Preview Movement and Actions in The Witcher Adventure Game

“Triss must have sensed it too,” Geralt thought grimly. His witcher medallion twitched on his chest. Some kind of magic nearby, or some creature from another sphere. Either one spelled trouble. So why hadn’t Triss said anything? Their journey to this place had been long and arduous, but now it seemed their adventure was only just beginning.

The world of The Witcher lies before you in The Witcher Adventure Game! In this board game for two to four players, you take on the role of an iconic character from the bestselling Witcher novels and video game series. The Witcher Adventure Game challenges you to prove yourself the most renowned hero of the realm by completing quests, but the Continent is filled with danger. You’ll need all your wits and combat skills just to survive another day.

Whether you’re playing as the witcher Geralt of Rivia, the sorceress Triss Merigold, the bard Dandelion, or the dwarven warrior Yarpen Zigrin, you’ll need to traverse the vast spaces of the Continent and stay alive while doing so. In today’s preview, we’ll take a closer look at the different actions you can take as you strive to complete quests and claim victory.

Start Your Travels

You have much to accomplish if you wish to become the most famous hero in the land of The Witcher, but you have limited time to do so. Every turn, you can take two actions, allowing you to move through the land, gather the resources to complete quests, and experience the world around you.

The first action available to you as a burgeoning adventurer is the travel action. Traveling is your principal means of movement from place to place, and it also allows you to collect leads and other crucial information. When you choose the travel action, you may move your figure along a route connecting two locations. After arriving at a new destination, you receive a lead that matches the color of the lead shown at your destination. Leads are crucial tokens, representing information, important objects, and other items necessary to complete your quest, and they will be explained more fully in a future preview.

Some travel routes may take you to sea, which can be an excellent way to cover ground quickly, but it can cost you dearly in gold. You may also use a travel action to move along two consecutive routes, but beware! Extensive travel is dangerous in the world of The Witcher. Moving along two routes with a single travel action forces you to draw a foul fate card, with potentially dire consequences.

For example, Geralt of Rivia could use a travel action to move from Rivia to Mahakam. Upon arriving in Mahakam, Geralt claims one red lead, which matches the red lead pictured at Mahakam. Because Geralt didn’t move along two routes with his travel action, he does not draw a foul fate card, keeping him safe from some of the dangerous bandits and encounters that fill the Continent.

Investigate Events and Develop Your Skills

The second action that all heroes can use is investigate. When you choose to investigate, you draw the top card of one of three investigation decks: diplomacy, magic, or combat. These decks can yield beneficial encounters, offering you leads, gold, or other boons. But they also contain setbacks, forcing you to fight for your life, delaying you, or bringing the Continent closer to open war. Whether you come under arcane assault or take on a lucrative contract, your investigations immerse you in the world of The Witcher and help to bring you closer to completing your quests.

You may also choose the develop action to enhance your hero’s skills and talents. Selecting the develop action allows you to draw the top two cards from your hero’s unique development deck. These cards can range from potions, to magic spells, to clever companions, to weapons and armor, based on which hero the cards belong to. You choose one of the two cards to keep, and place the other on the bottom of the deck. Once chosen, these development cards provide a long-lasting benefit, enabling you to overcome difficulties that once would have thwarted you.

Your adventures in the Northern Kingdoms are sure to leave their mark on you. Over time, you will take wounds, both minor and severe. When you suffer a wound, you must place it over a certain action. As long as you bear that wound, you cannot choose that action. Thankfully, you may choose the rest action to heal some of your hero’s wounds, freeing yourself to use those actions once more.

In addition to all the actions listed above, each hero also possesses a unique hero-specific action. These unique actions often allow the hero to influence the game in ways that no one else can. We’ll cover each hero’s unique action in later previews, alongside each hero’s special development decks.

First Steps on the Path

As an example of a turn, Triss Merigold begins her turn in Wyzima. Her current quest requires her to be in Novigrad, but before she moves there, Triss wants to see if she can gain another purple lead. As her first action, Triss chooses to investigate, and she draws the top card from the purple (diplomacy) investigation deck. The card is A Chance to Make Some Coin, and Triss immediately resolves its effects. She gains one purple lead, and keeps the card as a task: during a future turn, she may discard any Valuable Information cards to receive five gold apiece. After investigating, Triss chooses to travel, and she moves along two consecutive routes to Novigrad by way of Oxenfurt. Once there, she receives a lead of any color shown at the destination: red, blue, or purple. Triss takes a blue lead, and then draws a foul fate card, because she moved along two routes with one travel action. She draws and resolves the Illness foul fate card.

After resolving the foul fate card, Triss must encounter an obstacle. Obstacles occupy different regions of the map, and can include monsters or foul fate. We’ll explain both monsters and foul fate cards in greater detail later. After Triss encounters an obstacle, her turn ends and the next player begins his turn.

Enter the World of The Witcher

Your greatest quest begins in The Witcher Adventure Game! Can you rise above your opponents to become the most famous hero in the Continent, or will you disappear beneath ravenous monsters and torturous intrigues? Decide your fate and claim notoriety in The Witcher Adventure Game.

Preorder The Witcher Adventure Game at your local retailer today!

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