granted by your Character cards
Place a Corruption tracker beside your Character cards. This represents your character’s
morality and innocence, which affects your final score. During game setup, place your Hero
marker on the third level of the tracker, indicating your Hero is neutral. Every time you gain
a , move the tracker down one level. Every time you gain a , move it up one level.
Your position on the Corruption tracker dictates whether you can play or cards, and
applies a modifier to your final score.

Play Example:
Character Tableau
When Suzanne is dealt her
six Character cards, she
chooses to keep Hunter as
her Origin, Bound by Honor
as her Motivation, and One
With Nature as her Destiny.
She sets her Corruption
tracker to the starting level
and gets ready to play!

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3. Set Up the Table
In the center of the table, set up the three Story decks, the Hero Deck, and the Antihero Deck.
Beside each deck, lay out a row of face-down cards.
• For a 2-3 player game, lay out four cards (as shown below).
• For a 4-player game, lay out five cards per Act.
Once play is ready to begin, turn the Act I cards face-up.

Discard
Pile

Within easy reach of all the players, lay out the Core Traits and Challenges
Runes, the Ability Runes, and the Dark Runes. The When you lay out the Act I cards as shown
rune stones are shared by all players during the above, you’ll see two card types. Traits,
game. (For more on runes, see page 5.) like Secret Royalty and Adventurous, have
just one “path” to follow. A Trait can be
gained if you meet its prerequisites (see
page 4).
Challenges, like The Academy and Lost in
the Woods, have two paths. A Challenge
must be faced and overcome (see page 4).

Once play is ready to begin, turn the Act I cards face-up and the first turn begins! The player
who most recently finished reading a novel goes first.

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 Each Turn
On your turn, you may gain a Trait or face a Challenge. You may also take other actions (see
page 6), such as spending experience tokens and playing Hero or Antihero cards.

Gain a Trait Play Example: Gaining a Trait

Traits define your character’s personality, On her first turn, Suzanne spends 1 to gain
profession, and life experiences. A trait has Adventurous. Tucking it under her Origin card,
only one “path.” she gains a Story Icon and a S rune!

To gain a Trait card, you must simply meet

any prerequisite listed on the card. When
you gain a Trait, place it under your
corresponding Storyline card:
• Act I cards go under your Origin.
• Act II cards go under your Motivation.
• Act III cards go under your Destiny.
Leave the top of the Trait card visible. Any
Ability runes, Story Icons, or other rewards
become a part of your character.

Face a Challenge
Challenges are the daring deeds your hero undertakes on the path to notoriety. When you
face a Challenge, you cast runes and hope for a good result. Challenges can bring great
rewards, but every Challenge carries the risk of failure! To face a challenge:
1. Assess the difficulty, indicated by the number on the left-hand side of the card.
2. Declare which path you’re taking, indicated by the top or bottom of the card.
If a path has a +1 icon, the difficulty is increased by 1.
3. Gather your runes.
• You can always cast the three core runes.
• Add any relevant Ability runes. Ability runes are only relevant to a challenge
if they are listed on the card under its difficulty.
• If you spend Experience tokens ( ), you may add Dark runes (see page 5).
4. Apply any card effects, such as Hero or Antihero cards (see page 6).
5. Once you’re ready, cast the runes!
• If the result equals or exceeds the difficulty, you overcome the challenge.
Gain the card, placing it under your Storyline card with the top or bottom of
the new card showing (depending on which path you took).
• If you fail a challenge, discard it from the table and gain an Experience token ( ).
Whenever you gain or discard a card from the table, replace it with another card
from that Act deck. In the rare event that you have no valid options (e.g. four Traits
with prerequisites you do not meet), you may discard and replace one visible card.

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Reading the Runes
The runes give Call to Adventure the element of chance, but you can improve the odds by
building your hero’s Abilities. When you “cast the runes” you throw them on the table to see
which sides land face-up. In the rare event that a rune lands on its thin edge, you may choose
which side you want to be face-up!

Core Runes Dark Runes

You cast these three runes during every Up to three times per turn (before you face a
Challenge. A result of 1 adds 1 to your Challenge), you may spend to add a Dark
attempt. A blank rune adds zero. The T Rune to your casting. Each adds a value of 2
counts as a zero, but allows you to draw (moon) or 1 to your result. But for each face-
either a Hero or Antihero card. up moon, gain one Corruption.

Add 2 to any Challenge and move

Add 1 to any Challenge your Corruption track down by one

Add 0 Add 1 to any Challenge

Add 0 and draw a Hero or Dark runes are an easy path to power, but
Antihero card beware! As you gain Corruption, you lose the
ability to play Hero cards. At maximum
Corruption, you lose 4 Triumph points.
Ability Runes
Whenever you face a Challenge, check your Character to see if you have any Rune icons relevant to that
challenge. For each icon you have, you may cast one rune of that type (up to a maximum of three). When
you gain your third icon in an Ability, you gain use of the Special rune marked with three dots.

Add 2 or 1 to a Add 2 to a Strength challenge or

Strength challenge add 0 and gain an Experience token

Add 2 or 1 to a Add 2 to a Dexterity challenge or

Dexterity challenge add 0 and draw an Antihero card

Add 2 or 1 to a Add 2 to a Constitution challenge or

Constitution challenge and 0 and gain an Experience token

Add 2 or 1 to an Add 2 to an Intelligence challenge or

Intelligence challenge add 0 and draw a Hero card

Add 2 or 1 to a Add 2 to a Wisdom challenge or

Wisdom challenge add 0 and draw a Hero card

Add 2 or 1 to a Add 2 to a Charisma challenge or

Charisma challenge add 0 and draw an Antihero card

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 Other Actions
In addition to gaining a Trait or facing a Challenge, you may also take the following actions:
• Spend 1 to discard a card on the table and replace it with another card from that deck.
• Play a Hero or Antihero card (see below).
• Use another card effect (as indicated on that card).
You may take as many of these actions as you have available.

Hero and Antihero Cards

Whenever you gain a icon, draw a Hero card. When
you gain a . icon, draw an Antihero card. When you gain
a icon, you may choose which type to draw.
Your position on the Corruption track indicates whether
you can play Hero cards, Antihero cards, or both. Most
Hero and Antihero cards specify when they can be played.
Otherwise, they can be played at any time. Their effects
can even interrupt other players’ actions, taking effect in
the reverse of the order in which they’re played.
After a Hero or Antihero card takes effect, place it face-up
beside your character tableau. At end of game, add its
Triumph or Tragedy value to your score.

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Other Card Effects
In addition to Hero and Antihero cards, other cards have effects that you may activate during
your turn:

Most Origins provide a way to Most Motivations provide a

gain Experience tokens. way to spend Experience
tokens to gain an advantage.

Ending Your Turn

Once you are out of actions to take, play passes to the next player. During the “End of Turn,”
end any effects from Hero cards, Antihero cards, and other cards.

Ending An Act
• When you have gained at least three Trait or Challenge cards, you must end your current
Act. You may no longer gain Traits or face Challenges from that Act.
• At the start of your turn, if you are the first player to have three cards from one Act,
reveal the next row of cards.
• Players may gain or face Story cards from any revealed Act, but you must place three
cards under your current Character card before proceeding to fill the next Character card.

Play Example: Ending Act I

During Act I, Suzanne acquired a Trait
and overcame two Challenges. She is
ready to move on! In Act II, cards she
gains will be placed under her
Motivation card, Bound by Honor. XX
If Suzanne is the first player to
complete Act I, she reveals four cards
from Act II. Now any player may gain
those cards.

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 Ending the Game
When one player has gained three Act III Trait or Challenge cards, their final Act is closed.
Each other player may take one final turn. Then, it’s time for the “End of Game.”

To determine the winner, each player must:

• Add up all Destiny points visible under your Character cards, adding
Triumph ( ) and Tragedy ( ) points together.
• Add any points you have gained from Story icons (see page 9).
• Add one point for every unspent Experience token ( ) you have.
• Every Hero card you played is worth 1 .
• Every Antihero card you played is worth 1 .
• Then, add any Triumph or Tragedy points gained from your position on
the Corruption track. (Corruption track points are not cumulative.)
• Finally, gain any points from your Destiny card, based on the
requirements you’ve met.

After applying all modifiers, the player with the highest Destiny score is the winner.
To conclude the game, each player tells their story! Describe how your hero’s Character
and Story cards fit together… how they emerged from humble Origins, followed their
Motivation, and achieved their Destiny. Whether or not you won the game, you’ve
hopefully created a memorable character!

Play Example: End of Game

At the end of the game, Suzanne sees she has 23 Triumph and 2 Tragedy printed on her Story and
Character cards. Her three matching Story icons add another 8 Destiny. Her Experience tokens add
another 2 Destiny and her played Antihero card is worth 1 Tragedy point (but her played Hero cards
are worth zero, because she has too much Corruption).
Because Suzanne ended the game
with two Corruption, she adds 4
Tragedy to her final score.

XX

Finally, her Destiny rewards her for some of the Abilities she
has collected. Three Wisdom runes grant her 6 Triumph, and
her Strength and Charisma give a total of 2 Triumph.
Suzanne’s final Destiny score is 43 …a strong result!

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Story Icons
As you build your hero’s story, choosing certain paths can give you bonus points at the end of
the game. The six Story Icons are Divinity, Justice, Nature, Arcana, Royalty, and Villainy:

Gaining more than one copy of a Story Icon will give you extra Destiny points at end of game.
For each set you collect, add a bonus depending on the number of matching icons. All sets of
Story Icons are scored in the same way, adding directly to your Destiny score at end of game:

=2 =4 = 8

Expanding the Game

While every game of Call to Adventure is unique, you can further expand your experience by
adding more cards! Future expansions will introduce new worlds and genres, starting with
The Name of the Wind. This expansion introduces Heroic Fantasy themes and allows you to
create characters in the world of The Kingkiller Chronicles by best-selling author Patrick
Rothfuss!

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 FAQs
If I gain an Ability rune, do I keep another player from gaining it?
No. Your character’s available Ability runes are defined by the visible icons in your character
tableau. On your turn, when facing a Challenge, you have access to any of the rune stones
that correspond to your Ability icons. Players share the rune stones, taking turns using them.

Am I allowed to have more than three runes in one Ability?

Yes. While you may only cast a maximum of three runes per Ability, you are allowed to keep
gaining rune icons as part of your Character tableau. For example, if your Destiny is One With
Nature, gaining a fourth Wisdom rune would help you earn 8 Triumph at end of game.

If I’m playing a Hero or Antihero card to help with a Challenge, can I play it after the runes
have been cast?
If a Hero or Antihero card has timing restrictions, they are specified on the card. For example,
Dazzling Wit states “Play this before you face a Challenge,” so you must commit to playing it
before the runes are cast. A few cards give you more flexibility: Bend the Rules specifies that
you play it after runes have been cast.

How does the Corruption track affect my Destiny score?

At the beginning of the game, your hero is neutral. If you gain , you move one up the
track. If you gain , you move down the track. Becoming a “tragic hero” and embracing your
dark side can make your character interesting… you gain 4 Tragedy points at D D . But
beware… If you gain D D D, you have crossed the line into villainy, and your final score
modifier is 0. Go all the way, and you’ll get a penalty! These values are not cumulative; you
only track your final position on the Corruption track.

What happens if I gain more than three Corruption?

If you gain four Corruption ( D D D ) , you cannot gain any more. If you are able to remove
Corruption (by gaining ), you move back to .

How are new Story cards revealed during the game?

On your turn, when you gain a Trait or overcome Challenge, you add it to your character
tableau (or put the Challenge in the discard pile, if you failed). Before taking any other
actions, you then reveal the next card from the deck and place it face up beside that Story
deck.

What happens if one of the decks runs out of cards?

If one of the three Story decks runs out of cards, take all discarded cards and shuffle them
back into their respective decks. If all Hero or Antihero cards are played, no more cards of
that type may be drawn.

Where can I go for more answers and information?

Visit www.BrotherwiseGames.com for gameplay videos and expanded FAQs. Or contact us
directly via the Brotherwise Games Facebook page!

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