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 various 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 dice 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. 

​

Dice 
This Quest Calendar game is played with 7 polyhedral dice +  pencil. 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. Here are what those dice are: 

 
 

​

​

If you are rolling d10, use the single d10 (ranged 0-9). The 0 on a single d10 (ranged 0-9) means 10.
If you are rolling d100, use a d10 (ranged 0-9) and another d10 (range 00-90) and add both results. Here a 0 on a d10 means 0 (e.g. "60" + "5" = 65), except when you also roll "00" (e.g. "00" + "0" = 100) 

 
Dice Rolls 
Once you select 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.   

 
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. If you are meant to do each, they will be listed numerically such as 1, 2, 3. For example:

​

​

​

 

​

 

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. 
 

Abilities and Reminders
Many abilities can be used outside of combat. 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

 

All abilities can be applied AFTER you see the result of your roll, so that you can decide if you wish to  use the ability to affect that roll.

 

Abilities can be used either in combat, outside of combat, or both. Look to the symbols next to the ability (in the hero book) to help discern when an ability can be used.

In Combat:

Outside of Combat:

Both in and outside of Combat:

Per Rest
These abilities can be used a number of times between rests. When you use one of these abilities, 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.

Combat
Combat runs differently in a Quest Calendar than you may be accustomed to in other games. In a Quest Calendar, you get a set number of rounds to fight. In each round, you get an Attack and a Damage roll. If you successfully hit and do enough damage, you avoid taking damage that round. If you do not hit or deal enough damage, 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. If you hit and do sufficient damage on other rounds before the last round, you will "Stun" the enemy so it can't damage you on that round.
 
For abilities, you may decide to use them once you see the outcome of a round.
 
You can use healing abilities on a combat page, but you can't use a Health Potion or Greater Health Potion in the middle of a combat page to heal. Make sure you have enough health before starting your dice rolls on each page. You can use other potions in combat, such as Dragon's Fire or a Combat Tonic, but not a Health Potion.

​

Doubling Damage - If you have an ability that allows you to double your damage, roll twice (roll again and add the results to your first roll).

Damage Modifiers - If you have any modifiers to your Damage (for example +2) apply this after your roll (and after doubling damage).

​

Combat Difficulty

You may choose to play in 1 of 3 difficulties for combat:

​

Standard Mode

Roll dice for ONE entire round at a time before deciding where to use abilities to modify the results for that round. Then proceed to the next round. For example: Consider the Cleric's Smite ability (Once per Page: Add d4 to a Damage roll). Roll both Attack and Damage. You can decide to use Smite once you know your attack was successful but damage was not enough to kill the goblin. You can decide not to use Smite if your attack was not successful.

 

Easy Mode
Roll dice for ALL rounds before deciding where to use abilities to modify the results of the entire page of combat. This allows you to decide which rounds to use any of your abilities to maximize their effectiveness and minimize the damage you will receive. 

​

Hard mode
Make each roll in a round in a round and decide whether or not to use an ability before making the next roll. Example: After rolling Attack and upon seeing it does not hit, decide if you wish to boost that Attack before rolling Damage.

 

Conditions and Afflictions

There are several conditions that can be afflicted upon your hero, and some that you can inflict upon your enemy. 

POISONED

If you are poisoned: At the end of each calendar page, roll d20 + Constitution.  If the result is 10 or less, reduce your health by 1. If the result is 11 or more, you take no damage but are still poisoned and must roll again on the next page. You can cure Poison by an Antidote or by taking a Rest. If you die and are resurrected, you are no longer poisoned. There is an icon on the Hero Sheets to indicate when you are poisoned.

CURSED

The calendar will indicated when this occurs and you will roll d20 + Charisma to check against getting cursed.

If you are Cursed: When asked to roll for one of your hero's traits (example: d20 + Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intellect, or Charisma), make this roll twice and take the lesser result among the two rolls. This condition is removed during a Rest or if you consume 'Holy Water'. If you die and are resurrected, you are no longer cursed. There is an icon on the Hero Sheets to indicate when you are cursed.

FRIGHTENED

Getting frightened can occur from specific enemies. The calendar will indicated when this occurs and you will roll d20 + Wisdom to check against getting frightened for that round.  If your Wisdom roll is at or or less that the target number, you are Frightened for that round. You must then reroll your Attack and take the result if it is smaller. Effectively, you must roll your attack twice and take the smallest result between the two. This effect will only last for the single round where you become frightened.

RESTRAINED

Getting restrained can occur from specific enemies. The calendar will indicated when this occurs and you will roll d20 + Dexterity to check against getting restrained for that round.  If your Dexterity roll is at or or less that the target number, you are Restrained for that round. You are then unable to make an attack or damage roll for that round. This effect will only last for the single round where you become restrained.

WEAKENED

Getting weakened can occur from specific enemies. The calendar will indicated when this occurs and you will roll d20 + Strength to check against getting weakened for that round.  If your Strength roll is at or or less that the target number, you are Weakened for that round. If you take damage in that round, the damage will be doubled. This effect will only last for the single round where you become weakened.

CONFUSED

Getting confused can occur from specific enemies. The calendar will indicated when this occurs and you will roll d20 + Intellect to check against getting confused for that round.  If your Intellect roll is at or or less that the target number, you are Confused for that round. You must then reroll your Damage and take the result if it is smaller. Effectively, you must roll your damage twice and take the smallest result between the two. This effect will only last for the single round where you become confused.

BANISH

Banish is a condition you can inflict upon certain enemies in the right circumstances. The calendar will indicated when this action is possible.  To Banish an enemy, you will roll a d20 + Wisdom. If your wisdom roll is at or higher than the target indicated, you will successfully Banish the enemy. It is defeated immediately with no further need to roll attack or damage. If you are fighting multiple enemies, move to the next enemy. If you are fighting a single enemy, you no longer need to continue further combat rounds against the enemy.
Successfully banishing an enemy will drain your health by 1 but will also give you a +1 bonus that you can use on any future dice roll. These additional bonuses will stack. You can accumulate multiple throughout the year and redeem as many as you need when you decide to use them.
 
Pickpocket
The pickpocket ability says "Once per Page when encountering a non-enemy character: Roll d4 to gain that much in gold. On a result 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 the 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 suite 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:
 
1: Pay gold for life. Lose all your gold. If you have none. reroll d6 again.
2: 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.
3: 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.
4: 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.
5: Sacrifice one of your magical equipment items. If you do not have one, roll again.
6: 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, remove any Poisoned or Cursed condition and 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, turn the page to the hero's next level to see the additional abilities you have acquired. In addition to new abilities, you will also have 2 points to allocate however you choose to your hero's Traits: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intellect, Wisdom, Charisma.

Example A: You could increase Strength by +2

Example B: You could increase Strength by +1 and Dexterity by +1.

When you level up, you do NOT get a Rest. 
Any additional uses of abilities you gain can be used but don't 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 will be 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.
Download the Inventory Page (partial color pdf,   black/white pdf)

 

Debt

Throughout the campaign, you are sometimes required to pay gold (to gain entry to a city, receive information, etc.). If you do not have enough you are must go into debt (negative) and pay it back as you acquire more gold. You can not go into debt to make optional purchases, such as at a market to buy potions.

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 their 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 and on the days when you acquire a new piece of equipment. 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. 
Download the Equipment Page
 
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. 

​

Gunner Skill

Your starting skill value is ± 10.

The Gunner skill is used when firing a cannon onboard the ship and increases your chance to hit your target. When firing the cannon, you will have a 'Target' number to hit. You will roll the d100 and use your Gunner skill to add (+) and minus (-) your skill value to get to a range. If the Target number is within that range, you hit the Target. Example: If the d100 result is 30, and your Gunner skill is ± 20, you can hit anything in range of 10 to 50. If the Target is 25, you hit. If the Target is 60, you miss.

​