Greetings Citizens of Treasure Falls!
This post will provide an in-depth explanation of the different Ally Cards you will discover during the Trials of Tolk the Wise campaign for The Quest Kids! The hope is this post will clearly explain how each unique Ally Card works and provide players the chance to ask any questions in the comments below.
HOW TO GAIN ALLY CARDS:
The Ally Cards are located inside the sealed Ally Card envelope. During an early quest you will be prompted by a Campaign Card to open the Ally Card envelope and remove a specific Ally Card. You should only remove an Ally Card from the envelope if a Campaign Card instructs you to do so.
HOW TO USE ALLY CARDS:
All discovered Ally Cards should be placed next to the board at the start of a Quest. If an Ally Card is discovered in the middle of a Quest it is immediately available to be used by all players.
You can use an Ally Card at any time during your turn. You can use an Ally Card in addition to other special ability Kind Kid Cards and Hero Cards during the same turn. However, you can only use one Ally Card per turn.
HERO TOKEN CARDS:
Each Ally Card comes with four Hero Token Cards that match a specific Quest Kid. These Hero Token Cards are located in the Trials of Tolk the Wise Campaign Box. Here's what they look like!
You can only use each discovered Ally Card once per quest. Once you have used the special ability an Ally provides you will place one of your Hero Tokens next to the Ally Card. This signifies that you have used that Ally Card and cannot use it again this quest.
IMPORTANT: each time a new Ally Card is discovered during the campaign you should give each player a Hero Token that matches their character. Players can store these under the CAMPAIGN CARDS section of their player boards.
So, if you have discovered two Ally Cards each player should have two of their Hero Tokens under their player board.
SPOILER ALERT
The discovery of the different Ally characters over the course of the campaign is a fun part of the game play experience. I would highly recommend reviewing the cards below only after you have unlocked them during your campaign. I will list the cards below in the order they are introduced, so you can safely reference this blog as you meet new characters without ruining future surprises (as long as you do not scroll too fast!).
I will dive into the first Ally character below the Treasure Room!
Up first we have the Captain of the King's Guard Hot Foot! Hot Foot is a furious fighter and a tremendous friend to have when you are backed into a corner by a group of silly Goblins or Trolls.
However, when he is engaged in combat he has quite the temper, which means you are never really sure what to expect. His help might be exactly what you need for a specific fight or it could end up hurting you!
Take a look at the back of his Ally Card below.
As the Ally Card mentions the Hot Foot Ally Card comes with a special deck of 4 ability cards that can be found in the Ally Cards envelop. These cards should be taken out of the envelope with the Ally Card once Hot Foot is discovered. Here is what they look like!
Before each quest the four Hot Foot Deck cards should be shuffled and placed face down in a pile next to the left side of the Hot Foot Ally Card.
In order to use the Hot Foot Ally Card you must be attempting to scare away a bad guy and be in need of an ability card. As you can see from the cards above there is a chance that Hot Foot could reward you with a powerful axe swipe worth +2 POWER, but he could also do some unintended damage to The Quest Kids and make you LOSE ONE STAR at the end of the game.
If you do not need the ability type that is drawn for your current battle you can still take an ability card of that same type into your hand. In the case of the +2 power you can use one of the powers to scare away a bad guy and then take the second power into your hand.
Important: if you use the Hot Foot Ally Card and do not draw an ability that lets you scare away a bad guy you can still ask for help from your fellow players.
TIP: try to remember which Hot Foot Deck Cards have been drawn by other players over the course of a quest. This will help you decide if you should take a risk and ask Hot Foot for help against a silly Bad Guy.
This is the END of the HOT FOOT SECTION!
I'll discuss the next Ally Card below this image of the Golden Pools.
The next friend of The Quest Kids to join the fun is our spookiest ally: The Treasure Falls Ghost!
While you may run into some mischievous ghosts during your adventures, The Treasure Falls Ghost is a very friendly ghost.
In fact, the Treasure Falls Ghost and Skylar have a bit of a history that we explored in one of our fun fantasy adventure videos. You can check that out on YouTube HERE if you are interested.
Let's take a look at the back of this Ally Card and see how this ghost will help the team.
The Treasure Falls Ghost will use his ghostly abilities to fly through unexplored tiles and walls and reveal any unexplored Dungeon Tile you wish. You can peak at the tile and keep it a secret from the other players or you can reveal the tile for all players to see. The choice is yours!
This ability works just like the "reveal any unexplored dungeon tile" Kind Kid card.
IMPORTANT: the Treasure Falls Ghost allows you to REVEAL any tile, but that does not mean you can explore the tile if walls or unexplored tiles are blocking your path.
This is the END of the TREASURE FALLS GHOST SECTION!
I'll discuss the next Ally Card below this image of the Gem Hallway.
When you visit Tink the Town Merchant's shop in Treasure Falls he has anything you could possibly want. Pants for a frog? Yep! Matching hats for a two-headed dragon? Sure! A pan that cooks perfect campfire eggs? Absolutely!
However, the wonderful items in Tink's shop are not free, and neither is the help he provides The Quest Kids during their adventures.
Let's take a look at the back of his Ally Card now.
When you get assistance from Tink you get to pick the exact ability card to gain. However, using the Tink Ally Card ALWAYS comes at a cost of end game stars.
Here's how the random treasure tile draw should go. First, declare you are using Tink and select your ability card from the decks at the top of the board. Then simply flip all of your Treasure Tiles upside down and shuffle them around a little. The player to your left will select a random Treasure Tile from your pile.
IMPORTANT: the player that selects the tile does not get to keep the tile. The Treasure Tile should be placed on the Tink Ally Card (Tink always likes to have his gold and treasures close by).
The Tink Ally Card can be used at any time on your turn and can also be used even if you are not trying to scare away a Bad Guy. Have a quest you'd like to complete? Tink will be happy to help!
Lastly, I just want to repeat the last item on the Tink Ally Card. You can only use the Tink Ally Card if you have at least one non-treasure slime tile to trade. Meaning, you cannot trick Tink and know that you are giving him a treasure slime tile because that is the only tile you have to trade. However, if you have more than one Treasure Tile and Tink happens to get a treasure slime tile that is perfectly OK. Tink understands the risks of doing business in a cave full of bad guys and treasure slime.
This is the END of the TINK SECTION!
I'll discuss the final Ally Card below this image of the Throne Room.
The final ally to join the Quest Kids is the greatest of all: Tolk the Wise! Tolk is a powerful, friendly, mysterious and quite humorous wizard. He has been the leader and mentor of every team of Quest Kids that has ever defended the kingdom of Treasure Falls (nobody knows how old Tolk is...and nobody is brave enough to ask).
When we first meet Tolk during this campaign he has just been freed from a long stay in a time prison thanks to Dazzlon the Dream Dragon. He is not at his full power greatness, however he can still lend a magical helping hand.
Let's take a look at how Tolk the Wise will assist The Quest Kids.
Like any good friend or teacher Tolk the Wise is here to help The Quest Kids when they need it the most. On your turn you can decide to visit Tolk the Wise instead of exploring a Dungeon Tile. Visiting Tolk is the ONLY action you can complete on your turn (you cannot complete a quest or use any other Hero or Kind Kid cards).
If you are out of ability cards you can visit Tolk and gain any two ability cards from the ability card decks at the top of the board. IMPORTANT: in order to use Tolk in this way you must have already gained and then used at least two ability cards during the game.
If you are out of heart cards you can visit Tolk and gain back two heart cards.
You can only do one of the actions above. If you happen to have zero hearts AND zero ability cards I am sorry you are having such a rough time in the cave, but you can still only choose one of Tolk's powers.
This is the END of the TOLK THE WISE SECTION!
USING ALLY CARDS IN THE BASE GAME
After you have completed the Trials of Tolk the Wise campaign I'd love for you to use the Ally Cards when playing the base game version of The Quest Kids. Feel free to pick and choose which allies to play with.
Here's a game play alternative that increases the difficulty and adds some fun decision making: play with all four Ally Characters but only give each player 1 or 2 Hero Tokens. This forces players to pick and choose which Ally to use and to determine the best time to use them.
There you have it! I tried my best to explain every possible question that may come up when playing with these cards, however I am sure I missed something. Please leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below and I will be happy to answer them.
Thanks for playing The Quest Kids and always remember...a Quest Kids quest is never done!